The Prostate Cancer Experience

When you are 78 and have not experienced any serious health impacts, you know that one day, something in your body is going to pack it in. It can range from sudden death to something that could be unpleasant, painful and annoying for years, like Parkinson's Disease or Alzheimer's. 

We know that one day we will die and we can either accept that fact or be fearful of it.

When I studied psychology I came across the work of Erik Erikson: The Eight Ages of Man. That was a long time ago, but over the years, I've re-read Erikson's work as I've transitioned from Age to Age. 

Now I've reached the Eight Age described as:

"Our final stage of psychosocial development takes us from 65 years of age to death – known as maturity.

This stage is one of reflection. We slow down, are less productive, and spend time reviewing our accomplishments throughout life.

Success is in the belief that we have achieved our goals and found happiness, leading to the feeling of integrity, “a sense of coherence and wholeness”. We feel we have achieved much and are ready to meet our end with a sense of peace. Success leads to the virtue of wisdom – a sense of completeness.

On the other hand, failure may be experienced as despair and regret over things not done, completed, or mistakes made. We are bitter about the past and present, frightened about coming to the end of our life without a sense of having lived well."

I fit within the Success category. I've had a wonderful 78 years during which I've done everything I wanted to do, even having a successful marriage with a woman anyone would be proud to call their wife, and two great children. I've numerous friends and met thousands of wonderful people.

So, when I was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer (level 9 of 10 on the Gleeson Scale) in December 2024, I wasn't surprised having already had a couple of issues indicating that something was wrong with my urology. My urologist told me there were many excellent treatments for cancer, especially prostate cancer, and not to rush off and write my will. (I already had one!). After reading some research on prostate cancer (PC), I realised how fortunate I was not to have had one of the much worse cancers like breast or pancreatic cancer.

I decided to remain positive, to follow the various treatments recommended by my oncology specialist and see what eventuated. No point in becoming depressed.

Before being diagnosed with PC I had suffered at least 10 months of grueling back and upper right thigh leg pain. I had to stop going to the gym three times per week and was living on pain-killing drugs. I booked an appointment with an exercise physiologist after a doctor had told me my pain was "probably arthritis and I'd just have to grin and bear it."

Several sessions with the physiologist didn't achieve anything, so I gave that away and just continued taking daily painkillers, eventually being told the only one that really worked - ibuprofen - was something I shouldn't take and having to drop it. Such is life.

Eventually, I experienced a blockage of the prostate that prevented me from urinating, so I presented at the local hospital to get catheterised - a new experience I would have liked to avoid, but couldn't.

Aside: Having a urethra that went through the middle of the prostate seemed to me to be another example of evolutionary or intelligent design failure.

A couple of days later my wife who has had plenty of experience inserting and retrieving catheters, took mine out and I could suddenly piddle like a draught horse again - thank goodness.

This was the event that had my GP put me immediately on tablets to shrink the prostate, arrange an appointment with a urologist, and within a week or two I had had a CAT scan, ultrasound, MRI scan and a PET scan, the latter that identified the cancer that had spread everywhere from the prostate.

Interestingly, when I began taking the prostate tablets, my pain disappeared almost immediately.

By the end of the week I was in hospital for a biopsy and TURP (trans urethral resection of the prostate), something like a valve grind and decoke. Neither sounded like a lot of fun, but fortunately, I was knocked out by an anesthetist and didn't feel or see a thing. 

Shortly after, I commenced six rounds of chemotherapy and a change in drugs, including a three monthly sub-cutaneous injection that works in conjunction with some tablets designed to kill off my testosterone that was said to be feeding the cancer.

During the first chemotherapy round, I experienced a reaction that felt to me like I was having a massive heart attack, but the excellent medical staff pulled me out of it after a short while and reduced the input rate of the poison they'd been dripping into my veins.

The following five chemotherapy sessions at three week intervals were much more relaxed since the oncologist had prescribed some pre-meds designed to prevent reactions.

After chemo session three, my hair began to fall out, so I decided to have it cut short and I began having some side effects, the worst of which was terrible fatigue and exhaustion. Just having a shower or getting dressed knocked me about so much I'd have to lie or sit down for a while to recover.

As I write, it's a week after the end of chemo session six and I'm still feeling exhausted occasionally, but I feel I'm getting better.

Tomorrow I have a CAT scan to see what the outcome of my treatment is and I discuss that at the end of the week with my oncologist. There are several options and I'll just have to accept the one that nature has presented me with. 

Whatever the outcome, I am grateful for the wonderful life I am having.

"Per Ardua Ad Astra"

Meredith and Robin Visit Seppeltsfield Winemakers

Dale and Christina set up a tour of Seppeltsfield as a Christmas Present for Meredith and Robin. It involved a short tour and a tasting of port from our years of birth. Christina came also but didn't taste the port since she was driving and doesn't drink much anyway.

We were 10 minutes early so our host Aaron provided us with a tasting of port before the tour. 

At left we are sitting at the tasting table.

When another couple of people arrived who were also on the tour, we headed into a restricted area above the ground floor where there are hundreds of wine casks of various sizes with port going back around 100 years.

Each barrel has the year the port was produced .

The photo at right shows the second floor under the main roof with a small selection of barrels. The building is the original, but has been modified to support the massive weight of all the ports.

The older the ports, the thicker and more like molasses they seem - we managed to get a finger lick from a very old port, the barrel of which was leaking. 

Meredith's port, 30 years later vintage than mine was thinner, more translucent and didn't stick to the glass as well as mine. Both of course tasted excellent.

