Jersey

I took a long weekend in July to go and visit Jersey, a small island just off the coast of France that I've had my eye on for a while thinking that it might be a bit like Tasmania. I arrived on an easyjet flight and hired a bike and cycled all the way around the island, getting lost in the little country backroads and stumbling upon some gorgeous beaches.

The place itself is lovely, quite laid back and sedate with a very high standard of living and some stunning coastline good for snorkeling and fishing, the only thing missing are the rainforests of tassie and a university where to study and work otherwise this place would have it all.

This is a pic of a stunning sunset looking over Guersey and Sark. I was really lucky with the weather over the weekend as there was no rain and daytime temperatures round about 25 degrees. I even managed to get a bit sunburnt accross my shoulders.

Bananaman Triathlon

And here I am taking part in another crazy triathlon, this time a little longer than last one and wearing tight superhero outfit (not spandex but close enough).

The venue was in Dorney lake near Eton and Windsor. We had to jump in the lake and swim 800 meters in open water, here is a pic coming out of the water looking a bit worse for wear.. Then we cycled 30 kilometers and ran 7.5 km around the lake.

The day was lovely but just a little windy, all in al I managed to finish the whole thing in a bit over 2 hours. Which isnt a great timiming but I enjoyed myself.

I also discovered a few things I never thought about about these sporting events, the first one being "What happens if you need to go to the toilet?"... I had no clue what to do... so after some excruciating minutes I stopped my bike, went for a pee in the bushes and jumped back in it to join the race. Aparently a little bird told me you're supposed to do it in your pants if you're a real pro (Ugh!). My second discovery for the day was realising that its possible and only marginally humiliating to be overtaken by a gramma twice your age.

More of Madrid

Went to madrid again in July to visit my mum and Javi and spend some time with them for her birthday. I actually visited madrid twice in July but I dont have photos for both visits. Here is a photo we took during lunch on her birthday, with aunt Anne who came by to join us.

Also a few days later I went with Concha and Javier down to the Tajo river to join him doing some Kayaking, Javi spends most weekends during summer down there as a guide taking people down the river. So we tagged along and had a great time.