The 20th Wollongong Underwater Hockey 4s Comp was held on Saturday 17th March 2012. It was the biggest ever!

Below is a video of the event. If you’re curious as to what underwater hockey is and how it is played, this video is for you.

On Australia Day, a group of us went Canyoning at Macquaries Pass National Park. It’s a fun canyon which is close to Wollongong; and what I especially like about it is that you park a car at both the start and end of the canyon. So there isn’t the need to walk back up to the start, which is typical in the Blue Mountains.

Below is a short video which I have quickly put together showing the abseils and jumps on the canyon route. Further down on this page is more information about the canyon.

Canyon Information

Typical Duration: ~4hrs.
Ropes are required and wetsuits are highly recommended.

The canyon is at Macquaries Pass (refer to Google Map below). Two cars are required, one at each end of the canyon.

Best to meet at the carpark at the bottom of the pass. If you are driving from Albion Park (from the bottom) that is the car park on the left of the road. Leave a car there, along with towels and dry change of clothes, and jump into the other car and drive up the pass.

Not too far up the pass, you will want to turn off to the left onto Clover Hill Road. You will have to park your car right after the turn off as there is a gate which prevents you from driving down further. It is about a 2km walk past the gate to the first abseil point. The walk does seem to take a while so don’t worry (just yet) that you might have overshot the turn off. Along the walk there will be a fork in the path, take the path to the left. Keep walking until you come to a large clearing. There you will see a small defined path to the right which will take you to the first waterfall abseil (which is the first abseil in the youtube video).

From there it is pretty easy, just keep following the water until the last slide at the end where there is a path that takes you back to the car (it’ll be quite obvious when you get to the end).

In total there are 4 abseils, 1 jump and 2 slides.

The article below was taken from The Advertiser Wollongong on Wednesday March 14th 2012.
I can’t seem to find a website to give them credit for the article, so if anyone knows what their website is, let me know so that I can put it link to them from here.

Click on the article to view a larger version.

On the weekend of 3rd/4th March 2012, the Annual MS 24hr Mega Swim in Wollongong took place. It rained for the most part of the event, but that did not stop the 18 teams from completing their 24hr swim.

Photos for the event are available at: http://edwinkwan.com/events/2012-ms-24hr-mega-swim-in-wollongong/

Wollongong 24 Hour Mega Swim

The Wollongong 24 Hour Mega Swim raises money for MS Australia’s Go For Gold scholarship program. This year we aim to fundraise $40,000 through team sponsorships and donations

Where: University of Wollongong Recreation & Aquatic Centre – Building 13, Northfields Ave, Wollongong NSW 2522

When: 12pm Saturday 3rd – 12pm Sunday 4th March 2012

Find out more at http://www.megaswim.com/enter-wollongong.asp

What: Aquathon

When: Thursday 26th January 2012

Where: Wollongong Harbour

http://www.aquathon.com.au/

Australia Day morning means one thing at Wollongong and that’s ‘splash n dash’ time…

Do it on your own, or tag team, and take on the Australia day healthy fun challenge.

Attracting near 2000 participants across the three safe and fun distances, the Australia Day Aquathon has become a ‘Australia Day tradition’ for the hundreds of individuals to families that take part each year.

It’s a simple as a ‘splash’ – swim, a ‘dash’ run, and loads of fun.

Events

• Kidz Aquafun – 200m swim + 2km run
• Short Aqua – 400m swim + 3km rum
• Long Aqua – 900m swim + 7km run

November 13th 2011

5km run walk from Stuart Park

Mark Scott , a well-known local athlete, was involved in a very serious accident whilst training on Saturday the 18th of June. We are hoping that the motivation and determination that makes him a great athlete and coach will shine through and help him to recover. On November 13th 2011 there will be a special event at Stuart Park, North Wollongong to help support & raise funds to aid with marks care.

http://www.scottendurance.com.au/moveformark/

September 24th – 25th is Relay for Life in the Illawarra [details of the event can be found here]. Over 130 teams and 1000 participants will be taking part in the relay. For some, the reasons for doing so are more personal than others. Below is Shannae’s story.

