Hello Southern Hemispherites!!

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  • Hi Intesha, how lovely to hear from you and your trip to the UK and Spain sound wonderful

    I just wanted to drop a quick note about Morocco. It was the highlight of our trip in 2019 and just such a stunning place. I do want to also make mention the we had Egypt in our itinerary for our trip this year but before we booked anything I checked Smartraveller and the warning level was ‘reconsider travel’. This warning along with ‘do not travel’ impacts your insurance so we sadly had to take it off. I see that Turkey and Morocco are both still ‘exercise caution’ so you are ok but keep an eye on this as you may need extra insurance or consider cancelling if your insurance becomes null and void

    Will post more tomorrow

    Thank you Anzac. I am travelling in a group and have already taken out travel insurance so hopefully if things change before then I should be covered.
    Egypt was my go to place from 2001 until 2018 having been there 7 times. I am so thankful I got to explore it in detail before the world changed. I’m sorry you had to take it off your itinerary.

    Happy Australia Day everyone.

    Intesha I’m so envious of your holiday, my dream is to travel the UK, don’t think my budget will ever allow for it but nice to dream.

    LJoyce no not one single drop of rain. The weather radar showed plenty of rain cloud for our area but nothing made it to the ground unfortunately. At least it has cooled down for a few days before heading up to the high 30’s again mid next week.

    More cooking during the week, 3 large trays of spinach and ricotta cannelloni for the freezer.

    Despite my cooking of high carb foods or the freezer,, I have remained very strict in the last 2 weeks with my food intake. I’ve been on and off the last few months in getting back to the good routines I had in place prior to Mr GDays passing. I blame Miss GDay, she loves baking and it’s hard to resist her scrumptious cakes, biscuits and muffins. I guess I felt guilty If I didn’t eat them when she put in so much effort to make them. She understands my desire to get rid of my excess weight so from now on the excess baking goes in the freezer.

    1.7 kg down in 14 days. Very, very low carb, eating 2 meals only within a 4-6 hour window and a 60 hour water fast every 2 weeks is my new routine.

    Must dash, time has got away from me. No lap swimming today as the pool doesn’t open until 11am in public holidays. Were off to the cinema this morning and then I have a mountain load of computer work to get through this afternoon, email sorting and filing as I’ve let that build up over the last few months so time to bite the bullet and get it done.

    Hello everyone,
    Woot just about all the gang have been here over the last week.
    Thin, are you back from Cuba yet?

    I kept eating out the freezer, what a long process, and some of the things… to use them up I need to make a pot of MORE things, that need to be frozen.
    I was just about on top of it so I went shopping, and just might have got a bit carried away. So now I am cooking like mad and filling up the freezer quickly.
    (An African lamb casserole yesterday, ponkie today – can you guess what that is? and mixed vegetable curry this afternoon). Then I can relax and eat my ready made meals for the next couple of weeks.

    Turn isn’t it amazing how we can start something, and then realise we are still just playing with it. Blood tests are a great reality check and you will love getting that high cholesterol number down.

    I am another emotional eater. It is wonderful that food is so entwined with our emotions but very tricky when life is brutal (or boring) and we need to work out another way to comfort ourselves.

    It is a wonderful thing to travel light! In this material world THINGS just keep invading my home and taking up space. Especially clothes, my opshopping favourite. I am still finding more clothes to discard.

    Lindsay, what an island emergency fright for you all. Is Mr Lindsay okay and back home now? Fingers crossed he is.
    So lovely to read about the girls. Growing up so fast! I’m thinking the 10yo saying extraordinary things is the same girl who was saying extraordinary things when she was 6?

    (My daughter told Ms7 that her teacher would be going on maternity leave in term 2. “ETERNITY leave?” asked Ellie in amazement.)

    Is Rosy definitely having babies?

    Hi Merry, thankyou for your kind thoughts. All power to you up on the ‘stop my weight creeping up and let it creep down’ horse. Do you have another mini goal before you hit 62?

    Gday, that temperature report was exhausting.

    LJoyce, well done with the kids. I find the kids get a bit easier as they get older, but I keep getting slower as I grow older, so it stays a bit tricky.

    Big congratulations to you for managing your food so well. That icy smoothie is a wonderful hack.

    Haha, yes the wonderful opshop hunt gets more delightfully challenging when our wardrobe already has lovely clothes. How picky we can get about design, material, fit, colour etc!
    And wow! What a delight to shop for evening wear. Such fun and the things you found sound gorgeous! And $20 for a quality garment is such a bargain!

    Mexican cheesecake sounds like a perfect Australia Day treat, hooray for multiculturalism 😀

    Intesha, welcome home and hooray for recovering from jet lag.
    I am so glad you had such gorgeous family time, including the trip to Spain. You deserved it. And woot for the next travelling plans.
    Congratulations on kilos lost.

    Best wishes everyone

    Hello everyone, very quiet here, was thinking perhaps my page wasn’t updating? Not much to report from me, have been getting some yard jobs done while the weather is a bit cooler. Having a large house yard and a spare block means the jobs are never ending so I never feel like much is accomplished even though I have done a lot. Temps in the 40’s again this weekend so I plan to get through some study and not cook for the freezer.

    Speaking of freeers, my upright freezer decided not to freeze, it was still cold but only just short of freezing. So I had to move everything into the 2 chest freezers and it was a squeeze to get everything in. I turned off the upright, cleaned the inside and the back components, left it a few days and back on again but again only just freezing.

    That’s okay I thought, I will turn the thermostat up so it sits at fridge temp and use it as a fridge. Then I went online and found a bargain chest freezer on sAle and bought 2. I just have to drive about 100kms to pick them up next week.

    So today, I checked the temp in the upright freezer to ensure it was at fridge temp and would you believe it was sitting at minus 15 – freezing temp. Ahhh. I couldn’t cancel my online order for the 2 chest freezers as they were already in transit to the collection store.

    So I will now have 5 freezers plus the fridge freezer in the house and another fridge in the outdoor kitchen. But that’s okay, I need the 2 fridges as my shopping is 95% fresh produce plus I make my own kombucha, kefir and cheese so they are always full.

    As for the freezers, my 2 original chest freezers are years old and still work really well but I guess at some stage they will die. My upright is about 12 years old so already 2 years past an uprights average lifespan and given the issues of the past week it may be problematic ongoing. Having the 2 new ones gives me piece of mind if one of the others dies I will have freezer space to move things about if need be.

