Lazarus
My legion of fans have demanded action with some more babble. Well, okay, it was just Shammy from Toronto who asked me. She’s a sucker for punishment.
All’s been going well here in the land of Oz. Retirement continues to be a case of why we didn’t take it up when we were 20. Lot’s of bike riding, walking, running and swimming etc and life is good.
We’ve had quite a mild summer here in OG and only 7 days over 35c and an average of 24c yet they say Australia has had the hottest summer on record. Not on our doorstep.
After 2 years of good rains, we had 16mm on 31 January after a dry couple of months and again nothing since. A decent dumping wouldn’t go astray.
Apart from marvelling over the antics of the knuckle dragging obese rubbernecks in the supermarket, the annual thrip invasion came and went quickly without drama. Maybe burying my head in the sand each summer is the trick. Anyway, the beach is now ours again and I can even tolerate some of the knuckle dragging locals now.
Last week, we ventured to Forrest in the Otway Ranges about an hour from here to watch our friend Syg (Some Young Guy) and to give him support while he competed in the Kona Odyssey 100k Mountain Bike Race.
A gruelling event in 34c heat conducted in the mountain forests and trails around this beautiful part of the country. Siggy did very well and finished right in the middle of the field of 690 finishers. Check him out here in full flight. I’m not sure if that banana is going in or coming out! The track was very dry and dusty and all you could see when riders came past was their white pearlies and white eyes. Check out a before and after from a guy who decided to wear all white gear.
I took up competitive running when I was 35 but I would love to be that age again and mix it with these guys on the bike. Too old and too cautious these days.
Still MP and I love our bike riding and when she goes to her exercise classes, I’ll jump on the bike and tear off for a quick 30k to 40k.
Only rule is that a caffeine stop is mandatory.
Lucky you, up here in the Kiewa Valley I don’t think we have had one day below 30′ since the start of December, and we’ve had quite a few over 40′, the heat has been relentless! Our rain water has run out and we are about to put bore water in our tank, for only the second time in 23 years! We have sold the farm and in just under 3 weeks we move to Ballarat, considered to be a cold hole, and at the moment that sounds good to us.
I heard the water tank sprung a leak.
I like cold too but the middle of winter in Ballarat may test you out. Good luck with the shift.
Yes the tank on the shed leaked when the pest inspector, for the incoming owners, put a 3cm split in the pipe connecting it to the house tank without mentioning it!!! We woke up the next morning to an underground fountain and water all over the garden, and the 5000 gal. tank down by almost half! We were not impressed! We still have out Falls Creek woolies and the house has central heating, so hoping for the best!
You had a great place there in a lovely part of the country but moving to a smaller place is the right idea. We were going to be staying in MB in a couple of weeks to climb Mt Bogong with a friend and do some of the MTB trails in the area but have had to push it back until April now.
Sounds like its time for another adventure, how about the Antarctic?
It’s in the thought box. A riding friend just came back from there and raved about the place. BTW, he rode all the way from Quito in Ecuador to Ushuaia in Argentina to get there. Only about 11,000 kays!
The guy in white…. tell him not to worry, it’s clean dirt.
I wonder if your hot summer will mean that we’ll get one this year too. It was a very hot summer last year. Winter has been much colder so far, and very windy too. So much so that I really haven’t been going for my usual long walks in the forest with son’s dog.
I believe it took him 4 washes to remove that clean dirt.
If a Canadian complains about a cold winter, then there isn’t any hope for the planet.