Redcliffe Pink Snapdragons

Cooloola Dragons Regatta - Tin Can Bay - 23 & 24 July 2011

2011-07-29T13:34:00.001+10:00

Another fantastic weekend away in Tin Can Bay for the Cooloola Dragons Regatta, the first regatta of the season. As usual there was a lot of fun and laughter whenever the Snapdragons are around! Looking forward to next year already!

We registered two Snapdragon teams this year, a Survivor team for the "Pink" races and a Mixed "B" team. It was so fantastic to be able to paddle as a sports team again with a mix of survivors and supporters. Both teams had great races and fantastic times.

The Mixed team came a very close 2nd to DA Gold Coast (by only 0.46 seconds) in the Division "B" Plate Final and our awesome Survivor team made the Pink Grand Final against MBT and were just pipped at the post by only 0.50 of a second!

Training, training, training and we'll be 1st next time!!!

Dinner saturday night at the Country Club was enjoyed by all, with a fierce pool comp finishing off the night. But sunday night drinkies produced the most laughs (and surprises! shhhh what happens in TCB stays in TCB!!! hehehe).

The gorgeous "Mr Percival"

Do you think they like pink??? ;-)


Someone didn't sink any balls during this game.....we all know what the penalty is for that now!!

Our amazing Survivors Pink Team!

The very cool Mixed "B" Team

Go Snapdragons!

So Close!!! We'll get em next time!

Where's my lollies!!

The sneaky sandbar strikes again! Luckily not our team this year!

Ah No......you two are NOT designing our next team uniform! ;-)

With many thanks to Grant Rasmussen and Lyn Grigg for the extra photos!

xoxo Jules

Snapdragons go Bowling! - 10th July

2011-07-15T22:38:00.001+10:00

Bowling at "The Boo"! Thanks Cheryl for organising a great fun day out at the Booroodabin Bowls Club at Newstead. Morning Tea (surprise birthday cake for Joan AKA "Mum"), a spot of barefoot bowls (some serious, a lot not so serious!) and yummy lamb roast for lunch.

Happy Birthday!!

Mmmmm Lunch!

That looks like a far too serious conversation!

Interesting technique Jane ;-)

My Winning Shot! The only one I had of the day...you can see i was very proud :)

Of course "Princess Lyn" had to go one better!!

I think we all agreed we need to do it again! When's the next one Cheryl? :)

xo Jules

Red Dragons Corporate Regatta - 2nd July

2011-07-07T22:51:00.004+10:00

Congratulations to our fabulous Pink Snapdragons for winning Bronze at the Red Dragons Corporate Regatta last saturday!
A few words from our coach about the day.....
"Congratulations to all the corporate regatta paddlers. What a fantastic result. Just to make the major final was a significant result and to run third against the more athletic and male dominated crews was awesome. I wished I was there to witness it, however I do have my spies and their comments were enough to fill me full of optimism for our future regattas with the National Breast Cancer regatta foremost in my mind.

Your boat captain Donna had this to say. “The team performed really well yesterday – it was great getting a medal for third place in the major final. The day reinforced to everyone what it is like to race as a crew with our fantastic camaraderie and support from other pinkies and bosom buddies such as Dani, Maz and Rhonda”.

A special thanks to Lyn Grigg for her role as Team Manager. Having someone there to take the pressure off the coach and boat captain pays dividends in the end. It must work, I wasn’t even needed!!!!.

Now the hard work starts. We have Tin Can Bay in 20 days time. Only 2 more Saturday trainings to fine tune our starts and race plans. Then we start on our training plan for the Nationals at Kawana in September.

Well done everyone”

Arthur

Go Pink Snapdragons!

Our new mascot Max

A beautiful day!

Boat Maintenance Day

2011-06-29T08:41:00.000+10:00

Our beautiful pink Zonta boat is looking good as new again after a big day of cleaning recently. It was a lot of hard work but worth it for the great results! As usual there was much laughter in between scrubbing and washing making the day go quicker and the hot chips from Del and Marla were greatly appreciated on the cold day!

National Titles - Canberra April 2011

2011-05-04T07:54:00.000+10:00

Congratulations to our sister team the Redcliffe Red Dragons for their fantastic effort at the National Titles coming home with a bronze medal in the Club v Club 10s crew 200 metre event. A few members also competed in the State v State competition and won Gold in the Grandmasters Women, Silver in the Grandmasters Men and Gold in the Great Grand Masters.

