Coogee Island Challenge Ocean Swim 2012: Remembering Estelle Myers

Lining up for the 1km swim at Coogee.

Happiness. Isn't that what we all crave? 

Well, today I had a moment of grace as happiness consumed me. It happened while I watched the bubbles flow through my fingers during the Coogee Island Challenge Ocean Swim.

The last time I visited Coogee wasn't such a happy occasion. I rolled up to the Coogee Surf Life Saving Club after work on October 9 to attend a memorial gathering for Estelle Myers. 

Estelle was the mum of my dear friend Jody. The Myers' are eastern suburbs born and bred. Jody and her sister Michelle grew up at Coogee. They were beach babies who were never far from the ocean. Today they both live on the coast.

Estelle was unconventional, iconoclastic, an ecofeminist, 'change agent', dolphin advocate and a pioneer in the water-birthing movement.

Sadly, she died in a car accident near her home in Ballina on September 21. She was 75 but had the energy of a 25 year old.

I thought of Estelle when I got to the beach at around 9. I think she'd had a word to the BIG MAN and WOMAN UPSTAIRS. 

Perfect water temp: 19 degrees; perfect air temp: 29 degrees; perfect everything else: Coogee, sort of being a bay, behaved like a bay should behave. And the water... you've just got to feel it on your skin and marvel at its clarity to know what it's like. You had to be there. 

Precious Princess is more photogenic than me.

For those who couldn't make it, here's the wrap from my water-logged POV. 

My eldest daughter Precious Princess came with me today. I registered for both the 1km and 2.4km swim but decided against doing the 1km. I wanted to relax and bob about in the ocean for a change. Instead of thrashing my way through the 1km, PP and I ducked and dived and played around before the main swim at around 10am.  

We checked out Wedding Cake Island, a clump of rocks about 1km out from the beach (I researched this for my post from last year's swim and I'm too lazy to double-check the distance - correct me if I'm wrong).

Conditions as flat as Mr Very Big's personal-trainer toned abs.

The idea is that punters swim clockwise around Wedding Cake Island and back in to the beach. The course was well marked - my favourite gi-normous cylindrical cans (for blind people like myself) were located at the main turning points but there were also smaller orange witches-hat cans in between to keep swimmers on-track. 

I found these smaller guide cans useful because I have a habit of heading off on my own meandering journey - I'm  a snail that leaves a wiggly trail. It's time and energy wasting as I'm always playing catch-up.

There wasn't too much chop today. I can't remember a lot about last year's swim (the water was colder) but usually you get caught around the back of the island. Today it was possible to strike out and find a rhythm. The choppy bits weren't too challenging. There were jellies before the island and I enjoyed poking my fingers through their squishiness. 

Getting back to shore was pretty cool, too. Two massive cans spoke to me, SWIM THROUGH US LOVELY LADY. 

Whatevs. 

Afterwards, I caught up with several die-hards who reckon the swim this year was more like 2.5km. Dunno. I did get tired towards the end but I always do. And it did seem long but it always does. 

All in all, a tremendous day with Estelle's free spirit flying high around us.

Score out or 10: 7.5

Value for money: $40 for one swim and $50 for a combo of the two is pretty good - you could have also entered the two Coogee swims in April (total of 4 swims) for $90 all up. Well-marked course and loads of water safety. Swim started right on time.

Any gripes? WHERE IS THE FRUIT? We got one bottle of water each - it was being rationed out at the end of the swim. 

Ocean swimming a sport that is growing in popularity, even as I type. I couldn't believe the number of people lining up for the 1km event. 

There's gotta be a little bit of money left over for a piece of fruit for the poor sods who empty their pockets every week for this caper.  It costs a bloody fortune to support this good cause.

Some smart pants should get the local green grocer on board. Seriously, if the Balmain Waterpolo Club can turn it on, why can't a much bigger surf life saving club that gets a much bigger turnout manage a banana? 

PS: Whale Beach. on the northern beaches, was closed today because of SHARK SIGHTINGS. It's gonna be a doozy of a summer. 

