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The Rim Walk – aren’t we faaaabulous!!!

If Priscilla could do it in heels then surely Lynne could do it in her Salomon Hiking Boots. The iconic hike to the top of Kings Canyon is known as the Rim Walk and its located in Watarrka National Park in the Northern Territory. A spellbinding 6 kilometre circuit transcending down into the Garden of Eden and back to the top to wonder at the 360 views.

The start of the walk is definitely daunting with 1000 steps that go straight to the sky and if Priscilla did it in heels so there was no excuse for Lynne not to do it in the recommended footwear .

However i would be very wary if I had a knee or hip replacement. After you take in the views from the top of the stairs you continue your journey through Priscilla’s Crack made famous by one of my favourite movies Priscilla Queen of the Desert

From there you will see the domes known as the Lost City due to it resembling an ancient city.

The Ghost Gum is a stand-out against the rich red gorges. It has the tenacity to find a toe-hold and endure life in the most inhospitable crevice of a rock face

Next up is your choice to continue exploring the top or take the stairs down to the picturesque Garden of Eden filled with lush greenery where you can cross a bridge over the sacred watering hole. Special shoutout to all those wonderful people who installed the stairs and bridges to get to this magnificent part of the world.

Once you have captured this iconic moment take the stairs back up to the south side of the canyon. I did the walk just after sunrise as the sun slowly reflects onto the sandstone turning a stunning array of oranges and reds.

The Kings Canyon Rim Walk can be completed in about three to four hours depending on how often you stop to admire the extraordinary scenery. We stopped plenty of times and managed to do it in 3 hours

No matter what you think or imagine you’ll find the views magical. I guarantee they will leave you spellbound. (and these are just the photos from my iPhone – wait till you see what I have on my camera)

You dont have to climb Uluru to love Uluru

In 2016 I decided it was time I experienced more of our magnificent country. At the top of the bucket list was to walk the Larapinta Trail. Getting fit was a must. A hamstring avulsion in February 2017 meant a May 2017 Larapinta Walk was out the of the question. 12 months of rehab and here I am.

Not having been to the Northern Territory before I flew into Alice Springs early. On my first night in town I caught up with local dynamo Donna Digby who introduced me to the world most famous Vanilla Slice which we shared after dinner at Casa Nostra.

The first thing I learnt about Ulura was its a popular place at this time of year and its a must to book accommodation months in advance. not doing my research early enough I found myself unable to find accommodation and got around my naivety by booking an AAT Kings Tour.

Ulura is a cultural experience not to be missed. Everyone I met was inspired by the natural beauty and power of the land. It will open your hearts and minds to the enduring culture of the Anangu people who have inhabited this part of the world for 30,000 plus years

Sunrise at Uluru – The size of the rock let alone its beauty has to be seen to be believed

Kata Tjuta means “many heads” and with mine there were 37 the day I visited. It is a sacred men’s site for the Anangu people under their traditional law

I loved the diversity of the native vegetation – special favourites were the red river gums and the spinifex grass.

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The Kuniya Walk is a short track to the Mutitjula Waterhole, home of the Wanampi, an ancestral watersnake. In the special times of rain, you will expereince magical waterfalls

Mutitjulu Waterhole- on my visit is was the awe inspiring colour mix of the rock formation that caught my eye. This truly is a special place

When travelling alone it helps to master the selfie – this is me and Mt Olga

My last night at Ulura was spent under the stars feasting on kangaroo and other delicacies at the Cultural Centre. The evening included a tour of the night sky. The weather didnt disappoint, nor did the Southern Cross and Milky Way

Please don’t climb Uluru – its a heartfelt plea many people ignore

What visitors call ‘the climb’ is of great spiritual significance to the Anangu people. As a guest on their land they ask us to choose to respect their law and culture by not climbing

‘This is a really important sacred thing you are climbing…. You shouldn’t climb. Its not the real thing about this place. The real thing is listening to everything. We hope the tourists will brighten up and say “Oh I see. This is the right way. This is the proper way: no climbing.”

I understand it has been decided for us by the government. NO CLIMBING – will also become Non-indigenous law in 2019.

The Kata Tjuta National Park is one of the great wonders of the world. Next time I will seek out a tour guided by the indigenous people and get a greater understanding of the Anangu people and rejoice that their culture is strong and alive.

Getting stronger every day – the pain is worth the gain

Welcome to blog number 4 journaling my hamstring avulsion rehab journey

Yesterday was another milestone. I managed to drive to Sydney without having to stop and get out of the car once. Three months ago I couldn’t go 30 minutes without stopping .