    Happy Thursday everyone x

    Hi everyone, a quick post as I’m finishing up work and ready for dinner but just wanted to pop in

    G’day, I had to chuckle at your conniving freezer! Isn’t it so typical of appliances? Or even things like TV’s that one minute do the wrong thing or don’t work at all and then when you have given up and either spent time or money getting it fixed VOILA they fix themselves 🙂

    Cinque I love reading about your op shopping. I have never done it as I am still too large to fit into ‘regular’ sizes, but once I’m at a standard size 14 I’ll be there with bells on

    I had a bit of a set back on the weekend eating-wise but back on track now. Have lost 900g which is slow but I’ll take it

    Will chat more soon, take care all

    Hi all, just a quick stop by. Our trip was excellent. Plenty of bike rides, amazing scenery, mind-blowing helicopter trip around Mount Cook and onto the top of the glaciers. I’m still on leave this week, but I’m using it to crank some more rides and get some stuff done around the house.

    No shift in weight unfortunately 😕

    Have a good one everyone.

    Good morning,

    Gday, you are the freezer queen!
    Good luck with the study this weekend.

    Hi Anzac,
    Check out the opshops when you can, there are as many gems in the big sizes as the little ones. The op shops around here mostly have sizes going up to 20 – 22, but some of them just have a ‘plus size’ section (which is a bit rude I think!).

    900g is a nice amount not to have to carry around anymore.

    Neil, I am so glad you had such a great trip. And this week sounds a good one too.

    I’m sitting here wishing I could have another coffee but knowing I had better not. I’ll go and do three things.

    Sending out best wishes to everyone.

    Hi Friends, happy Tuesday

    So glad you had a great holiday Neil. Don’t focus on weight until you are back into your normal routine

    I am also not focusing on weight this week as I am preparing for a colonoscopy on Friday. That means a white diet (white bread/pasta/rice, white meat, well cooked potato or pumpkin and that’s about it…ugh) with no fruit, no other veges or anything with fibre or grains yesterday, today and half of tomorrow. Then clear liquids from lunch time Thursday until the procedure on Friday night 5.45pm. I also have a very sore foot – or rather big toe joint – that came out of the blue. If Dr Google is to be believed it is gout but I just find that a bit odd. Anyway, giving it some time before seeing to it

    Thanks Cinque, I will def pop my head into the local op shop one day soon. You never know right?

    Must dash as work is as busy as always. Not crazy but not quiet so I’m not complaining

    Take care all

    Morning all

    Well a bit of a frenetic end to the holiday. I had to drive my sister-in-law to the hospital because she thought it would be a good idea to put her hand under her lawnmower while it was still running and she split the end of her middle finger. I came back to finish off mowing her lawn for her, tripped on her driveway and twisted my ankle. We think her lawnmower is cursed.

    Weight back up a kilo this week, so I’m really going to have to knuckle down and get back to a more consistent eating now that I’m back into my normal work routine. Unfortunately my bike has been out of commission for the last few days and is likely to be still out of commission for a couple of days to come. It has a worn gear cassette and the supplier is out of stock of replacement cassettes, so I have to wait for them to get more stock in, freighting it down to my bike repair shop, and then time for them to fit it on my bike. I’m itching to get out riding because the weather has been so nice recently.

    Well I hope everyone else has been good, I’ll catch up with you all later.

    Good evening everyone.

    I’ve had a busy couple of weeks of appointments and errands – trying to get everything sorted before my trip. By this weekend things will calm down as I only have a couple of appointments each week in my last fortnight. I did plan it that way so that I could mostly isolate and stay away from germs before I leave.

    My weight has been stubbornly resistant to falling below 80kg. I keep getting close and then a social event will push it up by a kilo and it takes a week and a half to get back down again. That’s despite me doing well over 70k steps each week (plus stair climbing and yoga). I did have one blissful moment on Tuesday afternoon when I had a bone density scan. I was 79kg fully clothed on their scales. I was 80.2 on mine this morning, oh well it’s close. I am doing 4:3 in my last 3 weeks. It does seem to fit better into social obligations than the daily 800 does.

    Neil, The holiday sounds great. A shame about the ankle, I hope it recovers soon.
    I thought of you yesterday when I came across this tour which I’m seriously considering: https://au.ponant.com/antarctica-expedition-to-new-zealand-s-subantarctic-islands-so171224-10 -it leaves from Dunedin. I’ve been to NZ several times, but this tour would be quite different to anything I’ve done before. It sails into the fjordland area and then goes to the subantarctic islands, that really appeals to me.

    Anzac, good luck with the colonoscopy, I hope the news is good.

    Lindsay, thinking of you. I hope Mr L is getting better.
    Cinque, I smiled at your description of food shopping after clearing your freezer. I have done something similar so many times.

    GDSA, I think you are better off without that unreliable freezer. Nothing worse than having a freezer full of food when it stops working properly.
    I once had a fridge that decided it wanted to be a freezer when it got old. After getting fed up with frozen salads and eggs I bought a new fridge.

    Intesha, I’d be interested in hearing more about your Morocco holiday plans.
    I’m considering that as a trip for November 2025.

    Tomorrow I’m catching up with my best friend. A day in the hills is planned, with lunch at the Nairne strawberry farm with a long walk on the wetlands walking trail at Mount Barker beforehand and a shorter walk around Stirling after lunch. Hopefully that will deal with the lunch calories.

    Take care.

    Good morning all.

    LJ thanks for the good wishes. After a week in hospital, they could find no reason for OH’s sudden incident. He goes back in in a week or so for more investigation. He is getting very tired of the constant hospital visits and medical procedures, particularly as he is feeling reasonably well. I live in fear that one day he will say enough is enough, and stop treatment.

    But, in the meantime, life’s to be lived, and we are doing that. We have had four wonderful days in Sydney with two of OH’s Scottish relatives. It was just what the doctor ordered. Fun, and lots of laughs and lots of stories of times past. And now we are back on our island, and fingers crossed we get our week here with no more medical evacuations.

    Your day out in the hills sounds wonderful – enjoy your day out with your friend.

    Anzac the diet leading up to the colonoscopy is the worst part. Will be good to get it done and dusted, and the all clear. Best wishes today.

    Yikes Neil, what a way to end a holiday. Your sil is no doubt shaking her head at her own actions, but we all do these things without thinking. Yep. Get rid of the mower. It’s cursed.

    My weight is …well, let’s just say fluctuating. Four days in Sydney didn’t help, but I’m back in control now on the island, so will work at it very hard, along with lots of beach walks and swims with OH and the dogs.

