Priceless moments (Childhood years: 1970 - 1980)

Going away

• Horse riding at Old Bells
• Uilenskraal camping (huge breakfasts, mole snake, fishing)
• Birkenhead
• Camping with the Cully's
• England: Rollerskating, lego and Fisher Price fire engine, bird nest

Collecting

• Stamps
• Dad's stamps - incorporating into mine
• Fishing tackle

Granny and Grandpa

• Walk to flat with Grandpa
• Grandpa in the garage
• Granny's chicken lunch, veggies and junket
• Birkenhead Hotel with Grand and Gramps: walks, Welsh Rarebit
• Chocolate Logs from Granny

Gran and Gramps

• Visits to Cape Town (Gramp's pipe, Newlands pool, beach)
• Reading the book I won with Granny in bed
• Moving to Cape Town
• Overnights at Epworth Road

Garden

• Beatie boys soccer games
• Climbing tree
• Toys on beam in garden
• Climbing at the back
• Throwing the ball for the dogs

Xmas

• Opening Xmas presents in turn. Mum always so generous.
• Xmas with the Cully's
• The excitement the night before Xmas
• Computer games

Outings

• The Castle Dungeon
• Sea Point walks with San Marco ice-cream and train

The beach

• Paddling with Gramps at Boulders
• Muizenberg
• St James
• Granadilla lollies
• Muizenberg with Grandpa (Appletiser)

The outside room

• Table tennis
• Train set

Swimming

• Newland's pool
• Swimming in our pool for first time when only half full
• Marco polo in the pool

Playing

• Playing Atari (Space Invaders, Pong)
• Playing garden trucks, army men, action men
• Rollerskating, lego and Fisher price (London)
• Lego and Fisher price
• Lone Ranger and Tonto (and wanting horse)
• Army Men and army trucks, especially boat lander
• Trainset

Movies and TV

• Movies (Cavendish, school)
• The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
• Indiana Jones
• Live and Let Die
• End of term movies on stage at school
• Fri movies at Vista Nova
• Saturday night - Magnum with chocolate

Reading

• Richie Rich and Archie comics
• Tintin
• Asterix and Obelix
• Enid Blyton, especially Secret 7 and Famous 5

Dad's trains

• Exploring local wood, inspiring the story of the puppies
• Going into train boiler

Food

• Granny Station's roast chicken & junket
• Mum's chocolate mousse, banana pudding & crème caramel
• Leche sorbet at San Marcos (Sea Point)
• Mum's chicken soup
• Mum's Xmas cake
• Jam donuts and custard slice at Silwood bakery
• Mum's Xmas dinners, particularly xmas pudding and brandy butter
• Granadilla lollies, St James
• Caramel crisp ice-creams as a kid
• Mum's Sunday Roasts
• Coffee and Top Deck watching TV on Saturday nights
• Mum's rice pudding
• Mum's crunchies
• Welsh Rarebit at The Birkenhead
• Appletizer on the beach with grandpa as a kid
• Granny's chicken lunch with junket

Restaurants

• Mount Nelson lunches with the family as a kid
• Birkenhead dinners with granny and grandpa as a kid
• Spur Hot Rock & Pecan-Nut Sunday
• Pancake place
• The Casanova

Movies

Mum and dad's wedding

 

Moments that have taken my breath away

Life is not about the number of breaths you take but the moments that take your breath away.

Love 

• The love at Gran and Gramps 50th wedding anniversary
• Seeing Ally in her dress for the first time on our wedding day
• Mum´s and Mike's wedding and how happy they looked
• Seeing Matthew and Sammy for the first time
• The letter Jo wrote about Gran when she passed away
• Listening to Gramp's tape that he left us after he passed away
• Mum's love, support and generosity of spirit
• A night time stroll with dad in Uilenskraal as a kid and feeling such love I thought my heart would burst
• The letter Jo wrote me on my 40th birthday
• Gorgeous, wonderful Mack

Deep nostalgia

• Riding horses at 8 Bells as a kid
• Paddling with Gramps at Boulders beach
• Gran and Gramps holidaying with us in Cape Town when we were kids
• Opening xmas presents as a kid
• Going to Muizenberg with Grandpa Station as a kid and drinking appletizer
• Exploring Knysna and Zululand with Dad
• Heart to hearts with Jo as teenagers
• Saturday nights in front of the TV with the family
• Early days with Ally
• Camping at Uilenskraal with dad and Grandpa as a kid
• Camping at Palmiet River with old friends

Wonder

• Encounters with great white bears in the Arctic
• On a beach with 50000 King penguins in South Georgia
• A beautiful leopard coming right up to my car window in the Kruger National Park
• Soaring condors at Colca Canyon (Peru)
• Swimming with wild dolphins and a whale at Llandadno (South Africa).
• Swimming with a turtle in Dahab's Blue Hole (Sinai, Egypt)
• Diving in the Canyon and the bottomless Blue Hole in the Red Sea (Sinai, Egypt)
• Snorkeling with turtles at Barbados and Galapagos Islands
• Seeing the world's tiniest bible and a statue of Peter with his foot rubbed away at the Vatican (Rome, Italy)
• The Tomb of Queen Nefertiti (Luxor, Egypt)
• Seeing Tutankamin's treasures in the Museum of Cairo (Egypt)
• The mighty power of the Augrabie Falls (South Africa), Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) and Iguazu Falls (Argentina)
• The enormous blue gums in Shanon National Park (Australia)
• My first sight of Abu Simbel and The Pyramids (Egypt)
• The ceiling of The Sistine Chapel (Rome)
• The amazing Meteora monasteries, perched on the top of huge boulders (Greece)
• Seeing thousands of flamingos in Ngorongoro Crater (Africa)
• Watching hundreds of hummingbirds in Mindo, Ecuador
• Walking amongst a colony of half a million Megellanic Penguins at Puerto Tombo in Patagonia, Argentina
• Watching huge chunks of ice fall of the Morraine Glacier
• Exploring hallucinogenic salt deserts, spurting geysers and eerie lagoons around the Uyuni Salt pans (Bolivia)
• Sunrise over the sacred and mysterious city of Machu Picchu (Peru)
• Hundred of thousands of sea birds (including beautiful Inca terns) at the Ballestas Islands (Ecuador)
• Photographing Horses in the Mist in Ecuador
• Snorkeling with penguins, sharks, turtles and rays and getting close and personal with tortoises and marine iguanas in the surreal islands of Galapagos
• The awe inspiring stars on The Orange River (Namibia)
• Richard Attenboroughs´s documentaries, especially "Blue Planet" and "Life of Birds."
• Seeing millions of Soldier Crabs on a beach in Newcastle (Australia)

