December 2011

It is really nice to go out with a wonderful woman like Ree who lives in such a beautiful little home. Its been a couple of years now. Just testing out my wide angle adaptor for the camera. Pretty cool toy. So this is where I spend a lot of my time these days...

Devonport Brass wishing us a Merry Happy

I always love it when I see some community spirit! Here is the local brass band spreading some Christmas Cheer!


Tonight was their last night, but they've done this for a few of them. If anyone has their website I'll post it here.

Frank's Family

Visiting Canberra included meeting up with Frank and his family! Here pictured in front of the Canberra Hyatt Hotel (Frank, Jonah, Esther, Jacqie and Rebecca).

Canberra is always great for cycling and walking, bit of a health kick for me.

Steaming with Enthusiasm

Our beloved Don Railway is run entirely by volunteers. The steam locomotive is not always in operation, and when it is in for repair or maintenance the diesel trains run.

The Tasmanian Government assists the Don railway with Tourist Development Grants, but mostly I believe the project to be self-funded. Check out their web-site: www.donriverrailway.com.au

Hydrodog!

Ree's dog Mouse got treated with a Hydrodog treatment! Not sure about the orange bits stuck in her ears though... As I was busy doing important stuff like cutting up onions for relish and clearing the gutter pipe, pruning trees and cleaning car,.... Margie was busy in her Hydro trailer.

HongKong Interlude

I was lucky enough to wrangle a week in HongKong. My pilot friend Jim decided to retire from Qantas and I did everything in my power to find tickets to fly with him! In Hong Kong I stayed with my friends Khami and Ned and their family which was fantastic.

Lucky to have Chinese New Year in Hong Kong, as it is the quietest and the least polluted time of the year to be there. It all came together fabulously, and I had an awesome trip!

Turners Beach

I so love 'running' my circuit around Turners Beach. As close it is to civilisation I feel like I am there alone and noone hears me cough! Running past the Berry Patch and across the railway, through the fields, a few miles along the beach,... loving it!

Bus driver Wally

Betcha didnt know I had a bus license? Here I am driving some Devonport Hashers to the OnOn. Below is a random picture of the Carols by Candlelight evening in Devonport.

Normally this is held at the Soundshell on the Bluff (very nice there), but this year Devonport City Council decided to hold it on some
flat oval as there was construction going on near the Bluff. The council has really ruined the festive season in Devonport. No Christmas tree, no fireworks, major road construction (in two places) going on... Not a pleasant place for tourists or locals alike right now.

Devonport Show

Time for the Devonport Show! Last year the second day was such a wash-out that entry was free! This year wasn't too bad. Rain on the afternoon of the second day added a nice touch to the agricultural show with the smell of rain, food and manure all nicely mixed and wafting together. The Loane's livestock was well represented and they even had their own pavilion for the judging!

Always interesting to watch the travelling interstate 'show people' with their sideshows and stands at the show, the other animals, and the people that attend. I helped catch a budgie, Ree smuggled water into a cage for a thirsty rabbit, we petted goats and cows,...

Litter bugs in Canberra

Nothing irritates me more than dumb people, women in this case, both smoking in the back seat of a car and throwing out cigarette buts. In Tasmania I have the litter-report form in the glove box... Lucky my mother in Canberra doesn't have one handy. This image was taken 20 October 17:37hrs. on Hindmarsh Drive at the Athlon drive lights. Call me pedantic, but at least I didn't report them...

Report littering: Call Canberra Connect on 13 22 81 or complete the Canberra Connect Feedback Form

Burnie Ten

Wow, did it. Ran the Burnie Ten. Was mostly a very slow 10km jog and brisk walk and good coughing! Took Ventolin with me and had a few puffs on it during the run.I had started antibiotics again a few days before as I got sick. Two weeks without antibiotics and I am done for. Hope the antibiotics keep working for me as I really need them obviously!

I ran the Burnie Ten 10kms in 1hour and 25 minutes or so, whereas last year I got 1hour 10minutes. The difference was perhaps that I was a bit healthier perhaps, but also because i took half a Viagra which boosts your system (and gets you over the line 1/2 an inch quicker). Next year i will do the Viagra again. For the Mount Kinabalu mountain trip Viagra didn't do much in my opinion as the event was more than a few hours. Viagra will only last so long (sorry ladies). Anyways, glad The Burnie Ten is over and done with. Was a fun event, loved every minute of it.

One friendly lady on the run asked me if i had Ventolin in response to my coughing fits. When I said yes she next asked me if i had taken some! People are pretty concerned about us coughers en-route. Hamburglar, a fit and young hasher ran with me for the most part of the run. I told her, 'see we are still passing people' as we slowly jogged past a few walkers. Then I would stop and cough and 50 walkers would pass me again before I break into a gentle jog again. I turn to her again and say 'see we are still passing people', and I could see her thinking 'yes the same once we passed three times already'... At the 5.5km mark some Hashers appeared out of the bushes to give me small beer. That was the only brief stop I had I think.

Here is the run as I did it: http://runkeeper.com/user/waltervp/activity/18494287 .

