Beautiful Autumn Days!!

Firstly, let me just clarify - it's not Fall it's Autumn here. This is another one of those words you learn not to mention as it invites all sorts of harassment by anyone willing to give you a jab.

Call it what you want, the weather has been fantastic! This weekend I've been taking my time to do random returns and errands around Sydney. Yesterday I took the train out to Rhodes (aka the home of Ikea) to return some things I decided not to use. But today was the topper. I had to go to Manly to sign a new contract for my appliances and so decided to make a day of it. While Manly beach is known for it's surfing and long sandy beach - it is it's sleepy sibling do the South which I was more interested in. Shelly beach is about 1K south of Manly and is sheltered so there are no waves. But this isn't why I wanted to go to this beach. This is the home to a very nice aquatic reserve which has thousands of fish.

The beach had a bit more people than this but you get the idea :)

Given the swim I did earlier in the year was a dark and stormy day and we weren't able to see anything I wanted to give it another go on a nice day and see how it is. It was AMAZING!!! There were so many fish! Plus the water wasn't too cold.

Initially I started out doing a proper swim until I realised just how many fish there were around me. At which point I slowed down to enjoy a bit more of the scenery... which this was great the cold eventually got to me so I had to get out but it was a fantastic overall. I must admit I will give it another go next weekend if the weather holds up and the water isn't too cold.

Here are a couple of the fish I think I saw...

I think I saw a small Blue Groper

There were literally schools of these swimming around

Here is a picture of the schools and how they'd literally swim right past you

There were some of these too

It is days like this which make it fairly easy for me to say I won't be moving back to the states for a bit longer. :)

Farewell dear friend, you shall be missed...

We've been to fun places, met great people, and made some great memories. But alas, fate is not on our side. You have been taken from me and I am forced to move forward without you. Yes I will have to start over - take new pictures, retake those records made, and forge a new bond.

However, there will be others - because while you were near me virtually every minute of the day you were just a phone. Yes, dear iPhone - when that person decided to take you away from my comfortable and safe purse on Saturday night you began a new life.

I wish you a safe journey and a loving owner.

And now I look to see if my next companion will be a iPhone or another... we shall see.

Delayed End to Final Swim...

Today was supposed to be the final swim of the season - however the ocean gods decided it was not to be.

To start off the course had to be changed simply because the waves out the back were just too big. They were having trouble keeping the pontoons (or cans) in place to mark the course in the deeper water so they brought the course in. At first I was happy with this as it would be a course which I have swam before, plus the obvious advantage of not having to swim in the extremely deep areas.

I was all set to swim the 2.4 K, however as the 1K group was going the 4 rescue boats, jet ski, and 20+ surf life rescue people in there there were quite a few people who turned back.

Before I tell you what happens next, I'd like to just educate you on the Bondi rips. There are two permanent rips at bondi - the North Bondi rip and one at the south which is called the Backpacker Express as that's where all the backpackers get stuck. With the new course using the Northern rip to get out of the waves much faster. However the danger with this is that, if the waves are big enough you will be pushed against the rocks which are on the other side of this rip.

So with this group of people, there were some which decided about 20 meters in that they didn't want to continue, and were promptly swept into the rocks... not good! Then to complicate things even more, a massive wave came in a swept one of the pontoons out of it's secured location and into the rocks. Luckily, the pontoon didn't hit anyone on its way to the rocks.

However this turn of events was a blatant sign for the organisers to cancel the race... which they did. I must admit that I wasn't too sad as there was a pretty decident rip right where we were set to swim back to the beach. So this would have proven to be a very challenging race to say the least.

The plan is for them to reschedule the event to next Sunday, however I have a bachelorette party on Saturday night so I might not be capable of swimming. I will keep you posted on how things go. :)

In the mean time, my knee is feeling good due to my limited drinking which also means I have saved money and spent less time standing in line at the bathroom at the bar. :)

General Update

Things are chugging along here, and I figured I'm overdue for a update.

The Flat

I've furnished the living room area of the flat as all the old furniture was my old flatmates. I ended up simply making a couple trips to Ikea and am pretty happy with the results. My flat has blue carpet so I was pretty limited with what I could use without making the room too dark... so it is a very black and white decor which surprisingly works.

I allowed myself the luxury of the chase as I figure I'll more than justify it during my recovery time

My favourite part is the new HD TV :)

The second wave of furniture will come when I am able to pay down some more of my debt, so for now I still have the old dinning table

As far as flatmates go - I have a new one (obviously) and while it did take me a while to find one I also stepped out of the mold a bit. My new flatmate is a lawyer from Perth, who just moved to Sydney in January. His name is Raury and so far we are getting along great. The new part is that I typically live with girls, so this is a bit of a new adventure. So far we've sorted out the cleaning schedule and are getting all the little things sorted out so things are going well. :)

Swimming

Monday is the last swim of the season - a 2.4K swim at Bondi beach. It is a different course (picture below) and has us swimming out further than normal so that will be interesting. The group which swam today said they saw large sting rays and some other sealife before they hit a large pod of stingers. So my hope is that the sting rays and fishies are around with out the jelly fish.

