It’s my 59th birthday this week, so I figured that called for 59 things about me...
Here goes… gulp!
1. I was born in Sydney (the eldest of four children) and have spent most of my adult life there, but as a child, we moved around regional NSW, relocating every few years. When I finished uni, I moved to Canberra, which is where I met my husband. For the past nine years, we’ve lived on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. For ten months of the year, it’s the best place to be, but in February and March, the weather is feral.
I’ve never lived there, but I’ve always felt as though my roots are buried deep in Tumbarumba, where my father’s family comes from. When I’m there, it feels like home.
2. Although I’m the fourth generation (on both sides of my family) to have been born in Australia, according to Ancestry, my origins are mostly British. In case you’re interested (which you’re probably not), the breakdown is 45% from Central Scotland and Northern Ireland. Other than that, 20% is from Wales, 15% from the North-eastern and East Midlands of England, 10% from Cornwall, 5% from Northwestern Europe, and 5% from Norway, which presumably dates back to the Vikings.
3. My husband and I have been together for 37 years and married for nearly 32. He’s still my favourite person to travel life with. We met at work and were friends before we began dating. Once we did, we had to keep our relationship secret for six months until I was transferred to a different office.
4. We have one daughter – she’s almost 28 and a paediatric occupational therapist. She lives on the Sunny Coast, not far from us.
5. We lost our beloved cocker spaniel almost two years ago and I’m lost without a dog.
6. The only sport I’ve ever been any good at has been swimming. When I’m in the water, I’m strong and in my element. On land, I feel clumsy and ungrounded. I can’t swim without getting my hair wet – I’m either all in or out – and I swim most days between September and March.
7. I have long, thick curly hair and get dreadlocks in the summer. I like my curls and hardly ever straighten my hair.
8. I need glasses for long-distance, but only wear them when I’m driving or watching TV – this means I spend most of my life in a blur, but I really don’t mind. I got reading glasses last year, but I only need them for reading real books in poor light.
9. I have a scar just above my left knee from where a cow stuck her horn into my leg. She ruined my favourite jeans. I have another across my palm from trying to cut a watermelon the day I went into labour with Sarah.
10. My ears are pierced, and I have one tattoo – a koru – on my hip. It was my 40th birthday present to myself. It’s the Kiwi symbol for growth, harmony, and new beginnings. I want a rose tattoo for my 60th.
11. The only bone I’ve broken is one in my back – in a fall from a horse when I was a teenager. I got straight back on and didn’t know it had been broken until an X-ray years later. I rode a lot and fell off a lot back then.
12. I have severe scoliosis – the kind that my chiropractor had only seen in textbooks before treating me. As I grow older, the pain is becoming more persistent. While I manage my back pain with plenty of walking, I’m at the age where I should be losing at least 30 kg to keep it mobile and relatively pain-free. For the useless book of knowledge, I’m also missing a couple of ribs.
13. As most painkillers either space me out or make me hurl (I can’t even take cold and flu medication), and I was too frightened to have an epidural (see note about crooked spine), I had a drug-free birth.
16. I hate wearing shoes in the house, but I have flip flops at the back door for the garden. Even though I’m short, I refuse to wear heels anymore. Not even for weddings.
17. I love the beach, but hate having sand on my feet afterwards.
18. I dislike shopping (especially in malls) and only buy clothes when things are really falling apart, or I have a special occasion and can’t get out of shopping.
19. I should wear makeup more often.
20. I swear too much.
21. Growing up, I wanted to be a writer. When I grow up, I want to be a full-time author. Oh wait, I’m currently writing my twentieth novel … does that mean I’ve grown up?
22. My (not so) secret ambition is to be an extra on Midsomer Murders. A dog walker in Badger’s Drift. If I were on Mastermind, my special subject would be Midsomer Murders: The Tom Barnaby years.
23. I have a degree from Sydney University in Economics, majoring in political science and agricultural economics.
24. My first job was in an ice cream shop.
25. My first real job was as a graduate trainee at a bank in Canberra. I lasted 12 years and met my husband there.
26. At 18, in 1985, I was a rugby league referee – apparently, the first woman to use her ticket for anything other than coaching. The old guard was not impressed, and my exam – where I had to sit in front of the referee’s board and answer questions – took 3 times as long as the men’s. They were trying to trip me up, which only made me more determined. These days women are accepted in the game. Back then? Yeah… nah…
27. I can’t stand “ists” or “isms”, am slow to judge and look for shades of grey as opposed to the black and white in most situations.
28. I can change my mind (or my focus) quicker than ... things that have very little focus. My attention is scattered to the wind. It’s why I write as quickly as I do. In any case, I’ve developed tools to help me deal with it.
29. Boundaries… what boundaries?
30. I’m a daydream believer and love nothing more than the possibility of possibility.
31. My glass is neither half full nor half empty – I’ve enjoyed what I’ve had, and now there’s room for more.
32. Politically, I’m pink, i.e., left of centre, and environmentally, I’m lime green – but love my air-conditioning too much to be completely green.
