the birm*

Glenrock in the afternoon sun…

I guess there’s not much more to add. If you know what it feels like to ride the sensational trails of Glenrock on a warm autumn afternoon with a bunch of mates, then you know exactly what I’m talking about! If you don’t know then I can’t really explain…still, it went something like this:

On this occasion it was James on his plush Jamis Dakar XC comp (what a smoooooth ride!), Monkie on my old silver NRS (that bike was built for Glenrock!!!), another mate on his more freeride angled Trance (which, thankfully, managed to slow him down on the uphills) and myself on the ol’ blue Merida hardtail (with shot forks and slicks).

It was amazing to ride Glenrock again, as it’s an amazing part of the world: great tracks (both up and down), great location (in the heart of Newcastle) and absolutely breathtaking scenery (overlooking the city on one side and beach on the other). It was fantastic to catch up with some friends in this way and in such a setting. Also great to see and increase in the skills, keenness and fitness of these 3 lads, which is an added bonus! So thanks fellas! I really loved those moments spent with you guys on the trails, especially cause I dunno if we’ll get another chance to do it again B4 I depart from the country…always a pleasure and despite riding the same tracks, it’s never the same!

Spending time.

Have you ever thought about the fact that you say “spending time”? I mean, we don’t say “I used time with such and such” or “it was great enjoy time with him/her”.

We SPEND time. It’s something we have a limited amount of. We can’t “earn” more or “save it”. We all have 24 hours a day (though evidently some have more days than others).

I guess I’m realising this ‘cause I’m getting older or ‘cause my friends and family are getting older. And so it hit me: I want to make sure that I don’t “waste” my time but that I spend it wisely, meaningfully, purposefully.

Weird to be the same.

Australia is still here…and so is the sun! Well, actually it pelted down with rain for 3 days (ultimate Frisbee in the rain was the bomb!) but I still managed to get way way burnt in amongst the showers. The rest of E-Camp was as usual: swims down the rivers with or without inflatable mats, camp fire hang-outs, food in various forms and some time to reflect on what easter is really about. A great time of catching up with friends and [Church] family!!

Anyhoo, it feels kinda weird to be back in Oz, as time has stood still here (it always does when you’re somewhere else!). What’s weird, is that it feels exactly like it used to, as in, things haven’t changed much and I’ve been doing similar things with the same people and having the same kinda time as I used to have, doing these things with these friends (although evidently it’s not the same…see post below about banality…).

My passport is in the process of being renewed, after which I’ll be able to apply for the new visa…

Last call for QF 2…

After a great small meal onboard the BA flight to London I had a couple of hours to wait in the terminal B4 beginning the more serious part of the trip. I’d walked the terminal back and forth and was sitting at the gate when the call was made: “flight QF…to Bangkok/Sydney delayed…boarding expected to be in another half hour”. Evidently everyone around was pleased!

A bit of reading, listening to music, praying, sudoku, a muesli bar or two and another delayed call…

Other flights were being called during this time (some to the same destination and some with Qantas as well). I was only half paying attention to the calls, as I was in front of the sign, at the gate with hundreds of others, when I heard “this is final call for flight QF 2 to Bangkok and Sydney…”. I looked at my ticket and in horror saw that it was actually my flight that had been called!

I calmly put my stuff in my bag and slowly got up and walked to the proper gate (not wanting to seem like I was the last person they were waiting on to take off…). I got there a minute later and they asked “Mr Weekes?..” Now that was a close one!

So I got on the right flight and as soon as I sat down it took off (pretty much!). The food was great (as always!), the movies varied (but all disappointing) and I think I was able to get some 4 or so hours of semi-uninterrupted sleep ( I dropped off in all the movies I started watching). The 11 hours went really quick!

50 minutes stop in Bangkok (just enough to use some bigger toilets, stretch the legs and drink some cold water from a bubbler) and back on for another 8 hours, which went fairly quick as well.

Landing in Australia in the morning is truly an amazing experience. Watching the city wake up, hearing the sound of trains, cars, people, smelling the mix of coffee and eggs/bacon and feeling the cool-but-warming air with that gentle “beautiful day breeze” is music for the senses. As I write this I’m sitting at an outside café, waiting on my mate Adski to show so we can chew the fat…

Home 30-31 Visitors

Despite the end result, I played my best handball game EVER on Sunday afternoon. In fact, the whole team played well, as a team. It was a really fun and hard game, heavy scoring from both teams and interesting play. I managed to slip 5 or 6 goals from the wing, past a goalkeeper the size of a sumo-wrestler, which was my highest scoring game yet. Despite being up by 4 goals at 5 minutes from the end we weren’t able to hold the competition leaders. A great game to finish the season on!

Scum-bags.

There probably are other words, but that’s definitely the one I’ll use here to describe the thieves that are banks and other corporate companies:

I booked my flight online (there are no travel agencies in my village) from Qantas (which, to my knowledge is an Australian company) and paid a decent price (around $2K, which is not the best I’ve had but pretty good). I just looked at my receipt and, to my disgust, saw that because I booked it from here they charged me in euros, which means that I got charged for the transfer from dollars to Euro…$50. At the end of the day it won’t make any difference to my life whether I paid $50 more or less, it’s just a matter of principle! Thieving scumbags!

Yet another blessing.

Well after 3 days of snow storm on the mountain (which I must say was a blessing in itself, as it was incredible seeing the power of the storm, 2km above sea level!) RC, Morey and I enjoyed some blue skies, sunshine and s-weet, fluffy, smooth powder. I only went up for 2 hours, but it was a real blessing to ski with some friends in such beauty and incredible snow. What made it even more unreal was that it will be my last free day of skiing for a long time (finishing up with work at the resort)…

Returning to the homeland earlier than expected…2 years earlier actually!

I’ll be there next week (smokes that sounds soon!!) for about 6 weeks (or as long as my visa takes to get done). If you’re down town down under see you soon!

Humility

Learning new things can be very humbling…

Handball: (learning new skills and getting beaten repeatedly) has really tested my patience and character. It’s been easy to get worked up, both at training and games, and being humble enough to keep my cool (instead of getting frustrated, thinking I should be better) has been a real challenge!

Work: new skills (including skiing!) and working with people from different cultures have also tested my patience…