The canvas of life

Life is a blank canvas to paint your own way, you have the ability to add brushstrokes of colour but there will be shades as well - The important thing is that you paint it, that come the end of your life you can stand back with satisfaction and say, "I did that, and I am content."

- My dad -

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I'm of the belief that it's the small moments added together that make one's life magnificent. I don't measure a fulfilled life by how many things I have, the latest electrical item or how big my television screen is. Material items are mostly valueless.

I count the moments as the most valuable thing in my life and, of course, life is simply a long string of them in a row before they end completely with our ultimate demise. I mean death. I'll die, you'll die, as will everyone. But what counts is how we live.

I was looking for a photo to send to someone, a specific one and, as usual, became completely lost and ended up spending hours flicking through them remembering the moments in which *they were lived. I decided to share a few and whilst I'm not a great photographer and they're not the best photos I enjoyed putting a few together. It's not the quality of the photo that matters so much to me, just the quality of the moment. So...Here's a few of my moments.

Flinders Ranges, South Australia

This area is a five to six hour drive north of where I live and I count it as my back yard. I go here a lot and when I write about being in the wilderness it is often here. I come here to camp, hike, off-road and to get away from society. A man and his cavegirl could get lost out here...Perfect. Are you game to come with?

London, England

I'm not so much in love with London as I am with the history of the place which goes back many thousands of years, through the Roman-Britain period and all the way through to now. I wandered about soaking it all in and had a wondrous time at such places as Churchill's War Rooms, The Tower of London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Museum of Natural History, cruising the Thames and just wandering the streets looking at the sights.

Hạ Long Bay, Vietnam

Cruising the calm waters of this UNESCO World Heritage Site was one of the most relaxing few days I've had. It just sort of reached deep within me and pulled out any hint of stress leaving me calm and serene. I even did Tai Chi! You can see a post about it right here if you like.

The floating village was so cool and I biked, hiked and kayaked over the several days as well - A nice all-round adventure. The boat, a replica Chinese Junk, was spectacular as was the food and the friendly crew. If you can, do it. No one to go with? Give me a holler.

Clovelly, United Kingdom

This lovely little place has been privately owned since 1738 by members of the same family line, all the through to today! It's set on a steep hills-face overlooking the Bristol Channel and is a simply beautiful little place.

The streets (one main one really) are cobbled and very steep - they use donkey's to pull sleds to haul their stuff up and down, even still, and visitors can meet them, the donkeys, and say hello. It's pretty cool. There's a little protected harbour at the bottom, lots of pebble beaches and, of course, an English pub to have lunch at.

I imagine a little cottage overlooking the channel, it's dark out and a storm front rolled through, rain falls steadily and candles barely hold the darkness at bay inside. A small fire burns in the hearth. Dinner plates that carried simple fare lay abandoned on a small table and our clothes are crumpled, abandoned, in the corner and strewn about the room. There's a think blanket spread before the fire and there I am with my girl saying nothing, intertwined...No words are needed in that moment.

Ah yes, Clovelly I will see you again, this I promise.

Singapore

I've spent a good deal of time in Singapore. It's the transit-city where I stop over when I fly to Europe and the United Kingdom and I always make time for this lovely, steamy-hot, place.

I attend the Formula One Grand Prix most years and each time explore a little more of the tiny Republic of Singapore. It's a beautiful place with a fast-paced or slower, more relaxed, vibe depending on what one is looking for. I'm always after the latter.

I spend long hours at the hotel pool and then attend the Grand Prix which runs through to about midnight. It's back to the hotel for more pool time and sleep, or whatever. A late wake-up, breakfast and the pool until 15:00 and then back to the track around 16:00.

Once the race is done I usually spend time around the Marina Bay area, Gardens at the Bay and wandering the city in general. There's no shortage of things to do, even if that's sitting at a café sipping a cool drink, having a scrumptious meal or watching the world go by far below from the pool-deck of the Marina Bay Sands.

I love Singapore and always feel at home there. The hotels are good, the food is amazing and whilst it's a very prosperous and wealthy city there's many places a nature-lover like me can find to seclude myself.

I've been to many countries and have travelled over almost all of Australia but couldn't pick out a favourite place if I tried. Again, it's not about the place - it's about the moments spent there.

I have had amazing, life-changing moments whilst trekking through mud up to mid-thigh and climbing steep mountains on the Kokoda Trail, Papua New Guinea. I've eaten the most amazing spaghetti at Bellagio on Lake Como, Italy and spent days in emotional turmoil on the World War One battlefields of France and Belgium.

I've dropped by helicopter into deep fjords in New Zealand, drank wine and ate cheese in Tuscany, played Roulette in the Monte Carlo Casino, ridden a gondola in Venice and spent a day at Hitler's Eagles Nest in Obersalzberg near the town of Berchtesgaden, Germany. I've eaten bread sticks walking the streets of Paris and watched the Moulin Rouge girls sway hypnotically...I've done so many amazing things I just couldn't list them...And yet, sitting in front of a low-burning fire in the middle of the Flinders Ranges, five to six hours drive from home, is just as magnificent a moment. I find value there as I do anywhere.

Life is but moments in time and it's up to us to take those moments and shape them, design and create, them as we wish them to be. I like to think I do so. I like to think that the threads I weave into my tapestry are all valuable. I like to think that my life resembles a kaleidoscope, colours swirling together in beautiful patterns of light.

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My father was an artist and he sometimes said to me, life is a blank canvas to paint your own way, you have the ability to add brushstrokes of colour but there will be shades as well - The important thing is that you paint it, that come the end of your life you can stand back with satisfaction and say, "I did that, and I am content."

Thanks for glancing at my pictures, it's appreciated.