Beauty

• The blue haze of the Blue Mountains outside Sydney
• The view from a Roman fort, looking down onto the emerald waters of Olympus (Turkey)
• Sunset over the rocks in Wadi Rum desert in Jordan.
• Exploring the stunning Taj Mahal (India) at sunrise
• Snorkeling in Lake Malawi and watching beautiful tropical fish (Africa)
• The undulating hills and tropical forests of Umfolozi, Mkuzi, Hluhluwe game reserves (South Africa)
• Photographing Cambridge colleges at dusk (UK)
• Hiking the stunning Vicos Gorge in Greece
• Hiking the stark and scenic Fish River Canyon (Namibia)
• Walking through the lush Tsitsikama forest (South Africa)
• Exploring the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam after a joint (Holland)
• The beauty of the Lake District (UK)
• The perfect blue colour of the sea in Turkey
• The tempestuous, wild coastline of Storm's River
• The view of Table Mountain from Blouberg Beach
• The stormy Isle of Skye (Scotland)
• The beautiful views from the Island of Capri (Italy)
• The petrified forest in the Namib desert and its beautiful sand dunes
• The extraordinary colour of the Morraine Lake (Canada)
• Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness (Scotland)
• The multi coloured buildings of Burano Island  inVenice
• The redness of the rock as the sun rose over Hanging Rock in The Blue Mountains (Australia)
• Photographing the changing mood of the Fitzroy Mountains and the breathtaking sight of Laguna Tres and Laguna Torres
• Viewing Sydney's harbour and sights from the air from a helicopter
• Watching the first ray of sun hit the Torres pillars in Torres del Paine (Chile)
• Exploring the vast swamps of the Brazilain Pantanol (Brazil)
• Snorkeling in crystal clear rivers and caving in Bonito (Brazil)
• Hiking along the ancient road of the Incas on the Inca trail (Peru)
• Exploring the flooded forests of the Cuyabeno Jungle (Ecuador)
• The moon setting over The 12 Apostles (Australia)
• Beethoven's Ode To Joy
• The redness of Uluru at sunrise

Peace

• Rowing on the beautiful, aqua blue Pokhara Lake (Nepal)
• Gazing at the stars from Palmiet beach (South Africa) at night
• Watching puffins from the Cliffs of Moher (Ireland)
• Watching the sun set over the Mediteranean from the walls of an ancient castle at Kizkalesi (Turkey)
• Floating on my back at night in the Citrusdahl hot baths (South Africa) looking up at the stars
• Putting a message into the Wailing Wall and meditating in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (Israel)
• Climbing to the top of the The Monastery (Petra, Jordan) and looking out into the desert
• Meditating by a little lake in Muktinath, high in the Himalaya mountains (Nepal)
• Meditating on a mountain overlooking Butterfly Valley (Turkey)
• Watching swifts swirling through the sunset at Monsoon Palace (Uidaipur, India)
• Sleeping out in the desert dunes in Rajistan (India)
• Sitting on a log, looking out into a blue lake in Chitwan National Park (Nepal)
• Watching the sun rise and the moon setting at the same time from Masada mountain (Israel)
• Watching the sunset at the Temple of Psoedian (Greece)
• A secluded white beach on the Otter Trail (Garden route, South Africa)
• Floating through the riverlets of the Okovango Delta on a Makura and listening to the cry of the fish eagle (Botswana)
• Three weeks alone communing with nature in The Kruger National Park.

Contentment

• Long, lazy days at Buckaneers BackPackers (South Africa)
• Contemplating life from the walls of the Jaisselmer fort (India)
• Cuddling Ally in a river in Franschhoek (South Africa) during our honeymoon
• Lazily watching the Nile float by from a felucca (Egypt)
• Playing volleyball on Clifton beach after work and then watching the sunset
• A romantic holiday in the tropical paradise of Paradise Island (Mozambique)
• Making love in a secluded island castle (Ireland)
• Lazing on the beaches in Zanzibar (Tanzania)
• Soul enriching time with Ally in Barbados
• Lazing on the beach on Paradise Island
• Lazy weekend life in Cambridge, punting and cycling and picnicking with Ally. 

Excitement

• See a wild platypus for the first time in North Queensland (Australia)
• The excitement of Gran and Gramps moving to South Africa
• Seeing the Big 5 (lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo, Rhino) in the Serengetti Game Reserve (Kenya)
• Seeing a Pels Fishing owl at Ndumu reserve (South Africa)
• Exploring an isolated forest in Zululand in search of elusive bird species (South Africa)
• Seeing my first Laughing Kookaburra (Australia)
• Seeing my first Toucan (Brazil)
• Seeing my first Lammergeier (Nepal)
• Seeing my first African Finfoot at Nature's Valley (Garden route)
• Seeing a Green Coucal in Mkuzi (South Africa)
• Getting close to the Black Eagles on Devil's Peak
• Bush babies in the Kruger
• Seeing my first wild bear in Banff (Canada)
• The start of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the last Ark
• Sydney's amazing New Year's Eve fireworks
• My first sight of the Sydney Opera House (Sydney)
• My first date with Ally - a picnic in Kirstenbosch
• See many new birds in Mindo, Provincial Esteros del Iberia and Chitwan
• Winning four medals in School athletics
• Winning the acting prize at School
• My first Koala in the wild
• Seeing my 1000th bird species  in the wild
• Seeing lots of albatrosses up close on a boat trip outside Sydney
• Seeing the 250th movie on the IMDB Top 250 list

Joy and exhilaration

• Exhilerating leaps into the sky
• The views from the top of Mount Olympus (Greece) after a 3 day hike
• Rollerblading an endless downhill stretch with Keira at Stanley Park (Canada)
• South Africa winning the rugby world cup in 1994 (and 2007! )
• Paddle skiing down waves at Muizenberg (South Africa) and Manly (Australia).
• Doing the Cobra Rollercoaster ride 6 times in a row to get the perfect shot
• The Friday Night rollerblading skate in London
• Sandboarding at the desert oasis of Huacachina (Ecuador)
• Skinny dipping in icy cold mountain pools
• Playing paintball and breaking the record for the most paintballs fired (South Africa)
• My whole experience as a tour leader in The Middle East

Breathless Adventure

• Battling scorpions in the desert in Botswana
• Swimming out to an island in Kizkalesi (Turkey) and exploring its ruins
• Climbing to the Telicho Lake, the highest lake in the world at 6700 metres in the Himalayas (Nepal)
• Paraglinding over the lagoon of Oludinez (Turkey)
• Jumping from high cliffs on a day boat trip in Oludinez (Turkey)
• A very high leap from a cliff in Parati (Brazil)
• Zip lining between giant trees at Whistler (Canada)
• White river rafting grade 5 rapids on the Zambezi River (Zimbabwe)
• Quad biking on the dunes of Swakopmund (Namibia)
• Jumping off a 3rd story balcony in Luxor (Egypt) into the pool (to impress my tour group)
• Hiking Suicide Gorge in South Africa with mighty leaps into the river
• Climbing a live volcano in Pucon, watching lava spew, and then sliding down the mountain on our bums
• Whiteriver rafting grade 5 rapids on the Zambezi River
• Hurtling down the worlds most dangerous road on mountain bikes and then chilling out in Coroico (Bolivia)
• Exploring an abandoned shale mine in Glen Davis, braving snakes, and feeling like Indianna Jones
• Ice climbing and hiking on The Grey Glacier (Chile)
• A very close shave with a bull elephant in The Kruger National Park

Rapture

• Thick shakes at Dahab (Egypt)
• Granny Station´s chicken roast dinners as a kid
• Gran's trifle and lumpy custard
• Lunch at the beautiful Lake Palace in Udaipur (India)
• Reading Lord of the Rings on the Annapurna Circuit (Nepal) and watching the movies
• Mum's chocolate mousse and crème caramel
• San Marco Italian ice cream as a kid
• Mum's Xmas pudding and brandy butter 
• Reading Jack Reacher novels
• Reading Enid Blyton stories as a kid
• Reading The Hobbit as a kid
• Watching my first James Bond movie as a kid
• Watching Mattias Klum, nature photographer extraordinaire present his work at The Sydney Opera House

Fascination

• The extensive ruins of Pompeii (Naples)
• Reading "A Short History of Everything" (Bill Bryson)
• The endless underground Catacombs (Rome)

Fun and laughter

• Frolicking in the mud in Parati (Brazil)
• Mud fights in the nude at Saklikent Gorge as a tourleader (Turkey)
• Somersaulting down sand dunes on the Nile (Egypt)
• Listening to Gramps tell his funny stories
• Dancing spontaneously to "What the world needs now is love, sweet love." with Russel and Roger at Bain´s Kloof (South Africa)
• Doing the speech at Jo and Antony's wedding
• Prancing on stage as Pharaoh in the musical of Joseph and his Technicolored Dream Coat at school
• Fun times with zany, wonderful Russell
• Tight leopard skin trousers and a mullet at an 80's party
• Riding an ostrich in Oudtshoorn
• Having as cool down under the world's highest shower
• Practising dancing with Jo as a teenager
• Playing silly devils with friends at The Uyuni Salt Pans (Bolivia)
• Being a naughty Santa at the Hardcore Hiking Club Xmas party
• Hanging out in the nude in Croatia
• Taking a mouthfull of shampoo thinking it was fruit juice

Surprise

• The ending of The Usual Suspects, Sixth Sense, The Others and Fight Club

Related

• Priceless moments

Camping as a child

Memories don't come better than our annual "boys only" camping trips to Uilenskraal just outside Hermanus.  Grandpa, Dad and I would drive out there in Dad's orange variant.  We always camped in exactly the same spot under an old tree.  We'd always erect two tents - a big orange one for dad and Grandpa to sleep in with large wooden pegs that would require a heavy rubber hammer to drive into the ground.  My tent was considerably smaller and easier to erect.

After the tents where up, we'd set up the old camp table and chairs.  The we'd go for a walk along the beautiful lagoon.  At night, dad and I would often go for a stroll in the adjacent camp site were there were hundreds of dilapidated caravans.  It was quite spooky at night but I always felt perfectly safe because I was with dad and it was at times like this that I'd feel such love for him that my eyes would literally well up.  Then on the way home, we'd stop off at the little camp shop and get mint chocolates.

Breakfasts were always a veritable feast.  All three of us were big eaters and we'd create a huge fry up using an ancient iron frying pan - egg and lots of bacon and banana and bread and tomatoes and more would all go into the pan and the gorgeous smell would create much anticipation for what was to come.

Mum found a pile of old letters that I wrote to Gran and Gramps when I was a child.  Amongst them is a drawing (see photo below) of all the elements I've mentioned - the old tree, the Variant, the orange tent, my small tent and the camp table.  This drawing is now a treasured possession.  I feel so thankful to Gran and Gramps for keeping it.

I have two particularly vivid memories from our camping trips.  The first was when a large black snake slithered across the grass close to the tents.  I was absolutely terrified and gramps, in a protective instinct, gave it a mighty wack on the head with a large stick.  It turned out in the end that it was a non poisonous mole snake.  When it was dead, I was able to hold it and I was absolutely fascinated by the way its scaly skin felt.

The second was my first ever fishing experience.  Dad patiently showed me how to create fishing knots and tie on hooks and sinkers.  Then he taught me how to cast and I practised over and over again on a long section of grass by the tents.  Finally it was time to try the real thing.  I was so excited.  We pumped prawns on a large mudflat close to the camp site - dad always maintained that live prawns made the best bait.  Then we went down to the lagoon mouth and dad taught me the grissly knack of threading the hook through the wriggling prawn.  I cast in and as if ordained, caught a feisty steenbras within 10 minutes!!  Talk about beginner's luck.  Excitement doesn't adequately describe how I felt.

