Faith New Zealand's Road Map of Life : Grab Bag

National Day of Mourning

Faith New Zealand — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 18:07:00 GMT

Today has been declared a National Day of Mourning here in Australia. 209 people are known to have lost their lives in the bush fires of Black Saturday, with more bodies yet to be located. More than 1500 homes were burned to the ground. Thousands of animals were also killed. The landscape will take years to recover.

Amidst the crisis tales of great courage and heroism have emerged. There have been miracles of survival, and at the height of the blaze a baby was born - joy amongst dispair. His family survived with just the clothes on their backs, but their lives were spared.

When things like this happen we forget our differences and remember our common humanity. So spare a prayer for those affected by this terrible disaster, and let us all reflect on the fact that even our "enemies" are just people, with families, homes, and emotions just like our own, for only then will we have peace in our time.

Valentine's Day Tips

Faith New Zealand — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:46:00 GMT

This link is just for the guys (but smart women will make she that "He" gets to see it....)

http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/b/mens-health/4756/how-to-play-the-valentine-game

:))

Faith

PS : Guys, this is good advice for birthdays as well!

Looking For Work?

Faith New Zealand — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 02:48:00 GMT

If you are looking for work, I'm passing this along from a trusted source:

"Just wanted to pass this along...if any of your US caller/clients are looking for work, have them contact the closest office of the US Census Bureau. They are hiring NOW for the 2010 census. Positions available range from office work to field agents, pay is decent and depending on the area and position jobs will last for weeks, months or as long as a year. With all the layoffs in the news it's nice to know someone is actually hiring!"

Good luck!

:))

Faith

Speaking on Behalf of the Voiceless Angels With Fur

Faith New Zealand — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:08:00 GMT

I received this email from a caller friend, and feel very strongly that it is a story worthy of sharing:

"Since you have "held my hand" during the recent losses of several of my pets (angels with fur) I'm excited to tell you about the "gift" I received a week after my birthday. I was driving home during a sleet storm just before dark when I spotted two small dogs near the highway. They were in great danger from the traffic and the extreme falling temperatures. I made a quick rescue so they would not get hit by a car or freeze to death. They were so filthy and their hair so matted I couldn't tell much about them. After a hot bath and several hours of cutting the mats from their hair, I was shocked to discover I had rescued a tiny pekingese and a very small cocker spaniel! Convinced that they must belong to someone I did all the normal "lost/found dog routine"...contacted the vets and animal shelters, put an ad in the paper, listed them on all the free internet sites, etc. No response! I've since come to believe they were "put out" by someone who either didn't want them or could no longer pay the expense of keeping them. Wherever they came from they were not accustomed to physical affection...whenever I would reach for them they would "freeze" and "flatten out"....with almost a month now of good food, warm home and lots of physical affection they have really BLOSSOMED!!! So the newest members of my family are Sofie (an adorable, very small black and white cocker spaniel) and Cupcake (a tiny blonde pekingese princess). My big dog Jordan is a laugh riot with them...he's 90 pounds so compared to them he looks like a Great Dane, but they have a great time together. Sometimes he gets a little rough, just because he's so big and wants to play, but they all seem to be finding their own place and comfort zone. I can't save all the dogs, but I'm happy I could help these two little angels!

I wanted to suggest a topic for your blog...with the economy in the dumps so many people are giving up their animals and not always in a loving way. In the past month my neighbors around here out in the country have reported seeing at least a dozen dogs wandering the roads, many are pure bred expensive dogs...some have been lucky enough to find homes but others have not...a few were hit by cars, shot by farmers or froze to death. It is just so sad!!! Please encourage those in the heart wrenching position of having to give up their pets to PLEASE do it in a HUMANE WAY..not just toss them out!!! Yes, Craigslist is loaded with ads for pets needing homes and yes many shelters are full, but to just dump them and expect them to fend for themselves, especially in the winter is just down right cruel!!!"

Why would people do this sort of thing to expensive pets? Well, not all people who do it are cruel, just misguided. It's a version of "magical thinking." They cannot face the reality of surrendering their animals to the humane society knowing they will be put down, so they turn them loose in the hope that they will adopted by someone like my caller with the big heart. But as the email says, the reality is much worse. They are killed by traffic, or starve or freeze, a much worse fate than a simple injection.

