Ganb8te 3 - conquering crow pose

[gan]

Well I am back from a truly spectacular trip. Turns out there was no internet connectivity out near Kings Canyon. I moved from my safari tent to a swag one night and literally slept under the stars. I was terrified of the idea at first (there were scorpions and dingos around apparently) so I said YES I will do it! I woke at 4am to a truly amazing sky and saw numerous shooting stars. I wished for you know what... The walk around the base of Uluru (Ayers Rock) was probably the highlight. So humbling to have an aboriginal guide show us rock paintings by his "grandfather"……dating back 22,000 years. Certainly brings some perspective in terms of my significance in the history of the universe!

Maybell - If only we all could read tea leaves! I'm pleased to report that I've now done TWO bucket-list worthy things in the last 6 months (the other being Diner en Blanc). Thank you for the reminder about the Robx quote (and thanks Labug for posting it originally). I did go back and read the whole thing after skimming it the first time round. There are some good reminders there. Slow is fast.

Barrybran - Thank you. I needed to hear those words. Great point about being grateful for the interactions I do have with H (Robx made that point too, if I recall). I'd lost sight of that given that our interactions are still quite tense at the moment. I'm hopeful things will get better in time. The idea of not interacting with him makes be genuinely sad, so I must be appreciative of what I do have.

Labug - Love it! You may have seen my post on Calibri's thread (I found it easier to navigate the treacherous Kings Canyon rim walk because I felt more purposeful in my movement). It was so great to feel my mindfulness and yoga practice paying off in this practical way. One of the things I'm striving for in 2015 is to learn to be less judgmental - of people, events, whatever. Purposeful + present + non-judgmental. I think I will adopt that as my mantra.

Ggrass - there was a lot of red sand but I was surprised at how much green vegetation there was. It rained 5 days before so maybe everything just came out? I didn't see any hopping mice. Just dingoes and brumbies. I was the only Australian in a group of 23. The guide had been working there for a year and this was only the third time she had an Australian on her tour. I think we should all be made to do it!

Little - yeah, my sister in London has major problems with her cell phone signal in her house. I suppose the old buildings weren't designed with that in mind?! I did a safari in Uganda a few years ago and was so disappointed that I still had phone signal out there. Made it hard to appreciate that I really was seeing wild elephants etc and not just animals in a park or something.

Happy New Year everyone. May 2015 be a year of peace, love and happiness for us all.