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And suddenly it's March 2024. The maintenance goes on. We
now have a monster ride on zero-turn mower which helps. Her name is Maxine. The slasher (his name is McKay - what
else) is in with the professionals for an overhaul. The lower pasture is leased for cattle agistment. There is
a new submersible pump in the bore water well. Trees keep growing and require trimming. A further three of the
trees we lost in the (long ago now) drought have been felled, cut and split for firewood. I reckon we have two year's
worth in the shed now for the wood heater. Horses are well, dogs are well. We are down to one chook but she is
quite a character. Thinks she's a dog. We have been to Hong Kong a couple of times and even walked the Dragon's
Back. Eleven miles and very up and down. Oh, and we are well too.
It's September 2021 and we have been here now for three and a half
years, and it is in no way getting old. Every day we admire what we have. It's a bit like being on a boat, however.
People ask what you do all the time, and the answer is "maintenance." Diane now has two horses. One
is a Percheron and the other half thoroughbred half Clydesdale.
For Christmas Day 2018 we decided to climb Mount Warning. The
top is the first point in Australia to see the sun of a morning. The book said a three hour return trip and a moderate
climb. Lies. It took six hours there and back and exhausted us. And as the last straw the description said
that there was a "rock scramble" at the end to the top. Again, lies. It was bloody rock climbing (see
photo) although they did have a chain to hold on to. It was more use going down, to avoid falling off. They have
closed the mountain now for some inane reason so we are glad to have done it.
And of course there are dogs. Lola is a German Shepherd and a nice mature dog now. Bailey is half Australian Cattle Dog and half Kelpie and hell on wheels. Two speeds: on and off. Her father was an Australian Champion so although we have no desire to work her, she is going to weekly cattle dog training. She seems to do better with sheep though.
A somewhat more detailed narrative of our transition from the US to
Australia can be found under Diane's Rumblings on the menu bar at the left. This may indicate why I "summed up" - there is too much. More
photos are there as well. I feel a bit like Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride ... "Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up"
The summary. We sold, gave away or packed into a 40 foot container everything we owned and then sold the house. We were quite sad about it after 25 years but the new owners are cool and appreciate what we appreciated. Then a road trip to visit the kids, a return to the Bay area to sell the last remaining car, and drive a rental across to Fort Lauderdale where we boarded a cruise ship and 12 days later popped out at San Diego. We drove another rental up to Los Angeles and flew out to arrive in Brisbane, Australia, at 0600 on the 21st May. We stayed with family before moving into our property on the 25th. All we had we had carried on the plane, so things were a little sparse. Sleeping bags on air beds and one change of clothes for the next two months until our container contents were delivered. I have my kayak, I almost have my motor cycle (yet to be registered) and we have a car. We also have a tractor and farm ute.
Things have been incredibly busy. Quite apart from chopping up downed trees and trimming the driveway trees and trying to learn the systems and maintaining things that need maintenance, there is the extremely tiresome administrative stuff that the various layers of government require you to attend to. Don't get me going about importing my motorcycle. I could write a book - a horror story.
I will post some pictures so you can see what we have. Suffice to say we are very happy. More to come when I get a chance.
As a sort of aside and general update, Diane and I have bought a 40 acre farm in northern NSW, Australia and are in the process of extricating ourselves from 30 years in the US and returning to Oz. Want to buy a house? The trip was very like the one last year, but a little shorter and included a portion of the lower Withlacoochee. Day 1. 20th October 2017. 0 miles. Just nice and warm. Arrived 1140, unloaded kayak and gear and around 1230 loaded them again onto the shuttle. A surprisingly long trip to Blue Springs where I set up camp among the mosquitoes. Excellent lecture on the Suwannee history and the sturgeon. Now we know they jump to reinflate their swim bladders. Day 2. 21st October 2017. 12 miles. Away at 0845. Excellent weather but surprisingly tiring to paddle after a difficult put in. But them apart from the lake paddle a week ago, nothing at all for twelve months. There were several shoals and scrapes, paddling in excellent weather, but the big one required portage. I crawled around with the boat on a long line, easing her down river through the rocks line. The rock over which we crawled, and agianst which the kayak scraped, was ancient coral, eroded razor sharp. One small cut and one small tear in my shorts. Then two miles to the intersection with the Suwannee and a hard paddle against the currenrt, upstream for a quarter mile to the park. Had a nap. A little rain overnight. Day 3. 22nd October 2017. 15 Miles. Again an 0845 departure for 15 miles until 1215. Very pleasant going but again a touch on the tiring side. Glad to arrive even if it was to hide from mosquitoes again in a hot tent. Day 4. 23rd October 2017. 10 Miles. 0830 departure . It rained heavily with a line of storms while we were eating and then rained on and off all night. Light and moderate rain continued all the next day till we made camp at 1130 after only 10 miles in what were very pleasant conditions. Everything is now wet. Weather cleared late in the day and we had Grant Peeples for entertainment. Day 5. 24th October 2017. 18 Miles. Again 0830. Beautiful cool day. The day was not so hard to my surprise. Steady pace. Difficult pullout up stairs and onto rocks . Shower. After my nap of course. Day 6. 25th October 2017. 10 Miles. Start on time again and in equally great weather we had an easy paddle down to Branford and the pull out. Disappointed to hear the traffic on the bridge there as we approached since it meant a return to civilization. Loaded Gretel onto Truckie and after a hamburger and saying goodbye made good time home.
