Townsville Adventures

I am ever so very tired.  I woke up this morning at 0300 feeling wide awake, and ended up doing my budget on my laptop for want of anything else to do.  Today is officially my day off, but it started in Townsville - again - and so far has involved a 10k hike including Castle Hill (yes, I was tired to start off with), a doctor appointment, and now paxing home.

I wasn't staying in the normal crew hotel, so it was a nice surprise to find out that breakfast was included.  After some eggs, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes and fresh fruit - and of course the inevitable coffee - I set off to find Castle Hill.

I was a little annoyed to find that they had closed the Goat Track for renovations.  They are putting in horrible man made stairs.  It always makes me sad when perfectly good trails are made artificial.

I entered at my own peril, but had to change route onto the main road half way due to the construction.  No sign of back burning.

Pano over the bay and magnetic island.  Dad, I can send you a full resolution picture.

It was a really hard climb, partly due to the few beers I had last night, partly due to lack of sleep and partly because it was almost 5k to the Goat Track in the first place!

Townsville Airport.

Me, just about alive - but barely.

Some other man made staircase that I did not go down as I ran out of time before my appointment.

I then descended via the main road as fast as I could - half running until the stitch got too bad (thanks, free breakfast) - and half walking.  I then got an Uber from the base and made it to my appointment, nice and hot and sweaty but on time.  (And then waited half an hour for the doctor). 9k total, plus the 1k walk from the doctor back to the hotel.  Not too shabby for a morning in Townsville.

The reason for the doctor was to check that I didn't damage my ears yesterday while flying.  We had a rapid descent due to various issues that I'm not going to go in to on the blog: if any one wants details, email me!  Everyone was fine, we just had to follow the process and get checked out, and now I'm paxing home to Brisbane, hopefully for days off!

I'm glad I got to see the view from Castle Hill though: maybe next time the Goat Track will be fully open.

News

I guess a blog post should have a title once in awhile.  

I have been told that I should stop using my shins for climbing.  I tried very hard not to, last time I climbed Tibrogargan: I was, however, accused of using my knees instead.  I also managed to walk into a tow-bar today, shin first, mainly due to not looking where I was going and partly due to my shins' magnetic attraction to bruises.  I also pretended to everyone in the vicinity, that I had intended to stop abruptly and then squat to look at the nosegear... I'm not sure whether I pulled it off, but nobody actually commented.

I am now halfway through my third overnight of the week, of which only one was actually scheduled.  The first was Townsville, for the second I found myself in Sydney, and now I'm back in Townsville, so I do seem to be doing the grand tour of the East Coast!  In other aviation news, I almost have enough hours to not be considered "green" any more (150), and have almost flown with everyone there is to fly with: this is easy as there are only about ten first officers.  I've also broken most of the airplanes: although I have found that usually they are broken when I find them.  Also, I have killed a cane toad and a rabbit, but have yet to impact any birds.  The Embraer is a bit smaller than the ATR so it's smaller of a target: I must try harder, I know.

In non-aviation terms, I've had to tone down my climbing this week due to anti social work hours.  I managed Tibrogargan on Thursday and Ngungun today - Sunday - and am hoping for Tiberoowuccum on Tuesday but that depends how late I finish socialising tomorrow night.  Also am hoping to complete Beerwah this week... but that depends on a couple of factors outside of my control!

There are thirteen Glasshouses in total and I believe only one of them is actually closed off, so perhaps I should try to find trails up some of the others.  I must try to Collect Them All.

It is now 2042 and in keeping with the Early To Bed Early To Rise mantra, I must try to organise my life, as I have a taxi booked for 0615.  That said, I am working six days in a row - again - and with five earlies followed by a late on day six, I'm doomed!

The good news is it only has to be delayed by 25 minutes for me to get a day off payment........🙄

Looks like my housemates decided Connor needed a snack.  In other news, meet Connor, my new Christmas Bear, who has joined the family of four other bears.  You can never have enough: if I get one a year for the rest of my life, it's going to be a lot of bears.  So far, I have Bertie 2013, Ollie 2014, Nameless 2015 and Hudson 2016.  Nameless only because I can't actually remember, and Hudson and Connor have their official names on their feet so really the only names I have to remember are Bertie's and Ollie's.  Maybe Nameless should be given a better name. 

