I have decided to have a look back through the past 18 months. It feels like so much has happened yet the daily routines have stayed strikingly similar for the whole period of time. Such huge change in work and physical locations, yet my family remains my rock and my training remains my 'norm'. Here it is;

May 2013 - competed and achieved

- WFF Conquest Classic, Geelong - 1st Masters, Overall Champ

 

- WFF Darwin - 1st Place, Tall

- Didn't like the make-up for this one - face too light, hair to severe - not my fav look by far.

 

- WFF Southern Hemisphere Championships - 3rd Place Masters - was a hard competition and the winner in this picture also just recently won the Universe title.  Was so glad to have the opportunity to compete and retrospect gave me plenty of things to work on.

 - Got to meet one of the best competitors in the world - Miss Universe 203, Johanna Mountfort. Not only did she have an amazing physique, she was just lovely too which is a bonus. Not every lady you meet backstage is gracious and friendly - some are just downright rude which is a real shame. I can't see the problem with making friends with all of those you meet. Considering this is just a hobby for most of us, being a diva is somewhat embarrassing.

- Life post-comp was all about getting back to those things that matter. Learning how to eat again and a bit of relaxation. So much easier to say than do.

- While the madness of the 2013 competition season was raging, it was also smack bang at this time that I re-joined the Police. It's a job I have been in since 1998 in both New Zealand and Queensland and now it was time to give the Northern Territory a go. Walking into that Academy classroom was like putting on an old pair of socks - I felt right at home. Thank goodness for that because my first comp was 4 weeks into my studies so it was a huge effort of training, food prep, posing practise, organising competition things and full-time study for 11 weeks at the NT Police Academy. I don't usually do things by halves....

- Graduation Day - 20 June 2013

 - Oh yeah, did I mention that in the midst of all of this madness we built a house in Katherine? Haha - just add that to the high-stress factors going on.

 - So I did a solid 3 weeks of policing on the mean streets of Katherine before someone came up with a brainwave to head out bush for 5 weeks. I got into the police plane and ended up in .... Numbulwar!!! An indigenous coastal community some 600kms from Katherine - in the middle of godamn nowhere!! Remembering I had only just finished my comps so I was still in full training mode. Below was my complete gym. Somehow I made it work and did some gruelling sessions by myself in that carpark!! At nights sometimes I would drag my gear into the sallyport and pretend I was in some fancy 24/7 fitness spa. I didn't ever really believe that I was. Perhaps it was the groups of indigenous kids that would line the fence and stare at me that brought me back to reality.

 - Rob and the kids came out one weekend and it was a massive treat to have a spotting partner. My squat rack left just a little to be desired but we made it work.

 - Found time in between copious amounts of overtime to fit in some quality fishing. Caught this big boy the day before leaving Numbulwar.

 - The plan was to spend 5 weeks at Numbulwar and then head home....didn't quite work like that!! Spent 1 night home and then headed to ... Minyerri. An indigenous community station some 300kms south east of Katherine. It was a container-village police station and my room was the end one of the containers below. All buildings were made of containers - police station, lounge, kitchen, cells... all containers!! Each had their own aircon which was a necessity. It got to 45 degrees on occasion out there. I saw an awful lot of sights at Minyerri, including walking out the compound one morning and seeing a crocodile in the front lawn of the neighbours house. My workmate Barb used to bring home stray animals and one morning I woke up with a calf running around, another morning a donkey!!

Barb and I were together for 4 months and we had some great and strange times. We took to watching horror movies on our evenings off and once, while watching a horrible movie called "Wrong Turn", we got a callout and had to travel 3.5hours to Numbulwar for an attempted suicide - thank goodness it didn't amount to anything but the horror movie theme played on my mind! 12 hours later we got to finish the movie when we got home and even gave a go at Wrong Turn 2 - epic fail.

I ended up staying 6 months at Minyerri and had Christmas out there with Rob and the kids and my colleague. It was about as strange as you get - Christmas on a remote dry community. Ended up with a callout on Christmas eve and spent New Years Eve chasing a large group of locals around the place after they made the decision to coat themselves in white paint from head to foot, get drunk and spend the night trying to fight each other. Memorable moments in Minyerri!!

January 2014 and I headed home for good via a 2 week stay in Bali with my family. So terribly tired but booked an apartment with a great gym and trained hard.

- Sometime around now Ingrid informed me that I was in an ad in the Oxygen magazine. A real thrill.

 

- I trained religiously during my time in Minyerri. Here was my setup. It was hard to stay motivated but I'm quite proud that I never missed a session. Food was much harder. Nothing fresh on offer out here so relied on getting supplies from town. I took to using protein powder much too often and believe it was about there that I got the sugar craving going. Still eating 'clean' food but too much of it and too many indulgences in 'sugar free' products. 

 

 

 

- one of the highlights of 2014 was co-training 3 beautiful ladies who all competed in May. Naomi was so dedicated and her transformation was amazing. She placed 3rd in the Darwin INBA show and I couldn't have been prouder.

 

- I also had the opportunity to be on the judging panel of this competition and enjoyed that immensely!! I learnt so much and most of all developed a critical eye for some of the finer points looked for by the panel. Here's hoping it helps me out.

 

 

 - And how could I forget helping to train my best mate who won the Conquest Classic in Geelong. Being able to go there with her and my other beautiful training buddies was the highlight of May 2014!!! And to meet up with my beautiful team of Ingrid, Renata and Ji was very special. Many tears of emotion that weekend.

 - In late May, I went on a family holiday to the Gold Coast and got to see my 3rd trainee, Sandy KIRK, who competed in the hugest competition I have been to - INBA Brisbane. Wow - what an eye opener!! There was about 400 competitors and even more spectators! Have to say I was overwhelmed and appreciated my little comps! Sandy was amazing and stunning both inside and out. I loved being part of her day.

 - I started cardio again on that holiday and it hurt like hell but I again proved that you need very little room and practically no gear, other than a chair, to do a wicked HIIT session.

 - One of the benefits of working out bush was the money. We had done it a bit tough for a few years and suddenly we had the breathing room to splash out. One of the first ways was to book a luxury holiday in Langkawi for Rob and I. His parents offered to look after the kids and subsequently we had our first holiday away from the kids - only waited 13 years for that to happen and it was very special.

 - We opted for activities that normally the kids would balk at. One was heading up to the highest point - but have to admit we got there via cable car - not walking!!!

 

- We trained hard in Langkawi

 - And we also rested up.

- So now I'm back home, working hard and training harder.

 

Part 2 coming soon ...... specifically about training...