Sunday 19 January: Reverse

 

A grey sky and a flat ocean greeted me this morning.  Not your usual summer’s day, but Manly beach is always beautiful, regardless of conditions!  But where were all the swimmers??

 

Paul, Henrietta and Dorset were on hand to remind that today we would be doing a reverse swim from Shelly to the point and back, as the nippers’ carnival was taking place at Manly beach:

Robyn tried to protect the wall before walking over to Shelly:

Drinksy returning from an early swim:

On the walk to Shelly I bumped into Lainey with her run club buddies:

And then I bumped into Danny and Brian.  They’d been surveying which public toilets were open this morning between Queenscliff and Shelly (answer: only the ones on the Shelly walkway), while contemplating the dos and don’ts of ticking:

Top management and hangers-on formed my welcoming committee at Shelly (JK, Alan, Kathy, Anne and Kate):

The management desk had made it to Shelly too.  John hunted in vain for an internet connection and the plug for the printer:

 

Then came the big announcement!!

JK advised that the beach was closed due to risk of pollution and that swimming was optional (except for the blogger, who  would need to deal with the pink hair and green skin) and very much at your own risk.  He also gave the all-important instruction to swim ANTI-CLOCKWISE.

Elizabeth and Trevor relished their imminent rule-breaking.  So did these gorgeous members of the Boyle family (Georgia, Lisa and Daniel):

The “let’s go” was a relaxed, unhurried affair:

I missed it (as usual) so Ian kindly repeated it for me:

Greg and Sue:

These guys couldn’t wait to start swimming (after a photo, of course):

 

Jo arrived, late:

 

Impromptu meeting at the shed (Jacqui, Anne, Ian and Elizabeth):

Very quiet at the point, with swimmers staggering their arrival and numbers down overall:

Peter turned up:

As did Jacqui and Paul:

Jacqui, Anne, Lisa, Georgia and Robyn:

The trip through the middle of the bay to the point had been murky, so I followed fish whisperers Anne and Jacqui into Fish Alley to find some wildlife:

 

As I was still making my way back to Shelly, Danny and Brian were already on the second leg of their public toilets survey:

 

The fish viewing had made me cold, but Lisa and Robyn kindly provided towels and body heat:

And then Astrid introduced me to another warming-up technique:

 

It worked – I think!

Melise and I then ambled back to Manly, where the nippers’ carnival was in full swing:

 

Happy Sunday, everyone!

 

Stats:

210 swimmers

7 newbies

New B&B Merchandise

Fancy a new item of B&B merchandise to brighten up your wardrobe.

Check out B&B’s new T-shirt for summer (also available in white type)

[Sorry I can’t post the pictures – Typepad doesn’t like the file size – see Saturday’s blog for visuals.]

Orders are available online along with all of our fun B&B merchandise at: https://www.boldandbeautifulmanly.com.au/clothing.html 

The Monthly Dinner – 11^th February 2020 – Guest Speaker

The first B&B monthly dinner for the year will be held on Tuesday 11th February at 6.30 pm at Bluewater Restaurant. Our guest on the night will be Julianna Kadar, who is a PhD student at Macquarie University. She is also a member of the Homeward Bound Program which is working to build and upskill a network of 1,000 women in STEM over ten years. Julianna will talk about her study on the Behaviour of Port Jackson Sharks. Her work involves finding out more about the activity patterns of the Port Jackson shark using bio-loggers. Her study includes both captive and wild experiments and aims to analyse distinct shark behaviour signatures. Her talk will cover variation in behaviour, social networks and migration of our lovable PJ.

Please book early for this event as it is sure to be popular. The cost of the dinner is great value at only $25 a head, which includes shared entrees, and a selection of mains to choose from (including a vegetarian option). Glasses of beer or wine and desserts are also available at the special price of only $5 each. Numbers are limited, so bookings are essential. To avoid disappointment and secure your spot please book atwww.boldandbeautifulmanly.com.au/bb-bluewater-monthly-dinner.html .