Day 2 Easter

The event is closer again and the day was going to be another scorcher with expected temp around 36°C. The map - Ngaralta Country promises low rocky hills and ridges with mallee scrub, open forest and low scrubby vegetation interspersed with rough open grazing or cropland.

Katy and I took up our spectating positions today. The long distance format well and truly kept up to its name. We watched both Ella and Andy limp into the finish both having difficulty running with their respective injuries. 

There was no hanging around - it was unpleasantly hot! Back to the houseboat to do more of the same as yesterday - swim, SUP, chat, eat, drink and repeat. We had lots of visitors!

Day 1 Easter

Started the day with the usual(!)  morning routine...

Easter Day 1 - Pymton - a Middle distance format on farmland with terrain varying from open undulating grazing land through to hilly scrubland with varied rock features. The sun was blazing and the temperature rose to 35°C! It was a hot day and even hotter out on the course! Ella struggled with multiple mistakes; Andy's hamstring survived and I enjoyed the short course I did. Post race though Ella had an ITB issue and could barely bend her leg.

Keen to leave the hot dusty paddock, we made our way back to the houseboat. I organised to hire a couple of stand up paddle boards and so our afternoon was sorted! Various friends dropped by for a swim, paddle, drink or chat. It was great!

A Canberra Cockatoo!

Easter 2024 began with the Urban Sprint - Elite Prologue; Individual public event and Family Teams event. A big day for Ella, Mia and Aoife who all donned a Canberra Cockatoo uniform for the first time running in W20E! 

Before the big event which began at midday, I enjoyed a beautiful still sunrise over the marina. Wrapped up in a blanket, I read my book on the back deck while the world woke up! I could get used to this!!

We left mid morning as the O event was about an hours drive from our accomodation at Heathfield High School. The Elite Sprint was first up. Ella ran smoothly finishing 16th, Aoife was 14th (about 40sec quicker than Ella) and Mia unfortunately mispunched.

As for the remainder of the family - we were going to compete as a family in the family teams event but the team fell apart. Andy wanted to conserve his dodgy hamstring for the 3 days; Katy's hip injury prevented her from running and so I was the last man standing opting to do Andy's course as best as I could.

Back at the accomodation, the warm afternoon was finished off with a refreshing dip...

Crossing the Hay Plains

Easter was based in Murray Bridge (South Australia) about an hour out of Adelaide. As we chose the 12hr driving option, we left Canberra after school on the Wednesday to break the trip up. We arrived in Narrandera after dark, checked into the motel before going to the RSL, which was the only thing open (and only just) for dinner.

The next morning Andy and I were up reasonably early. Andy was trying to fix his hamstring which he injured last weekend with some run through and I was doing my walk / jog thing. The morning light was beautiful.

After breakfast and coffee, our journey west continued. The crossing of the famous Hay Plains was very straight and flat! Ella got to drive for a decent chunk and thankfully the road was quiet and conditions nice for country driving.

As we approached the SA / VIC border, we kicked ourselves for not remembering the quarantine rules for fruit fly! We consumed as much as possible but ended up throwing lots of fruit and vegetables out. 

We were grateful to find a bakery open in Ouyen for lunch. From there we still had another 3 hours to go to Murray Bridge. Ella did another stint of driving and we pulled into the caravan park in the late afternoon.

When booking our accomodation, the only option available to us was a moored houseboat (in the caravan park). At first we baulked at as it was significantly more expensive but after trying to find an airbnb which even more expensive we decide to book it. What a fantastic place it turned out to be! Dinner on the back deck was great.

Catching Up

Ella's time as being the tallest may soon come to an end....Katy doesn't have far to go! It's interesting to look at the difference in when they have grown by referring to the cupboard door. Unfortunately we forgot to do a measurement in 2023. And this probably helps partially explain why Katy's hip problems has emerged!

Separated Weekends

While Katy's hip recovered, we had the first (of many) separated weekends. Andy took Ella and Aoife to a weekend of orienteering in Orange, while Katy and I entertained ourselves at home. The orienteering terrain looked fun navigating amongst big rock pagodas. The course setter even made a route choice through a natural tunnel providing lighting too!

Back home, Katy and I discovered lots of pests...something, maybe a cockatoo had severed our festoon lights rendering all but four as useless. Also I spotted a paper wasp nest under the eaves. Hoping that one will naturally died as winter approaches.

  

Recent Purchase

Having failed to find a suitable Aboriginal painting on our WA travels, I've been keeping an eye out for one ever since. With a specific spot in mind, I wanted a medicine leaves or bush yam painting that was long and thin with tones in pinks, greys or blues. 

Finally I found it! Yam Dreaming, by Aboriginal artist Jeannie Mills Pwerle from Utopia in central NT.

From the website (https://www.aboriginal-art-australia.com/artist/jeannie-mills-pwerle-australian-aboriginal-artist/)

The painting depicts the Bush Yam. The seed of the yam is represented by the fine white dot work and the thick colourful brushwork represents the flower and the vegetable. Jeannie’s style is unique and her palette is bright and bold.

The Desert yam is an important food source for the Aboriginal people from Utopia in central Australia. It has an impressive root system, spreading up to twelve metres from the stalk, and is commonly found in woodland areas nearby a water source. 