PS. In the official results it said I took 1:26 but failed to deduct the 2 minutes it took to get to the starting line. This is an electronic system, and the results for everyone shows the time across the finish line as well as the adjusted time. For some reason both of mine are the same (indicating I started right up front). I started the run with Jess McDonald whose tie was adjusted 2 minutes, so I am pretty sure my actual time was 1:24. Yeah!

120 Inspirational Coasters!

Wow, got a mention in the top 120 most inpirational coasters!

Hopefully the next bike ride adventure will inspire more people with disabilities to go out and take some unnecessary risks!! It's all very nice till someone gets seriously hurt, than it become hilarious...

www.coughing4cf.com for the whole story!

Watching life

View from the office was interupted by Aurora men climbing trees. The above ground powerlines are a bit of a worry perhaps. Can't we move the lines?? Make us all go solar or have wireless power....

Apple Cider Vinegar?

Well, lots has happened since my last entry... I went to Borneo and attempted to climb Mount Kinabalu. Ended up in Canberra Hospital after catching some nasty virus, Lauren moved back to Hobart, and I am going for a good bicycle ride again soon.


My new revelation is that perhaps the crucial ingredient  in my acid/alkaline diet is the Apple Cider Vinegar.... Hard to tell when you try as many potions as I do, but I feel that the Apple Cider, with mother, is a significant factor. More later.

Time is flying...

Time seems to go quickly.

Went for a nice motorbike ride this afternoon to Burnie after my run around Turners Beach. Had a good late-lunch there and rode home past Bastard and Pioneer's place in Penguin. FannyMay was pillion on my bike. Soon she will have a bike herself!

My keyring got pinned by Bastard...


The house on the edge of Turners Beach...


Recovering at home with a little plate of pre-dinner snacks for myself. Who says you have to belong to the less than 2% of people who suffer from CF, I am enjoying the CF diet, certainly not suffering there!!

More exciting things on the horizon....

Dutch Bike in Canberra

Came back from holidays and brought home a Dutch Bicycle from Holland! The temptation was too great. Had three days in Holland and was flying straight to Canberra... Did cost me an additional 60Euro for a cab from Santpoort and 43Euro for British Airways to ship it from Amsterdam to London, but Qantas carries it free as a sport allowance! The bike was second hand of course.

It will stay in Canberra till I have a proper house in Devonport, probably another year...

Pulse Oxymeter

Flying to Brunei in an A320 I register about 85%, and my fellow passenger, KoalaBear registers 90%. On the ground I was 95%. Assuming I am 5% below the other folks I think I might be OK! Next flight, in a week or so, I will try half a Viagra and see if I improve - that is if I remember!

Exercise

Keeping fit and training for Coughing with CF in polluted environments is tricky. Walking around town is probably the best for me, but running is out - not to mention finding a place to run. The hotel gym looked good, but coughing and spitting there seemed wrong!

Hopefully we will soon get back on the training schedule and run in the tropics! I am ready for some exercise after all the flights.

Sent from my iPhone

Chinatown

As most of you know I started my www.coughing4cf.com adventure. As a form of  'private diary' I thought I'd start blogging here:

Flight to KL was fine, except for the fact that I noticed my oxygen levels even in the pressurised cabin was very low. Handy to have the device with me to tell me that, but very worrying at the same time.

On board I bought a prepaid phone SIM for a few dollars. In KL I realized that this service doesn't give me Internet over the phone network. I can still connect on wireless networks, which is fine, but means I have no iPhone maps in the street when I need them:

Last night I went to meet the guys at Chinatown. I thought I wouldn't need a map..... Was told to get on monorail. People there told me to go to station X. I get there and ask for Chinatown and get told  by passengers that I have to go to station Y. There I got told to go to station Z... There i saw a sign to 'Chinatown'. Walked for 40 minutes and got totally lost and decided to find a cab. There was no taxi anywhere to be found. I saw a durian stall - indicating I was miles away from the tourist routes.... Eventualy found a cab. He refused to take me to China town. But then at a petrol station someone offered me a lift. 20 Minutes later I got to Chinatown and found the guys there in minutes! 

They had finished dinner... I thought finding china town would've been simple and locating them hard. With the iPhone on the Internet it would've been EASY! this is why I need Internet on the phone... Ah well.

I probably should've stayed in the same hotel as guys, but they saving money by sharing in a cheap hotel and i was worried I might be quite sick from the flight and booked the 4star Novotel. Killer, Flasher and Cheese bought lots of stuff at the markets but I am over my 15kg allowance with all my meds, so I had to restrain myself!

Today we fly to Brunei! Thrust and Ross arrived last night and we're in same hotel and will go together.

Had the best lunch in hotel yesterday!! Unbelievable yumcha style food in a buffet. That and a clean fresh room where I could nap, nebulise and shower etc made a big difference. From mow on I'll be sharing...

Sent from my iPhone

Kids in my life!

No no no! Not like that! I just went out with Cindy for an hour to a local playground and tired out her grandchild Lucia (and her step-sister Bianca)... Still, nice to go to a playground and play with kiddies once in a while. Grandma Cindy does not act like a grandma at all...