beach

SUPING SYDNEY

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

I had been wanting to try out SUPing for ages, so when I was back home for Christmas last year, my dad gave me an IOU voucher as part of my Christmas present, thinking I’d get a chance to try out whilst back home for the summer last year. I never got around to using that voucher and lo and behold I actually tried out SUPing this summer in Japan and got hooked.

During my most recent trip home, I redeemed my voucher. Check out my dad’s mad computer skills (Word and google image search).

From SUP Balmoral

My dad took me to Balmoral where I SUPed and he kayaked. I got to have my own photographer for the day. He took heaps of photos of me in action. It was crazy windy on that particular day which made SUPing really difficult, and had to weave through all the moored boats. Was not so fun paddling with the wind.

When it’s not windy, Balmoral is incredibly flat. It’s more like a bay. It’s not a surf beach. It’s actually home to a sailing club.

From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral

Sydney water is so clean and clear. So beautiful and refreshing.

From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral

Lots of action SUP shots:

From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral

All that paddling is hard work. Taking a break:

From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral

Sydney, Sunshine and Smiles:

From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral

On the other side, is the leisure swimming area. Just so happened to be school holidays back home so the place was pretty crowded for a Thursday daytime.

From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral

White sand. Blue water. Sunshine. Seriously, get yo arse to Down Under.

From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral

Aussies: we’re a hardworking bunch:

From SUP Balmoral
From SUP Balmoral

SUPing in Sydney is pretty SUPer.

Advertisement

SUPer Manly

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

I’ve just come back from a week in Sydney. Was great to feast on good food, sunshine and hang out with family and friends. It was a jam-packed holiday.
Was able to get in a couple of days of SUPing in Sydney.

One of my favourite things to do in Sydney, is taking the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly. Blessed withe awesome weather, my good friend Nell and I had a nice chillaxin day with a couple of hours of SUP thrown in.

Prepare to Get Jealous. Enjoy the photo tour.

Harbourside:

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

Relaxing on the ferry ride:

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

Cruising through Sydney Harbour:

From Manly SUP

Approaching Manly:

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

Check out this stingray!!!

From Manly SUP

Silhouette v Stingray:

From Manly SUP

Gotta love the clean, clear water of Sydney.

From Manly SUP

Wharfside:

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

Out on the water, SUPing:

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

Out in the sunshine, in and on the water – I’m in my element:

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

Nell SUPs for the first time:

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

I’ll tell ya what, it was a bit windy and the current was against us. We tried to paddle in to another couple of beaches, but we just couldn’t get in against the current. Had to stick closer to the shores.

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

Sydney water taxi:

From Manly SUP

Manly even have a SUPball club – a game played on SUP boards. Definitely something I’m going to check in when I move to Sydney. But man, it looks tough!

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

Right by Manly wharf is where you can hire SUP boards and kayaks:

From Manly SUP

Don’t these people have jobs???

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

I heart Sydney:

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

After SUPing, it was time for some swimming. Water was a little fresh. Not yet summer in Oz. But water was super clear.

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

Spot the fish:

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

Spot the mermaid:

From Manly SUP

Worked up an appetite after all that time in the water.
Seafood and wine by the water. It’s a hard life, but someone’s gotta do it!

From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP
From Manly SUP

Ferry ride back after a great day out at Manly:

From Manly SUP

Da Opera Haus:

From Manly SUP

Life’s a beach

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

週末のために生きている。
I live for my weekends.

Spent an awesome day at the beach yesterday.
It’s not often I get to enjoy a lazy day at the beach.
My trips to the beach are usually to compete in open water swim races.
Was nice to finally do a lazy summer beach day.

Headed out all the way to Onjuku Beach – the far side of Chiba.
Totally worth the 30buks and 90min train ride to get there.