Yesterday morning, Lily and I did an impromptu hike of Tiberoowuccum, which was really hard work as I set off too fast and then wore myself out, and then walked into a tree, which killed several brain cells.  Lily had a ball, returning home caked in orange clay.  Then Manda and I went Christmas shopping and I spent all of my savings in one go (it was such fun) and now have to save up again before finishing the shopping!  I have only a couple of gifts left to get.  

Also, my Indian neighbour already has their Christmas lights up, and as I'm not content to be beaten, Ceri has been instructed that his job of the day is to put our lights up!  It may not be November yet, but it's never too early for Christmas!  Ceri should thank his lucky stars that we haven't yet started on the tree...

My last two days off today and tomorrow, starting now with a massage followed by indoor rock climbing... hurrah for me!

And that is all I have time for otherwise I shall be late.

Ciao! 

The Art of Flying

"Sometimes, falling feels a lot like flying."

Left base to RWY01 BNE just before sunset

I get that.  And, as I'm a pilot in my spare time, I feel I can reserve the right to use any quote I see fit.  I do have a few favourites.  I also reserve the right to start a sentence with a conjunction as a) it's my blog and b) beer.  PS all the best blogs are written with beer PPS not all PSs have to be at the end (my blog, my rules).

Douglas Adams in the "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" has a good section on flying: there is indeed an art to flying, he surmises, "The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss". 

Learn more at 

http://www.extremelysmart.com/humor/howtofly.php

Or read the book, I dare you.

I'm not sure I've really worked out the missing part.  I guess I need more distractions.

My dog is demanding more Cheese and Bacon shapes.  I think she recognises that once the beer comes out, there is no more Lily-can't-have-anything-more-than-5%-fat rule and Pancreatitis-isn't-a-thing.  -#irresponsiblemother.

I have just finished six days' flying - one was a reserve - and have climbed quite a few Things.  I'd like to call them mountains but I also hesitate to call anything less than 1000m a mountain.  The Glasshouse Hills doesn't really have the same ring to it.  I also want to take Lil up Tiberoowuccum tomorrow but that depends on whether I crack open another beer - but given the amount of food I've eaten today, I should get hiking!

BNE CBD from a little bit south of GLENN.

"Sometimes, falling feels a lot like flying."  

I just thought I'd quote that again.  I really like that quote.  

"I balanced all, brought all to mind.

The years ahead seemed waste of breath

A waste of breath the years behind

In balance with this life, this death."

-W B Yeats

Probably my most favourite poem ever.  Call me morbid but, it's awesome.  

"A lonely impulse of delight 

Drove to this tumult in the clouds!" 

See?  It's not all morbid!

Sometimes you can see the turbulence 

Then there's of course Learning to Fly, by Pink Floyd.

"There’s no sensation to compare with this

Suspended animation, a state of bliss

Can’t keep my mind from the circling sky

Tongue-tied and twisted

Just an earth-bound misfit, I"

It took a long time for me to start feeling lonely.  I think I recognise it now.  I think that having Things Almost Within My Reach has brought on an attack of the Feels.  Maybe the beer is helping, maybe not.  Maybe I will die alone - Lily will only last 10-12 years and I hope I have longer than that - but who knows.  Can I be happy just being me?  Me, and just me, for ever?  My father's father used to say that Forever is a very long time.  I never realised until now how true that was.

"Sometimes, falling feels a lot like flying."

Sunrise, BNE airport 

I have to say that in actual day to day flying, there aren't a whole lot of "state[s] of bliss" or "tumult[s] in the clouds" which, for the benefit of the General Public, is probably a good thing.  But at least flying (and climbing Things) gets me out of the house.

Apparently I was mean in my previous post, commenting about someone being slower at climbing than me.  I disagree.  It's not mean to say what I think on my very own blog.  I tone down a lot of what I really want to say - that maybe I would say, with beer - because of who I know will be reading it.  I don't say what I think because I'm afraid of other people's reactions.  I don't say what I think in Life in General because of Other People.  I don't tell people what I like, what I prefer, what I want to do.  I don't tell people no, I don't say "actually, I don't enjoy this" because I'm afraid I will offend someone.  So yes, someone was slower at climbing than me.  So yes, I was bloody slow when I climbed it the first time.  So yes, I was commenting that she was slower than I would have liked, and I had wanted to climb the whole thing without stopping.  I still want to climb the whole thing without stopping.  Would I take her again?  Yes, of course.  Would I take her again on a day when I wanted to climb without stopping? No, probably not.  Is it okay to say she was slow?  Well, I don't think it would be nice for me to tell her that she was slow, but for me to comment on my very own blog about how I actually feel?  I think that's ok.  In fact, I wish I did it more often.  I don't, because People, and I don't even think that this will make me start: but I do reserve the right to do so.  Maybe that's what got me in trouble in the first place.  You know, with life, the universe, and everything.  Love, marriage, and the non-existent baby carriage.  Not saying how I really felt.  There you have it!  And now, it's me and Lily and if I decide to say something on my blog: so be it! 