It may feel terrible to front up to the humane society and tell those there that you can't even afford the donation to take your pet off your hands, but it's the last act of kindness you can do for your loyal friend. Only one animal in a thousand encounters someone as special as these two did. So PLEASE, put the word out that it's kinder to euthanase than to rely on magical solutions.

I have never before added these words to an email or Blog, but I'm adding them now:

"Please send this to all of your friends."

Happy New Year to all the Creator's creatures.

Try This!

Faith New Zealand — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:29:00 GMT

We are all looking for cheaper cleaners that are also environmentally friendly. Eucalyptus oil is a great germ buster, and white vinegar cuts through all sorts of grime. Put them together, and you have the perfect surface cleaner at a fraction of the price of a bottle full of chemical nasties. Here's the magic formula:

300ml white vinegar

150ml water

10 - 15 drops eucalyptus oil

Put it all into a spray bottle, shake and use directly on the surface to be cleaned, no rinsing required, and it won't set off any allergic reactions.

PS 300ml is about 10 oz - just over half a pint

Listen To Your Gut!

Faith New Zealand — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:58:00 GMT

I came across this great article and wanted to pass it on:

Hey, you. Up there. I know you don't expect to hear from me except around meal times, but there's lots about me you don't know. You think I'm a troublemaker who sabotages your diet and makes you look bad in a bikini. You think I always complain: too full, too empty, too spicy. OK, I see your point. But hear me out - I do more for you than you know.

I work nonstop, with no breaks, and I usually pull a double on holidays. I kill bacteria lurking in food to protect you from disease. And most importantly, I help convert the food you eat into fuel for everything you do. So give me a little credit, and cut out the pinching already - it's not going to make me flatter.

Besides, those rolls you call your "Buddha belly" aren't me. I'm high up in the abdomen, under the bottom of your rib cage, a little to the left. I'm not as big as you think - only about 30cm long and 10 to 25cm wide when empty. I can stretch to hold up to 3L of food - pretty impressive, huh? That's why you need to unbutton your jeans after stuffing yourself silly. But don't blame me for your muffin top - that's fat padding your abdomen.

Believe it or not, my size has nothing to do with yours. Stomach's dimensions are predetermined by genetics and we don't grow in proportion to our owners. That's why some svelte people can gulp down a lot of food without getting a gut. For instance, 45kg Sonya Thomas, a competitive eater most famous for downing 39 hot dogs in 12 minutes, regularly defeats men four to five times her size. I sure don't envy her stomach.

So here's what I'm doing while you're tucking into pancakes: the upper section of my bean-shaped body, or fundus, serves as a pantry, storing food until it travels through my central region, the corpus, to be processed by my lower half, or antrum. That's where the digestion work takes place. And it is work. I have to flex my muscles (yes, I have muscles!) in a rhythmic, agitating motion, like a washing machine, to mix food with acid and digestive juices that break it into its basic components: proteins, sugars and fats.

It's a big job, but I have help from 35 million acid-secreting glands in my lining. On a normal day, I produce 2 to 3L of gastric juices. Dropping all that acid (hey, a little stomach humour!) doesn't just help with digestion; it also kills bacteria, protecting you from infection. Normally, a healthy layer of mucus over my lining keeps me safe from the acid's harmful effects but, from time to time, you aggravate that layer - with a bacterial infection, or by popping aspirin tablets like they're M&Ms - and acid can erode through. Too much of that kind of damage could mean - gulp - an ulcer. Every stomach's worst nightmare.

Anyway, after I've churned the food into a mushy mixture called chyme, I squeeze it every 20 seconds through the pyloric sphincter - a strong ring of smooth muscle at the end of my food-passing canal - into the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine. It takes me several hours to work through a meal and, if it's really big or fatty, I have to put in overtime.

The only time I ever stop is when your brain releases the stress hormone cortisol. That "fight-or-flight" response either shuts down digestion, making me feel full of butterflies, or speeds it up to the point that you feel sick.

When I'm completely empty, you'll feel those contractions as hunger pangs, which I jump-start by releasing ghrelin - the "hunger hormone" - into your blood. Your brain sends me signals so I secrete this hormone. You might hear those contractions, too - an empty stomach amplifies the rumbles. The other noises I make are just normal digestion. I'll sound off for 10 to 20 minutes while I'm digesting food, and then again every one to two hours until your next meal. Sorry I don't always have the best timing (I forgot you had that romantic evening planned last week). But I'm not alone in the noisemaking; your small intestine gets rowdy too: as food makes its way to the large intestine, it pushes air and liquid around in your bowels and that causes all those gurgling sounds.