Tour guide Aaron used a pipette type gadget to withdraw the port from the barrels and dispense it into the tasting glasses.

He gave us a run-down on the history of the Seppelts family and the various wines produced, largely Granache and Mataro, some from the original grape vines about 100 years old.

Roads surrounding Seppeltsfield have hundreds of palm trees and these are apparently about 100 years old also. As they are all a similar height and size, it must have been a remarkable planting effort all those years ago.

Meredith sipped her 1977 vintage port while Robin sipped the 1947 vintage port. We did cheat and try each other's port to compare the difference.

Both were very drinkable and if purchased by the bottle, would be more expensive than we would usually pay for a port.

For example and 1878 bottle of Tawny Port is $5,000 AUD. We love port, but can satisfy our tastes with a $20 bottle of "Prohibition Port" from Calabria Wines a kilometre away. 

Unfortunately, because of trademark/copyright disputes, the term "port" is no longer permitted on products sold by Australian winemakers. This may be after a certain date.

Seppelts now calls them "Tawny" to avoid trademark disputes with wine growers in Portugal, not that I imagine anyone checks their sites daily to check.

Meredith loves sparkling shiraz wines, especially those from Andrew Garrett and was disheartened to find that Seppelts no longer produces sparkling shiraz. 

Last time she visited, it was available and she bought a bottle.

This will be the only time we visit Seppeltsfield to taste their year of birth wines, but it was a good tour, and for a Saturday, the whole establishment was chock full of people dining, tasting, and visiting the surrounding Vasse Virgin skin and body care products, oils, lotions, and potions.

When we have visitors from interstate, we usually take them to Seppelts Winery.

Meredith also visited Lagmeil Wines and bought a quantity of nice local wines unavailable in Alice Springs.

This afternoon we have friends visiting and will together taste one of the Langmeil Sparkling reds.

Christmas at Alice Springs

 After a two-day drive from Tanunda with an overnight stop at Coober Pedy, we arrived at The Alice with the sole purpose of spending Christmas with our small family.

December is, as expected, hot. This year was no exception - it's still hot as I write and will be hot for a lot longer. Mornings are coolish and very pleasant but the heat creeps up during the day and eventually, an airconditioned spot is better than being outside.

When we lived here and were much younger, we could cope better with the heat and low humidity; we've always been hot, low-humidity people, but after six years of living in the Barossa, we're now acclimatised to cooler weather.

Many more people die from cold weather than hot weather as the UK and parts of Europe will attest to this winter, but the Barossa never gets cold enough to impact our health. Our beloved planet is entering a cooling phase, but when it's 42 C at Alice Springs, it seems that cooling is a figment of someone's imagination.

Then you read the reports: "90% of Mongolia is under snow, China breaks all-time cold records, and Guatemala has its lowest emperater in 39 years".

When we are hot, we wish for some cooler weather; when cold, warm weather.

Forget about the weather for now at least.

It was great to spend time with our kids and to catch up with a couple of long-term friends. Christina had several coffee catch-ups with her midwifery colleagues and we chatted with a few shopkeepers we know, one couple of whom we had as neighbours in 1992.

Alice Springs is a sad sight deteriorating monthly and the crime continues largely unabated as no one at government level seems capable of finding a solution although they can import 860 Palestinians from Gaza which no other country wants. It's perhaps easier than resolving local challenges. 

Dale's car had two windows smashed a week ago. Last trip, it was Tory's ute window that got smashed. Everywhere you go you see vehicles with plastic covering windows that have yet to be replaced.

Meredith, friend Rob and I replaced Meredith's patio decking the timber of which had become ugly, splintered and dangerous to walk on. Merbau decking from Bunnings has saved the day.

Christmas was very quiet at home with some roast lamb, ham, and a variety of roasted vegetables. We actually won the ham at an RSL raffle before we drove up which was convenient.

Now we need to see what 2024 will bring us. That's anyone's guess.

Our Grand Princess Cruise

The Grand Princess at Sydney Harbour

 After our Alaskan Passage cruise was cancelled in 2020 due to the so-called COVID 19 pandemic, we had a credit with Princess Cruises and decided to use some of it to cruise from Adelaide up the east coast of Australia to Willis Island.

You've never heard of Willis Island, have you? Neither had we after a lifetime in Australia and many years living in Queensland in which Willis Island is located. (See below)

Leaving from Adelaide is wonderful not having to fly to another capital city to embark. No hassles with baggage weight, lengthy queues, and the possibility of delays, cancellations etc. Unfortunately, most cruises go from Sydney, Melbourne, and less frequently, Brisbane.

All packed and ready to roll, our friendly neighbours and friends Maurie and Wendy drove us the 80-odd km to Port Adelaide via Semaphore where we ate a fish and chips lunch from one of the most popular shops in Semaphore.

Boarding was incredibly fast as there were almost no other people embarking, which was a surprise. We thought we had either arrived terribly early or terribly late. Neither was the case, it seemed numbers getting on in Adelaide were small. We learned later that most people had embarked at Melbourne and travelled to Adelaide and many were doing the short trip between the two cities and would disembark when we got to Melbourne, our first stop on the journey.

Before our trip, we had contacted our numerous friends and Christina's brother Gordon to meet us at each port except Sydney where we didn't know anyone we needed or wanted to meet. The only other place we didn't meet anyone was Cairns since our only friend there had jetted off to New Zealand the day we departed.

