Swimming with the Sharks (well, not really)

888 people took part in the Sydney Harbour 2km Swim this morning. The Chinese believe the number 8 is lucky and some people this morning were no doubt thinking that a dose of good luck would be no bad thing, given that yesterday saw the third shark attack in Sydney in three weeks!

Just to put things in perspective, every shark attack in Sydney makes the news here because they are so rare. But they do seem to have picked up in frequency recently.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/5358819

Once again the attack took place at dawn/dusk, and it’s becoming clear that – this year at least – you are taking a risk with life (or more probably limb) when you go into the water at these times. But I have a lot of sympathy – surfers in Sydney are some of the most passionate sportsmen and women around, and often early morning and late afternoon are the only fit with the good surf and school/work.

I had absolutely no fear of a shark attack this morning, and not just because the chances of being ‘chosen’ were 888 to 1. If I were a shark I’d be staying well clear. With three helicopters in attendance it wasn’t exactly a predator’s ideal hunting environment. Mind you, didn’t the shark take down a chopper in the abysmal Jaws 2???

In fact, as it turned out, the only risks were cramp and jellyfish. Cramp was a definite worry as I hadn’t swum this distance since my shoulder injury last May. But actually the race went very well. I felt good right the way through and finished strongly. In fact, I was feeling so good afterwards that my thoughts started to turn again to the 11km Circular Quay to Manly swim… maybe in 2010.

And jellfish…? Well, for the first few hundred metres the water was full of them. It was quite magical actually. Layer upon layer of these symmetrical, pulsing shapes appearing out of the murky water as I ploughed along the surface. I think there is a similar scene in Finding Nemo, which is of course also set in Sydney! Despite touching their blobby forms on every other stroke, they seemed pretty harmless, though I did notice a few people getting treatment for stings at the end of the race.

The times and results are out in 48 hours, and then it’s time to look forward to the next race. I love this aussie lifestyle!

FASHION THEIR FUTURES

Hi everyone. This website is overdue a couple of decent updates. Which will follow... honest! But in the meantime, here's a great event in Sydney.

Combining fashion, cocktails, canapes and poverty relief, this should be a really inspiring and enjoyable evening in Sydney. The event has been organised by Heather, one of Opportunity's ambassadors, as a fund-raising event for us, and I think she's done a great job in putting this together.

The cocktail party and fashion show will be held at Studio Twenty4, a fashion photography studio in Walsh Bay on Wednesday evening 29 April 2009.

Designers including Bianca Spender for Carla Zampatti, Tim O'Connor, Melanie Cutfield, Kyotap, CUE and Veronika Maine, as well as upcoming designers such as Mimmelu and They Thank You, have donated stunning outfits for the catwalk show and to be auctioned at the event.

Tickets are on sale now and cost $85 (includes drinks, substantial canapés, catwalk show, fashion auction, goodie bag and lots of great prizes). To purchase tickets go to www.opportunity.org.au and click on the ‘Donations/Events’ tab. The Fashion their Futures event page will explain the ticketing process. There is an "early bird" special which will entitle you to VIP seating at the fashion show so book early to avoid disappointment!

Ocean Swimming

It would be madness to go ocean swimming at Bondi beach just 48 hours after the first shark attack there for 80 years.

Madness.

But that didn’t stop twenty hardcore aussies going out for the regular Saturday morning swimming class yesterday. And I was delighted to be able to join them.

I’ve been recovering from a shoulder injury for more than 6 months now. After 4 months out of the water, two months using fins and a few weeks swimming normally again, I at last felt that I’d recovered enough for the fairly testing challenge of swimming in the surf.

And as for the sharks? Well, I did feel a few things bumping against my legs in the water, but there is often seaweed in the surf. In fact, the most notable event all morning was back on shore, where we were accosted by a Channel 9 filmcrew. Here’s a transcript that I’ve totally made-up as I wasn’t close enough to hear Spot over the roaring surf. But it probably went something like this…

Rugged ex-AFL Interviewer: So can you explain to me what’s going on then?
Spot (crazy aussie swimming coach): Just your regular Saturday morning ocean swimming club mate.
Interviewer: Aren’t you erm… worried about sharks, after this week’s shocking events.
Spot: Nah!! You can’t worry about the sharks. They’ve got their place. They don’t really like the taste of humans anyway. They just get a bit confused sometimes.
Interviewer: You guys seem to be the only people willing to go into the water.
Spot: Ahhh, that’s just the weather mate. A bit of drizzle scares people off. There’s no safer time to go in the water. Way I reckon, there isn’t another shark attack due for 80 years. Couldn’t be safer!
Spot: (to squad) right you lot – back in the water, get right out beyond the break! Last one back’s a dribbly Pom… etc.

And the swim went really well for me. I put a lot of stress on the shoulder swimming in and out of medium-height (for Bondi) surf and it stood up well. Going to do the harbour swim on 1st March now.

If anyone’s interested, here’s the Bondi Fit website. I love the ocean swimming – nothing can set you up better for the weekend.
http://new.bondifit.com/Surf.asp

Pssst: in case you think I’ve really lost my marbles, the attack at Bondi, and another one in the harbour last week both happened at dawn/dusk when light conditions are low and the sharks are more likely to be feeding. The risk at other times is much less, apparently…

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/bondi-attack-fires-up-shark-net-controversy-20090213-86pp.html

We can't find beauty with our eyes closed...

A story that tickled me today...

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

It's All Good Man!

Can you believe I lived in my apartment for eight months without realising I had a roof terrace??? And what a roof terrace! The views are some of the best in Sydney. Unbelievable. I've been enjoying it with friends since.

So January's done already. The weather has been great, the festival a real boost to the social life and I'm back swimming again. All good? Well... no. Something has definitely been missing. Frankly, I haven't had enough work to do...

My mood is often determined by how happy I am at work. And it might sound strange, but it's taken me years to realise that.
Beautiful water and sands down at Jervis Bay.

I always felt that working for the Civil Service was a bit of a compromise. The work wasn't appreciated and it wasn't especially rewarding, and the working environment was never exciting, but the payoff - I thought - was a less stressful, less demanding working life. It wasn't until I left that I realised I'm happiest when work is demanding. An undemanding job isn't a payoff, it's a lead weight. I can only feel happy when I'm working hard and adding some value.

It's that Scottish Protestant guilt that I just can't shake off. Hahaha!

Left - James enjoyed his lunch on the rooftop!

So it's with some relief that I find my workload ramping up in the last week. And I'm excited about working for Opportunity International in 2009. I'm excited because this could be the most challenging year for this organisation yet. None of us would wish for the difficulties that the credit crunch have imposed on us. We would all prefer to have more donations, more money to pay for the projects we have in the field, and more money to pay for our team in Australia, which we've unfortunately had to pare down in the last month or so.

But given the circumstances we find ourselves in, we're determined as a team to do the best we can. I've said this before, but I've never felt as encouraged by my colleagues and by the atmosphere at work as I do at Opportunity.

Since I've written this, I've had a great week. I've done some walking in the beautiful bush around Sydney. My shoulder feels almost fully recovered so I've entered the harbour swim competition on 1st March. I've caught up with friends and I have a weekend of beach, barbeque and the Australian Open with a few tinnies to look forward to.

It really is all good!

With Australia Day passing, I feel the need to comment on the rivalry between Australia and the UK, and back one of these very different horses. Hope to put this into a new update real soon...

Wow!!!!