Daring To Dream Again ...

King Lake, Victoria

As I hear about the flooding in Queensland I'm reminded it has been two years since the raging bushfires swept through Kinglake in Victoria destroying everything in their path. These catastrophic events are part of the Australian life but that doesn't make it any easier for those who are caught in the middle of the events losing family and friends and everything they own, including their treasured family history in the forms of photographs and mementoes.

Both of these events have seen me in tears as I watched the destruction happening before my eyes on the television. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like for the people who are experiencing every terrifying second that unfolds.

Last week we stayed in The Gum Trees Camping Area at Kinglake National Park, 65 kilometres north of Melbourne. It was a welcome break after the hectic pace of Christmas in Melbourne: a time to reflect on 2010 and what I'm expecting for 2011; and also time to think about the lives of the people who are still living in Kinglake two years on.

A walk down the main street of Kinglake showed me a close knit community brought together by life threatening events. Groups of people sat together in fellowship. The storekeepers were friendly and open to us strangers welcoming us into their community. I felt encouraged by these people who'd been through so much but could be so open and friendly to us.

Out of the town we drove along the quiet, eerie roads that had been devastated by the fire. Here we felt the oppression of lives lost and dreams that might have been. I couldn't stop the tears that rained down my face when I saw the letterboxes standing at the front of the properties that no longer held a house, and the precious lives that used to live within the homes. We drove this road for no more than a few minutes when I asked Frank to turn around. I couldn't take any more of the sadness that had crept upon my spirit. Some of the people had died and some had left to live elsewhere. Who could blame them when their past lives had been swept away from them?

Kinglake is a place of dreams damaged and dreams lost, but it's also a place of faith and hope for those who decided to stay and rebuild their lives. Hope can be seen in their faces, their new homes and the reaching out to strangers. I've decided the people of Kinglake, both those who decided to stay, and those who have moved on are courageous. Neither of these groups of people are right or wrong. They've made a choice based on their own abilities and talents, personal history and dreams. Well done to all of you!

In the forest, we saw the charred trunks of the trees standing like sentinels, a reminder of the destruction, but our hearts were filled with gladness when we saw the new growth emerging from the forest floor. Most of it was about a metre high and there was evidence of wombats and echidnas, and an increasing number of birds seemed to come in daily.

The bush was regenerating. The trunks of the burned trees had new shoots coming out of their blackened trunks seeking the food they need for survival. Soon the lower shoots will fall away as the trees become strong and lose their charred skins and grow new high branches that will give them the nourishment they need.

There is new life happening in Kinglake and the surrounding areas that were burned in February 2009. For the flooded areas of Central and Southern Queensland new shoots of hope will come for you, too. But first, I encourage you to allow yourself to feel the pain of your losses, and grieve for them, and when the time is right for you, take hold of all the courage you can muster and step out in faith. Soon hope will come to you, so that you, too, can dare to dream of a future again.

Happy New Year

The first week of January is an exciting time for me as I reflect on the year that's closed and the one that's opening up before me. It's a time to think about whether I achieved my goals last year and why I may not have achieved them and what I want to achieve in the 360 plus days ahead.

2010 was a great year with my goals achieved, ie., African Hearts contracted, meeting many new friends, and my next book, Behind The Masks, working title, well on the way to completion. Also, surprisingly, one of my dreams was realised: we bought a caravan and we're now travelling around Australia; and my son became independent and moved in with friends. These last two were surprises, but nice surprises. Dan is managing very well, and so are Frank and I as we travel throughout Victoria.

My goals always include my writing goals and how I can improve my writing. This year, as I reflect on the mentorship I did last October, I want to continue to improve my plotting structure and my characters' motivations for acting as they do. By asking many more questions of my characters I believe I will get to know them at a deeper level in all facets of their lives. Questions like what makes them angry; who are the people who annoy them most and why; why do they like the particular genre of music they listen to; or read the books they read; and if they could have any occupation in the world what would it be; and many more questions to get to know them better. With getting to know the characters at a deep level makes them real three dimensional characters that my reader will be able to relate to and hopefully see them in the same way that I do.

