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Crikey and Stone the Flamin’ Crows time seems to have whizzed by the last couple of months and may have left you wondering what ever happened to Baz…

You were wondering weren’t you?

Well I haven’t been hiding under a rock in the Outback, although there has been some appeal to that at times…

In fact, there has been little in the way of Outback travel at all since my long sojourn deep into Australia’s Gibson Desert late last year, and nothing on that faraway horizon at this time. It will be more a case of getting out into the Australian Bush when we can snatch a weekend here and there.

Mind you, we are heading to London mid-year for a couple of weeks rest and recreation!

However, I do want to share with you that I am working towards resurrecting that ridiculously big dream I have to climb some of the world’s largest mountains. You may recall my ambitious plan to attempt a summit of Cho Oyu, an 8,000 metre peak in the Himalayan Mountains.

For one reason and another, the plan got side-tracked over the past couple of years, life tends to get in the way, hey! But I’m going to give it another shot and see where it lands me this time around…

And yes, I’m hearing you, I will need to get fit and rest assured training is under way.

Well, let’s call it moving forward for now and to give me a goal to press towards and to build strength and endurance for the mountains I have entered the 2017 Coast-to-Coast Race in New Zealand’s spectacularly beautiful South Island.

For those who have been following my journey from the mountains to the Australian Outback these past few years you may recall this is billed as one of the world’s toughest adventure races that I competed in five years ago in 2012.

You can read some more about it in my article “The World’s Premier Adventure Race”.

Ahead of the Coast-to-Coast there are a number of other events that will lead me towards the start line at Kumara Beach On New Zealand’s west coast.

This will include a short-course adventure race, the Hawkesbury Classic kayak race taking in 110-kilometres of the Hawkesbury River and even a run to the top of the Sydney Tower, a gruelling climb of  1,504 steps and 310 metres of vertical ascent (and yes – I’m using the term run loosely). But I’ll be in good company on the Tower climb with TomO and Janet-Planet joining me in the race to the top….

Oh, don’t get sucked in by the long time line between now and the start of the Coast-to-Coast next February, TomO the Crown Prince turned 16 years of age yesterday, which left me and Janet-Planet wondering where all that time went…

The climbing ropes are beckoning, the kayak is itching to get out onto the water and the running shoes are screaming out for some action – I just prayer the body holds up this time around!

But you know my philosophy on life – You just wouldn’t be dead for quids, hey!

Cheers, Baz