Carter's Column

Yet again, it's been a while since I last blogged. That must mean I've been busy? Well... Yes I have. I mentioned before that I had submitted an application to be a volunteer at the Australian Reptile Park, and unexpectedly I was successful. After being invited to a group interview at the park, I walked out with a shirt Elvis the Crocodile and a name-tag so I figured it had gone well! The initial idea was to give it a go until cricket season came along and then make a decision, but in the 3 weekends I have been there I have enjoyed handling a range of different snakes including Burmese Pythons, Diamond Pythons, Black-Headed Python, Corn Snakes, Olive Pythons and more. At one stage I was lucky enough to be in the show-pit with Ranger Mick while he performed the Venom Show with a Cane Toad, Death Adder and Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. As volunteers, we are not allowed to touch anything venomous so my role was to stand there holding the bag with the Cane Toad in, and the ...

Since my last entry, I've had a birthday, met a hero, started a full time job, had more animal encounters, entered a volunteer application for a Reptile Park, been to an Air Show and seen a partial solar eclipse. Like you do... All new territory and a lot of happiness, but there has been the occasional low too which as I've come to learn is a regular part of this illness. Ironically the person whose book made me understand the condition so much better, Former England cricketer and Somerset Captain Marcus Trescothick, played recently for Somerset against Bovey Tracey CC. My first season away from Bovey and I could have met another hero. Royal Australian Air Force "Roulettes" What I've learnt is that it can hit at any time, in any place, and that any slight negative can trigger it. What is less easy to understand is how to make it go away. The obvious answer would be to do things that make me happy but unfortunately that doesn't always happen. I'v...

"Allagai" Copacabana, NSW The mere fact I've been to Australia on 4 occasions before 2013 means that it already felt like a home from home. Everything is familiar, driving is easy enough, the same mates are here to socialise with, my cricket club still exists, I have family in Victoria that I have spoken to, and there's the future In-Laws family who are so good to me it's unbelievable. So surely that means settling in would be easy, right? Not necessarily. You can take the man out of England but you can't take England out of the man. It's not called "Soccer", alright?! Copacabana Beach But that doesn't mean for a second that I'd want to be anywhere else. Australia is now my home. I don't feel "homesick" for Devon at all really, I just wish certain people from there were here instead, my family being the big ones. As a location you can really want for nothing here. An hour west you have the Blue Mountains, some ...

Sydney Harbour It's been almost 3 years of planning, waiting, hoping and wishing, but as of Tuesday 19th March 2013 I live in Australia. If you'd have asked me when I first came here in 2006 if I could have seen myself living in Australia in future I'd have said no way. I loved Devon too much. Yet here we are. Amazing how the right person can shape your future in ways you never would have dreamed. Oh, yes... Come On You Spurs! The last couple of weeks have been absolutely jam packed and have really flown by when I think about it. A trip to Tottenham for one last game to see Spurs beat Arsenal 2-1 was a definite highlight, finishing the day job, another trip to London to see The Darkness with Matt, a last trip to Cheshire to see the family and the final throes of packing before the big day. How can I begin to describe the rollercoaster of emotions? And now I see things with a bit more clarity than before. I see who my true friends are, and I realised a few other t...

If you don't tell people what you're thinking, how are they supposed to know? If you don't want to tell people what you're thinking, how are they supposed to do the right thing? The number of times I've had friends tell me they're annoyed with their partners or their bosses or their friends about something is staggering, but if I ask "Well have you said anything to them about it?" the answer always seems to come back as "No". So basically both sides are sweeping their frustration at each other under the metaphorical carpet without actually letting it out and coming to a solution. What exactly does that achieve? It might hide the situation temporarily but the issue will still be there next time you lift that carpet. Only, it will have grown substantially, and will keep doing so until you actually deal with it properly. I can't do that. If I have an argument with anyone I want it all out there, deal with the issue and resolve it. It'...

12th September 2005... 24th August 2009... 27th December 2010... 7th January 2011... 29th April 2012. Some of the best days of my life for various reasons. Now I can add Monday 11th February 2013 to that list. I cannot believe I am sitting here writing this, but I have been granted my Provisional Partner Visa. I am now legally able to live and work in Australia, and more importantly it means I can begin my life with my beautiful Fiancée properly. Since the visa grant letter came through last Monday I have been in a bit of a daze. I've not known where to start, what to do or where to go and indeed on Tuesday I had some kind of stomach upset and was forced to take the day off work. I spent the rest of the day in bed and actually slept which is most unlike me. When I got out of bed again at 5:20pm I felt very weak on my feet, very drained and very light headed. Could it have been nerves? Could it have been a result of one can of lager the previous evening having not touched alcohol ...

I find myself asking if metaphorically and meteorologically I have dealt with the last of the icy coldness. You all know about my dislike of the cold weather but even I have to say that the snow in our part of the country has had a beauty to it and has made the scenery look stunning. Winter usually leaves our countryside looking so bleak and dull that when a short period of whiteness covers the landscape the only thing we can think of is how stunningly beautiful it looks. I'd be less than truthful if I said I would like to experience another English winter, because in all honesty I can't wait to be in a hot country. Metaphorically speaking, the coldness relates to certain individuals and my encounters with them in the last week have finally made me believe that I am getting over them and their lies, and the effect just seeing them had on me. Usually when I see these people a surge of anger and hatred flows through my veins and my heart rate increases drastically. On Tuesday ...