Forward planning

I am actually pretty hopeless at living one day at a time. I'm always dreaming about what to do next, even when I haven't completed current projects. Ahem: great wall of Drummonds???

You will be happy to know that I have commenced further work on the wall, however am waiting for more supplies of cans to fill in the dimples. I've lots of bottles, but some lightweight cans make great filler where the bottles don't quite fit. Unfortunately my neighbours got sick of me not picking up their saved cans and took them to the recycling place, so I have only myself to blame for this oversight. One of my colleagues has a serious pepsi max addiction, so I've also put him on the case.

I've been busy reinforcing the chook run - making the fences tall enough to keep out foxes and keep in recalcitrant chickens. So hopefully, I'll soon have my own eggs again.

And, I've been planning my exit strategy....

Sure I'm going skiing in Japan next year, which will be an awesome adventure but not likely to be a yearly event due to distances and cost (I'll likely spend in one month what I usually spend in 3 months in NZ). And I won't be earning big bucks after June either...

So come July, it'll be back to NZ and Wanaka for 3 months of skiing at Treble Cone, with maybe a backcountry ski tour as well.  I'm going to save on accommodation by working at the hostel whilst I'm there, meaning I'll want to get value for money out of my ski days, unlike my slack half days of last season.

Then in October I'll return to Oz and plan to walk the Bibbulman Track. This is a 970km walking track from Perth to Albany which takes about 2 months to do at a leisurely pace, with town stopovers, and staying mostly in huts enroute. Although not technically difficult, long stretches are in wilderness areas so carrying enough food and water is the main issue. I plan to do this trek to get myself walking fit, before contemplating other, more technical, walks.

Long distance walking isn't for everyone, nor is spending a lot of time alone in the wilderness. For me, both these aspects are a huge draw, something to look forward to rather than fear. But it will involve quite a bit of trip preparation, and dusting off my map reading and compass skills. I've already started the preparation, and since I have most of the equipment already it's more about beginning the process of determining how much food to bring and where to arrange food drops. My food dehydrator motor died recently, so I guess I'll need to get a new one...

After 2 months of walking I'll return to Geraldton and spend the summer windsurfing.

Although I have some ideas for what to do next, I think I'll just plan that far ahead for now. In the meantime I need to crack on doing the house and garden chores to make the place ready for tenants. And concentrate on getting ski fit for Japan!!

So much to do, so little time....