24-Hour MegaSwim 2008

One of the highlights of the Swim4Life year occurred on the weekend of February 16 & 17, the 2008 24 Hour Megaswim held at Unley Pool.

2008 was the third year of the event and the third year our swimming group has taken part. This year we had two squads, one comprising the purist swimmers and another comprising people who dabble in other pursuits along with swimming, such as triathlon.

The event went from noon on the Saturday to noon on the Sunday. Each person swam with a partner in a two-hour block, the swimmers taking turns in the pool. Most people opted to swim for a certain length of time or number of laps.

The weather for the event was ideal – hot – 36 degrees was the maximum on both days. This meant that even at night it was warm. At 6am when I finished one of my stints, it was warm enough not to have to cover up.

Both groups swam around 60km over the 24-hours.



Unley Pool - the fabulous venue. We all saw a fair bit of these lane ropes.



Backstroke – Kenneth. Real Esther Williams stuff here!



Kathy – Breaststroke. An intense performance!



Self Portrait (Harvey) with the added bonus of water on the lens!



Watching the proceedings (Harvey. Hot metal in the full sun - a really good material to make poolside seating out of!



Bella – Breaststroke. Little girl, big pool. She did wonderfully well. Grandpa makes sure she's an ace in the pool.



Penny about to set off.



Jonathon – Freestyle. Showing Kathy inspired technique.



Mark – Freestyle.



Mark Drew – Freestyle. He was swimming at somewhere near the speed of sound on this lap.



John Howard completing a lap. He did surface to breathe!



Magaswim 2008 Portraits or Rogues Gallery

Our Big Day Out

On Saturday we took Mum out for dinner. After picking her up from Murray Bridge we headed for the hills and Howard Vineyard, near Nairne. A new winery and cellar door, they do food on weekends(not sure about during the week) and have live entertainment on Sundays. Mum and I shared their tasting plate - very nice.

We then went into Hahndorf as I had two pictures to take to the Hahndorf Academy so they could be included in the Artist's Voice landscape exhibition being held in the Coonawarra.

After that we had a look at The Lane Winery and restaurant nearby. An amazing modern building. It's very swish with a huge deck overlooking rolling countryside facing Mount Lofty. We did a wine tasting and had coffees.




At Howard Vineyard where we had lunch.




Mum and David at the Lane Winery, a new cellar door located just out of Hanhndorf. It has the most spectacular views.

Tour Challenge Ride

Last Friday I took part in the Tour Down Under Challenge Tour. It was a 134km bike ride covering the same route as travelled by the international pro cyclists on Stage Four of the Tour Down Under. It started in Mannum at 7.30am. We then rode to Palmer, Tungkillo, Mount Pleasant, Birdwood, Mount Torrens, Woodside, Nairne, Callington, Woodchester, Langhorne Creek and finally the finish at Strathalbyn. Terry, Kenneth and Graham and I all rode together, or at least we met up at the start of each town. It took us six hours to do the ride but really finishing was the main aim. Much of the route was up hill and down dale! There was a particularly unexpected hill just outside Woodchester, I thin that took a lot of people by surprise.



The registration wrist band contained a bar code to register our participation in the event. It was scanned just before the start and at the finish of the event.

Triathlon - Australia Day 2008

I competed in the 'Australia Day' triathlon on Monday, January 28 at
West Lakes. It consisted of a 1000m swim, a 34km bike ride and an
8km run. I completed it in one hour and 28 seconds. Last year I did
the same triathlon in one hour 55minutes but last year the run leg
was only 7km. So in effect I did it in exactly the same time as last
year.



Nice and calm for the swim, not that you know that from this photo.
The group before I started.



The only one without a wet suit. You go faster in one but they cost
$$.



Grabbin' the bike for the next leg.



Me doing my best approximation of running.