 VALE ESTELLE MYERS 

  

 

  

Noosa Heads, Queensland: a short break and a walk to Hell's Gates and back

Spanner doesn't like to travel far unless it revolves around Miss Hissy's sailing. So, it was a coup for him to agree to a short break in the school holidays. 

I suggested Fraser Island in Queensland but Spanner said it was "too islandy". He gave me two travel brochures - one on Adelaide in South Australia and the other on tropical north Queensland. After he informed me he didn't want to go anywhere cold and I explained that Adelaide copped Antarctic winds in winter, our choices were narrowed down to destinations in the Queensland brochure. I circled my preferences and left the final decision up to Spanner (after all, he's the one with the credit card). 

About a week later, as I was leaving work, I received a call from Spanner. He was at the local Flight Centre. "What about Noosa?" he asked in an agitated voice. 

This was the first time Noosa had been mentioned. It isn't in the tropical north Queensland brochure as it's just a two-hour drive north of that state's capital, Brisbane. It's not far from Fraser Island but I knew better than to push my case.

"Okay," I said. I was perplexed. We hadn't discussed the short break for a week(I thought, 'If it happens, it happens'). Noosa hadn't come up as an option. "Why Noosa?" I asked. 

"It's sort of warm, it's sort of close, it's on the coast and I can get us a room there."

I didn't hesitate. A holiday is a holiday, even if it's only for a couple of days. The reason for Spanner's haste was that it was 5.45pm and we were due at his dad's for dinner at 7pm. This left Spanner with a small time frame in which to purchase tomatoes, lettuce and avocado for a salad. Anxious times.

It took Spanner 10 minutes to choose a destination and to book our flights, accommodation and car hire. I bet the Flight Centre chick was ecstatic. You couldn't get an easier sale.

It was a relaxing break that ended way too soon. It rained on and off over the weekend but that didn't prevent us from seeing the sights. Here are some photos of our long weekend at Noosa Heads: 

The water was cool so it was in and out

Hell's Gates in Noosa National Park: looking at Alexandria Bay

I thought it was nice to be 'welcomed' to Hell's Gates

Hell's Gates: we saw turtles in here and dolphins further out

At Montville in the hinterland: looking towards the coast

Main Beach in Noosa Heads

         

Happy birthday Mr July: from the bottom of my heart

Mr July has been anxious to see himself (or part thereof) featured on this blog. I'm sorry it's taken so long but I've been in hibernation for the past week as the temperature plunges to all-time lows of around five degrees Celsius in Sydney. I can't bear it! Mr July* can bare it - but only for a select few. Consider yourselves lucky.


And so he doesn't feel quite so exposed, I have included a photo taken of me by The Hiss on a recent weekend away in Noosa Heads**. I rarely get the chance to relax in a bath, especially one with spa jets. I thought I was just emptying the spa bubbles into the bath before I turned on the spa. Unbeknown to me, Spanner squirted a whole tube of shampoo into the bath before I hopped in and turned on the spa.

God bless him.

 PS: The doggess is taking a well-earned break at a dog spa in Byron Bay. She is currently immersed in a blend of patchouli and frankincense oils but promises to return much invigorated in the next few days.

* Happy birthday Mr July! 

** More pics of Noosa Heads to come, along with references to koalas, dolphins, turtles and brush turkeys (rats with wings, if you ask me).

Port Stephens and Nelson Bay: Flying 11 National Regatta at Soldiers Point on Salamander Bay

Nelson Bay/Port Stephens on the NSW mid-north coast is renowned for its beautiful beaches and the dolphins that inhabit its numerous bays all year round.

We're here for a sailing regatta, which sounds sophisticated and "my she was yar". The reality is different when you're on a budget and hauling a Flying 11 onto a box trailer for the three-hour drive from Sydney with a daughter, Miss Hissy, who has already bundled herself into the loser's corner before the race has begun.

