At the beginning of 2016, I challenged myself to do something new each week during the year. It wasn’t a predetermined list, 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. Looking back on the year at this level, not just the highlights, it was a good year, with more than 52 things to write about.

How should I challenge myself for 2017 ?