Seasons turn, turn, turn..

Another season upon us, the ever changing colours and experiences of the lives we live.

Sheesh; that sounds a little profound doesn't it? Something to ponder, food for thought.

On one hand it seems as though the year has been flying by, and on the other it feels as though it's taking forever to tick over. It seems to depend on the day or the mood. I feel like it was years ago I was getting married and then it feels like just last week we were on our honeymoon, when all the while we've been living our married lives for just a touch over a year now. Before you know it we'll be clocking up fifty years and wondering where the time went.

One whole year!

The celebration

It's hard to believe it's already been a year. What a wonderful year, a year since the big wedding shindig!

And are we happy? You bet ya sweet batootie we are!

We celebrated with a weekend away at Hepburn Springs, kickin' back, enjoying the sunshine, drinking some bubbly and ales, eating scrumptious food, lazing in front of the fire place and enjoying each others' company. It was a wonderful break from the real world.

A little more celebration!

WOO HOO!

We did it!

We overcame a 38c total fire ban day (hottest March day since 1963), heat stress, vomiting, thunderstorms, rain, blisters, exhaustion, aching muscles, mud, and some more rain, to cross the finish line without losing any team members 31 hours and 52 minutes after leaving the start line.

The toughest journey is the most rewarding.

Approximately 20% of participants pulled out, 100 reports of hypothermia on Friday night/Saturday morning, and countless cases of dehydration. A team lost one member even before checkpoint one due to heat and dehydration, which shows just how horrendous the conditions were this year.

Snap!

To snap the snapper!

Sometimes you end up on the other side of the camera, but it's nice to snap back!

Nice one!

One week to go...

Here's the team all snazzy in our lovely new team t-shirts in our final group training session. Hmmmm... not long to go now. just over a week, and now the painful reality is hitting me harder and harder... What was I thinking? I must've been mad to have another go at this. Who am I kidding? Of course I'm mad... I can't say no to a challenge, I can't whimp out of a dare.
Of course the donation lines are still open... but you should know where to go by now... if not, scroll down!

This time in two weeks...

Not long to go now.

We had our final team training session today in preparation for the big slog in two weeks. At about this time (3:20pm) in exactly 2 weeks, all things going well, we should be somewhere along the Warburton Trail heading ever closer to the finish line.

I'm looking forward to the challenge, looking forward to the four of us trudging through together and crossing that finish line. I'm looking forward to the feeling of completion and team satisfaction.

I'm not looking forward to the pain, I'm not looking forward to the mental game, and I'm not looking forward to the way we might be feeling after 24 hours or more of the same faces.

I will be enjoying the final steps across that line, and the champagne that will follow (even if only for a photo).

**************************

The donation link is still following this latest update.

I wouldn't be subjecting myself to this pain for a second time if I didn't believe in the cause, and my pain, and stubborn determination is definitely reason enough to donate.

http://www2.oxfam.org.au/trailwalker/melbourne/team/58

Oh the mortality!

It's not pleasant to be thrust into a situation that wreaks of sadness, anger and fatality, but sometimes the life of a press photographer can lead to that.

Safe as I am, in my world of 'local news' there are occasions where you are thrown into someone elses nightmare and expected to come up with an image that tells the story, and shows the emotion. Today was one of those days, and I was faced with one of those occasions.

In the moment I was safely detached from the situation, thinking of how best to capture the mood and trauma. I did just that. I feel I was true to the moment, and safely held back exact identities without compromising the emotion. But later; now; I'm struggling to deal with the full impact of the situation. I didn't know the man who died, I didn't know the family, or the friends, but now, hours after the adrenalin of 'getting the image' I'm able to shed a tear and feel a loss for those that knew the man.

To me he was just a man, to his family and friends he was a mate, a son, a brother, maybe even a father.

Today I faced an element of my own mortality, and have struggled with the image. Today I loved my friends, relatives and life just a little more intently.

Here comes the sun... dadada

Another training sessoin, another war wound. And despite the 40 odd km's we travelled, the worst I sufferred was the sunburn! Sure the feet ached a bit and the legs were a tight, but it just proves you never can trust a weather man. It was meant to be drizzly and overcast with a top of 23c. It turned out sunny and fine with a top of 23c. So despite the hat, I still copped a beating from good ol' Mr. Sunshine!

Another lesson learned.

And remember, you can still donate! go to http://www2.oxfam.org.au/trailwalker/melbourne/team/58 for a donation straight to our humble little 8 legged team!

Aaaaand then?

It's been a busy couple of weeks, though I still feel like I've achieved very little. Amidst the feelings of frustration and dissatisfaction mostly with the 'nine to five' I think I may have come up with some sort of game plan. If indeed a game plan can even be made with life; let's face it, there are a lot of factors that are completely out of our control. So, I've figured out what's within my power to change, and it's about time I started actually changing them.

Umm...

Seems we guage ourselves on the success (or lack of) against our peers. It's always nice to be recognised for the ball breaking work you do, the hours you put in, and the crap you wade through in order to get something to print that resembles an accurate and well presented representation of the job at hand. But let's not hold our breath, that only leads to a blue face and a plummet to the floor to regain consiousness. More often than not all the running around, extra hours and monkeys on our back leads to one thing, dissatisfaction with the final product. Of course it does, because the final product isn't really in our hands anyway, it's the monkeys who have the final say, with little thought as to what actually makes a good front or a decent image. Another day, another hacked or completely disregarded image.

