Still plugging away

The next big swim is in Fiji. I’m including cycling and more pilates in my routine now. Trying to extend the km’s in the pool to meet the challenge.

The sleeping dog

Recently, the pet I house inside my head turned in his sleep. A gentle turn. A shake of the leg, a twitch of the head – just enough to remind me he was there. I’m told the”leash” is holding, no seizures yet, no cause to panic.
Consequently, I’m not panicking. I am however not without worry. In fact, I think for the first time I’m the only honest descriptor of what I’m actually feeling is “fear”.
It’s an interesting place to be, a half-way house of sorts. I won’t stop long, there’s not a very positive vibe going on.

Sub-60 in the Tropics!

I stepped onto Aore Island beach exactly 57min and 28 seconds after leaving Luganville! The ear-to-ear smile wrapped across my gob expressed how I felt. Tired, but thrilled. Possibly the best event I’ve competed in to date!

Santos – Aore Island Ocean Swim

The annual 2.6km swim between the islands of Espiritu Santos and Aore is now an international event, involving ni-Vanuatu swimmers and canoe/out-rigger paddlers, local tourism operators and residents, swimmers from Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S.A.
[/caption]The celebrations began on Monday with a canoe race – including one white-fella kayak. We have some great pics to follow!

All I needed to know and more …

… about tropical ulcers. Look them up, they’re gorgeous. I have one the size of a 5c coin in the middle of my right calf.

Fortunately we met a couple of Doctors (literally a couple, husband & wife) at the airport this morning who prescribed & issued antibiotics on the spot.
I’m now keeping it out of suspect water (practically every body of inviting water within spitting distance), bathing it in saline solution and crossing my fingers that the ab’s will kick-in quickly enough to allow me to swim on Tuesday. A bit of a long shot.
On the bright side we’re settling in to our beach front villa. Kelvin’s practising his swimming & I’m off to have a massage after lunch.

Cross #1 off the list

Despite the grey outlook, most of the competitors were happy with the conditions on the morning of the 13th June in Port Vila. The previous day strong winds were raising a hearty chop across the harbour which proved challenging to some of the seasoned swimmers who chose to venture out for a final training session.
The mixed field took off from the start line in a single wave, shortly after 8am. The race leaders completed their circumnavigation in 40 – 45 minutes. The bulk of the field took a little longer.
I was just pleased to tick-off the Port Vila Swim completed -1:05:05.Nice to finish it off. Wasn’t feeling to hot for most of it, so pretty happy with that time. Completely dehydrated (the harbour water seems excessively salty??) and extremely tired afterwards. Went to sleep for about 3 hours. Managed a walk into town around 4pm.
Fortunately the “Awards Dinner” was held at our hotel – we didn’t need to travel anywhere. I managed to eat a little, stick around for the speeches and catch up with a few people we’d met earlier in the week.
PS: It turns out that I was carrying a fairly significant infection at this point, and probably should have been checking in to the hospital rather than the race registration at 8am. Consequently I should be fairly happy with a time that was only 1.30 (approx) slower than last year.

MOORINGS HOTEL

We’re currently located at Moorings Hotel, on the Port Vila waterfront. It’s a lovely little place about 500m out of town. The louvre windows hinge back to reveal uninterrupted views out to sea. Spectacular.

The MOO Bar & Restaurant serve a range of predominantly western food and cocktails – although they do make the most of the fresh produce, particularly the fruit. We’ve sampled a range of fabulous cocktails, + the MOO Burger, MOO Juice (fresh passionfruit syrup, lime juice & ginger), and the locally brewed beer.

Yesterday at Lelepa Island we had a more traditional meal (fabulous).
We’ve swum/snorkelled every day – heading off now to swim with the Port Vila Masterbathers.
All going well the Iriki Island swim will go ahead on Saturday. If not, we’ll just continue to have a great time here.

Kelvin the Mighty Snorkeller

I had doubts re: Kelvin’s swimming abilities – he’s actually quite competent, & loves snorekelling.

VANUATU ROCKS

Internet access limited. AWESOME holiday. A little doubt about the race. May/may not go ahead.

Water play

We tried to combine babysitting and a training session last Saturday. Our plan was for my partner and our three year old friend to paddle in the learner’s pool while I did a short training session. Our plan didn’t suit the three year old. Instead we all spent thirty minutes together in the learners pool – for the first twenty minutes I was in a headlock.
The best thing about the morning was that after twenty minutes we were rewarded with a huge smile as she launched off on her own within the safety of the floatation ring and zipped beneath the water curtain. For a little tyke that dearily wanted to swim, but didn’t want to get her hair wet, that moment was magic.