John and Robin

At Melbourne we had arranged to meet one of Robin's three half brothers (paternal) whom he never knew existed until a couple of years ago. One had deceased, one is in the Philippines, and the other, John Henry is retired and living with his wife Ann in Melbourne.

Robin had no idea why his parents had not told him about these three people with whom he would have liked to have had a long-term relationship. Maybe his mother didn't know, but his father certainly did. Very disappointing.

On disembarkation at Melbourne, we met John at a park and after some introductions, he drove us around Melbourne visiting the important tourist locations while we chatted about our father, our families and our lives. It was wonderful and we enjoyed each other's company. Unfortunately, his wife Ann had a prior commitment so we never met her. John dropped us off at Port Melbourne in time to embark for Sydney.

At the other ports we wandered around, since we didn't need to do any tours, we'd been there, done that at all of the ports of access. We met our various friends and had lunch and a good chat with several of them which was wonderful. We are so fortunate to have a lovely number of friends.

Willis Island

When we headed off we were curious about this island about which we had never heard. We eventually got to see the island established in 1921 when the Queensland Government wanted an early warning system for impending cyclones and storms from the east.

It's now a Bureau of Meteorology station and each morning lets loose a weather balloon at 9 am sharp to get upper atmosphere readings.

The island is about 450 m long and 150 wide without a jetty, so the ship simply did a couple of runs past it.

As we did so, a staff member from the Island contacted us by telephone and loud speaker telling us about the island and what staff do. It was very interesting and now we can claim to have at least seen Willis Island if not visited it.

As always, when we're away from home, it's good to return safely and after the shock of having to do one's own cooking, washing, bed-making etc wears off, get back to the usual routine.

Meredith Visits Tanunda

We were delighted to have our daughter Meredith visit us recently for a fortnight while she had some dental work and laser treatment for her eyes.

The laser treatment couldn't be done at Alice Springs, so it was an excellent opportunity for us to get together.

Dental work is much cheaper in the Barossa than at Alice Springs.

Meredith flew down this time instead of driving the 15-hour journey and her dog Max had to remain at home.

Although we were busy driving between Adelaide and Tanunda for several trips, we also had time to shop until I dropped and had a few decent meals at lovely restaurants including the nearby Chocolate Factory. (The meal contained no chocolate!) It's a bit like Monkey Mia Resort in Western Australia - there's not a monkey to be seen anywhere.

After we picked up Meredith at the Adelaide Airport, it was lunch time, so we visited one of her favourites, Fasta Pasta at Gawler enroute to Tanunda which is where I took this photo of two of the three most important women in my life.

We got to Fasta Pasta at 6 pm just after the doors opened and bought some food to take home with us.

Meredith also cooked a few meals using our Thermomix while staying with us and we swapped recipes.

Meredith's birthday is on 1 September and Father's Day on 3 September, so we had joint early celebrations for both which was nice. For many years I stated that Meredith was my Father's Day present.

Meredith bought me a fragrance called Paco Robanne for Father's Day as well as a swag of lollies I could well do without. We bought her a couple of pairs of jeans and a few other things.

Shops at Tanunda and Adelaide are beginning to bring out their Christmas products which I thought was a bit early since it's only Spring this coming weekend and Christmas Day is four months away. The next time we see Dale, Meredith, grandson Tory and Max will probably be around that time if we can get together.

Tory is due to have his "Capstone" tests in December and if he passes, will be a qualified electrician. Despite my many years as an educator, I had never heard of the term in relation to education or training. Whatever it's called, it will be wonderful to see him pick up his piece of paper and be able to register in the trade.

I could have done an electrical apprenticeship at Peko Mine when I left school, but my father, who was Chief Engineer of the mine said I wasn't smart enough; well, he didn't say it in so many words, but that was the nub of it. So, I spent three years of a boilermaking/welding apprenticeship and I must say, I enjoyed being able to fabricate metal products and repair underground equipment that had been damaged. Such is life. It tends to lead us where we need to go.

Stay well.

Robin

Visiting The Alice for Tory's 21st

 

Christina straddles the border

Although we have lived at Tanunda in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, for nearly five years, our son Dale, daughter Meredith and grandson Tory still live at Alice Springs.

Tory turns 21 on November 24, so we travelled north to spend time with our family and visit friends.

There has been a shipload of rain in the northern regions of South Australia. We've travelled up and down the Stuart Highway for decades. In my case since 1959 and have never seen so much water on the road, next to the road and also in the salt lakes.

Lake Hart was completely covered in water which we have never seen before.

The photo below shows Lake Hart with the water spreading from side to side. It's a few kilometres long so the photo is just a small portion of it.

Lake Hart

Usually, one sees the salt crust lying above the hard clay base and not a drop of water. Now, it's full, but it's salt water.

What was that line from "The Ancient Mariner" that I recall from school, "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink."

The rain and warm weather have brought out a cornucopia of lizards, snakes and the occasional emu. Unfortunately, the lizards like to lie on the road for warmth and get flattened by traffic.

I managed to steer around a black-headed python snake and several lizards at 120 km/hr but regrettably took out one lizard and two small finches that crashed into the kangaroo bars of the vehicle. So sad, I hate killing wildlife. 

We take two days to drive the 1500 km. No longer do we spend 16 hours driving as we have in previous years. With cows, kangaroos and emus about, it's hazardous during dark hours as one never knows what's going to emerge from the scrub. We drive to opal mining town Coober Pedy and stay overnight at a motel. It's roughly half way but the southern South Australia section usually takes longer because of road works and an 110 km/hr speed limit. In the Territory it's 130 km/hr but I don't exceed 120 km/hr otherwise the fuel consumption skyrockets.

