Day 5 – March focus on Norfolk Island’s reef

On day 5 of my March focus, I thought we’d dial down what’s in our environment and instead reflect on how we use our environment for recreation and for our physical and mental wellbeing.

Swimming has been with me all my life. It provides me with three wondrous things: time, space and connection. Time to myself. Time to contemplate, reflect, explore, see and watch. An endless, fathomless space where there is no one else but my own thoughts. And a connection with our natural world – something that is so important but so often not understood as being essential to our health and wellbeing.

For me, swimming in the ocean is the pinnacle of the swimming experience. It is multi-dimensional, responding to the pull of the Moon and the rotation of the Earth. Buoyed by the motion of the waves, I am connected to our planet, to my past and my future. It represents complete freedom.

And now it provides me with the added dimensions of awe and wonder. Something that was missing from the competitive rush and routine of my earlier swimming career – standing on the starting block, following the black line.

Where I swim today is a world away from swimming as a child in England. Green mould grew on the walls of the rather shabby indoor pool with its over-heated water, communal change rooms, and the ever-present threat of some nasty infection! Dressed in rubber swim hats with frilly flowers and chin straps, and heavy, knitted regulation-navy swimsuits, it’s amazing the experience didn’t dampen what became a lifetime love!

Swimming on Norfolk Island is a privilege and a delight. I am very fortunate. And I know there are many people who feel the same way about swimming here in our beautiful coral lagoons.

Sunday is the perfect day to get out into your environment and soak it all up, whether it’s somewhere in the water like me, camping in the bush, or walking through a park. Enjoy!

*The image (top) is of a swimming companion who obviously loves the wide-open spaces as well! Below are two other swimming enthusiasts swimming in the channel.