From Tokyo station, you can get the express train “Wakashio” and ride the train in air-conditioned, reclining seat comfort.
Note: the train departs from Platform 1 at Tokyo station. There are TWO platform 1’s as we discovered the hard way as we stood waiting at the wrong platform and had to sprint through Tokyo station, the whole 500m to the other platform 1 to make our train. We literally got on the right train on the right platform in the nick.of.time. *You will want the Keiyo line, platform 1 and not the Chuo line platform 1.

From Onjuku Beach

You know you’ve reached Onjuku beach when you see the camel statues:

From Onjuku Beach
From Onjuku Beach

Onjuku Beach is one of the best leisure beaches I’ve been to. Way better than the Shonan beaches. The water was beautiful and clean and clear. We parked ourselves on the sand for 5 hours enjoying the sun, surf and champagne (BYO champagne).

From Onjuku Beach
From Onjuku Beach

This is how you beach, in style:

From Onjuku Beach
From Onjuku Beach
From Onjuku Beach
From Onjuku Beach

We rented a beach umbrella for the day. The sales assistant not only carries the umbrella to your beach spot, but even digs a hole in the sand and sets up the umbrella for you. At the end of the day, you just leave the umbrella and they’ll pick it up at the end of the day. Bless, Japan. And the beach has beach shacks which sell food and more importantly, beer.

Beer, books, the beach. Bliss.

And just when you thought the day couldn’t get better, the day was topped off with an onsen. There’s an onsen right by the beach. The water was amazing. It was a dark brown colour (the colour of coke)…it was like a bathtub of coca cola. It made your skin feel amazing.

The day was so ridiculously awesome, that I plan on doing it all over again next Sunday (except maybe try and get to the beach even earlier!)

Matsuzaki-Iwachi beach OWS

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

Another week, another swim.
After last’s week double race in one day, less than a week later I was off doing another swim. Unfortunately, it was my worst. swim. ever.
The day, however, was still awesome nevertheless.
Awesome location, stunning weather and fun company.

I’ve finally found a group of ocean swimming friends in Tokyo. Happy days! It was quite the gaijin brigade. There was about 15 of us who swam on the day.
We even rented a van for the day to make the 4-hr trip down to Iwachi beach (Matsuzaki in Izu). We had to meet at a ridiculously early time, but yay for road trips and meeting new people. Beats taking the train down on your own. You might recall I did the same race last year.

Last year, I did the 3km race in 45minutes. I think the course was quite short. This time around, I did the 3km in nearly double the time. I was over an hour out there. I think I barely scraped through the time limit of 90 minutes. Results aren’t out yet but I was at least 75 minutes, I reckon. I felt every minute of it. I was slow-going out there. Two laps of a 1.5km course – I was beat after the first lap. And still had another lap to do. My elbows were getting sore and tired and I definitely felt the slow swim. So much for a goal time of 60 minutes. I have not actually worked up the distance this swimming season. I don’t swim much more than 1.5km per swim session. I haven’t done a 3km swim since last year, so I struggled doing the 3km this time. Definitely need to train more! Me thinks I’m getting old.
Still had fun though. The water was beautiful.

Ready to swim:

From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013

Off we go:

From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013
From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013
From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013

Approx. 75 minutes later, I emerge from the water. You can call off the search party!

From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013
From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013

59th place out of the water (about 116 registered), so about middle of the pack:

From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013

Looking pretty freaking happy after that 3km ordeal. Slowest time ever. Pretty embarassing.

From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013

Location was stunning:

From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013
From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013

After the 3km swim was the 1.5km race. Got to take some action shots:

From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013
From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013
From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013
From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013

LIfesaver pow wow:

From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013
From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013
From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013

Later in the day, I also swam in the relay. We had 4 teams entered from the gaijin brigade. It was a 3km relay with the first person swimming 500m, the second person swimming 1km, and the third person swimming 1.5km. I did the 500m leg. Another slow swim from me. My poor teammates had to work hard to make up for lost time. The boys did well and were superfast. We ended up getting 5th place (no thanks, to me!).