    Oh Anzac, I hope it’s not gout. Usually a complaint experienced by men, but women do get it. We changed OH’s diet completely and he seems to have only the very occasional bout now. We got him off prawns and shellfish (disappointing, because the best prawns in the world come from the island, and I won’t eat them if he can’t), cut back on his alcohol (not that he had much, and wasn’t a beer drinker, which is the worst) and lots of water.

    Cinque, travelling light. What a wonderful philosophy. But things keep invading. My lovely lovely Scottish relative brought us a bag of things …lovely, thoughtful things. They weighed 7.1 kilos. How do I know this? We travelled down with hand luggage, but had to check in our case on the way home. Two beautiful cashmere scarves, lots of Scottish food (oatcakes, tablet, etc) and things for the children, and books. My current thinking is that is something comes in, something has to go out. But I’m fighting a battle and not winning.

    On that note, breakfast. We have some leftover mangoes I brought over with us. For OH, not me. Too many carbs too early in the day for me, but he needs to put on a bit of weight still, and loves them.

    Have a great day all.

    Morning all

    Ljoyce, that trip looks amazing, I’m going to forward this onto my dad because it looks like something he’d be interested in, and he has a credit with his travel agent for a trip he and my mother had booked that got cancelled during Covid. You’ll have to stop by and say hello if you manage to book it.

    Lindsay, sorry to hear your OH had a medical incident, You must have posted about it while I was away because I haven’t caught up with the posts yes, but it’s good that he’s feeling a bit better, and you had some good times with rallies.

    I got back on the bike yesterday and my ankle was feeling pretty good when I was riding, but sore while I was walking. I guess having my body weight supported by my bike helped take strain off my ankle. I’m wearing a brace on it which helps, but it wasn’t badly sprained, just twisted a bit so it should be fine in a couple of days.

    Have a good one everyone.

    Hi everyone, nice to read all the posts. LJoyce the Moroccan trip is again through Encounter Travel, for solo travellers, max 18 persons. Starts in Morocco 16/10 for 17 days. Casablanca/Essaouira/Marrakech/BoumalneDades/Merzouga/Azrou/Fes/Chefchaouen//Tangier/Casablanca. Air fares not included, own room $7085.
    Well my life has been turned upside down again. Last week I was given notice that the house I am renting is being sold. My lease is up in March and I will be in India. Could not have come at a worse time. Hoping an investor buys it and I can come to some arrangement with them as I only have three weeks between my India and Turkey trip. Three sets of people came through yesterday although the open house is not until tomorrow. I am seriously looking at being homeless. The rental market is brutal at the moment. Some of my thoughts are putting everything in storage and finding something temporary until I can find a suitable place or moving out of Sydney which I had always thought once my Dad passed but having these trips booked means I need to stay in Sydney for the time being.
    These are the things my Dad was thinking of when he left me the money, which I haven’t received yet, something my brother never took into account when he did what he did. Thankfully I will have a cushion but it’s money I could use for other things apart from having to move so often. That will be 3 moves in as many years.
    My weight has gone from 78.3 to 75.8 so something positive although I am not really fasting but just watching what I eat and being very frugal with the shopping.
    Sending best wishes to you all.

    Oh no, I’m so sorry Intesha, yet another setback for you. I hope an investor buys the property or you find something else as soon as possible. Thinking of you

    Hi all,

    I missed my weigh in catch up last Thursday as OH and I had been visiting Dunedin for a couple of days with his brother and SIL who are over from the UK presently. As you can imagine two days undid all the good we had achieved in the previous couple of weeks! We did have a thoroughly fantastic time though, and we all got to see an albatross! We had more socialising over the weekend as my elderly uncle from the UK is also here in NZ with his partner and we have been sorting his travel plans whilst he is here. Car hire/ferry/accommodation bookings all sorted, they finally arrived here on Sat afternoon, just as a cool southerly hit! Took them for a pub meal which was excellent and yesterday we all enjoyed lunch at one of the local wineries here, amazing views and lovely food and wine. After a trip through the gorge to Queenstown we ended up in another pub with a cheese board to share! They were blown away with the mountains & lakes and the weather certainly played ball. They have moved on today to enjoy the last week of their trip with friends on the west coast, so we can probably get to grips with some more sensible eating. We catch up with BIL & wife again this Thursday for 3/4 days so no doubt some more eating out will occur.

    I seem to do OK until I hit the social button, then everything goes out the window, including all my will power and any rational form of thinking. Needless to say I haven’t broken the 70 barrier yet although I came close at 70.2kg. I am so looking forward to seeing the 60’s again.

    It sounds like everyone is back to travelling and making future travel plans, we hope to head back to Europe in ’25, but just browsing at the moment, putting some ideas into a folder that I can hopefully fit into our plans.

    I concur with Lindsay Neil, ditch that mower! I do hope you’re back walking OK soon.

    Ooops, looks like we have to go out now! Will catch up again later, enjoy your day everyone, Turn

    Good morning everyone.

    I had a welcome shock on the scales this morning. I was 79.5kg, that’s the first time in 3 years I’ve been in the 70s on my scales.

    Lindsay, I’m glad to hear that your husband’s health has stabilised. Sounds like you had a lovely time in Sydney. I hope you are enjoying the island.

    Intesha, thank you for the Morocco tour info. I actually hadn’t heard of Encounter Travel and they are clearly perfect for my situation I’ve been scouring their site for options already. I’d love to do their African safari, but it’s already booked out.
    I will keep my fingers crossed for a housing solution for you.

    Turn, it’s lovely being able to catch up with family you don’t see often, but I agree – the socialising is not good for the waist line.

    Neil, glad you thought the Ponant cruise might interest your dad – they also run the same cruise 2 weeks earlier for those who don’t want to be away for christmas. The main thing holding me back is cost. I had savings plans which did involve more travel this year.

    Hello to Cinque, Anzac, Thin, GDSA, Merry and anyone else I’ve forgotten.

    It’s finally a cooler day here today so I need to get out this morning and do a long walk. Then this afternoon it’s off to the travel agent to collect my final paperwork for the Argentina-Antarctica trip.

    Hello everyone,
    I have a lot of tidying up to do before Vic the cleaner comes to help me with a deep clean of the big kitchen cabinet, so every sentence or so I will go and do three little things. Warning: This might be a very disjointed post.

    I’ve had a bad week, I managed to put on an inch around my waist without irritating my esophagus too much, which means I can’t depend on pain to keep me in line any more! I felt awful as soon as my eating habits changed and to make it worse I had a really bad sleepless night which led to several crook days.

    Now I am focused, I’ve reminded myself of how frugal I need my eating to be, and I am putting it into practice.

    It is hot hot hot here, but a cool change is coming. I’m glad you are enjoying it already LJoyce (and Gday I hope).