If you really want me to quiet down, steer clear of Krispy Kreme stores. Your brain releases ghrelin to tip me off the second you see or smell food so I can get my juices flowing in preparation. And I especially like sugar. In fact, I have some of the same sweet-detecting proteins as your tongue. I use them to help regulate insulin production and appetite. I can't exactly "taste" sugar like your tongue does, but sweetness makes me rev up the release of hormones that make you feel happy.

And please remember - while you might notice the difference between diet and regular, I can't. I'll react to artificial sweeteners as if they're the real thing: by wanting more. That's why every time you down a Diet Coke, you crave a chocolate biscuit.

When you eat too much, I feel it. I help kick-start the release of leptin, the hormone that tells you you're full and induces nausea. It's my way of saying "Stop!" So give me a chance to say it before you wolf down seconds. A third of what you eat is processed in about 20 minutes, so if you take the time to chew, you'll leave the table before you overdo it. Too many super-sized meals can desensitise my stretch receptors, the ones that let your brain know I'm maxed out, and then it'll take a lot more food to make me feel full next time.

The good news is that if you eat smaller meals for a while, I'll get used to reasonable portions again and feel full on less. Just don't cut back too far. I'm no fan of being empty, and when you don't feed me enough, I have no choice but to let loose more ghrelin. That can send you craving junk food - and neither of us wants that. Let's strike a bargain: don't let me get empty, and I'll go easy on the "Feed me, Seymour" dramatics. Just keep small, healthy meals coming throughout the day.

You can help by choosing foods that take me longer to digest. Protein's good, so eat fish, chicken, lean beef, eggs and skim milk. Fibre-rich foods, especially those mixed with water, like brown rice and oatmeal, tend to stick around a while too. I generally go through other carbs faster. They subdue ghrelin, but only temporarily - and when it bounces back, it's with a vengeance, making you more ravenous than you were before you ate. Even worse is overloading on fats. They're the least efficient at suppressing ghrelin, so try to avoid giving me a whole lot of them.

Unfortunately, I stink at maths, so it's up to you to count kilojoules. It's all the same to me, whether you fill me up with hot chips or salad, because I react to volume, not density. I don't know how much fat is in those fries, but I do know they aren't going to keep me happy for as long as, say, some fresh fruit.

And while we're on the subject, in case you've been thinking about diet aids, let me make up your mind for you: fat substitutes and fat-blockers go right through me. Mess with them and you may be able to finish War and Peace on the dunny. These products work by preventing enzymes from breaking down fat, so it gets eliminated with other waste instead of ending up on your thighs. But urgent bowel movements, diarrhoea, and gas with horrible oily spotting come with the territory. Not fun.

Well, thanks for listening.

I think we make a pretty good team, you and I. I'll keep expanding to meet your needs, sterilising your grub, and churning it into your intestines, if you keep me full of protein and fibre, stop eating when I'm full and steer clear of fad diets. Maybe this year we can even enjoy wearing a bikini together.

Is your belly gender-biased? Click here to find out.

http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/b/womens-health/1902/listen-to-your-gut/

Paranoia

Faith New Zealand — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:48:00 GMT

If you think the world is out to get you, you’re not alone! Paranoia is on the rise:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5143036/paranoia-on-the-rise-experts-say/

It’s the negative face of the Law of Attraction – we notice what we are programmed to notice. With governments warning us to be alert for suspicious activity, we are doing just that – and the result is a threefold increase in paranoia amongst “normal” people.

It seems we are very vulnerable to paranoid thoughts. It’s part of the fight or flight survival mechanisms that keep us alive. But taken to excess it can damage our mental and physical health by keeping us in a state of constant readiness.

What should we do about it? For a start, reduce exposure to news broadcasts. One dose of the “bad news” each day is quite enough. Try not to go looking for trouble. And most importantly, don’t rush into acting upon a paranoid thought.

It’s okay to be a little bit crazy. It seems to be a part of the human condition. But be aware that rising levels of paranoia do not indicate that there is an ACTUAL increase in threats, despite the fact that “news” broadcasts manage to give us exactly the opposite impression. We never hear about all the people, the vast majority, who lead peaceful, trouble free lives. The bottom line is that good news does not sell.