Our once-loved township has become overrun by Aboriginal youths creating havoc and crime and turning the place into an undesirable place to live. One has to live behind security screens, high fences and install security cameras and maintain vigilance when walking around the township.

The understaffed, demoralized police force can't keep up with the crime and the Labor Government seems impotent in dealing with it. It's simply getting worse as the bail provisions the government legislated to keep statistics of indigenous incarceration down, means that criminals are bailed at their first court appearance and let loose to continue offending. No penalty ensures continuation of behaviour. It seems to be on a par with some of the Democrat run states in the USA.

All three of our family will leave when the time is right. In the meantime, we plan to enjoy celebrating Tory's birthday and return to Tanunda before Christmas.

Stay well.

Robin

About time for an update

Robin's recent selfie

The last two years have been the least travelled of our lives (I think), if not, certainly of our later lives during which we have done a great deal of travel.

We have been keeping a low profile and neither of us has had the annoying and disruptive C19 bug but during the last couple of weeks we have had annoying coughs that have been harder than usual to shake off. Maybe it's something to do with age and the depleted immunity one suffers as one ages. 

We've both had four C19 innoculations and our annual Flu shot, but the cough still persists. Such is life.

Otherwise, Christina is heavily involved in craft and keeps busy travelling to and from this or that craft spot. I can never recall if it's embroidery, quilting, knitting, or something else. She's also treasurer of the Tanunda RSL sub-branch which provides a half day or so of financial processing most weeks. Then there are the barbecues and fundraising activities in which we are both involved, so it's not that we get bored - I often wonder how I had time to work - but we spend too much time at home and locally and not out and about our beautiful country.

My life is less busy but I do attend a Men's Shed Thursdays where I turn beautiful pieces of timber into ... other things, sometimes less beautiful. But I am improving. As you'd expect from an ex-training and education guru, I'm teaching myself to do stuff with wood using all the new tools that were never part of my existence all those decades ago when I welded underground machinery together at Peko Mine. And of course, I employ competency-based training methodologies. (Yes, my memory is still intact)

When I watch Anika on YouTube or read her Anikasdiylife blog and see what she's capable of, I wonder why it takes me 12 attempts to join two pieces of pine together with the same degree of accuracy she achieves. What makes it even more frightening is that she is a qualified electrical engineer, the farthest thing you could imagine from a wood butcher worker. She's brilliant.

Then there is the very attractive Korean girl Yang who, without saying a word, produces lovely pieces while incidentally displaying her stunning figure and providing a little entertainment. She's a true artisan and I hope she's a qualified tradesperson, otherwise she's a much more gifted amateur than you know who,

Other than the woodwork, I'm also heavily involved with the RSL Tanunda Sub-Branch as a committee member responsible for membership, grant applications and management, running the internet, being a barman, and doing a range of other things from picking up our Friday evening meals to vacuuming the floors of our hut. It's the usual 80/20 situation; 80% of members do nothing and the rest do everything.

Having said that however, Christina and I are among the younger people in the group. We have a WWII Founding Member of the sub-branch turning 100 years old in August 22. Many others are in their mid-late 80s or 90s, so we can't expect them to do too much of the heavy lifting. Our youngest veteran is 58 and has just retired from the Australian Army.

Unfortunately, younger veterans from the Middle East wars aren't joining the RSL so eventually our organisation looks like it will fizzle out.

As was to be expected with the Sun currently in one of its very low activity cycles - Solar Cycle 25, it is a colder than usual winter here in South Australia and we've also had an inordinate amount of rain on a too regular schedule. One positive is that we've been able to pull out some pullovers and jackets we've had for decades but never needed.  I think we are beginning to climatize after four years plus in the Barossa Valley.

Next year we have two Princess Cruises scheduled which are replacements for the 2020 trip we had planned up the Alaskan Passage that was cancelled when C19 became a pandemic. Before then, we'll probably take a trip to Alice Springs in November for grandson Tory's 21st birthday and may do a few trips to some local places just for three or four days.

Son Dale is commencing a new job at the Alice Springs Hospital in late August and is taking two weeks off, so we hope he'll visit us for the first time since we moved here. He's getting a second Cochlear implant sometime either late this year or next year but due to the C19 demands on the Darwin Hospital, elective surgery has been put on hold.

Meredith and Tory both seem okay and we hear from the former several times per week with updates on what is happening in their lives.

To conclude, we are all well and living the dream and forever mindful of the fact that despite the many people trying to destroy our history and corrupt our civilisation, Australia is still a great place to be.

Stay well.

Robin

All is quiet on the Southern Front

 

Sunset from our backyard

While things aren't so quiet in Ukraine, our family of two is leading a very calm life at Tanunda.

COVID-19 has slowed us as it has for billions of others. We haven't been on a cruise liner since early 2020; we haven't been anywhere really except for a two-day stint at Renmark that was rudely interrupted by a six-day SA state lockdown causing us to head home before it commenced.

We'd love to get away to either one or both of the SA peninsulas, however, we're busy with ANZAC Day preparations and a fund-raising Fashion Show that Christina is managing on behalf of the RSL.

Dale has been offered a second cochlear implant and has accepted, however, we don't know when it will be implanted because non-essential surgery at the Darwin Hospital has been suspended due to the C19 virus impact on hospital beds and staffing.

When he is given a date, we'll do what we did last time: drive to Alice Springs, pick up Dale, drive to Darwin and remain there while the surgery and follow-up are completed, and then reverse the trip. We'll spend some time at The Alice with Dale, Meredith and Tory before heading south again.

