4/12/2016 – Somewhere, over the Rainbow, there is a chest of Gold

We didn’t see skies of blue

Just clouds of white

But the start of Summer

Makes our colours so bright

And we think to ourselves

What a wonderful world.

Judy Garland really did best describe the affect that the bright fluro is having on our swimmers now that Summer water really has arrived and many have removed the drab Winter uniforms.

 

 

Some were smiling all the way to the shower

 

 

Lesley was so happy with the new colour that I caught her taking a selfie!

 

 

The colour really did bring out the smiles – like wearing prozac.

 

 

Some sadly needed more than colour to bring out a smile…

 

 

But it definitely worked for Fabio and his THREE friends.

 

 

John, always the protector of tradition donned black and informed me of the first 10km next weekend! It’s shorter than he normally swims but he’s excited nonetheless!

 

 

Others simply did not get the fluro memo

 

 

But were happy all the same

 

 

 

Baby fluro steps for some with just a change in goggles before Chris brings out the real flair next week

 

Chris also claimed that he normally does the 5:30a.m. swim but his hangover had delayed him until 7 today.

 

Later Chris’ mate  informed me that it was Chris’ first swim today.

 

Welcome Chris.

 

Oh and I hope you all said hello to my cousin and Boruit’s brother, A’ruit, who made a big splash today.

 

He was in traditional attire because like most of my family, he had no idea that fluro, chest or facial hair ever went out of fashion.

 

Other highlights of today include Sam Di Sano who,

 

in a swarm of darkness, refracted to the Bright Side of the Moon,

 

Sadly, Lesley was already bored of Ian’s and Dave’s colours

 

 

But it was not just colours on show today!

Many of the gents had been hiding some very creative chests under their Orca for far too long and today we saw many of them in the flesh and the fur!

 

Great chests on these two David Hasselhoff look-a-likes (circa 1980). They sing better than him too.

 

 

A surprising crowdpleaser was the combination of the ‘Startrek’ and ‘Pornstar’ look – rolled up in these chests.

 

 

While these gents believed that ‘more is more’.

 

 

And self-described Italian Stallion added a bit of gold garnish to his chest, which, understandably made his mate grip his girlfriend extra tight.

 

 

This handprint was a fashion statement and had nothing to do with the scratches on his back.

 

 

Hopefully our missing-half-an-arse merman will bring the body, the chest and the colour back very soon!

 

 

Because right now, he has less of a chest than this guy.

 

 

But to return to Judy Garland’s wisdom, things will improve – just like they did for us in June when,

 

We saw parts of Manly die

 

And slowly regrow

 

To become more beautiful

Than we ever did know

 

And we think to ourselves

What a wonderful world.

 

And as always, apologies for the next part but…

Bruce was so impressed with my last FREE WALKING TOUR that he came along again with another colleague to hear more about Sydney’s history and culture – it had nothing to do with the backpacker clientele.

 

Aside from the above smiles, colours and pectorals, the stats were as follows:

340 swimmers

19 newbies

21.8 degrees

 

Enjoy your week

 

Gino

 

Summer Badge

Summer Swims 6k and 10k. The 6k swims run on any Saturday during summer from December to February. There is only one 10k swim in each of the months of December, February and March (not in January). The proposed date for the first 10k swim is Saturday 10th December 2016.

Summer Triple Badge

Please don’t forget our Summer Triple badge this summer! If you can’t make the 6 km distance, or want to warm up for the 6 km swim, why not do a triple Manly-Shelly swim any day and you earn a badge (don’t forget to log it on i-log). Due to popular demand, this year you will be able to earn the Summer Triple as well the 6 km badge.Everyone is eligible for two badges in any combination (triple/6km, 6km/10km, triple/10km), so start training!!

23rd Ocean Care Day Festival – This Sun 4 Dec – Manly Beachfront 10.30am – 4.30pm

Fun activities for everyone – seaside scavenge, a touchable ocean lab, live music, roving artists, eco talks and lots of great eco exhibitions and stalls celebrating our oceans and raising awareness about the threats to our oceans.

https://www.facebook.com/somanly/?ref=br_rs

Boomerang Bags Manly Launch – 23rd Ocean Care Day Festival

Date: This Sunday 4 Dec @ 12.30pm

Time: 12.30pm

Location: Southern Stage Manly Beachfront (opp Royal Far West)

Join us in the celebrations of launching this exciting initiative into the community of Manly at the 23rd Ocean Care Day Festival.

Boomerang Bags is a bag share initiative driven by our community to reduce single use plastic pollution in our community.

From next week, look out for the bright red boomerang bag boxes located in local businesses throughout Manly’s shopping precinct.

The boxes will be stocked with FREE reusable fabric shopping bags for customers to borrow when they forget to bring their own.

Simple borrow a bag when you need it most and return to a red BB box along with any extras you have at home.

The availability of free reusable bags reduces the amount of plastic materials entering our landfills and waterways and encourages a mentality of re-use in our community.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/905475572932227/

The B&B Christmas calendars are on sale! Grab one for yourself, and many more as stocking fillers!

B&B Christmas Party – don’t miss out – BOOK EARLY

The B & B Christmas Party this year will be held on Tuesday 13^th December at 6.30 pm in the Moonshine Bar (2^nd Floor) at the Steyne Hotel. All swimmers and partners/friends are welcome (no under 18s unfortunately). The theme again this year is simply “Christmas”. So come dressed in your finest Christmas paraphernalia. Lots of fun and dancing are guaranteed, with music by a fantastic rock band “Gluteus Maximus”. The cost is $10 per head, with all proceeds going to the running costs of the B&B. Book HERE now! Don’t miss out on this fun event, numbers are limited.