Also on my list of goals for this year is encouraging others to reach their goals. During our travels around Australia I hope to come across others who have a passion they want to see fulfilled. Walking the journey with others in their chosen field to reach their goal is a passion of mine, although sometimes I can come across as a hard taskmaster. I have high standards for myself and I expect that high standard from others, too.

Sometimes we underestimate what it will take to achieve our goals, and it's so easy to become disheartened when the going gets tough. When the hill seems too steep, it's important to persevere no matter how slow the progress is. Believing what we are doing is the right thing for us is what will carry us through the dark moments as we strive for our goal. Everyone has these moments of doubt that sneak up on us when we least expect. We can be working well toward the goals when doubt hits us broadside leaving us disillusioned and wondering if we're meant to be going in that direction.

Hold fast when this happens! Don't be discouraged, and don't listen to negative comments that seem to come at you from all directions. For various reasons there are people in this world who may not want to see you succeed. Ignore those people. Instead, set you mind on the goal with greater determination than before, say no to distractions, and work until the goal is reached.

You are not alone in reaching for your dreams. Every person who wants to achieve faces highs and lows, it's how you deal with the highs and lows that helps you achieve your goals. During the next few months, I'll be blogging on how to overcome the patches of doubt that creep up when we least expect. Until then write to me and let me know when you're feeling lost on your journey to goaldom, and I hope I can encourage you to step out and continue to look forward.

Thumbs Up to Heritage Building Society

Today, I got the shock of my life to learn someone in America had access to my credit card and used it to pay for goods worth over six thousand dollars. My financial institution phoned me this morning to inform me of this unfortunate incident. I was stunned by the fact that someone had the cheek to steal my visa details from who knows where, test it first to see if it worked by making a one dollar payment then they decided to go for the big amounts increasing the money spent each day.

Thankfully, a conscientious employee was able to see I'd spent money in Victoria at the same time as the transactions happened in America. He put one and one together and thought how could this be? I like people who think. He could quite easily have shrugged and said it's none of my business. I have high praise for this employee because his work isn't only a job to him, it's about caring for the people's accounts he looks after. When I received the phone call he gave me details of the transactions and also took the time to explain how this unfortunate incident happened and how I could best deal with the situation because I'm travelling in a caravan and don't have easy access to a printer, photocopier and a Justice of the Peace. His kindness and helpfulness couldn't be faulted.

My opinions of financial institutions have changed as from this moment because Heritage is picking up the tab for these transactions that weren't mine. Also this morning there were four other people whose cards were hit, apart from mine. One in America, one in France and he didn't tell me where the others were. Their system showed they were legitimate transactions. Someone had stolen my visa card number and stamped the details on another card possibly with a bogus logo on the front of the card. This is fraud, of course, but when the card was presented for the goods it went through the cyberspace transaction highway and according to Heritage everything was kosher so the confirmation went back to the American store and the fraudster was able to pick up the goods and take them home.

I learned today that if I can prove a transaction in dispute is legitimate, the financial institution accepts responsiblity for the transaction going through, and they pay for the incorrect transactions.

That's right no cost to me!

I was astonished to learn this because these transactions will be the first that I'm disputing in the thirty odd years I've held a credit card account. All those fees the financial institutions charge are beginning to make sense to me. They have to pay money for the fraudsters of this world who rip off innocent customers. I'm now wondering how much this type of fraud costs us customers. If we could find a way to stop these criminals, I wonder how much less we'd pay in fees. The fraudster charged over six thousand on my card, if they did it on the other four cards for similar amounts that's twenty-four thousand dollars the financial institutions have to find for today. If this happens every day .... I'll let you do the sums.