Its bright green leaves and yellow flowers, can spread over quite a wide area, growing strongly until after the rainfall months when it is harvested by digging it out of the ground. By depicting the Yam Dreaming in their paintings, indigenous artists are able to pay homage to this significant plant and encourage its continual rejuvenation.

The women perform in their Awelye ceremonies certain songlines and dance cycles to show respect for their country and to ensure continues productivity of the Desert yam.

I'm happy to say that it fits the spot perfectly!

Broken Katy

Katy has been experiencing random hip pain over the last 3 months with regular trips to the physio. The physio seemed a bit baffled in our last visit a few weeks ago - as the pain was initially on the side, then at the front and finally changed to the back. He suggested an MRI to rule out any joint issues or potential stress fracture. My alarm bells should have gone off (given Ella's random ankle pain followed by MRI to rule out random things which resulted in surgery) however they didn't.

Anyway Katy and I went to my old work for the MRI in late Feb. It was nice to catch up with my old work mates and be able to sit next to the MRI tech as the scan was being done. She pointed out a few areas of concern as the images loaded. Now we would have to wait for the report.

The report eventually came out and stated....There is bony reactive change at the ischium, ischial tuberosity and pubis. A quick call to Cathy for physio correlation, interpretation and advice. 

Next we were on the road to see the Sports Dr for management and luckily we didn't have to wait very long for an appointment once getting a GP referral! Sport Dr diagnosed a grade 3 stress response (which is one level below a stress fracture!). Her recommendation was for Katy to do no impact sport for 6 weeks...given that it had already been a week...it was reduced to 5 weeks. That meant no running at Easter and also missing the ASOC trials. As you can imagine Katy was a bit sad.

Final Dip

As is with any long weekend away, the final morning involved a swim / surf followed by pack up and the drive back to Canberra. Arriving home by mid afternoon we were able to sort ourselves out and get organised for the week ahead.

Didthul (Pigeon House) Mountain

Today's adventure was a trek up Pigeon House Mountain. An hours drive from our campground along some fairly rough gravel tracks, we converged at the carpark and picnic area ready to tackle the trail!

Our group of 22 included 3 small people who had arrived and started early to get a head start. The trail was reported to be a grade 4, 5km return trip taking between 2.5 - 3.5hrs. 

The track began with a series of switchbacks before a section of stairs. The group naturally splintered with the faster walkers leading the way. We caught the little ones about 1/3 of the way up. Near the top of this first steep section was a large rock ledge - a great spot to regroup, rest and snack. 

Once we got going again, the group again spread out. The track flattened out which allowed the first glimpses of the top of Pigeon House to be seen though the trees. Andy was ahead with Katy while I was at the back with Ella, Ryan, Morgan, Kyle and 6 year old daughter Wallace. 

My Garmin indicated we were well over halfway in distance to the top, however as we discovered later this was not the case! Lots of encouragement and support was needed by Wallace and we were determined for her to make it to the summit. Kyle would rotate between carrying Wallace on his shoulders and us holding her hands as she negotiated the uneven rocky steps of the trail.

It all became much easier as we reached the base of the ladder section. Soon after we arrived at the top to the cheers of the rest of the group. The panoramic views over the Budawangs was fantastic. A group photo at the top was required before we could enjoy a break and some food.

Usually the descent part of a walk is quicker however Wally was really struggling despite our best efforts on encouragement and distraction! Kyle did a superhuman effort with the shoulder rides and his quads must have been killing! Our water levels were dwindling fast as the day warmed up significantly. We were so happy to reach the switchbacks knowing we were almost there but they kept on going!!

Just over 4 hours after beginning and covering a total of 7.2km we arrived back at the cars again to the cheers of our fellow walkers. 

Ice cream and cold drinks at the service station on the way back to the camp ground were well deserved and much appreciated! Back at the campground, our focus was getting to the beach as soon as possible to cool off!

For dinner, our family was keen to have fish'n'chips and drove to the closet town, Bawley Point. Sadly the only takeaway sonly old pizza and the owners were not at all nice so we opted to get cooking supplies from the IGA next-door. Then it was back to the campground to cook meatballs and pasta!

Andy's Work Retreat

Meroo Head Campground was the destination for Andy's work retreat which normally is held around Oct/Nov. Located north of Bawley Point, the campground boasts secluded walk in campsites. We occupied about a third of the available campsites with a central one designated as the communal area for cooking and generally hanging around.

Leaving Canberra on Saturday morning with our jammed packed car (Ella had invited Ryan to join us) we stopped for coffee and snacks at Braidwood. Katy was somewhat put out at being on her own as all the other children there were much younger!

We rolled into the campground just after midday. It was hot humid work setting up camp and we were glad to be heading to the beach by the end of it. Spoilt by choice of two beaches on either side of the headland, we thought given the wind, Shelley Beach on the southern side, would be best for surfing.

Emerging from the bush track we ambled our way over a large section of exposed rock towards the sandy beach. With surfboards under arms, Andy and the girls were particularly hopeful to find some good waves!

Although the sun was shinning and the water was warm, the waves were choppy and not great for surfing. A slow trickle of Andy's work colleagues and families joined us to enjoy an afternoon at the beach.