Did it, loved it

Many people have asked me about those I paddled the Sale to Sea with, and before I went on this trip I thought I would return and write about them.

But now sitting and talking about my own motivations and experience is so personal that I cannot share their story without their permission, so you will have to be content with mine and one of my new paddling buddy's Sue-Ann who kindly shared her story below......

My story

It has been a few weeks now since I returned home from the Sale to Sea Challenge.

In many ways I have been a little daunted by the task of writing to you all about my experience. It was both an intensely personal and incredibly overwhelming experience and the combination for me has made expression challenging.

I took up the challenge for several reasons (see previous story "Sale to Sea Challenge 2013"). But in my previous piece I omitted the major reason. So here it is.

I have Endometriosis. I have been quite unwell and I would say there were several years of my life when every single day was affected, and at it's worst the simple act of standing upright was impossible. I am happy to say that for the last 3 years for the most part I have been very well.

Back to the reason.....Being unwell robs you of the joys of life. And you can get a little habitualised to feeling sick and staying idle. I grew used to the fact I did not feel good and accepted that perhaps I had to be more sedentary. I gave in.

So who is in charge here? Lisa or Endo? I was not sure, and needed something to shake me out of the funk. Perhaps being amongst those that have much greater daily challenges than me might provide that wake up call I needed.

Here is a lesson I have learned- if want to change you have to leap.

I was nervous at the Port of Sale, for what I understand now to be all the right reasons. I was under prepared and
I knew it. Fortunately fear of failure has never stopped me trying so I managed to get into the kayak and try anyway.

The first day was an epic 48 kms, across formidable Lake Wellington. She did not keep us holding our breaths for long and due to my inexperience I had to use my rudder when the wind increased (a skilled paddler will not require this). When the rudder line failed I had to jump on board a support boat, the first of several humbling experiences. I was not able to dwell in my disappointment for long as the support boat crew were so lovely, and there was so much going on in the water with several other kayakers experiencing difficulty and needing help.

I made it most of the way on that first day, I guestimate around 40 kms. That night at the hands of volunteer massage crew, I was told I had a muscle 'out' in my left forearm. The putting back of that muscle left the upper part of my forearm black for two weeks and a cocktail of Voltaren and Ibuprofen took the edge of the pain.

Sleep was an evasive bastard that night. Ants decided my face, ears, neck were all fascinating while I attempted to sleep, after crawling onto my bags when I had pitched my tent earlier. In total I estimate I had around 2 hours. So by the morning I was pretty low.

That morning, down Maclellan Straits to Hollands Landing was one of the harder things I have done in my life. Having the support boats beside me, it would have been easy to give in, much like I had capitulated to Endo time and time again. So for a few crazy hours the boats were manifestation of my illness, and I thought to myself, you want to get on board that boat, take the easy way out, or stay on the water?

I made it that day, and that was my greatest achievement. I felt a million bucks coming into Paynesville, not just the distance of 41 kms conquered.

I was a slow paddler, tending to be amongst the last few in at the close of each day. But I did feel I was a winner, and being such a competitive person this is a surprising assessment.

A huge thank you goes out to the support crew for Sale to Sea 2013, the committee, and my fellow paddlers. While I won't talk about you specifically here I want you to know that you each helped me put my small troubles into perspective. You in a sense gave me back something I had stupidly given away. You re-invigorated the fighter in me.

I won't be so keen to give it up a second time. Cheers to you all, my winning fiends.
_______________________________________________________________________________________


Sue-Ann's story

Dean, one of my PT clients always talked about going kayaking and one day asked me if I like to go out kayaking with him.

So in Dec 2012 I went on my first paddle and loved it.  Dean was talking about the Sale to Sea and how much fun they had last time, that I decided to join in. So a month before the challenge I bought a kayak.

The day before I was very nervous, as I had only met a couple of people that were going to do the challenge.

The morning of, I was very excited.

Day 1: I started off up the front next to the boat, by halfway through day two, I felt I was missing out on the conversations with other kayakers, so I then spent time mixing with all the kayakers and listening to their stories. It was from that moment that I loved the whole experience. There were so many interesting people with amazing stories to tell.

Everyone one helped out everyone and it was an amazing group to be a part of. It was great to see so many different people striving to achieve their own personal goals. I felt quite trivial in the big picture.

Out of this experience I have made several new friends with similar interest.

Flying and walking

"He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying."

Friedrich Nietzsche

Sale to Sea- packing

After a very tense fortnight, imagining all sorts of disappointing scenarios, I am finally packing for the big week.

With a smile on my face, and a normal pulse rate.

I say tense because I had a person indicate to me that I would not make the distance and I was not training enough. Suffice to say the words must have acted on some sort of level, and despite being a confident person in general I began to have irrational self doubt. The sort that can really destroy strong mental preparedness.

Having said all that, I am most certainly unsure how I will go across such distances as we will attempt particularly in the first two days (Wednesday 48 kms, Thursday 40 kms). But it is one thing to be open to the fact that a goal should be shifted from "I will get to the end' to "I will have a rockin time" and another for you to expect not to make it. This is what negative dialogue does to mental preparedness.

