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From Canberra to Adelaide

3/31/2016

Bekka, Newton and our supporters started their long travel day before the rest of the team started theirs. We were thinking of them because making that long trip is not an easy one.

The rest of the Rowbust crew got up as usual, had breakfast and then cleaned out our rooms to start the departure process. Because we had such a large group, the Canberra Hostel allowed us to keep one of our rooms to store our luggage in until our bus came to pick us up at 3:15 pm for our trip to the airport. That was so nice of them!

But first......one last practice at the practice site! One last 6.4 km walk to and from the practice site, one last time lifting the boats in and out of the water and one last "goodbye" to our Canberra home! Everyone had been so kind to us and willing to help us out with anything that we needed.

You made our "home away from home" a really great experience and a great team bonding experience.

We cannot say thank you enough to Allangh and Treena for making sure that we were well taken care of during our time in Canberra......we truly appreciate it! But what we truly appreciated was that you took our Coaches (Cheryl and Sarah) away from us so the "kids" could have some "fun"!!!!

I'm not sure how the suitcases had more stuff in them and were harder to pack........but they were! Our bus came to pick us up at the hostel and take us to the Canberra Airport to fly to Adelaide.......ahead of time and away we went!

After some waiting time in the Canberra Airport, we were heading to Adelaide to meet up with Bekka, Newton and our husbands and supporters!!

We arrived in Adelaide ahead of time, our bus was ahead of schedule and Leigh was there to meet us and take us back to our next home for the week.

We loved the Canberra Youth Hostel for the week that we were there and we loved the team bonding time ........BUT........our Apartments in Adelaide........oh man......did we really LOVE them!! No bunk beds, No sharing 8 to a room, No using a key card to get into the bathroom and share with others, No sharing the kitchen.......not that we didn't love that part too......but we were SO ready to have a nice quiet place to stay!!! Thank you Leigh for finding such a great place for us!

A quick bite to eat, catch up with everyone and then off to bed to get to our early morning practice!

The next morning, the bus arrived at the Apartment to take us to the practice site and in the boats that we will be racing in.

Our practice went well and it was great to have Bekka and Newton in the boat with the team. We practiced many starts, a 500 m race and a 200 m race and just got used to being on that water in that boat.

The team looks and feels great and WE ARE READY for anything that we need to do!

Once back from the practice, we had the rest of the day to get situated and find some food for our race days.

One practice left before the racing starts........and we can hardly wait!!

Post Submitted by: Linda, Crew Captain

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Live Webcast Link

3/31/2016

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Watch all the action via this link: http://original.livestream.com/idbfdragon

Here are the race numbers and times that Rowbust will race:

Friday, April 1 - 2 k race
Race # 7 at 3 pm

Saturday, April 2 - 500 m races
Round 1 - Race # 36 at 12:25 pm
Round 2 - Race # 52 at 1:50 pm
Round 3 - Race # 65 at 2:55 pm
Sum of all 3 races is the winner

Sunday, April 3 - 200 m races
Round 1 - Race # 106 at 12:20 pm
Round 2 - Race # 122 at 1:40 pm
Round 3 - Race # 135 at 2:45 pm
Sum of all 3 rounds is the winner

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Opening Ceremonies - 2016 Australia CCWC

3/31/2016

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All the training and preparing is done, now it is time to compete!

Tonight we attended the Opening Ceremonies for the 2016 CCWC competition aptly named "Dragon's Down Under!"

Dragon Boat crews from around the world gathered together in Elder Park, just across the river from the iconic Adelaide Oval. ( http://www.adelaideoval.com.au/ ) As we were waiting patiently for the event to start we got to meet and chat with many paddlers who traveled from near and far. It was very nice to see some familiar faces. Faces that we only get to see at National and International competition, including our Australian friends that we raced against at the 2014 CCWC in Ravenna, Italy. We look forward to meeting them at the start line again.