The typical swims stay inside the two points, so it's quite a bit further out...

My Knee

My knee has been bothering me a bit more these days - so I am taking drastic measure and not drinking. I'm also noticing certain things which make it ache/hurt like crossing my legs. So sorry mother, but I won't be able to sit as lady like as I should as it hurts my knee. I think it has something to do with the whole fact that it puts pressure on my knee in the direction in which I don't have the ligament supporting.

I have my surgery scheduled for the 23rd of June after I get back from the states and luckily my mother is going to be able to come take care of me/keep me company while I'm recovering during the 2 weeks off.

Until then, I am allowed to swim, cycle, and run (but only in a straight line). Which makes things interesting, but at least I have some things I can do.

The Verdict Is In

I have torn my ACL. :(

If you are like I was and have heard about this surgery but have no clue what it means... allow me to enlighten you. The ACL or anterior cruciate ligament is the ligament which essentially the ligament which holds the femur and shin bone together when you bend your knee forward - so it's kind like your brakes. It also provides you knee with support when you do any sideways or pivoting type motion. Without this ligament I have to be extremely careful with any sideways movements especially when my knee is bent. If I'm not careful the bones can slip out of place and cause all sorts of pain and suffering on my part.

Lovely I know. I feel like I'm an old lady who could break with any wrong move - literally!

So what does this mean for me... I can almost walk normally. I say almost because I know I'm not extending my knee completely but to everyone else I look normal. No soccer, basketball, or virtually any other sports... but the worst of all is I can't dance or wear heels (especially no heels when drinking as this typically leads to dancing). I can swim (as long as I am extremely comfortable going in and out of the ocean), cycle, and run in a straight line. So again at least I have my swimming. :)

I do, however, need surgery if I ever want to do any of the above again without the potential of my knee giving way. As it is it feels unsteady and every now and then it feels like the torn ligament bits are saying hello to their friends in places they aren't supposed to be, and I can tell you it is as uncomfortable as it sounds.

The challenge comes in that I have a trip back to the states end of May early June, so if I do the surgery now I could be almost normal by the time I go home. However if there are any complications with the surgery it could compromise my ability to fly. Additionally, there are 3 of our 8 team members from work currently on vacation for the next 3 weeks so if I leave our team will be severely strained in a time when i can do some good stuff. So, I have scheduled my surgery for the Wednesday after I get back from the states.

Until that date I'll be playing it very carefully to make sure I don't do anything to make the situation worse.

Today in Sports News.....

So for over a year I've been involved with a couple basketball teams and all has been well and fine - not injuries, good fun, etc.

A couple months ago I decided to join the Deloitte soccer team which plays at the same building as my basketball league - in fact on the basketball courts. However since I've been playing there have been a couple too many injuries for my liking. It all started with the first game where I was kicked in the calf which cause a massive bruise and knocked knees with a guy which caused a bone bruise and fluid to form... The next couple games I was a bit more tame with no injuries.

Last week we had a bye so played a just for fun game against the Partners and Directors at Deloitte. During that game one of the Partners forgot he was wearing glasses and did a header - promptly cutting a gash on his nose which got blood on my jersey.

This last Monday it all went down hill.... I knocked knees with someone again - prompting a swift return of my previous bone bruise. Then to top it off I managed to do something to my knee when going to play defense against someone and something just wrong happened.

Two doctors later I have an appointment for an MRI next Thursday and the surgeon estimates I have a 70% chance of needing surgery. NOT COOL!

I've obviously not playing soccer or basketball but my doctor does want me to do a bit of swimming - sorry at this point I have to look for the bright side, even if it is one of those small sunny patches on a very dark day.

As I know more I'll post more, for now I have an xray of my knee which looks normal from what I've been told and am attempting to walk normally without hurting myself (which was the doctor's orders).

Ocean Swim Update

After my initial swim I have continued to train for and participate in ocean swimming. As it's been a bit part of my free time I figured it was about time I wrote something about it. :) Today was an amazing swim in the actual Harbour. The swim started at the Opera House and ended at the Opera House. For those who know Sydney it essentially went to Mrs. Macquarie's chair and back in the little inlet/lagoon area next to the Opera House.

The race started and ended from the pier just below the Opera House

It was funny because when you look at the water the waves look pretty small, however they were actually pretty big when you were in the water - or they at least felt big. Through my training group I've managed to find a girl who swims at the same pace as I do and we were swimming by each other the whole time. The only annoying thing was that there was a guy swimming between/around us that was swimming drunk. He literally kept bumping into both of us and it was very annoying.

Now there are couple unique things about swimming in the harbour. One is that the water is very murky. We can typically see the floor of the ocean and fish swimming around, however I don't think we could see more than two feet in front of our hands.

One of the earlier waves

In terms of providing the times they were very prompt... Now my first time pretty good by most standards and I finished 2K in 41 minutes, so when I saw a time of 31 minutes I knew something was off because I did not swim that much better. Across the board all the times were fast so the course must have been very short.