I have had a break from writing for a while but it’s time to do an update on my progress with the house, and the life I have created here in Long Jetty.

Firstly, I wish to talk about my community. It is a challenge to move into a new environment on your own not knowing anyone. Working on the house has kept me busy however I started to feel isolated on a personal level and decided to do something about it. Early on this year I joined a boot camp class called High Tide Fitness. Kylee runs the classes and happens to live just five doors up from me. We work out down on the beach or in the park at Toowoon Bay. I have been committed 3-4 times a week since I began. It was freezing during the winter months but I still turned up every week to work my but off. This exercise and the lovely group of people I have met has helped me go from strength to strength, so much so I earned myself an award at the High Tide Christmas Party for being inspiring and my amazing transformation. If I think about what happened to me just over a year ago it seems so unreal now.

Thank you to Kylee, Ben and Dave for your encouragement, support and torture throughout 2015. When do we get to train the trainers?? LOL

From there I met people who were part of the Toowoon Bay Surf Life Saving Club. I was really interested to know who and what was involved and somehow my name was added to a list to join the next group going through to do the Bronze Medallion to become a lifesaver. The very first training day was cold, raining, and with really rough seas. I turned up in my jeans and jumper thinking there would be no way we would be going into the water today. I would never get in the ocean on a day like that under normal circumstances. But low and behold we were sent in to start learning rescues. When I hit the water I could feel my lungs contract and I found it very difficult to breathe. I hadn’t swum in a very long time and here I was heading out in the sea, tube in tow trying to rescue someone. Just do it is what I kept telling myself, and I did. Then it was my turn to be rescued. I whispered to my rescuer before I went in that her rescue will be an actual one – not pretend! Thankfully I was saved. We then stood on the beach, me freezing, shaking and shivering while we listened and learned about resuscitation etc etc. At the end of the two hours we were then informed that we had to do the run swim run. 200m Run, 200m swim followed by 200m run. What? Are they serious? I looked at where the buoys were located and thought to myself I have never gone out that far in my life! Anyway, me being me said to myself “you can do this”.

So off I went, once again when I hit the water the wind was taken from me and not only could I not breathe, I couldn’t swim a stroke of freestyle. “Keep your head up, keep moving forward, you can do this”. I did eventually make it. I couldn’t feel my feet at all. I was frozen. My chest was aching and I had difficulty breathing. After a long shower followed by a soak in a hot bath I defrosted. The chest pain and exhaustion lasted for days. I realised that maybe my heart is different now after the operation to close the hole in the heart. This event triggered several panic attacks over the next few weeks. I’m ok, but I know I need to be careful. I was very proud to have passed all the tests and am now a life saver at Toowoon Bay Beach! I have made lots of new friends and am enjoying getting to know everyone. I am really starting to feel a sense of belonging.

I promise my next post will be about the house! (The front garden) x