Unfortunately it's been downhill since then.  I'm been fishing many times since then but I'm usually the last to catch a fish or the fish I do catch are laughingly tiny.  But nothing can take away the thrill of catching that first fish.

Gratitude (Childhood years: 1970 - 1980)

My family

• Having Jo in my life
• Having parents who loved us
• Having Gramps in my life to show me what extroversion and effusively expressing love felt like.
• My beautiful relationship with all my Grandparents
• Amazing food (mum, Granny and Gran all made delicious food)
• The joy of Xmas and Mum's generosity

Other beings

• The Cullys in our lives
• Having dogs in our lives (starting my life-long love of animals)

Our home

• The pool
• Our large garden
• Home in a peaceful, safe area
• The park down the road
• The Rondebosch field for walks

Life style

• Growing up in the sunshine of Cape Town with the beaches and mountain
• Our family holidays, especially Eight Bells

School

• Monte vista (to build my confidence), then St Georges (a wonderful, private school with small classes)

Priceless moments

We do not remember days, we remember moments.  Cesare Pavese 

Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments. Rose Kennedy

Childhood

• Stamp collecting
• Family Xmas
• New school term
• Ceres holiday  

Travel

• Fitzroy
• Torres
• Udaipur
• Nepal
• Galapagos
• Tourleading
• Uyuni in Bolivia
• Iguasu Falls, Victoria Falls
• Diving in Dahab (canyon & blue hole)
• Great Ocean Road
• Three Sisters, Hanging Rock
• Cliffs of Moher
• Table Mountain
• Namib dunes & trees
• Lake District
• Northern Queensland
• Iberia, Mindo, Pantanol
• Amazon
• Inca Trail and Macchu Picchu
• Dangerous Road
• Tasmania
• Perth to Melbourne to Sydney to Brisbane

Tourleading 

• Felucca
• Mud at Saklikent gorge
• Shona, Niki
• Writing e-mail to Gramps
• Oloudinez boat day

Manmade

• The Opera House
• Taj Mahal
• Petra, Abu Simbel, Pyramids
• Sydney skyline
• Tomb of Queen Nefertiti
• Tutankamin's treasures
• Meteora monasteries
• New computer
• New computer in London
• iPhone 4, iPhone 6
• New Macbook Pro (x2)
• Big screen
• Music mini-disk player
• Sony speakers

Spiritual

• Istanbul bath-house
• Swifts in India
• Balcony Awakening
• The presence of Love, especially to music
• The peace from meditation
• Being and mindfulness
• Spiritual insights - who I really am and my purpose

Home life

• Cambridge and Volvo life
• Home renovating
• Savouring my balcony
• The Botanica
• Walking with Mack
• Week in Manly
• Moving into Blues Point Road

Compass

• Reflecting
• Creating lasting transformation
• Compiling and synthesising
• Minimalism
• Getting things done, productivity
• Making a real difference to my life
• Evernote

Love & Connection

• Aimee discussions
• Yogi discussions
• Watching Mack walk

Passions

• Wisdom Trove
• Hiking
• Photography
• Editing photos and blogging
• The peace from meditation
• Walking with Mack
• Being and mindfulness
• Mack
• Mindmapping
• Tennis
• Editing photos and blogging
• Movies
• Tennis

Birding

• Rietvlei
• Rondevlei
• Bird park in India
• Chitwan National Park
• Pels ow
• African Fish Eagle
• Amazon parrots
• Malachite kingfisher (mating!)
• Condors
• Bearded vultures in Nepal
• Finfoot & kingfisher (Nature's Valley)
• Hummingbirds in Mindo
• Half a million Megellanic Penguins
• Green Coucal, Mkuzi
• Narina Trogan
• Toucan
• Fishing Eagle
• Ground woodpecker
• African Rail
• Finfoot
• Half collared kingfisher

Nature

• Storm's River waves
• Nature's Valley
• Okovango, Chobe, Kruger, Ndumu, Umfolozi, Etosha
• Tsitsikama Forest
• Baobabs, Shannon Park blue gums
• Stars on The Orange River

 Wildlife

• Leopard in Kruger
• Snorkeling with dolphins
• Wild dolphins and a whale at Llandadno
• Sea birds (including beautiful Inca terns) at the Ballestas Islands
• Horses in the mist
• David Attenborough nature DVD's
• Millions of Soldier Crabs

Creating

• Pompeii and Dido projects
• Wisdom Trove
• Reflections
• My Compass (Paradise Island, South America, Waverton)
• Volvo site + strategy documents + Denmark SPM map
• Excel spreadsheet of memories
• Blog (current, old memories, highlights) - Cambridge, South America
• PSION quotes
• New rep report
• Siegelgale strategy docs
• Computer program (game)
• Ally board presentation
• UCT mindmaps
• Teaching (twists, business, white board, CELTA lessons)
• Teaching scanned lessons
• Gramps eulogy + Jo's wedding speech
• Teacher's Wiki + class blog
• Fabricmatcher brainstorming + spec

Books & Movies 

• Gladiator
• Schindler's List
• James Bond
• Indiana Jones
• Lord of the Rings
• Game of Thrones
• Wilbur Smith
• The Hobbit
• Enid Blyton
• 39 Steps
• Sixth Sense
• The Notebook

Ally

• Ally
• New Year's eve with Ally
• Kirstenbosch picnic with Ally
• Franschoek river (honeymoon)
• Lake Palace
• Celine Dion
• Irish Castle nookie
• Lcked

Big releases 

• Spiritual releases
• Many times (2013) - spiritual wonder and also sadness
• Jo's card on my 40th
• Schindler's List
• Dances with Wolves
• Awakenings
• Dad in hotel room with Ally
• Jenny Mallet at funeral

Photography

• Antarctica & The Arctic
• Kruger
• Fitzroy, Kruger, Galapagos
• Camera club presentation
• Slide presentation on The Arctic
• Photography South America
• Getting new lenses (300mm, 500mm, 100 - 500mm, 14 - 300)

Memories - Cambridge 

• Moving into apartment
• Cambridge living (river, reserve, botanic garden)
• Crepes and library
• Blog, photos
• Movies and IMDB
• Mindmapping
• W Australia
• Punting
• Diving in Egypt
• Blogging
• Tennis with Louis
• Rollerblade Stanley Park
• Prague
• Canada
• Colleges

