afternoon ride

One of the things I love about Barwon Heads is that you get river, sea and countryside. A few minutes walk and there is the river, a few more and there is the sea, ten minutes on the bike and all you can see is green. Johanna and I took a late afternoon ride just to be surrounded by green...

disorientated

Johanna and I returned from our 'Tassie week' on Friday night. We caught the skybus into Southern Cross, as we always used to, and for a moment it was as though we were visiting Melbourne and Launceston was still home. It was disorientating. And so was driving in Launceston in my old neighbourhood on streets that are so familiar but I was not in my car and I did not turn into my old driveway. Familiar places and typical routines, but not. A weird kind of feeling.

The last year has been one of 'those years', the kind that exhaust and overwhelm, the kind where you feel assaulted by one thing after another and you wonder when it will stop and how much more you can withstand. I don't feel like doing anything and I don't feel like doing nothing. There is just a weary emptiness. And I don't feel like blogging and I don't feel like taking photographs and perhaps it is time to call a halt. I just do the things that need doing and in the spaces seek solace in walking muddy paths through shades of green and sandy paths alongside the sea...

mucking around

The weather might have been a bit ordinary this weekend (and the water freezing) but that was no deterrent to some!

Zac and Jan, tandem on the sup

the start of the race

the end of the race

not much on offer at Ocean Grove but still some fun to be had in the white water

a very cold Zac by the looks of it

Zac attempting to ride the finless board

not so good

better

monday

Could there be a better start to the week...

(point and shoot camera so not great quality photos)

Getting suited up

instruction time

ready, set...

go

she's up, way to go Rach.! I do believe "utterly terrifying' might have been screamed out

Johanna waiting for her turn

time to swap

another one ready to go

number two is off, big sister is leading the way

Johanna up and paddling

sisterly love

Today is the kind of day we dreamed about when we decided to move to Barwon Heads - family and fun by the sea.

one and two

One week in Tassie and two in Barwon Heads, that is the next couple of months for Johanna and I. We have just returned from our week in Tassie (Monday to Friday) where Johanna needs to attend school and where I get to catch up with my family. It feels strange to be there and not in our apartment at Seaport (we stay with my mother). It also feels strange to be here in Barwon Heads. Neither feels like home at the moment and our coming and going will probably mean it will be a while before anywhere feels like home. It is surprising how much rhythms and routines give structure to a day or a life. After three days at home it feels like Colin should be leaving. Johanna now works all weekend and is around during the week days. Our work, non work schedules have all changed. The pattern of our lives has been turned on its head and sometimes I find myself a bit confused and lost - where am I this week, what day is it, what needs to be done.

Despite the unsettling nature of change and the fact that it is winter and cold we are thoroughly enjoying life on the coast again. There is something about living by the sea. And Barwon Heads has that small village feel and we are getting to know our neighbours and exploring the nooks and crannies of this place. And Melbourne is an hour and a half away, close enough for the kids to come down and for us to go up.
And there is the promise of warmer and slower days to come....

Colin heading into the Barwon River to christen his SUP