Row, row, row your boat...

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Well not exactly rowing but the closest we will see of it!  Jo, Archie, Susanna and Auntie Liz went to Eton Dorney to see the Canoe Sprint. We learnt that canoes are quite different from kayaks - you paddle whilst kneeling on one knee in a canoe and you only have a paddle on one end.

Canoes

Kayaks

Hmmm, they all look the same from that distance - trust me or look really close!

I haven't a clue really what was happening but there were lots of heats and semi finals of various distances with various numbers of people in a boat. It included one race where 5 people qualified in a heat that had only 5 people in it - that left me a little puzzled! Anyway Auntie Liz came laden with snacks so Archie was very happy.

We even met another Wenlock.

And waved at the Queen's house.

Windsor Castle

Meanwhile Andy and Esther went into London to see the Men's triathlon. Esther is really into the Rainbow fairy books and one of them "Olympia the Games fairy" is all about a triathlon, so triathlon was one of the sports we needed to see during this holiday. Whats more instead of finding a nice place where we could see the cycling it was quite important to see swimming, cycling and running.

The Olympic feeling in London is really quite something and with Team GB having the favourite for gold, people were getting to the Serpentine in Hyde Park really early to get a good space. We were there an hour early and could see (albeit 20 people deep).

 The only way Esther could see was on Daddy's shoulders, but she looked quite happy doing it. She even managed to take her own photos of the cycling (3 deep)

 and running (3 deep + a bit of space)

there is a runner there, honestly!

 

The Brownlee family won gold and bronze for GB and then Esther took a picture of some flowers on the way home!