What Have I Done?

I very clearly remember how I was feeling during the run portion of  Ironman Canada 2008.  It was a stupid event and I was a complete idiot for entering it for a fourth time.  I knew what I was getting myself into but I signed up anyhow.  I mean, who in their right mind swims 3.8 km, then rides 180 km, then runs 42.2 kms all on the same day?

Well guess what?  I DID IT AGAIN!  This morning I had the opportunity to sign up for the 2010 race from right here in Australia!  I'm not sure if its because I miss my training buddies so much while I'm here in Australia, or that I have become so terribly out of shape that I needed a REAL kick in the pants to get me moving again.  But what ever the reason, it really doesn't matter because I've dropped the cash on the registration and I will be doing IMC 2010, my fifth if anyone is counting.

Perhaps it's time that I be committed.  I know I've totally lost my mind.

Oh, and as a side, September 1 marks the first day of spring here in Australia.  I have officially survived a Melbourne winter and I STILL don't own a car.  Who would have thought it?

Hobart, Tasmania (or Tassie as they call it here)

This past week was far less eventful than the previous ones and I’m pretty happy about that.  Monday I picked up my bike from the “bike spa” and managed to avoid a torrential down pour by sheer minutes. Wednesday a card arrived in the mail telling me I had a package to pick up from the post office.  I figured it was the medication arriving from Canada (I don't know if I've written about that one or not) but to my surprise it was a care package from my good friend Tammy back at home.  What a real treat to get a box of "love" in the mail.  But I'm still waiting for the medication which will hopefully arrive early this week.

This weekend I went to Hobart, Tasmania and I can now say that I've visited every state and territory in Australia.  Not bad for someone who is also working full time.

Anyhow here's the sum up of my weekend.

I was up far too early for a Saturday morning but made my way to the airport for an 8 am flight to Hobart.  After a bit of a delay (that's pretty common here in Australia) I arrived safely in Hobart and was greeted with 4c and rain.  Brrr, it made Melbourne seem like the tropics.  But no worry, I knew this might happen so I was well prepared (yes, I'm LOVING my icebreaker wool clothing).  I was able to check into my hotel early which was a nice treat. After a quick chat at the reception I was pointed in the direction of the Salamanca Market.  With my Ballarat rain poncho on top of  my warm clothing I easily found the market ( and I stayed warm and dry).  The market wasn't too busy (I'm sure the rain and wind had something to do with it).  

Looking down at the market from the top of the street.

(It goes for about three blocks)

I managed to get out of  there with just one small purchase from this lady's stall.   I almost bought a wool toque too but the one I really liked was too big for my tiny head.

From the market I wandered around the waterfront wondering what I was going to do for the rest of the day.  I figured I could kill a day just walking and looking but if the weather was going to be lousy on Sunday too I really  needed a plan.   I spent some time talking with the tourist information people and while they helped me a bit they didn't help me enough.  I still didn't have a game plan for Sunday.  In the end I wandered around a bit more and found myself talking with the double decker bus and boat cruise guy.  He had some pretty good deals going and so I signed on for the double decker bus trip for Saturday afternoon, and the 2.5 hour boat cruise with lunch (including all the wine you could want) for Sunday.  At this point I was a bit sad that I wouldn't get up to Mt. Wellington but I was thankful I had a plan for a second wet cold day.

I boarded the bus around 3 pm and we toured Hobart and the area for about 90 minutes.  It was actually a really good tour and I saw a lot more than I figured I would.  We started in Battery Point the  oldest area of Hobart (Hobart is the second oldest city in Australia so this suburb was real real old) and made our way up towards the Cascade Brewery.  We then returned through the city and crossed the Tasman Bridge before heading back to the water front.  Since Hobart is such and old city there are many different types of architecture to see.  Here are a few pictures I took on my tour.

A famous pub where the sailors in the Sydney to Hobart cup go for a beverage.

A Battery Point home.

Another home in Battery Point

 Cascade Brewery (and me).

