Streak of Hot Summer Days Finally Breaks in Time for Cole Classic Swim

For the past several days we've had a streak of super hot days where the mercury has hit 38C (100F). And it's not just been hot days but very warm nights too!

I went to buy a fan as it had become unbearable but one store had sold out and another was selling a pretty basic fan for $90 which is price gauging to me so I passed on buying a fan. I had an invite to join friends for a BBQ that night in an air conditioned home with a pool in back - just the answer for sweltering heat!

Earlier that morning at the EQ Market (which I love) I purchased blue cheese from Victoria that paired nicely with the marinated figs I picked up at the Eveleigh Christmas Market and a goat cheese from Byron Bay that paired nicely with the Henry Jones IXL Raspberry Jam I got in Hobart, Tasmania (I had help selecting these cheeses, which were a hit). Thanks so much Sandy for the hospitality and remembering the moscato wine- it was great fun!

In a slight tangent: If you ever goto the EQ Market near Surry Hills be sure to check out:
* Top Nosh Foods - They sell the closest thing I can find to crunchy granola here in Australia - of course it's still muesli which is all they seem to have here but it's toasted so it's great with yogurt or even as cereal on its own.
* Pukara Estate - Not only am I a big fan of these flavored oils and vinegars but my friends Sam and Venecia are too! I love to BBQ with the carmelised balsamic vinegar and when they were over for New Year's Sam had a chance to BBQ with it and loved it so much he took the rest of the bottle home with him to Taiwan. I purchased a brand new bottle for Sam along with the chilli flavored extra olive virgin oil but when I tried to mail it from Australia Post they said the oil was a flamable substance and thus a prohibited item to mail.
* Amore Di Cucina - Since it's been too hot to cook in the kitchen I've (believe it or not) been using my BBQ to prepare dinner. And the sun dried tomato tapinade and the Pesto Genovese have been wonderful to add to fish and vegetables for a flavorful meal.
* Be Enlightened Candles - My friend Angela turned me on to these candles which are very fragrant and a lot better priced than the Glasshouse Candles. Ang's birthday celebration drinks were on Feb. 6 at the Winery in Manly (sister place to the Winery by Gazebo near me) and I got her one of these candles to enjoy!
* Brilliant Food - The smoked ocean trout spread is to die for! And when you buy it with these leaf shaped pastry shells it makes for a very easy appetiser (or entre as it's called here) to bring with little/no preparation which is a plus to me. Emma and Pat - who really know and appreciate good quality seafood - enjoyed this.

Thankfully the heat wave broke just in time for the Cole Classic (Sun. Feb. 6) which is a 2K swim that starts on Shelley Beach and ends on Manly Beach. My learning after this swim is that I have to do a better job counting the buoys so I know when I'm nearing the end. Throughout the second-half of this swim, I kept thinking "we have to be heading back to the beach soon" yet we kept passing buoy after buoy making this swim seem never ending!

In looking at how my time stacks up against past swims, there's definitely a big difference between swimming in the harbour vs. the ocean. Whereas in the 2.5K on Australia Day I swam in Syndney Harbour in 43:16 - the Cole Classic 2K I swam in 45:40. These ocean swims are tough!

Here are the rest of the stats:
* My 1K pace is 22:50
* I placed 1282/2042 total finishers (37.22%) *** Yes, this was a very crowded swim ***
* 360/690 of female total finishers (47.83%)
* In my category of Female 40-44 I placed 28/63 (55.56%)

The cool thing about the Cole Classic is that it's sponsored in the Sydney Morning Herald so the next day my name and time were in this daily national newspaper.

Here are a few pics from the swim - you can't really see it but Shelley Beach and the start of the race is right in front of that tall building along the right and then we swam parallel along Manly Beach (which is in the foreground) for quite a while then turned and swam back before turning back into the beach - effectively we did this rectangular swim. I've put a map of the course but there were definitely more buoys than you see here.







After the swim, I enjoyed a really nice breakfast at The Pantry right on the beach (Note to self: They have a great cheese board and charcuterie plate and great views of Manly Beach. Be sure to take future visitors here but remember to make a reservation). That's when the storm came in - see this very cool "storm brewing" photo: