Funky Five 18 Jan '12 
It's not that easy finding a groovy sporting image with exactly five funky things in it, but we seem to have nailed it with our colourful Darling River paddlecraft shot, 2010 vintage. The boats are of no consequence to our Australia Day aquathon, but serve as a helpful pointer to five good things our race girls might do on 26 January. Here are your Funky Five.
- Arrive early. We barricade the Marina road entrance at 0830 with bollards, nasty men, and howling Rottweilers.
- Hydrate well in advance. The Marina is a hot environment and the race will have you exposed from start to finish.
- Apply sun screen at home. If you do it at the race you will rub your number off and perhaps miss out on a prize?
- Bring a swim cap if you have one. We have a good stock of Eff caps, but late entries could run us short.
- And finally....phone, Facebook, or email your friends, and encourage them to race or cheer you on 26 January!
Race briefing is at 0843 sharp. Starters gun goes bang at 0900. Good luck girls!! |
Sleepy Hollow 18 Jan '12  I'm pretty sure the RWA team had a day off sport and adventure somewhere in the festive season, but with a Lake Victoria expedition just completed, a Very Funky Aquathon in a few days, and the Australian Triathlon Sprint Champs in Canberra all before the end of January, it does feel like 2012 has been shot out of a cannon. Even the traditional Track summer break lasted a meagre one week.
And that's just the way we like it. Sleepy hollow is okay for some, but with summer in full swing it does seem a shame to waste a single day doing anything but having fun in the great Mallee outdoors. Having said that, we do have a generous stash of Eff and Zilzie Wine sitting on the verandah for our Very Funky girls. I don't think our sponsors will mind if we pinch one from the stash. Flat out, like a lizard drinking. |
Perfect Ten 18 Dec '11 
Ten days in NZ and a perfect ten on the travel scoresheet. Cold and blustery ChCh weather was an absurd excuse to visit the very cool Antarctic Centre, wind & waves turned Kaikoura whale watching into a showride, and everything else was either stunningly beautiful or ridiculously tasty.
We were touched by the quake recovery efforts and resilience of the Canterbury community, found Wellington an awesome place to pull on the running/paddling/climbing boots, and bumped into some Hobbits making a film that we'll all be watching in 2012.
Complex waterways, playful seals, a stunning national museum, and Marlborough sav blanc as far as the eye can see. I think that checks ten wonderful NZ travel boxes. And it barely scratches the surface. The image gallery goes a little deeper. |
Perfect Storm 28 Nov '11  We've found a couple of good reasons to make the voyage across the Tasman over the past decade, including a honeymoon, mountains, wildlife, and the World Aquathon titles. However, in a perfect storm of cheap airfares and ideal timing, who needs a reason to visit our near neighbours in the land of the long white cloud.
The Kiwis do multi-sport better than most, so we'll find time for Escape From Alcatraz Beach Biathlon, but the rest we'll leave in the hands of the Maori Gods. Don't be surprised if the new year image gallery is full of sharks, dolphins, and whales.....perhaps a little snow and ice, or an albatross on the wing. Highly likely you'll also find the RWA team settled in behind a crisp sav blanc and a freshly caught Lake Taupo trout. Back for summer! |
Mungo Rebels 21 Oct '11  With our local constabulary well occupied by the real Rebel bikers, we thought it perfect opportunity to sneak out the back door and make some trouble of our own in the ancient landscapes of Mungo National Park. Armed with running shoes and mountain bikes (not to mention a bottle of Penfolds Grange), we had all the necessary equipment to scare the locals out of their desolate existence.
At every turn we saw kangaroos, emus, pink cockatoos, bearded dragons, and goannas dashing for cover as we rolled through the ancient lake-bed and surrounding dunes. Even the wildflowers pulled back from the tracks as our mean machines rumbled by. But in the end we were so overwhelmed by the big skies, gorgeous sunsets, and delicious wine, that in keeping with our World Heritage-listed campsite, we made like a bunch of old fossils and fused into the sands of time. Next time we'll make some noise! |
New Castle 04 Oct '11  We rolled into town as former 15 year olds and rode out as the New Kings of the North. Built ourselves a nice castle (refer image) amongst the rock and rubble too, and cast an admiring eye over the great men and gorgeous women that roamed the Hill with us in the olden days.
That's our story anyway, and we're sticking to it. Just don't tell Max Eddy, in case he wants his kingdom back and comes and kicks our arses. Technically, a 30 year St Joe's (Broken Hill) High School reunion might fall outside the sporting range of the RWA website, but when you kick the footy with old mates, watch the footy Grand Final with old mates, and relive the U15 premiership days with old mates.....it really is a very sporting tale!
