Papillon Designs: Catch up time!

Well my last post was back in February...i apologise if there is anyone out there that was an avid reader of my blog and was waiting for a post all this time!

Its been a big week for Australian slalom with two Olympic medallists on our team!! After Jacqui’s silver medal on Friday it took me a long time to stop the tears, I was so proud and happy for her, she really deserves it and of course in Australian tradition its great to see the underdog get up! Congratulations to Jacqui and Rob on their results.

We had a small party for Jacqui on Friday night with the remainder of Aussie paddlers that are around at the moment, which aren’t many! Kate and Ros were also interviewed by channel 7 today. It was great to watch Kate paddle down with the reporter in the front of the funyak and surf the first drop then flip over! Very entertaining!

Apart from the Olympics I have been fairly busy. I have finished my job with Harness Racing NSW after I helped organise a young drivers racing series, which went really well. I am now focussed on my uni degree and trying to prepare for all the practical experience I have to do in schools in the coming months!! Im a little nervous about it all, but excited at the same time to start teaching kids.

I have started back training again, and I must admit its pretty hard to get back into the swing of things after not doing anything for around 6 months! I pretty much quit paddling in around January this year, but raced selection and surprised myself with my results after no training. I didnt paddle at all or do any training after that for a couple of months and got to a point where i realised that i really missed everything about the sport and wanted to get back into it. Im really enjoying being back in the boat again after a long time, but it is freezing at the moment!! I cant wait for summer to come, im counting down the days but until then im enjoying every minute of training, especially being back outdoors and not stuck in an office all day.

And of course I have been out at the Trots quite frequently hanging out in the commentators box with Mark! He celebrated his 30th birthday a couple of weeks ago and I took him out to Bathurst to celebrate with his friends. We also went on a great holiday to New Zealand back in May. We drove around the South Island in the freezing cold and wished we could have stayed longer than a week! We saw some amazing sights, including Milford Sound where we went on a Bus and Boat trip with 4 other people, it was very intimate!

My friend Alicia also had a baby back in March and it has been nice to catch up with her and baby Mia when she is visiting from Hong Kong!

Apart from that life is moving on. Im making a big effort to update my blog more often and keep people up to date, just in case there are any readers left!!

Below are some photos from the past few months!