Dear Bob...

Remember the Blinman Hotel that I referred to in my last post?  The one with the entertaining clientele?    There’s another humorous story that we took away from there, I only hope that I can convey it adequately in print (otherwise it will just be one of those “guess you had to be there” stories).

The Blinman Hotel/Pub had “character” oozing from every nook and cranny found within its walls.  You could almost call it the Blinman Hotel/Pub/Museum, (it does date back to 1863).  One wall was plastered with business cards of visitors from all over the world.  Another wall consisted of foreign currencies stapled, glued, tacked up from anywhere and everywhere, another testament to the cross-section of people that have shared a beer or two there.  A Canadian one dollar bill jumped out at me, as I hadn’t seen one of those in almost 25 years!  There were artifacts, photos and mementos from Blinman’s colourful past,  all adding to the charm of the place.

There was one item that especially intrigued us.  It was a framed letter and photo that was sent from a Blinman local, Art, to his brother, Bob.  It dates back to the early 1900′s.  Unfortunately my photos did not turn out very well, as the room was dark and my flash kept reflecting off the glass in the frame.  Nevertheless, I will try to capture the essence of the letter.

To put it in context, the photo accompanying the letter is of a team of goats attached to a heavily laden cart, and standing behind them is their proud owner and master, Art.  The goats, it should be noted, are your everyday, run-of-the-mill, billy goat variety.  Despite the poor quality of my photo, I have included it at the end of this post.

The letter read as follows….

Blinman

Dear Bob,

I am sending you a photo of my goat team.  I think the only fault with the photo is myself.  I wished I had old Victor on the off side so that he could be seen plainly.  By jove hasn’t he got a neck on him to the others.  Well I wish I had a decent load on just to show you what they can pull.  Well by all account you seem to be very angora goats down there.  I wouldn’t mind putting in a week there to see fair play.  Miss Sydenham was asking of you last night and I told her you was very angora goats.   Well Boffin I think I must close with kindest regards.

A. Ferrett

The postscript up top reads…

I just in a very good evening last night oh! slosh what fun in the new store.  Excuse writing bad pen.

I think we can infer what last night entailed.  I’m pretty sure that the quality of the pen was not the issue.

Kate, Stephen and I especially liked the reference to angora goats, and its use as a slang or colloquial expression.  Clearly Bob had moved on to a swankier lifestyle, and Art, whether jealous, resentful or proud,  was not going to let it go unnoticed!  No wonder Miss Sydenham was asking after him.  Well, after coming across this gem, we couldn’t wait to add angora goats to our repertoire, looking for every possible opportunity in which we could use it.

One of my most cherished souvenirs that I will take home from this adventure will be the truly Australian expressions and colloquialisms I’ve picked up along the way.

Simply bewdy!

Art and his team of goats, including Old Victor and his extraordinary neck

My poor neglected blog!  It has not been for lack of news to share that my blog has lain dormant for the last month.  On the contrary, I have been busy exploring near and far, in the company of family and friends visiting from home.  So let me begin where I last left off….

We had the absolute pleasure of having Kate “home” for the month of July.  As mentioned in my previous post, she arrived in Australia following a month of traveling throughout Europe.  She had visited Adelaide on her last trip here, over Christmas, but it was only for a couple of days and was during the summer holidays, so on that visit, we pretty much kept to home and the beach.  So she was anxious to see what Adelaide had to offer, and I was thrilled to have somebody with whom to explore it.  It is so much more fun sharing new experiences with someone special, and I usually only have that luxury on weekends when Stephen is off.  So Kate and I thoroughly explored downtown Adelaide, it’s markets, stores, churches, museum exhibits such as the DaVinci Exhibition, as well as many other places of interest.  We then broadened our rambles to include  historic Port Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale, where we enjoyed an exceptional wine and cheese tour.

While she absolutely loved the culture and character that makes Adelaide special, I had hoped that she could use this visit to see other parts of Australia, as well.  Much of her visit coincided with the Australian schools winter holidays, though, so many of the popular (and warmer) destinations were booked up and/or flights and accommodations were at a premium.  Fortunately, one of Kate’s hopes was to get to experience the Australian Outback.  Adelaide provides the perfect gateway to the Outback, by way of Flinders Ranges, so Stephen took off the better part of a week, we loaded up the car and headed in land (or out back).

A View of the Outback

We had researched and spent time with an SA Visitor Information representative and with her help, came up with a tentative itinerary.  From Adelaide, you simply drive north, keeping in mind that the further you go, the more remote and desert-like it gets.  The general rule of thumb is to take advantage of every little store and gas station you pass, and to carry extra gasoline in a jerrycan, because it can be a long time between towns or stations.

Prairie Hotel, Parachilna, South Australia

We spent our first night in the “town” of Parachilna (population 8!).  Parachilna was once a town, but now consists only of the Prairie Hotel, an abandoned railway station, a small airstrip and a few buildings.  Hotel staff fly in for extended shifts.  The Prairie Hotel dates back to the days when the rail was supreme. Away from the highway, the hotel fronts the railway line and the now derelict station building. The old hotel has been in part retained, in part restored and tastefully extended.  We stayed in a little cabin, right beside the train track, which belongs to the hotel.  While we spent our day exploring the Ranges, we would return to the hotel for dinner.  The food there was exceptional, and renowned for their award-winning “Flinders Feral Food Platter”,  a sampling of emu, kangaroo and camel meat dishes.  Stephen tried it, but Kate and I were less adventurous.   The highlight of the evening is the passing of the train returning from Leigh Creek, with coal for the power station at Port Augusta. It consists of some 180 trucks, 3 km in length, and takes about 5 minutes to pass.  The hostess announces it’s scheduled arrival and all the dining room and bar patrons run out to watch it pass.

