UPDATE MAY 2017

Wow, that was all so long ago, back in 2008-sh. So much has happened since then. I no longer live in St Kilda and haven't hosted or surfed in years - but that's all about to change.

In a nutshell, I no longer work as an accountant. In December 2016 I published a travel memoir called 'Fat Chick Goes AWOL', about my Australian travels on a recumbent trike and a long-distance thru-hike I did. In April 2017 it won an international book awards competition for Best First Book. In May 2017 it won the Humour category of another international book awards contest. I got to go to New York to collect the first award.

I no longer live in St Kilda. I now live in a paddock about an hour out of Melbourne. I'm heavily involved in food rescue (dumpster diving etc), off grid living, up cycling of pallets and other people's rubbish, and the Gift Economy. I'm heavily involved in food dehydrating and preserving. I recently built a 20' outdoor, roofed, room out of pallets I call The Rubbish Lounge, which has just been featured in an alternative-lifestyle magazine called 'The Owner Builder' and soon I'll be hosting travelers in the 'bedroom' in that. I was also homeless for four years, living in a van with two cats, and have plans to make an impact on homelessness.

CURRENT MISSION

Tai Chi/Qi Gong in the park every morning for 100 days in a row

ABOUT ME

a friend of mine once described me as, "big and scary but friendly". same friend also said that walking down the street in the nightclub district one saturday night with me was like "watching moses parting the red sea - everyone just got the hell out of her way". i guess that's what happens when you're six foot tall and half amazon warrior half botticelli nude.

i'm pretty laid back with a boundary fence that's set pretty far back, but cross that line and you'll feel like you got hit by a road train. if you want to pole vault right over that fence into landmine territory, ignore what i've just told you in plain english - especially if i've said no. i don't say no lightly so if i do you bloody well better take it seriously.

i'm known for having people over and playing full-on for a couple of hours having a whale of a time, then suddenly turning to them and saying, "ok that's enough, you have to go now". i've also been known to go home when i've had enough, regardless of what the rest of the group is doing or whether they approve or not. i'll also refuse to do something if it doesn't feel right, and often i won't be able to explain why it doesn't feel right; it's my intuition talking and i no longer question or try to explain my intuition - it always does what's right for me.

i will ALWAYS believe ACTIONS over WORDS. you can promise me the world, but until i see you walking your talk i won't believe you, simple as that, i don't care who you are.

i have a strict rule for giving advice to others: whenever i give someone advice, i have to either be living it, or the next opportunity i get to live it, i have to take my own advice. they say that we teach that which we most need to learn; i reckon there's something to that, and i ain't gonna be no hypocrite - not on my watch, not if i can help it.

i have a death wish: i'm going to die on the top of a beautiful mountaintop (probably in the canadian rockies or alaska) on my 110th birthday during a lunchtime siesta, overlooking a beautiful turquoise lake, just as my last pair of hiking boots falls apart. at my funeral there will be 110 people, whose lives i touched in some way that was so meaningful to them that they will come from all over the world, moving heaven and earth if they have to, to be at that funeral.

i looooooove cats. if we're walking down a street together and i'm suddenly not there, i've found a cat.

i'll do just about anything for ice cream cake.

i bought a packet of crayons and a sesame street colouring book a couple of weeks ago for the first time in 30 years. you think that's weird? tough shit.

fuck i love sleep talking man (http://sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com/). if you don't love sleep talking man, i'm sorry, but you can't come stay with me. okay i'm kidding. but do take a look; the first time i read it i nearly ruptured a disc laughing.

PHILOSOPHY

life is short and it's later than you think.

i will not quit chasing my magnificence just so that you can feel better about clinging to your mediocrity.

it's not all good, but it's all good for something.

changing the dream symposium leaders' pledge: i take a stand for and commit to doing everything within my power to bring about an environmentally sustainable, socially just, and spiritually fulfilling human presence on the planet.

i do not serve myself or my fellow man by playing small.

the inimical is often more instructive than the benign. so in between screams, pay attention.

duct tape holds the world together. black holes aren't where god divided by zero, they're where he ran out of duct tape.

ice cream is good. lots of ice cream is better. until it comes time for the bowel movement.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

so many people have looked after me while i've travelled, and mostly you can't pay them back, so i adopted the idea of "pay it forward", and now host and help out travellers whenever i can. in 2010 i've started hosting and going along to a few events in melbourne as well.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've only couchsurfed in Vancouver, in July 2009 - 4 days, 2 hosts. I've been hosting travellers off and on in Perth and Melbourne for a couple of years now. My current flat is great for hosting travelers so I'm hosting more now.

Interests

travel! do solo long distance cyle tours on "funny looking bike" (aka recumbent trike) and hike long distance trails. long-distance kayaking trips when i get better at it.

Wellness. Sustainable living. Low level ecstacy. Hanging in the hammock. Lying in the sun in the park. Reading a good book. Singing. Laughter Club. Free Hugs. Bikram yoga. Random acts of kindness. Cross-country skiing. okay i only did the skiing once, but i'd do it again!

• cats
• books
• singing
• coloring
• dining
• cooking
• yoga
• walking
• clubbing
• reading
• traveling
• cycling
• hiking
• kayaking
• camping
• skiing
• track and field
• tours

Music, Movies, and Books

music: melissa etheridge and jewel would probably be my favourite artists. if you're a serious muso and that makes me a lightweight, so be it. took singing lessons for a year last year and loved it. apparently not bad at it either - my teacher (who's a hoot and now a friend) said he reckoned i was a singer in a previous lifetime. but after a year of singing lessons it was like "all dressed up and nowhere to go". need to find me a band or a choir or something.

movies: pfff, who's got time? the ones i remember off the top of my head would be brokeback mountain, running on empty, leaving normal, before sunrise + before sunset, pay it forward, and true lies (yeah, deal with it.)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

are you kidding? i do amazing things every day. just waking up is amazing...oh okay, conventionally amazing:
(1) blue ice in alaska at age 28. it ruined my life because when you've seen blue ice in alaska, the rest of the world is painfully ordinary. thanks to blue ice in alaska, i had to go make my life a whole bunch more interesting just to make it through the day.
(2) bald eagles coasting on the thermals below me while halfway up a mountainside in juneau, alaska - then two guys with hang-gliders jumping off the cliff and following them!
(3) about six thousand k's on my recumbent trike, solo and self-supported - see www.fatchickgoesawol.com
(4) 967km hike of the bibbulmun track in western australia, solo and self-supported.
(4) walking my path and refusing to play small just so that others who don't want to play big will feel better.

Teach, Learn, Share

i know stuff a lot of people don't know. you know stuff i don't know. stop by and let's compare notes.

on the practical side, i'm a wiz at organising space and using it efficiently. that includes packing bags/suitcases. i'm not a computer geek but i am an advanced dumb-fucking-user. i'm brilliant at wrapping presents and i love to do it. i know a lot about dehydrating food - including the secret to having home-cooked meals in camp in the middle of nowhere with no more preparation than boiling a pot of water. i'm a wiz at making things easier. apparently i can cook, but i don't really like it. but the more i learn about what happens when you're fully involved and present in the preparation of your food, the more i appreciate cooking. i still appreciate eating way way more but! i have the best friggin' pancake recipe ever and it's super healthy to boot. ditto caramel popcorn.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, New Zealand, Norway, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia