We've now taking out our membership with the Aquatic Centre and take the plunge three times a week: on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. At that rate, one of those first aid pieces already has my name on it, and I also thought it best to get on first-name terms with all the lifeguards patrolling the pool.
We're already on first-name terms with most of the regulars that take the plunge as early as we do. There's Ron from Catalina who made the seachange from Leeton three years ago; then there's George and Helen who are in their 80s and have lived at Sunshine Bay for the past twenty years after almost a lifetime in Canberra; Paul and his Dutch wife Betty live at South Durras and take to the pool as often as possible to get Paul fit again after a knee-operation (with another one already scheduled!); and Janette (who spent some five years in Goroka and Lae) and her oyster-farming husband Rodney who works out of Chinamans Point.
We spend about an hour to an hour-and-a-half in the warm water before taking a very l-o-n-g hot shower which we wouldn't dare to indulge in at "Riverbend". You get very, very waterwise when you live on tankwater!
By the way, do you still remember when they told you as a kid that the water would change colour if you peed in the pool? Well, I tested it out this morning and I am very 'relieved' to tell you that it is just a myth!
