Paragliding

I could talk a lot about paragliding, so I won't. I'll just show some pictures.

(Go to this link if you want to hear about my early ventures into paragliding).

South Beach, Kingscliff (Jan 2019)

Mind Massage

"Mind massage" is the term that Zach used to describe a philosophical discussion we had one day.

Zach had attended a weekly "cafe philo" that I conduct (discussed in another section below).

The topic for this one was "do you know what you think you know?"

After the session, Zach remarked to me he had really enjoyed the discussion and that it had felt like a mind massage.

So what is this thinking thing that I like to do ?

I don't know.

But I know that "mind massage" is a good description for it.

Going solo

Zach continues to show increasing independence, and this year, established that independence by proving some mastery in the command of two very different types of vehicles.

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On May 26 of this year, Zach completed his first solo flight in a fixed-wing glider.

After a couple of practice runs along with a few simulated emergencies, Zach was ready to do his first solo flight.

Sailing the Tasman

My plan to sail off into the sunset from somewhere near the end of 2020 after Zach has finished high school is still in place.

So when I received an invitation to help deliver a 45' Bakewell-White from Sydney to New Zealand (~1000nm or 2000km) in October 2019, I jumped at the opportunity.

On October 22, I walked down to d'Albora Marinas in Rushcutter's Bay to meet the owner-skipper, Blair and his boat.

At the coffee shop taking our last cappuccino for a week or more, I met Andrew, the third member of the crew, recruited like me through www.findacrew.net.

Telephone recall

As Zach and I walked home today from the shops, Zach raced ahead of me on his skateboard and disappeared around the corner.

When I turned the corner, he was hanging by the phone booth that was there, and remarked, "I tried to call you from the phone, but it doesn't work anymore."

He was recalling the many years ago when there were a number of phone booths at this corner near the post office. Back in a time - in his lifetime - when a large part of telecommunications was mediated by telephones and snail-mail, not just mobiles and email.

Aussie animal in France

Zach in Andorra, 2014

For a number of years, Zach has expressed a wish to go to France during the winter.

This became particularly pressing once he had seen snow in Andorra during a trip in April 2014. In the years thereafter, Zach learned to snowboard in the Australian alps.

And so, a winter in Europe was firmly on the agenda.

While I had indicated that I would make this trip happen, I felt my feet cool on the idea of heading to Europe in the winter as the year moved along.

After having a discussion with Coline, a young French woman who Zach and I had known for years, I spoke with Zach about the matter.

"Zach, you know how we talked about going to Europe this Christmas?"

"Yeah, it's okay Papa, I know that you're not keen. It's not that important."

"Okay, well, I've had another idea."

He gave a non-committal shrug.

"How would you like to go to France around Christmas this year ... on your own?"