Noosa taper with a difference

Well what a week I had leading into Noosa. My lead up was going to be a different to other races that I have done due to an unscheduled trip to Canberra on the Wed, Thurs, Fri prior to the race.

Two weeks ago, I received a phone call from a great mate of mine whom I served with in the Army and was the MC at his wedding asking me to be in Canberra for something he could not tell me about. Straight away I knew what he was talking about and I was so pumped to be apart of such a special time in both his life, my life and the history of Australia.

On Thursday 1st November, my great mate, Dan Keighran was being awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia at Government House in Canberra. Dan and I served in the same section for the first four years of our careers and shared rooms in both East Timor and Malaysia. Both our wives have been best friends since school and were each others Maid of Honour at our weddings. The entire day was the most amazing experience to see the entire nation and its dignitaries fussing over Dan. It was easily one of the proudest moments in my life.

Being invited to his VC Investiture was a big enough honour, however Dan and Kathryn chose my wife and I to sit at their table during the official lunch alongside Julia Gillard, Govenor General Quentin Bryce, and Chief of Defence Force General David Hurley. Although it was pretty cool rubbing shoulders with the big wigs of our country, it was truly amazing to share lunch and then many beers following with Dan and Kathryn.

So with Noosa only four days away, it was the last of my worries as we downed many beers and had such a great time.  Noosa Tri was definately on the back burner but it was not a hard choice as to where my priorities lay.