Well the day finally arrived when Mark got to put his endurance training to the test and compete in IronMan Western Australia. 6 months of 5am starts, Ks upon Ks of cycling, swimming and running all in preparation for this big day.
We stayed at the Royal Palms Resort which was perfect for a short trip away. The kids loved the pool and it was just a few blocks from all the action. Busselton is pretty small, and its famous landmark is the 1.8Km Jetty that runs out to sea.I took the kids for a ride along the miniature train, which runs all the way out to the end of the jetty and we went down below the sea to the viewing rooms and watched the fish and the coral.
Its the longest in the southern hemisphere and Mark got to swim all the way out, around and back from it in the first leg of his swim (4Kms).
We dragged ourselves to the start line at the beach for the 6am start but it was impossible to spot Mark from the other 1799 competitors dressed in the same black wetsuit and white swim cap!
However we did see him run out of the water and up the beach as he came in close to his 1 hour target. After that we saw him off on the bike leg and then went to enjoy our day whilst he spent 5 and a half hours in the 32 degree heat cycling around Busselton!
We swam and ate lunch then headed to the playground near the beach to see him come past on the run. As he was doing 4 x 10 Km loops we were able to wave and cheer him on his weary legs, plenty of times before he crossed the finish line in an amazing 10 hours and 54 minutes. We saw him coming - which is tribute to his precision - with a big smile on his face and he ran across with his arms in the air.
We met up with him in the finishers enclosure where he was beaming, eating ice cream and visiting the nurse for a blister check (a few needed popping). There was some minor vomiting (not surprising considering all he had eaten all day was a Vegemite sandwich and a large number of energy gel drinks (24!)So we went to The Goose for dinner - Busselton's finest restaurant on the beach to celebrate and watch the final stragglers finish the race in the dark.
Our final day was spent relaxing at the beach, swimming in the pool, eating ice cream and playing crazy golf! But the holiday came to an abrupt end when we arrived at Perth airport the next day only to find all flights grounded and delayed due to an approaching thunderstorm. I dropped the car at the rental desk without any fuss (unlike when we picked it up and realised we couldn't fit Mark's bike box in the boot! Luckily Ela came up with the suggestion - after we had tried to push and shove it a 100 different ways - to slide it over the top of the back seat. Since the kids are so short it was cozy but worked fine!) And then we spent 2 hours waiting in the checkin area. When they called in the Sydney flight (us) were were thinking how luck we were but no, actually it was the beginning of a nightmare. We waited 2 more hours in the departure lounge only to be told the flight was cancelled and we needed to get into a queue to get re allocated. 5 hours later, at 9.30pm when i reached the service desk I was told there was no available accommodation in Perth or surrounds and there was no space on any flight to Sydney for over 24 hours. We were given pillows, blankets and tried to settle the kids on the floor of the departure lounge when there was an announcement that all passengers were to take a flight to Melbourne. So instead of spending the night in Perth airport we spent 3 hours on a flight and then 4 hours in Melbourne airport lounge. Finally got to Sydney about 9am (sans luggage of course) and home by 11am, a full 24 hrs and no sleep after we had arrived to begin our journey! What a bunch of memories.