A train station from days gone by

As it turned out, we ended up staying two nights at the Prairie Hotel, as there proved to be too much to do and see in that area of the Ranges.  We did some hiking along the Heysen Trail, a 1200 km walking trail that runs from Parachilna Gorge, south and east via the Adelaide Hills to Cape Jervis on the Fleurieu Penisula.  As we were at one end of the trail, we ventured along it for a while before turning around and heading back.  We also hiked along a spectacular river gorge to find the Blinman Pools, two very isolated spring-fed pools.  The hike was supposedly 6 kilometres in and then 6 kms back out again, however, as the trail itself is not always obvious, I think we probably hiked closer to 10 kilometres in, but followed a more direct 6 km route out.   It was all worth it, though, as we were surrounded by gorgeous scenery, wild life and stunning rock cliffs.  While on that walk, we came across a herd of mountain goats, who fled as soon as we came into view of them, but shortly afterwards, Kate and I  happened to glance up to see the big daddy of the goat herd keeping a close watch on us from high above.

Kate and Stephen, Heysen Trail

Hiking Parachilna Gorge

Big Daddy Mountain Goat keeping an eye on us from above

Another highlight of that area was the town of Blinman, the highest town in South Australia, accessed by a narrow, steep and winding, unsealed road. In the mid 1800′s it boomed as a thriving copper mining town.  Things are much quieter there these days, except for an exceptional outback hotel/pub, where we stopped in for a beer. There we met an entertaining pair of blokes who were camping and hunting in the area, an annual pilgrimage of theirs.  Intrigued by our accents, they questioned where we were from and what we were doing there.  Their best line was, which one told us in all seriousness, that “…my friend and I are interested in pubs”.  You don’t say!  He also went on to tell us a story about how he and a group of mates once drove from Adelaide to Darwin, intentionally stopping at every single pub along the way.  It took them three weeks just to get out of South Australia.  I believe him.

It's always interesting having a beer with local characters at an outback hotel.

As we ventured slightly further north and more outback, we made a short detour in order to see Beltana.  While largely deserted now, the town has been designated as a State Heritage Area, as it was from here that many of the great inland explorations set out.  It served as a repeater station for the Overland Telegraph, and was also the base for large scale camel breeding.  (The story of how camels and their Afghan cameleers came to live in Australia is a fascinating one and an excellent topic for a future post, but for now suffice it to say that it was due largely to their knowledge and efforts that the Australian Outback was opened up.  The iconic train that traverses the Australian Outback today, the Ghan, is named after those Afghan camel drivers.)

On the road to Beltana

I could go on and on, it was such a fun and fascinating trip.  A whole new facet of Australian culture, history and geography.

Kate, sadly, has now left and is once again traveling through Europe on her way back to Canada.  It was even harder saying goodbye to her this time, than it was the previous two times.  We will see her again at Christmas time.  Thanks Kate, for the wonderful visit and safe travels home.  Sending you heaps of love.

Mountain biking along part of the Mawson Trail (fun until I wiped out and landed on a rock and cactus- will use training wheels next time)

I'll leave you with this bit of travel advice courtesy of the South Australian Government

Kate and friend.

Kate and I spent last Friday afternoon at Cleland Wildlife Park.  Situated just outside the city, in the beautiful Adelaide Hills, the park consists of 35 hectares of natural bushland and hiking trails.  It is also home to some of Australia’s most captivating wildlife, many of which are free roaming.  Among the animals to be found there are several different species of kangaroos (Western Grey, Red and Kangaroo Island), wallabies, wombats, bandicoots, echidnas, emus, koalas, dingoes, Tasmanian Devils, and an extensive collection of birds and reptiles.  And while the weather on Friday was cool and wet, we decided to go anyway, as school holidays were starting the following Monday and the park would, therefore, be crowded.  As it was, we pretty much had the entire place to ourselves (except for our furry and feathered friends).

We had a great time.  Regardless of how many times I see them, kangaroos always bring a smile to my face.  They are extremely docile and non-threatening, and while they would most likely jump away from you if you tried to approach them in the wild, in the park they are quite used to people and will come and eat from your hand (the park provides visitors with special food with which to feed them).  They are comical though, in the way that they look you up and down, with a scrutinizing stare, as if you are the spectacle and not them.

The Tasmanian Devils, Dingoes and Koalas in the park, are kept in large pens.  All of them have previously been part of recovery programs, used for breeding purposes to help increase the numbers in their species.  As they are now beyond breeding age, they are housed and taken care of by the wildlife park staff and are used for environmental education purposes, to bring awareness to the fact that they all belong to vulnerable, threatened or endangered species.  There are more than a million  species of fauna that are native and unique to Australia. Due to such factors as habitat destruction, climate change, feral animals, pesticides and pollution, Australia has the highest number of extinct species and the most endangered species in the world.  The national, state and territory governments, as well as many local, grass-root organizations, are working together to ensure that those threatened species and communities are protected and repopulated.  Cleland Conservation Park, operated by the Government of South Australia, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, does a great job of demonstrating and teaching the importance of, and need for, conservation skills and sustainable lifestyles for the benefit of all that share our planet.

