#23 - Go bike riding

In 2006, as part of one of my conference trips to Europe (the best thing about doing a PhD!) I spent about a week in Paris with my lovely friend Katrina.  One of the highlights was visiting Monet's house and garden at Giverny.  Giverny is a little way out of Paris - we caught the train and then had the option of taking a bus or riding bikes to Monet's house.  We deliberated long enough to miss the bus, and so the decision was made for us.  And then I discovered that it is possible to forget how to ride a bike!  At first, I could hardly stay upright.  We walked our bikes through the centre of town, but once we were out on the road, I was completely freaked out.  I just tried to ride in a straight line as close as possible to the edge of the road and hoped that cars and trucks would just go around me.  It was such a relief to get off the road onto a bike track, although I was still holding onto the handlebars so tightly that my hands barely worked for several days afterwards.

Here, Katrina was taking photos of me as I rode the bike towards her.  You can see my complete inability to ride in a straight line!

This is a recreation of my crash.  I was riding towards this gate, and somehow could not avoid hitting the post, at which point I completely lost control and the bike fell over.  Not to worry - I wasn't hurt, so I got back on the bike and we kept going towards Monet's house (which was just beautiful!).

Despite my crash, and the bruises on the back of my legs from when my feet kept slipping off the pedals, I enjoyed bike riding in Giverny, and so I'd been wanting to try it again.  I convinced my lovely friend Danielle to come with me to Centennial Park, where we hired bikes and set off to ride around the bike track.  About 50m from where we hired the bikes, I managed to lose control.  The front wheel of the bike hit a step, stopped abruptly, and I went flying over the handlebars, gaining some pretty spectacular bruises in the process.  But we kept going, and made it around the park 3 times before we decided it was time for chocolate at Max Brenner's!  Next time I'm thinking of trying Bicentennial Park - the route around Centennial Park is just too short!

#15 - Go paragliding

This is a bit of a cheat, since I added this one to my list after the event, and before I actually turned 30.  Although it was a spur of the moment thing, it was my 30th birthday present from Matt, so it seems appropriate to include it here.

As part of our conference/family visit/holiday around New Zealand earlier this year, Matt and I spent a couple of nights in Queenstown.  The main thing we were planning to do there was the gondola and luge.  We'd seen lots of people paragliding, since our accommodation was not far from the base of the mountain.

When we were up on the mountain, I commented to Matt that it looked fun, and I was tempted to have a go.  Matt said I should, and it could be my 30th birthday present.  I deliberated for quite awhile - should I do it?  Will I be too scared?  Am I too heavy?  Is it too expensive?  Aw, but it would be fun!  But I'm scared!  This went on for quite awhile, but Matt is very good and knows me very well, and knew just how much encouragement was appropriate without pushing me into something I didn't really want to do.  So I did it.  And it was awesome!

While we were waiting for my turn, I was going to SMS my parents to tell them I was about to go paragliding, but I thought I'd better wait until I was down safely!  It turned out they didn't think it was too bad (although when we were in NZ for a family holiday years earlier Mum wasn't keen for my brother to go parasailing) - Mum was apparently jealous!

One of my PhD friends had gone skydiving while we were both still working on our theses, and she said it was a great boost to her confidence - if she could jump out of a plane, she could do anything!  Paragliding is not quite jumping out of a plane - not even jumping off a mountain as much as just getting blown off the mountain!

#9 - Have lunch at the Balmoral Bathers' Pavilion

When I finally submitted my PhD thesis for examination, after five and a half long years, my parents offered to take Matt and I somewhere special to celebrate.  After perusing the menus of several fancy restaurants, I decided on the Bathers' Pavilion, Balmoral.  My parents had been there before, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  And we were not disappointed when we went there together in August 2009.  I thought it was the best food I'd ever had at a fancy restaurant (except, perhaps, for Restaurant Balzac).  Even Matt enjoyed it, and he doesn't normally enjoy such fancy food.

My parents, being the incredibly lovely and generous people that they are, took Matt and I back to Balmoral to celebrate my 30th birthday earlier this year.  We had lunch on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and once again, the food, service and the view were amazing!

Entree

Main Course

Dessert

Petit Fours

Petit Fours boxed up to take home, since we were full!

