We have just touched down from a 3 week holiday in Australia and so a catch up is needed! I hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year, with lots of fun, food and Love Actually on repeat.
Well, what a year 2012 has been:
Finishing my first year at Oxford, punting/garden parties (with excessive amounts of Pimms), Berlin with Maddles, Chasing Zero at Momentum, a great beginning to second year at Oxford with surprise visits from wonderful friends, an incredible thanksgiving ball at St Aldates (and a lovely new pastorate to have joined!), playing women's football for Worcester, Oxmas and of course starting training for the Marathon!
Our (my family's) trip to Australia has been the cherry (and icing) on top! We have had so much fun no matter where we were or what we were doing, 3 weeks together has been awesome.
My Highlights:
- Climbing Sydney harbour bridge
- Trekking the blue mountains
I know, I know, such a geographer...
- Learning to surf
- Night Watching little penguins walk across the beach to their nests about a metre or 2 away from where we were sitting
- The most beautiful sunset I've ever seen
- Incredible stars
- Swimming with wild dolphins and seals*
- Christmas on the highest floor of the tallest building in Melbourne
- Staying in tents and sunbathing/burning in Jervis bay
- Going to Sydney taronga zoo and seeing meerkats (they're my favourite, other than pigs)
- Watching the New Year's Eve fireworks at Sydney harbour bridge in the botanical gardens
... And breath! This new year I am thankful for such a lovely holiday, I am feeling truly blessed for my incredible, strong and loving family and to be given the opportunity to experience so much together is such a privilege.
Our word for this holiday was 'ripper', I know - huh?!- but say it in a surfer dude accent and imagine yourself an aussie with long blonde hair, uber chilled out and called Maddy (preferably a female...).There you have our surfing instructor on Phillip island. Yup I have decided to bun uni and go live in Oz, catching waves, chilling with penguins and having a year round golden tan. No really**.
Well apart from the bun uni part that probably won't be really workable with the whole life plan of getting a degree. I also tend to burn a bit so I would need money to buy sun cream and after sun so I would probably need a job too... Ok,ok, I may not be able to live life quite the same as Maddy***.
But Maddy and all the other Sheila's and Bruce's (sorry it had to be done) we met in Australia and their laid-back attitude to life, definitely made me think.
With the everything that happened last year, the good and the slightly harder, it has been a time to reflect and put things in perspective. Watch out here comes the New Years resolution, drum roll please (just so you know I am imagining you all at your computer screens doing a mini drum roll tap on your knees. Snaps for those who did it.):
Have a more laid back, chilled out approach to life.
Live. Be open and allow vulnerability. Continue to give my all to everything but remember to have fun. Love and let people know I love them (apologies for the sop, all you lucky people who may find that kind of thing uncomfortable, you are gonna love me when we next catch up). Do things that are daunting and scary but good, take new steps.
Even the koalas are pretty mellow, I could have sworn this one whispered 'duuuuude...'
Training in Oz started off grand with my first 10 mile run done around Sydney opera house, botanical gardens and the harbour bridge. However unfortunately for the first time in training I have a running injury. My lower back started playing up and when I landed on each foot whilst running I got a shooting pain down the back of my thighs. So training paused for a while and I rested up. This was initially absolutely gutting, but gradually I've managed to start doing short runs and going in the gym and hopefully now that I'm back in the UK after I've seen the physiotherapist next week I can get back to my longer runs again.
*Another highlight of that was meeting a lady whilst I was munching a carrot on the boat who I thought at first was joking (but as it turned out wasn't) that she could telepathically communicate with the seals and dolphins who are in a 5th dimension. Apparently their aim is to bring us to their 5th dimension... Don't worry, she also said that eating carrots (like I told her I always did) means you have 20/20 vision and she swears by it. I neglected to tell her I am practically blind without my contact lenses... Still, it made swimming with wild animals less scary as she kept singing to them when we were getting into the water. Kudos crazy lady.
**I managed to stand up (kind of) once, I feel that qualifies me to say I could become the new female Kelly slater...
***Maddles I freaked out excitedly when Maddy introduced herself and nearly launched into suggesting she be my new Aussie you..., I think my family are grateful I stopped my jibber jabber before I made her confused and probably a bit scared.
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