A fun place, with an important message.

Cheers!

I had my hands full.

This wallaby thought Kate needed a new pair of jeans.

A mom with her joey.

Pure-blooded dingoes, such as these, are now classified as vulnerable.

The Tasmanian Devil population has almost been wiped out by an aggressive, transmittable parasitic cancer known as Devil Facial Tumour Disease. This female was part of a recovery program, used for breeding purposes to repopulate the species.

Kate and a Western Grey Kangaroo.

Bandicoots- I have one living in my backyard.

Kate has finally arrived!  After making her merry way here by way of Eastern Europe, she arrived in Melbourne early Monday morning.  I had driven to Melbourne on Sunday, so that I could greet her at the airport Monday morning and then the two of us could spend a couple of days poking around Melbourne.

And let me tell you, she was a sight to see upon arrival.  Bear in mind that she had been backpacking (with a tiny backpack), for a month, in war-torn countries, on a next-to-nothing budget.  My first concern was with how long it took her to clear customs.  While the arrival board indicated that her flight had landed on time, I waited, and waited, and waited.  Then finally, through the sliding doors separating the customs area from the airport lobby, appears a gypsy form, now known to me as Katarina Roma Bobyn.  Draped in fabrics from head to toe, soiled from not having been laundered in a month, grinning from ear to ear.  She has finally arrived from her journey, safe and sound, and that is all that matters.  When I ask what the delay was in getting through customs and security, she explains that she was questioned and inspected by three different sniffer dogs and countless border guards.  She was well aware that she appeared somewhat suspect and that her response as to where she had arrived in Australia from, only added to the intrigue.  But she was polite and cooperated fully with the customs agents, and the dogs were unable to find anything of interest on her.  As she explained to the agents, “No problem, I’ve watched a lot of episodes of Border Patrol, I know how this works.”

Kate upon arrival at Melbourne Airport (she's second from the left)

So we spent a couple of days together in Melbourne.  She clearly enjoyed the clean bed, decent sleeps, good meals, and shopping for new clothes in the shopping capital of Australia.  She has some amazing stories and pictures which I am hoping that she will share through this blog in the weeks to come.   Meanwhile, we are now back in Adelaide, relaxing and exploring.  Tomorrow we’re heading off to McLaren Vale to visit some wineries.  She’s here for a month, and I intend on making good use of every single day.

Welcome home, Kate.  I missed you <3

Enroute from Melbourne to Adelaide, we stopped to admire the sunset.

She cleans up nicely !

View from our front porch

The end of June marks the end of the first 6 months of our Adelaide posting.  That means that we have 6 months to go until our (expected) return to Canada.  I say expected, because I’m starting to realize just how difficult it is going to be to leave here.  Let me explain why.

We live in the community of Henley Beach,  in a quaint old house, right on the beach.  The first thing that I do every morning upon waking, is to throw open the curtains and the front door to delight in the sight and sound of the waves upon the beach and the smell of the salt air.

Henley Beach is a small, coastal neighbourhood, situated on a long strip of white beach on the western edge of Adelaide.  It is characterized by it’s long jetty and a large, lively square, which is edged by wine bars, cafes and restaurants.  It is an exceptional swimming beach, with fine white sand and gentle waves.

There are things  I experience on a daily basis that, despite their regularity and predictability, never cease to leave me marvelling.   Through photos and text, I will walk you through some of those things.

The “Extraordinary Ordinary” daily sights at Henley Beach…

• Pods of dolphins swimming up and down the shore, usually in the morning and then again in the evening
• Pelicans loitering around fishermen, hoping for some freebies

• 

  A not-so-discreet pelican hoping for a handout

• People of all ages and descriptions, crabbing for Blue Swimmers, off the jetty with their hoop nets
• Families playing cricket on the beach
• Sports teams who regularly come to the beach to do their workouts

• 

  Flexing some muscle

• Teens jumping into the water off the end of the jetty (a significant and daring feat)
• The Henley Surf Life Boat Rowing crews practicing (The traditional surf life boats are no longer used for rescue, being replaced by paddle boards, jet skis and rubber dinghies.  The traditional boats, however, are used for competition, and I just love watching them power out through the waves and then surf them back in to shore.)

• 

  Henley men's and women's surf life boat teams following practice

• The yellow and red Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopters flying up and down the beach coast on shark patrol
• Kids and sandcastles
• The Henley Junior Life Saving Team training (they’re funny to watch because as they use their arms to paddle their rescue boards up and down the beach, they often are also kicking madly, even though their legs are nowhere near the water )

• 

  Junior Lifesaver training- learning to paddle the board means learning not to kick

• The man who walks up and down the beach each day, reading while he walks (how does he do that?)

