Mothers Day

This challenge is a running challenge.  I have done a couple of runs over the last couple of years but my sister Jacqui had just started running.  So we thought we could do the Mothers Day Classic together (originally Mum was going to walk it but she decided to go to Mexico instead!!).  I don't think I have run in a race with my sister before so I was quite excited.  And she had been training well and getting her speed and distance up.

So I attended my friend Steve & Jenny's wedding on a Saturday in Sydney, took the last flight out of town and landed in Melbourne with a ride to Mum's and a quick sleep to wake up in rainy Melbourne on Mothers Day!  It was cold!!  But we did a good warm up walk to the start line, did some stretching and hydrating and then before we knew it we were off!  The race was 8kms and we had set a goal of 55 mins to do it in (with me fairly confident we would do it quicker) and we smashed it!  Woohoo - go us :) 

It was great racing with you Jacqui - hopefully one day we can do it again - we should make this an annual race and it is for a good cause.

Aloha Hawaii!

I love Hawaii.  It is a fantastic place to go for a holiday - you can make the trip as relaxed or as adventurous as you want... there is so much or so little to do!  The shopping is amazing, as is the food and they paddle... there are outrigger canoes on every beach available.  It's a cool place where everything is on island time and everyone is so friendly and welcoming.

My paddling club is lucky enough to have Hawaii on the agenda again this year for some fantastic racing in September and what a trip we have now planned...

4-7 September: Queen Liliokalani

• 4 days of flat water racing OC6, OC1, V12 races on the Big Island - the main race is 29kms

8-11 September: OC1 Camp

• 4 days of technique and ocean skills playing in the beautiful Hawaiian waters on the island of Oahu

13 September: E Lau Hoe

• A 50km one way race from Maunalua Bay to Nanakuli Beach Park on the island of Oahu

14-18 September: Free Time!

• Likely to spend this time on Kauai, an island I have not spent any time on yet, maybe cruising the Na Pali coastline... 

19 September: Pailolo

• A 42km one way big ocean race from the island of Maui to the island of Molokai 

And I can't wait!  We are going with a great group of people and some special friends of mine who I have travelled and raced with for a few years now... I am very excited!

Aloha :) 

The Song

So this task on the list I was looking forward to the least... Sing a Song, Video it, and Post it on YouTube.  My sister Jacqui's suggestion of course :) 

Luckily, there was the option of it being a family affair with my beautiful niece and nephew joining in and my brother in law Adam playing some kind of instrument.

My nephew Jasper chose the song, his favourite of the time and off I went to learn the words (not very well mind you).  I was in Melbourne for a weekend and it was all over in a flash, 2 takes which are the 2 different views...

You can see the finished version below and judge for yourself... Jasper and Lily basically save me!! Ha.  Thanks to Kate for cutting the video and making me not look quite as pained as I was and Jacqui who somehow managed to not be in it at all.

Quite the experience really and a good test of character.

Taming the dragon

I have wanted to learn how to steer a Dragon Boat for a couple of years by the timing is never right... But a couple of weeks ago (thanks to Darren and Julia) I was able to get on the back and have a go!

We didn't take a photo unfortunately (but I am sure it looked something like the below!).  It was an interesting experience!  Obviously a lot bigger than an OC and I didn't feel like I had as much control, but I am sure after a few more sessions it would start to come more naturally and I'd get the hang of it!

Learning to fly on water

Thanks to my sister Jacqui for this Christmas voucher!  I have wanted to do a jetpack session ever since I saw a cool video of these guys gracefully flying over water and dolphin diving in and above the water... so cool!  The real thing is not quite the same :) 

This was an adventure alright... it starts with the attractive wetsuit, and then the instructions and practice on how to face plant the water as when you land you are going to land on your face because you have a 40kg jet pack on your back!

And then you go out and learn to fly... 2 bars to move your hands up and down with, up for up and down for down, this one for right and this one for left... sound easy enough until you put it into action!  You are attached to the jetski and they control the force of the water coming out the pack, so you wont go flying high into the air before you are ready.  I was thrown around like a rag doll however with the pack shooting me off left and then right, up and down, I face planted the water a lot! It actually was easier with no hands as you could control it with the body movement. 

It was all good fun and video to be added soon to show you how ridiculous I looked!  A chiro appointment the following week to realign my broken body and all is well :)

And there is also video evidence: http://youtu.be/qLfit4dpbMk 

The food delivery

My friend Karen has recently finished up a chemo stint, has had an operation and is about to start radiation treatment.  She is amazing, so strong and an inspiration to see her come out of this with such a great outlook.

My aim was to cook and deliver 2 meals to her, but today she ended up coming over and collecting them instead! 

I made fennel, leek and potato soup with chicken (it is really cold in Sydney now so this will be great for lunches), and sugar free chocolate mouse icy poles for dessert.  Hopefully she likes them!

Stretching canvas

After the World Club Crew Champs in Penang back in 2008, my friends Julia, Todd, Gavin, Dave and I went to Vietnam.  It was an awesome trip that we all loved and has the famous 'Avocado' story linked to it.  

In Hanoi I picked up 2 canvas paintings that I loved... however when I got back to Sydney I discovered  how much it cost to get them stretched and it was around triple that of what I paid for the actual artworks!  So they stayed rolled  up in a corner until now.

Very pleased that I have finally done it as I still love them and they look great hanging up in my room!