It's in the Genes

Faith New Zealand — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:25:00 GMT

What is it that determines our behaviour? Is it heredity? Or is it environment? In days gone by people looked very carefully at family background before agreeing to a marriage. They believed that “bad traits” could be inherited, and would avoid those whose relatives had criminal tendencies or a history of madness.

In the “enlightened” 60’s and 70’s we laughed at such beliefs and labeled them superstitious and misguided. There was a widespread belief that environment was the principal determinant of behaviour, and an optimistic view that we could shape children’s behaviour with education. It was that climate of opinion that produced such programs as “Sesame Street.”

Now the wheel has come full circle. A recent study indicates that genetics determines at least 40% of our behaviour:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/5108465/blame-genes-40-behaviour/

One thing is still certain. The first seven years of life are the most significant for shaping future behaviour. The Jesuits have a saying: “Give me a child until he is seven, and I will show you the man.” Nature? Nurture? They are BOTH important. Maybe in the future we’ll be looking more seriously at potential partner’s families all over again!

Stellar Bloggers

Faith New Zealand — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:46:00 GMT

Since Keen introduced its Blogs feature, some stellar Bloggers have emerged. Their work shines out, giving us wisdom, enlightenment and sometimes a laugh. They have that knack of putting into words things that we already know in a way that makes it seem new, or of introducing us to things that we didn’t know about at all. I would like to take this opportunity to thank some of those whose words have added sparkle to my day – Bridget, Rosie, Donna, Susan and Joan, to name just a few. We all have our favorites, and there are Rising Stars joining the board all the time.

Where am I going with this? Well, I’d like to address some of the rumblings that have been starting to surface regarding Blogs. I have no desire to join the Blog Police. If someone copies someone else’s Blog or violates their Copyright then I feel that is the responsibility of Keen’s Playfair arm to deal with it. Keen has its own rules, and it is up to Keen to enforce them.

However, there are other things than rules and regulations that govern human interactions. There are subtleties that fall under the heading of manners or etiquette. For example, it is not good manners to flood the Blog home page with multiple posts on the same day, particularly repeats of the same Blog. That is the equivalent of thoughtlessly pushing into a queue while others wait patiently for their turn.

Some advisors put a huge amount of effort into their blogs. These blogs are immensely helpful to all our callers. It must be very disheartening for them to see their hard work being disrespectfully shoved aside. It reflects badly on those who behave this way, but ultimately it disadvantages us all, because Keen promotes outstanding blogs in ways that bring callers to the site as a whole.

Human nature being what it is, the mannerless will always be with us. But since some of those who bring quality to the Blogs are talking about ceasing to write at all, I would just like to say – don’t let the lunatics start running the asylum. Lead by example. Continue to raise the tone. Your work will simply shine more brightly amongst the less worthy contributions of those who haven’t the good sense to stop and think about their actions.

Faith

MBT's

Faith New Zealand — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:33:00 GMT

It’s not often I write a "commercial" for a product. In fact, I have never done it before. But I am making an exception for MBT’s. MBT stands for Masai Barefoot Technology. They are a form of footwear developed to help people with joint pain, but they also assist with general fitness and weight loss through exercising underused muscles.

Their creator suffered badly with back pain. He noticed that when he walked on soft soil, the pain wasn’t nearly as bad. By studying the imprint left by his feet in sand, he calculated the correct “footprint” that the sole of a shoe really needs to compensate for the fact that these days we do most of our walking on hard, flat surfaces. He concluded it was the same footprint left by the barefooted Masai who walk miles over sand carrying heavy loads without any of the backache and other pains the rest of us are prone to. The result was MBT’s, with their unique curving sole and spongy texture.

I admit to feeling skeptical about them at first, as they are a high ticket item and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a useless fad. My husband suffers from chronic knee pain, due to kick boxing in his youth, and is on his feet all day cutting hair, so I said I’d buy him a pair for his birthday to see if they helped him. He tried them on and said they felt comfortable, but "funny". He did feel an immediate improvement in his knees. He put his old shoes back on, walked a few steps in them, and ripped them off again. He put the MBT’s back on and has never worn his old shoes again. He can even jog again.

