I’ve seen this news article and it just strengthens my reasoning to never visit Australia.
I have relations in Sydney who were over here about 6 months back. They are constantly trying to sell me the dream and trying to get the wife and I to visit. I’ve always been of the opinion that everything that lives there wants to kill you, both big and small and this article just broke the camels back as they say.
Article courtesy of Skynews
The attraction for me is less now, after spending over 24hrs in the air do I really want to face my biggest fear – Spiders. I’m not just afraid I’m totally petrified of them, we don’t have venomous ones here in the Uk, but all the same if you see a guy running down the road screaming its probably me as the wife deals with the issue…she really is the brave one.
Whilst speaking to Cousin Bob who is a builder on the outskirts of Sydney, he was casually trying to convince me to travel by saying that in all his time there he has rarely seen a large spider, however he said just watch for the little “red backed bastards” (pardon my language). Why? What will they do? I asked. “Ah they’ll probably kill you” he casually replied.
This blog. That’s it really. Anyone who knows me knows that I am very anti – antisocial media. I don’t need it, never have needed it and apart from this blog site that’s the only thing that really lets me down. And to be honest once I’ve had enough of this I’m liable to drop it just like a hot potato.
I really don’t see the fascination of it all. It’s great for gaining information and “Facts” however half the facts are false and not to be believed. I have no wish to connect with people I went to school with, I couldn’t wait to get away from them, and as for seeing what someone just had for dinner…..just go and give your head a wobble. “Influencers” are just another bunch of hopeless dreamers who think they know what’s good for you when they don’t even know what’s good for themselves. Don’t get me started.
I do use YouTube, however in the main I find that educational, especially the channels I tend to view.
It’s not for me, and as you can gather I dislike it. Get out and see the world and enjoy it. Just don’t flounce about putting it on “Insta”. You are not the first person who’s been there and you are not the last. No one is really bothered to be honest.
In the last ten days I’ve done a whole lot of things I probably wouldn’t ever had thought I’d probably be doing at this stage in my life. But I guess I can now tick them off the to be done list.
The wife and I took a few days away at Hopton on sea on the east coast just a couple of miles from Great Yarmouth, it was a Christmas present to each other as to be quite honest there was nothing we needed so we thought we’d just treat ourselves.
My wife is a few years my senior (I won’t tell her age as she’ll probably kill me 😂) and I’m just into my sixtieth year, so I’m not particularly old, however I do have asthma and arthritic issues and a long running issue with my kidneys that are under constant scrutiny, that said, I tend to ignore being told what I should be doing, and will give anything a go if I feel up to it. Here’s what occurred this week.
Archery – I’ve tried this in the past and whilst I was on holiday I happened to be teamed up with someone who was a professional, made me look pathetic. However using his guidance I managed to get some good scores and clocked up a medal for a high score so I was happy with that.
Archery Good score
Rifle shooting- Again I was originally teamed with a young lady who had her own gun and was an Olympic competitor, I didn’t stand a chance, again with some coaching I was able to bag another medal with a pretty good score. This was on a Ten metre range.
Rifle Good score
Climbing wall – Have always enjoyed watching this in the olympics when the athletes get up these walls in about 4 seconds flat, like Spiders on speed! My attempts were a little more serene and I managed the green route in about 45 seconds. My second and third attempts resulted in me falling and hitting my back on one of the hand grips right in the position of one of my bad kidneys creating quite a nice bruise. Wife wasn’t happy but I was, as I’d actually achieved something I didn’t think my body would let me do…but I proved it wrong.
Up we goDown we comeNice bruise on the back
Segway – never tried one of these before. Just two wheels and a balancing act to get it moving, however once moving I became a master of it and can’t wait to try it again, the wife wasn’t as happy and gave up after a few minutes as she thought she was about to fall off. But she tried.
And we’re offWife not so confident
Bowling – Where we were staying is where they hold the World bowls championships every year, so we had to give that a go. My Brother in law and his wife are regular players and they were my coaches on this day. Absolutely enjoyed it but I don’t think it’s something I’d take up as a full time hobby, just as in all sports you have to participate regularly to improve, and with my work commitments I can’t commit to such involvement. However I’d like to try a game every now and then.