Cycling 134km in one day

On Friday, January 25 (and with all things being equal), I'll be riding 134km from Mannum to Strathalbyn (via Mt Pleasant - definitely not the direct route) as part of the Tour Down Under Challenge Tour. The ride is the same route that the international cycling teams will take later on in the day. There are four of us doing the ride - Kenneth, Graham, Terry and me. We’ve been in training for a while. It will be interesting to see if we have done enough. The weather bureau currently has Friday slated for 33 degrees with thunder in the hills. Better than the 37 they were forecasting a few days ago but I thibk we could do without thunderstorms!



Me at work. I had just picked up my offical Tour Down Under Challenge Tour jersey and had to try it on. I took the photo with the self timer using my new wide angle lens.

12.10am on New year's Eve . . .

We hosted a nibbles and drinks show at our place on New Year’s Eve. We made a whole heap of finger food - felafel, chicken and pistachio balls, beef koftas, smoked salmon blinis. We never did get around to the cheese plate or the fruit platter.

We sort of had two shifts come through. About half the people came early and then moved on and then a second ‘sitting’ came later and stayed on. We hadn’t planned to do anything special at midnight and the ‘event’ went past without anyone really noticing. We wished each other ‘Happy New Year’ at about 12.10am. Woops.



The downstairs area as seen from the landing at the top of the stairs.

Five Nights, Six Days in McLaren Vale

We went for a quick holiday between Christmas Eve until the following Saturday. We stayed in two different places as we couldn’t get one continuous booking. The first place we stayed at was a B and B called The Vintage. Our suite consisted of a large bedroom area that was connected to the living area and there was a bathroom consisting of two rooms and a hallway. Our suite was The Library and it had a wall of books. From the titles it looked like they were bought by the metre from a second hand book shop.

The second place we stayed at was a self-contined cabin at the Victory Hotel. The cabins have an even better view than the Victory Hotel - looking over the whole of the McLanren Vale region and onto Adelaide and the hills - wheat feilds, olive groves, vineyards, paddocks, bits of suburbia.

We dined out a lot. Favourites were Fino in McLaren Vale and the Star of Greece at Port Willunga. Both very different and both magical as the weather was superb and everyone was relaxed and in a holiday atmosphere. We rode from the cabins at Sellicks Hill to the Star of Greece, perhaps 10km, but the farthest David had ridden in quite a while. We had a nice meal at the restaurant and then we decided to sit on the deck just ot further enjoy the place, instead of just finishing up and running away. We ended up sittng on the deck for a further three house talking to people from all over the place - a couple from San Fransisco, people from interstate as well as locals. It was great fun.

On the last night we went to Russell’s Pizza place, a wood-fired pizza restaurant located in a Cornish miner’s cottage in Willunga. We were there for Gary’s birthday celebration and just for a holiday get together. The place has a brilliant relaxed atmosphere an dalthough hot everyone had a good time. The place is truly unique and is only open one night a week.

We also celebrated my 43rd birthday while we were away.



At the B&B just out of McLaren Vale, The Vintage. How else does one pose on a chaise longue?



David on the chaise.



Several of me doing some wine tasting on the fabulous verandah of the B and B. One must use all one senses to appreaciate a good wine.



The pergola/verandah area at night.



Me at Fino about to attack the asparagus with twice cooked breadcrumbs.



Presents - I received a wide angle conversion lens for my camera.



Presents - I bought David these frogs by Adelaide Hills sculptor Silvio Apponyi. They are cast in bronze and have a green patination with some gold accents.



A silhouette formed as the sunset and streamed into the westerly facing window of the cabin. Taken using a self timer.

Triathlon - Sunday, January 13

This triathlon was the same distance as the past two, however the first two were run under perfect conditions. On Sunday it rained as we waited to start, thyankfully it stopped and the wind dried out the roads before the bike ride. The lake was really choppy, so it was interesting swimming up waves and down the otrher side! Riding into the wind was pretty interesting too. The run was the least effected but even then you still have extra resistance going into the wind. I completed this one in 1 hour 12, about 30 seconds faster than Graham who is quickly improving. Everyone recorded a slower time than the previous triathlons.



You can see it was windy as the red flag is waving in the breeze.



Terry fighting with his wetsuit.



Me finishing the swim.



On the run into the wind.



Grahm on the run leg.



Across the line at last (but not last).