About Me

Thank you for visiting my humble little blog. I appreciate that you’ve taken some time out of your day to read some of my musings. I also appreciate your feedback and comments.

This blog is about my life in progress. It mainly discusses:

• Working full time in applied anthropology*/archaeology and with Aboriginal languages
  
• Books
• Language learning
• Creative fitness (I’m an exercise geek)
• Unconventional Travel
  

*What’s applied anthropology? It’s anthropology that’s done outside of academia. In Australia, it usually means you work in Indigenous representative bodies (like Land Councils or Native Title representative bodies) OR you work in cultural heritage management. I work in the latter, running my own small consultancy business.

What else would you do but bakasana on Mt Zeil, highest peak in Central Australia? 

I’m a bit eccentric. Besides enjoying yoga, I’m an exercise nut, I adore running, bushwalking (hiking) and camping, I enjoy birdwatching and geocaching. I am a hopeless bibliophile and self-development junkie. I am a published fiction author (under another name), and the winner of a number of short story competitions. I have two children, the most wonderful man as a life partner, two dogs and four chickens (this used to be two cats, and our beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, however they have all grown old and passed away).

And before you ask, I HATED Eat, Pray, Love.  Hated it so much, I donated it to a school fete.

Do not ask me about that piece of repugnant twaddle again.

I live in outback Australia.

I live a life that is totally unlike yours.

I do things that most people would find challenging (i.e. sleeping on the ground in a swag, alone in the outback), as well as things that many people dream of – getting paid to go 4WDing, camping and (sometimes) bushwalking.

I have worked almost exclusively with Aboriginal people for the past two decades. I have an B1 level in Eastern/Central Arrernte and am learning Pitjantjatjara. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, Google Arrernte or Pitjantjatjara.

This means that I have danced with, been painted-up, and sang in sacred women’s rituals, cried with people in Sorry Business (that’s mourning rites), learned many sacred Dreaming Stories and of course, Aboriginal language. I think that ‘New Agers’ who come to Central Australia looking for Aboriginal ‘shamen’ are insulting and ignorant. Especially those who think Uluru is the ‘heart chakra’ of the world. What a load of bollocks.

If you read through the posts, you’ll find that I’ve had a lifelong battle with depression, and in 2012, was finally diagnosed with Bipolar II. I’m also a HSP -a highly sensitive person- which is apparently common for sufferers of BPII. I don’t suffer bullies, unkind words or throw insults well. I suffer daily with anxieties, thoughts about dying and the meaninglessness of life in general.

You should also know that I am an atheist. I don’t do woo, god-bothering or conspiracy theories well.

Thanks for visiting.

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