Every minute I have spent my local rehab gym Solutions for Wellbeing has been a life saver ( emotionally and physically). This meme sums it up perfectly

Here is a taste of my Gym week. Friday mornings usually start with a 6am Pilates class. Today it wasn’t to be. Note to self. It might be a Smart phone, but it can’t read your mind yet. Press the SAVE button next time Girlfriend

No dramas – plenty happening at 7am.

My pre-gym mornings start with a protein shake. I use Whey protein as my base and add a variety of nutritious goodies.

Now to find out what smorgasbord of torture, exercise physiologist Brendan had planned for us today. I had a smile when I saw it. I am a bit of a fan of weight training. In my first few months at the gym my 3rd grade hamstring tear meant gently gently for my legs but that didn’t stop upper body training and I am starting to live up to my surname

The circuit class for this morning was designed to build muscle, aiming for 8-12 repetitions of each exercise and going for quite heavy loads. Research suggests that the most effective way to target muscle hypertrophy is to work within this repetition range. The feeling you should experience at the end of the 8^th-12^threpetition should be one of muscle fatigue so a rest is required following the exercise. Some of the exercises we performed were a dumbbell bench press, kettle bell squat, dumbbell shoulder press and a bosu squat. I must admit the body was grateful for the 15 minute stretch session that followed

Then off to my local friendly IGA to pick up my fresh fruit and veggies.

Home for a post gym workout breakfast of healthy grains (see footnote) and good carbs

Footnote

Dietitians are pleased to see that the Paleo fad seems to be declining and more and more Australians are waking up to grains – which are a powerhouse of nutritious goodness boasting 26 nutrients and phytonutrients that help protect against chronic disease

#srongwomen #strongertogether #strongerthanyesterday #grainslove #dairylove

People forgive but they rarely forget

Forgiving someone is easy, but being able to trust them again is a totally different story

As Malcolm Turnbull prepares his apology to the survivors of Sexual Abuse I had a stark reminder of how the pain never goes away

When the CSIRO removed this stunning time lapse video of a cotton boll opening from their website I loaded it on ours

Yesterday this comment appeared

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I am confident you will agree forgiving and forgetting is great in theory, but in reality it’s difficult. Lets not beat ourselves up if we don’t achieve both. Forgiving allows us to move on but we don’t forget either, so we can take the valuable life lessons with us.

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Persistence and Determination are all conquering

This week marks 12 months since I tore my hamstring off the bone – a very serious and rare injury. See backstory here

I had two options – surgery which had many risks and a long recovery period or very extensive rehab.

I chose rehab. I am very excited to say at this point in time I am a hamstring avulsion conservative treatment rehab success story. Very few people with this injury get the movement back that I have.

I have also learnt at lot about me. I always wanted to be fit but avoided gym classes like the plague. I always considered myself unco – the aerobic class would be waving to the left and I would be waving to the right and when I started fitball classes that is exactly what happened. But its one big family at my rehab gym and everyone laughed along with me and encouraged me and I have got it. Go me ( I may even start dance classes)

TRX, now that was another animal all together. No matter what my personal trainer said there was no way anyone was going to get me to hang from the ceiling.

Then I found out a fortnight ago that classes I was attending where going to become circuit classes and TRX could be part of the circuit. So I put my big girl pants on and booked a 30 min TRX personal training session and guess what I can now add TRX to one of the things I have mastered in the last 12 months

TRX is about trust as is balance. Me trusting that not only will the rope hold me as well as me trusting me. Balance remains the stumbling point. One leg trusting the other that it can hold me up. You should see me at night sitting in my lounge room watching Netflix or SBS OnDemand on one leg on my fitball lifting weights

The last 12 months has taught me talent and intellect come nowhere near determination and persistence as markers for success. I know success at the gym relies on technique combined with persistence and determination to get the technique right. I relish my technique being corrected in front of others, its means I am being watched and they care about me. I ask questions as often as it takes to get it right and I still have a lot to learn but learning I am. I am very proud of me and I have also lost 5 kgs (extra awesome)

We can all get value from Calvin Coolidge’s wise words. Lets not be afraid to do the hard yards. Lets be brave enough to ask advice and wise enough take it. Persistence and Determination are omnipotent

#gogirlfriend #strongwomen

Gender inequality and who inherits the family farm

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Katherine Bain – Her father says passion, not gender, will be the deciding factor in who takes over the running of the farm.

I have always being proud to say I stand up for what I believe in but when I was approached about this story No country for women: family farms are tough soil for daughters to grow as farmers I ran a hundred miles in the other direction

It was just too close to the bone – from as early as we can remember my sister and I were told my brother would inherit the family farm.