    Anzac, I hope all went well with your colonoscopy. I hope your big toe pain doesn’t turn out to be gout or anything else long term or hard to fix.

    Neil, I do hope your SIL is recovering well. Are you the sort of family that will tease her forever now? Oh those accidents where you wish you could just go back ten seconds and not do the thing. Sigh.

    And I hope your ankle sprain wasn’t too bad. Was there a third accident to round it out?

    It sounds like not exercising means you are home and unable to resist nibbling and munching. I do hope your bike is fixed and your ankle is healthy enough that you can get outside and doing things.

    Speaking of exercise, my favourite twin doctors have a new podcast series out about it: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/a-thorough-examination-with-drs-chris-and-xand/id1625865924

    LJoyce, Woot! https://www.icegif.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/icegif-70.gif
    Congratulations in getting below 80. You win extra medals for the incredible persistence and executive functioning it took.

    Exciting that your next trip is coming up so soon. Another woot!

    I’ll be back after three more things and making a cup of tea (if I can resist another coffee).

    Back with coffee,
    Haha of course.

    Lindsay, hooray with living well every precious day we have.
    I am so glad Mr Lindsay has been out of hospital and able to do some good living. Sending sympathy and courage for the round of appointments and investigations coming up.

    Sympathy for that fluctuating weight, it is hard times. Big congratulations that it isn’t skyrocketing upward.

    Travelling light is not easy in this bizarre age. I have a similar philosophy of something needing to go out… but it is tricky when a whole swag of gorgeous things come in.

    Intesha, I am also sending so many wishes that whoever buys your house wants a good stable tenant in it.
    Woot to you for that two and a half kilo you are not having to carry around. Loveliness! https://i.pinimg.com/originals/86/ec/d4/86ecd40b471c0fe18fef8b583f0c69b2.gif

    Turn hello! And oh dear for social times that make eating well difficult. But apart from that, what a lovely life you are living.

    Coffee is finished and the kitchen is just about tidy. What a good morning.

    PS a cute little word game my daughter put me on to. I love to do the daily one every morning. Just search Gubbins game.

    Best wishes everyone

    Missing you Thin!

    Guess who is going to have a fast day tomorrow?

    Yes, me. First one for about a year.

    I’ve got chicken and low carb vegetables, so I will aim for 600calories of that.

    Wish me luck.

    Good luck Cinque. I hope your FD is an easy one.
    Thankyou for the fireworks.

    Morning all

    Weigh-in yesterday was down half a kilo, not much but better than nothing.

    I’m having real issues with my bike at the moment, the gears are slipping, I’ve replaced the chain and cassette and it’s still slipping. The guy at the bike shop said the drive train on my bike isn’t built for the amount of riding I do. He said if I’m just riding in the weekends then it would last years, but commuting every day and riding in the weekends I’m likely to have to change it every year. The problem is I don’t really have the cash up front to change to a better system.

    Cinque, I’ll be fasting with you today, I recognise yours was yesterday but I didn’t read your message until today so it still counts. I’m going to try a 3 day fast since I can’t ride my bike much at the moment, so it’s just tea, coffee, water and miso soup for me for the next few days. My SIL is recovering too well, she’s organised a list of gardening jobs she wants me to do around her house while she’s out of action.

    Ljoyce, congrats on hitting the 70s, I’m not sure my dad would go on the cruise but I put it in his head. Him and my mother had several holidays over in Aussie and he’s expressed interest in going back, but says he’s nervous about travelling by himself, and he’s not really the kind of guy who would join a bus tour group type thing.

    Turn, hope our city gave you some decent weather while you were here. It’s been really up and down recently. Wednesday was 31 degrees and uncomfortably hot overnight, yesterday was grey, miserable, 16 degrees and we actually lit the fire in the evening because it dropped to 11 degrees, today it’s supposed to hit somewhere in between, 22 degrees which is far more palatable.

    Intesha, I hop something comes up with your accommodation issue, I hope you can put that out of your mind and enjoy your trip.

    Well have a good one everyone

    Thanks LJ,

    It is today I am fasting, Neil! We can journey together.
    Well, just for today, and I can send you good wishes for the next two days!

    How frustrating about your bike!

    Haha, I am glad your SIL is recovering well, but I hope her list of gardening jobs doesn’t get too long. It will keep you busy while you are fasting though!

    I’ve started the day with a chicken drumstick and a cup of coffee and now I am concentrating on household jobs to keep me busy. Well. maybe one more game of patience before I head back to the kitchen…

    Cheers everyone

    Hello all, have been a bit absent battling health stuff

    Lindsay sadly yes it is Gout. I don’t know where the fruitcake that came from but DEAR GOD it was painful. It’s been 12 days and it is 90% better but what a journey. The doctor gave me super-strong anti inflammatory medication and I have a script for some other medication to take once it is fully healed. This other one is to stop it coming back. I’ve had blood test to see the Urate levels and will have another after 4 weeks of the new drug

    Glad Mr Lindsay is a bit better and so glad you had a lovely time in Sydney with your relatives. No drug can beat a whole lot of fun times and laughter

    The better and wonderful news is the colonoscopy and gastroscopy were all clear. I just need to get the pathology results and then that is done and dusted for another 3 years. The doctor was concerned that I am unable to wean myself off the reflux medication so wanted to make sure it wasn’t having any impact – and it isn’t. Yay!

    My weight jumped up 2 kilos after the colonoscopy and I have no idea why. I’ve had a good week and lost 0.8 in 5 days so some must have been fluid

    LJ, I am so envious of your Antarctica trip. This was the very first trip on our agenda 20 years ago! We were keen to do the whole Drake Passage thing on an Ice Cutter and back then baulked at the cost of 5K each. Haha, now it is more like 20k each. We still hope to do a cruise like yours one day and I can’t wait to hear all about it. And lots of celebrations for the lovely 7 in front of your weight 🙂

    Sorry to hear about your bike issues Neil, especially when it means so much to you. Yay for the half kilo GONESKY

    Hope your fast day today goes well Neil and Cinque. Sorry about that dratted inch around your waist Cinque but I bet today’s FD takes care of that

    Intesha, did I already mention that we LOVED LOVED LOVED Morocco back in 2019? You will have an amazing trip. The people are lovely and the countryside so varying and beautiful. I can’t wait to hear all about your trip

    Turn, social events are my number one downfall too. So glad you had a lovely time with your family from the UK. Those 60’s will be here soon

    Hi to everyone else – Thin where are you? Mr A was detained for a couple of hours when we first arrived in Cuba (he and the only other non-Latino man on the flight were detained for questioning) so I hope you didn’t strike something like that

    Take care all

    Good evening all. A quick post while my dinner is cooking.

