Poopapalooza and the Ouse

First up, I’d like to warn readers (if there are any) that some on the contents of this entry may be a little graphic.  Be warned.
About 12 hours before we would be leaving Tarraleah for World Cup #4 at Brady’s I started feeling a bit rough.  This rapidly transformed into a vicious sickness that resembled projectile vomiting, except from the other end.  I won’t be drinking chocolate milk anytime soon, that’s for sure.  This went on for about 6 hours, then I managed to get some sleep.  But I was completely empty in the morning, aching an in no shape to race at all.  In fact, I spent about 16 hours on the day of World Cup #4 flat on my back asleep in the cottage.  It was frustrating to miss a race I think I could have done ok in but this trip I have been trying to recover from my initial illness, and I think this contributed to my susceptibility to a second infection. 
The worst part of being sick for Brady’s is that it pretty much puts me out of a possibility to race the Ouse, World Cup #5.  The Ouse is a backup site that the race was moved to after a valve malfunction on the Meander Dam.  But the race location meant everything had to be moved up, with the first practice on the Ouse the afternoon of the Brady’s World Cup, a further 2 runs the day after, and then the race.  The Ouse is not a course that the Aussies paddle that much, and descriptions ranged from “just waves” to “technical class III for the final 3km” of a 25 minute run.  I simply don’t have the energy to devote to a hard training paddle now, so I’ll be sitting out World Cup #5 and trying to get healthy for the World Cup Final on Cataract Gorge.  Having seen Tom and Jennie come back from the Ouse I’m actually kind of relieved to be sitting this one out.  Both of them seemed pretty wiped from such a hard day, and Jennie described the Ouse as the hardest thing she had paddled in a wildwater boat.  At a Team Leader’s meeting last night a vote of 8 to 6 passed in favor of racing the Ouse, but with such limited practice (most racers will have 3 runs on a very tough 25 minute course) there could be substantial carnage.  There is no access to take photos but photos of the aftermath, such as a wavehopper with a 6-inch split in the bow, may be common on Monday night.

  After banging up my boat a bit at Brady’s I’m happy to be sitting this one out, especially in a weakened state. 
Hopefully I’ll have better net connections in Deloraine when we move tomorrow and I can finally post the Aussie Parent/Competitor competition, along with some of the cool pics I have from Brady’s.


Update - a storekeeper in Bronte Park told me the Australian slang for what I was suffering from - apparently I had the "Green Apple Splatters".  Sums it all up really.