2015 Highlights

Hiking in Tasmania, Cape Town and Garden Route, Baz bus travels in South Africa, house renovations, "enlightened" mania

Priceless Moments

• Sydney Fireworks from Kiribili with Jilly.
• A beautiful new year's swim at North Sydney pool with Elna and managing to track down Wendy's Secret Garden.
• Getting a Canon 70d camera to replace my 40d.
• Climbing to the summit of Cradle Mountain and the amazing views of Dove Lake as we did. 
• The sublime reflections in the series of alpine lakes along The Tarn Shelf in Mount Fields National Park.
• Singing happy birthday to Matt with my back up singers from Cradle Mountain.
• The towering trees at Mount Fields.
• Hiking along the narrow ridge with Srini at Cathedral Rock above the mist and getting somewhat lost.
• Climbing Mount Rufus at Lake St Claire.
• Feeling hugely inspired taking macro photos at Sleepy Bay in Freycinet.
• Buying my new Macbook Pro. So fast and sexy!
• The raging wind at the top of the Main Track Pass with Srini and Gavin in The Snowy Mountains and then bundu bashing our way back to civilisation. 
• Organising Jilly's 80th birthday party and music concert. 
• Introducing close friends to the spectacular Hanging Rock in the Blue Mountains, and venturing out onto the ledge with 300 metre drops on both sides. Then surprising Zante with a birthday cake.
• Doing three days of the Tsitsikama Trail in South Africa and discovering that my weak feet were ok to hike it.
• Diving into a rock pool at Storms River with Chrisèl and swimming under a waterfall.
• A mother elephant and calf coming within metres of our car at The Addo Elephant Park.
• Climbing Lion's Head on a beautiful, clear day.
• Discovering the Hermanus wine route.
• Walking for miles along the beach at Cintsa and playing volleyball.
• Lazing by the fire and eating the best pizza in the world at Away with the Fairies in Hogsback.
• A sublime hike in The Southern Drakensberg including an exhilarating leap into an ice cold mountain pool.
• One of the best hikes of my life to The Tugela Falls in the Northern Drakensberg, 2nd highest waterfall in the world, and even icier leap into a pool at 3400 metres.
• Inspired by Jo to buy a Tamron 16 - 300 mm lens that would revolutionise my photography.
• Sharing my photographic passion at Tokai Forest and Kalk Bay with Jo and showing her the power of Lightroom.
• Millie arriving on the scene and relations gradually thawing with Mack.
• Home renovations.
• Really feeling the photographic muse on a ramble at Manly Dam.
• Walking across The Harbour Bridge with a Photography Meet Up. 
• Photographing Balls Head with Ben.
• Photographing Windsor with Sue.
• A Walk in the Woods with Sue and seeing Bill Bryson.
• A weekend at The Hawkesbury for Sharmista's 30th birthday.
• Taking photos at Manly Scenic Walk for Ella's birthday.
• My 45th Birthday party.
• Anything Goes with Sue for my birthday and getting book.
• Letter to Carpet Court.
• Helping Srini to declutter his flat and erect a chair and desk.
• Chris wins an award for his photo that I helped edit.
• A couple of days of peaceful mania when I felt enlightened,
• Buying my iPad and Bosch headphones.
• Meals, often with Craig, at The Botanica restaurant.
• Xmas barbecue with Matt and Sharmista, showing off the courtyards.
• A lovely swim at Curl Curl beach with Chris.
• Swimming at North Sydney pool.
• Xmas at Paradise in The Blue Mountains with two mindful friends.
• Boxing day in Coogee with the Wise Guys and finding out about the origins of the Haka.
• New Year's eve at Satyananda Mangrove Mountain.

Special Connections

• Setting up mum and Jo's iMacs and learning loads in the process.
• A letter of gratitude for Jilly .
• Some amazing meals with Srini and lovely walks near his place.
• Srini and I supporting each other with my DIY and his job interview - and really opening up to our real selves.
• Indian dinner with Elna.
• Some amazing mindful meals with Srini and inviting him to Eckhart.
• Chris helping me paint and me helping him with his speech.
• Helping Heather to publish her book on Kindle.
• Craig's amazing support while I was in HDU.
• Lunch with Peter to say thanks for our support of Jilly.
• Helping Sue declutter her home.
• Making chicken soup for Jilly, Yogi and Craig before Eckhart.
• Helping Lydia do a prototype of her site.

Less happy moments

• Spending time in the hospital with numb feet.
• Liza's mum passing away.
• Hospital for bipolar

Purchases

• Macbook, Dell screen, Canon 40d, Tamron 16 - 300 mm lens, iPad, Bosch headphones, DIY tools

Top Movies

• Selma
• Birdman
• Kingsmen
• Game of Thrones S5
• Headhunter
• Ex Machina
• Mad Max - Fury Road
• Amy
• A Walk in the Woods
• Inside Out
• Far from Men
• Star Wars "The Force Awakens."