    Another FD for me. They have been almost alternate day lately, which is probably why I finally dropped through that 80k plateau. I have stayed under 80 in recent days, which is very reassuring.

    Cinque, is there miso soup for dinner? It’s my strongest memory of your old FDs.

    Anzac, excellent news on the gastric tests. I hope that gout clears up quickly.

    Neil best of luck with your 3 day fast, that sounds quite challenging.
    I perfectly understand your dad’s reticence to travel alone when he isn’t used to it. My trip to Europe last November eased some of my fears. There were a lot of people travelling alone and over meals you gradually get to chat with other single strangers.

    Must go, my tandoori chicken drumstick and reheated roast veg is ready!

    Good morning,
    I had a good fast day, but not as fasty as I would really like. I will try again in a couple of days. I want a fasty fast! (I think I had too much chicken). But my waist measurement is half an inch smaller so that is good.

    How are you going Neil?

    LJoyce, I did finish the day with miso soup. And it was lovely.
    I hope yours was a good fast day. Woohoo for staying under 80kg.

    Anzac, I am so glad that gout attack is almost over. What a lot of pain to deal with. I do hope you can protect yourself from another one.
    I gather 5:2 and Mediterranean diet are good for prevention and you do both of those when your terrible work isn’t undermining you. Is this right? All power to you.
    Hooray for how good all the other tests were.

    I am very pleased with 5:2 as such a wonderful tool to be able to bring out when I needed it. This morning I am really appreciating its circuit breaker attribute.

    I am also appreciating that I have got my fridge a lot emptier (still enough food in the house and garden that I could live happily for months)
    (Well not quite happily because I need coffee and milk!).
    It makes eating lovely and simple .
    I’ve got zucchini and tomatoes and basil from the garden which makes for some lovely simple meals.

    The Melbourne weather is being so kind today. Life is easy.

    Sending out good wishes to everyone.

    Afternoon all (good lord it’s already 2pm!)

    I’m going well so far cinque. Yesterday I got by on 2 cups of miso, a coffee, and a cup of oat milk. Today so far has been a coffee and a glass of prune juice. I haven’t really been feeling hungry, just a couple of pangs now and then. Another day and a half to go then onto fast 800.

    Joyce, tandoori chicken sounds pretty good right now, but I guess I’ll make do with a glass of soda water instead. The tree day fast is basically just a reset button for me, get back into the swing of fasting, shrink the stomach down, and hopefully get myself into ketosis, so when I jump back onto fast 800 it should be a lot easier.

    Anzac, I’ve never had gout but I’ve heard it can be pretty bad, they call it the king’s disease so at least you can take small comfort that your Illness is an upper class one 😉

    I’ll check back in tomorrow and let you know how I get on with the rest of my fast.

    Morning all

    Well my liquid fast didn’t quite go to plan, but pretty close. I ended up doing a whole lot of maintenance work at the frisbee golf course on Saturday so by the time it got to the evening I was pretty hungry so I had one cup of the beef stroganoff that I made for dinner (minus the pasta that my family had with it) It added a couple of hundred calories, but a total of only 400 or so for the day is fine. Yesterday was similar, my sister in law wanted me to drop a whole lot of trees, It took a few hours to drop them and drag them away. It was a really hot day too, so I drank a whole litre of coconut water while I was working, and I had a couple of scoops of chocolate protein powder blitzed up with a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter for dinner. It was around 300 calories, so a total of 500-600 for the day.

    The weird thing is I haven’t felt hungry much over the three days. I’m back onto fast800 today so I’ll see how that goes.

    Have a good one everyone

    That sounds like a brilliant three day superfast Neil! Congratulations!
    https://www.funimada.com/assets/images/cards/big/congrats-1.gif

    I hope the Fast 800 continues that good work.

    I have been doing well, making very delicious, small, frugal meals.

    Sending out best wishes to everyone.

    Hello friends

    I am doing a proper FD today as I overindulged on the weekend to the point of ridiculousness. I have a nice slice of leg ham to have with a salad for a late lunch then home-made san-choy-bau for dinner

    Cinque that was a very thought provoking observation about gout and the benefits of 5:2 and the Mediterranean Diet. I am feeling inspired to get on the horse and get this weight loss journey back on track after years of yoyoing

    Your fast sounds very successful Neil and I’m exhausted just reading about all of your chores

    I just received a call from the Gastro doctor to say all pathology results are fine 🙂

    Take care everyone, happy Monday

    Morning all,

    At my Wednesday weigh in today I was down 1.6 kilos, so a total of 2 kilos over the last 2 weeks. I was expecting more after a three day fast, but I’ll definitely take it.

    Good work Neil.
    Quick fixes seem more and more elusive as life goes on. 1.6k gone is tremendous, all power to you building on that.

    Anzac, hooray for those pathology results. All my fingers and toes crossed that you can manage that stressful work as well as the best ways of eating and fasting. It is so tricky.

    It is hot here today and a hot night and then another hot day before the cool change. I will ride it out gently. I am building up to another fast day, but in the meantime I am having one less meal a day.

    Well, I managed it yesterday and will try again today. (That’s 3 small meals instead of the four I had been having).

    Best wishes everyone

    Hello everyone.

    My weigh has stayed on or around 79kg for a week. It doesn’t seem to want to go lower. It is stable, but I’m eating well under my calorie needs, even on the NFDs, so I’m a little worried about what will happen when I start eating eating normal meals again.
    I’m getting through all the last minute tasks. I’m leaving the packing until tomorrow morning. With fingers crossed that everything fits.
    I fly out at 6am Friday and I return home around 11pm on Saturday 9th March.

    My cat is well loved. One of my neighbours is looking after Sylvia while I’m away and another neighbour and my niece have both offered to step in and help if needed. Sylvia will have them all wrapped around her paw in no time. I’m used her antics in her daily bid to get more treats!

    I’ll try and post while I’m away, but it will depend on internet access. I’ll post my wildlife photos when I return.

    Take care all.

    LJoyce,
    Bon voyage! It is your antarctica trip isn’t it! Sending so many good wishes for a wonderful time. Say hello to the penguins for my penguin obsessed granddaughter.
    I’m extra envious since Melbourne is sweltering today.

    Frustrating news that your scales aren’t reflecting all your work, but it must be good for your body anyway, and will show up sooner or later.

    How lovely that Sylvia will be so cared for.

