Travellin' Penguin

I am supposed to be heading to the Flinders Ranges next weekend for my big photography week tour with Mark Gray.

Well, this past Monday, I took the bus into town for my weight training class at the gym. Hopped off the bus and as I began my walk I had shooting pain across my left shoulder and arm. I’d had a few niggles previously but this couldn’t be ignored. I immediately rang Mr P and he picked me up and we drove straight to the hospital where after tests I was informed I’d had a heart attack.

I was admitted immediately and there I stayed. Had an angiogram the next day , some new medications and sent home. The PCR test for Covid came back “borderline’ (didn’t know that was a choice) and transferred to a quarantined room with big signs on the door. The next day the PCR came back negative so everyone relaxed a bit.

I’m home now, feeling much better but feel very unfit. I have also been told I can’t drive for two weeks. I asked the doctor about the photography trip and he said I’d most likely be ok to go but the thought of being in some remote parts of the outback without my wonderful doctors nearby make me hesitant to go that far so soon. We were required to get travel insurance so think it is best I use it and stay home.

So what am I doing instead in this rainy, windy, cold Tassie winter? I’m reading the book by Zoe Coyle- The Dangers of Female Provocation. I am also selling things on eBay. Things around the house and cheap items such as vintage clothes, previous thrifting finds, especially sporting or designer/popular brands. I’m also selling some unique magazines and book bundles. It is fun and I have done quite a bit of selling and buying on eBay in the past.

The weather hasn’t been that good for metal detecting or photography though the sun is out today. Yesterday I managed lunch with a friend and a 4.1 km walk (about 2+miles. The gym is on hold for another week.

The Dangers of Female Provocation is a read I am enjoying and Fullers recently had a fun launch of her book with Geordie Williamson, literary critic, publisher interviewing her.

The book blurb reads:

Vengeance is coming.

Odessa Odin has it all – a successful career, an adoring husband and a close circle of friends to whom she is fiercely loyal. On the surface they’re living a glittering London life of wealth and cosseted privilege, but underneath this veneer lies painful truths of betrayal, neglect and unfulfilled ambitions. It’s a tightrope of holding themselves and their marriages together as their men transgress the promises they made at the altar with the blithe entitlement they’ve enjoyed all their lives. For the women, there’s just too much to lose.

When Odessa discovers her husband is having an affair, her carefully constructed life falls away, and the mask slips to reveal a vast reservoir of rage, fed up with the ways the patriarchy stack the odds against her sisterhood. Training her sights on her friends’ husbands, Odessa becomes an avenging warrior – aiming to chasten them into being better partners, picking them off one compromising situation at a time…

But as Odessa’s mission becomes all-consuming, it blinds her to the reality that the score is about to be evened in a way she could never anticipate.

The Dangers of Female Provocation is a razor-sharp, delicious testament to the force of women stepping into their own power.

*********

We had a small crowd at the launch and a very amusing conversation happened. Zoe is a wonderful listener and writer and we all enjoyed her talk.

So I really need to add to the t shirt collection I think of developing. After “There’s Always One!” the next one will be, “It’s Always Something!”

Hope your weekend is going well.

Covid really knocked me around, mainly with fatigue on top of my MS fatigue. Headachey too but now I’m climbing out of that tunnel. My energy needs to go back into my gym work to get my fitness back and a better mood. On July 8th I am travelling to South Australia to do an intensive 5 day photography workshop/training in the Flinders Ranges. If you search for Flinders ranges on you tube you can see the beautiful scenery. The days will begin before sunrise for shoots and end around 8 pm at night with a few built in rest periods during the day. I’ll get to Adelaide a couple of days early and come home the day after the workshop ends on Friday late afternoon.

I’ll be back online with hopefully more things to write about after that.

Well! The Sydney trip turned out to be different than the expectation but isn’t that just the way of life? I arrived after a smooth flight from Hobart on Monday last week and checked into my hotel. I think that is when I may have last checked in. I went to the Kinokuniya book store and picked up Aphrodite’s Breath after reading Lisa’s review. It had been on my radar.

I read Limberlost by Robbie Arnott on the plane and was really enjoying it. It is such a Tassie book. Robbie writes about Tasmania like Tim Winton scatters Western Australia dust through his pages. They both have a deep understanding of their home states and are wonderful of getting it into their books.

Then Tues morning arrives and I was preparing to meet my friend for a day of photography but she got covid so that scuppered those plans. I had been looking forward to seeing her but we will catch up again. I hopped on a ferry and visited Taronga Zoo. I had fun with the camera and although I haven’t downloaded the photos yet I hope the young gorillas playing come out good. Will share that later.

Wednesday was the Tina Turner musical and I think of the hundreds of plays I have seen in my life this would be one of the best. I loved the energy, the inclusion of so many of the events of her life and the actor, Ruva Ngwenya was incredible. It was also so very sad hearing about her death on the same day I was enjoying the play. I saw her in concert twice in Melbourne in the 1990s as well as growing up with her and Ike’s music and stories for a lifetime. I don’t think there were many people at the play who were younger than 65.

Thursday I hopped on a crowded bus and went toBondi Beach to do some photography. Ended up sitting on a bench chatting to an 81 yr old man from Albury-Wodonga about the play we had both seen the previous day. He told me he went to see it. His wife and he loved dancing and did so several evenings a week during their married life until she went into care for dementia. I listened to his memories as though reading a book. I then got up and took some photos as I headed back to the city on an even more crowded bus. I really love sitting next to older people while travelling alone and hearing their stories. There are so many stories in the world and so many lonely people wanting to share them with someone.

Friday morning I woke up with a sore throat. I was quite tired Thursday so the sore throat didn’t surprise me. That’s what my body does when I’m tired. It had been a very busy week.

So back onto another delayed Qantas flight with the rest of Limberlost to occupy my time arrived home feeling worse. It felt so good to be back in my own bed. Saturday morning I tested positive for Covid and I haven;t done much since except take the anti virals and sleep. Monday arrived and now Mr P came down with it.

This week is dragging on a bit but I am thankful for vaccinations as I would have been much sicker without them though even with them this illness is not a walk in the park. I’m starting to feel human again. I now have the energy to do some laundry, pick up Hemingway;s book The Sun Also Rises for June book club. Maybe begin to download the photos I took. In the meantime I will share the phone pics I took of the opera house as the Vivid Event, running in Sydney now was being set up.

It’s good to be home and on the mend.

The photos scattered throughout this post are from the Sydney Harbour area.

With my friend out of commission or whatever happens on my trips, I can always count on the Penguin for company. Out last evening celebrating our week of surprises.