I don't remember the name of this building

The Tasman Bridge

Once the tour was over I walked around a bit before picking up something to eat and heading back to the hotel. I walked around one last time before getting cozy with my book and falling asleep.

On Sunday I was up early and I decided I would try to go for a run.  I can't say it was much of a run but did make it back to the brewery before returning to my hotel.  While out on the run I went past the Female Factory where Hobart's female convicts were incarcerated.

I headed back to the hotel and stopped in for a bit of juice  (breakfast was included).  While there I started talking with  a Tassie couple whose son was living in Canada.  I was asking them how much they thought it would cost to get up to the top of Mt. Wellington because to my surprise it was a beautiful sunny day.  Since I had already booked the boat trip I couldn't join anyone's scheduled trip up to the mountain  and make it back for my cruise.  Well, they offered to drive me to the top as a thank you for the people who have been so wonderful to their son in Canada.  I couldn't be happier.  After I had a quick shower I was  off to Mt. Wellington with Marcus and Colleen Taylor.

They were truly wonderful people and I can't thank them enough for getting me to the top of  Mt. Wellington.  At first we could only go part way up because the road was closed.  But while we wondered around we were told that the road was going to open in ten minutes.  It was my lucky day.  We got back into the car and headed right up to the top.  The top was super cold and windy and covered in SNOW!  Yes, SNOW!!!  The views were incredible too but while we were up there the clouds rolled in and took the views away.  We were so lucky to have been there before the clouds came.  Here are some photos from the top of Mt. Wellington looking down at Hobart and its surrounding area.

Me, at the top of Mt. Wellington

(Yes, that's SNOW!!)

View #1

View #2

View #3

View #4 

(on the way back down)

It was so nice to be up on the mountain, in the cold fresh air, and in snow.  It reminded me so much of HOME!

From the mountain Marcus and Colleen drove me back into town before heading back to their home some where else in Tasmania.  I felt so lucky to have met them in the morning as they were so good to me.  

Once dropped off I headed to harbour to meet my  boat for my 2.5 hour lunch cruise.  At this point the clouds had totally arrived and it was pretty cold.  Thankfully there was  heat on the boat and when the rain started I was able to stay dry and warm.  Lunch was great although the wine wasn't (but it didn't stop me from drinking it).  The boat ride was nice too and a great way to break up the day especially in the bad weather.  It was cool to see Hobart from the water.

Hobart from the water and Mt. Wellington in the background

Once the rain stopped a rainbow came out and I took several pictures of it.  Here are just a couple of them.  Again I felt like it was my lucky day to be able to take such great photos.

Incredible rainbow shot over the Tasman Bridge

The rainbow again.

From the boat cruise I wandered back to Salamanca Square and Battery Point before heading back to the hotel to catch up shuttle bus to the airport.

Salamanca without the market on.

Another building in Battery Point

So now I'm back in Melbourne with another week of work looming over my head.  But as I try to keep work out of my head  I'm totally thinking about my friends doing Ironman Canada.  It's just about 6 am on Sunday morning for them which means their race is about to start.  Although I'm about to head to bed for the night they still have hours of exercise in front of them.  The funny thing is when I get up in the morning they will STILL be doing Ironman.  Oh... I hope it goes well for everyone.

Until next time...

(Oh, I have a slightly different version of blogger and I must say while I like some of its features some other features are driving me nuts. Hopefully it will get better.)

Good Luck My Ironman Canada Friends

This time last year I was one of those people standing at the edge of the water waiting for the cannon to go off for Ironman Canada 2008.  How things have changed.  I'm now living in Australia and one step away from being totally out of shape.

On Sunday Aug 30th, 2009 several of my friends will be taking part in Ironman Canada 2009.  I wish them all the very best day possible with the conditions that they are given.  May they find fast feet to follow in the water, may the wind always be at their back for the ride, and may they run like the Kenyans.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE and know that I'll be thinking of you and expecting full race reports.

How Could I Forget To Tell You...