    Hello all, it has been very quiet this week here

    I am doing well, it seems I need a big trip to motivate my weight loss. Have lost 1.4 kilos in two weeks

    I am imagining you all rugged up staring out at the wonderful scenery LJ. I hope you are having just the best time

    1.6 kilos last week Neil and it is weigh-in Wednesday for you again so I hope you have had another very good one

    Thin, are you lurking? We miss you

    Hi to everyone else, take care

    Morning Anzac, I was just about to post that I can hear crickets chirping on here it’s been so quiet before I saw your post.

    Yes it was my Wednesday weigh-in today, but it was not good. I’ve had digestion issues this last week and feeling horribly bloated. That was reflected on the scales, undoing all the work from last week. Hopefully when it passes my weight will go back to where it was.

    Congrats on your loss

    We’ve started harvesting the plums off our tree this last week, and it’s ridiculously loaded. We’ve picked 6 buckets of plums off it so far, which have been jammed, preserved, eaten, given to neighbours and family, taken to Church, and taken to work, but the tree still looks like it hasn’t been touched. I might do some fruit leather, then make some jams to donate to the local food bank, then pick a couple of boxes to take to the local school and kindy. We planted the tree only 8 years or so ago, but it’s a real monster. We planted it a few meters away from our compost heap and every time I empty the compost heap I find roots from the plum tree soaking up the nutrients.

    Well I hope everyone else is ok. Have a good one everyone.

    Ooh so much catching up to do. So I’ll do it backwards, and sorry if I miss you .
    Neil, reading about your plum harvest and how you are distributing it makes my heart sing. I love the notion of fruit, picked fresh and eaten when its bursting with goodness. But also preserved for later. I’ve just done some marmalade here – unfortunately with mostly bought citrus, but I did get a couple of my lemons in there. We had a wonderful grapefruit tree on the island. So so prolific. But it had to be pruned hard to allow the fencers in behind (it’s thorny) so it hasn’t produced for a couple of seasons.

    Ditto zucchinis, tomatoes and basil Cinque. That’s a crop you could build a life around.

    Intesha, your housing situation sounds dreadfully stressful. I hope something is working out for you. Are you travelling independently in India? It was one of our places to visit, but probably not now. We are still determined to travel, but have to choose places we either know (so we can medical help if needed) or somewhere with a good reputation for health care (which acually I think India has?)

    Cinque, thank you for the good wishes for my OH. It’s all good for the time being. He had his regular immunotherapy on Monday and his oncologist is pleased with him. Today he’s at his fortnightly rehabilitation workshop – he sees various professions – occupational therapist, psychologist, exercise physiologist, dietician. He really enjoys it, and I can hear from the banter as I wait to collect him that they enjoy him too. He really is a funny, lovely man.

    My weight is stable, but nowhere I’d like it to be. But, and herein lies the dilemma. His weight can’t fall any further (he’s down to 68 kilos) which means I cook food to tempt his waning appetite. Whereas once he’d happily eat a chicken salad, now by the time he’s eaten half, he is feeling full and doesn’t finish it. So it’s lots of root vegetables, and pasta, and the other things that he needs and I don’t. And he gets very upset if I cook a meal for him, and something different for me. So I do the best I can, but it’s not always enough.

    LJ no doubt you are well on your way now – happy travels. Looking forwrd to wonderful pics. A fabulous trip.

    Wow Anzac. That’s a good loss. Long may it continue. I booked a couple of trips away last night. We’d lost our Qantas status, because we hardly flew at all last year. They’ve had a special double status points offer, and I took a risk that OH will be okay. It’s a bit of a lottery, but it also very nice for us to have something to look forward to (and motivate me to imagine myself in a swimsuit!) So, Bali in June, Melbourne in July (no swimsuit needed there!)

    Anzac, so sorry about the gout. Such a painful conition. OH takes Indocid if he has a flare, but it can be deadly for people with poor kidney function, so we manage his conditon with diet. Ditto with the medication to keep it at bay. OH just couldn’t take it. Great news about the colonoscopy and other results.

    Turn, to get without a cat’s whisker of the sixties is brilliant. Congratulations. I’d need to lose a leg to be at that weight at the moment. And the difference between 70.2 and 69.9 is just a big drink of water. Those wretched social situations ….we love them, even when they are doing us in.

    On that note I’m off to hang out washing before I pick up OH from the hospital. Feeling happy with myself this morning – I’ve already cleaned out the fridge. Oh dear. I found things in there I hadn’t even realised we’d bought. Note to self: do better.

    Have a great one all. xxx

    Hi everyone,
    I have very intermittent wifi access, so I’m doing a catch up while it’s working.
    Currently sailing across the Drakes Passage, expecting to reach Antarctica later today.

    I don’t know how to link imgur photos on my phone (I use my laptop for that at home). So I’ll load photo links once I get home.

    I had 3 nights in Buenos Aires. I enjoyed the sightseeing and the tango show. I was quite limited in where I could go alone in my free time due to the recent increase in crime targeting tourists. We got very stern warnings from the first tour guide about the rapid increase in bag/phone snatching – often using knives to liberate your belongings. I was relieved that she said the old port district (where my hotel was) is the safest area in the city to walk alone. So I restricted myself to that area. It meant I didn’t get to see some things I wanted to, but I’d rather stay safe.
    The poverty in Buenos Aires is very visible. The hotel receptionist said their inflation had now reached 2.1% per day! I’m not sure how people without property and foreign investments survive that.

    After flying to Ushuaia we had an afternoon in the Tierra del Fuego national park on Monday afternoon. It was lovely, I would have liked more time there to do a proper hike.

    The sailing has been good so far, 3metre seas. My seasickness meds are working. There is a bad storm following us, but we’ve been reassured that we’ll be across Drakes Passage and into the shelter of the Antarctic Peninsula before it hits.

    The ship is gorgeous and only half full, because there are so many single people on this trip (clearly attracted by the “no single supplement” as I was). This means we will get more time on the ice. We are also going to be able to get onto two volcanic calderas that are part of the Antarctic Peninsula.

    There are so many experts on board. We have 15 naturalists with a whole variety of specialties- they’ll be leading the landings. There are also 2 experts from the Smithsonian, a cosmologist and a geologist/glaciologist. Daily there have been 3 lectures of varying topics relevant to Antarctica- I’m learning so many new things. On that note I need to go ss the lecture on Antarctic glaciers starts in 4 minutes. Will post more later.

    Hello from Antarctica 🥶
    We arrived yesterday at 3pm and we were in the zodiacs by 4pm. I have already seen humpback whales, fur seals, birds and one solitary penguin. 🦭 🐋 🦅 🐧
    The experience was beyond words.

