Well it’s been a long time but I’ve at last been reunited with a gong I bought in Vietnam several years ago. Hitting it with the stick and hearing the marvellous noise it makes has been a bit of an obsession for the last couple of days. It takes me back to being 6 years old and staying in this funny B&B with my parents. All of the children staying there took it in turns to sound the gong to signal breakfast in the morning. That is, until my brother hit it so hard that the stick broke and so the gong was no more. This is the same holiday where we, along with some new-found friends (who have remained friends for life) turned all the tortoises in the gardens onto their shells. I recall my father being angry when he found out about this and it has been with much relief that I found out from my mate recently that his tortoise can right himself. So maybe I am not a tortoise murdered after all. Phew.
Anyhow, it’s been a busy few days. I went to Sydney for work which was actually really hard work. People seem to think it is glamorous to travel for work and it I will admit I do largely enjoy it, I am very fortunate and it is great to see new places. But, by and large, it’s exhausting. But, I was lucky enough to stay on a couple of days and do this great cycle tour with Graeme from Bike Buffs. He’s an eccentric who plays music from his bike so everywhere we went we got strange looks, most people thinking it was great and doing a little jig, a few looking at us with contempt. He made us do some jumps off a wall while he laid down and took photos to make it look like we’d jumped off the harbour bridge. If only my eyes were open in my photo… The other fun shot involved him doing a pano. We started out at one end and once he’d panned past us, we had to run behind him and reappear in the other end of the photo. It’s a pretty cool shot even if I do say so and I can’t wait to try it out with some mates. If you get to Sydney, give this tour a go! It was great fun. We saw things we wouldn’t have seen otherwise, including Wendy’s amazing secret garden and, of course, it was pretty special to cycle over the bridge (twice).
While I was away, a few things happened at home – new deliveries, additions to the decor – but I won’t spoil the surprise of the video, even if I do appear slightly deranged at one point…
Until next time x
Anecdotally, 