Memories - London (Volvo) 

• Volvo.com project
• John Barleycorn ribs
• Sleeping in Duxford
• Train to Duxford with coffee on way
• Brazil
• Asheville
• Volvo caffeteria
• Volvo.com steering meetings (Bokenas , Rastaried )
• Training in Gothenberg, Smaka
• Excel memories
• Tennis with Louis
• Gym
• Croatia
• Prague

Memories - London 

• Barbados
• Nepal
• Africa trip   (white-water, Malawi lake)
• Rollerblading
• Les Miserables
• Touch rugby
• Mini player
• Les Miserables
• Touch rugby
• Mini player

Memories - 1997 travels 

• Greece   (Olympus and Vicos Gorge)
• Turkey (Olympos, Butterfly Valley, Oludinez, swim to island)
• Egypt (Blue Hole, Felluca)
• Petra
• India - especially Udaipur and lunch at Lake Palace
• Ireland
• UK
• Thailand
• Compass, mantra, spirituality

Memories - Old Mutual 

• Wedding - and Franschoek
• Paradise Island
• Meditation movement
• Paddle skiing
• Paintball, Lazerquest
• Buckaneers Backpackers and Otter Trail
• PSION - quotes (1996 travels), compass (Paradise Island), organising
• Tennis with Russell
• Fish River hike
• Hiking Club weekends
• Otter Trail with Rory
• New Rep Project
• Clifton that summer
• Volleyball on Clifton
• Willow Road braais
• 1994 World Cup rugby
• What the World Needs Now (Russell and Roger)
• UK and Italy trip

Life Trove

• Blogging in South America
• Cambridge photos (the river, the colleges and punts)

Others

• Caroline at Pink Palace
• Nicky in Instanbul
• Shona making move on me
• Shona in Luxor
• Penny & Sarah
• Lizzy courtship
• Dani, before The Opera House
• Dani roadtrip

Connection (Childhood years: 1970 - 1980)

Family and Friends

• Mum and dad
• Jo
• Gran and Gramps
• Granny and Grandpa
• The Rusconi's
• The Cully's
• My remedial teacher, Mrs Robinson

Pets

• Scamp
• Tinkerbell
• Tina
• Cindy
• Meg
• The hamsters
• The guineapigs

Toys

• Wicky
• Doggies
• Lone Ranger & Tonto

All I am grateful for

In a Nutshell

Spiritual

• Presence, Surrender, Spaciousness
• Spirituality, Self-realisation
• Meaning, Purpose, Vision
• Love, connection, wonder, beauty, sacredness, oneness

Abundance, Health, Freedom

• Abundance: Rental, dividends, RA, donations, gifts
• Health & Vitality
• Freedom (time, wealth)
• Energy (dex)

Love & Connection

• Family
• Friends (old friends, hiking, spirituality)
• Mack and Liza
• Ally in my life
• Dani, Lizzy, Shona, Nicky, Caroline
• Humour

Home

• House, balcony, plants, 3 rooms, partition
• Waverton, Sydney, Australia
• Cape Town, South Africa

Wisdom & Insight

• My job: a treasure hunt for truth
• Wisdom: Wisdom Trove, Life is God's movie
• Compass
• The Internet, Chat GPT, Macbook Pro, Evernote, Wordpress
• Reading

Wonder & Beauty

• Nature, wildness, wildlife, animals, birds, plants
• Hiking, camping, hiking friends
• Travel
• Photography, Canon R5, iPhone
• Life Trove, Wonder Trove

Pleasure

• Movies & documentaries
• Music
• Food

Grateful for

• Priceless Moments
• Priceless things

The ultimate dream lifestyle

• Far better than “About a Boy"
• Mobile life with gadgets (coffee shops, digital nomad)
• A treasure hunt for truth. Imagine how much great philosophers would give to do this!
• My business is the holy grail of quotations and wisdom
• Plenty of travel and photography, adding to my blog
• Great sense of purpose, building a legacy
• Time to devote to spiritual connection and purpose
• Free of corporate stress, time free
• No dependents
• My job a treasure hunt for truth and the possibility to make a dent in the universe (real difference)
• Immersing myself in genius

Most people

• Work under high pressure to deliver to high standards in little time
• To enrich others (mostly) or create legacies for others (if lucky)
• Commute 1 hour plus per day into work
• Work is often unmotivated
• Got mortgages to pay
• Worried about losing job

Living now in history

• Age of internet - wisdom accessible
• Age of oneness to wisdom (Eastern spirituality)
• We are living through the most exciting, challenging and most critical time in human history. 
• Never before has so much been possible; and never before has so much been at stake.  Peter Russell
• No world wars
• Good medical
• Technology revolution: digital age
• Still wild places, nature
• Movies
• Digital photography
• Unlimited movies and series to download - constantly replenished.

I'm not 

• I'm not in the midst of severe depression and despair 
• I'm not in the midst of severe anxiety and overwhelm 
• I'm not in constant emotional pain 
• I'm not in constant physical pain 
• I'm not desperately ill or have a desperately ill loved one 
• I'm not in acute grief, having lost or about to lose a child or loved one 
• I'm not having to worry if my money's going to last till the end of the month 
• I'm not wondering where my next meal's coming from - or for my loved ones 
• I'm not living in a slum or on the street 
• I don't have a life to look back on where I didn't experience anything or have no- one love me 
• I'm not trapped in a mindless, boring, repetitive job 
• I'm not stuck in a gruelling job that sucks up all my time and energy or requires a long commute 
• I'm not stuck with dependents who need or require me to constantly earn and support. 
• I'm not drowning in debt 
• I'm not stuck in a mindset that sees no meaning or purpose to life 
• I not without the use of my limbs, sight, hearing 
• I'm not addicted to alcohol or hard drugs 
• I'm not being horribly exploited by others 
• I'm not uneducated and illiterate 
• I'm not physically or mentally disabled 
• I'm not trapped in a loveless, abusive, unkind relationship 
• I didn't have an abusive, unkind upbringing 
• I'm not obese, short or physically unattractive. 
• I'm not living in the midst of war and violence 
• I'm not living in an opresssive country where I have no human rights 
• I don't live in a brutish, violent, oppressive time in history.  The Goldilocks era of internet and abundance. 

