Blogs from Lilydale, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Oceania

Day 1 - There and Back Again. The big day had finally arrived. After postponing our ride numerous times due to the pandemic we were finally ready to depart. A late change of plan had us leaving around lunchtime from Fairfield rather than 8am from Docklands and I was feeling excited about starting the journey on my bike from my front door, no flying or driving anywhere, straight into it. I remember stating on one of our previous rides with unambiguous certainty that I'd never do touring where I had to carry my gear on the bike. Then after doing that last year the concession was that we spent each night in a hotel, but I'd never camp. So it was with some irony that I set out on my touring bike with panniers, front and ... read more

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well? I have heard that the sun has managed to come out back home now, where as Melbourne has managed to find the rain! I have attached some photos of Yarra Valley for you all to look at :-) Yarra Valley is very picturesque and extremely beautiful, lots of stunning countryside to look at and explore. We visited a couple of famous wineries as well :) We don't have long left in Melbourne now, only two weeks left of teaching and the end of Term 1, then we fly to the Gold Coast on 6th April. From here we are travelling and moving around constantly until we arrive back in the UK on 24th July... so there will be LOTS of photos and updates for you all constantly! Lots ... read more

Dali sme doporiadku bicykle. Cestovania autom bolo dost, tak uz sa hodilo aj nieco nizkorozpoctove. Najblizsie okolie som este velmi nevidel a ak ano, tak len v rychlosti. Moj brat je hrozny diabol za volantom. Nalozili sme oba bicykle na nosic, sadli sme do auta a odviezli sme sa asi 10 km na miesto zvane Launching Place. Tam sme nechali auto a na bicykloch sme sa vybrali cyklistickym chodnikom do dedinky Warburton. Po ceste je este Yarra Junction, Wesburn a Millgrove. Cela cesta bola popri lesoch, farmach, rieke... skratka relax. Medzi Yarra Junction a Millgrove sme sli po takej nekonecnej rovinke az mi to bolo podozrive. Brat mi potom objasnil, ze ideme vlastne po starej zasypanej zeleznicnej trati, ktoru pouzivali pri zlatej horucke na zvazanie zlata z hor dolu do Yarra Junction. V Millgrove niekedy brat ... read more

This one was getting a bit long, so I took mercy on you all and decided it should be a two-parter... I’ll start with a question. What do you do? Go on, tell me. Any fellow philosophy graduates will point out that this can be interpreted in a number of ways. Linguistically it is ambiguous: if designed to focus on the present, it would be worded ‘what are you doing?’; neither does it isolate the past, but surely can’t expect future prediction. Chronology notwithstanding, the question is vague: one ‘does’ many things, consciously or otherwise, simultaneously or over time; are we asking what I enjoy doing, or what I do frequently, notably, or well? The fact is though that not one of you would ever waste the time that I just did considering any such permutations, ... read more

Goodbye Not cool, mate. NOT cool, at all. Now I know it was your day - you made it that way - But I still feel a little pissed off, I must say. There was nothing we could do; it was inevitable; We mustn’t blame ourselves. Really though? REALLY? For hours we talked, mate, and it seemed like you listened. I sure as hell listened to you and it really helped. So, yeah, thanks. Seriously though, you totally should not have done that. You know, killed yourself. I mean, think about what you put ME through! Your father stood there, beginning to weep As years of determined fighting ended, His only son gone forever. He’s telling me through the tears: “If it’s not him it’s some other poor bugger,” What an incredible, selfless man. I hugged ... read more