I have found that they help my back, they are firming up my butt and thighs, and assisting me to lose weight. Because it is more comfortable to walk in them, I am exercising more and grumbling less. I don’t have shares in the company – but I wish I did!

For the full story, go here: http://www.swissmasaius.com

Village Green Apple Cake

Faith New Zealand — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:40:00 GMT

You’ve doubtless read about the infamous “Neiman Marcus” cookie recipe, an urban myth that’s been circulating for years. If you haven’t, you can catch up with the yarn here:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/fooddrink/a/cookie_recipe.htm

However, this story really IS true, and the recipe is good as well! A few years ago, my friend Heather often used to visit her sister who owned a craft shop next to a nice little coffee shop in Mt Roskill South, a suburb of Auckland. The coffee shop was called The Village Green. It used to make an apple cake that Heather adored, and it became an obsession with her to get hold of the recipe for it.

One day when she was visiting her sister and sampling the cake, she noticed that the café had a sign in the window adverting for a part time dish washer / waitress, so she took the job! She worked there just long enough to get her hands on the apple cake recipe, then quit again! And she passed the recipe on to me. The café is long gone, but the recipe lives on, so here it is:

Melt 125g butter in a good sized saucepan. Stir in 1 cup of sugar and 1 egg. Then add 2 cups of whole meal flour, half a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of mixed spice, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 cup raisins, 1 tsp of baking soda, and one and a half apples, sliced with the skins on. You can also add ½ cup of chopped walnuts, but that’s optional.

Bake in a loose bottomed tin 50 – 60 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Just tip the mix into the tin, don’t pack it down. No matter how strange it looks, it all comes out just right! Serve it warm with cream or ice cream, or cold on its own. It’s very versatile.

This story has a funny footnote. At the time Heather gave me the recipe I wasn’t much of a cook, but it was so easy that I actually baked it and it became a family favorite. A few months later Heather lost her own copy of the recipe. She hunted high and low but couldn’t find it anywhere. She hadn’t given it to anyone else, and almost didn’t bother to ask me about it, as she knew I didn’t bake. I gave it back to her of course, but it was very tempting to ask her to wash my dishes for a week!

Don't Wear Pink on a Bike!

Faith New Zealand — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:34:00 GMT

As a dedicated motorbike rider, I always cringe when I see a woman on a motorbike, scooter or bicycle dressed in pink. Why? Because women on bikes are particularly vulnerable, and pink screams “potential victim” to anyone with mischief in mind. Aggressive car drivers are MUCH more likely to cut in on a woman wearing pink or baby blue than on a man in black leather. Wearing “girl colors” makes a woman an easy target.

I attended an advanced motorbike skills course a few years back. During the discussion period someone asked what color was best to make bike and rider more visible. This was the instructor’s reply. Statistics show that the bikes least likely to be involved in accidents with other drivers belong to cops and gang members! The reason is that both of those groups have THREAT VALUE to other drivers.

If you want to stay safe on a bike, you need to think THREAT VALUE! When I go out I wear nasty looking leathers and a full faced helmet so no one thinks “woman on a bike.” Pink may look “cute” but it won’t keep you safe on a bike.

White Vinegar

Faith New Zealand — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:21:00 GMT

These days most of us are looking for cheap, environmentally friendly methods of carrying out household cleaning tasks. White vinegar fits the bill. Here are my Top Three uses for it:

1. Use it to replace the rinse aid in your dishwasher - it leaves your glassware sparkling clean and your plates streak free at a fraction of the cost of the commercial product, leaving no potentially harmful chemical residues on your dinnerware.

2. Use it instead of fabric softener in your washing machine. It removes soap residues and leaves clothes soft. If you have hard water, add a scoop of washing soda to the wash cycle to soften the water and your soap powder will go further. Old fashioned methods are still the best!

3. Use it to wipe kitchen surfaces. It is excellent for cutting through soap scum and grease, leaving your sink clean and your taps shiny. It deters insects as well.

PS: It also takes the pain out of wasp stings. But don't use it on bee stings - they need something alkaline like a baking soda or washing soda solution.

The Power of Prayer

Faith New Zealand — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:46:00 GMT

A few weeks ago, I asked for prayers for my profoundly retarded sister Bonita, who had been diagnosed with an inoperable breast cancer. Many of you responded by sending healing energies her way, and I am delighted to be able to report a wonderful change for the better. The surgeon reviewed her case and was able to operate a few days ago, with a very hopeful outcome. Bonita is comfortable and making good progress, with no sign that the cancer has spread to other parts of her body.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the miracle of prayer, and to let you know that a beautiful soul has benefited from your combined energies.

