Some very big hills… He’ll be in Nepal for eight weeks, the next five on placement at a hospital in Pokhara. He won’t be home for Christmas but they are both very good photographers – so that will help. More pictures on his Blog – here.
Now Candice and Mauro are getting married, so she’s gone to Santa Margherita to help them celebrate. They’ve been together since ballet classes at age 3 – so I’m not sure how Mauro’s going to cope with both of them. Actually, it’s the three of them – Caroline’s there as well! There are more pictures here, I’m still waiting for mine, but when those three get together…. I could be waiting for a while, but they look gorgeous.
Fun Runs (as the name implies) = $0 prize money! But he tells me that, during this ‘back to studies’ phase, when triathlons fade into the background, it helps to keep him motivated. Distance: 10 km. Result: First. Time: 00:31:54.0 And two of ‘his’ ladies from Fitness in Numbers returned with PBs… Jacqui ran her 5 km in 26 mins, and Trish bettered her 10 km time by 1 min. Well done girls – he’s a proud Coach!
He’s doing a five week placement at the Alice Springs Hospital, so they decided that big sister should fly up for the long weekend, and they would meet at Uluru. It’s a five hour drive from Alice Springs, so he took a flight into Ayers Rock Airport, which is 15km from ‘the Rock’ – Uluru. Understand all that? Never mind, they’re sending photos from their iPhones, and the colours are awesome… They’re right in the redest bit of the ‘red centre.’ C’mon you two – send more pictures…
This just in from David… The Tall Ship is a Dutch ship called the Gulden Leeuw (Golden Lion). There is a photo of me with the Captain. You can see a Churchill Barricade in one of the pictures. This and others were built by Italian prisoners of war to keep the Germans out of Scapa Flow. I’ve included some blurb on that. There is a picture one of the others took, still to come, of me helming the ship! The Captain was keeping an eye on us and then buggered off, leaving yours truly in charge and awaiting a change of trousers!!
It’s a non-triathlon year (while he’s back at university) so the Gold Coast Marathon / Southern Cross University 10km run is the ‘big event’ – and he was hoping for a top 10 result. I hadn’t bothered to get media accreditation (big mistake) so I worked my way into a ‘best possible’ position in the stands at the finishing line… Michael Shelley sprinted past – and I got a few nice shots of his 28:55 finish. So I was all ready for our boy… and, just as he entered the shute, this crazy woman jumped out of the crowd – and raced to the rail – screaming something unintelligible – knocking my long lens sideways. That was 2 weeks ago, and I’ve calmed down a bit since… most of the pictures were rubbish – but I’ve posted the better ones below. Distance: 10km. Result: 8th. Time: 00:31:04. Big sister finished well, her first sub-60 (59:44) which, by that magic formula, made her the winner. I asked around about the crazy woman – and someone said she’d gone off to open an art gallery somewhere…
The 2XU Doomben 10000 is a State level event (550 entries) with some of Queensland’s best Athletes. Won for the last 4 years by Jason Geraghty (bib number 1899). Distance: 10km. Result: 1st. Time: 00:31:57 Oh – yeah, and the timer on the finishing line is exactly +20 minutes out!
Around the campus of Bond University and the residential community of Varsity Lakes. An attractive course but an inaugural event. Distance: 9km Result: 1st. Time: 00:29:14
It’s Mothers’ Day and I thought we were going for breakfast – so I had no cameras… big joke. They both ran, and by some complex formula (dreamed up by a lawyer) – she won! I used my iPhone, and a course photographer. Event: Mothers’ Day Classic. Distance: 8km. Result: 1st. Time: 00:26:23
A quiet drive to Bishopsbourne, to see the first home/s of famous people, and then to Dover. I’ve flown above them and sailed below them – but this time we walked along them… Pilots don’t normally suffer from vertigo – but I would really have preferred a guard rail! Back home through Fordwich, England’s smallest town. Wonder if that’s because they still have a fully operational ‘dunking stool‘ which is attached to the riverside wall of the old Town Hall? We could franchise those…
A 15th Century Kent Pub and a well respected French Chef combine to make for a memorable dining experience. Joel Gross (Owner and Chef) is a long time friend of both David and Richard, Trish and Carla joined us, the weather was delightful. English Country Pubs and French Food – do they mix? Oh yeah! Timber Batts? They’re the verticle timber thingys that David and Joel are leaning on in the picture above. Late afternoon we journeyed on to Richard and Shelley’s new country ‘cottage’ – like every good Aussie home – the BBQ is very important.
“Fancy a little run in the XJS?” David asked – over a pint at the Duke Willy, “tomorrow”. I didn’t realise he was talking about France. Seems there were two pressing issues… In June, a group of the lads from Ickham are planning a day trip through the Somme to the quaint medieval village of Gerberoy – and he wanted to check out the restaurant. The wine cellar also needed topping up… But I suspect it was more to do with the frustration of owning a V12 sports car – in the tight lanes of Kent!
I’m sure I was born for English Village life! Every time I come back to Ickham, it’s just like… well… coming home. That’s a lot to do with David and Patricia, sure – but it’s also the lanes, the thatch, the streams – and the Duke Willy! For those of you new to this site, David was one of the original Old Blue Truck team.