• 

  The Reader

• The elderly gentlemen who meet every morning on the bench in front of our house to discuss world affairs
• The man who sits on a bench in the square, looking out to the ocean, juggling

• 

  The Juggler

• The most spectacular sunsets I’ve ever witnessed, no two are the same, and it’s a time of day I look forward to because it is just so gorgeous

• 

  Sunset, Henley Beach, February 14, 2011

It is never, ever dull around here.

Google map 289 Esplanade, Henley Beach, South Australia 5022, and take a 3D virtual stroll down the beach with me.  While we’re at it, let’s stop at Cibo and have a gelato.

Cheers!

Kathy

Playing with dolphins among the mangroves

I have to tell you about another Top 10 day I recently had.  (I think that makes it about 23 or 24 Top Ten days, but then I never was very good at math).

Within my Adelaide dragonboat team, Warriors Abreast, there is a small group of avid kayakers who get together every other Friday or so, for some kayaking in the Port Adelaide River.  A couple of weeks ago, during one of our Saturday morning practices, I heard them recounting their experiences of having paddled with dolphins the day before.  I asked a few more questions about it and I think that I may have boldly asked if I could join them on their next outing.  They very kindly welcomed me to join them, and so for the next 2 weeks I was like a kid excitedly awaiting the excursion.

So last week, on a beautiful sunny and warm Friday morning, six of us car-topped our kayaks and met at the public boat launch on Garden Island, in the Port Adelaide River.  Port Adelaide River is a wide inlet off Gulf St. Vincent.  While the area has a history as an active commercial port, it is now largely an industrial port, including active ship-building yards as well as water and power stations.  The river’s main channel is widely used by a local fishing fleet as well as recreational boaters.

The area, though, is also hugely popular with canoeists and kayakers.  It is home to a 118 square kilometre bottlenose dolphin sanctuary with lush mangrove forests lining the shores of the Garden and Torrens Islands.  These mangrove forests provide a welcoming habitat for the dolphins, as well as other marine animals and several species of birds.  The dolphin population within the river is considered to be the only wild dolphins in the world living within a city.  The playful dolphins are known for following and examining small boats, seemingly engaging with the paddlers.

The gorgeous dolphin sanctuary would be reason enough to frequent the site, however, there is much more in the river to be explored as well.  The North Arm of the river contains a significant ships’ graveyard.  With 26 identified wrecks, it is considered to be one of the world’s largest and most diverse ships’ graveyards, and includes the remains of sailing ships, steamships, ferries, and iron barges.  The ships, all built and launched between 1857 and 1920, were each abandoned here at the end of their useful life, between 1909 and 1945.  The remains of the iron and wooden ships now rest in the mudflats and serve as bird roosts and a canoeing attraction, but also provide us with a historical look at shipping and ship construction.

So, with all of that to explore, we spent several hours paddling around like happy ducks, under a warm sun on glass-like water.   Our fleet consisted of Joy and her husband Graham, Sally, Leigh, Ina and myself.  Graham and Joy have been canoeing in the area for many years.  Graham kindly leads the way and is a perfect guide, knowing and sharing with us all of the secrets and treasures found within the many river inlets.

We were truly welcomed by a local pod of dolphins.  They playfully swam and dove under our boats, alongside of our boats, ahead of and behind us.  At times I would feel a gentle nudge under my kayak and look down to see up to eight dolphins swimming under me.  They stayed with us while we paddled up and down the river.  There is something almost magical about them.  And while the feeling is hard to put into words, each and every time I see a dolphin, whether it is in the Port River or outside my house at Henley Beach, I am every bit as excited and in awe as the first time I saw one.   How I wish that I could bring a couple home with me to watch and paddle with in Newboro Lake.

Graham and Joy and the playful locals

The wreck that Graham took us to on this visit was the Santiago, a 3-masted, 455 ton iron barque, built in 1856 in Methil, Scotland.  The Santiago is listed on Brouwer’s International Register of Historic Ships as being the oldest iron-hulled sailing ship in existence today.  It remained in service until 1945.  It began its service sailing between Great Britain and South America, and in 1918 was sold to the Adelaide Tug Company where it was demasted and converted to a hulk to carry coal.  The 1981 South Australian Historic Shipwrecks Act declared the Santiago a historic shipwreck.  The hull serves as an important piece of shipping history and provides information regarding the construction of an iron hulled ship.  It is the oldest ship in the graveyard and its hull is mostly intact.  It sits in shallow water and we were able to paddle right up to it and around it.  It’s huge.  I’ve included a picture of myself in front of it to give you an idea of its size.  In the photo, directly above me, you can see where its back was broken in a storm in 2001.

Dwarfed by the Santiago

To top off a perfect day on the water, we all brought food to share for a picnic.  I, humbly, brought along some watermelon and a loaf of homemade banana bread, while the others set up the picnic blanket with a feast fit for a king.  They thought of and brought everything.  We had hot coffee, tea and chilled wine.  Every kind of meat, cheese, bread, condiment you could think of with scones and cheesecake to finish it off!  Aussies know how to picnic.  I’ll have to put a little more thought into my next offering.

Sally, Ina, Leigh, Graham and Joy showing me how to picnic, Aussie style. Cheers!

