Inge took this shot a few years back when I travelled to met her in Tibet. She’d been living and working in a town called Ganzi (Karze if you’re Tibetan) teaching English at a free school. I’d arrived the day before — it had taken me 5 days to get there from Sydney.

She took this shot while we were walking back from the main Ganzi monastery after receiving a surprise blessing — hence the red dot. Ganzi is 3,800 meters above sea level and I remember being rather puffed.

As I look at the photo now, I see is a tired, puffy-faced old geezer who’s looking forward to a beer.

The poem is a favourite. I obviously think it applies.

Okay, I admit it! I’m old enough to be a grandfather — well, old enough in years, but I am definitely not old enough in my head.

Grandfatherhood has always conjured up the kind of images that play havoc with my brain. I never thought I would be a father and I can assure you, most unequivocally, that my life-plan never included any child of mine having children of their own. And like all well-laid plans of mice and men, this one never quite turned out the way I expected. Even though the idea of being called Grandpa still sends a shiver down my spine, when my grandson gives me a smile and looks to me for a cuddle then all that stuff is forgotten in a instant.

I’ve done a lot of reading about grandparenting since finding I was a tad deficient in some areas, and not quite sure what my daughter expected me to be able to do. Most of the advice I read can be put into two words: DON’T PANIC!

That was easy to do, until I tried the whole feeding thing.

The Net is a wonderful space, there is advice for every situation. It seems if you want to survive a feeding without having to change your clothes and wash your hair afterwards, all you need do is:

• Drape a tea towel or a nappy over each shoulder
• Wear a hat so the child doesn’t run his food-laden fingers through your hair
• Wear recreational spectacles, swimming or laboratory goggles to keep food and other stuff out of your eyes
• Wear a smock. They suggested a large shirt worn backwards but I went out and bought a pinnie. One of those that go over your head.

Anyway, I’ve got to say it went rather well. I fed him today for the first time and I came out of it totally unscathed. Not one mark on me — nothing. After I de-robed he stopped crying and gave me a smile…

Now I’m off to find out how to change his nappy without getting soaked or throwing-up. Any suggestions?

A helicopter joy flight arranged as a family birthday gift for a 100-year-old man, who by the way had never flown before, crashed shortly after take-off in central Sweden. The chopper came down just after it left the grounds of his nursing home, its rotor blades clipping a tree and a light post.

The six passengers included the 100-year-old, his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and a nurse were taken to a hospital. There were no serious injuries.