Kayaking – Rowing

Adventure – On a retiree’s budget…

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Walking

Hey, just a week or so ago I hung-up my business suit following a “graduation from work”.

And one of the reasons for doing so was that work was just getting in the way of having fun and adventure – something had to give, right?

Anyway, I caught up with a fellow adventurer at the weekend, as it happens, my brother-in-law the Kiwi, and after some kayaking around the beautiful Newcastle coastline and over a couple of beers he tossed out the line…

“So what are you doing now that you have retired graduated from work…?”

“Well, it’s only been less than a week, but I am working on some ideas”…I said, twisting the top off another brown bottle.

“I’ve got a great idea for an adventure just suited to you retired blokes on a shoestring budget…” he said, barely containing a wry smile..

It’s a familiar line I’ve heard many times before and usually pitched after the third beer. And like accepting the “King’s Shilling” taking the fourth beer signifies you’ve signed up for some kind of adventure.

“Okay, Baz I’ve got a bush hike in mind, the Great North Walk, we’ll start the walk early next week so get your pack ready”…

“Can’t I just think about it”  I suggested trying to conceal we were on our fourth beer.

It could have been worse, I guess.

Not that it is an ordeal, after all this is a walk that is quite familiar to me and I have walked it in the opposite direction, coincidently, with the Kiwi, and have spent a lot of time on sections of it over the years…

It is worth knowing, just in case you ever have an inclination to walk from Newcastle to Sydney, it is 240-kilometres in distance over rugged mountain terrain; the road trip is no more than 140-kilometres on the freeway; and the price of a one-way rail ticket is $18 for a journey that takes approximately two hours…

…Yes, I’m hearing you Janet-Planet, you’re right, that fourth beer is always forged in blood, sweat, and usually some tears – I should have heeded your advice and stopped at the third!

Mind you, The Great North Walk is a spectacular way to get between these two harbour cities and worth highlighting it was constructed as a celebration of Australia’s Bicentenary in 1988…

There’ll be no luxury, just a simple bivvy bag under a tarp as we progress south towards our destination, Sydney’s Circular Quay where there is an Obelisk that marks the finish.

Coincidently, the Obelisk is right next to a well known Sydney watering hole, the Customs House. We might even have a beer there in amongst “The Suits” to celebrate the end of this adventure…

Yes, Janet-Planet, I’ll limit myself to three beers, maybe…

 

Photos: Baz – The Landy

Graduating From Work…

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You’ve what…?

I’ve retired!  

I hear the cry go out, but you’re too young to retire…

Hey, isn’t that the point.

Besides, I am seeing it as a “graduation from work to full-time adventure”.

But what does retirement truly mean in any case?

Perhaps it is a word for another age, one long past – for me retirement means I have set a different course with my life, reclaiming some of those dreams I have long-held.

Australian Outback

 

After all, you can’t just keep laying “railroad tracks” in the same direction and simply hope you don’t run out of tracks. It is empowering and invigorating to seize control of your life; to make changes as you look to new horizons.

Speaking of which, the Australian Outback beckons and perhaps there are still some mountains that I can climb and plenty of our wonderful coastline left to kayak…

Without doubt this change in my life affords me a better opportunity to claim back my fitness, something that has been lacking over these past couple of years!

It is 42-years since I commenced work with the Bank of New South Wales at age 15-years in 1975. “The Wales” as it was affectionately known was renamed Westpac Banking Corporation following a merger with the Commercial Bank of Australia in 1982.

 

“Dear Mr and Mrs O’Malley, it is now 6 months since your son entered on probation with the bank.

During that time, Barry has settled into his new surroundings and applied himself to his various duties to the extent he has shown himself suited to bank work…”

 

bank of new south wales

And whilst I have left the building today, my official finishing date will be 10 April 2017 and following a significant milestone in the history of the bank.

The 8th of April marks the date 200-years ago in 1817 that the Bank of New South Wales opened its doors to business for the very first time. And those that do the maths will see I have been with the bank for over one-fifth of the time since it took those first deposits from customers.

Coincidently, it was on 10 April 1989 that I commenced working in the bank’s 60 Martin Place Financial Markets dealing room after my return from a secondment to the bank’s operations in Papua New Guinea.

