I can name several cities I love, places I feel comfortable, engaged and interested for various reasons; Paris is one, Florence also, Salzburg, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, London, Nice, Queenstown, Bath, Falmouth...there's a lengthy list most of which I've visited multiple times and will again, but I'm a country lad at heart and it's wide open spaces that call to me, the open road, mountains and plains, valleys and peaks...big sky county where one can see to the horizon.
I'm an outdoors guy, it's where I feel most connected to life and the world around me; that doesn't mean I don't do other things but when I get the chance to escape built up urban areas I take it and that's where I am currently.
I've come to a place called Wilmington in mid-north South Australia to see a close friend of mine and to help on his property a little.
It's an oldish town, established in 1876 around wheat and barley farming and sheep grazing. There's not much here, a few shops, primary school and post office and two petrol service stations; it's quiet and that's part of its attraction. My friend, a fellow who suffers mobility and PTS issues earned through his military service to this country in the sandbox (Afghanistan), is doing some much-needed fencing and called me up for help. I hate fencing but when called I respond so here I am.
It's been great really, beside digging holes for fenceposts and stringing barbed wire; we've had some great chats, cooked flesh on open fires and ate under the canopy of stars and generally just caught up...it's been too long.
I'll admit the whole episode has been made much better because the gals have been baking; my mate's wife makes the best cakes and it's been awesome to take a break with them, have some coffee and cake and show off our fence-making muscles. Girls in short shorts and crop tops riding quad bikes and carrying cakes and coffee to their lads on the fenceline...it doesn't get much better that that. Life's good.
My whole body aches in that good way after having done a lot of work and inside...well, I feel glad to be here with my buddy who clearly needed the help and to reconnect. He's a good chap but has been through some terrible times which cost him plenty, his first marriage for one, but he's a fighter and has scrambled his way back to where his now - this medium-sized property where he makes a living as a Mr. Fix-It for the locals in the region and by running a few sheep which is what the fences are all about. He's a luck man really, has turned life around when it could have gone badly - many have not made it this far intact.
I'll be moving on tomorrow, heading even farther north to catch up with another couple for a day or so and then will head home, some seven hundred kilometres, which is where I'll see in the new year, a low key deal for me; I'll be staying home for it as usual...and will probably be asleep by midnight.
I've loved my time out here: The ability to breathe clean air and see the stars without light-pollution, the long drives on open roads, country music, seeing my buddy and, of course, gals on quad bikes with cake. I'm a lucky man I think...No, I know it!
What have you been up to with your time since Christmas? Are you back at work already or do you have a little time off like me? Are you relaxing or busy working around the house? Are you thinking about the new year and what you can do to make it awesome? Feel free to drop a comment below about your happenings, or just comment generally.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
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Image(s) in this post are my own
So I'm assuming that the coffee and cake came sensibly and safely packed in thermoses and boxes to reach you guys safely but my mental image of the girls expertly riding with coffee in mugs and cakes on plates with little forks balanced precariously on trays which they were carrying butler/waiter style while hooning on on the quads was much more amusing.
ps glad your friend is going okay
pps I only just noticed this in my feed and I always find stuff like this amusing and have to wonder if it was somehow done deliberately XD
Well, the Flinders Ranges is north of where I live, so north is the way to get there which means when I go there I go north. Makes sense to me. When I'm not going there I go in different directions, sometimes north, but other times not north, and when I'm going home from north I'm going south...and there's the link! (Funny they're both in your feed consecutively - We'll see if we can do it again with east and west.)
Hmm, coffee mug carrying on quad bikes...I'm not quite sure they're that expert although maybe Evil Knievel might have been able to do it but I'm not sure what he might have looked like in short shorts. Fortunately the gals are sensible and put the coffee in a thermos and the cake is in one of those Tupperware cake thingys so it made it to the fence line intact...It didn't stay intact for long once me and my mate smashed it down - A lovely carrot cake...mmm, so good.
I think they hooned on the way back to the house...those quads will never be the same again.
Nice outdoor photos.
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You are a good friend. Although you don't like to put fences... Fencing is called the sport of swords, foils and sabers too... Sounds like I'm writing to a fencer. 😂 Fencing is fencing.
Anyway, if what you did left you sore, it was like a duel with the fences, and you ended up victorious. Not to be outdone, with those cheerleaders bringing coffee and cake.
I am very tired and a lot of work is coming tomorrow. But today I'm already going to sleep in my bed.
😄
Oh yeah, that sort of fencing (sword fighting) I like although I'm better with a rapier and axe than a foil.
