THE TRADE

oads! Yippee, Da Nang and China Beach
never looked so good. One item ticked off
the bucket list! Well at least until I do it again
next year.
After a couple of nights break in “Cui Dai
Beach” and “Hoi An” - old town, and allowing
for some retail therapy, it was off again. First
by boat transfer to a fishing village – which
I’m sure was simply to remind us that we
were in Asia – where we then remounted the
bikes for the trip to the town of Tam Ky. It was
in Tam Ky where we would present the bikes
to the school children.
The general idea of this tour is that it runs
through parts of Vietnam that rarely see
westerners. Tam Ky as a town didn’t actually
exist until the Government of Vietnam
decided to create an administrative centre
some 20 years ago. As such westerners and
in particular tourists are extremely rare here.
The town is typical of Socialist Government
constructions – large wide boulevards,
parks full of patriotic art work and loads of
government buildings, all a bit reminiscent
of Russell precinct in Canberra. Needless to
say we were somewhat surprised to arrive
at what appeared to be a copy of a 1930’s
French villa, the headquarters of the Red
Cross in this area. Very Vietnamese!
Waiting for us were eight Vietnamese school
children in immaculate school uniforms and
Mr. Chairman.
Our Vietnamese guide asked each of the
children, who ranged in age from 6 to 14, to
give a brief overview of themselves. Without
a doubt each child’s story was one of loss
or hardship. Most had lost one parent, with
one actually having lost both. However each
4
WHS - Work Health and Safety.
one had overcome their individual adversity
to become a high achiever in school and in
their community.
In the case of the young lady I presented
with a bike, her mother worked 16 hours a
day as a market seller, while her father was a
construction labourer. Given that WHS 4 isn’t
a real big issue in Vietnam, his outlook for a
long life isn’t all that great. Couple that with
the thought that these types of workers are
poorly paid for long hours and no welfare
system, then you get the picture of what real
poverty is like.
Bearing in mind that the girl is only 13 years
of age, when she spoke about herself she did
so in flawless English. This from a girl who
lives in a 3rd world country where English
isn’t yet widely spoken, then you get the idea
of the drive to achieve these children have.
There is a point here that some Australian
children should take notice of!
As previously mentioned, the point of
donating the bikes is so that the journey
to and from school can be made more
efficiently. Most of these children don’t have
the luxury of going home to play with the X
box or spend time surfing the net. These kids
go home to work. Whether it’s in the family
rice field or at the family business, they go
home to work to help support their family!
There is also one up side to cycling to school
in Vietnam. Anybody who has ever been
caught on the roads of rural Vietnam at
school change time, very quickly realises that
the ride home for the children is their biggest
social event of the day. It’s the time when
they actually get to be children! I tell you what
– there ain’t no road rage against cyclist’s in
rural Vietnam. The whole experience of being
caught amongst hundreds of well behaved,
polite children does give us older blokes
hope for the future!
With the official part of the ride over and all
the participants feeling that we had actually
achieved something worthwhile, it was off to
the hotel for some refreshment and a swim
in the pool. Unfortunately with Tam Ky being
a government town in the Socialist mould,
nightlife was somewhat restricted to the point
that most restaurants are closed by 1930.
As such an early night was enjoyed by all;
another reason why tourists don’t generally
visit here.
The following day it was off again, however
the happy euphoria of the previous afternoon
was soon to be tempered by a history lesson.
The ride also takes in the My Lai – Son My
Memorial from what the Vietnamese call the
American War and we call the Vietnam War.
To say that a visit to this memorial leaves you
with a profound feeling of sadness would be
an understatement. Those of us who are old
enough to remember what occurred here in
1968 will not need reminding of one of the
more darker points of the war. For those
that are too young to know what happened
I’ll leave the explanation to Dr Google or Mr
Wikipedia. Needless to say the rest of the
afternoon ride was completed in a somewhat
sombre mood.
Over the following two days we cycled an
average of 100 Km per day. Did I mention
the state of rural roads in Vietnam? The
event culminated with an ascent of Fish
Pass, another of these wonderful 8-10%
switchback climbs, with the ride completing
at the junction with Highway 1.
Then it was off to the (mainly) Russian tourist
town of Nha Trang, located on the shores of
beautiful Cam Ranh Bay. During the Cold
War era this part of Vietnam was home to a
large part of the Soviet Far East Fleet. Today
however there is nothing left to remind the
average tourist of this part of recent historical
events. The whole bay area is now under
going a vast transformation into Vietnam’s
version of the Gold Coast, particularly with a
view to attracting english speaking tourists.
