On the 8th of April, the Australian team headed off to Zhuhai, China. The team included: Sharleen, Natasha, Melissa, Kathryn, Peter, Scott and me. Support staff included: Hui, Xiangning, Dr Song and Margaret. It was my fifth time to China and my second time to Zhuhai.
We stayed at the Paradise Hill Hotel which was just down the road from where we stayed last year. The accommodation was good, I roomed with Tash and Mel, which was good fun. The food wasn't too bad either, I still haven't tried the chickens feet or pigeons head.
On the 16th we left China, via Macau to Hong Kong, where we had a whole day, before making our way to the airport in the evening. We all went shopping at Kowloon to a place called the Ladies Market, which sells pretty much everything. I bought all sorts of bits and pieces: iPod socks, headbands, shoes, tops, handbag. Then I went and got a manicure, only to find that I couldn't find my wallet. Lucky I had prize money in my bag, otherwise I would have been in a bit of bother. Very annoying but there was nothing I could do about it, so I tried to enjoy myself again. At a place called Mong Kok I had my first Krispy Kreme Doughnut - a glazed doughnut with chocolate icing and sprinkles, it was very sweet but really good! At 8pm we caught the train to the airport and looked around all the duty free shops there, Sharleen and I both bought some really nice sunglasses! The flight back wasn't too bad, got on and had some supper then slept until breakfast.
We stayed at the Paradise Hill Hotel which was just down the road from where we stayed last year. The accommodation was good, I roomed with Tash and Mel, which was good fun. The food wasn't too bad either, I still haven't tried the chickens feet or pigeons head.
Both of my synchro events were on the 14th. First was 10m synchro with Mel, we both dove quite well to finish in 2nd place, behind the Chinese, and the Brits were in 3rd place. Next was the medal ceremony, after that was over Sharleen and I did one dive before we were kicked off the boards. It was the first time I had a one dive warm up. Sharleen dove really well, my diving felt good except for 205B which was over. We came 2nd, again behind Chinese and Russia was in 3rd. We won prize money for both of the synchro events, first place foreigner gets 4000 RMB to share, so in total I got 4000 RMB from the two events.
On the 16th we left China, via Macau to Hong Kong, where we had a whole day, before making our way to the airport in the evening. We all went shopping at Kowloon to a place called the Ladies Market, which sells pretty much everything. I bought all sorts of bits and pieces: iPod socks, headbands, shoes, tops, handbag. Then I went and got a manicure, only to find that I couldn't find my wallet. Lucky I had prize money in my bag, otherwise I would have been in a bit of bother. Very annoying but there was nothing I could do about it, so I tried to enjoy myself again. At a place called Mong Kok I had my first Krispy Kreme Doughnut - a glazed doughnut with chocolate icing and sprinkles, it was very sweet but really good! At 8pm we caught the train to the airport and looked around all the duty free shops there, Sharleen and I both bought some really nice sunglasses! The flight back wasn't too bad, got on and had some supper then slept until breakfast.
All in all it was a great trip. The preparation for this competition was very average, as I was ill and coming off such a big competition, I'm really happy with the results.
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