Blogging 201 Archives -

A week or so on the run

13/02/201521/05/2018Anne2 Comments

We’ve been on the run for about a week, maybe just a bit more, and time is starting to slide. I have very little idea of what day it is and it feels as if I have been away for a long time. Bliss. This somehow feels different than a holiday. Having six months off creates a new perspective. Sorry work but I am not missing you.

Our pace has now dramatically slowed as we are spending time with my 65 year old sister who uses a walking stick and has challenges with mobility. It’s a humbling exercise in patience, one which I struggle with.

Now with my family of birth I have taken up the position as youngest sister and slid easily into the middle seat in the back of the car, a place where I suspect many youngest sisters live. My daughter will laugh at this as often her place in our family car is the middle seat. There are not many situations where I am now the “youngest” of anything so I will relish my place.

I am already getting tired of restaurant and fast food meals which means that for the first time in a long time I am thinking about cooking, not that I am doing any. Steven cooked bacon and eggs for dinner and it tasted like a treat.

As the frenzy of work has absented my head I have space for other ideas to float by but right now I’m not thinking of much more than how extraordinarily beautiful Queenstown is.

Steven and I are muddling along beautifully together… there will be a time along this journey when I suspect we will need time out from each other.

I’ll update regularly about our experience on the run… but I couldn’t possibly set a timetable for that….or anything.

Fit enough for the Otago Rail Trail?

11/02/201521/05/2018Anne20 Comments

Whenever we think about undertaking a bike trip in unknown territory I get scared that I won’t be able to do it. I fear I might become stranded somewhere, half way up a hill, too tired to go any further and with no way to get home. Physical exercise has never been my thing so contemplating riding 152 km does not come easy to me. I’ve had to turn back on one bike trip and get frustrated trying to find information that gives me a real sense of how difficult the trip will be. I want to be challenged but not distressed.

So this blog is for someone like me who wants to know what to expect from four days on the Otago Rail Trail. Steve has written his account of the journey in the posts The Otago Rail Trail – Clyde to Wedderbern & The Otago Rail Trail – Wedderburn to Middlemarch .

Our party of four were all over 50 years old and at 58 I am the oldest and the least fit. I’d been Continue reading →

Travel essentials: Sarongs, Baking Trays and a Leatherman

03/02/201521/05/2018Anne17 Comments

A sarong has always been an essential travel item for me. Not one of those gauzy little numbers that wouldn’t fit across my hips. My sarong is strong, opaque and expansive. Of course the sarong is great for the beach and I know that there are a 100 ways to tie it into some fancy dress. I do use it like that but it’s the other uses that make it essential for my bag. The sarong has a multitude of uses: a dressing gown, beach mat, towel, picnic rug, table cloth, a sheet on dubious beds, scarf, modesty covering for temples, mosques and churches and it’s a great creator of shade. I’ve even wrapped my dirty laundry in it. It takes up next to no room in the bag so how could I not take it?

My friend Kerryn tells me that her travel essential is aluminium baking trays and Continue reading →

What’s this blogging thing you’re doing Anne?

02/02/201502/02/2015Anne4 Comments

During the Christmas holidays I said to Steven “let’s start a blog for six months while we’re not working”. He’s kind of used to me making random suggestions, that seemingly come out of nowhere, and jumping on board. We didn’t know anything about blogging but we’re always keen to try something new. In the last month I have learnt so much: I can reply to comments, know what a widget is and have made a customised header using Picmonkey. I have become obsessed with wasting time watching the stats page to see how many views we’ve had. We’ve discovered that blogging can be a great couple activity. After 28 years of marriage we are learning to communicate in a completely new way and that’s fun.