Things must come at me so quickly and so frequently that I forget to tell you a lot of stuff.  Last week wasn't all "same old same old".  The day before I "tipped over on my bike" I  had a flat tire after work.  Thankfully the flat was discovered while I was leaving work so I got right down to changing it. I was in a bit of a panic because I had two important letters that I wanted posted to Canada with the hopes that they could arrive by Friday.  Some one noticed my panic and took the letters to the post for me (and they arrived on time too  - thank goodness).  Anyhow back to the flat.  As I'm about to pump up my tire for what ever reason my pump gives me some trouble then it pretty much breaks in my hand.  Ugh.  But I carry one emergency CO2 cartridge with me so I quickly use that to fill my tire with air.  All good and I'm feeling pretty proud of myself (yes I've changed MANY flat tires but I still feel good when the change goes well) until all of a sudden the tire is out of air again.  Now remember my bike pump doesn't work anymore so I don't have much choice.  I walk my bike about 2.5 km (or so?) to the nearest train station. Me and my bike take the train to Flinder's station in the city.  I then walk, with my bike, all the way home (4 km or so).  So, while the intention of the afternoon was to get out of work quickly enough to make the 5 pm post office closing hour and then go for a run, I ended up at home closer to 7 pm with no desire to run.  It was a bad end to another lousy day at work.

Bendigo and Some Great News too!

Not too much exciting to report this work week.  Outside of work I had a small "tip over" on my bike on Monday morning while trying to clip out of my pedals at the top of a hill.  Thankfully the only person that was around to witness it was a nice looking gentleman in a car, who happened to also be a cyclist.  He shared his story of "tipping over" in front of his friends at a cafe.   Anyhow, on to the weekend.

This weekend we had another ITF exchange weekend but this time in Bendigo.  Bendigo is the third largest city in the state of Victoria and another former gold town like Ballarat.  I left work Friday afternoon and headed to Southern Cross to catch the train to Bendigo.  I managed to catch a pretty direct train and so I was there by a bit after six pm.  Jodie, my host of the weekend, along with Hamish, another exchange teacher, were waiting for me at the station.  We headed back to Jodie's house where we chatted, enjoyed some wine, and had a fabulous meal.  Jodie loves to cook so Hamish and I received the royal treatment.  THANKS AGAIN JODIE!   Jodie went on exchange a few years ago to Canada so she has a liking for Canadians (heck, what's not to like RIGHT??).

Saturday morning I was up early with an attempt at a run.  I didn't sleep well the night before and I wasn't feeling all that great so my sixty minute planned run was more like twenty with a lot of walking.  I went from Jodie's house to Lake Weeroona and back.  While at the lake I took a  couple of pictures including one of the local black swan and her babies.

Lake Weeroona

The black swan with her babies.

After a quick shower Jodie took Hamish and I to Bendigo Pottery, Australia's oldest working pottery.  I inquired about shipping some of it home but the cost was insane so I bought a few smaller pieces instead and  hopefully I can get some help bringing it home to Canada (Nancy B? Tammy ? Nancy H? Mike? Judy?)

A demonstration at Bendigo Pottery

From the pottery we made a quick stop  at Lake Weeroona for coffees before meeting up with the ITF group at a local restaurant.  As usually it was a loud bunch as we chatted and caught up with one another.  After lunch we went on a walking tour of Bendigo.  I learned a bit more about the city and its buildings.

Camp Hill Primary

(what a cool looking school eh?)

View from the tower.

At the end of the tour I headed over to the Golden Dragon Museum.  I spent a bit of time wondering the museum and its gardens.

Jodie then picked up Hamish and I and we headed to Dan Murphy's for wine and then to the grocery store.  Jodie again offered to cook (which neither Hamish or I refused) so we watched her choose what she needed for dinner and we paid for the groceries.  We had a wonderful thai salmon dinner.  Once we were good and full so we headed to the main event for this Bendigo weekend - the "Bush Dance".  The best way for me to describe bush dancing is to say that it's like square dancing except there usually isn't a square.  At the beginning of each dance we were clearly told what we needed to do.  It was a total hoot except for the fact that I was getting some really bad pain at the back of my head.  I ended up taking part in just two dances but I enjoyed watching everyone else.  I also met a lot of people.  There were a few couples there that are going on exchange next year as well as some other people that have already been on exchange.  I met a nice girl named Naomi and she lives in Melbourne too.  Hopefully we'll get together here in Melbourne.  