Several of our own Pink Snapdragons members competed as "Reds" also so a HUGE congratulations to Lyn Stainlay (Gold in Grandmasters Women), Lyn Grigg (Bronze in 10s Crew 200m) and of course our "Elite Athelete" and super coach Arthur Heales (Gold in Great Grand Masters).

It was a fantastic weekend and beautiful venue, whether we won or lost a great time was had by all!

Lyn Stainlay & Lyn Grigg - Medal Winners!!

Chinese New Year Sydney - 12 & 13 February 2011

2011-02-18T16:24:00.001+10:00

Wow! what a fantastic weekend just gone. Congratulations Snapdragons on 4th in the Major Final!!!

The team headed down to Sydney for the Chinese New Year regatta at Darling Harbour last weekend and as usual took over the town! A few of us arrived early on the Friday and met up for happy hour and then headed down to Chinatown for dinner, a definate highlight of the weekend. Watching the fantastic lion dancers from the top windows of the restaurant and then having them come up to our tables for good luck made the night. I don't think the poor waiters knew what hit them when we arrived!! ;-)

Saturday we were let loose on the town, paddy's markets, city shopping and boat tours on the harbour the order of the day. Dinner at the Dry Dock Hotel in Balmain finished the day off well.

Sunday was regatta day. We arrived early to secure a spot under cover hoping to hide from the rain that was predicted, luckily it didn't arrive till after our races had finished (the god's smiling down on us I think!). Always fun and exciting paddling on Darling Harbour. Pretty thrilling for the spectators too wondering will the boats stop before the wall!

Now to plan for next year!

Happy Hour at the Ibis :-)

Who are those masked pinkies??!!

The fantastic Lion Dancers
@ dinner in Chinatown

Dinner at the Dry Dock in Balmain.

"Tough Tatts" maybe they'll give us "dragon power"!!

Pow Wow time.

Go Girls!

Flowers on the Water Ceremony

Pan Pacific Masters Games - NOV 12-13th 2010

2010-12-06T14:26:00.001+10:00

Pinkies get some Bling!!! Awesome news from the Pan Pacific Games. Pink Snapdragons win Bronze in the 500m race on Friday and backup on Saturday to win Bronze again in the 200m. Fantastic effort ladies! And of course a big thanks to the ladies from Townsville, June, Cheryl and Gail who joined our team for the event, Deb Matthews from Sunshine Coast for drumming and the many ladies from other teams who jumped in at the last minute to fill our boat.

I think the huge smiles on everyones faces say it all......

More photos from Relay for Life!

2010-10-29T17:26:00.003+10:00

A few more great pics from Relay for Life, with thanks to our member Lyn Stainlay!

Relay for Life - 16 & 17 October 2010

2010-10-25T08:40:00.000+10:00

We've done it! another Relay for Life 18 hour challenge completed! After our usual venue was rained out, we transferred to the Redcliffe Showgrounds and a fun but tiring weekend was had by all. It was a very, very long and very, very cold night but worthwhile in the end. So far over $25,000 has been raised by all of the Redcliffe teams for the Queensland Cancer Council, with more to be banked still in the coming weeks. A terrific effort!

The Pinksnapdragons won the best themed tent award again this year. Back-to-back winners will make it a tough challenge to win again next year!

A big cheer to all who came along, especially to Marla for bringing the wonderful pot of hot soup during the cold night and the even better hot chocolates the next morning (yummmmm!). Also to Maureen for all the food and the camp stove and kettle (came in very handy!), to Trish for making our "big bra's" (I think they helped us win!) and Fran and Jane for making our "Dragon Tails" (they are so cute!).

IMPORTANT - VENUE CHANGE FOR RELAY FOR LIFE

2010-10-15T16:57:00.000+10:00

Unfortunately the Tigers AFL Club at Rothwell has flooded from the recent rainfall and we are not able to use their Venue for Relay for Life this weekend (Sat 16th and Sun 17th October).

NEW VENUE -

Redcliffe Showgrounds

Corner Klingner and Scarborough Roads

Redcliffe

Axillary Lymph Node Medibands

2010-10-15T16:54:00.000+10:00

We currently have "Axillary Lymph Node" Medibands for sale. If you would like one, please contact Marla Harris either at training, breakfast or by e-mail at Marla_Harris@health.qld.gov.au

Cost is $3.50 each plus postage.