Post-operation, Dale isn't allowed to fly for a few weeks, so it all has to be done by driving. Additionally, he can't be expected to do it all alone, so Christina goes as his "carer" and Robin is the driver and odd-job, backup member of the team. We do get to spend some time with Dale.

We miss both of them being so far away after years living close-by and live in hope that one day they will move to South Australia. When Tory finishes his electrical apprenticeship, I'm sure he'll move somewhere, not necessarily south.

The Territory has a lot going for it at present with a lithium mine being developed, gas infrastructure, military expansion, an Albatross aircraft manufacturing factory being built, huge solar arrays to provide power for Darwin and Singapore underway, a tourist resort being built at Gove, Ammaroo ammonium nitrate fertiliser mine and processing plant, and finally, more copper and gold mining within the Barkly (Tennant Creek) region 500 km north of Alice Springs.

Robin lived at Peko Mine, a copper mine eight miles east of Tennant Creek from 1958-1965. He worked most of his school holidays with the Geopeko Exploration team exploring the region and identifying new mines, Gecko and Orlando. Now the area is being opened up again. That's great for the Territory and Australia.

If you don't mind oppressive humidity for most of the year, Darwin is the place to be as many "Mexicans" from Victoria and New South Wales are finding out as they move there in droves.

It's not all that exciting at Tanunda for we two retirees as it cools heading towards Southern Hemisphere Winter. But the sunsets are still enjoyable, the wine very drinkable, and the locals very friendly.

Life is good!

Robin and Christina

Our 49th Anniversary Lunch

Robin and Christina - 18 Feb 22

When 49 years have passed and you've lived with the one person for all of those years, it's time to have a celebratory lunch.  There's no point buying a present because both of us have everything that shines, opens, shuts, buzzes and rings. Every previous birthday, mother or father's day and, Christmas has seen to that.

There's only so much bling one can have in one lifetime. Unlike many billionaires and other over-wealthy people who can find a reason to buy a couple of airplanes, a few launches, several houses and dozens of cars, we only need one house and one car. We're simple people.

So, the only thing to do is have lunch and perhaps reminisce about all the lunches one has shared during those many years, many at much lesser venues. Think Mcdonalds!

We did that today, the day after our anniversary by heading to the Monkey Nut Cafe at Kries Wines, Lyndoch, not far from Tanunda in the Barossa Valley.

Christina chose a Drunken Chicken meal (?) and I had a Salt and Pepper Squid and a glass of delightful Kries shiraz, labelled as a "Soft Wine" on their drinks menu. Both meals had plenty of food and the time it took to get served after we ordered pleasantly surprised us.

The venue has excellent ambiance as you can see from a couple of photos below and is well set out with both inside and outside seating available.

You can arrange a wine tasting before or after a meal, or simply do a tasting without eating. Several people who attended at the same time as us obviously did a tasting and bought a few bottles of Kries wine.

The Barossa Valley has around 72 wineries, many with restaurants, so there's plenty to choose from here. We decided we'll probably do one a month just to see what's out there and then when friends visit, we'll know the best places to take them.

I rarely do any tastings, usually because I don't imbibe during the day (except on rare special occasions) and I don't drink and drive. Christina doesn't drink alcohol and is always happy to drive, but wine tasting alone during the day doesn't appeal to me, so I don't do it and I don't want to rely too much on Christina.

When daughter Meredith visited over the Christmas-New Year period, I drove and she tasted at a few different places including a gin distillery. It's always lovely to spend time with our daughter.

Occasionally, I buy a couple of bottles of red wine without tasting because I know that the quality of wine produced here is excellent. You won't get a bad drop of wine here.

The truth is, I'm more interested in the architecture, surrounding gardens, and character of the wineries than the wine. Some of the wineries are hundreds of years old constructed from stone with beautiful polished hard wood and blacksmith shaped metal fixtures such as gates and door fitments.

Wineries that have been built more recently or consist of old and new are also fascinating. Some of the architecture and landscaping is excellent as is that at Barossa Valley Estate as you can see from a few photos on their site.

Next year of course will be our 50th anniversary - half a century of happily married bliss. For our 50th, we plan to have a much larger celebration with some of our friends and hopefully our son, daughter and grandson.

Keep on keeping on.

Robin

for both of us

Happy New Year - 2022

In what seems like a flash, here we are in 2022. 

Much has happened in the past 22 years and sometimes it seems like only yesterday, which is probably an indicator that one's memory is still functioning reasonably well.

In December 1999 Christina and I lived in a rented house at Seacliff near Adelaide. We were taking a 12- month break from the Territory. My employer, ATSIC (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission) had granted me 12 months leave without pay and Christina had done the same with her job at the Alice Springs Hospital.