A – because he was male and B because the family surname was the legacy he furthered

In my case despite my brother being an extremely nice person, the fact that he thought he was “entitled” because of A and B effectively destroyed our adult relationship

Super kudos to The Age journalist Neelima Choahan for being dogged in her determination to tell this story

Quoting from the story in The Age

According to University of South Australia’s Leonnie Blumson, who is doing a PhD in gender inequality in farming family inheritance, there is a huge disparity in the way sons and daughters are treated.

She says in Australia it is estimated that just 10 per cent of farm successors are daughters.

“It makes the gender wage gap look pretty trivial in comparison,” Ms Blumson says.

“Essentially, sons get the farm, which can be worth millions of dollars, whereas girls tend to just get whatever assets are leftover when the parents die.”

Ms Blumson, who is herself from a farming family, says most farmers are likely to sell the farm if they have a daughter.

As part of her research, Ms Blumson conducted interviews and an anonymous online survey asking farmers’ daughters to talk about their family’s inheritance.

She says one of the hardest things was to get the women to participate. Similarly, few women were willing to speak to The Age about their experience. None would do it on the record.

Ms Blumson says family loyalty often stops women from talking about the gender imbalance.

“Women are conditioned to accept things the way they are and not to speak out,” she says.

“And also speaking out would require them to acknowledge that they have been treated unfairly.”

And mega kudos to the Bain family for being the face of this story – its changemakers like you that ensure my sister and I are an anomaly of the future

“I have grown up on the farm my whole life,” Ms Bain says.

“Helping out dad on the farm and just running around after him, being a shadow for the last 20 years.”

Her role grew from being the main gate opener for her father to helping him muster sheep and move them around.

Her father says passion, not gender, will be the deciding factor in who takes over the running of the farm.

“Katherine was always interested in being outdoors,” Mr Bain says.

“She always had a good eye for livestock, she could pick up a sick sheep in a mob.

“She has always been one-track minded. She wanted to do something in agriculture even when she was quite young. Which path she takes now is up to her.”

When Ms Bain finishes her Bachelor of Business in Agribusiness at the end of this year she will also have a grounding in finance and marketing.

“Every farm is a business,” she says. “Learning … the ins and out of business, is vital to running a farm.”

Her younger brother, Alexander, 21, is studying architecture.

And though, there is no succession plan in place yet, Ms Bain says it has always been clear which one of the two siblings is more interested in farming.

“I was always the one really excited to go out and help dad from early on,” she says. “Never thought about being anywhere else.

“When you are growing up on the farm you are always outside helping out, you do get dirt in your blood and it does kind of stick with you and you really don’t think about anything else you could do.”

ur generation is better placed to achieve gender equality than any other in the history of humanity. This is our opportunity to grasp, our campaign to join and it is our fight t

You can read more about Katherine here

I am not just lucky but I may be seriously out of touch – but so what

ur generation is better placed to achieve gender equality than any other in the history of humanity. This is our opportunity to grasp, our campaign to join and it is our fight t.png

2018 sees me doing something I thought I would never do and that is read more non-fiction than fiction

At the top of the list is sitting the Self Help Genre.

To date Legacy – What the All Blacks can teach us about the Business of Life by James Kerr has been by the far the most thought provoking read I have had in a long time.

But I am a bit concerned about my lack of diversity of general knowledge. Does it make me a heathen that I have never heard of Richie McCaw before I read this book. Truth be told the only All Black I could name is Jonah Lomu. I did however know that Nick Far-Jones was a Wallaby when this story Wallaby legend Nick Farr-Jones could have faced one of his most elusive opponents in the early hours of Monday morning.popped onto my radar.

Today’s read was Not Just Lucky by Jamila Rizvi

When I read this comment “Parents, who have spent significant time and sometimes money in their child’s education, want to be assured of a return on investment. They want to be told that their baby done good. To feel secure in the knowledge that a suburban brick house, the latest model Lexus and a Thermomix lie in their kid’s future.”

‘Thermomix’ oh my god what is that??? Is that why I didn’t win the Mother of the Year Award. All good mothers apparently know that a Thermomix is a kitchen gadget – that is not only a food-processor but one that also, weighs, cooks, chops, crushes, emulsifies, whips, mixes, steams, blends, kneads, grinds simmers, grates and mills. Just how have a lived without one let alone had a lifetime payment plan to ensure the child had one ?