With heartfelt thanks

Faith

Frogs in the Toilet

Faith New Zealand — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:57:00 GMT

As some of you will know, I have been away for three weeks circumnavigating Australia on a motorcycle. We covered 7500 miles all up. To quote something I saw recently, “Only a motorcyclist knows for certain why a dog sticks its head out of the car window!” Riding a bike certainly gets you up close and personal with the environment and gives you a true perspective on just how vast Australia is. It took us more than two days hard riding just to leave Western Australia. The journey took us across the Nullabor, which is so isolated that the road doubles as an airstrip for the Flying Doctor Emergency Service. The cattle and sheep stations are too enormous to fence. The biggest Australian stations are larger than small countries, four times bigger than anywhere else in the world – yes, some things ARE bigger than Texas! The result is that livestock strays on to the road, along with kangaroos, emus and the birds of prey that feast on road kill, all of which are very hazardous to motorbikes. The Wedge Tailed Eagle has an 8 foot wing span and is so heavy it has to take off into the wind so it is often hit by passing vehicles. We had to be constantly on alert for them.

Another hazard is the “road trains”. These are huge trucks pulling several trailer units, with a total length of 58.5 yards – more than half the length of a football field. They are challenging to overtake, as the “tail” wags about on the road, and when they pass by on the opposite side the resulting wind shear causes a motorbike to wobble about. Even the distance between gas stations was a challenge. In many places they are nearly 200 miles apart, which is close to the limit that a motorcycle can cover. We had to carry extra fuel and water. People die every year from exposure when vehicles break down in remote locations. Many of the areas we traveled through carried little traffic, and even in winter the daytime temperature was 90 degrees plus, while some of the night time temperatures were close to freezing. We spent a lot of time adding and subtracting layers of clothing.

From Western Australia we passed into Victoria then into New South Wales, finally arriving on the Queensland Gold Coast five and a half days later, where I got the chance to catch up with my two daughters and their families. One flew over from Auckland New Zealand, and the other flew up from Canberra. It was hands on with two grand children and The Bump. Great fun! At one stage we were following one daughter and her husband and children in their hire car on our bikes and I thought “there’s something wrong with this picture – isn’t it supposed to be the grandparents in the car and the children on the bikes?” It gave me a good chuckle.

We then rode up to Townsville for a week in the tropical sunshine at a bike rally, before heading home “Over the Top” through North Queensland and Northern Territory and back into Western Australia, where we took the inland road past the mining boom areas of the Kimberleys and the Pilbarra, skirting the Tanami Desert, the Great Sandy Desert and the Simpson Desert en route. It was in Mount Isa that I opened the lid of a camp ground toilet to be confronted with a bowl full of frogs (you probably thought I was never getting to that!) I have to admit that I screeched in surprise, but better frogs than snakes…

We had a wonderful moment when we watched a wild dingo crossing the road in the twilight, but I have to confess that I’m not fond of emus. They stand watching the bikes approach, getting increasingly hysterical, like elderly spinsters confronted with a prowler, then decide to make a mad suicidal dash at the last moment right across in front. At least the kangaroos try to avoid you if they see you. We managed to avoid all mishaps, but two of our fellow riders weren’t so lucky – they both hit roos and did a lot of damage to their bikes. Fortunately they weren’t killed. A big roo can be the size of a deer, and they move like lightning.

The principal impression I was left with is of the vastness of Australia. We rode through all the States except Tasmania. It took six and a half days to ride back across the country, using every minute of daylight, and for hours and hours we would ride through the same surroundings – red earth with sparse scrub and termite mounds every yard or two. It’s hard to believe that these areas are ever flooded, but the road markers say differently. Every creek bed we passed was dried up, and the only major river we crossed Up Top is infested with crocodiles that snack on those foolish enough to camp nearby. Someone is killed every few months by one. It is a harsh and unforgiving land.

I am currently enjoying sitting on a seat that doesn’t move under me, but I know that in a few weeks time the wanderlust will return and I’ll be planning my next Odyssey. Next year the bike club rally is near Sydney, and we have yet to travel the Great Ocean Road…