BowlsHow it’s done
Silent Disco – one night after all the entertainment had ended there was a session of silent disco. Basically you wear headphones that have four different genres of music and that’s it, you just strut your stuff as you would do in a normal disco environment except no one else can hear you….until you start singing. Absolutely loved it.
Silent discoGood fun
Dancing on tables – Total surprise this. Our Neighbour Celebrated his 60th birthday. We were invited to a brilliant venue in Leicester that serves great food, and when everyone is finished it just becomes a big party where they actively encourage you to dance on the tables! So strange but such fun and a brilliant night was had by all. We will definitely be back. And I managed to not fall off. Result.
Up on the tablesBrilliant night
So in all it’s been a great 10 days. It was only as I was talking with the wife in the bathroom earlier today that I said we’d done so much in the last week or two, I just didn’t realise all those things we’d done together for the first time.
I guess the moral of this post is that you are never too old to try something new and that you definitely can teach old dogs new tricks.
Stay young, stay happy. Just enjoy yourself, don’t worry about making a fool of yourself as you probably won’t bump in to those who witness you doing so ever again.
You’ve probably read of my dislike of social media and modern technology in some of the posts I place on here. I think this blog post sums it up perfectly. You don’t need all that social media and technology hands to us.
Technology creates and brings an artificial layer in our lives. This artificial layer acts as a protective wall between us and the brute forces of …
My wife and I have always had a great understanding of what we class as memorable moments. We don’t even have to tell each other it’s memorable, we usually say to each other, “I’ve taken a picture”.
This isn’t a physical picture where you’ve lined up a camera for a snap, this is a mental picture, one of those special moments you store in your mind and in your life forever.
Akamas peninsula- Cyprus
One particular moment comes to mind one fine September day many years ago on the island of Cyprus. We were staying at a beachside hotel in the area of Chlorakas a few miles to the west of Paphos. We had gotten through a particularly bad period of our life and were away on holiday, just resting. This day we just grabbed a couple of chairs, a couple of drinks and then walked up on to a small hill to watch a glorious Cypriot sunset, and believe me there are not many better sights to view in your life. Here we sat alone, holding hands watching this glorious sight until the light faded and the dusk took hold. We continued just talking until it was time to make our way back for dinner. It is probably the most beautiful and peaceful moment I can ever remember, where for a fleeting moment we were the only two people on this wonderful planet enjoying a beautiful moment in time.
Mental pictures, that is what we collect, and we often both recollect these wonderful moments in our lives.
If you have wonderful memories, you need very little else in life, memories make you rich beyond your wildest dreams.
What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?
A long life would certainly appeal to me under certain conditions, just ensure my wife and family have the same gift of that long life. But they won’t will they? That said, the illness and frailty that nature bestows on you as you age does not come across as very appealing.
There is absolutely no doubt that I have enjoyed my life and time here and continue to do so. But if i lose the ability to move, to communicate and become totally dependent on other people’s time, then that might be reason to let the grim reaper know its time to arrive at my door, as I do not want to be that burden on anyone.
Life is a precious gift, of that there is no doubt, but in some cases that gift can become a burden. If I was to lose my social circle, this would be another reason to call time.
I’d imagine living an exceptionally long life could in some cases be viewed more as being given a sentence, that is how I see it, personally to me. To you and others it may come across as different and I respect that. However as you are reading my site, my views, this is how I feel.
I want a good life where I achieve all I wish to achieve, meet good people and have a damned good laugh. I don’t want to be the last to go, but I also don’t want to be the first. I’m not greedy, I know my time will come I just hope it’s not too soon, or too late.
Bit of a grim subject but these things need discussing.
Even as i approach the more senior years of my time here, i ask this question on a regular basis, pretty much every time i do something. I think when you are younger you’re more gung ho and devil may care, where as in your later years (especially in my case) you start to question yourself a lot more.
When age is challenging you, you tend to look back and think “I wish I’d done this or that differently” but hind site is a wonderful thing for bringing on guilt.
I think the best way to deal with it is this, life is for learning, you have to do something wrong to learn how to do it right. Don’t beat yourself up over how you have run your life, if you’ve been good to those you love and to people in general you haven’t done much wrong.
Just enjoy life and carry on making mistakes, that way you are still learning. No regrets.
Foxes Den 
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