Between then and now, we: 

1. Returned to the Territory, this time to Tennant Creek, where I had been asked to help out the office with its grants management program pending advertising of a reengineered job at Alice Springs ATSIC Office
2. Moved back to Alice Springs where I took on a new role that involved not only training and development, but human resources consulting for three offices in the southern part of the Territory. Christina returned to the Alice Springs Hospital after working at the Tennant Creek Hospital and went back into the Midwifery Department
3. Our grandson Tory Jet Muller arrived in November 2001 and I had to remember how to change nappies and bathe a baby again after several decades; Chris was okay, having continued doing it at work
4. In 2004 Christina and our friend June Noble went on holiday to Dubai to meet our other friend, Alison Pyper who was completing a long stint working at a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The idea was that they'd have a holiday and then return to Australia, which they did
5. In early 2005 following Alison and Christina's recommendation, I applied for a job teaching at the United Arab Emirates Higher Colleges of Technology, not expecting to even get a reply
6. In June 2005 we moved to Al Ain, United Arab Emirates where we spent a wonderful three years
7. Returning in 2008, Christina went back to work at the Alice Springs Hospital and I decided to retire, but I wasn't psychologically prepared for it - I wasted a year
8. I applied for a job as Head Lecturer in charge of the Prisoner Education and Training Department at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre and won it. Much to my surprise
9. After three years at the ASCC I was 65 and decided I'd had enough. I had turned the department into a highly efficient, functional unit and thought it was time to go as the challenge had gone
10. We travelled around Australia for two years in our caravan after we sold our house in 2016 and then moved to Tanunda, SA in January 2018.

We have now been here four years and love it. The people are friendly and many have accepted us as friends, even though we are essentially "outsiders".

Living the dream!

Robin

Cancelled by COVID 19!

Bugger!

Christina had an Embroidery Conference planned at Barmera, near Renmark, a couple of hundred kilometres from Tanunda next Friday through Sunday. We thought we'd go early and spend four days at Renmark, then move to Barmera, a total eight-day break.

As we hadn't towed the caravan anywhere since moving here nearly four years ago, we pulled it out of storage, gave it a good clean, replaced the sacrificial anode, loaded it with our clothes, food and a whole lot of other stuff (think shoes, laptops etc) and headed off.

Renmark caravan park is a huge, well-equipped place. Very nice. We drove up Sunday and spent Sunday and Monday evenings there and looked forward to visiting the Rose Gardens and a couple of distilleries today and a few other places tomorrow.

Unfortunately, this morning we received a report that the SA Government was implementing a complete lockdown of SA from 6 pm and it would last seven days. We also received notification that the conference Christina was to attend had been cancelled.

We decided to head home since it's more favourable to be locked down at home than in a caravan. So, we packed up in the rain and drove home to Tanunda.

Some break!

Anyway, we are both well, have had our two vaccinations against COVID-19 and will sit out the next seven days hanging around the house. We are allowed out to shop for food and do a daily walk not exceeding 90 minutes, so it's not all bad.

We feel very sorry for those people trying to run small businesses, especially hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, hairdressers etc because they have to close. Many of them will not survive financially and while we do try to support them with our custom, the money we spend wouldn't make a lot of difference. 

When we go shopping, we have to wear a mask. Chris bought herself a camouflage mask and an Air Force Centenary mask for me from our local RSL. You can see mine above.

Stay well. Avoid COVID-19.

Robin

Easter Sunday at Port Parham

Port Parham, a small seaside resort is on the eastern side of the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. For decades it's been the weekend escape for people from the Barossa Valley and other nearby towns.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to stay overnight by friends who have a beach shack.

Port Parham has a tide that recedes several hundred metres from the beach, good fishing and especially, good crabbing opportunities.

Fishermen designed a vehicle called a jinker to tow their boats across the sand to the water and back. Crabs could be gotten with rakes that simply scoop them out of the water and of course there are rules regarding the minimum size permitted and how many can be taken daily. Females with eggs are protected and must be thrown back into the water.

I'm not sure how one determines what a female crab looks like, but those who are real fishermen obviously know.

We didn't go crabbing during our overnight stay, but did enjoy a dinner of crabs and prawns and a lovely bottle of McGuigans cabernat-shiraz.

Here you can see our table of crabs and prawns.

We did a tour of the local towns and sights including looking at the Army firing range that adjoins the fishing zone and generally chilled out chatting, had a few beers, cups of coffee and filled in the 24 hours we were there very well.

After living in Central Australia for so long, it's nice to live where we can drive for an hour and be in a totally different place.

I've never been a real beach fan, but it is lovely to visit it occasionally and soak one's feet in warm salt water and walk on the sand. It's not only good for the feet, but good for the inner person.

Robin

Hopeful, Happy New Year

After the challenges of 2020, we all hope for a better year in 2021, however, C19 is still around and promises to keep challenging us in this new year.

Today is Friday and I woke up at 8:13 am after going to bed completely sober at 12:45 am.

As the only drinker in our two-person family, I had consumed a bottle of Carlton Zero which, unlike Heineken's equivalent has NO alcohol, and two glasses of Barefoot Shiraz. The former was a bit gassy and came in a piddling 330 ml bottle. I usually only buy 375 ml or larger but made an exception this time to try the new brew.

The only complaints I have about Carlton Zero is it's small, gassy and doesn't come in cans which are easier to fit into the fridge.

Yeah, I know, there are much more important things to think about like C19, poverty, homelessness, the push to "Reset" us by the UN, the Chinese trade challenge etc.

Whatever, 2021 will bring with it what it brings and there's not much we can do about that.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it is to make the most of your life for the next 12 months. Try to stay healthy, happy and content.

Happy New Year!

Robin

Meredith Visits for Christmas

Meredith and me at Rehn Bier

Meredith drove off at 5:30 am for the 15 hour drive back to Alice Springs after visiting us for a week or so during Christmas.

Max, the camouflage dog came with her and had a couple of nice walks in Tanunda between being spoiled with special foods and plenty of attention from Pop and Nana.

As usual, he had to be drugged to cope with the trip but after worrying all day - as parents do - both arrived home safely at 10 pm and we were relieved.