    We were meant to be doing a zodiac landing on Danco island this morning to visit a penguin rookery, but the wind speed is too high for a safe landing, so we’ll be doing another cruise around the area on the zodiacs this morning. Still hoping the planned landing in Neko Harbour will go ahead this afternoon.

    It was the wildlife that drew me to Antarctica, but it’s actually the vastness of the landscape that has made the biggest impression so far. In my photos everything look so much smaller than it actually is.

    Now that we are in Antarctica, the ship moves position 2-3 times a day and drops anchor.

    Stay cool in your summer heat, I’m trying, with particular success to stay warm.

    Hello everyone,
    How lovely to read your posts LJoyce. My heart aches for the icy expanse as well as the wonderful wildlife so it is a treat to enjoy it vicariously.

    Anzac, wonderful work. Is it 5:2 that is helping you lose that excess weight with the holiday dangling in front of you, or other things? Or a combination?

    Thin, I miss you too.

    I have had a rocky time after a year of doing so well with my four small meals a day. I started trying to change things and all I did was mess myself up. So I have returned to what works, except I am spreading my four meals out slightly as, now my esophagus has healed, I can eat my last meal of the day at 7 instead of six o’clock.

    Neil, your poor bloated digestion, no doubt with inflammation needing extra water to help you recover.
    I hope you are felling much better, and lighter too.

    Ooh yum the plum tree. It must be so well fed and paying you back for all that compost. I get tree roots in mine too, a callistemon, so I get repaid in pale yellow flowers and happy bees.

    Lindsay, when I read your post the other day I was eating one of my small meals made with (homemade) pasta, basil pesto and tomatoes from my garden. This morning I had three zucchini flowers but no males, and as there don’t seem to be other zucchini bushes in bee range, I picked them with flowers attached and am enjoying them with my meals today (another 5 zucchinis in my fruit bowl).

    I am so glad Mr Lindsay is doing well and entertaining all his medical helpers.
    And well done cleaning out the fridge.

    I am speaking with the fervor of the converted, but I know you will just politely move on if this doesn’t suit you. I do want to put in a bid for changing your eating to small meals. It sounds like Mr. Lindsay is only able to eat small meals at the moment, so you would be in concert with him. And if your meal is only a cup and a half in volume, then some root vegetables and even pasta, can be a part without any damage to the scales, and would mean you are not too hungry after eating it. It might be worth a try.
    It only works for me if I have four meals a day, so I am not sure how that translates.

    I’m having one of those ‘just do three small things’ days so off I go to see if three more might make a difference 😉

    Sending best wishes to everyone.

    Hello from Paradise Bay.
    The outing have been wonderful.
    This morning we went out on the zodiacs and landed on Cuverville Island. Home to a rookery of more than 6,000 gentoo penguins. I am going to swamp you all with photos when I return. There’s always something amazing to take a picture of.
    During lunch they repositioned the ship so that we can explore Paradise Bay by zodiac this afternoon. There are two excursions off the ship each day to get us close to wildlife, glaciers, icebergs etc. I even managed to climb the snow encrusted hill this morning. Given that we are all wearing rubber boots, not mountaineering boots it’s quite a challenge. I’ve only tackled the climbs with a gentle gradient. Getting up is ok, but coming down is scary if it’s steep and I don’t fancy the penguin method of sliding down head first on your tummy!
    Especially as we have to walk through a “sheep dip” when we return to the boat to kill any bacteria or organisms we’ve trodden in. (We do the same when exiting to ensure we don’t take foreign organisms into penguin colonies.) Those people who fell over (there’s always some) get completely disinfected. I’m trying to avoid that.

    The weather has been surprising. Most days it’s around zero Celsius. I expected to feel much colder. It seems that when there’s sleet to get you wet or it’s windy, then you feel the cold. On the still days like today it’s easy to overheat in the all the layers of cold weather gear.

    I need to go. I have half an hour to get kitted out for the next outing.

    Oh wow LJ, I am loving your posts and picturing the scenery and the wildlife. I have to do this! Really can’t wait to see your pictures and thank you for taking the time to tell us all about this most awesome adventure

    Neil I love plums and if only you could chuck a bucket-load of them over the ditch

    Cinque I am being stringent with the ‘no snacking’ rule as it is incredible how quickly the calories add up when I mindlessly wander into the kitchen to eat something. I’m also trying to do a bit more exercise and the weight is coming off nicely. It’s really hard for me to do FD’s due to my diverticulitis as I need fibre first thing in the morning and that sets off the hunger dragon. I’m also really watching my carb intake. Nothing special or scientific but it works!

    Housework calls so I’ll keep this short. Take care everyone

    This morning we were at Port Charcot. That involved scaling a difficult and icy slope the get up from the shore and hiking for an hour across the frozen snow. Challenging but exhilarating. I didn’t take hiking poles with me, but another lady had some and didn’t do that excursion so I was able to borrow hers – it hade the hike much easier. There were multiple penguin colonies- adelie, gentoo and chinstrap. There were also fluffy penguin chicks that were so rotund it was clear they had very devoted parents.

    In the afternoon we went exploring in the zodiacs near Wiggins Glacier. The highlight of the afternoon was a humpback whale that surfaced right next to me.

    Today was also the first without cloud cover. The bright sunshine changes the colour of the ocean and sky into something so vibrant and beautiful. Each day I’m awestruck by how incredible nature is.

    I have 2 more days exploring the peninsula, then we spend 2 days sailing back to Argentina.

    Hi all
    LJ what a wonderful trip – magical. You are seeing sights that so few of us will ever see, so I really appreciate the commentary. Thank you.

    Cinque I hadn’t thought about four small meals, but it could very well work and I am always open to new ideas. We are on the island at the moment, and I have more control of my intake, and am doing well. Oddly, I have been giving OH an early morning tea to try to up his calories …if I turned it into something healthier, I could well do that too.

    My poor little Scarlett is still recovering from being mugged by some very big dogs at the park just before Christmas – vet and chiro visits, but yesterday I tried a new greyhound man who came highly recommended, and he realigned her neck which was out, and two vertebrae which meant she was throwing her front foot and back leg. All hard to see with the naked eye, but I knew she wasn’t quite right. Two injections, some manipulation and anti-inflammatories, and she should be fine again. Oh and 48 hours of rest, which for our Scarley, is well nigh impossible, as she only has two speeds….flat out, and steamroller. So our first day over here hasn’t been as relaxing as I’d hoped, keeping her entertained. She’s still a devil – can you see what she’s taken off the bench? Fortunately she didn’t drop it on the concrete floors.

    https://imgur.com/a/kw7IjQq

    How’s the holiday planning going Anzac?