Why I relay…

Cancer has touched my family in too many, my grandmother has just recently been diagnosed with lung cancer, not one caused by smoking, but one that every person aged from about 50yrs is quite common to get. Her treatment has not started yet, but it has already put a massive toll on my family as I am the only closest relative my grandparents have. Also in 2005 my father-in-law was diagnosed with throat cancer. After losing most of his teeth, his salivary glands, over 30kgs due to not being able to eat and an intense 6 month course of radio and chemotherapy. It has now been 5 years and they still cant tell him that he is cancer free. He has only put about 15kgs back on and still can’t eat properly. He has to carry around a pocket spray bottle to spray his mouth every minute as he will never get his salivary glands back and he finds it really hard to swallow food due to no lubrication. Every day is a battle for my mother-in-law to try and create new dishes that he can eat with no dramas. But the good news is that after 5 years he is still here.

Both husbands of my neighbours on either side of us have passed away from cancer in the past 13 months. Dave passed away due to a number of reasons, one of them was lymphatic cancer. He had been struggling with this for about 5 years which was continuously making him weaker and was causing more health issues. They became part of our family when he decided to take my son under his wing as an adopted-like great grandson. He loved transformers and would ask Jacob to play with his toys. Kevin was diagnosed with a very rare type of stomach cancer and within 3 months of his diagnosis he was gone. Having my 9yr old son see the horrible life surrounding cancer, I want to do everything in my power to help the Cancer Council research and find some cures.

Help me make a difference…

Cancer Council’s Relay for Life is coming to our community and I’m taking part. That’s right – I’m taking to the track and being proactive in the fight against cancer. Did you know that Cancer Council is Australia’s leading cancer charity dedicated to beating cancer through research? Cancer Council’s groundbreaking work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has saved thousands of lives. But statistics show that one in two of us will still get cancer at some point and Cancer Council’s vital work, funded entirely by the public, will help ensure that thousands more people will survive. So please help make a difference.

Find out more about Relay for Life in the Illawarra.

Shannae Correia

Shannae Correia walked just over 38kms and raised over $1,000 from last year’s relay for life. This year she has set herself a personal target of $2,000. She’ll be walking for the Berkeley West Public School. If you wish to help her achieve her target, you can donate online by going to her teams page. Every donation counts.

Team from VO2 Vitality

The BaiMed Physiotherapy’s 100 100s for charity is a fantastic opportunity for illawarra businesses to raise money for local charities including Greenacres and House with No Steps. This is a perfect opportunity for workplaces to promote and encourage healthy living and workplace camaraderie. This year’s event will be bigger then ever with a fundraising target of $30,000.

The concept is simple.
Individually or via a team relay participants complete 100 metres on 100 occasions in 100 minutes.
The faster you run or walk = the more time you have for recovery.

When – Saturday 12th November 2011. Commencing at 9am.

Where – Beaton Park

So save the date and start spreading the word in your organisation. Sponsorship packages are available from $600.00 including your corporate logo on the running singlet and a complimentary team entry.

Corporate team entry is $300.00 for a team of 5 members.

This is your chance to give and get involved!

For more information and to reserve your place at the start line please contact BaiMed Physiotherapy on 100100s@baimedphysio.com.au or 02 4227 1990. Early entry is crucial as we will be limiting corporate team numbers to 60 local businesses. All team entries will be invited to promote their business on the day whilst supporting a wonderful charity.

BaiMed Physiotherapy

BaiMed Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic provides exceptional patient focused care in a friendly environment whilst maintaining the highest quality of professional integrity and standards.
http://www.baimedphysio.com.au

Free diving is a great sport and easily available to the region. It is a great form of exercise and helps improve your lung capacity, making it an excellent low impact exercise for runners. Some of the best free diving sites can be found around here. Over the weekend, free diver Michaela Werner was featured in the Mercury and talks about her free diving experience. You can read more about it by clicking on the images below to view their larger size

More pictures of Michaela Free diving can be found at Edwin Kwan Photography

Edwin Kwan

Edwin Kwan is the PADI Dive Instructor with United Divers and also has a keen interest in underwater photography. He is also the webmaster for the this website. He has a certificate III in fitness and has done numerous half marathons including a marathon and triathlon. He also has a keen interest in Photography and is a webmaster for Little Handy Tips