The road seemed to be taking me towards takeoff. I felt after the Ironman that it was Mission Accomplished, and Holiday Game Over. It seemed a waste to just let my return ticket to Korea lapse, and I was tempted to stay behind and look into a deal teaching at a Chinese School (for not much) in Bloem, and working on a mag. Decided, against a lot of my own sensibilities, to go anyway, and the flight itself was really exhausting. Even more mentally draining than the Ironman! Really. Just was so tired of sitting in one seat for 12 hours! Was even bored watching the movies. Nothing to do! Well what I have to do now is quickly get organised and get moving in a new direction, despite the fact that the last 3 months were brilliant, with brilliant friends and experiences. Must try to move forward with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, as opposed to longing and loneliness. Think I can pull that one off?

Have felt somewhat subdued since leaving PE. Not sure if it is prolonged exposure to airports, or the portent of things to come, or cellphones and aggravated circumstances surrounding them. Allan Muir met Corneli and I at the airport. It was good to see him. I was over the weight limit so gave him a wheel and magazine and gave the rest to Corneli. Had pretty mixed feelings about flying when I was still feeling tired and was enjoying Jenny[;'s company after being basically on my own in the hotel room for a week. The day before the flight was extremely hectic. Had to go to two banks in a taxi, to the airport to arrange two flights, to the bike shop to swap around my handlebars, to the Boardwalk to see if I could find Paul Wolf so I could locate R500 worth of stuff I left in my Special Needs bag and possibly get an Ironman Finsher shirt, also take in photos, and fit in arbitrary things like eating, phone calls, packing and getting my head around what I was doing. Managed to get it all done the day before the flight, but did leave a few things undone. Forgot to collect my degree and CV from Bloem (forgot to ask my sister to bring it up). Also didn't get round to making two bank transfers. Will try to sort everything out when I catch my breath.

Deja vu. A few months earlier, and just don the road in J-Bay I was blitzing a frog with my flash. I didn't get an Ironman t-shirt so was heading to the Expo to see what the situation is when we came across this fella.

Jenny's holiday was just beginning, and mine, just ending. I gave her a ticket I bought intending to fly first thing Monday morning from PE to Cape Town. I changed my mind though, and Nationwide said I could give it or sell it but only with their tacit approval.

This is what Mona was doing while Leonardo was painting her.

On our way to Leonardo's for my last dinner before a flight first thing the next morning to Johannesburg.

Jenny caught an overnight bus and managed to find me on the road running on the 2nd last lap and at the finish. At that stage i really needed support and wasn[;'t even sure if she was in PE, so when I saw her it was a great energy boost. I took her to the Awards Banquet on Monday night.

Last day on the beach...

The Humewood Hotel. A grand Old Lady just opposite the beach.

Where to from here?

Victory is a blur. Raynard Tissink won convincingly on Sunday the 20th.

Swiss Champion at our table.

Ironman Afterglow

Ready to chow at the Awards Banquet. Lots of dancing, speeches and audio visual stuff.

This was my time. 36 hours...Just kidding. For some reason they just let the clock running.

What do you mean I have to cycle 180km now? I thought that was tomorrow?

On the morning of the Ironman.