Rant over.

And yes, sometimes falling feels very much like flying.

Storm tops 

And sometimes, even drinking all of the leftover beer doesn't mean that one feels any less lonely than one did before.  

And at times like these, friends saying "but I live thirty seconds away, you could hang out with me" really doesn't cut it.  Thanks, and I appreciate it, but wearing my heart on my sleeve and all that, me and Lily just gonna sit here on the couch and continue feeling Lonely.

PS: I'm not an alcoholic

PPS: I plan to hike Tiberoowuccum tomorrow.

PPPS: if it wasn't an enforced day off (day 7) I'd probably volunteer to work.

PPPPS: I'm not an alcoholic Take 2.

Sunset á la Embraer 

I have the worst headache.  I've never had a migraine so I can't tell you how it compares, but this just won't go away.  I'm also lying in bed feeling sorry for myself, and at the same time debating what to have for dinner, because once again Nobody Cooked and Nobody Shopped and the fridge is full but there is Nothing To Eat.

I got up bright and early to climb Tibrogargan with a group we threw together the last couple of days.  M invited one of the cabin crew, and I invited a couple of pilots, and off we trotted.  Except... the invited cabin crew ended up being the Least Fittest Ever and so it was a long and painfully slow climb.  I tried to be patient and I tried to be nice but I had been thinking I might get to climb Tib all in one go so that was a little disappointing.  However we all did make it to the top - hooray for her - and we all did make it back down again with no rescue choppers involved, so that was a bonus.

Shocking photo but it's all I've got.

Having done that and not feeling as worn out as I would have liked to have been, B and I went and climbed Ngungun as fast as we could.  Okay, I climbed it as fast as I could, he patiently stayed beside me as I struggled up.  He does hill running so my fast walking was barely more than a snail's pace for him!  

Once home, I got the amazing experience of reviewing a manual for work for a few hours, but slowly the headache has been catching up with me and now I have been lying in bed for 30 minutes hoping it will go away, with the help of some Neurofen and Panadol.  It's not working, and not wanting to take anything stronger I suppose I must just deal with it!

Tomorrow morning I am apparently doing Ngungun again - but a much slower version - and although hoping to go rock climbing afterwards, that is no longer happening, and I must find something else to fill my empty weekend - let's face it, I shall probably just end up reviewing this manual I have been given.

It's very easy to feel lonely when you're surrounded by people, and then they all go home and Do Their Thing and you're left sitting at home alone with a Lily.  It's a very nice Lily and it gives very nice cuddles and it is Ever So Happy To See Me and yet, it's not really the same.  I suppose I will get used to it one day.

Ngungun in the rain

That was possibly the coldest and wettest climb of 2017.  It started out ok, just some light rain, and although I felt like I had very little energy - despite having breakfast - I was pretty determined.  Initially my goal was to go up and down three times, but realistically twice was plenty!  After the first climb, it started smashing down, so by the time I got back to the base I was thoroughly drenched.  This did, however, keep me relatively cool climbing up the second time.- although once I got to the summit it was freezing!  The wind had started howling across the bare rocks, transforming the heavy rain into horizontal barbs, and the wet gym shirt and leggings were no longer adequate!

I took one photo, and then replaced my camera safely back into its plastic baggy - no water damage for me, thanks!

The entire drive home was pretty cold despite turning the heat up, and the shower once I got home was divine.  I am now lying in bed enjoying the fact that it is warm and dry.  The entire climb (ok entire two climbs) took 1h12 on my Garmin.

I am leaning heavily towards getting a Fenix 5S, as I dislike the fact that my current Forerunner 220 thinks that everything I do is a run - and therefore seems to laugh at me when it says I only do 1k in 16 minutes, etc...