Fencing cheerleaders...well, they didn't do much cheerleading, one of them who shall remain nameless actually looked at one of the posts and said it was out of line with the others. We denied it of course...but later checked and it might have been slightly out of line. We didn't mention it again of course.
Good luck with your work tomorrow, I hope it goes well, and thanks for commenting.
Typical! You don't even lose at spitting.
I'm in a jungle in Mexico!
Nice article and big hug at your friend :)
I want to share that be outside of the comfort zone can always be a medicine!
Nature is certainly like medicine to me, it's a good way to describe it for sure.
Hello to you in Mexico, all the way from the Flinders Ranges in Australia.
Sounds pretty amazing to me. It's funny to me how going north always seems to be the best answer. Even here where I live. That's where all the good nature is! I was back to work today, but I get some days off for the new year. My wife and I will probably do the same as you and be in bed before the ball even drops.
It's been great, the mini-getaway I needed to be honest. I'm still feeling a little residual effects from being sick but the fresh air is doing me well, as is some physical labour - Barbed wire fencing though...terrible job. Lol. (Cake helps).
It's good that you have a couple days off soon, a recharge is always welcome, and I'm sure you've got plenty to keep you busy as well. Enjoy!
At least the fencing isn't electric. That adds a whole new level of fun! My buddy has some property up across the bridge in Michigan and he keeps saying I need to go up for a weekend with him. We never get around to setting a date, but I really need to do that sometime.
Electric fencing can be problematic, especially for curious kids who just have to find out if it's really electified. Lol.
I hope you get up to Michigan, it would be a nice break.
My cousin's on the farm used to make me touch the electric fence when I was a kid.
Haha...good cousins...Sounds about par for the course. Kids get up to some stupid shit huh? I know I did.
Yeah, at the time it wasn't so funny, but looking back now, it is a fond memory quite honestly!
Sounds like the right place at the right time, work, play, enjoy the outdoors, wish I could go North for a break!
None-the-less one son moving, work situation with his wife, first time out from under same roof (reside on flatlet on property). Big move within family, still close enough to see once a month.
Older son waiting with bated breath as to whether or not accepted on Southern Island NZ with work in the New Year, visited friends and family for five months seeing country, possible opportunities, another first.
Been good having all under the same roof once again, perhaps for awhile, only time will tell.
!LUV and best wishes coming your way have a bumper start to 2024 and chat soon again!
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Great news that both sons are moving in the right direction professionally and the one moving to the South Island of NZ...I've been there and loved it so I can understand how keen he is. I hope it happens.
Thrilled for both of them if things work out, time to make a move before their sell-by-date!
Son visiting NZ was fortunate in friends and family living in completely different regions of Auckland. Staying with friends in Wellington for ten days (returned by train for scenic travel). Auckland flight to Dunedin for second interview. On arrival home he said very happy in Wellington, would be happy anywhere on South Island, not overpopulated.
I am immediately back to the grind after Christmas. I still do have some of the leftover food available so that's always something to look forward to every meal. I want to budget my time better this coming new year, I felt like I have spread myself too thin, and I need to focus on some things and investment that are worth it.
Ah, back to grind status huh? That sucks. That'll be me next week though so I'll feel your pain.
I like that you've got a plan to make 2024 a little better, focusing on your life a little more - I believe it's important to have a plan for those things and some goals to attain. I hope you manage to stay on track and at the end of 2024 you can look back and say that you kicked it's ass!
Thank you. I hope I can keep on track of it as well.
It sounds like a wonderful visit, despite the fencing work. I'm sure it did your friend's heart good that you came when he called, but I bet he already knew you would. Things like that usually give back to the giver's heart too. Girls on bikes with cakes.....I can imagine the happy in that.
I took the whole week off and will not go back to work till after the new year. Yay ! Only whole week I have taken this year. Of course it is passing too fast, but that is the way of vacation days.
Christmas day was hectic, in some ways happily expected and some not expected. I needed to decompress, so the day after, I slept in and I never changed out of my nightgown and house robe the entire day. I watched TV, played and chatted on the internet and ate yummy leftovers.... too many leftovers, but it was fun and did what I needed it to do.
Yesterday was a half and half day, going back and forth from relaxing to spells of small projects and getting the kitchen back in nice order. Still got into a few too many leftovers, so soon I will put on coffee and while it is perking, I will purge the house of the sweet parts of the leftovers with the intent of getting back on track with the healthier stuff. Not sure what the rest of my day will hold, but there are many things around here that needs to be done, so maybe a few projects will take place. I'll decide all that over a couple of cups of coffee shortly.