Finally we were called to assemble in alphabetical order by Country. All of the Canadian athletes filed across the foot bridge that links the park to the oval first, followed by every other country with Australia bringing up the end of the parade of athletes as the host country.

The ceremony took place on the front steps of the oval. 2500 athletes were welcomed to the CCWC by the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) and the Australian Dragon Boat Federation officials. We were treated to an Aboriginal welcome dance demonstration passed down from their ancestors. This was followed by the traditional Chinese Dotting of the Eye ceremony. With the ceremony complete the event was officially declared as open!

Rowbust Race Schedule

Friday, April 1 - 2 k race
Race 7 at 3 pm

Saturday, April 2 - 500 m races
Round 1 - Race 36 at 12:25 pm
Round 2 - Race 52 at 1:50 pm
Round 3 - Race 65 at 2:55 pm
Sum of all 3 races is the winner

Sunday, April 3 - 200 m races
Round 1 - Race 106 at 12:20 pm
Round 2 - Race 122 at 1:40 pm
Round 3 - Race 135 at 2:45 pm
Sum of all 3 rounds is the winner

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On Site Practice...

3/29/2016

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Today we spent an hour in a boat all together as one cohesive unit! Bekka and I jumped in and immediately felt at home. Being in the boat (finally) felt really good. We missed out on 12 solid practices in Canberra last week but we kept up with our own workouts at home so that we'd be prepared for race week.

Practice was a series of starts and races, tweaking technique and moving people around to get the optimum performance from everyone.

One hour was all that we were allotted for practice today. During that time we did see a couple of other BCS crews on the water. As we always do we smiled and were the polite Canadian BCS team...inside we were secretly keeping our eye on them, what their stroke looked like, were they in sync, how did they look? We are supposed to keep our "mind in boat" (MIB) but sometimes there's just no stopping us from taking a peak.

Many other Canadian teams were on site the same time as us, many paddlers we've seen at home at Nationals, in Italy at the last CCWC and at any number of other festivals. We are the farthest we've ever been from Canada but to see so many other Canadians here we feel right at home!

The remainder of our day will be spent touring around Adelaide, hitting up the local grocery store and just taking it all in. We are here, living in the moment, enjoying the experience together. We are one, we are ROWBUST!

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Last night in Canberra

3/29/2016

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Training resumed today after a day and a half off to give the Rowbust bodies some rest and time explore the Canberra area.

Morning and afternoon practices we split up into 2 boats and we did some technical and also race pace work. We also did two 2 k races distances and then we worked on starts.......we LOVE starts!!

It was another beautiful day in Canberra with clouds this morning but the sun came out this afternoon and with the sun......is was very warm!

We have enjoyed our time at the Canberra Youth Hostel and having 8 of us to a room with bunk beds! It was a great bonding time for the crew and great together time but I have to admit, we are looking forward to getting to the apartments in Adelaide to spread out a bit and room with less people!

Our last night has been spent, packing up our suitcases, keeping out what we need to wear for practice in the morning and getting out what we need to travel to Adelaide tomorrow afternoon.

Another exciting part of getting to Adelaide is getting to join up with Bekka and Newton and our husbands!! It will be great to see them all again even though it has only been over a week.

Once in Adelaide, we have 2 training days with the entire crew to perfect our race plans and let the Coaches tweak the crew even more.

Next report........from Adelaide, Australia!!

Post submitted by: Linda Kuska, Crew Captain

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Strangers in the Night

3/29/2016

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Our flight from Toronto to Vancouver was thankfully uneventful, 5 hours squashed in to economy seats with a host of movies, TV shows and games to play on the monitors in the headrests so we were sufficiently entertained.

The stop over in Vancouver was a quick one. The only excitement here was Bekka and I being too shy to say hello to the four border security guards we recognized from the TV show Border Security Canada! Maybe on the way home with our hardware?!?