Besides, when you are Kings of Broken Hill, you can do anything you like. What a great place to grow up and a great place to reunite with old friends (and Miss Del Vecchio!). Huge thanks to all the boys and girls that masterminded the 30 year plan. And remember, don't tell Max. He could get mad! |
Sand Man 09 Sep '11  Having enjoyed and endured years of Vanuatu mountain & volcano travel, we decided that V11 would be entirely focused on coastal exploration. Not that we've missed out on the stunning beaches, great fishing, world-class diving, and beautifully warm water over the journey, but for the first time ever, sand and snorkelling became our number one priority.
A clichéd photo of a white sandy beach, a big blue ocean, or on offshore islet dotted with palm trees would probably be an appropriate image here, but we might go instead with Master Patrick running....on a white sandy beach, with a big blue ocean, and an offshore islet. You get the picture. We get another spectacular Vanuatu holiday.
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Operation Hammerhead 26 Jul '11  Traditionally, the jungle-green mountains of Tanna and Santo have been the focus of our Vanuatu adventures, with the coastal strip reserved for recovery and recreation. Not that we haven't managed to fish, surf, dive, and paddle away a great deal of holiday time, but this has mostly come post-climb or trek.
This time, we're flipping the adventure coin to tails......shark tails, to be precise! We know for a fact that a friendly hammerhead shark patrols the waters around Oyster Island, and perhaps if we keep our thoughts a shade of blue, we'll get to spend some quality time with this handsome fellow. V11 is Operation Hammerhead.
And when we are bored with the Blue Holes, sick of catching wahoo, or paddling surf craft to offshore reefs, we might even detour inland for a day or two of mountain play. Assuming we can get off our beach towels. |
Dirty Rats 20 Jun '11  Hard to imagine racing more glamorous & combative than on our M12 stage (think Olympians torching hapless race directors!), but underneath every sporting metropolis lie drains and sewers full of fleet-footed rodents, fighting their own little war, desperate for the big cheese!
For the first time ever, our M4 Rat Racers duelled for prestigious trophies as well as a finishers medal, so when push came to shove, neither Christian or Aston were willing to concede in a brutal finish line battle. We checked the photo, consulted with race officials, and made a tough call. Dead heat! Thankfully, Lauren Fraser put a bit of time into her younger sister Mikaela. But those boys.....dirty rats!! (Nice racing though).
Boring grown-up stuff like results and race reports at the MALLEE 12 page. |
Hat Hunter 28 May '11  We are looking hard at purchasing sophisticated mapping software before the M12 beanie world tour overwhelms us. Such is the determination of our sport and adventure friends to have the beanie photographed in every country on earth, some days we can barely keep up with the arrival of beanie images. France, Austria, Oman, PNG, USA, Nepal, Slovenia, China, Canada, Thailand, Indonesia, Tanzania, Gibraltar, Mongolia, Greece, Vanuatu, Montenegro, Uganda, Ireland, and Egypt barely scratches the surface of our image gallery, but makes for an impressive collection of passport stamps.
M12 racer Heather Hurley, is one of many on a special beanie mission. Somewhere above Leh on the India/Tibet border, up and over the Khardung La, she seeks out an old friend for one reason only. A new hat. And another cool photo. |
M2M 20 Apr '11 
No need for a clever title on this news piece. M2M says it all. Set to become an iconic multi-sport event, the inaugural Marysville to Melbourne race served up a wild & wonderful cocktail of autumn weather just to make the 155km run/bike/paddle challenge a little more challenging! Dripping rainforest tracks gave way to screaming road bike descents and grinding climbs through relentless mountain terrain. The welcome flat of running Yarra River trails on R2 provided little relief as many athletes (myself included) struggled with fatigue and cramp from 110km of cold & sustained mountain action.
And if that wasn't quite enough, the final two paddle sections served up a miserable flow, strengthening headwind, and incoming tide for all but the fastest racers. Hideously good fun. So with 10 hours 48 minutes on the clock, lots of big shiny Docklands buildings in view, and cheering family & friends...there was little more to do than fall in the Yarra twice (mongrel footbridges!) and run across the finish line. Back in 2012 to improve on 9th place with all our sporting friends. For now, gone fishing! |
Even Flow 22 Mar '11 
We have become accustomed to tales of a struggling river system in recent years, but with heavy rain pouring into the Murray-Darling network through 2010/11 we set sail for the SA coast with a sense of dual hydrological optimism, an absurd name, we agree. So let's just call it Expedition H2O and pretend to be clever! We know things look better in the Mildura sector because our Mallee 12 run course has yabbies and fish on it, the SA Riverland looks pretty good too, but what about the Coorong and Murray Mouth?
Well, with Cooper's in hand, we celebrate the dual flush and even flow of our twin rivers, and can report that the Murray Mouth is wide open! Brown fresh water now interacts freely with the Southern Ocean, the Coorong is teeming with birdlife, and we couldn't help but feel that the waterways in and around the Younghusband Peninsula were enjoying some long awaited prosperity. Enough to make you jump a dune. Or grab another Cooper's!
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