last day at Unicon

Photo's

1. Jacqui having a traditional Danish lunch

2. taking upart the unicycles to bring them home (with David's unicycle we will be brining home 6 unicycles!). We also scrubbed the tyres of mud so that we aren't brining any nasty germs back to Australia.

3. Jacqui and Steve dancing at the final party

4. Nikki in her wheelchair (Baby Bertha) - this lift at the train station has really been very stinky, and she was really happy this was her last time in the stinky lift - it is the only part of Denmark we haven't loved. The wheelchair has been fantastic, as it is electric but fold up the size of a regular folding wheelchair and fits in the boot of a taxi - a number of people in Denmark & Germany have stopped us and asked us where they can get one.

The final party at Unicon was a HUGE smorgesbord with salmon, beef, turkey, and a lot of different salads - very yummy. There was spontaneous belly dancing, conga lines and the puerto rican's entertained us with music and dance.

The World Championships/Unicon has been a lot of fun, with the girls (& Steve) achieving their goals of finishing every event they entered in & not coming last. They all bettered their personal best times from the uninats (australian nationals) and learnt a lot. Hannah & Jacqui competed in their favourite event (freestyle - coming 13th) and have come up with some new ideas for the Australian National Championshps which are at Easter next year. We've made unicycle friends all around the world and have had a lot of fun.

The next Unicon/World Championshps will be in New Zealand in Dec/Jan 2009/2010 and Hannah and Jacqui are starting to plot a way of getting us there.

Thank you to all the lovely people who made this trip possible - we truly appreciate all your love and support - THANK YOU!!

We look forward to seeing you in Canberra at the end of this week when we get home.

Cheers

Nikki

Sunday 03 August

Photo's -

1. Hannah racing in the 100m sprint.

2. The Australia B relay team - Steve, Jacqui, Hannah & David Buchanan

3. Jacqui doing the obstacle course

4. Hannah as a volunteer marshall

5. Jacqui as a volunteer marshall

Today was our last day of competition for us, but a huge day of races. Hannah and Jacqui competed in the 100m sprint, 400m sprint, 4 x 100 relay, obstacle course, slow board race & still standing events (the only events they didn't enter in today were the high jump and long jump). Steve competed in the 100m sprint, 400m sprint & 4 x 100 relay. They all did REALLY well, finishing each event and not falling off (which disqualifies you in these events). I will be able to give you their places tomorrow.

After they had finished their races they all worked as volunteer marshalls for the last 30 or so races (there were 91 heats just for the 400m races!).

We had great fun cheering the girls on, and were adopted by the Israeli team who we also cheered for (they have 15 young unicyclists from all over Israel with their coach and parents). At the end of the day we gave the Israeli kids our Aussie Hats, which they were thrilled with.

We will all sleep very well tonight, with a slow start tomorrow, and then attempting to pack everything into our luggage. Tomorrow night is the final party - a chance to say goodbye to all the new friends that we have made. On Tuesday we will be heading for home (and our own beds, which we have missed).

Thank you for all your support.

Cheers

Nikki

Opps

opps, the title for the previous blog should have been Aug 01 at Unicon - I guess I must be getting tired towards the end of the trip - we really are looking forward to coming home to our own beds soon!

Jul 31 at Unicon

This photo is of a guy taking part in the trials competition, which was this afternoon. In this section, you have to jump up to a pile of six pallets, and then jump across to the next pile of eight pallets, and then jump across to the next pile of 16 pallets. This wasn't the hardest section of the course either! Thankfully the girls aren't into this kind of unicycling - although it is fun to watch (if you can ignore the injuries).

Today was a quiet non-competition day for us. Hannah, Jacqui and Steve did some sightseeing in the morning (mainly to see the crown jewels) and then Hannah and Jacqui did an advanced freestyle skills workshop.

For various reasons we won't be going to Sweden for the Mountain Unicycling (Muni) tomorrow, but the girls are having some one-on-one tuition with the Israeli coach, which will be useful.

We got the girls placing results for the pairs freestyle today - they came 13th, which was their goal (not to come last in their section). They did really really well considering that they are several levels below the rest of the competition. They may be the best in Australia, but now they have a goal to work towards at the next unicon (which will be in New Zealand in January 2010).

Thanks for all your support.

Cheers

Nikki

Hannah and Jacqui compete in freestyle pairs

Hannah and Jacqui competed in the Pairs freestyle compeition this morning. They did a fantastic routine and only had one minor mistake, which was wonderful. The hall was half full with spectators (about 500 or so people), and there were 15 judges in a long table watching the performances. The Japanese competitors came 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their category. The girls did very very well considering that most of the other pairs are 3 or 4 levels above them in technical ability. We were very very proud of their performance (and all the hard work they put in to training for the competition as well). We will know where they came in the competition tomorrow and will let you know how they went.

Their main competition is over now (hurray), but they will still compete in the Mountain Unicycling (MUNI) on Saturday and the races (athletics) on Sunday.

This afternoon the girls had the chance to do the suprise obstacle course workshop, and took the opportunity to learn some new skills from John Foss (a world renowned unicyclinst), which was fun. They even got the chance to ride up and down an extra wide see-saw, which they enjoyed.

Thank you to all the people who sent messages of support for the girls - they were very nervous this morning, but happy knowing that they had a lot of support back home.

Cheers,

Nikki