After due consideration, I have
decided to do the Suwannee River kayak trip again this year. This is perhaps my last time kayaking in the US as we prepare
to return to Oz. I went out on Lake Tarpon last Thursday (12th October 2017) and did 4.5 miles to The Turtle Club for
a cup of coffee, and then back to John Chestnut Park. Not too bad, though there was a head wind for quite a bit of it.
The trip this year will be a little shorter, and I suspect that the evaluations from last year suggested it, given the high
average age of the participants. I will keep you posted, and Spot will have the track. It runs 20th through 25th
October 2017.
Kayaking Day 1. 17th October 2016. As advertised, after arriving in Branford, the kayaks were loaded, the luggage loaded, and we were all (32 of us) shuttled to the Big Shoals Park. I set up camp and transferred the requisite equipment to Gretel aftrer unloading. Warmish. The river is very low and we will see what happens. We are 1 mile above Big Shoals and will have to portage there. Day 2. 18th October 2016. 9 miles. Broke
camp a little early and we were dragging/carrying the kayaks down the steep steps and trail by 0830. Managed to get
in withouut falling out. It was a long wait until everyone was on the water. We paddled a mile (which seemed like
5) to the portage around Big Shoals. Hard work dragging about 300 yards after pulling it up the cliff and then lowering
it again at athe other end. Again managed to make it into the kayak without falling out. The river is very low
and we had to walk through one bit and at another chute I was unable to turn quickly enough, and rammed the bow onto a rock,
and tumbled out. A swim to a small beach pushing Gretel, and then pump her out and get back in. The remaining
8 miles seemed longer, but then I have not trained for this. Serve me right. In camp by 1400. Hottish.
Day 3. 19th October 2016. 21 miles. Awake at 0645 but still dark. On the water by 0845 and lunch after 9.2 miles at 1200. Underway again at 1230 and reached the end of what turned out to be 21.3 miles at 1615. Some chutes and scrapes and the water remains very low. At times the water was so flat and the reflection so perfect that it was difficult to resolve what was real and what was the reflection. It was like paddling upsidedown in the reflection. Disorienting. Camped at Spirit of the Suwannee. Tired, but not as tired as I had expected. 21 miles tomorrow. I need to pace myself.
Day 4. 20th October 2016. 21 miles. Underway at 0830 and it was 13.1 miles to the lunch stop. Much easier going but still I was tired, my arms complaining for the first time. Arrived at 1300 and off again by 1330. 8 miles to the pullout. Arms getting very tired. Total of 21 miles and I felt it. Shower was good. Many mosquitos. Day 5. 21st October 2016. 15 miles. Same routine. We have had owls every night so far and as a bonus we had multiple trains, very close, last night. Excellent. Off at 0830 again and just kept paddling till 1300 when I arrived. More current, which is most welcome. A couple of interesting chutes early on. I made out a little better today. I started at 20 double strokes between short breaks but today was alternating 50 and 100 double stroke intervals with rests. The weather so far has been uniformly good. 80 - 82 degrees I reckon, clear skies, late cloud and light to moderate NE winds. Slept for 1.5 hours on arrival and in bed by 2040 anyway. Turned cooler overnight.
Day 6. 22nd October 2016. 10 miles. Same routine in the morning with breakfast at the Seventh Day Adventist complex. I'd eaten there before, in 2012. Underway in cool to cold conditions at 0836 and finished the 10 miles just after noon. Still, quite tiring. Camp set up and doze for half an hour. Clear skies again. Day 7. 23rd October 2016. 18 miles. The morning is getting to be a known routine, and I can break camp in the dark. Quite cold - 47 degrees they say, which required a t-shirt and socks in the sleeping bag. Off at 0820 and there was more current than we thought as we covered the 8.5 miles to the rest stop in 2.5 hours. Back on the river at 1111 and the afternoon started to drag a bit. Several chutes to be eyeballed, a course decided upon, and then the commit and execution. No mishaps. Hauled out at 1425 and set up camp. Forecast to be 45 degrees tonight! Day 8. 24th October 2016. 10 miles.
