Gone north

I can name several cities I love, places I feel comfortable, engaged and interested for various reasons; Paris is one, Florence also, Salzburg, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, London, Nice, Queenstown, Bath, Falmouth...there's a lengthy list most of which I've visited multiple times and will again, but I'm a country lad at heart and it's wide open spaces that call to me, the open road, mountains and plains, valleys and peaks...big sky county where one can see to the horizon.

I'm an outdoors guy, it's where I feel most connected to life and the world around me; that doesn't mean I don't do other things but when I get the chance to escape built up urban areas I take it and that's where I am currently.

I've come to a place called Wilmington in mid-north South Australia to see a close friend of mine and to help on his property a little.

It's an oldish town, established in 1876 around wheat and barley farming and sheep grazing. There's not much here, a few shops, primary school and post office and two petrol service stations; it's quiet and that's part of its attraction. My friend, a fellow who suffers mobility and PTS issues earned through his military service to this country in the sandbox (Afghanistan), is doing some much-needed fencing and called me up for help. I hate fencing but when called I respond so here I am.

It's been great really, beside digging holes for fenceposts and stringing barbed wire; we've had some great chats, cooked flesh on open fires and ate under the canopy of stars and generally just caught up...it's been too long.

I'll admit the whole episode has been made much better because the gals have been baking; my mate's wife makes the best cakes and it's been awesome to take a break with them, have some coffee and cake and show off our fence-making muscles. Girls in short shorts and crop tops riding quad bikes and carrying cakes and coffee to their lads on the fenceline...it doesn't get much better that that. Life's good.

My whole body aches in that good way after having done a lot of work and inside...well, I feel glad to be here with my buddy who clearly needed the help and to reconnect. He's a good chap but has been through some terrible times which cost him plenty, his first marriage for one, but he's a fighter and has scrambled his way back to where his now - this medium-sized property where he makes a living as a Mr. Fix-It for the locals in the region and by running a few sheep which is what the fences are all about. He's a luck man really, has turned life around when it could have gone badly - many have not made it this far intact.

I'll be moving on tomorrow, heading even farther north to catch up with another couple for a day or so and then will head home, some seven hundred kilometres, which is where I'll see in the new year, a low key deal for me; I'll be staying home for it as usual...and will probably be asleep by midnight.

I've loved my time out here: The ability to breathe clean air and see the stars without light-pollution, the long drives on open roads, country music, seeing my buddy and, of course, gals on quad bikes with cake. I'm a lucky man I think...No, I know it!

What have you been up to with your time since Christmas? Are you back at work already or do you have a little time off like me? Are you relaxing or busy working around the house? Are you thinking about the new year and what you can do to make it awesome? Feel free to drop a comment below about your happenings, or just comment generally.