33. I’m ridiculously trusting and, when hurt, forgive easily – but if you hurt anyone I love, it’s a different story.
34. I struggle with the “not good enoughs” and constantly have a low-level hum of anxiety that I try to hide.
35. Spiritually, I’m spiritual.
36. I’m a much better starter than I am a finisher – finishing leaves a vacuum that requires a new project to fill. I can’t finish writing a novel until I have the characters for the next one (or two) active in my head.
37. The first album I bought was Bay City Rollers’ Once Upon A Star in 1975. I still have it. On vinyl, of course.
38. I truly believe there’s an ABBA song for all of life’s situations. I finally got to see them (as Abbatars) in London a few years ago. Best. Night. Ever.
39. I have a Top Ten Most Hated List of songs, which has more than ten songs on it. At the top of that list is Toto’s “Africa” and that ridiculous “Horse With No Name” (you think he would have named the poor creature). I have an even longer Top Ten Favourites list, of which Edith Piaf’s “La Vie En Rose” is consistently at the top. It could be my theme song.
40. The first concert I went to was Wham – it must have been 1984 or 1985. I remember Andrew Ridgley wearing this amazing long tartan coat on stage. Inspired, I made myself some tartan pants. They didn’t look as good on me as that coat did on Andrew Ridgley.
41. I’m a pop music tragic - the daggier the better - and firmly believe there’s a special place in your brain used purely for the storage of song lyrics. I also love classical music, indie folkie music, Celtic music, and the passion of opera.
42. Travel inspires my writing – and my cooking. When I am away, I write in my journal every day – they’re very dull journals.
43. My first overseas trip was to Singapore – I was 22. My first overseas trip with Grant was also to Singapore. In fact, I had my 25th birthday there (pic below).
44. I’ve travelled extensively in South-East Asia (for both work and play), have done a 21-day Trafalgar bus tour through Europe, a cruise of the South Pacific and the fjords of Norway, and road trips through the UK and France, but have only been to the US once – visiting New York in February 2010. It snowed.
45. If I had to live anywhere else in the world, it would be in New Zealand. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve visited Wellington and Queenstown.
46. I’ve done three long-distance hikes in NZ – two out of Queenstown: The Routeburn Track and The Milford Track. I also did the Queen Charlotte Track. The Cotswolds Way is still on my bucket list, but it would be a solo thing – Grant isn’t interested – and would require me to drop those 30 kgs of excess baggage.
47. My favourite Australian city is Melbourne, and the only Australian state (or territory) I haven’t travelled to is the Northern Territory. One day I’ll get there.
48. I’ve had some fabulous experiences, including hot air ballooning (Hunter Valley), zip-lining (Queenstown), jet-boating (NZ), paragliding (Penang), and snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. I saw the Northern Lights in Norway, have been in a helicopter in Queenstown and Mt Cook (NZ), and on a joy flight in an open-air vintage tiger moth (Sunny Coast). I’ve never jumped out of a plane and am not inclined to do so.
49. I don’t think I’m a very good driver. I used to be okay driving distances, but these days that low-level anxiety I mentioned earlier turns into a full-blown panic attack at the thought of driving on motorways. I am, however, an excellent passenger and co-pilot.
50. Baking relaxes me. There’s something about following the process and weighing and measuring that calms my mind when it’s jumping all over the place. To manage symptoms related to PCOS, I cut down on sugar nearly 20 years ago, so apart from scones and shortbread, I rarely eat my own baking. I don’t even enjoy birthday cake. However, I do like a square or two of dark, bitter chocolate. And occasionally, I have ice cream, but it has to be very good ice cream.
51. I believe that butter – and bacon – make everything better…
52. The first thing I ever learnt to cook was scones.
53. My favourite comfort food sandwich (and guilty pleasure) is Vegemite and (plastic-wrapped sliced) cheese on white bread with proper butter. It’s the only time I eat either processed cheese or white bread.
54. The dish that reminds me most of my childhood is my mother’s goulash, which is more like the American minced meat pasta goulash than a Hungarian goulash.
55. I prefer black tea to coffee, and I’m quite snobbish about my tea. I don’t drink soft drinks (or sodas), but I do love wine (possibly too much) – and whisky (Scotch, of course), which I prefer neat, that is, no ice, no mixer. Most gin gives me headaches. Oh, and I don’t do cocktails with fruit, cream, or umbrellas.
56. I’ve tried lots of different foods – some weird and some just eeeeuw. Like offal, that’s eeeeuw. Because my husband is Scottish, I’ve prepared haggis for him – what can I say? It was the early days. The weirdest thing I’ve eaten was deep-fried rice paddy eels in a market in Gianyar, Bali. The guide said they tasted like bacon. They didn’t.
57. My desert island dish would be Hainanese Chicken Rice. Mooloolaba prawns would be a close second. And dumplings. Especially xiao long bao.
58. Other than for my scones when I was 13 or 14 at the Bombala Show and swimming races at about the same age, I’ve never won anything, whether it be a contest of skill or chance. I’ve come second on a few occasions, but no one remembers that.
59. My mantras are:
How hard can it be? and
Imagine …
In Edinburgh March 2025
Love that you also have hated songs - mine include John Lennon's 'Imagine' and Paul McCartney 'Mull of Kintyre'.
I’m going to sit down and read this with a cup of tea! X