Information from Mediband Australia -

Medical Wristbands provide peace of mind so that when the unexpected happens, critical medical information will be conveyed to the professionals that need to know.

Unlike traditional metal identification bracelets, Mediband Wristbands are made of food grade silicone, easily sterilised and are 100% hypo-allergenic (non-toxic). They have soft, rounded and pliable edges that are less likely to catch on foreign objects and are designed to safely break and snap if enough force is applied.

Most importantly, Mediband is fully backed by Handband, the premier supplier of custom silicone wristbands in Australia.

Sizes Available -

Medium (180mm/ 7.1" circumference - suitable for ages 5 and up)

Large (202mm/ 7.9" circumference - suitable for adults)

Relay for Life - this weekend! Sat 16th - Sun 17th Oct

2010-10-11T15:07:00.000+10:00

The Pinksnapdragons are sending a team to Relay for Life again this year. It's always a fun event where we get to cheer on all types of cancer survivors, remember those we have lost and "fight back" against this disease that affects so many. Fundraising for Qld Cancer Council is also a very important part of the night. Everyone is very welcome to come along to support our team in our all night walking challenge :). Come along and enjoy the food, laughter and fun entertainment during the night.

Details for the Redcliffe Relay -

Start: 3pm Saturday, October 16, 2010

Finish: 9am Sunday, 17 October, 2010

Where: Tigers AFL Club, McGahey Street, Rothwell

If you don't know what it's all about check out the Relay for Life webpage here http://qld.relayforlife.org.au/home.html

Here's a couple of pics from last year's Relay!

PS - everyone please pray for a fine weekend!!!! :)

xoxo Jules

North Lakes Mini Field of Women - 22 Aug 2010

2010-09-03T16:47:00.001+10:00

A few of us recently attended the Mini Field of Women event at North Lakes to help raise funds for Breast Cancer Network Australia. We had a silent walk (well.....as silent as a bunch of women can be!) around Lake Eden which was beautiful, and we remembered friends and family on the way around. It was a fun afternoon with a lovely afternoon tea, great music, a bit of Zumba and raffles. Our own Jayne Coe was the guest speaker and as always was very inspirational! Thanks to Elly Squires from BCNA for inviting us along, looking forward to the next one already! :)

Click Here for the North Lakes Times photo gallery

Lots more in our Website photogallery www.pinksnapdragons.com

Cooloola Dragons Regatta - Tin Can Bay July 2010

2010-08-06T17:01:00.002+10:00

The first sports regatta of the official season was held at Tin Can Bay on 18th July. First time i've been to their regatta and loved every minute of it! What a great venue and lovely town. Looking forward to next year already! Our Pinkies did so well paddling as a Red Dragons team and helping Redcliffe to win the perpetual trophy for the "overall points winners" of the day. Well done everyone!

Some pics for you all....

We started the weekend off with a fantastic dinner at the Country Club on saturday night. I think everyone enjoyed themselves (as you can see!)

Regatta Day and the weather didn't look good (and the water was sooooo cold!!! - yes I know....it's a water sport), but it ended up being a great day.

oops! is that a sandbank?

Rogue Reds!!! ;-)

Our gorgeous "junior" bosom buddies!

Thanks Tin Can Bay! See you next year!

xoxo Jules

Canada Trip Picture Post - Parade and Gala Dinner

2010-07-30T17:58:00.000+10:00

A few more favorites from the fabulous Welcome Parade and Gala Dinner in Peterborough.

Waiting for our call up for the parade.

We're on the way!

The locals were very friendly! :)

We even had pink snapdragons on our tables at the BBQ!

The Gala Dinner - a great night was had by all!

Great Memories!!!

xoxo Jules

Canada Trip Picture Post - Around Peterborough

2010-07-20T17:51:00.000+10:00

We are all back to reality now and have been enjoying reminiscing about our Adventures in Canada. Thought I'd do a few posts of my favourite photos from our trip. Thanks to Lyn Grigg for supplying lots of these! :)

Erlinda, Barbara and Sonia

The best lolly shop!

We're off on the pub crawl! A great night.

