Gerard's Lifestyle page

Lifestyle Renewal - Medical Practitioners in parts of Australia have now joined a nationwide campaign to encourage their patients to improve their health by paying attention to their lifestyle and to a renewal of lifestyle which means a change in diet, attitude, being active and alternative ways which improve their quality of life.. Health tips are offered by doctors, which include eating fresh fruit and vegetables, taking regular exercise, drinking enough pure water, overcoming depression and anxiety, being a vibrant, positive part of the community. Most of the information that the doctors are now promoting is already detailed in the Lifestyle Renewal and Healthy Living book available on the website www.lifestylerenewal.com  For instance - the body has at least some reserves of health giving energy and this can be utilised by auto suggestion. Also, Pranic healing and Reiki can draw energy from the earth and atmosphere, created by God, to heal the body and mind. The rest of the information is all in the Lifestyle renewal booklet.   YOU need to change your way of thinking, your priorities and your Way of LIFE . Interested in more Information? Please click here.

Changes in Diet

Alkaline forming foods should make up most of your diet and consist of most fruits and vegetables and nuts like almonds and brazil nuts, kelp and soy beans. The acid forming foods should make up about 20% of your diet and these consist of meats, most cereals, coffee, cocoa, peanuts, oysters, bread, sauerkraut and nuts such as walnuts, cashew and chestnuts. Tumeric can be added to your food for flavour and help relieve pain of arthritis caused by inflammation of the joints.

By Gerard Castles – author of the book “Lifestylerenewal and Healthy Living” available in printed form or as an ebook on this website

The Trials and tribulations of travelling economically -  by  Gerard Castles

Travelling to a strict budget is a challenge as it makes you more alert to things around you, like scams, touts trying to get you to stay at their place, comparing prices at markets or bus stations for the best deals, finding cheap nutritious food, and finally, remaining vigilant to keep your things secure from theft. Sometimes, it becomes tiring - like the many times I have waited for a night train or bus, thereby saving money on a night's accommodation. Writing my travel diary at these times, helps fill in the hours and has often promoted a conversation by someone observing me cutting out pictures from brochures to stick in my travel diary.

Train and bus travel at night is tough on the body and I find that even though I became used to it, a night's sleep in a proper bed at a youth hostel was a necessity, especially after 2 consecutive nights of travel. In South America, I travelled 6 nights on a coach in the 25 days I spent there, but these overnight journeys were much longer than the ones in Europe. It was good to be on a ship for half a week, as it cruised down the scenic Chilean coast. An experienced traveller like myself keeps luggage to a minimum and soon learns how to travel with just one pack, while storing my main bag at a hostel/ backpackers, in the city I will return to. This stored bag has in it extra clothes when other clothing needs replacement, a supply of film and batteries, an extra towel, souvenirs, used film and travel notes for places still to be visited. Supplies of toiletries or films etc are bought at places where they are cheapest and kept in the stored baggage.

While travelling around South Africa, I had to take all my bags with me, as I was not returning to any city. To greatly reduce lugging my bags everywhere, I used the backpackers bus, which picked me up at one hostel and took me to the next. It was so convenient and I met other travellers on these buses. While travelling in Europe and Britain, I kept one large bag in storage in London, as I would return there periodically to take out extra clothes, film and batteries, while putting in occasional souvenirs or a completed travel diary. All printed matter can be posted at a cheaper rate in Britain, so I posted back to Australia my travel diaries, postcards, mementoes and photos. I spent about 40 British pounds ($100 Australian) to post back about 4 kilos of printed matter. This greatly reduced the weight of my baggage, so it was well worthwhile.

Meeting people can be difficult when you travel at a brisk rate. Staying at youth hostels or backpackers not only gave me a chance to wash and rest, but also a place for companions to mix and communicate with. We would laugh, joke and swap amazing stories and give each other useful up to date information. I never took a guide book on my travels. Instead, I do some research at the library or online for information and maps and then rely on fellow travellers for the latest information on the best way to get to a destination, the best place to stay and which places are well worth visiting. In this way, everyone gets the best value out of travelling and we all learn from each other's experiences of the rip offs, good deals, discount fares, good & bad bus companies, the best places to stay and best places to buy food.