It is safe to say that we lucked out on our 14.5 hour flight between Vancouver & Sydney! All 8 of us who traveled together were able to stretch out across multiple seats and get a lot of sleep. The plane was literally less than half full and we were very thankful for the extra pillows and blankets that were laid out on each seat. When we would occasionally wake through the night it was clear to see that everyone else had the same idea. Very few monitors were lit up to break the still darkness of the cabin. The cabin flight crew who took care of us got a chance to sit and rest as well. We were all just a bunch of strangers sleeping soundly as we crossed the ocean heading to our Aussie destination. It is highly doubtful that we will have the same experience on our respective flights home.

Once in Sydney we were just one more quick (2 hours) flight to Adelaide, our home for the next week and where we will compete in the Club Crew World Championships. We are staying in an apartment complex. We've certainly lucked out here too! Spacious and quaint at the same time. Full kitchens so we don't have to eat in restaurant every meal. Comfy beds, laundry facilities in suite...all the comforts of home!

Our little group had just a few more hours of "alone time" together and many of us went and enjoyed a nice dinner together. A lovely little place around the corner. Excellent food, but they need to consider changing up the musak. As we left to stroll home from the restaurant we were all humming "Strangers in the Night" after hearing the musical rendition played repeatedly for the hour we were there.

On our stroll we located an Aussie version of a "Party Store" and loaded up so we are prepared for the end of racing on April 3rd! We'll call it "incentive"!

Back at our apartments we patiently waited for the bus carrying our teammates to arrive. Our apartment is directly over the lobby and it wasn't hard to know when they got here. Familiar voices wafted up to our window. We rushed out to see everyone as they filed off the bus. Big hugs were exchanged, they were happy to see us and we are very happy to be reunited with them as well. We are now complete!

We settled in for the night and our roomy, Glynis, caught us up on what the training week was like...living in a hostel with 8 bunks to a room...all the different and "interesting" noises heard throughout the night, in the room and out the windows.

It was not long after we were sound asleep and getting rested for our first on-site practice.

Night all!...or, Good morning! Where every you are in the world reading and keeping up with us!

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Bekka & Newton are going "Back to the Future!"

3/27/2016

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Today is the day! Bekka and I (and our supporters) will finally join the rest of Rowbust in Adelaide. Okay, so maybe not today, but we do start our long journey today.

The van picked us up in the McDonald's parking lot across from Costco on Wellington Road. No sooner were we on the road than Bekka declared "where are my headphones!?!". Luckily we were able to catch up with her Mom...in the intersection of Exeter and Wellington Roads so Bekka could startle her mother by knocking on the window to retrieve the forgotten headphones!

Minutes later we were officially on our way!

Traffic moved well..well enough to get us here to Toronto Pearson Airport in lots of time to hurry up and wait.

Our luggage is checked, we have found our gate. Now we wait for our 8:15pm flight.

Okay, so not everyone is waiting at the gate...for all the emails we received about making sure our names were correct and our passports matched everything...who had issues checking in?!? Yep, Leigh, our travel agent! Nice going Leigh! She is currently still checking in and will be joining us soon.

Thank you Carl and Carolyn Jensen for getting us here safely!

Next post...maybe from Vancouver, maybe not...wifi is not overly cooperative!

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Easter in Australia

3/27/2016

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Good Friday was another training day for Rowbust with 2 practices on the water. The morning practice we were split up into 2 boats to practice race distances.

After a nice warm up, it was right into four 500 meter race distances at race pace with powers, then four 200 meter distances at race pace, then a 2 k with some powers thrown in at the end of practice! What a great way to start the morning!

During our lunch time break, there was a small road trip to see some local kangaroo's, we were able to get fairly close to them since they are used to people in the city limits.

Then back to the boat to practice starts in 1 boat for the afternoon. It was great to feel it all come together and to feel that strength in the boat, we can hardly wait for Suzanne and Bekka to join the team in Adelaide!!