I came away from that outing with many fantastic moments to cherish and look back upon.  I made sure to take lots of pictures as reminders, no easy feat trying to focus, aim and shoot with one hand while trying to paddle a kayak with the other hand.  My sincere thanks to Joy, Graham, Sally, Leigh and Ina for sharing the day with me and making me feel so welcome.

Cheers from Downunder,

Kathy

Ina proudly wearing her Canadian tshirt in my honour. Thanks Ina!

Darling Harbour, Chinese New Year*

I know.  It’s rather odd timing.  Chinese New Year has been and gone.  Nevertheless, I will always remember how I rang in the Year of the Rabbit.  It probably ranks as one of my “top ten” most special experiences that I’ve had here.

Outside of Asia, Sydney hosts the largest celebration of the Chinese New Year in the world.  The festivities last over two weeks and the number and scope of events is truly remarkable.  One of the most popular events of the annual festival is the Chinese New Year Dragonboat Festival, held in Darling Harbour.  Over 3,000 paddlers take part in 2 days of racing, and the event attracts 200,000 spectators, all lining the shores of Cockle Bay.  It is the largest dragonboat festival in the southern hemisphere.

Once again, the stars had aligned for me.  The CNY Dragonboat Festival took place on the weekend of February 12th and 13th.  I had, by that time, moved to Adelaide.  That Saturday marked the end of Sharon and Kelly’s visit to Australia, so I was in Sydney that weekend to see them off.  My Canberra Dragons Abreast team, who annually participate in the Sydney Festival, were kind enough to welcome me back into their boat for the festival.  I am so grateful to them.  So as I bid a tearful farewell to Sharon and Kelly, knowing that it would be a long while before I would see them again, my “sisters” from Canberra were there to lift my spirits.  And they did an exceptional job of it!  (Not that I  don’t continue to miss you, Sharon and Kelly).

The team was staying at a hotel close to Chinatown and Darling Harbour.  Knowing that, I had booked the same hotel for Sharon, Kelly and I, which made the transition an easy one.  Most of the team was arriving Saturday around noon by bus from Canberra (a 3 hour trip at most).  I was thrilled to be reunited with them as it had been over 2 months since I had seen them.  Upon their arrival, we headed over to Darling Harbour to take in the Saturday race heats for sports teams.  While it was overcast and a bit drizzly, it certainly didn’t dampen the atmosphere.  The harbour was packed with people and the cheering was deafening.  While the Dragons Abreast Breast Cancer teams were scheduled to race on Sunday, Carol, our team captain, was racing on the Saturday with a sports team that she also paddles with, so several of us found a second floor restaurant that offered an excellent view of the race course, and from there we sat, sipped, and cheered Carol on in her heats.

Saturday evening, we sat down to a team buffet dinner in Chinatown, and as always, shared some serious laughter.  Walking back to our hotel, there was yet another gelato parlour standing in our way, so we had to indulge.  Special friends and team mates, Sandy and Kerrie, were my new room mates, replacing Sharon and Kelly (not that they can be replaced!).  Try explaining that to the hotel attendants who were replacing sheets and towels- let me tell you, it was like a revolving door to Bobyn’s hotel room, but the timing worked out beautifully!

Room mates Kerrie, Sandy and myself*

Sunday we were all up and about early and eager to get to the race site.  Joy, Judy and Vicki were there before the sun came up, securing a good spot where our team and supporters could park ourselves for the day.  It gave us a perfect view of the course and harbour.  And what a view it was!  The colour, predominantly pink, and the excitement in the air, were overwhelming.  Here I was, in Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia, in a dragonboat race.  Given the fact that I find paddling in the Carleton Place Festival exciting, try to imagine which cloud I was on here! (But bear in mind, I was born in Carleton Place, so it is pretty special to me).

Paddling to the start (not my team, but it gives you an interesting perspective on the venue). The start line was beneath the beautiful, historic Pyrmont Bridge (now a footbridge, but is the world's oldest surviving electrically operated swingbridge).*

Paddling out to the start line for the first race is always thrilling, but the reality of the situation didn’t completely sink in until that first stroke of our race.  As the start gun went off and our paddles speared through the surface of the water on that ever important first stroke, I ended up with a small mouthful of  salt water.  I had never paddled in salt water before, so it came as a bit of a shock and it was then that I thought to myself, “Holy Comoly, (sort of), I’m in Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia!”  However, with that thought going through my mind, I clearly wasn’t focused on our race plan, so I had to refocus and save my celebrations until our race was finished.

We had some good race times which is always encouraging as we are always trying to improve, but the most important part of a Breast Cancer dragonboat festival is the flower ceremony.  Flowers on the Water, as it is known, is a ceremony to remember our team mates who have lost their lives to breast cancer, to honour their courage and strength and to reflect upon our good fortune of having walked alongside them.  The ceremony typically involves one or more dragon boats of survivors paddling silently into position, and often a poem, song or tribute is read aloud for the benefit of both the paddlers and the spectators on shore.  This is followed by a minute of silence and then pink flowers or petals are tossed on the water by the paddlers.  It is always a moving and emotional observance for both paddlers and spectators.  The ceremony in Sydney was no exception.  Twelve boats of survivors paddled out and linked together alongside one another.  The silence of the 200,000 spectators in the harbour was even more overwhelming than the noise throughout the day of racing.  In my thoughts throughout the ceremony were four special women from my Ottawa team, Busting Out, all of whom had passed away in the last year; Nancy, Chris, Mary and Alice. (And sadly, we just recently lost yet another friend, Joanne).   Cockle Bay was covered in pink rose petals.