There are however still four Aeroflot flights
direct to Moscow daily and you are still given
restaurant menu’s written in both Vietnamese
and Russian – makes for an interesting time
when ordering a meal!
With that and after the obligatory beach
party, where we taught the Vietnamese
Doctor how to play beach cricket, it was off
to HCM or as it’s commonly called Saigon.
Our arrival in a city I could only describe as
Sydney on steroids, signalled the end of
what had been a demanding but ultimately
satisfying experience. A satisfying experience
I will be repeating next year, as the challenge
is now set to do the whole journey in a faster
time, while also being a year older.•
Ultra Man -
Today I am an Ultra Runner in the true sense
of the word. I have not always been an ultrarunner,
in fact I’ve not always been a runner,
more an occasional jogger who thought he
was a runner. That has all changed. Today
I am standing at the start of the Badwater
Ultra-marathon in Death Valley, Nevada. It is
2300 and already 44 Degrees Celsius. The
moon has just risen, there is a light wind
behind my back, I am 85 meters below sea
level, I make note that is below safe depth.
I have 217km ahead of me to the finish line
(think Fremantle to Busselton). The finish is at
8500 feet, 1200 feet higher than the summit
of Kosciuszko. I am relaxed and comfortable
with the task ahead of me. It’s just running
after all, simple, one foot in front of the other.
Which strikes me as odd given Badwater is
touted as the toughest foot race on earth.
Time to find out.
Unbeknownst to me the journey to Badwater
began 10 years ago. In command of patrol
boat I wanted to keep fit, so I decided, much
to the crew’s amusement, to run 5km every
afternoon around the deck. It was not easy,
I was overweight and running on a moving
deck is a challenge at the best of times. I
ran my first half-marathon in 2008, followed
by a marathon in short order. I was hooked.
I lost weight, I felt fitter and my resilience
improved, as did my ability to handle stress
and demands of being at sea and long hours
ashore.
I’ve since made it my mission to run and race
whenever I can, wherever I may find myself.
I’ve been fortunate to race in the US, UK,
France, Italy, South Africa, Nepal and New
Zealand.
You don’t just wake up and decide to race
Badwater. The race is by invitation and only
100 applicants are accepted each year.
This was my year. I thought I had enough
runs on the board (37 ultra-marathons
and 30 marathons) to be competitive. The
application is similar to applying for a job,
it took me an hour to complete and then it
was in.
To be successful at Badwater you need
the training in your legs, the right mental
preparation and exposure to heat (given
temperatures on race day exceed 50 C). I
committed to running at least 160km each
week. I immersed myself in race reports,
maps and developed a strategy with my crew
that would not only get me over the finish
line, but within the top 20 finishers in under
30 hours. As a submariner we have that
ability to think outside the box, to commit to
that which would leave others behind. I often
reflected on my training and experience in
submarines as I prepared to run this race.
It is 80 percent in your head. The physical
act is easy. The mental task for a race of this
proportion is epic.
I don’t consider myself a particularly gifted
athlete, more likely just stubborn and I don’t
give up. In reality I have learned how to tame
my ego, control my thoughts and really
focus on a task. Running extreme endurance
events has taught me about myself. It started
with an easy 5 km around a ship. I know
many ultra-runners that started at Park Runs.
It’s never too late. As someone once said:
“do yourself a favour”, go for a run. You’ll
get fit, enjoy the camaraderie with other like
minded folk and your resilience will increase;
all good traits in dealing with life and the
demands of serving (in submarines) at the
forefront of our nation’s strategic deterrent.
ABOUT COMMANDER DAVE GRAHAM
Dave gained his Submarine Qualification
in 1997 on HMAS Collins, his career in
submarines included postings to HMAS
Waller (twice), HMAS Farncomb, HMAS
Sheean and as the commissioning XO in
HMAS Rankin. More recently he served as
PEOPLE
“Styr labs Badwater 135”
By CMDR Dave Graham
Dave Crossing the Finishing line – Job Done!!
the Deputy Director Submarine Personnel in
Submarines Branch in Canberra. Aside from
his SM career Dave has also served as, CO
of an ACPB (winning the Kelly Shield), in the
UK Sea training Group on exchange, as XO
Creswell, and Secretary to COMAUSFLT.
Dave is currently on CO Desig course before
assuming command of a Major Fleet Unit.•
A true challenge.
THE TRADE
26 THE TRADE
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EDITION 2, 2016 EDITION 2, 2016