A yellow school bus! (I was a bit obsessed with them)

The main street of Peterborough.

Lots of local stores had decorated their windows

for the welcome parade. A really nice touch.

On the Lift Lock Tour

Lyn & me (in the pink shirts) with two of the gorgeous paddlers

from the USA.

more to come.........

xoxo Jules

Picture Post - Regatta Day 2

2010-06-18T13:39:00.000+10:00

Pictures from Day 2 (sunday) of the Regatta.

Marshalling

Heading out for Race 1

Lyn scored some mouse ears from the Orlando team.

Rosie and Barbara on their way to take part in the Sandy Smith Global Race and Flowers on the Water Ceremony.

Team tents lined the foreshore of the lake

Paddling out for Flowers on the Water Ceremony

The grandstands were filled with spectators for the ceremony

Last race of the day - Semi Final No. 2

2nd place in our semi-final was a great victory for our team. Go Pinkies!!

Picture Post - Regatta Day 1

2010-06-18T13:22:00.000+10:00

A few pictures from regatta day 1. It was very wet and very cold, can you tell???.......

Maz warming the girls up

Heading down to the boat for the first race!

We won!

Celebrating the Win!!!

Picture Post - Cedric's adventures

2010-06-18T04:10:00.001+10:00

I know you've all be waiting for this so here it is.............
The Canadian Adventures of Cedric the Dragon!

On the plane to Canada! Cedric liked to check how much further we had to go.

Cedric met lots of nice people on the Pub Crawl.

Cheering the girls on at their training session.

Natas Cafe in Peterborough. The nicest coffee Cedric found.

Cedric loves Pie!!! 4 fruit pie with cookie dough vanilla icecream at Natas.

On the bus with Jane and Lyn. Going shopping at Sears.

Cedric had a lot of fun on the Peterborough Lift Lock boat tour.

Walking with Maz and Donna in the Parade.

Cedric (and Julie) met a lovely policeman walking in the parade.

Cedric with "his girls" after first day of regatta.

Cedric enjoyed the special Gala Dinner on saturday night. Especially the wine and chocolates!

Cheering the girls on for the semi-final race.

On the bus to Niagara with Denise. It was too cold and wet for Cedric so he stayed on the bus to sleep.

He did manage to meet a Canadian Mountie though!

Canada Trip all done

2010-06-17T03:16:00.000+10:00

Our Canada trip is done now, we've all gone our separate ways from Toronto and are on our own adventures.

We had a lot of fun in Niagara Falls. Lots of laughter and ooh's and ahh's. We did the Behind the Falls where you walk through tunnels and see the water rushing down in front of you (the sound was incredible), Niagara Fury which was an interactive movie where the floor moved and rain, snow and wind blew all around us (yes we got wet!) and then Maid of the Mist, the famous boats that take you right up to the falls, now that was Amazing!

We then arrived in Toronto in the evening and a few went out partying till the wee hours. A few hours in the morning for a quick tour of Toronto, some hitting the massive underground shopping malls and others doing the CN Tower.

Now we've gone our separate ways I won't be posting for a while. I'll do a few posts updating all the photos now that i'm in Vancouver with access to fast internet.

I think the ladies would all agree it was a fantastic trip!
xoxo Jules

Goodbye Peterborough

2010-06-15T00:08:00.000+10:00

We've said goodbye to Peterborough this morning and are on the way to Niagara Falls for the day.

I think it's safe to say we've all really enjoyed our stay in Peterborough. We've met so many beautiful and generous people from all over the world and many have made new friends to keep in touch with. Wishing we could have stayed a little longer! Thank you Peterborough for a wonderful festival!

On to the next adventure now. Niagara Falls maid of the mist and behind the falls tour should be a lot of fun!!!

Sunday race results

2010-06-14T09:41:00.002+10:00

The last day in Peterborough and what a great day it was! I know you're all waiting for race results so here they are......

Our first race we came 3rd with a time of 2.44.00.
In the 2nd race the ladies were fantastic. They looked so good out on the water but were just pipped at the post. It was so close!!!

1st - pittwater pinks 2.42.60
2nd - Redcliffe pink snapdragons 2.42.73
3rd - DA Sydney 2.43.35
4th - Missibittititti 2.43.83

I think it was the most celebrated 2nd ever!

A fantastic end to the Regatta.