Following the ceremony, we paddled around the bay once again before returning to shore, where we then passed through one of the longest guard of honour I have ever witnessed.  A guard of honour is when we line up as we get back on shore, two lines facing each other with our paddles raised in an arch, and as each paddler disembarks their boat and walks through the arch, they join the end of the line until all of the paddlers are through.  Personally I find the the guard of honour  uplifting, particularly following an emotional flower ceremony.  It reminds me how lucky I am to be part of such a large, supportive group, and that being diagnosed with breast cancer was not an end but a new beginning, an important message to send out to all women in that situation.

Flowers on the Water Ceremony. Our boat is the end one on the left.*

Dragons Abreast ACT, Chinese New Year, 2011

It was great to be paddling and visiting with my Canberra friends again, and I was absolutely over the moon to be participating in the Chinese New Year Festival in Sydney.  Without a doubt, a top ten experience and memory!

Paddles up!

Kath

And on a similar note, I would like to put a plug in for my niece, Kelly, and friend, Laura.  Both have participated in The Ottawa Weekend to End Women’s Cancers with me on our Sweater Bumpers team for the last 5 years.  This year, obviously, I won’t be participating in the 60 kilometre walk which raises funds for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, so the Sweater Bumpers are taking a bit of a hiatus this year.  However, cudos to Kelly and Laura for signing up again for this year’s walk.  They have joined with the combined CIBC bank and Queensway Carleton Hospital team (CIBC/QCH), a team which is  walking specifically to raise funds that will support the purchase of a Prone Biopsy Table, a much needed piece of equipment for the hospital and one that will directly impact patient care.  If you wish to visit their web sites or make a donation, here are their url’s.  Good onya, Kelly and Laura, I’m very proud of the two of you!

Signed,

A Sweaty Bumper Downunder.

http://www.endcancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Ottawa2011/1460378725?px=1214118&pg=personal&fr_id=1450  (Kelly)

http://www.endcancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Ottawa2011/1460378725?px=3093499&pg=personal&fr_id=1450  (Laura)

http://www.endcancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Ottawa2011?team_id=101627&pg=team&fr_id=1450  (CIBC/QCH team page)

* Note, most photos for this post were either begged, borrowed or stolen, mostly from the Dragon’s Abreast website, as I didn’t take enough pictures myself.  Thanks to those whom I’ve stolen from and please forgive me. 

This will be brief, as we’re in the midst of some gobsmacking adventures.

First of all, a Happy Easter to everybody at home.  I hope that spring has sprung and you are full of chocolate.  In Australia, Easter weekend this year meant a 5 day weekend as Anzac Day fell on Easter Monday.  Anzac stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps, and the day is one of remembrance of and appreciation for troops past and present.  The 5 day weekend falls in the middle of a 2 week school holiday, and thus is a busy time for tourism.  We had friends Marty, Sue and 11-year-old Sophie visiting from Canberra for the weekend, and we had a holiday in Kangaroo Island booked for the Easter Monday through to Thursday, so left our guests to take care of our house and beach while we are away.

Kangaroo Island is Australia’s third largest island, with an area of 4405 square kilometres (in comparison, PEI is close to 5700 square kilometres).  It is located 112 kilometres southwest of Adelaide, a 13 km ferry ride from Cape Jervis on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula.  It sits at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent.  With a population of 4,200, (PEI is 135,000), it is renowned for its wildlife protection and conservation programs. We are staying at the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Retreat on the southwestern end of the island, by Flinders Chase National Park.  It is a quiet, rustic setting with exceptional cuisine.  In our first two days here we’ve experienced so many extraordinary adventures, that it’s hard to know where to start.  Simply put, I feel like a kid at camp!

Yesterday, upon arrival on the island, we meandered our way from the ferry terminal on the eastern tip of the island to our accommodation 135 kilometres away, on the opposite end of the island.  Enroute we stopped to admire the view from atop Prospect Hill, take in a guided beach tour at Seal Bay Conservation Park, home to a colony of 1,000 Australian Sea-lions, and climb dune after higher dune of Little Sahara, watching the sandboarders and tobogganers whizzing down the dunes.

Seal pup looking for his mother. The mothers leave their pups for up to 3 days at a time to go fill up on food. This little pup must have been expecting her back soon.

Sandboarder at Little Sahara

Today, though, topped it all.  After a leisurely start to the day, we booked a noon hour tour of the Kelly Hill Caves.  Upon registering for the 45 minute Show Cave Tour, I discovered that they also have a daily 2-hour “Adventure Caving” Tour.  I mentioned to the girl at the desk that we were interested in the 2 hour tour as opposed to the 45 minute tour, but her response was that we would first have to do the shorter tour to ensure that we were up to the longer one and wouldn’t “freak out” (seriously, that’s what she said).    So we did the short tour, were fascinated and not the slightest bit fearful.  Next stop, “Adventure Caving”.  The woman had also mentioned the need for agility, physical fitness and a few other traits that I didn’t really listen to but nodded anyway, because I had already made my mind up that I was going to do it.  We returned to the site after lunch dressed in clothes that we were told would get dirty, were handed our hard hats with headlamps and met the young couple who were joining us on the tour, and our tour guide, Mary.  Mary is, by my guess, close to 60.  She is in amazing shape and looks exactly like a female version of Paul Hogan, Crocodile Dundee, complete with attitude.  She is no nonsense, possesses the wonderful Aussie trait of calling a spade a spade, and I felt totally confident with her taking me underground to the middle of the earth.  She warned us that we would be crawling on our bellies at times, in order to get through tight passages.  Yeah, yeah, I’m thinking to myself, whatever, let’s just get on with it.  And we did.