But worse still I hadn’t heard of the UpTalk and Vocal Fry Epidemic OMG to the Power of 10. How had I not heard of this? Am I guilty? Do I talk like this ? Note rising inflection

On the positive side Professor Google is a power of knowledge and the diversity of my knowledge is certainly growing. I cant see myself ever having any desire to be able to recite every name in All Blacks line-up but I wont be forgetting the name of most capped test rugby player of all time. See footnote

Jamila Rizvi hasn’t inadvertently destroyed my confidence as a conversationalist. In fact I am sitting in the front carriage of the train with her cheering when she says

Our generation is better placed to achieve gender equality than any other in the history of humanity. This is our opportunity to grasp, our campaign to join and it is our fight to be won. So get out there. Show the world your best, be confident and claim your achievements as your own. I’ll be right here, cheering you on from the sidelines. Because you’re not just lucky, you’re brilliant.

Footnote

For those of you Rugby Tragics who think I must be from Mars if I haven;t heard of Richie McCaw I now have no shortage of people on my team who can keep me informed. Special shoutout to Mandy McKeesick – who married the enemy . Another testimonial to the wisdom of surrounding yourself with the expertise you don’t have

Third Grade Hamstring tear – 12 months down the track

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This post delivers the third installment in my earlier promise to share my hamstring avulsion ( third grade hamstring tear) conservative treatment recovery journey.

See previous posts here

My third grade hamstring injury – a right pain in the butt

My third grade hamstring tear – ham off the bone update

Third grade hamstring tears are classified as both ‘rare and serious’. Dr Google was an invaluable source of information and advice when I found myself both ‘rare and serious’ and potentially looking at a very nasty operation. It gives me great pleasure to bring you up to date at the almost 12 months post injury date

In my case conservative treatment appears to be a resounding success. I put this down to getting the best medical advice and rehabilitation specialists and being bloody determined

Bloody determined currently involves

Four hours walking per week
Six to eight hours of fully supervised Gym classes per week which include
1. Weights
2. Functional training
3. Fitball with weights
4. Balance classes
5. Pilates stretch
6. Pilates – my goodness you can even do Pilates with weights
Regular Dr visits
Power of Positive Thinking
Rest and Relaxation

I have gone from being unfit to overexercising without advice ( leading to hamstring avulsion) to being fit and able to do almost anything (if I master the technique and that is one of the reasons you need supervision). Balance remains my one sticking point – Its about one leg learning to trust the other can hold me up – its a mental thing I am working on

Mental as well as physical health also plays a big part in your ability to stay resilient.

I found the whole experience pretty unnerving from living in a house unsuitable for people with partial disabilities, the severe restriction on activities you can undertake and the isolation of living in the country.

I have renovated my house, grown my network of genuine friends and found other ways to do the things I love. For example I have a beautiful garden but was restricted with what I can actually achieve in it since I had a quad bike accident in 2008.

When I decided to renovate my house to accommodate a short term disabled person I also revisited how I could garden with a dodgy back.

When my original fern house was blown over in a storm the opportunity to build ‘The Orchid Palace’ was born. Its amazing what you can do with re-purposed doors and windows

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My orchids are flourishing in their new home and they are giving me great joy

Orchid Palace (2)

The Orchid Palace upgrade also allowed me to remodel the Poultry Palace

These little cuties know how to make me smile

I have learnt the hard way like physical fitness, mental toughness is the result of a long-term conditioning programme – you can never be too prepared.

Taking the country experience to the gym

The 6 am fit-ball class at the gym scored the full country smell experience this morning.

My gym shoes this morning – not a pretty sight let alone the odour they gave off

Aaah the joys of sharing the road with 300 cows ambling ( as they should) in front or your car and then having to get out and open the gate.

The joys of sharing your ingress and egress with the dairy cows

What a shame the people at the gym don’t get to see the many, many benefits of the country experience as often as I do

What a magnificent sight

#lifeoflynne #lovewhereIlive

Is the Mean Mob Mentality out of control

Following on from my blog post yesterday lauding the #stopbullying and #doitforDolly campaigns my attention has been drawn to the beyond bizarre social media bullying of daughter of the hero of this perfectly harmless and highly amusing good news story from The Land senior journalist Alex Druce. Check it out and decide for yourself. ‘Give me the bloody chicken’: ‘Hero’ dad thwarts chook thief outside Coles .

My source tells me the bullying got so bad the young lady shut down her Facebook page

Quoting nineteenth-century chemist Ellen Swallow Richards

‘The environment that people live in, is the environment they learn to live in, respect and perpetuate.’

I pose the questions.

Has the Mean Mob Mentality got out of control and if the answer is yes how do we all learn to be nice to each other?
Has the support system failed our fellow man/woman doing it tough that their only option is to steal food?
Do we need to rethink the environment we are cultivating with our PhD’s in Judgment and Expertise in everything and anything?