There & Back Again

Back from our trip down south... friend visited & brought back to town for a few days, some photos taken, an enjoyable drive overall really, despite the less-than-clement weather

We headed for the southern highlands, about 90 minutes south of Sydney & no sooner did we arrive, than the mist & fog rolled in. Even though we were only a couple of thousand feet above sea level, it did start to feel like the Scottish highlands. The view from our Motel, in the town of Bundanoon - not Brigadoon, you can find it any time you like...



A hearty pub dinner later that night in the nearby town of Moss Vale, before a night blighted by a too-soft mattress & too-soft pillows. Struggling to get comfortable with all of that meant I dozed, rather than slept, so was able to keep reasonably accurate track of the night-time, nearby rail traffic... of which there was more than you'd expect!

Breakfast at a little café in town, before heading out in the morning mist & down the escarpment to the Illawarra & Shoalhaven coastal regions, arriving in Ulladulla just in time to meet our friend for lunch at the town's Bowling Club (lawn, not 10-pin). She's been living in the UK for the last few years & had to come back for a family bereavement, meaning she was in hotel quarantine in Sydney for 2 weeks, but we couldn't see her!. A fun afternoon & evening catching up & trading Plague war stories, before a night blighted by a too-soft mattress & too-soft pillows. Struggling to get comfortable with all of that meant I dozed, rather than slept, so was able to keep reasonably accurate track of the night-time truck traffic... of which there was more than you'd expect!

Breakfast pies at a seaside location, then we collected our friend & headed back to Sydney, stopping only in the town of Kiama for lunch - where a local pelican took an interest...



Back home via the Vet, to collect Bella, then a great night's sleep on a firm mattress & pillows!!

Today, I've registered myself as a sole trader, obtained my business number & done a generic video cattle-call interview for a government position. Tonight - dinner at a favourite restaurant in town - just the two of us. Tomorrow?

The Serious One for The Day

There is evidence, here in Sydney but probably elsewhere as well, to show that students who attend single-sex schools, rather than co-ed, are far more likely to commit, or be victims of, sexual assault

I went to 'private' all-boys primary & secondary schools & part of me thinks "Well of course... if you don't spend enough time interacting with the opposite sex, both socially & at school, they are a mystery to you" as girls were to me - though I had the advantage of a social group that was very female dominated, thanks to growing up with a similarly aged girl next door (& before you ask - NO she & I did not ever get together!!), so I never had the same level of fear of the unknown that had to be 'conquered'. But as mentioned in the article, I was around when these boys socialised with girls on the weekends & their behaviour was far more primal & basic than you would normally see with any of them. Especially, again as noted in the article, when alcohol was involved. So no, I'm not surprised...

It does make me wonder then, why I'm not a part of these statistics? The simple answer is that it's not as simple as single-sex bad, co-ed good. My opinion is that as parents have handed over the raising of their children to others & fail to teach either basic ethics & boundaries, they have also hamstrung teachers by failing to tell their children to respect a teacher's authority, but then also crying foul whenever a teacher attempts to apply any disciplinary measure - saying "You can't do that to my kid!!!" And so nobody does anything...

My parents, especially my Father, were very hands on when it came to instructing me in the basic requirements of a civilised human being. I may not have enjoyed it at the time, but at least it meant that I never treated the opposite sex with anything less than the dignity & respect they deserve... Indeed - that any other human being deserves...