Forced to slow down!

A block of time and unable to go many places - what perfect time to get travel-ready for future adventures! 

Not a particularly interesting shot but I've been walking up and down and around and around our carpark - that's 5 levels! On the way I lost 5 kg but sadly found one of them. Not to be daunted, I'm still working on it for a whole lot of reasons. The outlook sort of gauranteed that I didn’t encounter too many people on these walks! 

Apart from gardening, cooking etc, we pack tons of food and essentials at Foodbank each week for people doing it tough. We feel privileged to be of use and rather humble - and the bonus is it helps build up our strength. Great exercise!

And don’t forget KOGO. While most of the city was, and remains in lock down, there will continue to be people in need of warm clothes. Our car did a few runs stuffed to the roof with wonderful warm things made by the thousands of marvelous people out there knitting and crocheting. 

Why the exercise you wonder? Primarily because I have to for my health but importantly, I need to be fit enough to do some serious walking next year. Yes, give the girl some dream time and it's dangerous! Exciting, fanciful travel plans start materialising. Where to this time?  

Well this year we're off in the caravan for an extended expedition through remote parts of Oz that will firstly take us digging for opalised fossils in Lightning Ridge, NSW (once we can get out, if we ever get out ofVictoria).

Lightning Ridge is a special place for opals and fossils. This is the location of the Australian Opal Centre, a two-storey underground place of research, display, of education and simple wonder. The AOC organises fossil digs each year. We feeling fortunate to be included - if we can get over the border!! 

Then hopefully we’ll travel to WA to do bird and marine mammal surveys - perhaps even swim with humpback whales and snorkel on World Heritage Ningaloo Reef, Australia's largest fringe reef and only one close to our land mass! And we will be travelling the roads less traveled and hopefully that will eventually include the Great Central road which runs through the ?? why the centre of course; it's also known as Australia's longest shortcut. 
But looming as an almighty challenge is April next year when we're booked to undertake a six-day central desert scientific and ecological survey trekking (AKA walking!) through the Western Simpson Desert with camels as part of the 'Knowledge Mapping the Desert Expeditions' organised by Australian Desert Expeditions. Did I mention needing to get fit - this might just be the straw that broke the camels back, no pun intended!

In the meantime ..... keep exercising Heather!

We'll be in the western Simpson Desert. This is a shot from another expedition somewhere in the Gibson (my maiden name) Desert. In this desert is my highway - the Heather Hwy - gotta go there. Hopefully this year!

What a gorgeous serene pair of faces.  Hopefully I can post something akin to this next year. Watch this space.  I’ll be back in touch anon .......