Monday, January 19, 2009

Up to Brisbane again

Not quite on the road, but I'm flying up to Brisbane again tomorrow afternoon to see my mother. My dad would have turned 70 on Wednesday, and instead of having a celebration, we'll be having a Catholic mass at Mum and Dad's home in his memory.

I'll be there the rest of this week, so without internet access at Mum's place I seriously doubt there will be much blog action here until Australia/Survival Day or after. Unless something especially strikes me and I try to post from my mobile phone. We'll see, you never know.

Until then, I particularly recommend Ampersand Duck's post on reading and traveling – in this case bushwalking – at Sarsaparilla. I'm printing it off as it will make some great reading while I'm flying. I really want to do more long walks and walking travels this next year and more, and &D's post in another inspiration for that.

In a similar vein, I'm also truly enjoying Tony Kevin's
Walking the Camino: a modern pilgrimage to Santiago, which I gave my father for Father's Day last year in honour of his (then) upcoming September holiday in Portugal and Spain with Mum. When they returned, he told me he really enjoyed it, and we speculated on walking the Camino together in a few years when I'd saved the money. Mum recently told me he took me seriously, and that he'd read the book twice. I can see why.

What was a flippant comment in conversation with my father has now taken a new meaning. I'm aiming to do that walking pilgrimage when I'm 45, if not earlier. It's like my dad's holding me to it. And I'm holding myself to it.

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6 Comments:

At January 19, 2009 5:38 pm, Blogger matt said...

the weather is fine this week, a cool change from last week's unpleasantness.

 
At January 19, 2009 9:42 pm, Blogger phil said...

Mark - I'd heard about your father - please accept my late condolences.

 
At January 20, 2009 11:28 am, Blogger Mark Lawrence said...

Hi Matt and phil, thanks for your kind comments. Matt, I'm looking forward to the nicer weather I've heard about in Brisbane - the last couple of days here in Melbourne have been stinking hot, with today slinking its way to 37 C. And this is a shock coming on the back of the lovely cooler but sunny days we had last weekend...

 
At January 20, 2009 1:44 pm, Blogger Ampersand Duck said...

Yes, belated condolences, too, and many thanks for YOUR kind words!

 
At January 20, 2009 5:44 pm, Blogger hackpacker said...

Mark, I've only just read about your father and just wanted to add my condolences. It's a terrible loss but it's good to see you're blogging about it. The Camino sounds like a fitting tribute. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

 
At February 01, 2009 4:57 pm, Blogger genevieve said...

Mark, I am so sorry to have caught up so late with your sad news. I seem to have dropped your feed somewhere, I've fixed that now.
What a great tribute to your father to do the Camino - you'll write about it too, I hope. Best wishes to your family.

 

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