Mollymook Beach Ocean Classic: the long and the short of it

It's not about the swim. What counts is everything that contributes to the experience.

So it was with Mollymook. For me, the highlights of the weekend were:

1. Friday night Mexican dinner at Pilgrims in Milton with my sister, my youngest daughter and my two nephews

2. Falling asleep to the sound of the surf

3. Daughter Miss Hissy and nephew Little Prince's surfing lesson with surfing legend Pam Burridge (god knows why this woman isn't a national treasure)

4. Swimming out to and back from the islet (rock) at Narawallee with my sister

5. Boogie boarding at Narawallee with my partner Spanner (who hardly ever goes in the water and hardly ever comes to see me do an ocean swim)

6. Cruising the charity shops in Ulladulla with my sister, and nabbing several bargains

7. Watching RocKwiz with my sister on Saturday night

8. Watching the kids feed the lorikeets on the verandah on Sunday morning before the swim

9. Seeing my nephew run up the beach at the end of the 500 metre swim

10. Standing at the starting line for the main swim with Davo and Miss Hissy, who was doing her first 2 km event

11. Running (stumbling) out of the surf at south Mollymook with a fellow swimmer, who insisted I cross the finish line before him

12. Seeing Miss Hissy and Spanner after the swim - just before I spewed up a bucket of sea water.

THE PERFECT WEEKEND.

The top pic is of the 500 metre swim start; bottom pic is Pam Burridge with Little Prince and Miss Hissy

This weekend is the Mollymook Ocean Swim

Tomorrow morning Miss Hissy and I head to the South Coast for the weekend.

I can't begin to tell you how good the thought of leaving Sydney makes me feel. My back is suddenly much better and my head isn't so fuzzy. I smile when I think about the journey and more over the destination.

I love the drive south, down through Wollongong (bypassing Stanwell Park, where I swam two weeks ago) and on to the outskirts of the seaside town of Kiama, where I try to ignore the urban sprawl that has spread like an ugly rash over what was once a verdant, rural landscape (that's progress for you).

Miss Hissy and I then follow the tradition of most travellers heading south. We take a break at the tourist village of Berry on the Princes Highway, where I buy a flat white and The Hiss consumes some sticky, creamy confection that would clog up any older person's vital organs.

We arrive at the coastal holiday town of Mollymook, just out of Ulladulla, in time for lunch (usually at Pilgrims cafe in Milton - YUMMMY).

Mollymook beach is beautiful. It's a little over 2 kilometres in length. I know, because this weekend will be the fourth (?) time I've swum from north to south Mollymook in the annual ocean swim.

I've ranted on in previous blogs about last year's treacherous conditions. Fingers crossed that Sunday is sunny and the surf is less angry than it was last weekend. On Monday night a man drowned at a beach near Port Kembla (just south of Wollongong). The ocean is like a wild animal. It can look benign, but you should never trust it, always respect it and never think you can tame it.

But enough of this cliche-riddled bumph. I'm off to pack - which means chucking whatever's lying around into a bag.

Have a good weekend - I'll be back on Monday.

(I took this pic at Narawallee Beach in 2009, when The Hiss and her cousin Little Prince had a surfing lesson with former world champion, Pam Burridge)

A 'lurking' shark forces the cancellation of the Tamarama to Clovelly ocean swim

Since when do sharks 'lurk'?

According to the ABC Local website headline, a 'lurking shark' brought today's TamaCloey 2.5 km Cliff-side Odyssey to 'an abrupt end' midway through the event.

I didn't enter this swim, which turned out to be a good thing.

Depending on which online news source you read, there was

a) one sighting of one shark

b) three shark sightings (does that mean sightings of three sharks or was the same shark spotted three times?)

c) multiple shark sightings.

Not one of the reports identified the shark species, its size or mentioned how the creature came to be 'lurking'. Apparently, it was having a smoko off Bronte Beach, which is midway between Tamarama and Clovelly. I guess the Sharkster was, like a patron at a Chinese seafood restaurant, checking out the fish tank before settling on his preferred hors d'oeuvre.

The media also reported on the six foot/1.8 metre sets breaking at Tamarama and a rip, which made conditions difficult for swimmers from the outset.

Lots of disgruntled punters are venting on www.oceanswims.com. They claim the swim is elitist because it grades swimmers according to their average time (not age), and that the cancellation is less about sharks and more about concerns over the weaker/slower swimmers getting into trouble in the challenging conditions.

I'd still like to see a shark lurk - from a safe distance.

PS: photo from The Sydney Morning Herald

It's all Greek to me: Good Friday in our street

Nothing much happens in our street, but at Easter it is always cordoned off so the patrons of the local Greek Orthodox Church can follow the Holy Cross in a candlelit procession that takes them around the block.

I tend to forget about this Greek tradition because it sometimes falls either side of Good Friday. But this year it coincided with public holiday, and the Greek community was out in force.

Every year I hear the procession before it arrives. And by 'hear' I mean my ear detects a change in the outside environment. It's quiet. The distant throb of the occasional car engine is replaced by a gentle murmer and the footsteps of 1000 women, men and children - each year their number increases.

Nearly everyone carries a candle, so the street becomes a warm blur of flickering butter-yellow lights. At the roundabout at the base of the hill the Holy Cross, which is held aloft in its canopied carriage by four men, stops and the Greek Orthodox priest chants a hymn.

The crowd then continues up the hill and back to the church. I feel like our little pocket of surburbia has been blessed.

Have a peaceful Easter.