From now on I'll be less inclined to bash financial institutions because I didn't know half of what goes on behind the scenes in their day. Fraud is a huge cost the average customer has to pay for through monthly fees. Wouldn't it be great if we could stamp out the fraud, and pay fewer fees and interest?

In Melbourne

We've been away for a week and already we're meeting new people and enjoying the green countryside after the drought years the country has experienced.

Here is a photo of our home while we're on the road.

Our Home On Wheels

We spent the first night in a truck stop, a freebie which came with a bush toilet so that was okay, but all through the night the big trucks came in for some well-deserved rest, too. We met another traveller that night who camped with us. He was on his way to Coolangatta. A caring man who had provided foster care for at risk children for most of his life.

The second night we stayed in Forbes by the lake. Everything was going fine until a storm blew up and the water started rising again. A young man came up to us and said we should move out of the park because we could be flooded by morning. We wasted no time in packing up our caravan and heading for higher ground. Fortunately, the lake only rose a little, but it was better than having to move at two o'clock in the morning if the water had risen into the camping area.

Our third night we stayed in Denliquin in a caravan park which was luxury. Great to have a hot shower and some quiet time away from the trucks. We visited with friends and they showed us the highlights of Denilquin which was really interesting. Every October, the town hosts a Ute Muster which brings about three thousand visitors to the town. I can't quite imagine how this event might look, so perhaps we may need to time our next visit in Denilquin so that we can be part of the fun.

Our adventure hasn't been without a couple of problems. For some reason I don't understand, the battery in the van blew a cell and '"cooked" the battery, so we had to buy a new one; and the fridge heating element has decided it doesn't want to do the job anymore, so we have to tow the van to a caravan repairer tomorrow to have it fixed. The positive is that it happened in a major city where we can get help before we head out to somewhere more remote.

It's very cold and rainy in Melbourne. I'm glad we're staying with Frank's sister. She has ducted heating which is making our stay very pleasant.

One Sleep...

One sleep to go and we'll be on our travels. It's been an amazing six weeks as we've prepared to leave home. More emotional than I'd thought as I sifted through my son's childhood possessions and sorted them for keeping or passing them on to a needy child; flicking through photo albums and remembering special times at home, and other travels we'd been on.

I shed tears for the closed chapters of my life, but it was also a time to share with my son where we'd been in the past nineteen years and where our dreams and hopes may lead us in the future. Those six weeks were filled with bonding experiences that we will never forget.

While we embark on our new adventure, our son, Dan is embarking on his own with full-time employment and a possible opportunity to live and work in America within twelve months. So it's not change just for us but for Dan, too. And that's the exciting thing about life. We never know where it's going to take us. The tears and reminiscing are part of the journey and it's important to take the time to live these special moments. God always said to me that Dan was mine only for the first twenty years of his life, and now that the reality of him reaching for his independence is here, it's quite a challenge to accept the finality of him becoming independent as he continues to live at home with friends.

However, with us leaving home, the transition has been that much easier. I have much to look forward to with the travelling and release of African Hearts. It's left me wondering how others who don't have a travelling adventure to look forward to cope with this change. I'd be interested to hear how others have lived through this part of their journey. Please leave a comment.

The past few weeks have also seen the final proofing for African Hearts being completed and ready for printing. Much work goes into this phase of the book's production that I'd never thought about until now. These learning experiences inspire me to lift the bar higher for my next work which is already well under way. Being on the road will refill my creative well and enrich my writing in new and extraordinary ways.

I'm thankful for this opportunity to travel and write. Another great thing about our travels is being able to connect with my husband on a deeper level. The years of child rearing and earning a living can strain a marriage in many ways, and being able to re-connect and form new bonds and reminisce about the past will bring a deeper intimacy to our relationship that I'm really looking forward to.

I'm looking forward to sharing our Writing All Over Australia journey with you every few days, so make sure you stop by to see what we're up to.