During her stay Meredith shopped until WE dropped. She's 30 years younger than us and therefore much more energetic and resilient. Not only that, living at Alice Springs, she's deprived of the variety of shopping we have in nearby Adelaide and Ti Tree.

I have a psychological distaste for shopping; I like to know what I want, go get it and come home. None of this swanning around. However, being the great parent I am, I stuck it out although towards the end, I waited in the car listening to music while Christina and Meredith shopped on.

Meredith also likes fine wines - especially sparkling wines and what better place than the wine capital of Australia to do some wine tasting?

We drove to Rockford Winery, 1847 Chateau Yaldara Wines, and Saltrams and gave the other 69 a miss on this occasion. At Yaldara we visited the Vintage Chef Company cafe for lunch which gave Meredith a 20% discount on her purchase.

As "Bob", I resisted the temptation to imbibe so we could get home safely but that was fine, I rarely drink before 5 pm anyway.

Meredith tasting a sparkling white

The old vineyards and wineries are worth visiting if for no other reason than to view the beautiful buildings, wooden furniture and surrounds.

Gardens are well developed and gorgeous in the case of 1847 Chateau Yaldara having had 173 years to be established.

The buildings are largely constructed from bricks or rocks plucked from nearby fields. They'll all be standing well after we're gone.

We also visited Rehn Bier on her last night and each bought a carton of mixed beers. Rehn Bier is conveniently located 200 m from our house and I've become friends with the owners and staff as I visit every so often - but not that often.

Unfortunately, this year, son Dale wasn't able to visit as he had work commitments and grandson Tory decided at the last minute to stay at home.

We had a pleasant Christmas Day lunch with smaller amounts of food than usual, but still sufficient. With only the three of us and Meredith being a vegetarian, there was little point cooking up a whole restaurant full of food.

Next year we plan go all go somewhere together for a family Christmas.

Stay well.

Robin

Adelaide River War Cemetery

We drove to Darwin from Alice Springs as son Dale was scheduled to have a cochlear implant operation. It's 1500 km so we usually stop somewhere overnight and make the trip over two days. 

We stopped at Mataranka and then drove the shorter distance to Darwin.

Enroute, we visited the Adelaide River War Cemetery which is a beautifully grassed and laid out area to remember those who died in the Top End during World War II. Of particular interest to me were those RAAF members of 31 Beaufighter Squadron and 44 Wing.

There were airfields all over the top end, numbers that ran parallel with the Stuart Highway and many of the deceased would have been victims of the Japanese bombing of Darwin and other areas.

Although I've driven past the cemetery, which is a kilometer or so from the highway, this is the first time I have visited.

I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful lawns and gardens that comprise the cemetery and surrounds which is available for picnics and recreation.

This is a nice spot to stop and reflect on the many thousands of men and women who made the supreme sacrifice so that we could live in freedom under our own flag and with our own values rather than as captives of others.

Every day I'm reminded of how fortunate we are to live in Australia and I say a silent thank you to our heroes.

Robin

Sailing on the Sea Princess

Main Activity Deck - Sea Princess

The Sea Princess was the first ship on which we did a tour - 40 days! We went from Sydney, Australia to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, China, Japan, Guam and back to Sydney.

You can read about that tour here.

This tour began at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and took us south to our neighbour country, New Zealand.

It's the third time we've been to the "Island of the Great White Cloud" and I always wonder why anyone who lives in NZ would leave. It's a beautiful country.

We traversed the west coast of the islands and then came up the eest coast calling into several ports, the following map shows our travel route.

Unfortunately, it was too rough for us to visit Akaroa and Napier which was a disappointment, however, as the ship's captain said, it's better not to push the margin of safety with so many people on board.

This trip was during the Australian school holidays and included New Year's Eve. There were numerous children on board and a much young group of adults - their parents and other adults apparently taking advantage of the Christmas-New Year slow down and holiday break.

As we had been on a number of previous cruises, we didn't get involved in many of the on-board activities - been there, done them. Christina did attend regular Knitters and Knatters Group meetings and we attended several excellent evening shows we had not seen before. One of the comedians was spectacular.

I caught up on a stack of reading I had stored for the occasion and of course, on those places we visited, we got off the ship and had a good wander around, even though we had seen them before. At Auckland we visited the Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life attraction where we met some interesting creatures like this pufferfish which eyed me off as I took its photo.

I can see you Robin !

Initially I thought it was ugly (who am I to talk?), but ultimately I realised what a beautiful piece of work it was. Only evolution could produce such an odd creature with antennae to perform whatever function they perform. (Anyone help here?)

Probably the highlight of the trip was doing a cruise along Milford Sound. We'd visited previously by bus, but the tour in and out covered all of the Sound and we had a good look at the dozens of waterfalls running down steep rock walls into the lake below.

Milford Sound from Sea Princess

I have a large number of photos of Milford Sound all of which are pretty similar - steep Sound walls, plenty of greenery and billions of Litres of running water that would probably be among the purest on our planet.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip around New Zealand and meeting the inhabitants was also enjoyable as they are inevitably friendly and appreciate those of us from "over the ditch" visiting.

Robin

The Big Trip North

An Aboriginal sign on a salt lake

When you drive around Australia, you get an idea of how very large our country is. It's huge!

The interior is largely underdeveloped, lacks water and the nutrition to grow food crops. It's used extensively for cattle industries. 

In the north of South Australia is the Woomera Rocket Range prohibited area where nuclear bombs were tested in the 50s and rockets are still tested. Some of the range is still radioactive, thus, nobody is allowed to travel into the range.

