2016 was my second year of “52 challenges in 52 weeks” but this time I did not set out a list in January. This year it was spontaneous, I waited to see what unfolded.

We discovered more of Tasmania
~ Explored Cradle Mountain
~ Visited Sheffield and explored the town’s murals
~ Cruised around Bruny Island
~ Visited another convict historical site – Coal Mines
~ Saw Tasmania’s Tulips fields

We travelled to “the big island”
~ Visited Western Australia – Perth, Freemantle, Rottnest Island and The Pinnacles
~ Visited Sydney for “Vivid” Festival
~ Toured along The Great Ocean Road, Victoria, saw The Twelve Apostles
~ Found a hidden bar in Melbourne, through a bookshelf

Whilst out and about, we encountered some of the local inhabitants
~ Saw wombats in the wild
~ Got up close to possums whilst in a hot tub
~ Saw koalas in the wild
~ Saw penguins in our local neighbourhood

And we captured some of nature’s shows
~ Observed Aurora Australis on a couple of occasions and took reasonable photos
~ Took photos of lightening during night storm

We went to a variety of sporting events
~ Twenty 20 cricket / Big Bash match
~ Local TSL footy game (Tasmania State League – Aussie Rules)
~ V8 Supercars
~ AFL game – Sydney Swans (Australian Football League – Aussie Rules)
~ Car Drifting
~ Harness horse racing

We participated in these wonderful Tasmanian events, exhibitions, festivals:
~ MONA FOMA “Festival of Music & Art”
~ Went to a silent movie with live soundtrack
~ Hobart Regatta Day
~ Wine tasting weekend
~ “Taste of the Huon” weekend
~ Several live comedy shows
~ Bonsai exhibition
~ “Dark Mofo”
~ Winter Feast
~ Big Sing at “Festival of Voices”
~ Antarctic Festival, including tour of ice breaker ship
~ Tasmanian Quilt Expo
~ Hobart Town Hall 150th anniversary, with historic trams
~ Lego exhibition
~ Historic Ford Car exhibition
~ Medieval Festival
~ Opening of MONA exhibition
~ “Bach in the Dark”
~ Open House weekend – Dorney House
~ Huon Show
~ Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
~ “The Taste of Tasmania”

I made small changes to my health and diet
~ Started using a fitness tracker
~ Introduced quinoa into our meals
~ Ate a Vietnamese meal
~ Started eating cauliflower rice regularly

On a theme of Community & Creativity, I achieved the following:
~ Organised Neighbour’s Picnic
~ Organised Café Catch Up for local Photo a Day group
~ Put signature on my photos
~ Completed 2 years of consecutive Photo A Day posts
~ Watched a street artist at work
~ Completed Blog A-Z challenge, posted every day in April
~ A couple of my photos were chosen in top 6 – Photo a Day group
~ Created and published a Volunteer Newsletter at work
~ Invited neighbours in for “Footy Finals Weekend” AFL & NRL
~ Knitted baby strawberry hat, lamb hat and mermaid tail blanket
~ Wrote Trip Advisor reviews
~ Participated in Pub trivia quiz
~ Created our second driftwood Christmas tree
~ Completed fifth year of “Sentence a Day”

On a personal level
~ Enjoyed Australia Day in Australia
~ Celebrated our first anniversary of living Tasmania
~ Attended Anzac Dawn Service on my own
~ Volunteered for three months
~ Found full time paid work
~ Continued online study and passed a closed book exam
~ Drove an electric car
~ Maintained long distance relationships with UK friends
~ Swam in ocean on Christmas day

They were not all big challenges. Some took me out of my comfort zone, but generally they were things that encouraged me to take a positive step, to get out of routine, to be part of our local community and to enrich my life. It was actually easy to achieve 70 things in 52 weeks.