All Good Wishes For 2017

Yes, I know, New Year’s Day has already whizzed by us, and yet here I am writing my 2016/2017 post. The reason is the same one that explains why I have been off air for a few weeks….the Fella and I decided to go and visit relatives in Western Australia for Christmas. The trip from Melbourne to Perth is about 3,500km one way, over the Nullarbor Plain. I am going to tell you much more about it over the next few weeks, so this post is a short one.

We celebrated New Year’s Eve tucked in the bush at Moodini Bluff, amongst the fantastic mallee gums. MUCH more about these plants in later posts.

Camp at Moodini Bluff Rest Area, Nullarbor Plain, New Year’s Eve, 2016 (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2016)

These rest areas are dotted all the way along the road. They are very basic, often only a rubbish bin, maybe a concrete table and chairs, and occasionally toilets of the drop pit variety. But many of the rest areas have tracks that wander around the trees and are very welcome after a long day of driving. They are not suitable for the big trucks that transverse the Eyre Highway. And big is big, often B triples that have to be signed as ‘road train’. The rest areas for the truckies are longer and straighter. You can hear them roaring through the night as you lie in bed amongst the peace of the mallee gums.

This NYE we had about ten fellow campers, all tucked away under their trees and as quiet as little church mice ~ or that simile should be ‘as quiet at little potoroos’!

Celebrating New Year’s Eve has never been high on my Must do List, but this one was super low-key, even for me. A glass of delicious Western Australian shiraz, a scrap dinner of scrambled eggs and short read and then bed. When I turned the light out it was so dark and quiet it was like the end of the world. It was, in a couple of ways……

You would be hard pressed to get further away from the razzmatazz of NYE.

Also, 2016 was, like 2001, a year that changed the shape of the world, and maybe even brought about, if not the end of our world, then certainly cataclysmic shifts. Much has been written about the year, but Marina’s thoughtful post ‘Strange Days Indeed’ at her blog Letters from Athens sums it up best for me.

Sunset 31st January December 2016, Moodini Bluff, Nullarbor Plain (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2016)

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The sunset at Moodily Bluff on NYE was beautiful, and reminded me that 2017 is in our hands. The future is not fixed, and our actions can have an influence. For example, our simple connections here in our Bloggyworld help to build understanding and break down some of the barriers.

Which reminds me that the Sketchbook is on the move again, and that I must tell you about the new, exciting entries soon. And my #secretsanta goodies. Lots of posts to come, to make up for the lack of them lately. 🙂

So, I wish you a 2017 that is free from strife and filled with creativity, love and joy. Let me leave you with this blessing from Neil Gaiman.

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”
― Neil Gaiman