The more I dwell on the concept (and let's face it, I am becoming a little bitter and twisted) the more I realise the importance of the schmooz and the squeaky door gaining the most oil theory. Clearly the head down, bum up philosphy of working hard and creating few waves just doesn't cut it in these times.

Expect nothing and be surprised when something actually comes your way.

And what did you do Friday night?

The Twisted Sisters (team 58) training session Ferntree Gully - Mt. Evelyn.

A little over 6 hours and 25km later, at approx. 1.40am this is what a full week of work followed by a trailwalker training session looks like. Note the glazed eyes and insane giggly grins on our faces. Maybe it was the warm night air, maybe the nibblies of sugar along the way, or maybe there really was something a little extra in those staminade drinks after all, but we all moved along at quite a good pace I thought.

We looked feral, had sweat and dirt caked all over us and the feet were just starting to want to have a rest but the satisfaction of making it through our longest night session yet was well worth it.

And here's that trailwalker link for donations: http://www2.oxfam.org.au/trailwalker/melbourne/team/58

RAIN!

As I was on my afternoon walk, getting the legs prepared for this big undertaking in a few weeks, there was this wet stuff falling from the sky... at first I wasn't sure what it could be, maybe the world was imploding or something, then it occurred to me, like a clap of thunder (actually, maybe it was because of the loud clap of thunder overhead) It was raining!

Oh joy, and childhood giggles of delight! I was like a young girl thrilled by the rain after a hot day, grinning like I was up to no good and holding my hands out to feel the drops falling.

When the rain cleared and all that was left was the stifling humidity of a hot Summer day, a rainbow arched across the sky and for a few minutes I was miles away as I watched it fade away. Damn! I missed the pot of gold again!

So...

Between walking, working and struggling to deal with people that frustrate me I've been getting to thinking that a month and a half into the new year, (the year I said I'd be focussing a little more on making a positive step forward into my own ambitions and goals) I realise there are still so many steps I need to make.

Is this what self doubt looks like? Or is it the destruction of self due to the desperate need of a holiday?

These boots are made for walking.... a long way.

In a moment of madness and possible insanity I; along with three others decided to enter the Oxfam Trailwalker 100km's in 48 hour challenge.... again! (You'd think we would've learnt our lesson the first time.) Three of the four have attempted this beast before, and failed, but thanks to our stubborn little heads can't seem to let it go. This time we will succeed, we hope.

Training is well underway, and with only 6 weeks left before the big challenge, we're all starting to feel a little ill at the thought of the pain we're submitting our bodies to.

OH, and if you feel the urge to donate to our wonderful little team of mad women and feel a part of it without any of the agony feel free to visit the Oxfam website and donate to TWISTED SISTERS team #58, at http://www2.oxfam.org.au/trailwalker/melbourne/team/58 and follow the links. And they're tax deductable, so you benefit too!

and now a thought...

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too, can become great." MARK TWAIN

As I arrived at another day of drudgery and confusion I flicked the quotable desk calendar, and there it was, a statement that could very nearly be the quote for the year in the world of little em! Stay tuned, I'm sure there'll be more to come.

Climbin' like we used to

This is more proof than making a statement. A year since we last climbed at Mt. Arapiles both the spunk and I had a bash (and I do mean 'bash') at a climb. Follow Your Nose. grade 22

We both failed, though Steve was showing far better technique than me, and therefore progressed much further on it than I did. For someone who is determined to announce he's not a climber any more, he certainly made it look good.

While I was predominantly up at the rock to photograph other people, it was a bit of fun to hang around and play on the rock again, and great to hang with friends in such an incredible location.

Stocktake...

Between my previous entry and the current date, there was the drama, stress, chaos and ultimately relief of moving house. I think we're finally feeling at home (until the next time - damn rent!)

Anyhoo, along with moving comes boxes, and along with boxes comes sorting, so I've been sorting through accumulated 'stuff' and come across a few rather fun little finds. It hasn't been restricted to the boxed stuff, I was on a roll and started going through my images and cd's loaded with images from the past I don't know how many years. I stumbled across this little stunner from 2004? When a bunch of mates and I went on a road trip to the Blue Mt's for a climbing cram fest.

As can be read from the image I had a few falls one particular day. It was worth it though, reminds me of a time when I threw myself at my sport with a vigour and energy that I haven't felt for a while.

Stocktake: climbing, get fit campaign, passion.

Some room for thought

I got to thinking in the last twenty four hours or so; that my life is so much bigger than I am allowing it to be. I've realised that I've only just started a new journey, that this year I feel like something new has begun. Maybe the timing is just coincidental with the new year and all, but I've been slapped across the face by life.

It told me that there's something bigger out there. I'm allowing myself to dream of bigger things, of the goals I want to achieve and ambitions I can strive towards that aren't so much possessions; aren't things I can own, as much as they are places I want to be and a state of mind I would like to own.

2007 is the year I look after me, my mind, my relationships and my immediate world, and then all that should grow and effect every other part of my world.

That's the theory any way.

A new year

Wow! Another year already?

A new year to realise some new goals, to make some plans, to see where I am at the same time next year.

A new adventure.

So, that was Christmas...

And what did we do?

Put a santa hat on the cat, exchanged some presents, hung out with family, had a few well earned glasses of wine, and rugged ourselves up in the unseasonal cold weather for Melbourne. For a change it would've been quite the weather for the traditional turkey and Christmas puddings.