And so I reflect on the reason why I am participating in the first place.

Imagine a world where every day people focus on what you can't do rather than what you can. Imagine that the physical world around you (sidewalks, shops), people around you (those that pass you with a wide berth, or look disparagingly or worse with pity) all tell the same story. You can't do that, you can't come in here. You don't belong.

This is what some people with a disability face every day of their lives.

Frankly, that is all BS. Large stinking piles of it. We, meaning all of us, can do something if we put our mind to it. And even if we don't succeed in that way we should bloody well be given the encouragement to try. The Sale to Sea challenge is an opportunity for people of all abilities to try and that is a blessed thing.

So thanks to all my beautiful friends who responded to my request to send me quotes that inspire them. I have compiled a double sided laminated board that will sit in the deck pocket of my kayak. Like a little pulsing positive energy source! I have not used everyone's offerings, but I certainly read all of them, and in combination there was some healing power helping me to erase the stupid off the cuff comments of someone who didn't realise their own toxicity.

To trying, and seeing what happens next! See you on the other side, this chick is off paddling.

Sale to Sea Challenge 2013

Photo courtesy of Rohan at East Coast Kayaking

In a few short days I and many others will embark on a marvellous challenge, to kayak 120 kilometres from the Port of Sale to Lakes Entrance in Victoria across 4 days.

The event is called Sale to Sea and is a kayak challenge for people of all abilities.The event also raises money for Limbs4life, and for those living with disabilities, some who want to attend the next Paralympic Games.

I came to know about the challenge as a school friend, Mary spoke about the event and her wishing to participate in celebration of her beautiful daughter. Was there someone out there who wanted to come?

Hell yeah, that was all the encouragement I needed. Who would not want to paddle with a group of people, all wanting to enjoy the beauty of the Gippsland Lakes? I should explain that not having been in a sea kayak or having any concept of the skill involved was no barrier, I just said yes, the detail I would work out later I reasoned. Sometimes you just have to jump......

For all particpants the challenge will be exactly that- a personal challenge. I know that I will struggle with the distance having tested my endurance only to 20 kilometres and being at novice level. I am hopeful my enthusiasm will compensate for a lack of technique. But for me this is more about hanging out with like minded people who appreciate the value of life and feel a tremendous sense of wonder when in the natural world. All this in an organised event run by Andrew Bedggood and Sale to Sea leaders who understand safety and have every contigency in place.

So I signed up for a Sea Starter course with East Coast Kayaking. Simon and Peter my instructors were fabulous and even in the first couple of hours I was racking up mental tips to help me sort out the bad habits I had so quickly developed. Then I jumped into Beyond Basics with East Coast a week later and a trip with instructors Rohan and Raia from Mushroom Reef to Gunnamatta Beach. And it was on this trip that I realised the distance I was about to attempt. Insert healthy dose of respect!

So while I passionately hope that I make the distance and can motivate others to, for me the real goal is to breathe, and immerse myself in this amazing treasure in our backyard. I want to re-connect and hopefully life will slow down and simplify for four blissful days and I will find myself smiling and surprised by what I can achieve.

I will keep you posted!


"The cure for anything is salt water- sweat, tears or the sea." Isak Dinesan

We push on

It has been a difficult week.

I know it has because I feel as if there is a rock sitting in the pit of my gutt, wishing it would pass, knowing it will and trying to be patient.

It has to become a stone and then a pebble and then a grain of sand, and therefore not such a load to carry.



"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you."
Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Poet 1803- 1882

Looking forward

The close of a year and start of the next always makes me vaguely nostalgic.

There is a little reflection on world events, some personal tragedies and triumphs and inevitably a statement along the lines of 'I will find the time to do more next year'.

And that is about as close as I come to making a New Year's Resolution.

In fact I have never made one...oh...that is a lie, there was a half hearted attempt at not swearing which failed at about 4am on New Year's Day.

So it is always a surprise to me that so many people do. Research suggests that around 45% of the population start the New Year with one or more resolutions.

For some it is an opportunity to clean the slate and set a goal that will change their life for the better, others prefer to be more...whimsical. I asked some brave friends to share what they were looking forward to in 2013.

Wendy- "I am looking forward to being challenged at work in a new role."

Jack- "I will not ask google everytime I have a question. I will try and figure it out myself."

Peter- "I want do less laundry and use less deodarant, and keep my girlfriend."

Deanne- "To find my inner athlete."

Mary- "I look forward to completing the Sale to Sea (Kayak Challenge) and being more present in the moment."

Linda- "I want a balance: life, children,work."

Claire- "I will stop having an affair with chocolate and go on a date with a man."

And me, well in the spirit of trying new things....here is mine.

I look forward to, with those keen to join in, much more self propelled play time in the great outdoors, oh and not being embarassed to wear lycra in public.
Happy 2013. May it be your year.

To be lost to the flow of the river

"Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks. Also learn from holy books and wise people. Everything - even mountains, rivers, plants and trees - should be your teacher."

Morihei Ueshiba, 1883-1969