Momentous things

• Volvo
• Shirley: “Seven Principles of Spiritual Success”
• Rosemarie: “Conversations with God.”
• Nerium
• Jilly on Internet
• Cosgrove: Dex
• Chris advise for DIY
• Yogi with bipolar
• Sue Apple
• Entheos

Freedom

• I'm free to do what I want, go where I want, pursue my passions and purpose. 
• Freedom of money and time.
• Freedom to do what I love and be fully alive: create, hiking, nature, photography, tennis, movies, growth, spirituality, travel 

Safe from harm

• Nose at Silvermine
• DIY accidents
• Hawkesbury jump
• Mania suicide and foot stab. 
• Car step into
• Mack and car
• Mack’s leg in car, Mack crossing roads

House 

• Amazing house, maintained, with great balcony right on park that brings me income. 
• Proud of house again - ability to fix it up.
• My balcony, and all the plants
• Wonderful balcony, right on park, amazing area with beautiful walks
• Able to keep despite divorce
• Mum's generosity
• Rental income - extra room
• Increasing in value
• Did it up, no car needed, and $70K in the bank
• Didn’t put money in shares (huge crash)

Sydney and Waverton

• Botanica
• Yogi, Jilly, Chris, Aimee
• Ball’s Head, Berry Island
• Nightjars, possums 
• Brennan Park

Spirit 

• Meaning and purpose in my life
• No longer at mercy of thoughts
• The experience of self realisation, love, so deep, so vast, all there is. The lottery.
• Getting to witness the transformative power of love in my life as my love grows. 
• Ability to let go through yawning, feeling, crying, stretching. 
• The experience of Wonder.
• Music - and the ability to cry and feel love.
• Revelations
• Awakening to Consciousness and the growing peace of Being and Letting Go (revelation, creativity, love, joy, inspiration) 
• Eckhart Tolle, Nic, Geraldine, Mooji
• My enlightened experience
• My awakening spirituality - realising Who I Am and my Completeness 
• Increasingly opening as a space for consciousness. 
• Learned to create inner calmness (meditation, yawning, crying, stretching) 
• Music - an expression of divine essence.  So, so beautiful. 
• Getting in touch with my emotions and allowing them to release and flow 
• The power of reflection, The Work
• Deep, deep priceless spiritual experiences that give me faith the power of Essence is real. 
• Trust and surrender to Life 
• My wonder in nature and the universe 
• Mindfulness and Eckhart Tolle 
• My pain - and the awakening it has brought 
• Jilly coming into my life (bringing HAI, Geraldine, Eckhart, Nic) 
• The taste of "being awake" in action (telling mum & Jo and Sue I loved them, calmness over Xmas, stillness on drives and walking) 
• Alexander technique at a young age - calmness, letting go, going with the journey, grasping 
• Spiritual mania and the movie experience
• Bliss and heart orgasm

Compass

• Mood charts
• Life in summary
• Progress
• Evernote
• How has helped Wisdom Trove

Transformation

• My potential to grow, evolve, transcend.  I'm on an adventure of transformation and evolution, only just tipped surface. 
• How I've grown in love.

My skills

• Awareness
• Synthesis
• Wordpress
• Writing
• IT
• Personal development
• Photography
• Revelations re life and existence
• Life wisdom

Wisdom Trove 

• Wisdom Trove - enjoyment, learning, potential for abundance, work from wherever, make family proud.
• The joy of it and all I've learned 
• The Ultimate Experience
• An idea for a business that has countless hours invested and something I love. 
• Joy of synthesis and quotes 
• Time and freedom to work on it
• What makes it possible: computer, internet, mindmanager, wisdom, people who share it, my passion, my synthesis ability, Dex, income
• The time I've had to collect wisdom, reflect on it, practice it - priceless gift. 
• The skeletons of it were not stolen with my computer 
• If you'd told me re this when I was 22, I'd have been ecstatic. 
• Yes, I spend lots of time on it - but no more than if I was working for someone. It's time I love, no commute, life lessons galore. 
• The best is yet to come - the distilling. 

Love and social

• Connecting with people, exploring, laughing, sharing. 
• The wonderful fellow beings in my life.
• I have a loving and generous family 
• Meet Up and hiking - and the social life it opens up. 
• Relationship with wonderful Jo
• Jo, Mum, Mike, Matt, Sam, Antony
• Jilly, Sue, Brendan, Russell, Andreas, Srini
• Mack with Liza 
• Grandparents 
• Ally in my life:  17 years of a loving partner 
• My family sections on blog - help me to love and remember loved ones. 
• Letters to loved ones 
• Generosity of mum 

Appearance 

• Being tall and happy with way I look 
• Teeth capped by dentist. 
• Still got hair and look ok without. 
• Physique

Passions 

• Wisdom Trove 
• Nature, walking 
• Spirituality, growth 
• Reading 
• Photography  
• Joy of movies 
• Mindmapping 
• Blogging. 
• Tennis

Life Trove

• A full life lived and recorded despite pain
• My blog - sense of purpose for many years. 
• My blog did not lose its photos. 

My abundance 

• I have a great house - close to city, beautiful area, rentable, allows dogs, next to park -  that generates an income 
• Money lasting with good income 
• My health 
• I live in a top 3 city and my family does too 
• Powerful strengths and skills (passion, synthesis, writing, presenting, html, Internet, focus) 
• Some money when I retire 
• Generosity of mum (house, furniture, DIY, Cape Town trips)
• Jo's wealth R15 mil.  I've caught up! 
• Moved money to Australia to earn income 
• Inheritance from Grandpa 
• Top 5% of wealthiest nation on earth 
• Abundance of time 

Financial 

• My financial abundance. Top 5% wealthiest of richest nation on earth. No dependents, house paid for, rent, dividend income. Freedom. 
• Bank balance healthy 
• $ 1000 + per month dividends
• Mum's amazing generosity
• Got through Ally finances and tax issue in tact 
• The investments I sold for Ally were at a good level 
• House and e-trade in Australia before $ Aud powered ahead
• I moved money to Australia at 72 cents  
• I moved money to Australia to earn income - it changed my life 
• Consider Yogi, Chris, Nerium
• I didn't get a mortgage and put money in stockmarket
• Some car accidents closely averted (Porsche, lane swap, hold back) 
• RA (60K) plus mum’s loans