Even though this form of low budget travel can be hard, it toughens up the mind and body. Your survival technique is sharpened and all the walking makes you fit and increases your stamina. I have had many trials and tribulations. some of the trials were when I had a hard day hitch hiking. In Ireland, I had one day when I waited 3 and a half hours for my first lift and it took all day with a friend from Yugoslavia, to get from Killarney to Cork. On another day, I had walked over a mile (2 klms) out of Enniskillen in Northern Ireland for a life, but all the traffic was tourists, so I had to walk back to the bus station and take a bus to Castle Archdale youth hostel. the other days that I hitched lifts in Ireland and Wales were enjoyable, as I saw some beautiful out of the way places and met some truly wonderful people. After that difficult day of hitch hiking to Cork, I had a brilliant day following, when I got a lift from Cork all the way across southern Ireland to Blackstairs mountains. The driver took me back to show me the farmhouse that he and his new wife had bought and gave me afternoon tea and 3 fresh eggs (carefully wrapped) to take with me. He even dropped me off at the road to the Wicklow hills, which I reached from there in 3 short lifts, so it was an easy day. I never intended to hitch hike in South America, but while at Puerto Madryn. Yaan and I decided that we could get to Puerto Piramides on the peninsula 98 kilometres away - cheaper by local bus than by doing a tour. We succeeded brilliantly in doing this and enjoyed perfect weather next day when we went on a whale watching cruise. However, the following morning, we found that no buses were going back to Puerto Madryn. The result was a new record of waiting 5 hours before we got a lift, after taking turns hitch hiking in gale force  winds. Luckily, this mid afternoon lift took us direct back to Puerto Madryn. After a few beers to wet our dusty throats, a hot shower and 2 bottles of red wine to have with our meal that night, we felt much better and slept like a log.

In south America, I visited Chile and Argentina, where few people speak any more English than I speak Spanish. this sometimes led me to miss a local bus or head in the wrong direction as I could not understand their directions properly, or they did not understand what I asked. It helped to listen very intently, watch their hand movements and even to repeat their directions just to make sure that I had understood everything.

I have seen some absolutely spectacular scenery while travelling around the world. In Chile and Argentina, some of the mountain and fjord scenery, especially in southern Patagonia was just magnificent. It rivalled the fjords of Norway and the Swiss alps. I was so pleased to reach Bodo in the Arctic circle of northern Norway and the longest day in summer and to visit Redondo island in the Beagle channel at the very bottom of South America, just within Argentinian Antarctic territory of Terra del Fuergo. It was a real buzz on both occasions.

During my travels, I have enjoyed absolutely delightful short walks (about 10 klms) in forests in Europe, Britain, Ireland, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and Australia. I have experienced daily life of the local inhabitants as I walked around markets, or the back streets of towns. It is here that you see the way people really live and it makes you appreciate what you have and what Australia has to offer in freedom and standard of living. While travelling, I can see the World from a different perspective and see how rapidly the world is changing politically, environmentally, socially and the results of technology in each country. It is an amazing world.

The end.

Travel in a changing world - is a fascinating journey to many parts of the world describing the scenery, places worth seeing, land use and peoples. It shows how lifestyles and landscapes have changed in regions revisited twenty to thirty years later. The reader can visualise the places that Gerard writes about, plus there are photos on every page to enhance the feeling of actually being there. The book includes many Travel tips, and all of the following and much more.

TRAVEL IN A CHANGING WORLD - you can request any two Volumes for $5 as an ebook. Printed hard copies of Volumes 1 to 4 cost $75 including postage and Volumes 5 to 8 cost $70, so it is much cheaper to purchase each Volume as an ebook. Just email lifestylerenewal@yahoo.com.au to make arrangements and find details. Note: Volumes 1 to 8 total over 700 pages in all.

Travel in a Changing World - Volumes One (Australia to London via Asia, Kathmandu, India) Chapters 1. Indonesia 2. Singapore 3. Malaysia 4. Thailand. 5. Nepal. 6. India 7. Istanbul 8. Athens 9. London) Volume 2 (all around Canada and U.S.A), Volume 3 (Pacific islands – Hawaii, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua, New Zealand)  Volume 4 (China and Europe revisited) Chapter 5 British Isles in detail, Volume 6 South Africa & South America Argentina, Chile Iguazu, Volume 7 Australia all over in detail, Volume 8 Life Stories from my travels.

