Nature Distracts Speed Freaks…!

Botany Bay sunrise

Wow, what a morning. For the past couple of months a hardy bunch of mates have been meeting down at Kyeemagh Boat ramp at 0630 to run a 12.5km course along the foreshore of Botany Bay, the aim being to do it as fast as we can. The motto is simple, 'a little less conversation a little more action...'
We're not part of a club or organised body, just a fitness paddle where everyone deigns to look after themselves and wage a little war on their personal best times each week. And also of course on one another if they manage to get close enough to push it….! It's fun, unashamedly competitive and all of us have noticed a substantial improvement in our sea paddling as a result of a simple weekly session where we push beyond our normal output levels.
As daylight savings winds down in NSW, the sunrise has crept back to 7am, so the first 15 minutes or so of our paddle has been in the magic light of pre-dawn.
I personally get quite tuned in to my paddling goals on this weekly sojourn, and it may as well be along a mucky canal for all for all of the sightseeing I usually manage to fit into the trip, but this morning was so beautiful I was forced to ignore the GPS.
Rounding the breakwall at the entrance to the Cooks River, the moon loomed large & full, about 10 degrees above the western horizon on it's way to bed for the day.

Moonset over Kyeemagh

Looking east the sun was only moments from breaking the suction of the underworld and lighting up the morning sky, all of this playing out on a glassy bay, with only the sound of your paddle stroke & the odd A380 inbound from Singapore to break the silence.

Good morning sunshine

As we reached the building at Brighton the moon started to disappear, leaving the sun free of any celestial interference. Just magic.

Goodnight moon...

I didn't have my camera with me, but if I had I would have stopped the training run & taken photos for 20 minutes. Luckily, Rob was testing his new project, the 'Gould's Petrel Mount', so we have a photographic record of this rare 20 minutes of bliss, captured on Rob's video grabs. What a way to start the day….