Pretty cool: I wrote to the US Masters Rowing list to ask if anyone else there had been to the Sydney World Masters Games and to talk about how well run the whole thing was – yeah, accreditation lines were far too long and slow, but they handled 28000 athletes plus accompanying people – and any regatta that can find boats for rowers from all over the world and keep races running at three-minute intervals for five days straight is a miracle of organization. They had hordes of volunteers, all working their asses off. Anyway, the cool part is that someone has apparently passed my comments on the Chairman of the WMG Organising Committee and the CEO of the State body, Rowing NSW, who had the responsibility for the rowing regatta.

I’m never shy of voicing criticism, but I think the flipside of that is the responsibility to speak out when things are done well, so it’s nice to have my words passed on to those who deserve them.

My hands are about to fall off, now I’ve finally finished blogging the trip and posting photos. There was so much I wanted to say and so many good pictures I wanted to post that it ran to six entries, so I’ll just post links here instead of cross-posting.

Intro: How we got to Sydney and why I almost didn’t go at the last moment.

The Outlaws Ride Again: a long post, reporting on five days of racing and lots of reunions with old friends.

In Sydney: the next segment of our trip, three days in one of the most beautiful cities I’ve seen yet.

After Sydney, Ted and I embarked on a road-trip in Tasmania, which resulted in so many photos (when we got home, we found we’d taken around 450 photos in total) that I needed another three entries for them.

Hobart: just a couple days, including visits to convict settlements in Richmond and Port Arthur. (I find it deeply freaky how our travel agent’s itinerary talked about the “colonial charm” of old prisons, especially the one at Port Arthur which was described as “hellish” despite its heavenly setting. It’s nice to walk around now, though, if you keep your imagination on a tight rein.)

Bonarong Wildlife Park: Kangaroos! Wallabies! Wombats! Echidnas! Tasmanian devils! Aussie animals are entirely bizarre, but extremely appealing.

The last leg: hiking around the spectacular Cradle Mountain National Park, and returning home.

I don’t really want to go to work tomorrow!