Olympic Fever

Like much of the world, the Dacey family has been having great fun watching the Olympics for the past two weeks. We have been asked whom we are barracking (cheering) for in these games, the USA or Australia. Rick’s response has been, “yes.” The fact is, it is a bit of a challenge when the commentators are speaking in Australian accents and focusing on the Australian competitions and competitors, not to barrack for Australia. But we have certainly celebrated the victories of the USA as well. We have been proud to say that we come from the country of Michael Phelps, whom we saw a lot of, given Australia’s keen interest in all sports involving water!

We couldn’t help but notice some differences in the way that the Olympics is broadcast here. First, it was on free-to-air TV, every day, from 9 or 10am to 6pm, and then from 8pm onwards (to be fair, we have heard that another network has the contract for the 2012 Olympics, and there may not be as much free-to-air coverage). And it was all competition- none of the personal profiles and human interest stories that have become so all-consuming in the American coverage. Australia is definitely a country that loves its sport. Rick, the only one in the household that managed to stay awake for the late-night opening ceremony was also impressed that, for the first time in his memory, he watched the entire parade of nations without any commercial interruptions.

The girls really got into the competitions, and felt torn when Australia and the USA were competing against one another. They relished being able to come home from school and turn on the TV every afternoon, and spend Saturdays and Sundays glued to the TV. I know that they are going to suffer a bit of withdrawal (as will I!) when they get home this afternoon from school and it is back to the “mean-mommy” rules of no TV on school days! But I think that Lachlan will be relieved, as he has clearly been disturbed that his sisters have been tuning into the TV rather than playing with him after school. He has done his best to make this clear by catapulting himself around the living room, jumping all over the girls, mischievously pushing the TV’s power button to “off”, and generally making a pesky nuisance of himself during viewing time.

Feeling a bit of the Olympic fever myself, I decided to run a road race in Sydney two days after the start of the games. The race, City2Surf, is 14K (about 8 miles), starting in the central business district and heading east along the Harbour, ending up at the famous Bondi Beach, a gorgeous stretch of sand. The course was hilly and incredibly scenic. The stunning view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge made it so rewarding to face Sydney’s own “Heartbreak Hill” in the middle of the race.

It was great fun and a really enjoyable event, although I could have done with a little less of a crowd- reportedly about 70,000 entrants! I was glad to be out in the race world again, as my last race was back in 2003. And I have to give a grateful shout-out to our neighbours, Marg and Wes, who took the kids at 7am on a Sunday morning (even one with a fever!), and to my dear friend Anna, who inspired me to give it a go in the first place, and who even packed me a lunch for our train trip back home.

If you’d like to check out a video of my finish, check this link: http://city2surf.sunherald.com.au/results08video.php?intbib=26999 . I start coming in the upper right hand corner with a purple shirt, black shorts and a white hat, and come down towards the middle of the screen. London, 2012- here I come!

The Sheep Farm

Yesterday and today, we had a stay at a sheep farm outside of Bathurst about 2½ hours from our home in Sydney. We were graciously hosted by the Robards family- Mark, Jane, Naomi and Kieran- members of our church. Mark’s dad owns the farm. He was a professor in wool and animal science, and when he retired, he decided to put into practice what he had taught in theory. He purchased one of the cottages that housed the media at Sydney’s 2000 Olympics and had it transported out to the farm so that the family could have a place to visit.

Although winter is a pretty chilly time to be out there, it is the time that the lambs are born, and a roaring fire in the woodstove kept us toasty inside. (To those of you who are wondering about the chill factor here, they had some dustings of snow last week out there in the country.) The kids (and the adults, too!) enjoyed braving the cold winds and walking out to the pasture to feed the sheep. The highlight was being able to cuddle one of the two smallest lambs. She became quite relaxed, to the point where I didn’t need to keep her still. But she got wise to Mark on the second day and would not allow herself to be caught again!

Before lunch, Mark took Rick and me out to see the full property in his car, as it was too cold for all of us to walk. As we were returning to the cottage, bouncing along in the pasture, the sheep grazed to our left. On our right, we spotted two grey kangaroos, which we had been eager to see, as we had not seen any out in the bush since our visit here in 2004. And then we realized that Waltzing Matilda, Australia’s unofficial national anthem, was playing in the car.

Sheep, kangaroos, and Waltzing Matilda. Does it get anymore Australian than that?

Love, Anne

To enjoy Australian country music legend Slim Dusty performing Waltzing Matilda, follow this link:
http://www.last.fm/music/Slim+Dusty/+videos/+1-CwvazMc5EfE