    And Neil – still harvesting?

    And Intesha – any luck with your housing situation.

    Thin it will be good to have you back from your travels – the forum needs your spark.

    Morning all,

    Weigh in this morning down half a kilo, still feeling a bit bloaty but it’s better than it was.

    Lindsay, yep, still harvesting. So far we’ve eaten, jammed, preserved and given away around 40 kilos of plums. I gave 10 kilos to the local school, 30 kilos of damaged plums to the local pig and poultry farm (they repaid us with a couple of trays of eggs) I picked up 10 kilos last night that had fallen since yesterday morning, and the tree still looks loaded with plums. I made 17 jars of jam to go to the local foodbank and they were gone within 3 hours. I’ve been collecting jars from the neighbourhood so I’m going to do some more batches of jam to take to the foodbank.

    Cinque, that pasta sounds awesome.

    Well, back to the grind, I’ll catch up with you all later

    Ljoyce, it sounds like an amazing trip! Hopefully you can put up plenty of photos when you get back.

    Anzac, I would if I could, one of my workmates asked for some and she was a bit taken aback when I asked if she wanted her bodyweight in plums xD

    Hello everyone,

    It is the day before three terrible hot days here, so I am pottering around trying to get organised. I am writing this in my little sit downs between doing things.

    I am going fine. My garden is finishing its summer goods, once the heat wave is over I will pull things out.

    LJoyce, another wonderful post. I am glad you could borrow those ice poles! You must be in Argentina now. Sending best wishes for your homeward journey.
    Looking forward to the photos!

    Anzac, doesn’t that ‘no snacking’ rule make a difference! I hope you are getting nicely used to it.

    Lindsay, Scarlett is a honey… oh no, I see, she has got the honey! (I presume) Hooray for getting a photo and then getting t back from her without a spill or a break. (I presume)

    All power to you working out a way of eating that fits in with Mr Lindsay.

    Neil, hooray for less bloat and being lighter. Is plum fruit leather next on your list?

    Back to the tidying up…
    (Cleaning some water bowls to put out for the birds and insects over the hot days.)

    Best wishes all

    Hello all, not up to speed with posts again but I notice LJoyce is getting some lovely cold weather.

    Please, please bring some back with you to SA, were in the middle of 2 weeks of 40-42 degrees straight here, every single day. Absolutely no relief at all, even the 8am temp is 35. Nothing gets a chance to cool down and the air is so hot and dry. We’ve had a very hot summer this year and I am so over it.

    The only positive is that I finally finished installing the automatic watering system last month so it’s only the pots under the back verandah I have to water by hand and the fruit trees which I water from rainwater tanks -but as of this mornings water all 30,000 litres is now empty, with no rain in sight. Basically 24/7 air conditioning, all roller shutters down, animals inside – I’ve absolutely had enough and I’m so pining for winter.

    When I win the lotto (notice the optimism there – when, not if) I will definitely sell and move south to the cooler regions. Sadly, financially it’s just not possible without a lotto win.

    The days just seem to be flying by, I’m productive but not much seems to be getting done. I put it down to the heat, everything seems like such hard work and I feel so lethargic all the time.

    The 2 new chest freezers and the 2 older ones are well stocked so easy to have a nutritious meal without having to cook. My small veggie patch not going too well as the ongoing intense heat is causing the lettuce, kale, spinach and other greens to bolt, even though they are shaded so I guess it’s the air temp not the sun that’s the cause. Plenty of spring onions but capsicums have taken a hit.

    Fruit trees not going to good this season either. Granny Smith and red delicious apples small and tasteless, limes are dry inside, lemons and oranges not ripening- very frustrating. The only fruit to do well is the mulberries but they have come to the end of their season but I have heaps in the freezer for later use.

    Weight is steady but no downward tracking but I’m not fussed at the moment. I feel too fatigued to fast and not exercising as much but this will change when the heat is over and we have some pleasant weather, hard to feel motivated for anything at the moment.

    Hope everyone is well, take care xx

    Hi all, just checking in. Absolutely stressed to the max. I’ve done nothing but pack boxes and sort stuff out for the past three weeks. The house has been sold and I have to vacate by 19/4. I leave for India on Thursday morning and return 30/3. Have not been able to find anything suitable in my price range and I don’t have time to downsize without getting rid of nearly my entire furniture. I never thought my life would end up like this. Rentals are so scarce and priced out of all proportion for what they are. What has happened to the lucky country. Older Australians are non citizens.

    I am going to Goulburn shortly to view some properties, so much more affordable, it is 150kms from where I live now but I always knew I would have to move out of Sydney at some stage, so I am hoping I can find something reasonable and get approved, which is the next big hurdle. As soon as they see the word pensioner your instantly discarded. So it’s not easy either way. It’s an uphill battle.

    If all else fails I will have to put everything in storage until I get back from Turkey. I leave on the 20/4. My life has certainly become one big drama and all I can see is the $ going, going gone. I still have not received the money from my Dad as the solicitor has advised me not to touch it until the 12 months is up in case my brother decides to change his mind again.

    Anyway take care everyone.

    Hello everyone,

    I arrived home late Saturday. Unfortunately the cold weather didn’t follow me home and I landed to a very unpleasant heat wave.
    On the last day of the cruise, I also caught a respiratory infection that worked its way through the passengers. I have done nothing but rest, nap, cough and blow my nose, since returning. I finally felt marginally better this morning so I actually unzipped my suitcase and now have a load of washing on.

    Apart from getting sick for the flights home, it was a truly amazing holiday. I don’t actually think anything else could come close to making such an impression on me. It’s one of those places where there is never a bad view – like visual “surround sound”.

    I still have a lot of photos and videos to load and sort through (which I haven’t felt like doing in recent days). I have lots of my own photos, plus lots from other passengers – we compared our best at the end of the afternoon excursions and then there was a flurry of AirDrop photos so we could share. Here are a few to whet your appetite:
    https://imgur.com/a/BTZnhq5
    https://imgur.com/a/sC1qxQ0
    https://imgur.com/a/gdfKeZE

    I’ll do more later. Time for a rest.

    Afternoon all

    Ljoyce, I must say I’ve been hanging out for some photos, and you didn’t disappoint.

    My weigh in yesterday was a disaster. I had been eating well all week, we’ve basically been living out of our garden for the last couple of weeks. I’ve been keeping to an average of around 1900 calories per day, most of it fruit, veg and meat, but my weight shot up by over a kilo. I’m now the heaviest I’ve been since I started losing weight and I don’t seem to be able to do anything about the constant march upwards.

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