~ THE END OF THE OLYMPICS AND THE BEGINNING OF OUR JOURNEY ACROSS AUSTRALIA! ~

Today we set off from Australind, Western Australia (south of Perth), at 10:30 a.m.; dog Shinook was in the back with the luggage!

We filled the Suzuki up with fuel and drove to Collie, where we shopped at the local markets for apples, and I bought a second-hand copy of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" for a measley $3! I also bought the Sunday Paper and read all about the Beijing Olympics!

We drove for a couple of hours and had lunch of a cheese and tomato sandwich and doritos at a wayside stop.

Then I carried on with the driving duties for the next couple of hours and we stopped for the night at a nice town called Southern Cross (Located 357 m above sea level and 368 km east of Perth on the Great Eastern Highway, Southern Cross can be seen as either the last town on the edge of the wheatbelt or the first town on the Eastern Goldfields.) The caravan park had an onsite van for $55 per night, so we took it. Dogs were even allowed in the van!



Next, we walked the dog part way into town and returned for a dinner of lamb chops and salad. I worked on the computer and watched the Closing Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics; Spectacular!! Roll on London in 2012; I am planning to attend and go to Wimbledon too!


★ GOODBYE BEIJING! ★




Tomorrow we shall driving across the Nullabor Plains! .... and that's Your daily bread!

• MATTHEW MITCHAM WINS GOLD IN MEN'S 10 METER PLATFORM DIVING! •

(BEIJING, August 23) -- China's quest for a sweep of Diving gold ended in shocking fashion, as Matthew Mitcham of Australia performed a spectacular 112.10-point final dive that overcame a 32.50-point gap and rocketed him into first place in the Men's 10m Platform. Zhou Luxin, the leader in the round through five dives, earned just 74.80 on his final dive to fall short of gold by 4.80 points.

China was hoping to earn the first Olympic Diving gold medal sweep in more than fifty years and a victory in the Men's 10m Platform would have given the host nation its 50th gold medal of the Beijing Olympic Games.

But on a rare off night for China's divers, an ascendant Mitcham, ranked No. 3 in the world, was brilliant. A 97.35-point second dive put him in contention for gold and the perfectly executed final dive, which had a degree of difficulty of 3.8, gave the 20-year-old diver the perfect ending to his Olympic debut.

Gleb Galperin of Russia, the reigning world champion in the event, scored 102.60 on his final dive, and 525.80 points overall, to earn his second bronze medal of the Beijing Olympics. He and partner Dmitriy Dobroskok finished in third place in the Synchronized Platform event.

Zhou's teammate Huo Liang was the leader after the morning's semifinal leader but in the final was unable to find his form. He was in third place after his first dive but scored only one 90-plus point dive in the round and finished in fourth place. Zhou won gold in the Synchronized event with his partner Lin Yue earlier in the Games.

Men's 10m Platform, final standings

1. Australia -- Matthew Mitcham, 537.95 points

2. China -- Zhou Luxin, 533.15

3. Russia -- Gleb Galperin, 525.80

4. China -- Huo Liang, 508.40

5. Cuba -- Jose Antonio Guerra Oliva, 507.15

6. Australia -- Mathew Helm, 467.70

7. Great Britain -- Thomas Daley, 463.55

8. Mexico -- Rommel Pacheco, 460.20

9. Germany -- Patrick Hausding, 448.30

10. United States -- David Boudia, 441.45

11. Colombia -- Juan Guillermo Uran, 414.80

12. United States -- Thomas Finchum, 412.65

+ KEN WALLACE WINS GOLD IN FLATWATER (K1) FINAL! +

(BEIJING, August 23) -- Australia's Ken Wallace pulled ahead at end of the course to win the Canoe/Kayak Flatwater Kayak Single (K1) 500 meter final on Saturday, August 23.

Wallace took a bronze medal in Friday's K1 1000m final. The 25-year-old has been performing well in recent years, but few believed he would take gold in this 500m competition with so many world class paddlers competing.

The most famous of the Wallace's opponents is defending champion Adam van Koeverden of Canada, who took three K1 500m gold medals in the 2008 ICF World Cup series. He was unstoppable before going into this tournament, but his winning run came to an abrupt end, finishing eighth in the K1 1000m final on Friday.

~ STEVE HOOKER WINS POLE VAULT GOLD MEDAL! ~

Steve Hooker from Australia claimed the Men's Pole Vault title with the result of 5.96 meters at the Beijing Olympics on Friday night.

Evqeny Lukyanenko from Russia took the silver with 5.85 meters, and Denys Yurchenko from Ukraine got the bronze with 5.70 meters.