Relay team:

From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013

The day was topped off with the obligatory group photo:

From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013

And there’s nothing like bonding than getting in the tub together (onsen boat by the water):

From Matsuzaki Iwachi OWS 2013

Medals, prizes and a PB: Iwai Aquathlon

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

Summer is here! And you know what that means — the open water swimming season is open.

First race for the year was a sprint aquathlon – the Minami Boso Iwai beach aquathlon. I participated in this race last year and was back again this year.

I left home with a towel and goggles, and came back wit medals, prizes and a PB.

Getting up early on a Sunday morning is no fun. It was a 2.5 hour journey but at least I got to enjoy the scenery.

Crossing the Sumida River, with the Sky Tree in the background:

From Iwai aquathlon 2013

Crossing the Edogawa river:

From Iwai aquathlon 2013

Chiba countryside:

From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013

Finally, the coastline in view:

From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013

The beach was deserted apart from us swimmers.

From Iwai aquathlon 2013

Race course is set-up; yeah, this is not what I call a surf beach.

From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013

Water temp was a fresh 20 degrees. Swam without a wetsuit as per usual. But I did wear my tri-suit. The locals like to wear wetsuits though. Granted, I probably have more natural insulation than most people!

From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013

The cloudy morning gave way to a nice sunny day complete with blue skies:

From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013

Where’s David Hasselhoff when you need him?

From Iwai aquathlon 2013

Warming up:

From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013

So first up, I did the sprint aquathlon. A 500m swim followed by a 5km run.
I am quite proud of myself. I came second out of all the females! I was actually leading the WHOLE race (out of the females), and was pipped at the post in the last 30 seconds. My swim gave me a really good lead in the run leg. Damn my shoddy running. I was so far ahead of all the other ladies. Got out of the water quickly and had a super fast transition. Whilst EVERYONE was struggling to get wetsuits off, I just took off on the run.

From Iwai aquathlon 2013

I held the lead in the run, and was overtaken right near the end.
Don’t have the swim and run splits yet, but my overall time earnt me second place female, and also second place in my age group. (Will update split times later when they become available).
My time was also a PB for the run which I did in about sub-30 which although is not fast by any standard, was good for me.
Total race time was: 40min, 41 seconds.
My time for the same race last year was: 47min, 45 seconds. I definitely was a lot faster and stronger in the run this time around.

2nd overall female:

From Iwai aquathlon 2013

In addition to the aquathlon, I also decided to sign up on the day for the 1.5km open water swim as well. I needed the practice, because I’ve got 2 more 3km swims this month. My need to go fast in the run was partly motivated by the fact that I had signed up for the additional swim. The aquathlon started at 12:00pm and the swim started at 1pm. The faster I ran, the more break time I would have between the next race starting. I would only have about 15 minutes to spare.

After guzzling as much water as I could after the first race, I then braced for myself for a 1.5km swim. Man, I was so hot and thirsty.

The moved the buoys out further for the 1.5km swim and we had to do two laps of the course. Was definitely a lot slower on this swim having gone all out on the aquathlon.

I got second place female for the 1.5km swim.

Come the award ceremony, I got 2 medals and 2 prizes.

From Iwai aquathlon 2013

I still haven’t actually opened up my prize bag yet. I think it’s something like a year’s supply of acai power drink. Seriously, lots of acai products. They were the sponsor.

I am a STARfish:

From Iwai aquathlon 2013

Also took home a ridiculously bright orange race shirt (included in entry fee):

From Iwai aquathlon 2013

All paths lead to water:

From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013

Iwai beach is a really nice beach…probably one of my favourites. I love swimming out there. I’ve done about three races there now.

The day turned out to be really warm, I even spent the day there chilling out and went for another dip in the water. Practically had the place to myself.