The bank has given my family and me a wonderful life, one that has been filled with the opportunity to develop professionally and personally…

“I am proud of the contribution I have made to the bank and today as I walk out the front doors of Head Office in Sydney, perhaps with moistened eyes, I will look back at the mosaic that is the Bank.

I will remember fondly the people I have worked with over the years, the challenges we faced, the successes we achieved, and, importantly, the laughter and banter we have shared.

I will wish those who remain all the best for their future as they continue to weave the living tapestry that is the bank; as they continue to make their own impression on that mosaic…”

 

People have asked me, what will you do?

Well, TomO, the Crown Prince, has just started Year-11 at school and I’m looking forward to simply “being around” for him as he navigates his way through these two important remaining years of his high schooling.

And the future, how do I see that taking shape…?

My answer is simple, to spend it with the love of my life, Janet-Planet.

All who know this wonderfully kind person will attest, she is an absolute angel – I was so lucky to marry the girl next door thirty-three years ago.

Yes literally, next-door neighbours making eyes over the back-fence!

Combo Waterhole

Together we plan to enjoy the next chapter in our lives and look forward to watching our TomO make his mark on the world as he paints his own picture on life’s canvas…

A romantic notion?

For sure it is, but Janet-Planet and I are romantics to the core and loving every minute of that, it has kept us young at heart…!

And who knows where those “railroad tracks” will takes us, but sometimes you just need to walk to the edge and not be afraid to peer over it.

We truly believe the world becomes your oyster when you are willing to put your fears aside and simply…

“Live in the moment”

After all, that is the only moment that we can ever truly live…

“Thanks for your friendship and the memories, Big Bad Baz…!”

 

Selfishness – A simple word (With a complex meaning)

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Baz – Mt Aurora, Southern Alps, New Zealand

Selfishness is a word that we are likely to be confronted with every day…

But what does it really mean and how should it be applied to our daily lives, if at all?

Most dictionaries define selfishness as…

“Devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one’s own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others.”

I pondered on this definition and eventually came to a conclusion that this is possibly one of the most misused words in the English vocabulary.

I asked myself the question..

Is it selfish to pursue our dreams, to live the life we desire, to see what we can achieve; to explore new horizons and to develop as individuals; to stand at the edge and look at the world through a different lens…?

Baz – Boar’s Head, Blue Mountains, Australia

 

As individuals our life and the way we lead it creates a mosaic of who we are.

The pieces of a jigsaw puzzle randomly sitting in a box are meaningless unless they are joined.

In much the same way the pieces of our lives, scattered, cannot portray or project anything about who we are or what we seek to be until pieced together.

Interlocked they provide a mosaic of whom we really are…

The picture unfolds…

Whom or what would we be if we were not able to join the random pieces together and pursue our dreams?

Would we ever achieve our real potential, or would a fear of selfishness limit us and how we develop as individuals?

Baz – The Landy

A Termite Mound – You’re kidding me?

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Strewth, how big is that termite mound, hey, and what about the spectacular colours of our parched southern land…!

Photo: Baz – The Landy, Plenty Highway, Outback Australia…

A Pathway to High Altitude Climbing…

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New Zealand's Southern Alps
New Zealand’s Southern Alps

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.

Baz - Mountain Run, Coast to Coast Race, New Zealand

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

 

The Shed…

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The Shed

The Shed…a place where tall stories can be told, a few laughs had, where you can grab a “coldie” out of the fridge to share with mates and if you are motivated it can double as a training gym.

Since arriving home from the Outback a few weeks back I have been heading up the driveway to “The Shed” in the pre-dawn darkness to exercise on my rowing machine and lift a few weights.

Don’t worry, I’m an early morning person…

Over the coming months my exercise regime in “The Shed” will involve high intensity workouts on the rowing machine and weight resistance training in preparation for my expedition to Papua New Guinea early next year.

And rest assured, there will be plenty of hill climbing with a 20 kilogram backpack and I could never go a week without getting in a couple of paddles on the surf ski.

And this weekend’s weather in the harbour city is set to be perfect for all kinds of outdoor pursuits…

Crikey, bring it on!

Baz – The Landy

(Photos: Janet-Planet)