A bush dance.

Madeline (from Ontario) and I

(Madeline attends the yoga in Camberwell that I've been going to when I'm in town)

Proof that I bush danced too.

(You can see a bit of the live band in the background)

Me bush dancing with Tom and Bridget (from Winnipeg)

We ended up staying at the bush dance until the very end, and helped with clean up before we headed back to Jodie's.  It was a great night.

The next day Jodie, Hamish, and I met up with Jodie's friend Mel and her adorable ten week old daughter Tahlia for brunch.  After a wonderful brunch Jodie took us wine tasting (see she was the BEST host).  We visited three wineries and I managed to keep the Bendigo wine community happy.  We also took an outside walking tour of her school along with a visit to the part of town that was affected by the terrible bush fires back in February.

 

Mandurang Valley Winery

(This man is a retired principal)

The view from Balgownie Estate

Jodie and Hamish having some hot chocolate 

while I was busy tasting Lynnevale Estates wine.

At this point in the day I needed to get back to the train station to catch my train to Melbourne.  After some sad goodbyes I was heading back to Melbourne.  It was a really great weekend  and Jodie was an excellent host.  She's also getting into cycling and if I can swing it I'd like to come back to Bendigo to go for a ride with her.  Obviously a coffee stop would be part of the ride, and after the brunch we had this morning we might have to get back there too.  Now I just need to figure out if I can make it work.  (Plus Jodie is going in for knee surgery Tuesday so she maybe out of commission for a few weeks).

And finally the GREAT news.  I don't know how I forgot to mention this a couple weeks back but.... I received a full refund for my original medical bills. It was close to $2,400 CDN so I'm so glad to be reunited with my money.  Unfortunately I doubt I'll see any more from them since my condition has gone from "emergency" to "chronic".  But I'm happy to see what I've seen.

Oh, and before I close this out my assistant principal has taken another job in the district so my THIRD assistant principal will start term three (or sooner if they can be hired quickly).  In case you're keeping score with my school year here by the time my one year is over I will have gone through THREE principals AND THREE assistant principals.  Needless to say the teaching part of this exchange is the part I've been the most disappointed with.  But I do like my class and I think that there are some incredible teachers at this school - it's just too bad I needed to be thrown into this year of transition and change.  It wasn't quite what I had signed up for and it sure makes me miss my school back home - A LOT!

Ocean Grove, Bellarine Peninsula Aug 14-16, 2009

After returning to Darwin late Monday night I was a back at work for what was a typical Footscray North Primary school week.  Wednesday after school I was hoping to get back to the store that sold me my camera but I forgot the bill at home so it had to wait until Thursday (after my team meeting).  Thankfully the store was very good to me (since I had purchased the camera less than 30 days earlier) and I had an immediate replacement.  The photos taken in this blog are from my latest camera.

Anyhow this weekend I was invited by my work friend Julie down to her place in Ocean Grove.  Since Julie doesn't work on Friday's I went down with Ruth my assistant principal from school (although she's on leave at the moment).  Ocean Grove is on the Bellarine Peninsula and if you've ever been to the Great Ocean Road you would turn left when you got to Geelong instead of right.  It was a beautiful place to spend a weekend, and even a winter weekend.

Saturday we were up early enough. Julie and Ruth headed to the gym and after a nice slow cup of coffee I went out for a run.  I ran along the beach at Ocean Grove and took a few pictures along the way.  You'll see from the photos below that it was a pretty tough place to run.

Ocean Grove Beach 

(this is about 100 m from Julie's flat)

My running shoe prints in the sand.  Yes, I had to run along the beach.

I know poor, poor, me.

The view looking back from where I had come from.

The views from the path along the river.

The amazing view and light I saw while running over the bridge and into Barwon Heads.