Good Friday at the Canberra Yacht Club was filled with people all day and was just a beautiful site to see with families having picnics, playing soccer, listening to music and just enjoying the day with family and friends by the water.

Of course, our Coach Cheryl has contacts everywhere and Australia is no exception. The team stayed for supper at the Canberra Yacht Club and met some of her friends and also Jackie from the ACT Dragon Boat Club who generously let us use their boats and training facility to have our training camp! This has been invaluable to us and we just can't thank then enough!

A great day again today with sore bodies, sore but good strong. Thankfully our team Physiotherapist, Brian Gastaldi is here to fix us up!

Tomorrow, an 8 am practice, back to the Hostel for breakfast and then the rest of the day free to go exploring!

Off to bed to rest up for tomorrow!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Post Submitted by: Linda Kuska, Crew Captain

Easter Sunday was a free day for Rowbust. A day for the Rowbust crew to explore the Canberra area, to rest their bodies and rest their minds since we have been working very hard the last few weeks and we know that the next week will be hard physically and more importantly mentally!

Some woke up early to go to Easter Sunday Mass in Canberra, once back the crew shared their Easter Gifts with each other and found out who their "Secret Bunny" was!

What would Easter Sunday be without an Easter Egg Hunt?? In each egg was chocolate (of course) and a different inspirational saying for each person.

And, of course, Hot Cross Buns for everyone!!

Then everyone was off to do various things for the day and some chose to stay at the hostel to chill and relax.

Since we are one big family.....we have to have Easter Dinner together so off to the local grocery store to buy tonight's dinner. Pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes and veggies on the menu! Dinner tonight will be special as a group since we know this will be last time to really relax for a week.

Tomorrow, back to the lake for our morning and afternoon training schedule!

Always in our minds, especially at Easter, is our family back at home. Our cheerleaders, our supporters, our friends.....without all of you, none of this would be possible for us.....so we thank you all for that!

Happy Easter to everyone......till the next note!

Post Submitted by: Linda Kuska, Crew Captain

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Meeting Dragons Abreast Canberra

3/26/2016

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Day 5 of our Training Camp
We were out on the water on a beautiful Saturday morning, doing our training. The sky was blue, some puffy clouds in the sky, there were many kayaks, rowers, joggers, walkers and hot air balloons out early in the morning. It was an absolutely beautiful site to see everyone so active early on a Saturday morning!

While we were out on the water, we came across another dragon boat team all dressed in Pink!! They happened to be Dragons Abreast Canberra, an all breast cancer survivor team from the Canberra area.

Once we were both off the water, we met for coffee, exchange team pins and had our picture taken together. (below)

They knew who we were, they admired what our team had accomplished and said that they would be cheering for us in Adelaide!!

It was wonderful to see another Breast Cancer Survivor Team to share stories about our different training seasons.

Once back at the hostel, the rest of the day was ours to explore Canberra and to also get some rest.

We have been going pretty hard in the last few weeks and since last Saturday when we left London, Ontario things have not stopped at all, so time to rest and look after the body also.

But with the free time, many of the team explored the Australia National Museum, the War Museum and other interesting places around the area.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and we have another special day for the team........but you'll hear about that tomorrow.....now, it's time to sign off for another day.

Post Submitted by: Linda Kuska, Crew Captain

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Training Continues

3/26/2016

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Training Day 3
The day was overcast with a slight drizzle off and on. Many were up early with sore muscles and extreme butt sores to tend to.

Many go for coffee and tea each morning across the street from our hostel. A breakfast of beans and bacon were on tap today although I don't think many took part in the beans ... Thank goodness. After breakfast it was off on our 3 k hike to the practice site. I think we are getting a little slower in our walking as it wasn't too long after arriving we were loading our two split up boats and heading out. It took a minute but before long we were back in the groove. I think those muscles and sores needed a minute.

Morning practice was 4 minute pieces with stroke rate changes and 2 minute pieces with stroke rate changes. It's a tough practice but everyone gave their all. This is one tough bunch of women. I know they are hurting but they give it each and every time. No whining or complaining.

