Day 46
February 15, 2010A sailing day at Carnac Island
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A sailing day at Carnac Island
We encountered this bride and her groom at Cottesloe Beach
Walking though town today we encounter this character. Sat on his verandah he is watching the world go by and happy for me to take his photograph.
My dive buddy doesn’t say a lot…….
We encounter the Premier of Western Australia: Colin Barnett.
Not a great picture, but he is the equivalent of the state’s prime minister!
It’s the Rottnest Channel Swim today. We are up at 5am to watch over 2,300 swimmers enter the sea for the 19km swim to Rottnest Island. It’s the biggest open-water race in The World. Thankfully there were no sharks present this year!
Each swimmer has a ‘paddler’ who stays with them on a sea canoe or kyack throughout the swim. It’s a bit of a tradition for them to wear colourful head-wear to ensure that their swimmer can see them.
This conveniently starts the week’s theme ‘hats’.
A cork hat is a type of headgear with cork strung from the brim, to ward off insects.
Traditionally worn by jackaroos and swagmen in the blow-fly infested Australian outback, the cork hat has become part of the stereotypical representation of the Australian ocker. The shape and material of a cork hats vary, though typically they are shaped like slouch hat. Pieces of cork, often shaped as bottle stoppers, are hung on string from the brim of the hat. The low density of cork means a number of pieces may hang from a hat without significantly increasing the weight. Movement of the head causes the corks to swing, discouraging insects from swarming around the wearer’s head.
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