I made a New Year's resolution many years ago to never make any New Year's resolutions and I have kept that one LOL ! I still found myself this morning thinking there are some ruts I need to get out of and I should think on some changes about the way I am doing things. Not a resolution though... of course not a resolution. ;)
It did both of us some good, and the fresh air helped too. It's really a lovely spot on the southern end of the Flinders Ranges and just near Alligator Gorge, a legit hiking spot.
I'm glad to hear you have a week off (I go back on the 2nd) and that Christmas was good, if hectic. I had to laugh about the nightgown comment...I know someone who also did the same in her PJ's. It's pretty much standard day after clothing. I think it sounds like you've having a nice time overall and that's what this time of year is all about.
On the resolution thing...I'm the same, no resolutions made, but I certainly make goals and plans with every intention of achieving them.
Sorry for the late reply, I've been flat out since returning from the north. I'd like to go back but reality had to kick in eventually.
The description of the day you spent with your friend is very nice, what I liked the most was the nature and being with people you love, I think it's the most genuine thing there is.
My Christmas time was quiet, with my family, phone calls from my aunt and uncle .... my aunt doesn't want me to see her, but I could hear her, and that's important, friends who gave me beautiful messages of support that I didn't expect.
Now I am working but well, happy and for the new year.... pasta... I will cook Italian pasta! It will be quiet, with the family, but nothing too complicated. Peace and harmony.
I always find new year's eve to be somewhat of anticlimactic. On those rare occasions I've gone out it's felt hollown, the night never lived up to the hype and these days I stay home. Last year I had a group of people over for a BBQ but this year there'll be no one, just us.
I hope you have a good end of the year and the new one is prosperous.
It has also happened to me and I think it has to do with the year that is leaving, thoughts that are often unconscious. That can generate a feeling of emptiness, like an internal analysis, for a year that is leaving.
We too, quiet and alone. Food, movies and peace.
I wish you all the best for the coming year, may your wishes for others be multiplied for you.
Hi Galen, loved the quote, and the consistency with that of your life with the quote. Your friend will do well, as you say he is a survivor and has the best bridge one can have to reconnect with life: good friends. About my activity, at minimum, and from home.
Best regards
It's a nice quote, I'm glad you like it.
It's been really nice to be here to help my friend. It's sometimes difficult for me to get away like this as, whilst it's only a few hundred kilometres away, finding a few days in a row whenever I'm not already committed can be difficult. It worked out this time though and it's been good for all of us to have convened.
We'll be moving on soon but the time here has been enjoyable...and we managed to get the fencing done.
I'm glad to read that your meeting with your friend went so well. Best regards
When we went to see or feel the nature our mind get a lot of happiness. I like to tour very much.
Nature has a way of making people happy, I think humans are naturally attuned to it.
I call it a bliss to live so close to nature or at least have some friends living there that you can visit often to take break from daily routines and traffic noise.
A bit of both. Relaxing a lot by gaming but also catching up with work as I am building a house for the cats outside my house. Can't see what 2024 will bring though 😊
I wouldn't have thought you'd be a gamer considering how much you seem to enjoy the outdoors; I'd have thought you'd want to engage with nature more.
It really depends on the mood. Sometimes I feel like getting lost in nature far away from people and sometimes I feel like breaking from reality and losing hours playing video games. These are actually two of my biggest passions which were discovered pretty early in my youth but I get your point and makes sense 😆
Ah ok, fair enough. I guess I've learned to live life in reality not through artificial means, video games and all. Nature has a lot to offer, as do real-life relationships and interactions, and that's where I prefer to spend time. Each to our own though, and maybe someday you'll come to see it differently yourself.
Maybe. Might also be a temporary thing until some serious activities keep my adult life more busy than it currently is. I'm curious to find out too!
Yeah, and that fresh air can only be from nature. Nothing gives you such sense of refreshment except nature. It's good to know you love your it.
Thank you, I appreciate your comment.
I'm glad you were able to help him, and enjoy some time doing something both useful and awesome! How many holes did you dig???
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We did over 200m of fencing to finish off a paddock with 10m spacing (it was standard barbed wire not high tensile, which would have meant we could have halved the posts) so twenty posts with a few deeper and broader posts interspersed throughout. Not too many really and we had a powered post hole auger. Still, effort is required and it was hot thirsty work - the Australian sun is relentless.
So just enough to make it a real accomplishment :) ... You sure earned your cake those days!
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