Pack up my wheels and...?

I'm ready for a break. Ready for some change. I've been on the merry go round for months and the 1 week break in Byron Bay was great, but enough to make me want more, not be ready to go back to every day life. I want to buy that one way ticket to anywhere and see where it leads. I want to seek the people who make me think and grow, and leave the people who stifle creativity and expression.

At the same time I want to cure my dog who has cancer and is deteriorating daily. He's the best natured labrador you could imagine, allowing my daughter to pull toys and food from his mouth, lie all over him, climb over him, as well as hug and kiss him as she too grows attached to him and searches for him whenever she arrives home. I don't want to leave him, I don't want him to leave us.

Watching a loved one dying, a little more each day, is a kind of living grief. You feel joy that he's here with you and sorrow knowing the time you have with him is increasingly short.

So I want to run away and stay where I am.

Byron

I'm hooked.

I've just completed my 4th triathlon and I'm already calculating how to better my times and be more competitive, even though I came home with gold.

It has been our tradition to head to Byron Bay to compete in their Ocean Swim race the first Sunday in May each year. It's usually a fun weekend and a last hurrah to summer as the heat disappears northwards.

This year it was a fun week, and a distinct end to summer. The triathlon follows on the next Saturday and this year I decided to hang around and do it. It was very worthwhile. While I used to enjoy the ocean swims because of the competition as well as the eye candy, triathlons have an exponentially improved eye candy quotient. Sometimes distracting but always welcomed. The race itself is a lot more taxing both physically and mentally, and I love it. My legs may hate me for it but I love the feel of getting faster and becoming the runner everyone thought I wasn't. Including me.

There are loads of interesting people in or passing through Byron and the beaches and surrounding hinterland. A week spending time watching the waves and turning off the world is an excellent option, even if there is some serious energy expenditure bookending it.

It also turns out there are a hell of a lot of gay guys getting into triathlons.

Who'll be joining me next year?