Medal ceremony from Parkinson Ward Dragon Boat Festival, 3rd June

Here we all our with our first runner-up medals. It was a very happy moment for us all after all that work and effort all day. But, this wasn't just a matter of one day of paddling hard - it has been more than a year since we first became involved in dragon boat, and everything about it has required a fair bit of effort. It's not that easy to get 20 people together for a start, let alone organise them for training and finally, get them all to turn up in wet weather and work together as a team on the day. Everyone in the team has made the commitment they could within their own circumstances, and those who could, have gone beyond and made the extra effort to motivate and inspire the team.  Despite the fact that we never trained together as a full team, we were still able to do so well on the day.  When we were discussing this with Brisbane River Dragons, Kiong's response was that our crew are very smart - they are able to take instruction and understand it well, analyse what is needed, and respond appropriately.

The photo above is courtesy of the Hakka Association who, along with Cr Angela Owen-Taylor, were the main organisers and the driving force behind the festival. Angela is in the middle of the photo in blue, while Florence from Hakka Assoc is to the left of Angela and Agnes from Hakka Assoc is on the right.