A short hop for the last day. The last most excellent Doobie Brothers breakfast and off again by 0830. It dropped
to 42 degrees overnight and paddling down the steaming river, in and out of the mist vortices, as the sun came through the
trees was very spectacular. I bypassed the rest stop and just kept going, now 80 double strokes, brief rest, 130 double
strokes, brief rest, and so on. Arrived at Branford after a relatively easy run and hauled out, walked to get Truckie,
loaded Gretel and then after a lunchtime hamburger, drove home.
The trip was a good deal all round. Good logistics. Excellent food. Interesting people to talk to. And no need to carry your food and camping gear. I will probably do another of Paddle Florida's trips next year. I am off kayaking along the Suwannee River
next week, 17th October 2016 through 24th October 2016, from Big Shoals down to Branford, about a hundred miles. Spot
will have the track. This is a supported trip, so they carry the luggage, provide the food, and reserve the
campsites. I went out for three hours on Lake Tarpon last week and that was all right. We'll see how this goes
with the new knee, stuck in the same position for extended periods.
Knees People would ask me what was to be the next adventure after touring for the bulk of 2015 in Mandy. For 2016
I scheduled total replacement of the left knee. I tore cartilage, and severed the ACL playing Australian Rules
Football in 1963, but, being at a boarding school in Australia, was
given some aspirin, a bandage, and told to live with it. I did until it finally locked up totally in 1971 when I had
my first operation, and they removed most of the insides. This lasted well till about 1987 when I had two arthroscopic
operation in quick succession to remove loose bodies, and tidy up what remained of the lateral meniscus. Then another
tidy up and removal of debris in 1992. But slowly the range of motion decreased and the pain increased. I went and had an evaluation in 2012 but that surgeon declined the job and
referred me to another. His comment on looking at the X-ray was, "Well Mr. Molony, no one could ever accuse you
of being a sissy when it comes to pain." I
chickened out on getting the job done then. People had said, that when the time comes, you will know. And I thought
- what a load of rubbish - the thing is a continuum and I'll never be ready for the devil I don't know in place of the one
I do. But they were right, and eventually I was becoming limited in the things I could do, to the point I had to
do something and I went back again, with more resolve. The X-rays in October showed about 3/16ths of an inch of bone
had been worn away in the previous three years. I had the job done by Dr. Bernasak at Tampa General on 12th January 2016.
I was the first on the assembly line for the day. The mongrels put me out - I had asked for a spinal and enough happy
juice to keep me skimming so I could watch. But out I went, and dutifully threw up for a while on awakening. The
pain afterwards was a lot less that I expected, or experienced after my first operation, 45 years before.
Half a Percocet of an evening to sleep was about all I required. Out in two days. I used the walker they recommended
I use for six weeks, for the next day, and then graduated to a stick which I stayed with for a couple of weeks. The
whole thing, while significant, was a lot less of a big deal than I had expected. At six weeks I was back to swimming,
bicycling and walking the dog, with less pain than I had before.
Bicycling After about three months I looked again at the cycling tour
along the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany, New York state. Seemed as though, since it would
be six months after the replacement, and a tow path along a canal would have to be flat, wouldn't it, that this seemed
like a good way to evaluate the knee, and start to get fit again. I trained for it, bicycling three days a week for
a couple of months for 30, 40 or 50 miles on the same bike I had taken to San Diego. 400 miles in 8 days would be all
right, surely. I had the bike serviced (Action Sports in New Port Richey are magical) and then with her in the
cab of the truck set out northward. In Bridgetown, Pennsylvania the drive shafts and bearing died, so I rented another
truck, put ours in for service and drove on to a motel in Buffalo, and then ...
9th July 2016. Set up camp at Nichols
School in Buffalo. The briefing advised that there were 742 participants, the average age being 54. Most of us
were camped out on the oval. I used the same gear as I had taken on the previous bicycle and kayak trips. On and
off rain and a strong SW wind overnight. And trains. And crowies. A front came through and the the
wind went strong NNW, with more rain.
10th July 2016. Day 1. 50 Miles, from
0800 to 1400. The crushed gravel sucks forcing you to use two gears lower than usual. I had, erroneously assumed,
that it would be mostly paved. The run out of Buffalo was on city roads, and bad ones at that. We had a police
escort, which eased bicycle/car interactions, but with 742 riders, being in the pack was quite stressful, trying to avoid
hitting or being hit by another bicycle. The first 30 miles were OK. Strong NNW was a head wind to start with,
but after Lockport (about half way) it became beam on. The high was about 78 with low humidity. Despite this,
I drank two and a half water bottles, three large cups of Gatorade, and on arrival a huge lemonade and at dinner, three more
lemonades. Sore arse. The dinner and the shower truck were good.