From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013

I need to explore more of the Minami Boso region – they’ve got the ocean to the right, and the mountains to the left:

From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013
From Iwai aquathlon 2013

Stay tuned for more swimming reports this summer. Although don’t expect any more medals or prizes. That’ll be the last placing this season me thinks.

Swimming at Wylie’s Baths

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

My trip back to Sydney alternated between eating and swimming. It was actually really cool to explore and swim in new waters. Another swimming venture was to Wylie’s Baths – another first. This is ocean water pool. Conditions will really depend on the tides. At high tides the waves wash over and lap into the pool making it a real proper wave pool.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

It’s located at Coogee. Nice views indeed.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

I know a couple that got married here and had their reception on the pool deck/terrace. Very cool. I’d never have thought about a wedding reception at a pool, overlooking the ocean. Very idyllic.

From Wylies’ Baths

The “bath” is actually an ocean pool. It was a bit wild on the day we went.

From Wylies’ Baths

The surface floor is all rocky and barnacle-y and there happened to be lots of bluebottles in the water on the day we were there. My dad actually ended up getting stung as did some other pool-goers…needless to say we didn’t manage to do a lot of swimming there. No lanes either, just free swimming, but it was super wavey.

From Wylies’ Baths

Definitely a very cool place to swim…but much preferred the “tame-ness” of Bondi Icebergs.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

Considering I wasn’t able to do many laps here, I took advantage of taking photos instead.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

I had never been before so it was great to actually check out this ocean pool.

From Wylies’ Baths

You can see Coogee beach in the background. From the baths, you can go down a direct walking track to reach the beach.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

Coogee Beach:

From Wylies’ Baths

One of the open water swim races that’s on my bucketlist when I go back to Oz, is the “Wedding cake island” swim. It’s an open water swim race from Coogee Beach out to Wedding Cake island and back. It’s about a 3km swim. This, my friends, is Wedding Cake island. It’s high tide here, so it’s not that visible. Perhaps some better images here?

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

Had me a good ol’ sausage roll here, with tomato sauce, of course. Yummo.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

 

A dip at Bondi Icebergs

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

One of the things on my Sydney to-do list, was to swim at Bondi Icebergs – an iconic swimming pool right by Bondi Beach. Hard to believe I’ve never swum there before. What started out as an overcast morning:

From Bondi Icebergs

ended up turning into clear blue skies later….

From Bondi Icebergs

Bondi Icebergs is a 50m saltwater swimming pool at the edge of Bondi Beach open ALL year round. (Entry fee $5.50)

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

At high tide, the waves lap over the walls. Yeah, it gets kinda wavy and rocky when you’re swimming laps in this pool. It’s good open water swimming practice in a contained environment. (Stay clear of lane 8 if possible).

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

A real Aussie beach:

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

I ended up swimming up 2.5km here. It was a nice refreshing swim. So nice to be able to swim outdoors and in a 50m pool and a saltwater one at that – all of which are a rarity in Japan. And exclusively all swimming lanes. Gotta love a pool that dedicates all 8 lanes to lap swimmers! A great pool to swim in. Very invigorating.

From Bondi Icebergs

After swimming a couple of k’s, it was time to EAT. The Icebergs Club has both an RSL and a fancy dining restaurant. The RSL is the way to go. Balcony terrace with stunning views, good hearty Aussie food and super reasonable prices given its location (it is an RSL after all). We just missed out on the brunch menu (it ends around 11-11:30am) so had to dine from the lunch menu. I definitely wanna go back there again when next in Sydney for brunch. If you’re in Sydney, I would totally recommend a swim here followed by brunch. And then a walk from Bondi to Coogee following the coastal walk. Are you listening, Lonely Planet Australia? Nothing like a swim and then a hearty big Aussie brekky. Lunch didn’t disappoint though. Got me a schnitzel with gravy, salad and fries. Does it get any better? We managed to score ourselves a balcony table. Check out the views!

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

A glass of wine, basking in the Sydney summer.

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

Tucking into lunch:

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

It’s fun to people-watch here and watch all the lap swimmers.