Click Here to see a sample of Experience the World from the Travel in a Changing World book

West Papua - the population of this region has been devastated by genocide, rape and torture by the Indonesian authorities for more than 30 years. The International press has been denied access and the attrocities have remained unreported. The indigenous population is less than one fifth of the original population and could become extinct within 8 years. The pristine  environment of West Papua is being rapidly destroyed by illegal logging of the rainforest and the poison chemicals from the Freeport mine - the world's largest goldmine has poisoned the river downstream so fish is no longer edible.  

To learn more about what is going on in West Papua, have a good look at these websites www.koteka.net and www.westpapua.net  

Click here  for a sample of the Lifestyle Renewal section of booklet Linton

Linton Loveballs is the more flamboyant Avatar author of Gerard Castles – the author of the eight volumes collected under the title “Travel in a Changing World” and the book “Lifestyle Renewal and Healthy Living” Inspired by Gerard’s success, Linton decided to write a book about his extensive travels around the world. In fact, he has been to more exotic places that Gerard has not visited such as Central America, Russia, North Africa including Egypt, Tahiti and the Bahamas including Cuba.

 Linton is a strong young male now aged 28 who has been travelling almost continuously since he left home at the age of twenty for reasons which may be revealed later. Up until then, he lived with his parents in a large home with rambling garden at Cremorne Point in Sydney. The property is currently valued at $2 million. Linton hopes to inherit this property as he is the only son and keeps in contact with his parents who still give him an allowance which enables him to keep roaming around the world. Naturally, after the money they spent on his education, they wanted him to go to university, but Linton just wanted to be free, so simply just announced one day that he was going to “further his education of life and see the world” Within two months of making this announcement, he had arranged his own Bon Voyage party for family and friends, packed his case and was off on an adventure of a lifetime.  

As Linton is young strong, charismatic, nearly two metres tall and has a good physique, he does not need to chase women as they just come to him. The photos here are of this Avatar writer which you will learn more about if you show an interest in his adventures in life and travel. The pictures of Linton were taken while he stayed a few days with his great Aunt Vera at her penthouse in Surfers Paradise. Vera is well into her seventies, wealthy and has predatory tendencies for young males. She frequents local bars from Happy Hour onwards and entices young tourists back to her apartment after she has paid for their meal, plenty of drinks and suggested lots of  mutual satisfaction. Her great nephew Linton has heard on the grapevine that many a young male backpacker has agreed that Aunt Vera is "good value"   

Pictures computer generated of Avatar world traveller Linton on holidays in Surfers Paradise at great Aunt Vera's luxury unit. 

Linton going peanuts

This is the story of Linton’s recent adventure into Queensland to visit a friend on the Sunshine Coast and experience what the area up to one hundred kilometres inland has to offer. Linton had always been a traveller and after working six months at a Beach Resort in Collaroy, Sydney, he was getting itchy feet, so what better than to take up the offer of a former travel companion to stay at his beachside recluse near Noosa and to discover some of the Hinterland together.

No sooner had the plane touched down at Maroochydore, Linton could feel the heat and humidity of the tropics. His friend Rod was there waiting and drove him to the house he had bought only ten months earlier overlooking Sunshine Beach. After a refreshing shower and lunch with a glass or two of French Champagne they caught up on what each other had been doing and planned their next couple of weeks together as Rod had taken some time off work. Linton was happy to hear of Rod’s suggestion that they spend a few days in the Noosa area, before he would take him in his 4Wd to the Hinterland and then even further inland over the range to see the lush dairy country and historic towns.

After a couple of days around Noosa going for walks in the National Park including the Perigian section, swims at Sunshine beach or Little Cove and a picnic at Alexander Bay where the only nudists appeared to be older men, Rod and Linton headed to the Noosa hotel each afternoon around four for Happy Hour and met a German backpacker from Frankfurt called Fiona. She was a willing participant to share her wonderful firm body with them as a threesome in a fun evening of sexual exhilaration fuelled by champagne on Rod’s king size bed. The evening of eternal bliss demanded a repeat performance the next morning before the boys dropped Fiona off after breakfast and set off on their planned drive into the Hinterland in Rod’s 4WD.