I have also been told that I should get a shell coat to protect me from the elements.  We shall see.

Tiberoowuccum

I'm not sure who's more worn out, her or me.

We found some pretty flowers while looking for the way up, but she didn't want to pose - too much exploring to do!

The view up here is amazing, and it is so quiet except for the rapid breathing of the exhausted dog child.  She even has her own water bottle today: mainly because I decided to carry two as training for when I climb Beerwah!

You can see all of the glasshouses from here.

Beerwah and Coonowrin.

Tibro

I don't know the names of all the others.

I think I shall just sit here awhile and ponder.  I'm having a bit of a mopey day today: I figure it's healthier to mope on the top of a hill than in my bed.  Which would of course have been easier.

Shopping

Despite my strong dislike of crowds, I managed to last seven shops before the anxiety hit.  Remind me never to go shopping at the weekend again - actually I say that every time - and at least I managed to get what I actually went for before I panicked and dashed for the exit!  It was the first two shops that started pushing me towards the brink of neurosis.

In Rockwear, the salesperson laughed at me for wanting a top which involved a back - apparently backless tops are all the rage nowadays - and for wanting a top without tangled straps.  Seriously, are comfort and modesty completely foreign notions?  It's not like I was asking for a full sleeve full length roll neck work out top.  

In Lorna Jane, the plastic-surgery ridden woman followed me around like a hyena, telling me all of the things that she thought were "traditional" - sorry love, really, no - and finding me the "most comfortable ever" leggings which cut in most horribly and cost $99 "but I have lots of these, darling, and they'll wear in".  Yeah, no?  

In the shops where I actually bought things, I was completely left alone to my own devices, able to try things on without being given twenty different options none of which I liked but "they look amazing on you" (thanks, Lorna Jane), and much much more reasonably priced.  This way I can buy new exercise gear ten times as often as if I had shopped in the initial places.  (Does that mean I'll be stressed out ten times as much?)

Having braved the shops, and survived mostly intact, I am excited that both of my children return home this afternoon.  I love my space, and my "me time" but having C in Auckland for the week and H in Mackay, it has been very very quiet.  Manda hasn't even stayed over, due to her mum having a hip replacement.  It has just been me and Lily in a very large house, very alone.  Mind you, the bonus is not having to wear clothes but we won't go there.  You're welcome. 

Tonight, I'm going to see Kingsman (the sequel) with The Friends.  I haven't been to the movies in ages - unlike H who goes every single week, on his own - so I'm really looking forward to it.  Maybe you'll even be lucky enough to get a movie review.  Which reminds me, I really want to re-watch Hacksaw Ridge, which C has bought, but Manda borrowed it before I got a chance.

One more day off ahead and then it's back to work.  I have nothing planned on the climbing front yet - although I did traipse up Ngungun this morning.  I'd hate to call it a climb as really, after Tibro... 

So having not involved any photos in this post, I suppose I shall leave you one of me in the cave on Ngungun.

Oh and maybe a misty shot of Beerwah (and Coonowrin) 

Tibrogargan

I did it!  I climbed the Caves Route, on a rope, because seriously without a rope is super scary and only suitable for people like M who climbed without a rope so that the rope could be there for me.  And although I did the climb not using the rope, the mere availability of it gave me confidence to climb.  

This is the route we took (pardon the resolution, I stole the photo from Google and M penned in the route)

(We didn't actually fly the last part)

Let's be honest, I was tired before we got to the rock part.  

The first rock face with my esteemed lead climber.

The view from the first cave.

Climbing, ever climbing...

The second cave.  I pretty much stopped taking photos then because, yeah.  Fatigue.

Do I look like I'm dying?

It was so so hot.  Every now and then we would get an inkling of a breeze.  The higher we went, the blacker the rock and therefore the hotter the rock.  I think I changed my shoes three times in between the approach shoes (for hiking and climbing) and the specific climbing shoes (for just real climbing).

I had another bottle of water in the car and oh how I wished I had brought it with me!  My legs wouldn't stop shaking on the way down but they did keep going so I'm home now, alive!

I can't wait to do it again, and next time hopefully inviting E&E (old job).

Did I mention how much pure fun it was though?  Fear, adrenalin, adventure... the whole fear of heights thing maybe makes it even more of a challenge!