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

I love it when the water is this colour!

From Bondi Icebergs

And then dessert – lemon tart. Hell yeah!

From Bondi Icebergs

Talk about an ideal day in Sydney – morning swim at Bondi Icebergs pool, good meal, lemon tart and a cup of tea, enjoying the sunshine Down Under.

From Bondi Icebergs

Hello, Sydney!

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

The Bondi to Coogee walking route:

From Bondi Icebergs

I’m looking forward to next time I get to swim (and eat) there! Happy Australia Day for tomorrow!

Down Under: Clovelly and Coogee

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

I am going to take the focus off Japan for a bit, and write up a few posts about my trip back home to Sydney. Australia is where my peeps are at – family and friends. I usually try and make a visit home once a year (or every 18months or so). The last three years I have tried to coincide trips back home around friends’ weddings. The first couple of days back in Sydney were spent doing unexciting errand-y stuff. The Sunday I arrived back was a write-off. Slept and rested after the events of Japan. Monday and Tuesday were spent doing stuff like doctor’s appointments, renewing driver’s licence, supplies (medicines/toiletries) shopping, and trying to rest up and letting the body recover. From the Wednesday onwards it was full on with all systems go, and the fun factor cranked up for the rest of my Sydney visit. On the Wednesday, I spent the day chilling out with Nell. It was a gorgeous sunny day so we took a drive out to Clovelly for a spot of sunshine and snorkeling. I am super keen to do more snorkeling. I had never been to Clovelly, so I was in for a treat. Great views from the clifftops. Couldn’t have asked for better postcard-perfect weather.

From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee

Clovelly is an interesting spot. It’s not a proper beach per se, and there’s a lot of rock and concrete. It’s almost like a cove of sorts that is home to a lot of marine life, and is a popular Sydney snorkeling spot. People were out sunbaking (tsk, tsk) on the concrete:

From Clovelly and Coogee

There’s a seaside pool bath (natural saltwater swimming pool) to rack up a few laps. (Sydney has a lot of these pools. They are free to the public and generally chlorine-free. Sea water is used):

From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee

And there’s a bit of sand to make it a small bay beach.

From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee

The water was super clear and warm. And I saw so many marine life and lots of fish, even a big blue grouper! There were more fish here than at an aquarium. Felt like I was in a fish tank. My new purchase sometime this year is going to be a water camera. Spent a few hours snorkeling and warming ourselves in the sun. Such indulgence after a Japanese winter.

From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee

The rocks in this snorkeling spot are super mossy and slippery. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

From Clovelly and Coogee

It’s a nice little spot, Clovelly is. Especially for snorkeling and seeing lots of fish, and great views too.

From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee

For lunch we then ventured around the corner to Coogee beach.

From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee

On my Sydney Food to-eat list, was fish and chips. As a lover of puns and word play, I saw this great place.

From Clovelly and Coogee

Awesome name. But no, we didn’t eat there. I really wanted to eat potato scallops and we tried every place in Coogee and no one had potato scallops. Just not on the menu. What! No potato scallops! Outrage. Was super disappointed. Seriously unAustralian. Alas, for lunch, we settled on a real hamburger (which we shared), and a seafood mix (fish, calamari rings, prawn cocktails) which we shared, and some hot chips. Washed down with a Lemon, lime and bitters. A real hamburger with beetroot. (I love beetroot).

From Clovelly and Coogee

Fish and chips:

From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee

An ice-cold lemon, lime and bitters:

From Clovelly and Coogee

Headed down onto the sands of Coogee bunch for a swim. Water was deliciously warm. Water was so clean. Was great to be back in the ocean. Sydney beaches are so beautiful. The best in the world. No one does beaches like Australia.

From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee
From Clovelly and Coogee

Aussie thongs a.k.a flip flops.

From Clovelly and Coogee

It’s a hard life, but someone’s gotta do it.