It was so very, very cool.  We just kept going deeper and further underground, through a very intricate maze of tunnels in calcite, careful not to touch the brittle stalactites overhead.  We came upon bones and fossils from animals long ago who met their fate falling down the caves.  We saw Matthew’s work in progress, a PHD candidate from Adelaide who has set up an excavation site within the caves.  It was a challenge, physically, but I loved it.  And then we came to the part of the adventure that I thought I might “freak out” at.  We had to slide, inch, squirm on our bellies, head first, through this very low cavern to get to the next cave.  Joel, the other male in the group, had broad shoulders, so he went first, following Mary, to make sure that he would fit through.  It was a tight fit, but he eventually wriggled himself through.  As I’m watching Joel struggle through, I only then begin to start questioning why I am crawling around in the middle of the earth.  And while Joel had the broadest shoulders of the group, I was blessed with the largest hips and butt of the group, so my anxiety was building.  My turn was next, so in I ventured.  The tunnel was so low that you had to turn your head sideways to get it through, meaning that you couldn’t see where you were going.  Like Joel, I wriggled and shimmied and finally got the hips and rear end through, glad to be alive and just wanting the heck to finish this adventure, because I really didn’t know what would be coming next.  So I guess I was as close to freaking out, without actually freaking out (although I was inside!).  The worst of it was over though, and from there we began to work our way up again.  Never was I so glad to see the light of day.  I’m glad I did it, but I really don’t need that level of adventure again.

It was interesting, though, and I really don’t think that you’d be able to do something like that in North America.  We signed no waivers, just had to leave a phone number of our next of kin “in case something happens down there.”  We didn’t have radios with us, or safety gear of any kind, just a helmet and headlamp.  But we did have Mary, who knew those tunnels like the back of her hand, and demonstrated all the confidence in the world.  Joel and Katrina, the other couple, were a real pleasure to get to know.

That was enough excitement for one day, and we headed back to our accommodation for some red wine, dinner and bed, for tomorrow would be another day on Kangaroo Island.

Cheers from down under downunder.

Kath

Mary, our guide. To the right of her is the tight spot that we had to crawl through, that I could very well have perished in. Reminds me of the story of Winnie the Pooh when he gets stuck in Rabbit's hole.

Stalactites

A collection of bones found in the caves

I’m not sure what I owe it to.  Fate?  Karma?  Happenstance?  All I know, is that it has happened again, where I have unexpectedly found myself in a most unlikely situation, with everything unfolding as if it was planned to a tee and meant to be.

Stephen and I have just recently returned from 5 days in Sydney.  He had to go on business and I tagged along.  We extended the trip to include the weekend.  As we sat in the cab on the way to our hotel,  driving through the CBD, Stephen commented on the multitude of people walking about in street clothes (as opposed to cycling gear), walking $10,000 bikes around Hyde Park, a paradox that he noted and puzzled over.  It was then that we began to notice the banners, arches, tents and barriers lining College Street, St. Mary’s Cathedral and Hyde Park, the streets blocked off to cars and the traffic snarls that ensued.  We asked the cab driver what was going on, but  judging from his response, he clearly was unaware of the racing bikes and sponsor banners.  (He suggested that it was a religious celebration, which is not far off in Stephen’s world).  So we checked into our hotel, threw our bags into our room, and walked right back to the apparent race site.

As it turned out, our visit coincided with the 2011 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series.  We walked through the competitors and sponsors village which was set up in front of the magnificent St. Mary’s Cathedral while all of the competitors were picking up their kits and registering their bikes in preparation for the competition the following day.  Stephen was in awe and I, too, was impressed, not only by all of the bikes, but also by the physiques of the athletes around us ;o).

The triathlon consisted of a 1.5 km swim in Farm Cove, off the concourse of the Sydney Opera House, followed by a 40 km cycle through the CBD and finishing with a 10 km run, also through the downtown streets.  Both the run and the cycle were done in a loop that would bring the althletes around the course, 8 laps for the cycle, followed by a 4 lap run to the finish line.  While the triathlon attracted close to 2000 competitors, the elite field consisted of the world’s 40 best men and 40 best women.  The Sydney event was the first in a series of 6 triathlons that will be held around the world leading up to the 2012 Olympics in London, thus the elite fields consisted of Olympic qualifiers.

On Saturday night, the transition area was all set up for the elite women who would be competing first the following morning.  The names of the athletes were posted on the bike stands in the transition area (where they would be hopping off their bikes, and putting on the running shoes for the final event, the 10 k run).  We noticed that the group of 40 women included three Canadians, with one, Paula Findlay, being ranked as high as 4th.

