Well it has been an interesting Christmas and New Year, with a bout of severe gastro making Andy totally unable to come down to Walpole, and me going down on my own then heading back up to Perth for a sober New Year in bed by 11pm. Christmas Day itself I had a lovely swim at the beach with friends, then headed down south on the long drive to the coast.

So, this year has not been the usual round of eating and drinking and socialising (Julie and Colin in the UK for Colin’s father’s funeral) however a chance to reflect a bit and while at Walpole, enjoy a number of kayaks and swims in the river. Even the weather didn’t play nice, so there was no paddling in the open inlet given very high winds and intermittent rain continually during the stay. One of the unexpected bonuses was swimming in the Franklin River, with a couple of different groups, and really enjoying watching the banks of the river slowly move past.

A few photographs from the trip, and I never intended my boat to match my car but it did look rather good.

I reflected today on New Year’s resolutions, as it’s very easy to come up with a list of resolutions, then feel guilty or a failure when you fail to do any of them, or indeed remember them. Can I remember what my resolutions were for last year ? I think a more powerful concept is to pick something good from last year, focus on that, and make the resolution to keep on doing that activity. Also, the resolution can be pleasant, enjoyable; one article I read featured a guy who decided that, as he prefers animals to people, he needs to stroke an animal every day. I like that concept.

So my two resolutions are

• to keep exercising, and the cover photograph is of the local beach where I go to swim most weekends and sometimes as a sanity pause during the week. It’s a beautiful place and t’s no hardship to go there
• to sort my dodgy posture and hunched back, I am sure the sore shoulders are partially due to posture

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