Rich past experiences 

• Lived a life rich in experiences (travel and living in different places) 
• Lived a full life despite depression - many experiences 
• Volvo and Cambridge, tourleading, Nepal, 1997, South America 
• I have experienced hell and survived every time! And lived a very full life in beween. Just look at the blog. 
• A for Celta & Matric 
• Ally came into my life and enticed me overseas 
• Finances pushed me overseas and tourleading 

When I needed it most 

• Volvo 
• Tour leading job  
• Pill 
• Liza coming into Mack's life 
• Teaching got me going again 
• Meeting Ally 
• Meet Up 
• Jilly 
• Brian Johnson Entheos 
• Mindmanager 
• Conversations with God 
• Seven Laws of Spiritual Success 

Health 

• I'm healthy, my body gives me freedom to do what I want. 
• Physical health has been so good. 
• No arthritis. 
• Wrist been fine. 
• My shoulder is fine - even for tennis 
• My wrist ok with tennis. 
• Shimmering sight - I thought I was going blind! 
• No cancer in family 
• Feet not effecting me

Dex

• Coming when I needed it. 
• Life without double pill is fine 
• Spreading pill over day made all difference in the world 
• Life without double pill absolutely fine when relaxed (holiday) 

Possessions

• Macbook Pro,  iPhone,  iPad pro
• Speakers
• Headphones
• House
• Kindle 
• GPS 
• i-Phone lost in rain, new iPhone, Mac
• Sue getting Mac
• Camera and lenses

Thank goodness 

• Discovered re divorce financial when strong. 
• Financials with Ally went ok, and she got what she thought was fair - and I feel all right about it. 
• Wisdom Trove wasn't stolen - or my photos (backup and not taken) 
• No pregancies (Ally, Niki, Dani) 
• I did not write ugly on class register 
• Shoplifting - got away with it!! 
• Discovered my memory card was corrupt before Kruger 
• Mack not shut in car door or run over 
• I didn't hit rock in Hawkesbury leap 
• I didn't get run over. 
• Dani has period 5 days late!!!  Oh my God, so glad I didn't know.  Thank you. 

Pain 

• Pain, when it comes, only seems to last for day or two.
• I'm not in the midst of intense suffering like I have been. 
• My pain - lead me to essence, being, awakening, amazing insights to my egoic conditioning 
• The release of crying - being able to cry at last. 
• My agitation is a huge blessing.  It's forcing me to practice calmness and letting go. 
• The opportunity to observe myself in pain and learn 

Sex 

• Has been good for most of my adult life including prime years. 
• Didn't get anyone pregnant. 
• Nothing physically wrong. 
• Dani didn't break up early on. 
• Dani and I ended on a relative high.  
• Xanax, hold base. 
• Testosterone high

Daily Gratitude Prayer

Thank you, Life, for the experience of life on this wondrous, beautiful, challenging, adventurous planet for brave souls in this infinite dimension amongst countless other dimensions. 

Thank you for the chance to love and connect, celebrate and savour, evolve in consciousness and grow in love and wisdom.

Thank you I'm not separate from you, Divine Consciousness or anyone else.

• You I Am having a human experience. You I Am imagining Yourself to be this character called Graeme and all other beings.
• An unlimited, infinite Mind I Am, able to imagine anything I wish.  I've won the lottery.  We all have. Right now, I'm choosing to experience exactly this.
• All is arising from your infinite Being and imagination.  All exists in the realm of your Infinite Mind.  All is  infinite creative potential being made actual.
• Knowing all this, I expand my sense of Self to include everyone and everything. I am the collective experience of all beings. I bask in unconditional love.

Thank you life is a movie, scripted by You, directed by You and experienced by You through each and every being.

• What an epic work of art. Each frame is a cinematic masterpiece.
• Thank you for polarity and duality and the transcending of limits.  This makes the movie vastly more profound, engaging, interesting and beautiful.
• Thank you that the movie is in the can, all unfolding perfectly. Thank you I can sit back in the seat of awareness and enjoy the passing show, allowing universal intelligence to run the show.
• Thank you I can share this wisdom and truth and blow other minds like mine has been blown.
• Thank you no experience is lost. All is retained in the Divine Mind in the timeless now.

Thank you for the grace and blessings that flow through this experience of life. 

• Well-being & Flourishing
• Health & Vitality
• Abundance & Financial Freedom
• Love & Connection
• Compassion & Kindness
• Wisdom & Insight
• Inspiration & Creativity
• Wonder & Beauty
• Sacredness & Oneness
• Gratitude & Appreciation
• Celebration & Savouring
• Freedom & Free Time
• Exploration & Travel
• Energy & Enthusuasm
• Meaning & Purpose
• Curiosity & Discovery 
• Laughter & Fun
• Stillness & Peace
• Joy & Delight
• Balance & Variety
• Challenge & Transcendence
• Discomfort and the deepening and opening it brings

Thank you for the freedom to do what I love and be fully alive.

• To focus on passion projects.
• To leave a legacy for the good of The All.
• Thank you there is no need to go into the office today or to answer to a boss.

Thank you for the beautiful beings in my life and the chance to - love & connect  - be kind, compassionate and understanding - be supportive & encouraging  - share experiences, inspiration, wisdom, laughter and fun  be vulnerable, intimate and real.

• Family: Mum, Mike, Jo, Anthony, Matt, Sam, Mack
• Old friends:  Russell, Julian, Ivor, Rory, Tony
• Hiking friends:  Gavin, Srini, Rajesh, Michal, Ashesh, Anusha, the hiking gang
• Spiritual friends:  Jilly, Tina, Chris, Xenia, Sushann, Aimee, Sharon, Yogi
• Teachers:  Geraldine, Nick, Covey, Deepak, Kehoe, Neale, Eckhart, Mooji, Tim Freke, Rupert
• Sue, Michael
• Past relationships: Ally, Dani, Lizzy, Shona, Nicky, Caroline.

