City to surf again

I was nervous about entering the city to surf this year, as Louka can get it into her head that she wants to run off in the opposite direction to me, and won't hold my hand. Actually I was wishing I'd said no when Graham asked if I wanted to do it.

We turned up fairly late, but there were still hundreds of blue and yellow bibs arriving, and in fact the blues hadn't set off yet. We found a grassy area where people less eager to get to the front were waiting, and let Louka run around there. While we waited, it was announced that the winner had already crossed the finish line at Bondi Beach. When it was eventually time for us yellows to go, we waited a bit longer to join the crush, but we were nowhere near the end of the crowd. And once we joined the crowd, Louka wanted to be carried.


In fact, she wanted to be carried the whole way - by me. When Graham took a turn on an uphill section, Louka staged her only tantrum, until we put her in the stroller. And from the half-way point, about the top of "heartbreak hill", she slept in the stroller till we reached the end.



The forecast was for possible showers, but the cloudless sky put us at our ease. I was wishing I'd worn shorts instead of long pants. But towards Bondi the clouds rolled in and it became very chilly. As we entered the home stretch the first few drops of rain fell and as we reached the pavilion hired by the bank it began to rain hard. Phew, made it just in time.


Louka woke up and ate a chicken satay stick, while Graham and I ate sausages on buns. Then Graham went off and found some ice-creams for us. Eventually Louka tired of the crowds and nothing much to do, so I took her outside, only to find the rain had stopped (still cold though). She played in the park till Graham was ready to leave, then we took the bus home.