9 November 2005

'practice sessions for elite, competitive skiers' in the central basin

| johnboy
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Well the waterskiing on Lake Burley Griffin has begun in earnest, in the central basin, not the east.

Waterskiers on Lake Burley Griffin

The whole thing looked a lot duller than one might expect. But was exactly as noisy as you might have feared.

UPDATE: It turns out these skiiers are part of a weekend-long Country Challenge waterskiing series in which people from Canberra, Wagga, Griffith and Parkes competed.

Both the Canberra Times and the ABC are running the story (neither had it online at 10am, CT Story is now here) of one of the competitiors, 21-year-old Andrew Urban, of Fadden, who fell behind the boat being driven by his father halfway into the final event. Mr Urban was seriously injured, as would be expected when one is travelling at 140km/h as he apparently was, and was taken to Canberra Hospital with suspected neck and spinal injuries last night.

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I can’t wait til they start allowing floatplanes to use the lake; it’d be great for tourism!

I’m gettin’ a warm an’ fuzzy feelin’

I think we’re actually agreeing here.

You’re right and my apologies. I was making a comment on diverse use of the lake in general. I would be happy to see water skiing allowed on the lake for the general public (as long as it was zoned so as not to infringe on other user’s). But you must also appreciate (as I have just discovered) that this is a special event that is obviously not going to be taking place every weekend, and will obviously bring in competitors from around NSW. Complaining about being excluded from using the lake during this event is akin to complaining about not being able to access Canberra Stadium and have a kick while the Brumbies are playing. And if it is just for a special event, then why not let them do what it is they do and just not go to the lake for that time. It will be there to enjoy in sacred silence the rest of the time. And another thing, if we are to be serious about being the nation’s capital, shouldn’t we encourage Australians to use their capital and it’s facilities whenever an opportunity arises?

Try and keep up walter, not just anyone can take their boat down there. It’s only available so-called “Elite, competitive skiers”.

Creating a zone for this kind of activity on the lake, i’m fine with as well. And it doesn’t have to be the central basin. But I don’t get what constitutes a select group? are you not also entitled to participate in this activity if you wish? Aren’t you also entitled to ride a paddle boat or small yacht on the lake? It seems that the yachts constituted a select group in the past. What made them special?

great, yeah, wonderful.

great if you’re one of the select groups now given access to the lake.

open access on the little used East Basin I was fine with.

exclusive access in the central basin doesn’t do much for me.

Isn’t it great? A little bit of fun on the lake is a great thing. Sorry to the poor buggers whose afternoon was ruined but you know what? You wowsers have ruined it for so many in the past, its time your afternoon was ruined! Its not as if Canberra is such a noisy rat race of a town that you had to go to the lake shore to find some peace and quiet, is it? I am not a water skier, but I did once get invited to Jindabyne to give it a go. It was petty good fun, although I don’t think I would ever get into it as a hobby myself. The interesting thing was, though, that the boats were a lot quieter than I expected them to be and that the whole day was a great day out for a group of familes that were enjoying this activity. It seems that the residents of Jindabyne were far less concerned with the apparent noise in their (slightly less precious) lake, than our own wowser Canberrans. Its about time Canberrans allowed more diverse use of the lake and other public space. And whats with this fetish for spooky silence?

i think if muffled engines were used, instead of straight through pipes, it could be quieter.

a comment to direct to the trial body – if there is one.

We even heard it down by the SX yacht Club spoiling what was othewise a pleasant few hours

I was down in the NGA sculpture garden, and the noise was horrible. It really ruined what used to be a nice quite place to walk around in and enjoy the sculptures.

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