New year!

 It’s been a good and busy start to the new year. I’m gathering supplies to begin journeying again soon. I’ve got a tent and cooler and almost everything I need before I begin traveling. Now I just need the weather to cooperate long enough for me to begin my journey. 

This week I went for a beautiful hike up castle hill. I got there at 8am, it’s about 2 km round trip, 400 ft elevation gain and I figured it wouldn’t be too hard of a walk. What I didn’t account for was the dang weather. 95 degrees and 92% humidity in full sun is quite a feet, and while I had plenty of water and took lots of breaks, I reckon I got a bit of heat exhaustion on the way up. 2 days later and my muscles are still really sore and I got home and slept for a few hours after the hike. I think I’ve learned my lesson that if I went to hike I either need to be up at 5am, or not go at all. In the following days I’ve been going swimming though to still get some exercise in, but even the pool water is quite hot and you don’t want to keep going for too long for fear of overheating. You can’t tell so much when you are swimming if you are over exerting yourself. 

Today Dean and I did some yard work, and his lawn mower kicked the bucket. We tried taking the whole thing apart, but some plastic bits were broken inside and we broke a spring, so we couldn’t fix it. It was fun trying though. I’ve also unsuccessfully tried to fix their reclining chair this week. Basically spending arvos taking things apart, not fixing them, and putting them back together. But it’s a fun puzzle to work on. 

Jenny and some of the people we got lunch with a few days ago have come down with icky colds. I’ve decided to put off my journey another week in order to ensure that I’m not traveling with a cold, but I’m loosely aiming to head out in the week after next. I’ll head South, hoping to find a bit of cooler weather. 

The last few days have been full of preparation, work, and food making, and I’ve gotten quite accustomed to the mid-day nap. Am I just living the life of a retiree? Maybe. But it’s pretty nice and I’m loving taking advantage of it. I’m excited for new adventures coming up, but I’ve truly loved the rest I’ve had the last month. It’s been absolutely rejuvenating. 

Oh 2 new fav Aussie phrases/words. 

“Those cookies are moreish” - meaning, they make you want more. 

“Did you see any pot plants at the farmers market?” “I got my friend a pot plant for Christmas” - meaning “potted plant” not marijuana 😂