Flying 11s at Soldiers Point on Salamander Bay

Then we're told our accommodation, which I'd rate as "noice", is at the bogan end of town. I don't take issue with that because I suspect my partner Spanner has bogan tendencies, as does Miss Hissy (aka The Hiss) who vomited on the lawn outside our holiday house last night after gorging herself on fish and chips. Ah, my life.

Nelson Bay is a huge resort town. It's built-up with lots of apartments and budget holiday accommodation. Hordes of Sydney and Newcastle retirees have moved up here to play out their twilight years so the town has a golf course and club, a West Diggers club that's gi-normous, a bowling club and its fair share of retirement villages.

Kitsch? Politically incorrect? Just plain bad taste? This home's front yard is neat as a pin and it's obvious the owners take great pride in it.

I must get a pic of the Croation Fisherman's Club for my swimming mate Miss Freeasabird who has thick Croation blood. Must be an established Croation community up here. I can see why*.

Even though Nelson Bay is, in many ways, suburban sprawl and at times I feel like I'm in a replica of so many Australian coastal towns that have sprung up without much thought given to infrastructure, aesthetics or the natural environment, the coast makes up for that. Also, there are corridors of green that include Tomaree National Park. The eucalyptus trees are magnificent and this must have been a heavenly place before the developers got a hold of it.


We're into the second-last day of the regatta and The Hiss is having a breakdown. Shouldn't amateur sport be more fun than this?

Fingal Bay. Look closely and you'll notice the tan line on Spanner's arm. Definitely bogan or defiantly iconoclastic?

*The water is turquoise and the bays are perfect for swimming, fishing and boating. I've never been to Croatia but I believe its coastline is breathtaking.

Byron Bay Winter Whales Ocean Swim Classic 2010

The pics say it all really. The Byron Bay Winter Whales Ocean Swim Classic is my favourite of all the ocean swims. My daughter Miss Hissy has a favourite word, which sums up the swim and location - SUBLIME (definition: majestic. Of high spiritual, moral or intellectual worth).

The locals say Byron has gone to the dogs because it's become such a tourist town. But I love it. When I arrive at Main Beach, I feel the release of tension in my neck and back. It's beautiful (the beach and the release of tension).

And the place still has a chilled-out hippy vibe, despite its gentrification. Backpackers and ferals cohabit with baby boomers, who haul their long boards up to The Pass in an attempt to rekindle their youth.

Also, over the first weekend in May the place is chock-a-block with ocean swimmers from as far south as the Mornington Peninsula. They're a weird lot, mostly older (once you hit 40 there's nothing better to do) and totally addicted to the sport. On the Friday, Saturday and Monday morning at 8am over 100 of their ilk gather at Main Beach and snake around to The Pass, just to swim back again. As if the swim on the Sunday isn't enough.

THE SWIM: Just before the 2.2 km swim started from Wategos on Sunday, we spotted two dolphins doing synchronised surfing off the break at The Pass, and during the swim my friend Mrs Snorkel saw four turtles (that's because she cheats and wears fins, snorkel and big fat goggles).

The course takes you out from Wategos, around The Pass and along Main Beach to the surf club, which is easy to see as a row of conifers act as markers. It's a dream course because you can have a good squizz while you swim, and still maintain your stroke. A bonus is the current that gives you a helpful nudge. The big, round orange buoys are easy to spot and, because the older swimmers start before the younger swimmers, which is unusual in an ocean swim, you are never alone.

The water wasn't its usual crystal clear this year as the swell churned up sand from the ocean floor. But you still get to see plenty of fish because it's reasonably shallow all the way.

I and the 2300 or so other punters had a bliss bomb of a weekend.

If only life was like this 24/7.

Pic 1 is at sunset looking towrds The Pass and the lighthouse; pic 2 was taken at The Pass looking out to Mt Warning; pic 3 was taken at the finish line on Main Beach by my friend Ms Five Star. I was still out with the mob, struggling to keep up and regretting several glasses of Pinot Noir consumed the night before the swim.