Off the water for lunch break 11-2 pm. Some ate at the little fish restaurant today some ate their home made lunches. After lunch a large group went for a walk to the Canadian Embassy. They were unable to go in as they were on lunch break but they did take some pictures and chatted up the security. Others sat under the covering on the restaurant patio sharing stories laughing and relaxing before heading over to the boats. Since the coaches were not there the team thought they would surprise them by putting the boats in the water and be in position before they arrived back.

By 2 pm sharp we were back on the water. We did some more pieces then we put everyone in one boat and practiced our starts. It was our first time in one boat and all had high expectations. We started with our first five... Then went to two fives then to three... Change up the people and then back to it...you can feel it as we work as one .. transitioning from one gear to the next... Powerful women!!! Hungry for the win...

Off the water by 3:30 pm. Physio for the many... All are so thankful for your presence Brian G... Our nurses Patsy Linda and Margaret and Doc Tracy tending to the wounds.

Some still had a bit of shopping to do... Whart and I went to the local shop to order pizza dinner for all tonight. No gluten free pizza so Whart will eat a special meal. Home to shower and decorate rooms. Our pizza lady lead us a bit astray telling us one piece of pizza per person was enough. Clearly they have no idea what hardy appetites a group of dragon boaters have. Although we ordered extra we still were a little short so back to the pizza shop we went where our social Cathy H made friends with the locals while we waited. Back up to the roof top we went with our additional pizzas where Linda K was relaxing in the hammock... Yes she does stop once in a while ... Go figure...

After dinner everyone took some personal time. Some went in search of ice cream ( not saying Who) others sat weaving tall tales in the lounge while others readied for bed playing on their electronics ( what did we do before technology).

I don't think many slept last night as clearly the Aussies like to party into the wee hours of the morning. It's now 5 am and finally it's quiet. I think all will try to catch a few hours before our day begins once again.

Training Day 4
We began our day with our usual morning routines. It was Good Friday so much was closed. The night prior was loud with a lot of partying well into the early morning hours. It was overcast with a misty rain as we began our day. Breakfast was eggs and sausage....again.

We began our trek to the practice site and once again split into two boats. There was great anticipation from many to get their special wound dressing from Cheryl and Sarah. Patsy and Margaret proceeded to butt detail as the rest warmed up and got the boats ready.

Once on the water all dug into a very hard but rewarding practice. Several 500 m races, several 200 m races and a long but equivalent 2k. The power continues to build. Some tweaking by the coaches, timing coming along well. It is looking and feeling amazing. These women never give up. They dig in and do what is asked.

Off the water for lunch. The crowds came out for fish and chips so there were many generations of families that came to spend their day by the water. The sun began to come out and the time was spent chatting with friends and going on tours to see the kangaroos that were 5 minutes away. Thanks to Alanna for her time.

We were back on the water just before 2 pm all in one boat. Full starts were the afternoon practice. It's gonna be great!!!! They just got better and better.

Off the water around 3:30 pm for more stretching and kangaroo tours before dinner at the site with our gracious providers of boats for the week.

After dinner we made a tired trek back to our hostel for showers, laughing,quiet time, and yes more gelato for others.

Early to bed tonight. Pleased with the strong efforts by all. We are up for an early 8 am practice this morning to then enjoy the remainder of the day off and a much deserved day off on Sunday.
I am continually amazed by the strength and determination of all.

We look forward to Suzanne and Bekka joining us soon. We will all be one!!!

Post Submitted by: Laura Dunlop-Dibbs, Drummer

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From Canberra to Adelaide

Live Webcast Link

Opening Ceremonies - 2016 Australia CCWC

On Site Practice...

Last night in Canberra

Strangers in the Night

Bekka & Newton are going "Back to the Future!"

Easter in Australia

Meeting Dragons Abreast Canberra

Training Continues

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