Australia Day 8 - Tuesday 23rd March

The Ironman village is now open. Well, the office and merchandise tents are. I may have bought myself some gear.

There are slowly more and more sporty people arriving in town. Just a few at the moment. A couple with Trek Equinity Time Trial bikes have arrived with their owners in the hotel. It was good to have a chat with them as I got back from this mornings easy ride. They've driven up from Melbourne and have done this race before. I haven't met any first timers yet, although 1 in 4 of the entrants are newbies.

Anyway, my ride this morning was just an easy recovery ride. Spent an hour riding up and down Settlement Point. It's a nice flat 6k circuit that I rode four times.

The rest of the day, after my shoping trip to the Ironman village has been spent relaxing. A trip to the local supermarket for some provisions and to pick up a copy of the second Dan Brown book. Sitting in the coffee shop reading it caused some local residence to pass comment and then have a chat. They are jolly friendly here.

Oh and a revelation today that lead to some internet research. They had an Iron Outlaw here in Australia in the 19th Century. It sparked my interest due to the inaugural Ironman distance Outlaw Triathlon I'm entered in later in the year. Our Outlaw is the far more legendary Robin Hood.

Haven't spent all day reading. I did also take a guided tour around a sub-tropical rainforest at Sea Acres. Turns out that the guide is packing the competitors goodie bags tomorrow.

The photo below is where I spent an hour or so reading "Angels and Demons" this afternoon. I hope it's as interactive a read as the "Da Vinci Code" I enjoyed reading sections in the mirror and looking up referenced artwork on wikipedia. Have already been looking at this copy upside down. Oh and the picture is Lighthouse Beach looking along the beach towards the lighthouse.



Anyway, early night for me as I want to get a hard ride in tomorrow morning before departing at 9am for a rescheduled horse riding lesson.