Will post pics when I can get to a real computer :)

Woo hoo! Our ladies are AWESOME!!!

2010-06-13T08:16:00.000+10:00

First races done today. Yep, they won both!!!!! Times were 2.43 for race one and 2.42 for the 2nd. They looked fantastic on the water too. Pics to come later. Were off to the Gala Dinner to celebrate!!!! Yay!

Regatta day today!

2010-06-12T19:47:00.000+10:00

First day of racing today and have just been woken up (at 5am!)by a thunderstorm!!! Yesterday was beautiful and sunny, today raining! Oh no! Hoping it will clear a little by first race at 8.30.

pinkie power

2010-06-12T19:05:00.000+10:00

Hi all my sisters, have done the raffles with rose-marie, helen & brian. have done breakfast with mum, rose-marie and rhonda, and a lady came up to me as she is currently having treatment and heard about the pinkies in the paper, i had my bright shirt on of course. That was after what i thouht was going to be a 2hr training session turned out to be a full 2 hr paddle to practice for the 21 klm marathon, if nothing else it convinced me i don't want to do it, no fun for 2 hrs just bloody sore & tired. have i made you feel guilty yet. NOoo oh well i guess nothing can stop you having such a good time, so get those lungs ready and scream hard for all of us too please.

hi arthur, the girls have been to scared to go to training without you, and after today i don't blame them at all, they miss you.

To all the Pink Snapdragons everybody here at Redcliffe wishes you all the best,
you are constantly in our thoughts and we wish you all the best on saturday,
go get em girls and have fun doing it. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Peterborough Street Parade

2010-06-12T11:59:00.000+10:00

Lots of fun today when we participated in the Street Parade down the main street of Peterborough. It was fantastic that so many of the locals turned out to cheer us on and also dress up in Pink. We then had a great BBQ dinner at the park on the lake where there were stalls etc for all the teams to enjoy.

Photos from Canada Trip

2010-06-11T09:13:00.000+10:00

Hi Everyone! finally able to get to a real computer (instead of my phone!) to upload some photos for you all. Everyone has been having a great time over here in Peterborough. It is a lovely city and the people are so friendly! Must be quick as am running off to have dinner at the Uni burger place before it closes at 8pm. Some pics!!! enjoy!

View from the plane of the Vancouver mountain peaks with snow

Flying into Toronto

Arrived!!!!

On the Bus to Peterborough!

Gzowski College at Trent University (our rooms)

The Campus Library

More to come soon!!!!!! :)

xoxo Jules

To Pinkies in Canada

2010-06-11T00:58:00.000+10:00

Hello everyone :)
how are you all? just wondering what days the survivors are racing?
apparently a few of the reds have been asking.
i wouldnt know cause i havnt been attending training this week hehe.
well we hope to see lots of photos soon!!! im waiting to see how much fun yous are all having.
love you and miss you all lots,
and hope to hear from yous soon.
love from nae.
xxx

Happy Anniversary Jack & Dawn

2010-06-09T12:45:00.000+10:00

Our members Jack & Dawn celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary during our flight to Canada today with Champagne from the Air Canada Captain & Crew. It turned out to be a very unusual anniversary with all the time changes they were able to celebrate it 4 times!in Brisbane, then Sydney, Vancouver and Toronto.
Congratulations to you both!

xoxo Jules & the Pink Snapdrsgons

We've made it to Canada!

2010-06-09T08:00:00.000+10:00

We're here!!!!! Arrived at last in Toronto. A really really long flight with Plane transfers in Sydney and Vancouver were all exhausted so this'll be a quick post. On the bus driving to Peterborough on Toronto's busiest highway (16 lanes across!!!). Still were all excited to finally be here. Will post more later with pics promise!
xoxo Jules (and the Pink Snapdrsgons!)

Countdown almost done! last day!

2010-06-07T09:10:00.000+10:00

This time tomorrow a very excited bunch of pink ladies, buddies and supporters will be at Sydney Airport waiting for our flight to Canada! Actually we'll probably be shopping in the airport stores knowing us or snoozing after having to be at the airport at 4.30am!!!!!!

We'll have a little friend to keep us company on our adventure. Say hello to Cedric the Dragon he's going to be our little mascot over there and will be popping up in lots of places so keep an eye out for him.

