Archive for July, 2007

Why the bleary eyes?

Rohan July 16th, 2007

I’ve been enjoying SBS’s coverage of the Tour de France for the last few evenings – so much so that the telly is often still on well after 1am (well after bed time for this little black duck).

But to be honest, I have no idea why I am so compelled to watch, night after night, right to the end of each day’s riding. After all, I’m not normally a cycling fan at all. I don’t ride. I don’t know too much about the sport and its many nuances. I certainly don’t know many of the riders. I haven’t even owned my own bike since I got my driver’s licence 20 years ago!

So I got to thinking, just what is it that makes Le Tour such an interesting event…

  • The skill and daring of the riders?
  • Their physical and mental strength and endurance?
  • Could it be the spectacular, but inevitable, crashes that occur from time to time? (As much as you don’t want to see anyone getting injured, it does make for interesting viewing.)
  • Perhaps it’s the commentary team’s seemingly boundless knowledge of the race, the riders and the surroundings?
  • The picture postcard scenery at every turn?

I’ve a feeling it’s a combination of all these things, which, when packaged into a single all-encompassing spectacle, presents viewers with a thoroughly engrossing and intriguing experience.

Highly recommended.

Life Saving Club In Need Of Saving

Rohan July 13th, 2007

While the majority of Seaspray proper was spared the disaster of the recent Gippsland floods, it seems not all was well in the sleepy little town, with much of the sand dunes along this stretch of the Ninety Mile Beach washed and blown away by a mixture of king tides and gale force easterly winds.

The major victim was the Seaspray Surf Life Saving Club, which sits atop the sand dunes overlooking the beach. The images below were taken last week and they clearly show the large volume of sand that has been eroded. Such is the threat of the building now collapsing that on Tuesday Bracksy took a detour from his inspection of flood damaged areas of Gippsland to visit Seaspray and announce a $700,000 pledge to assist with relocation of the building – not such a hard decision considering that relocation is already in the pipeworks.

Seaspray Surf Life Saving Club Seaspray Surf Life Saving Club