★ AUSTRALIA WINS DUAL GOLD IN SAILING AND A THIRD GOLD IN WOMEN'S TRIATHLON! ★

Congratulations goes to Malcolm Page and Nathan Wilmot - Sailing (Two Person Dinghy 470) (Aug 18)

Australian duo Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson claimed the gold of the Women's Two Person Dinghy at the Olympic Sailing Regatta on Monday.

Emma Snowsill - Triathlon (Aug 18)

♥ AUSTRALIA WINS GOLD IN WOMEN'S 4 x 100m MEDLEY RELAY! ♥

(BEIJING, August 17) -- The Australian team of Emily Seebohm, Leisel Jones, Jessicah Schipper and Lisbeth Trickett defended their Olympic title and broke their own world record time (3:55.74) in the Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay, clocking 3:52.69.

The silver-medalist US team of Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, Christine Magnuson and Dara Torres also broke the previous world record swimming 3:53.30.

The Chinese team of Zhao Jing, Sun Ye, Zhou Yafei and Pang Jiaying took the bronze at 3:56.11.

★ AUSTRALIA WINS TWO GOLDS IN THE ROWING! ★

BEIXIAOYING TOWN, China (AP)—David Crawshay and Scott Brennan of Australia have won the gold medal in men’s double sculls rowing, leading all the way to win in 6 minutes, 27.77 seconds.

Crawshay and Brennan led at every 500-meter mark Saturday to win a six-boat field that had no strong favorite. They weren’t very well known coming into the event, but now they have Olympic gold.

Tonu Endrekson and Juri Jaanson of Estonia won the silver medal in 6:29.05. Britain’s Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham are the bronze medalists, crossing the line in 6:29.10.




Australian pair Drew Ginn and Duncan Free have won the country's sixth gold medal of the Beijing Olympics, taking out the men's pairs in the rowing.

Ginn and Free crossed the finish line in 6:37.44, just ahead of Canadian duo David Calder and Scott Frandsen, who clocked 6:39.55.

The Australian and Canadian boats were level pegging throughout the first half of the race but it was once they had passed the 1,000m mark that Free and Ginn pulled clear.

New Zealand's Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater finished third in 6:44.19.

It is Ginn's third rowing gold medal from as many Olympic Games, putting him on par with James Tomkins for the most gold medals by an Australian rower.

♥ AUSTRALIAN WOMEN WIN FREESTYLE RELAY GOLD MEDAL!! ♥

(BEIJING, August 14) -- The Australian team of Stephanie Rice, Bronte Barratt, Kylie Palmer and Linda Mackenzie took gold in Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final with a record breaking time of 7:44.31. The Chinese team of Yang Yu, Zhu Qianwei, Tan Miao and Pang Jiaying took the silver medal in 7:45.93. Taking the bronze medal, the United States team of Allison Schmitt, Natalie Coughlin, Caroline Burckle and Katie Hoff also came in under the world record at 7:46.33.

The former world record of 7:50.09 was set by the United States in Melbourne, Australia on March 29, 2007.

♥ STEPHANIE RICE WINS HER SECOND OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL! ♥

(BEIJING, August 13) -- Stephanie Rice of Australia underlined her dominance in the Medley events when she broke her own world record to win the Olympic Women's 200m Individual Medley gold medal in a new mark of 2:08.45.

Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry took silver and American Natalie Coughlin the bronze.
Women's 200m Individual Medley: Rice crowned best all-rounder!

LEISEL WINS GOLD!

(BEIJING, August 12) -- Event world record holder Leisel Jones of Australia took the gold medal in the Women's 100m Breaststroke final, clocking 1:05.17.

American Rebecca Soni (1:06.73) won the silver medal with Mirna Jukic of Austria taking bronze at 1:07.34.

LIBBY TRICKETT WINS GOLD IN 100 METRES BUTTERFLY ~ JESS S. TAKES BRONZE! CONGRATS GIRLS!! :-)

Australia has its second gold medal at the Olympic Games after Libby Trickett won the women's 100 metres butterfly.

The ABC's Matt Brown reports from Beijing Trickett made her intentions clear from the start, racing to a convincing lead over the first fifty metres and holding on to win her first individual Olympic gold medal, and the news got better for Australia, with Jessica Schipper taking bronze.

♥ ♥ ♥ STEPHANIE RICE WINS OLYMPIC GOLD IN SWIMMING! Aussie, Aussie, Aussie ..... Oi! Oi! Oi!! :-)

Stephanie Rice has broken the world record in the women's 400 metres individual medley in a time of four minutes 29.45 seconds at the Beijing Olympics.

Rice beat the record of 4:31.12 held by American Katie Hoff since June 29 by 1.67 seconds, taking Australia's first medal of the games in the process.

The Australian now holds both medley world records.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN! :-)

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I.O.C. OFFICIAL WEBSITE - HERE!