Culinary delights

• The Edge of the Bay. Seafood chowder, scollop liguine, choc mousse.
• Lamb salad with Liza (Jagos on Miller)
• MaryAnn meal (pap starter, feshwado, granadilla mousse.)
• Cattle Baron (sirloin with bacon, avo, camembert), chocolate mousse
• Hogsback pizza
• Lamb potjie (Amphitheatre, Utopia)
• Lamb in slow cooker with red wine for family.
• Steak and chips at Brendan and Eva
• Thai restaurant with Srini (Duck curry)
• Chicken soup (Made for Chris, Jilly, Craig).
• Kirribili meals with Srini (lamb shanks, ribs)
• Botanica with Yogi - Almighty, lamb skewers, ginger drink.
• All Mighty at Botanica

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2015 Index of Links


Trip to Tasmania

• Cradle Mountain
• Lake St Claire
• Mount Field National Park
• Mount Fields Tall Trees Walk
• Cathedral Rock  
• Freycinet  
• Daily life in Tasmania
• Leaping in Tasmania

Trip to South Africa

Cape Town

• Reunited with the family again (Mar)
• Fun with Matt (Apr)
• Easter with family (Apr)

Garden Route

• Tsitsikama Trail (Apr)
• Storms River (Apr)
• Addo Elephant Park (Apr)
• Mosselbay (Apr)
• Harold Porter Botanical Gardens (Apr)

Cape Town with Chrisèl

• Kirstenbosch Gardens (Apr)
• Franschhoek (Apr)
• Lion's Head (Apr)
• Beach crawl (Apr)
• St James to Kalk Bay walk (Apr)
• Climb up Table Mountain (Apr)
• Hermanus wine tasting (Apr)
• Cape Point (Apr)

Baz bus

• Jeffrey's Bay (Apr)
• Cintsa (Apr)
• Away with the Fairies (Apr)
• Port St Johns (May)
• Southern Drakensberg (May)
• Northern Drakensberg (May)
• Utopia (May)
• Joberg with Chrisel's family (May)

Cape Town

• Rhodes Memorial (May)
• Tokai Forest with Jo (May)
• Kalk Bay with Jo (May)

Hikes  (19 hikes)

• Cradle Mountain (Tasmania) (Jan)
• Mount Rufus (Tasmania) (Jan)
• The Tarn Shelf (Tasmania) (Jan)
• Cathedral Rock  (Tasmania) (Jan)
• Freycinet  (Tasmania) (Jan)
• Hiking at Thredbo  (Snowy Mountains)  (Jan)
• Hanging Rock (Blue Mountains) (Jan)
• Kayaking through Shoalhaven Gorge  (NSW) (Feb)
• Mermaid Pools (Bargo) (Mar)
• Tsitsikama Trail (Garden Route) (Apr)
• Lion's Head (Cape Town) (Apr)
• Climb up Table Mountain  (Cape Town)  (Apr)
• Storms River waterfall  (Garden Route) (Apr)
• Port St Johns (Wild Coast)  (May)
• Southern Drakensberg (Southern Drakensberg)(May)
• Tugela Falls (Northern Drakensberg) (May)
• Utopia (Near Joberg) (May)
• Leura to Katoomba (Blue Mountains)  (Jun)
• Waterfall to Heathcote (Dec)

Walks  (6 walks)

• Collaroy to Manly (Sydney) (Jun)
• Manly Dam to Manly (Sydney)  (Jun)
• Ball's Head  (Jul)
• Le Perouse (Sep)
• Manly Scenic Walk for Ella's birthday (Oct)
• Manly Scenic Walk with Hiking Gang (Nov)

Xmas

• Xmas barbecue with Matt and Sharmista.
• Gavin's annual Xmas party. (Dec)

Cinema and shows

• Watching Limbo at The Sydney Festival (Jan)
• Whiplash at North Sydney outdoor cinema (Feb)
• Music concert at Jilly (Feb)

Birthdays

• Sue's birthday treat at The Oaks (Jan)
• Jilly's 80th birthday party (Feb)
• David's birthday party at Bondi Pizza  (Feb)
• My 45 the birthday party (Sep)

Photography

• Vivid Festival 2015 (Jun)
• Photography Meet Up across the Harbour Bridge (Jul)
• Photographing Balls Head with Ben. (Jul)
• Photographing Windsor with Sue.  (Jul)
• Chris's photo award  (Nov)

Swimming

• North Sydney pool and Wendy's Secret Garden with Elna (Jan)
• Swim at Curl Curl beach. (Dec)

Get togethers with friends

• New Year Fireworks at Jilly (Jan)
• Farewell to Lauren (Jan)
• Anything Goes with Sue. (Sep)

Home life

• Getting little Minnie
• Mack's life with Liza
• Mack photos

Family

• Sam, Matt and Antony in Dubai (Jan)
• Granny Sheila visits family (Jan)
• Gavin's new car (Jan)
• Essay written by Sam (Feb)
• 20th anniversary of dad's death (Feb)
• Jo's photos used in newspaper advert (Feb)
• Jo's fire photos feature online. (Mar)
• Mike spends 8 weeks in Europe (Mar)
• Jo's dew shots (Jun)
• Matt, the pancake King. (Sep)
• Kyle gets married to Elana (Nov)
• Mum, the fashion model (Nov)
• Matt doing trampoline.
• Portraits of Sam. (Dec)
• Beautiful Xmas family portraits (Dec)

Friends

• Sue triumphs at camera club (Jan)
• Little Amy growing up fast. (Jul)
• Gavin in his grandmother's frock.
• Gavin's penguin story book (Sep).

Related

• Spiritual journey (2015)