At Pomona they bought fresh lychees from Tomarata lychee farm and a jar of Sensual lychee chilli sauce. From here, they travelled along steep backroads through scenic countryside to Montville and Mapleton in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. The main highlights included a walk to Kondalilla Falls and lunch at an English style pub in Flaxton. Arriving mid afternoon in Kenilworth, they booked into the typical country hotel exuding old world charm and had a siesta. The rooms were clean and the beds comfortable. A walk around town helped stretch the legs. They came across Kenilworth Country Foods which offered a sample of locally made gourmet cheeses, plus looked around the shops and popped into the Tourist Information Centre for maps and advice on where best to dine that evening.

The L’Escape restaurant next to Kenilworth Park proved to be the perfect place to dine alfresco set amidst a tropical garden with view over the park in the fading light. They enjoyed selections from the French a la carte menu and chatted to a couple of women at the next table who later joined them at their hotel for drinks and a bowl of peanuts before they agreed to Linton’s suggestion for a bit of fun in the bedroom. Catherine nearly chocked as a peanut went down the wrong way and was gasping for breath. Linton gave her a sharp whack on the back dislodging the peanut and then assisted with gently mouth to mouth resuscitation until she gained her vigour for further exploits of the night.

The next morning was bright and sunny. After breakfast of croissants and coffee, Rod and Linton swapped email address with the girls and said farewell as they drove out of town heading for Maleny. A walk around this historic town allowed them to buy a few supplies before cutting across hilly country often along dirt roads to Kilcoy; a popular stopover for motor cycle riders who all congregate at the pub. From here it was a pleasant scenic sealed road passing through  bush land and dairy or fruit farms to historic towns like Blackbutt, Yarraman and Nanango on the way to the peanut capital of the world or at least of Australia – Kingaroy. It took them all day as they walked some of the old railway trail near Blackbutt and had lunch at the R.S.L in Nanango where a fifty year old lady became besotted with Linton’s youthful body but he and Rod made a quick escape when she had to go to the ladies room. Refreshed after a large meal and a couple of beers, they drove to Kingaroy coming across the famous fresh peanut stand as they entered town, so bought smoked peanuts, chilli peanuts and savoury one to have later on during Happy Hour usually around 4 p.m.

Linton wanted to stay at the best hotel in town – the Carrollee, where his friend Gerard had stayed a few years earlier. It is a grand well maintained hotel over a century old opposite the rail line with comfortable old world charm. As when author Gerard visited it, a variety of guests were staying there including some permanents who worked locally and older tourists.

Once settled in their twin room upstairs with access to the long verandah overlooking the street, Rod read the “History of Bunya Nuts to Peanuts” from the town map of Kingaroy. Apparently, the local aboriginal clans who spoke Wakka Wakka, would invite other clans from the neighbouring regions to join them in a huge festival of song, dance and harvesting the tasty nuts which grow on the massive Bunya pine trees. In the 1840s, European squatters started taking up pastoral leases near what would become Kingaroy and enjoyed eating Bunya nuts too. After the first World War repatriated soldiers settled in the area to start up farms and began to grow peanuts as well as a variety of grains and vegetables. Not to be outdone by the Bunya Nut Festival, peanuts soon put Kingaroy on the map as the “Peanut capital of Australia” With a wry smile, Rod concluded that with the Bunya nuts, beer, peanuts and wild women, it was no wonder “Linton was going peanuts”

It was a steamy hot February day and Linton remembered that Gerard during his stay in Kingaroy went to the public swimming pool to cool down and get some exercise, so suggested it would be a good way to spend the rest of the afternoon to keep cool, plus you never know what talent may be there. Rod thought it was a great idea, so off they went to the pool. When they arrived, there were some local high school swimmers training. They only used two lanes, so Linton and Rod did some laps in another lane while stopping for a rest and to admire the perfect bodies of the female students aged about 16 while trying not to look obvious. What a shame they did not have snorkels for the underwater view.