1 more sleep!!!

xoxo Jules (and Cedric)

5 days to go!

2010-06-03T08:26:00.000+10:00

Our big adventure is almost here! only 5 more days and we'll be on our way to Canada. Nice little news piece in our local paper, The Redcliffe and Bayside Herald, this week.

Looking good in our new uniforms too!

xoxo Jules

Snapdragons walk the Mother's Day Classic

2010-05-21T18:02:00.002+10:00

We have been doing a few things other than fundraising for Canada. On Mothers day a group of us took to the streets of South Bank in Brisbane. We did the 4.5km walk for the Mother's Day Classic which raised funds for the National Breast Cancer Foundation to promote research into breast cancer prevention and treatment.

Of course we did it in the loudest and brightest possible way! The only way we like to do things! :)

We wore our beautiful new club uniforms and made sure everyone knew we were a team of breast cancer survivors and supporters. We certainly got a lot of attention as you can see from the photos of the day.

A big thanks to our member Del for encouraging us all to join her this year. I'm pretty sure we'll be back bigger and better next year! Check out their website. http://mothersdayclassic.com.au/

xoxo Jules

Aren't we gorgeous!!!

Del, our organiser!

We don't like attention (much!)

Yay! We Finished!

3 weeks!!!!

2010-05-18T17:43:00.001+10:00

Getting closer! only 3 weeks now.

Here's a few more better quality photos from our Canada dinner. Thanks to our resident photographer Rosie Bozzi. Fantastic group shots, the lovely ladies from Zonta who are great supporters of our club and our coach Arthur and his wife Fran one of our survivor paddlers.

Received our travel documents on the weekend. So now we all know where we are supposed to be and at what time (very, very early morning flight!!!!) We're all getting very excited now.

xoxo Jules

4 weeks to go!

2010-05-12T17:25:00.001+10:00

Another week has flown by and now only 4 weeks left!

A few pics from the Bon Voyage dinner as promised.........

Our Team of Survivors going to Canada

The whole Canada Gang! Survivors and Supporters.

The ladies warming up their singing voices.

Will add more as they arrive in my inbox, i'm sure there's lots more yet!

xoxo Jules

Pinkies know how to Party!

2010-05-07T17:57:00.001+10:00

We had our Canada "farewell" dinner last night at the Moreton Bay Boat Club and I think it's safe to say all the Members, Family and Friends had a great time. There'll be picture evidence coming very soon!

Thanks to the fabulous efforts of our two members Sonia Anger and Lyn Grigg for organising it all.

The meal was lovely and we all enjoyed the dancing, hugging and singing after. I'm sure the whole of Scarborough would have heard us! Look out Canada, the girls are all in fine form! I think I know which two we'll be dragging off the dancefloor over there too.......hey Rosie and Maureen! ;o)

Exciting news that Rosie Bozzie and Barbara Tolhurst have been chosen to paddle in the Sandy Smith Global Race as representatives of our team. This is a very special race honoring Sandy Smith and her contributions to breast cancer dragon boat racing. Click the link for more information on this race http://www.survivorsabreast.com/2010-festival-program

And didn't we all look stunning in our new Team Uniforms too. Thanks to Bendigo Community Bank Margate branch for sponsoring.

Sorry my pic is not very good from my phone but i've been promised lots to come from all our budding photographers there last night!

xoxo Jules

2010-05-04T20:51:00.001+10:00

Let’s start the countdown! Less than 5 weeks to go!

Our fabulous members have been working hard fundraising for over 12 months to get a Team to the International Breast Cancer Participatory Festival in Peterborough, Canada. We’ve been planning our trip for so long it seems incredible that suddenly it’s almost here. June 8th is coming around fast!

So what have we been doing the last 12 months? (what haven’t we done!). A little catch up to remind us all........

Our ongoing monthly Jetty Markets have been a fantastic source of fundraising as well as promoting Breast Cancer Awareness, Dragons Abreast Australia and Dragonboating. They were lots of hard work but of course we managed as usual to make them a lot of fun too.

Then there were Garage Sales. Lots of interest in our Team came from these.

Of course we just had to have a sausage sizzle! What’s fundraising without one? Yep it poured rain, thundered and flashed lightning but the ladies (and gents) got out there with their raincoats and umbrellas enticing the customers in and starting up what we think is an Aussie first, the “drive through” sausage sizzle!!