Awaiting the arrival of the elite women cyclists into the transition area.

So it was a no-brainer as to what we would be doing on Sunday.  Early that morning we headed off to the race site to catch the action and cheer on our Canadian women.  We strategically positioned ourselves to get a good view of the leaders in the transition area, and as it turned out, we witnessed an incredible victory.  We were able to watch the athletes throughout the entire race on large screens that had been set up throughout the course, and had front row seats for the transition and each lap of the cycling and running.  Paula Findlay was in the lead pack of 4 to 6 women throughout the entire race.  It was only in the final lap of the run, though, that she pulled away to take the lead and widen the gap between her and the other leaders.  What a thrill to watch.

About to cross the finish line, ahead of the rest of the pack.

No wind made for perfect conditions for the race, but not for unfurling the Canadian flag.

So, there we were in downtown Sydney watching the Canadian flag being hoisted while our anthem played, and images of a beaming Paula Findlay flashed on all of the large screens.  Recollections of Simon Whitfield’s Sydney Olympics Gold Medal win sprang to mind.  And Paula, in her interviews, portrayed the quintessential Canadian victor; modest and unassuming.  We hung around for a bit at the end to congratulate her as she came to pick up her bike from the transition area.  I told her how proud and happy we were for her.  She’ll be one to watch for in London!  Good luck, Paula.

Note to self…always carry a large Canadian flag on you as you’ll never know when the need for one will arise.

Oh, Canada!

Follow this link to read about her race.

http://sydney.triathlon.org/news/article/canadian_star_provides_upset_win_in_sydney/

For the record, the two other Canadians finished in 10th place (Lauren Campbell) and 34th place (Kathy Tremblay).  Pretty impressive to have three Canadians in the Elite Female event.  There were no Canadian males in the Elite Male field.

Switching from cycling mode to running mode.

After the awards presentation and interviews, she returned to the transition area to collect her bike.

My first footy game

A couple of weeks ago, Stephen came home from work asking if I was interested in going to a “footy” game that coming Saturday.  He assured me that everybody at work was talking it up, that it was the season opener, and that in Adelaide, anybody who is anybody would be going to the match.  The latter point sealed it for me, so there was no way that I was going to miss this footy match, despite the fact that I had absolutely no understanding of what footy was.  It’s all very confusing, not to mention the fact that footy isn’t even pronounced as footy, it’s pronounced foody (just as thirteen etc., is pronounced thirdeen).  Are you with me?  It’s just as well that I am not teaching here.  I struggle with the Australian phonetic alphabet.

Little wonder I was confused.  It seems that, according to one source I found (a Lonely Planet guide), footy can refer to soccer, rugby or football.  That kind of surprises me because each of those are entirely different from one another, but now I know why I was always confused whenever conversation turned to footy.

As it turned out, we were actually attending the season opener of the Adelaide Crows, of the Australian Football League (AFL for short), and they play Australian Rules Football.  The Crows home stadium is practically in our backyard, which meant that we cycled to the game, thereby avoiding the massive post-game traffic jam.

The Crows entering AAMI Stadium

The stadium was huge, with a capacity crowd of 51,515 crazed fans in attendance.  Leading up to the start of the game, the parking lot was full of tail-gate parties, Australian-style.  That is, barbies on the back of utes, for a sausage sizzle.  The Crows fans were celebrating the 20th anniversary of their first game, and thus were very “vocal”.  We had seats next to a die-hard Crows fan colleague of Stephen’s, so we had personal play-by-play tutelage.  It was great.  The Crows were playing the Hawthorn Hawks, who are from Melbourne originally, but now represent Tasmania (that’s another mystery for another day).  The score went back and forth, with the Hawks in the lead for the better part of the game, but with lots of back and forth scoring for both teams.  After a stunning second half, though, the Crows nailed it with a gutsy come-from-behind 20 point win over the Hawks for a final score of 105 to 85.

The National Anthem

Now, I don’t want to ruffle any feathers of Canadian and American football fans, and please don’t send me any nasty emails, but I have to say that I found Aussie Rules Football way more fun and exciting to watch.  The game actually shows little resemblance to the North American game.  The only similarities between them are that the balls are oval-shaped (but not identical) and that players can touch the balls with their hands, run with the ball, and they can get grabbed and tackled.

So in a nutshell, in it’s very simplest form, here are the basics of Aussie Rules Football;

• 2 teams with 18 players on the field per team
• objective is to score points for your team by kicking the ball through the opponent’s goal
• the ball can be moved in any direction by a player by kicking it or by tapping it with either a clenched fist or an open hand, but cannot be thrown under any circumstance
• a goal is worth 6 points and is when the ball is kicked, at any height, through the middle 2 goal posts or the “major” posts
• a behind is worth 1 point and is when the ball is kicked, at any height, through the outer goal posts, or when a kick hits any of the goal posts
• generally speaking, each team will score 10 to 20 goals per game, which is why the scores are so high
• no padding or helmets are worn by players, but tackles aren’t as rough

It all makes for a very fast, action-packed game.  The play rarely stops, turnovers are frequent and there are few player substitutions throughout the game.

I've joined The Tribe. Go Crows, Go!

Cheers mates!

Kathy

Not sure what this room is for