The terrain changes from open expanses with gibber rock, few trees and no capacity to turn it into anything of value to similar country with red sand and short acacia trees that survive for years without water among the salt bush. Over the South Australian border in the Northern Territory, the landscape produces some small hills with rugged landscapes that have been there for millions of years since Australia was underwater.

Many fossils, including trilobite fossils, remind us of how long ago it was since we were underwater.

It's harsh country and over the couple of hundred years since European occupation, dozens of explorers have died there of heat exhaustion, dehydration or starvation. In some places it's hard to find anything living but a number of lizards seem to appear at frequent intervals. Flies seem to survive anywhere.

The trip from Adelaide to Alice Springs in Central Australia is 1500 km and although it can be done in one 15 hour day, we usually stay overnight at Coober Pedy going north and Woomera going south. That way we avoid driving at night when it's more dangerous because of the kangaroos, emus and cattle that wander about the roads.

Here's a video my wife Christina took while we were driving through the Woomera Rocket Range, it shows what the country is like.

If you ever come this way, bring plenty of water and invest in either a satellite phone or a personal locator beacon (PLB), because if something goes amuck, there is no mobile phone connection in many of the areas and PLB will attract a rescue helicopter much faster than word of mouth from a driver travelling to the nearest township.

It's a lovely trip if you haven't done it a hundred times.

Robin

2019 - A Big Year for Tory

Tory is presented with his certificate

So much can happen in a few hours. 

For Tory it was two significant events in anyone's life; the culmination of 12 years of schooling AND transition from child to adult.

On Thursday, 23 November 2019 Tory attended his high school formal looking impeccable in his suit with tie and received his Graduation Certificate.

Surrounded by his peer group and their parents and guests, teachers and others, he received his Graduation Certificate.

In a convenient stroke of luck, 23 November 2019 was the day before Tory turned 18, so at the stroke of midnight he gained the key to adulthood and all that goes with it. For a new 18 year old, the most important key is that they can now enter licensed premises without supervising adults and partake of the nectars of the gods.

It's that difficult period of one's life when some of your friends can join you at a bar and others can't. However, the good side is that when each friend turns 18, it's another reason to celebrate as the crowd at the pub expands.

Tory and Mum Meredith

Meredith attended the formal with Tory and his partner for the night, Lucy. They had arrived in a vintage vehicle that you can see in the photo below of Tory and Lucy.

From all reports, it was a pleasant night for all of them and after the formal, Meredith went home and Tory and mates went to the Alice Springs Casino shortly before midnight where they waited outside chatting until the clock struck 12 and then walked in, knowing they were all of legal age.

I understand Tory had his first beer in a licensed venue and then the group went to a friend's house to party with some of their not-yet-eligible mates. How very thoughtful.

At the time of writing, I haven't spoken to Tory, but my guess is that, like many of us, he probably overindulged and slept for most of the next day, his birthday.

Tory, Lucy and the Vintage Car

Now, with his formal schooling years behind him, the next thing is to find a job. We've all been there - our first job. Remember it?

Tory hopes to get an apprenticeship, preferably in electrical work and now that school has ended, at least until and if he begins an apprenticeship, it's knocking on doors seeing if he can find an employer.

If he gets an apprenticeship it will be back to school, but this time on-the-job training and trade school by block release. 

My experience in TAFE Queensland where we ran pre-vocational programs, suggests that students undertaking trades often do much better academically than they did at school. This appears to be because the topics being learned have a direct bearing on their "real world". As teachers, we were always pleased to see young people who had performed poorly at school come good and enjoying thier work.

As proud grandparents, of course we wish Tory every success in the future and as long as we can will help it happen. 

Robin

PS: Here's a shot of our young man on his first day of school. It's amazing what a difference 12 years makes.

Jan, 2007. Living Waters School, Alice Springs NT

RSL Tanunda Christmas Lunch and AGM

The Hut set up for Christmas Lunch

Both Christina and I were heavily involved in organising and running the Returned Services League (RSL) Christmas Lunch and Annual General meeting for 2019.

Christina is treasurer and I was acting in the secretary's position while she was on holidays overseas. 

Fortunately, we have a group of volunteers who all contributed to setting up tables, cutlery, glass wear, decorations etc and cleaning up afterwards so that we could hold our brief Annual General Meeting.

Meals were provided by local caterers 

Christina, as Treasurer, sat at the entrance to The Hut and collected meal fees and membership renewals. As usual, she does a top job of everything she handles and everything went off like a Swiss watch.

Each table had a bottle of red and white wine and judging by the number of bottles I took to the recycling bin afterwards, nobody held back.

Our bar has prices that are unmatched with local restaurants and bars so a quantity of beer, spirits and soft drinks was consumed too.

You can have a few drinks at the RSL Tanunda Hut without having to get a second mortgage on your house (assuming you have a mortgage).

Living in the middle of one of Australia's major wine producing regions has been an eye-opener in seeing how many people drink wine and how much of it is consumed. 

It's not unusual to see a gossip of attractive young ladies sitting at one of the alfresco wine bars having a midday tipple of Barossa wine. I guess having spent so many years living with the prohibition in the Northern Territory, I'm not accustomed to seeing people drinking at midday.

Apparently, until fairly recently, workers in vineyards were permitted to drink as much of the wonderful nectar they could. Then Occupational Health and Safety improved and the generous practice disappeared in the dustbin of history. Can you imagine how many inebriated workers must have driven home? Can you imagine how many damaged livers there must have been?

Shortly, our RSL Club stands down for the Christmas-New Year period and we;ll be back in action in mid-January.

Robin