Wednesday 4th October - longer days, summer is coming! How's everyone going with the daylight saving time change? A few weary eyes with less sleep, 6am feels like 5am.. At least its kind of dark - ish - at 6am, with the sun starting to break through at 6:30 - in time for the (depleted) Drinks Express to swim into the (today) liquid reddish golden light bouncing off the powerful surf. And as the days grow longer as summer draws near and El Nino casts his spell, those cooling, refreshing afternoon and early evening swims to escape the heat will become much more popular!
Water temp: 18.5 degrees
air temp: 18.2 degrees at 6:30 - nearly parity!
conditions: powerful surf, a honking nor'easter, confused, unsettled, very strong rip, perhaps mother nature is similarly getting used to the impact of the time change? Quite a few swimmers didn't even bother today, or walked over to the shelly...
vibe: incredibly quiet at the beach, perhaps we are all still naviguessing the latest edition of daylight saving?
A few fun facts about daylight saving:
- The correct term is "daylight saving" not "daylight savings"
- The origin of Daylight Saving is said to date back to 1895, when a British born New Zealand entomologist named George Hudson proposed the idea so he could hunt bugs after work during the summer!
- In Australia, first observed in 1916, during world war 1; and again in world war 2.
- In 1967, Tasmania (yes, really!) was the first Australian state to observe daylight saving on a more permanent basis
- All other states/territories (except WA and NT) followed in 1971 although QLD abandoned it in 1972
- In 1992 a referendum was held in QLD to reintroduce daylight saving however it was unsuccessful (54% against). Several referendums have been held in WA to introduce daylight saving however each time have been unsuccessful.
- Other reasons for introducing daylight saving over the years and around the world include taking advantage of longer daylight hours (saving electricity), increasing consumer activity (spending) and tourism opportunities over a longer day.
- Approx. 40% of countries currently observe daylight Saving which impacts over 1 billion people (and countless animals, sea life and birds)
What is everyone up to now daylight saving is upon us?
Petra, Luke and Des opted for a run today - they are looking forward to enjoying more "ocean time" each day (they will have a post run dip!). Its Mermaid Jo's birthday today (happy birthday Jo!) however cakes have been deferred to Friday and combined celebration for her and mermaid Sarah's birthday - these three will definitely have earned their cake, and able to eat it too!
Sally and Ian on the Wednesday welcome desk - enthusiastically welcoming all the swimmers with a smile - despite the conditions: they are looking forward to sundowners!
Debbie is looking forward to more gardening time (she drives from Galston to swim!) and Georgina is looking forward to swimming time after work! They were undecided as to whether to have a dip or a walk to shelly..
Chad and Mitch - attempted to ride the rip however mother nature had other ideas - they are looking forward to afternoon kite surfing sessions - great conditions this morning for kite surfing!
Danny - excitedly entered the water at 5:50 with his dawn hunter buddies Sam and Jane, however they decided to swim in the "white water" close to shore to the pipe. Danny is looking forward to swimming with lights again in the dark mornings!
Annie - "tea bagged" today - she is still getting used to daylight saving and wishes it was all year around!
Shanny - described her attempt to swim through the rip as [insert word rhyming with "bit" and starting with "sh" this is a family blog after all] - Shanny is looking forward to post work swims in the gorgeous evening light!
Buddy is looking forward to post work swims too - he isnt sure about the "evening walks" bit though!
As always, stay safe, be kind, look out for and after each other and have a wonderful Wednesday!
Jocelyn
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