11th July 2016. Day 2. 56 miles. 0700 - 1400. Many geese yesterday and only slightly fewer today. A head wind of 10 - 12 knots which made it hard going on the crushed gravel. We got onto the hard top after about 35 miles, but then there were many ridges in it, caused by tree roots burrowing underneath. The last 20 miles,as usual, were very hard and there is an area of skin off my arse on the right. Very, very painful but it does not seem to be infected ... yet. No trains last night, but there are meant to be tonight. As it turned out, there were no trains. You will note the absence of pictures. The cycling was just too bloody hard to mess around stopping, pulling out a camera, and then going on. Call me lazy. 12th July 2016. Day 3. 57 miles 0700 -
1500. A very hard day following the 56 miles yesterday. Temperature 92 with high humidity. Drank as
much as I could and just avoided dehydration. Many geese. One ground hog. I set up the tent and then just collapsed into it despite the heat. Did I mentioned crushed gravel sucks?
Too tired to write this up last night, so in doing so tonight I'm sure to have missed something. Several others collapsed
in their tents around camp.
13th July 2016. Day 4. 0700 - 1330.
"Only" 40 miles today, but although a little hilly on the opening roads and the flat crushed gravel track at about
half way, it still seemed really hard. I stopped at every offered water stand and consumed a huge amount. Then
on arrival, a Sprite, a lemonade and a water bottle but I still didn't have my first piss of the day till 1600. A good
colour though. A moderate line of storms came through at 1700 to cool things down from 95. I walked three hills.
The last two hills were unfair being at the end of the day. The shower truck is great, and I have used it every day
though my clothes stink after four days and 203 miles. Dinner was in the zoo, and the first exhibit I passed had two
kookaburras. I said G'day. Arse stiill very sore with an increasing area of skin missing. There was at least
one case of heat stroke carted off.
14th July 2016. Day 5. 48 milles.
0710 - 1440 The ride out of Syracuse was awful. Traffic lights, shitty roads, downtown and a plethora of hills.
Then the bloody crushed rock again. It rained heavily for a while and the track turned to mush. Somehow every
day seems gut wrenching. Hot to start, and hot to finish if still damp. Arse totally shot with constant pain and
having to stand on the pedals to relieve it every four or so rotations. Very hot in the tent but my piss is clear.
Thank the hour of rain.
15th July 2016. Day 6. 62 miles. 0640 - 1545. Breakfast was off site. Not bad and mostly flat but the bloody crushed gravel still sucks, although some sections were not too bad. Many stops, especially late in the day and then the bloody great hill at the end. I walked. Too tired to stand to put up the tent so I scuttled around crab like, given I can't crawl on the knee (no feeling - nerves severed). It is holding up well but is now getting just a bit sore at the end of the day. Today was about as much as I could do. 16th July 2016. Day 7. 45 miles. It seems as though the mind sets a physical limit equal to the expectation for the day. After yesterday, 45 was about as much as I could do. Less gravel, more roads, but at least it is a light tail wind and moderate temperature, although the tent, in the suun, is still very hot at the end of the day. 17th July 2016. Day 8. 29 miles. 07100 - 1130. Odd, but today 29 miles was about as much as I could take. Really quite pleasant though. Coolish, and all paved to the end in downtown Albany. Very glad to be finished and the hot dog and Coke went down well. A few hours to wait and then off on the shuttle bus back to Buffalo. Summary. In discussions with some of the other first time riders we agreed that the ride was a bit misrepresented. A small portion of it was paved, and every so often we would turn off the flat tow path and head off on roads over hills before returning to it. Someone had a computer program that showed we had gone up and down 7000' over the course of the ride. I believe it. But the logistical support was nothing short of magnificent. The food, showers, briefing, road markings and support were all first class. My arse hurt, my shoulders hurt, but the knee was mildly uncomfortable one or two times, so we'll give it a pass. Physically it was one of the hardest things I've done, and if I'd known just how hard, I would not have done it. But once you start, you have to finish. The day's routine was almost always the same. Get up at 0515 and pack up camp and cart the bags to the trucks for transport to the next camp site. Go to breakfast and then be riding by about 0700. There would be drink stops set up and a mid-morning and mid-afternoon rest area with snacks as well. After finishing the ride, the hard part of the day was retrieving your gear, dragging it to a spot in the campground near the portable toilets and shower truck, and then setting up camp. Next, drink water, and more water and try and rehydrate before showering and then dozing in the tent until dinner at about 1800. In bed by 2000 and asleep about 2001. As you can tell from the sparseness of this narrative, I was just too bloody tired to write much at the end of the day. I was not alone in finding it hard. Many dropped out on the way and it was a little comforting to see many others each evening, stretched out asleep in their tents as soon as they put them up. Just like me. I had the bicycle into the rental truck and was back at the motel in Buffalo about 2130. Then next day I drove back to Bridgeville to swap trucks, and another day and a half driving home. I was very tired and found I had lost 10 pounds in the 8 days, despite eating very well. It took a week to ten days to recover fully. Note to self: must be getting weak. |
