The Doctor, Race Day

An early start and they were off on the ferry at 10am. The forecast was for a good race and everyone was excited.

I didn't go over to the island, instead I opted for a day with John who is over here on business. We swam, sat in the shade, swam, had lunch and watched the finish. A very enjoyable day.

Neil came in 4th in his age group, enjoyed the race and finished strong.

Paula and Linda also came 4th in the mixed ski category and beat some men's crews so they were happy also.

Everyone we know who came over from sydney did well so I guess we will be back next year!

Friday

The boats get loaded today at Fremantle and it's a pretty quiet day.

We walked down to the harbour for a coffee, came back and had a swim at the beach, lunch at a nice cafe then headed off to load the boats.

That is not me, but we did the same thing, boats are taken over by crab boat then off loaded onto the beach.

 Then it was off to Little Creatures Brewery for the annual beer and cider

Thursday,

Another race for Neil and I went off shopping with Janine. I did make it to the start and finish however.

Janine took me to a very stylish suburb where the shops and clientele were way above what we found in Perth city. Found some great bargains, more than I intended and we had a nice girls lunch.

Not too sure how we will pack the bags to come home but I'll find a way to deal with it.

Janine dropped me down at Fremantle beach for the race start, there were 170 entrants and the wind was blowing too hard for me but just right for them.

As we watched the finish there were some monster waves coming into the beach and guys were getting smashed!

Paula and Linda got the wave of the day and managed to hold it all the way to the beach, people were still talking about it last night.

The top photo shows the spec of the girls with a big one behind them.

Bottom photo shows the the girls coming in.

Neil also managed to get in without falling off but Bruce was not so lucky. I only got video of Neil and can't upload it here.

Perth city

We are staying at the MERCURE hotel and it's fine. There is a swimming pool on the roof which is why I booked it but I may as well ask Neil to go back to Spain, even though this few days was meant to be about ME!

We had a long walk around Perth yesterday and found that it is a city back in time. The shops seem like sydney 6 years ago and we found nothing that we wanted. It's the first time I have been shopping on holidays and come home empty handed

One of the great things about coming to Perth is catching up with our good friends Ross and Janine. We have known them since back in the  late 60s when I was still at school.

We have had dinner with them the last 2 nights and 2 lovely walks, one around Cottesloe where they live and last night around Kings Park which is the botanical gardens of Perth.

Janine and Pauline overlooking Perth.

Neil and Ross finding out about Shakespeare in the park. ( they could pass as brothers)

It's a beautiful park!

Today after 2 nights here's we will head out to the beach and begin preparation for Neil's next race, let's hope the forecast is better than for the last one.

Day 4, Doubles Race

Neil was not racing doubles, but we were support crew to the others.

Loading doubles boats onto hire cars with soft racks is interesting to say the least.

Dean had told the girls they would need to paddle up to the start as get was not taking the trailer, however as he stood talking to the stars, his eyes became WIDE as he saw one of his doubles being loaded onto Bruce's car. He quickly organised transport for the girls.

Shame I don't have a photo.

They entered the water in the same canal as yesterday, just as the girls were getting in David and jasper Mocke, the South African and world champions were taking off. Paula asked if they would like a photo and they obligingly jumped out for a photo opportunity

The start was exciting! The wind had picked up and although there were only about 20 boats on the line the mood was for a hard race.

The podium was ...

The Mocke Brothers from SA, the Norton Brothers from Tasmania, and Dean and Shaun Rice, the boat behind Dean is Shaun's dad who paddled out to meet them.

And Paula and Linda you did a great job beating 2 men's teams!

The Race

It's unbelievably hot here today, 41 or 42 with the wind from the East. The start was delayed to give the wind a chance to come up but that meant sitting around in the heat, they should have made the call earlier in the day to start a couple of hours later. At the race briefing the ocean looked like a lake!

It's a wonder you can't see steam coming off the water!

By the time the boats were in the water there was a slight breeze with the promise of wind.

Getting into the water in the canal, about 1km from the start.

Belinda and I drove out to the river opening to watch as they came around the headland, we had a swim and the water was beautiful.

They came through in the order we expected ...

Wilko in the dark green boat, Bruce in the bright orange vest, Neil, white sleeves and red vest and Paula in yellow sleeves and vest.

They finished exhausted, it was do hot and despite the wind picking up it then died again.

Dee 2 made it all the way and was very happy at the finish.

Despite being sick Wilko beat Bruce and Paula beat Neil ... Must have been the muesli :)

Mandurah, day 2

Breakfast down by the water, Neil's first experience with Bircher muesli. He and Bruce did not eat again until dinner!

Back to the chalets where we lay in the shade with friends waiting for the wind to blow, it was too hot to do anything else.

The wind picked up and we headed south so they could have a paddle.

We ended up on the wrong side of the river mouth and it took 3 GPS to work out how to get to the other side! 

They surfed all the way back in 18 knot breeze and landed on the beach with huge smiles. The beach Belinda and I had planned to swim at was wind blown and nasty but we enjoyed watching the pod of dolphins playing in the waves.

We enjoyed a BBQ for dinner with friends and lots of magpies.

This morning back for more muesli, it's HOT and race day.

The forecast is for low 40s, hopefully the wind will cool things off later today. We plan to find a shady spot and relax while we wait for the race start.

Guess which one is Neil's  ... The one wth the fruit still intact of course!