Wednesday, December 9, 2009

....discovering Alexander


Do I look like this man? According to my daughters certain features of his face are similar to mine. I think there is something about the features that are close. The forehead, even though mostly covered is a close match, and perhaps the mouth and chin. The first photo of this person, who is called Alexander, that I saw was a much older man, probably in his late 50's, around the same age as I am now. This is all I knew about my bilogical father, his name, that he was a musician, and that he had 4 children. I knew the names of the 4 children and it was from this information that I managed to trace the family, my half relatives of Alexander.

About 12 months ago I did a search on White Pages for one of the 4 children, his name was Don, who as it turned out, my half brother. I did make the phone call recently and unfortunately Don had since passed away, but one of his sons, Tony, answered the telphone.......amazing. Talking to the Tony on the phone, my half nephew, he went on to tell me that he had heard about me, but no one in the family knew what had happend to me, all those years ago.

Tony told me to ring his sister Sue as she had more information, turns out that they thought I was living in Mount Gambier, and of a different name.

As it turns out there are 9 children in the family, all children of the half brother Don.

A few more phone calls and searches on Face Book allowed me to connect with several of the siblings of Don and his wife Moreen.

It has been a wonderful discovery, every now and then a new relative will connect via Face Book, even down to the next generation.

I have yet to meet some of my new family, but already I feel very welcome into the new extended family. Hopefully in the next couple of months I will get to meet some of the new relatives.......exciting times ahead.

Don't let anyone tell you that Face Book is a trivial social experiment, to me it has been a terrific tool of discovery.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

......the dream becomes reality.







Well the big day arrived, it was a day of coincidences. The scooter was ready for delivery on Michelle's birthday. It was also the same day I was booked in for a bike service. So it was a busy day at the bike shop. I recall the excitement I felt on getting my first bike many years ago. Fortunately for me it was an unexpected event whereas Michelle had to try and sleep the night before the delivery. Not to mention my sleepless night wondering how the day would turn out. Well it could not have been better, the scooter was already to ride away, just the paperwork and money transactions to complete. Here is some photo's of the first spin on the Piaggio Zip scooter, she looks like the little machine was made for her. As a parent who witnessed the above dream, I have been in two minds about this move. Do you as a protective parent try and talk your daughter out of buying a scooter, because of all your fears and worries about the move away from 4 wheels. Or do you accept their decision and go with the flow, passing on encouragement and knowledge to get them started.. ..........You accept their decision as not only are they adults but you remember your same dream. I think Michelle was like me when I wanted to get on two wheels. I had visualised the experience so many times over in my mind that, when I finally hopped on the dream machine it all came natural very quickly. Ride safe Skooter Girl.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Quick spin down the coast.....







The nice white 97 Heritage Springer belongs to a friend
called Ray. Ray has just returned to bike riding after
quite a few years without a bike. The interesting angle of
this story, is that he has recently bought this bike back
from an old friend. He sold it to him a few years back with
the proviso that he has the first option on buying it back
if he wants to sell it again. Amazingly this bike has only done
10,000km and is in very good condition. Today we decided
to go for a quick trip down to Port Broughton for a coffee
before the heat of the day arrived. It was great to
connect with a new found friend who has decided that
he would like to join us for a ride. I think Ray will be a
friend for life.



Friday, October 30, 2009

images in black





Images found on the net through a random generator.
No idea who is the owner.
Thanks to the anonymous donor of these
interesting images.

lost dreams.........

On many of our travels we have found
scenes like this.
This one taken in central Australia
on the way to the Birdsville races.
Walking around the ruins your mind
tries to fill in the lost story.
What happened to the families that
lived here?
What were their dreams?
Why did it all go wrong?
Was it the drought?
Was it the isolation?
Ghosts of the past watch
as you try and piece the mystery
together.



DISTORTED IMAGE


THE squashed swan

....deserted beach......









Black Betty took us to a new destination,
Port Hughes.
Pristine untouched coastline.
No tourists
No locals
No dogs
or cats
just one plastic bag
and a dead jelly fish.