About 45 min into my run my mobile rang with Julie asking me where I was.  Needless to say everyone was hungry so instead of running back to Julie's place I ran into Barwon Heads and met them for breakfast.  We snooped around there for a bit and had a great breakfast before heading back to Julie's.  Once all cleaned Julie's family (along with Ruth and her daughter Sharon) and I headed out for a sight seeing journey around the Bellarine Peninsula.

Our first stop was at Point Lonsdale.  It's the opening for the ships that are heading into Melbourne port.  The opening isn't particularly large but all ships must come in and out of the opening to get into Phillip Bay.  From across the bay you can see the tip end of the Mornington Peninsula, the other side of the opening.

Point Lonsdale's White Light House

Our next stop was Queenscliff.  Queenscliff is a beautiful town with a ton of historic buildings.  For what ever reason I actually forgot to take pictures of the buildings but I did see the Royal Hotel, Post Office, Queenscliff Hotel, and Vue Grand Hotel.  I also went to the pier and took a photo of the black light house (apparently it's one of the last remaining in the world).  The black light house and the white light house at Point Lonsdale work together to help the ships get into the bay.  We spent a fair bit of time in the town which I enjoyed a lot.

Queenscliff's black light house in the foreground  and 

Point Lonsdale's white light house in the background.

The little red bird that peaked his head out at us from the

top of the tree in Queenscliff.

A view from the park in Queenscliff.

Queenscliff's Main Street

After an hour (or more) in Queenscliff we headed back to Ocean Grove.  Julie and I went for another walk along the beach.  After the walk Julie and I went for a drive to 13 beach and I DROVE!  Although their vehicle is quite big it didn't feel that big and I really enjoyed driving.  I figure I better start to practice a little bit since Tammy and Nancy are coming in less than five weeks and we have hired a car!!  Only once did I turn into the wrong lane and that was on a side dirt road with out another car in sight.  I think I'll actually be okay driving although it will require extra concentration (that and Tammy's GPS so we don't get too lost).

Walking on the Ocean Grove beach Saturday afternoon.

Sunday morning I slept in a bit later (okay like until 8 am), and Julie, Ruth and I went for a walk along the beach.  The clouds were pretty scary looking so instead of walking back we called the troops to meet us in Barwon Heads for breakfast. Below is a view from the sky taken outside the restaurant.

Ocean Grove Spit

(notice the crazy sky)

After breakfast Julie and her daughter and friend and I headed to see more of the peninsula. By this time the clouds had let us have it and it was pouring rain.  Our first stop was in Portarlington.  It was another cute town with an incredible bakery.  Julie bought a couple of loafs of bread and now that I'm hope I wish I had too.  We headed down to the pier so that I could take a picture.  It's really too bad it was raining so much because the photo doesn't do the area justice.

Portarlington Pier (in the rain)

From Portarlington we headed to St. Leonards another small town.  This isn't too much to this town except the pier and the house with the ducks on the front lawn.  I'm not sure if they are always there but they were certainly there today, in the rain.  After visiting St. Leonards we headed back to Ocean Grove.

St Leonard's Pier (in the rain)

The two ducks I saw cross the road in St. Leonards.

The house next door had several ducks in its front yard.

We spent the afternoon doing little errands and then we headed back to Melbourne.  Steve, Julie's husband, was kind enough to take me right back to my place even though I live 30-45 min away from them.

Overall it was a very good weekend and I'm glad I was able to get to Ocean Grove.  If I'm lucky and it works out I'm going to try to get there when the weather warms up and before I head back to Canada.

That's the update for this week.  Next weekend I have an ITF weekend in Bendigo which includes a Bush Dance.  It could be very interesting.  

Keep in touch.  With the time difference and me being away on weekends it's really tough to be in voice contact with people back in the home country.  Remember I do LOVE reading personal e-mails.

Oh and to my IMC friends... two weeks and counting!!  WOW how quickly it has arrived.  Now let's just see if there will be on line entry for IMC 2010.  I need some crazy weight loss program to get back to "fit" Karen.