And who could forget our “Pink Bits” 2010 Calendar. Featuring 21 of our beautiful members (all Breast Cancer Survivors), male models from Vivien's Model Management and photographed by our survivor member Rosie Bozzi.

From all the “behind the scenes” stories of these photoshoots I don’t know who had the most fun, the ladies or the models. (I think I can guess though!).

No wonder the year has gone by in a flash!

xoxo Jules

Dragon Boating for Breast Cancer Survivors

2010-04-20T18:55:00.002+10:00

Until very recently women who’d had breast cancer surgery had been told they shouldn’t participate in sport involving upper body exercise. Doctors and other Medical professionals believed exercise may cause or aggravate complications like lymphoedema. Dr. Don McKenzie from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada decided to test this theory and launched a Dragon Boat team called Abreast In A Boat in 1996. He found that dragon boating after breast cancer surgery did not impact on the severity of lymphoedema and actually improved the health of the patients.

Please visit Abreast In A Boat’s website for more information on Dr McKenzie’s findings www.abreastinaboat.com

The first Australian Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boat team was established in the Northern Territory in December 1998 and has rapidly spread across the country ever since with paddlers now in every state and territory.

Visit Dragons Abreast Australia’s website for lots of great info on paddling for breast cancer survivors and how to join a team in your local area. www.dragonsabreast.com

The Redcliffe Pink Snapdragons team was started in May 2005. Our team's founder, Jayne Coe, had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer and during treatment her mother gave her a magazine article about Dragons Abreast Australia. Jayne loved the idea and soon joined the Redcliffe Dragon Boat Racing Club and began paddling with them, as their first Breast Cancer survivor member. It was then that Jayne decided to create a breast cancer survivor team as part of the Redcliffe club. Jayne chose the name 'Pink Snapdragons' for something pretty and feminine for herself and for future members to really feel like women. Pink snapdragons flowers, which are featured on our club logo, are also strong and long lasting.

We love our club and welcome survivors and supporters of all ages and walks of life with open arms! Come and join us in our boat on Saturday mornings and Monday nights or visit us for breakfast on Saturdays at the Jetty Café in Redcliffe for lots of hugs and laughter!!

Please visit our website www.pinksnapdragons.com for info on training times etc.

A little bit of dragon boat history....

2010-04-14T17:27:00.000+10:00

Dragon Boat Racing started in China over 2000 years ago. Traditional Festivals commemorate the death of the poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the 3rd century BC in protest against a corrupt King. Legends are that the local fishermen loved Qu Yuan so tried rescuing him by beating drums and splashing the water with their paddles to stop the fish from eating him and to scare away the evil spirits.

Dragon boating today is celebrated at festivals and regattas all over the world. The boats are adorned with a colourful dragon head and tail which represents the Chinese Dragon believed to be a ruler of rivers and seas. The ritual is also meant to avert calamity, drive away evil spirits and encourage rainfall, which is needed for good harvests.

The long canoe shaped boats are propelled through the water by 20 paddlers (sitting 2 abreast), 1 drummer to keep time and 1 sweep (or steersperson) to keep it on course.

The great thing about our sport is that all paddlers are equal, each paddler contributes to moving the boat forward. You can be any age, any fitness and have no skills at first and still be a very important member of the team. We have paddlers on our team and our sister team (the Redcliffe Red Dragons) aged from 12 to 70 plus!!

Welcome to the Pink Snapdragons Blog

2010-03-29T17:02:00.007+10:00

Hello and welcome to the Redcliffe Pink Snapdragons Blog! We are a Dragonboating team of Breast Cancer Survivors and Supporters.

What's Dragonboating???......well, for the uninitiated, i'll be posting a bit more about this awesome sport later. Meanwhile, check out our website www.pinksnapdragons.com or Dragons Abreast Australia's website www.dragonsabreast.com.au which will give you lots of info.

With only 10 weeks to go until our Team heads off to Peterborough, Canada, I thought I should get started on the blog that I have been promising longer than I even remember. I'll keep you up to date about all the events leading up to our "Grand Adventure" and also what we get up to on tour.

I'll be posting as often as work, family, bosom buddy duties (more about that later!) and socialising will allow. I hope a few more of our team members will join me in posting as well!

Go Pinkies!!

:) Jules