Best Things of the Year

2022 Edition

I’m pretty sure 2022 was a great year.

Tasmania

In January, we drove down to Tasmania to do some serious exploring with the fam. We only had one solid thing planned and would just wing it for it the rest. It was incredible.

We drove around and camped everywhere and had the opportunity to explore places like Cradle Mountain, caves, Bruny Island rainforests, MONA, Port Arthur and completed the Three Capes Track with the fam. The Three Capes Track is 48km over 4 days and 3 nights and I can’t say just how beautiful it is. The kids even loved every minute, never complained (even on the last day where we did over 3000 stairs on the way to Cape Hauy!) and seeing some of the most amazing scenery in the world. So. Good.

Kosciuszko

We were all pretty inspired by the Tassie trip, so we organised another hike/camp shortly after in March for Kosciuszko. This ended up being around 20km over 1 day from Charlottes Pass to the highest point in Australia. Convincing the kids that it was actually the highest point was challenging, they just couldn’t understand how; they’d seen bigger mountains in Canberra but trying to explain the elevation above sea level was challenging, so I don’t think they were as impressed as we thought they might have been haha.

I’d climbed Kosi a few years ago with Till but the weather wasn’t great and had next to no view, so I had my fingers crossed for better weather. This time it didn’t disappoint! The views were beautiful, the weather was perfect and we were even able to go for a swim in a very refreshing creek.

Running For Resilience

I rocked up to R4R back in May, not really knowing what to expect or who would be there. It was one of the best decisions I made this year. The run is always fun but it’s the people I’ve met and the chats I’ve had that have really made it. Sammy, Benny, Fordy, Breeny, Timmy, Cam, Singh and so many others, they’ve inspired me, supported me and just been the greatest bloody humans. I was even featured on the R4R rag!

If you’re in Canberra, I can’t recommend it enough. The community has gone from strength to strength, it’s super inclusive and you don’t even have to run if you don’t want to. I went with one of the kids one morning and we jogged 3km and then on the R4R’s 3rd birthday, I took the whole fam and we walked a a couple of K’s. If you’re hesitating because you don’t want to turn up alone, hit me up and we can go together!

Meet the R4R Runners #49

Running

I was looking at my running stats the other day and while I’ve done less KM’s than in other years, I’ve definitely achieved a great deal more.

I entered a number of races - The Ainslie Amble, Stromlo Strides, Run with the Wind, The Canberra Times Half Marathon and the Kosciuszko Ultra Trail 27. I never imagined that I’d enter so many races and definitely didn’t think I’d be able to run as far 27km. really exceeded all my expectations and enjoyed the journey. Big ups to the R4R crew and my brother in law for really inspiring and pushing me!

I’m thinking of doing the Alpine Ascent 53 in March, so keep an eye on this blog to see if I do it.

The Praksis Handstand Challenge

All through Winter I did one minute on my hands everyday, it was fun and challenging but very rewarding and I improved my hardstanding ability so much. Is it silly for a 43 year old to do handstand? Perhap. But I loved it and it was great to feel connected to the Praksis crew in the process!

Loss

We sadly lost a close friend this year, unexpectedly. Jac was only 34 and suffered a catastrophic stroke which she couldn’t recover from, leaving behind her two young boys and her husband. Being there to support her family and friends had been a massive part of our year and the impact of her loss is just huge. Life can be so unfair and it’s a reminder to live everyday and appreciate all the people around us.

Miss you, Jac.

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I’m sure there’s heaps of other highlights from this year but the kids are getting up and time to wrap this up.

See you all in 2023 and I look forward to many more adventures.

✌️

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