Thank you for my beautiful home

• My room, balcony, plants
• My housemates, the levels and rooms, the partitian
• Park and neighbourhood
• The rental income I get

Thank you for Wisdom Trove and "Life is a Movie"

• My day-job is a treasure hunt for truth, following in the trails of the great sages and seers in accordance with my nature:  An investigator.
• The ways Wisdom Trove has enriched my life through compass and Life is God's Movie.
• Wisdom is something I get to take with me.
• The talents, qualities and experiences of this form that make it so suited: investigator, collector, in order lover, wisdom and quote lover, mystic and spiritual finder, software user, internet skills, marketing, writer (headings, bullets, prose), obsession, addiction (dex)
• The ways Wisdom Trove and Life is a Movie will benefit The All according to your plan.
• Wisdom Trove and "Life is a Movie" is unfolding exactly as it is meant to, at pace meant to. The perfect quote at the perfect time. I have the rest of my life. 
• I would want to do this, even if I wasn't writing a book or a making a site. It's impact on my freedom and transcendence has been indescribably amazing. My mind has been focused on the greatest ideas ever thought.
• The sages, seers and mystics past and present.
• The quote collectors and the site builders.
• The Internet
• Macbook Pro
• Chat GPT, Evernote, Docs, Sheets, Mindmanager
• Wordpress, Plugins (search, content views, edit replace, Formiddable Forms)
• I'm dialled to where I'm meant to be dialled for the creative process to be what it is.

Thank you for wonder, beauty & sacredness and my ability to sense it, celebrate it, capture it, share it.

• Nature, wildlife, animals, birds, insects, trees, plants.
• The world's wild places: continents, oceans, forrests, jungle, mountain, cliffs, lakes, rivers, deserts, canyons, islands, beaches.
• Travel and exploring.
• Photography and cameras (Canon, intelligent autofocus, iPhone).
• Life Trove and  Wonder Trove as well as Blogger.
• Sharing sacredness of life, inspiring a full life.

Thank you for

• Movies
• Music
• Food
• Sleep, Rest, Dreams

Thank you for Presence, for awareness and the awareness of being aware.

• Presence I am, resting knowingly in awareness, as awareness, attention flowing free.
• Thank you that the awareness I am exists in a timeless, dimensionless cinema and cannot be threatened, harmed, diminished or stained. The end of the character is not the end of me.
• Thank you for experience.  For a body to experience through. For seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching & feeling, sensing, thinking, imagining, dreaming and having emotions.
• Thank you that all I desire lies in awareness. Lies by resting in the gap.  Love, Wisdom, Insight, Inspiration, Creativity, Wonder, Sacredness, Oneness, Aliveness, Peace, Joy.
• Thank you I can sit back in the seat of Awareness, as Awareness, and savour the passing show.
• Thank you for This. All that exists here in this priceless moment of now which is all there truly is. Thank you this sensory feast to enjoy. I savour it as if I will lose all my senses tomorrow.

Thank you for Surrender

• Through resting deeply in Presence, I realise the truth of divine benevolence, intelligence, order and perfection.
• All is in the can. All is taken care of. All is unfolding excactly as it is meant to, at the pace it is meant to. 
• I am exactly as I am meant to be. I am dialled to where I am meant to be. Everyone is as they are meant to be.
• I trust in divine benevolence. I surrender to Life's unfolding. I surrender to what is. I allow.
• I surrender all sense of agency and allow universal intelligence to run the show. 
• There is nothing to do, nothing to think, nothing to choose. Doing, thinking, choosing happen while I rest deeply in awareness and watch it all unfold.

Thank you for Spaciousness

• Resting in the open, welcoming, accepting awareness I am, I close not. I resist not.
• Effortless in mind and body, I nurture an inmost calm in all I do.
• I flow with the journey, letting it unfold with time.
• I act where I choose, then allow all to flow.
• Relaxed and centred, letting nothing faze me.
• Rush not, I take my time. Strive not, I let it happen.  Grasp not, I let go.
• I live a relaxed stroll, drinking in all the beautify and fun around me.
• Supported below, each movement is a chance to release.
• I breathe. I relax. I loosen. I let go. I go with the flow. 
• I lighten up and enjoy. It's only a movie. Only a dream. A temporary experience I am having among countless other experiences and I will never cease to be.

Thank you I can sink into the empty, formless Awareness I am and become a calm, loving, open space for the Consciousness I Am to flow into the world as love, wisdom, creativity, inspiration, wonder, beauty, peace and joy.

• A space to be more and more unlimited, boundless, expanded and free.
• A space to Be
• A space
• I Am , I Am, I Am
• I recognise even the I Am is a subtle object in the Awareness I am.
• The I Am dissolves and the experiencer and experience become one and all experiencers become one.
• There is nothing but Allness Being.
• Allness Being & Imagining / Dreaming.
• This is a state that cannot be described in words.
• It is the holiest of all holies.
• Welcome to true freedom.
• How wondrous it all is.
• How I love it all.

Challenges (Childhood years: 1970 - 1980)

Traumatic memories

• Mrs Mac, the swimming teacher. "You'll be here till the lights shine tonight."
• The silkworm incident

Mum and dad highly strung at times

• Mum and dad often uptight. "It's not ok. You need to worry."
• Sometimes fantasised I was adopted.
• Terror of Sunday mornings and mum's tirades - usually anger I hadn't put washing out or my room being messy.
• Dad could be a bit negative yet quiet, and sometimes I felt judged.
• Being smacked (the only time) by dad for something I was completely innocent of.

Fearful and obsessive thoughts

• Fear of hell. The concept was introduced at Sunday school I think. The whole idea traumatised me. So did the concept of the devil and evil.
• Hell thoughts re Granny and Grandpa. The first signs of obsessive compulsive thoughts.
• I went through a time of praying incessantly, feeling very connected to God. Then I watched a movie called "The Dark Crystal" and it filled my mind with dark, "evil" images while praying. I couldn't control it, and felt bad, so I stopped praying.  I felt like I had lost something precious.  I also felt like my mind was against me, that it wanted to sabotage me, and it made me anxious. The fear of my mind as a malevolent saboteur would torment me for decades and only ceased when I befriended and mastered the mind in my 40's.