Around the world in a tea daze

You may have caught something of the story of the sixteen year-old Australian, Jessica Watson, who today completed her single-handed/unassisted journey around the world in a 34foot pink yacht. She is the youngest person to have completed such a journey (not necessarily in a pink boat) but she isn’t an official record-holder because apparently she didn’t sail far enough. Eh? She sailed around the World – how’s that not far enough? The fact that she made it round is a cause for national pride, especially after something of an inauspicious start. She was making her way down from Brisbane to Sydney to start the journey when she bumped into a 60,000 ton Chinese container ship. The ship suffered extensive damage – they’ll never get that scratch out with t-cut. Despite this hiccup she managed to get a new hull and mast in time to set off last October. However, she had no further set-backs on her epic journey, I think the word had got out and all the giant super-tankers were steering well clear of her. Even the Somali pirates left her well alone.
I may sound somewhat disparaging of her incredible journey but that’s only because I completed a much more arduous solo feat when I was a mere boy of sixteen. I once voyaged to the bottom of the road to get a box of teabags (single-handedly, mind – only because on this occasion I had failed to persuade/bribe Bob to go instead of me).
In another feat of human endeavour, George and Harriet have this week gained their 400m gold swimming awards. In order to graduate from this level they had to swim: 400m freestyle, 75m backstroke, 75m breaststroke, 25m butterfly and about 10m doggy paddle. According to the certificate, they achieved all this under ‘Chain swim rules’ – I’ve not got a clue what they are. Do you think it’s where you swim ¾ of a length, then get out and then two minutes later get back in to swim another length? No, maybe not. Interestingly, the breaststroke is considered the lowliest of the strokes over here and you are considered weird if it’s your chosen stroke – on the other hand butterfly is considered normal. Competition breaststrokers (over here) are to swimming what goalkeepers are to football – basket cases.
Wendy had a fun-time with her exam to prove that she’s competent at working in the English language. She passed with flying colours. You couldn’t take the exam without showing your passport first – the ex-pat security guard couldn’t understand why Wendy was doing the test when she had a British passport... her answer contained several expletives. There was an Arab gentleman taking the test (there were about 75 people taking it all told) who was entertaining himself by guessing the nationalities of the people there. He asked Wendy if she was German, he looked a little confused when she said she was English – I think he attributed this answer to being part of the fabled German sense of humour. Still, she passed so that’s over with, well almost. If she doesn’t sit her course within 4 years she would have to sit the test again!
George had his school trip to Rottnest last week, and it passed without incident or sea-sickness (as a result he’s now planning to sail around the world - all the way around, the wrong way). He came back with boatloads of interesting facts about Rottnest, like: why no Aboriginal people ever visit the island, why it was a key strategic position in WWII, the fact that there is no source of fresh water on the island. Water for the inhabitants is produced via a de-salination plant, if this plant was to fail there is a back-up... you get to drink your own urine. Not just yours, that of the other inhabitants as well – it’s been treated and is perfectly safe... apparently. Not surprisingly the Quokkas just stick to drinking the early morning due and skimming the top water of the salt lakes.
Right I’m off to start doing my warm-up exercises before the FA Cup final kicks-off... where’s that bottle opener?