#7 - Have cocktails at a bar I haven't been to before

As part of my extended 30th birthday celebrations, some lovely ladies joined me for cocktails and tapas at the Orbit Bar.  Foolishly, I did not take many photos - just one, of my first cocktail for the night, a Tom Collins.

I also had a gin martini with a twist.  Must be an acquired taste, given that some of my friends said it tasted like perfume.

30 Things To Do When I’m 30 - final list

Crafty

1. Sew a quilt
2. Sew a skirt
3. Sew a dress
4. Crochet slipper socks
5. Knit a scarf

Food

6. Eat at a restaurant I haven’t been to before
7. Have cocktails at bar I haven’t been to before
8. Have fish & chips on the beach at Manly
9. Have lunch at The Bather's Pavilion, Balmoral Beach
10. Go to a winery

Travel/Fun

11. Go to a craft market and/or craft fair
12. Go to the zoo
13. Go to Melbourne for a weekend
14. Travel some place I haven’t been before
15. Go paragliding

Organisation

16. Have all completed cross-stitches framed
17. Choose photos for wedding album
18. Print honeymoon photos and put in album (or make photo book)
19. Unclutter my life
20. Have my PhD degree framed

Health/Active

21. Reach goal weight
22. Go bushwalking
23. Go bike riding
24. Complete C25k
25. Complete Sutherland to Surf and City to Surf (walking counts)

Work/Intellectual

26. Submit an article to a journal
27. Submit a book proposal
28. Implement “Getting Things Done”
29. Read Wolfhart Pannenberg's Systematic Theology (at least vol. 1)
30. Read entire Bible in King James Version

Thank you!

Thanks to everyone who has commented on my latest blog posts.  It's nice to know that people are still willing to read and comment, even after an absence of nearly a year!  I think that linking from Facebook helped with that...

Thanks especially to everyone who has offered to help me with my list of 30 things to do when I'm 30.  So far I've had all these offers:

• Laurel-Li has offered to help me learn to crochet well enough to make the granny square slippers (4 and 6)
• Laetitia offered to help with my wedding and honeymoon photos (11 and 12), even though we've never met!
• Chaotic Jupiter suggested I go to some craft shows with her and Amelie&Atticus (10)
• Gin Oak offered company for all the craftiness on my list (1 to 8)
• Anne and Matt offered to help with a trip to the Hunter Valley to fulfil 19
• Graeme offered to help with 24 - travelling to some place I've never been before - if I want a trip to Bahrain, I guess!
• My brother has signed himself up for a pair of granny square slipper socks (they're just like the ones our grandma used to make us) and will also alert me to any craft fairs or markets in Canberra
• And my parents are very generously taking me to the Bather's Pavilion for my birthday, taking care of 16.

So I think I'm off to a good start!

30 Things To Do When I’m 30

In lieu of making New Year's Resolutions this year (since I never keep them anyway) I've made a list of 30 things I would like to do when I'm 30.  I'm giving myself a head start - my birthday is not for a couple of months yet - but I think it will probably take me more than a year to get through this list.

If I was making New Year's Resolutions, blogging more would be on the list (although that's not a SMART goal...)

1. Sew a quilt
2. Sew a skirt
3. Sew a dress
4. Learn to crochet
5. Crochet an amigurumi
6. Crochet slipper socks
7. Learn to knit
8. Knit a scarf
9. Have all completed cross-stitches framed
10. Go to a craft market and/or craft fair
11. Choose photos for wedding album
12. Print honeymoon photos and put in album
13. Eat at a restaurant I haven’t been to before
14. Have cocktails at bar I haven’t been to before
15. Have fish & chips on the beach at Manly
16. Have lunch at The Bather's Pavilion, Balmoral Beach
17. Get a massage
18. Get a facial
19. Go to a winery
20. Go bushwalking
21. Go bike riding
22. Go to the zoo
23. Go to Melbourne for a weekend
24. Travel some place I haven’t been before
25. Unclutter my life
26. Implement “Getting Things Done”
27. Submit an article to a journal
28. Write a book proposal
29. Start researching something not directly related to my PhD
30. Have my PhD degree framed