Head of schoolgirls

Rosie was back at Children's Hospital for a minor procedure a couple of weeks ago. We have a lovely new orthopaedic surgeon called Paulo Selber on our team now. Rosie and I consulted him recently on the recommendation of Rosie's physio to see whether Botox injections in her right calf might be useful. The theory is that by relaxing that muscle with botox, the opposing muscles on the front of the leg will be able to be worked and strengthened more efficiently. these are the ones Rosie needs to practise using more to pick up her foot etc. Paulo agreed it would be a good idea as a short-term aid so off we went to have it done. Because it involves 6 - 8 injections into the calf he prefers to do it under anaesthetic even though it only takes a few minutes. Rosie was pretty chirpy about the whole thing and went to school as usual for the morning till I picked her up. She didn't have to change out of her uniform to have it done. She doesn't much like the slightly dizzy feeling when waking up but rather likes the hospital crackers and finished off their supply in the day surgery room. She was able to walk out after a few hours of observation.




Sandra and family have moved to a gorgeous new house in Toorak and finally Meg and I found a spare slot to go over and have morning tea with Sandra there. Sandra's #3 son, George, was home to snap the three of us.





Last week the MSO brought Nigel Kennedy back to play Mozart and Beethoven and a few other ditties with us. As always it was a fabulous show three soldout nights in a row from the consummate entertainer and after the Friday night concert Nigel had a jazz jamming session with a fantastic local band which included the very talented Kiwi violinist, Nigel MacLean. Quite a lot of us from the MSO went along to the gig which lasted till 4 am. I went home at that point but apparently Nigel hung around till about 7. Then he showed up and played magnificent Mozart and Beethoven on Saturday night again. It's not like he's a spring chicken either, 51 apparently. I don't think he sees many daylight hours.




March 1st and 2nd were big days on the rowing calendar. This was the "Head of the Schoolgirls" regatta on the Barwon River in Geelong, the climax of the rowing season. Teams from all the rowing schools in Melbourne plus some from Ballarat and Geelong were competing. We went down for the Sunday. Jessye and her crew raced in their heat of Year 10, Division 1, coxed 4 on the Saturday and won which gave them the easy route to the semi-final the next day. They met their dreaded rivals, the crew from Haylebury College, in their semi-final. Jessye's crew led most of the way but had rated too highly (stroke-rate was too fast) and didn't have enough gas left at the end for a sprint so Haylebury beat them by half a boat-length. However, both 1st and 2nd placed boats went through to the A Final. After getting their boat out of the water, Jessye's lot had their customary chat with their coach before trying to relax for a few hours before the final.






The demeanour of the girls was somewhat serious and subdued  leading into the final as they prepared themselves for the big battle they knew was coming. They put the boat in the water and got themselves ready with an intense anticipation in the air. Their coach was close at hand to give last minute encouragement and a comforting pat. They looked good as they slowly rowed out to join the boats going down the far side of the river towards the start line a kilometre away. I was too busy shouting to take pictures during the race itself and only remembered to click away right after they'd crossed the finish line. Haylebury in the top right of the picture won and our girls came a very respectable second. Not the place they wanted but when you consider that they were second out of all those schools in Victoria in the #1 division, it was quite an achievement.



















The despondency they may have felt at not winning was quickly dispelled by the hilarity caused when they capsized their boat when disembarking. After their herculean effort on a very hot day the cold water must have felt great, weeds and all. Eventually they righted the boat and got it out with a few extra helping hands. Coming down to the river again for a crew photo somebody couldn't resist pushing somebody else in and before you knew it the whole crew was in the water again. This time an official came and told them off. However, we managed to get our crew photo anyway. The camaraderie they share with each other and with the girls from the other division crews was obvious and even a few of their non-rowing friends caught the train from Melbourne to Geelong to support them. Jessye was going back to Melbourne on the rowers' bus so after a bit of loitering we headed home exhausted but not as exhausted as the rowers. It's inspiring to see them push themselves to the absolute limit.

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