Just after four in the afternoon, the students left the pool and parents with young children started to invade the pool for a cool swim, so Linton and Rod headed back to the pub for Happy Hour hoping to meet someone there which in fact they did. There were about eight single women but about thirty men having drinks after work. Many knew each other and it took the boys a few drinks to sort out who might be available. They honed on a couple of likely females who welcomed their offer to buy them a drink and it was not long before the conversation and good vibes fired up.  They both felt that good sensation that men get between their thighs, so shouted the two women a meal of steak and salad, plus a few more drinks followed by the eagerly accepted invitation to come upstairs to their room. The women were good friends and had obviously done this before as they did not mind the fact that there were two randy couples on each of the twin beds going for it as lustily as they could.

Rod and Linton did not get much sleep that night as they shared their single beds with the Deanne and Madelyn until time for a cleansing shower and breakfast in the dining room below. It was hard to shake them off as the boys visited the Kingaroy Heritage museum and Art Gallery just behind the hotel. With a young lady clinging onto their arms as if they had become part of their own anatomy, the boys walked around the museum to discover that it was the former Power House of the town. The museum depicts the history of Kingaroy Shire under the themes of People, Power and Peanuts. The Peanut exhibition area contains machinery and photos of the early development of the peanut industry. After a look around the museum, they went into the Art Gallery and admired the intricate decorated ceilings and polished floors of this former Council Chambers which was an artwork within itself. The paintings by local artists were good, but nothing compared to the attention that Linton was getting from his new lady friend who kept accidentally touching him in places that was driving him peanuts. Rod could see the bulge in his pants and said they should return to their hotel room for another session.
After an hour of lustful acrobatics, Linton and Rod said that they were off to see the Bunya Mountains and their new friends wanted to come along, but they made an excuse that they were going to call in on some old girlfriends and this excuse worked. At least they were free for the day until they returned to stay another night.
The Bunya Mountains were just over an hours dive from Kingaroy and on arrival they went into the Bunya Forest gallery and Tea Room for refreshments before going on a walk through the forests down along a creek and past some huge Bunya pine trees which looked magnificent towering overhead. The boys were not in a hurry to return to their new clinging girlfriends back at Kingaroy so spent much of the day in this scenic area including lunch in the Cider Gum cafe. On the drive back to town they called into a local winery to sample the local produce and arrived back at the Carrollee hotel at dusk just in time for dinner.

Deanne and Madelyn suddenly appeared and asked the boys how their day was and while confidently sitting back with a beer, Rod and Linton told them the bullshit story they had worked out while going on their walk in the Bunya Mountains of how they had spent much of the day with their old flames in sexual bliss and that they were checking out of the hotel next morning to spend a few days with them. There was a cool reaction but Madelyn was curious and wanted to know more about them, like their names and where exactly did they live, but the boys were too suave and would not give any confidential information knowing that news spreads fast on the bush telegraph.

Linton and Rod checked out next morning and were careful to make sure the girls did not follow them by driving up to the lookout for the final view of Kingaroy and then took a few back streets to find their way onto the highway to Gympie. At the historic town of Wondai, they stopped for a quick walk around the town which they found had real character and popped into the pub for a beer before driving over scenic rolling hills passing vegetable crops, dairy farms fields of grain, wineries and through some forest until they reached the outskirts of Gympie. The traffic was almost non existent on the way except for a few farm vehicles, so they stopped to stretch their legs and relieved themselves while the curious local cows strolled over towards the fence to watch.

The traffic was heavy in Gympie and along the Bruce Highway as they headed south back towards the Sunshine Coast. There was plenty of time to break the journey and stop for lunch at a homely café and a look around Cooroy. At the hotel in Tewantin over a few beers they relived and laughed about their adventures and exploits during that memorable holiday together. Rod described Linton as going peanuts over all these women he had enjoyed over the past week or so, but there was little rest for them both. During the final five days while staying with Rod at Sunshine Beach, the pair had managed to chalk up a few more amorous encounters; first at karaoke night at Noosa surf club and then at a bar in the Sheraton.

The two weeks of Linton’s holiday had been so enjoyable. Rod really did go out of his way to make sure his mate from Sydney had a good time and thoroughly enjoyed doing so himself. They had experienced the beauty and history of the region, the women they encountered, the good food, beer, wine of course, a variety of peanuts. That is precisely what they nibbled on while having their final beer together at Maroochydore airport before Linton boarded his flight back to Sydney.

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