Departing Sydney c. 0700 AEDT on Easter Sunday, we received a phone call from Glistening Dave. "Where are you?" Mrs Sparkle asked him "Elizabeth Bay.", said Dave. "What are you doing there?" she replied. ""You're going to be late for the swim!" Isn't it lucky that Dave had Mrs Glistener to navigate his way for him, from Mona Vale to "Elizabeth Bay", so he did end up, as intended, at Elizabeth Beach, not in Sydney's inner eastern suburbs, and he was on the spot, soon after dawn, to capture this Glistening Dave Pano ("Exclusive to oceanswims.com!") Silly Glistener.

And later in the morning, as the Easter Sunday beach crowd gathered, he still was on the job, perhaps waiitng for one of those Elizabeth Bay buses to chortle through to take him back to Circular Quay.

There are more twists and turns at Pacific Palms than a winding bush trail, an eccentric swim, to be sure ... Mrs Sparkle's course, as measured by the oceanswims.com GPS-in-a-prophylactic. Google Earth tells us it was 1.33km.

A merry bunch gambols along the beach to the start.

A bunch of event workers from Pacific Palms SLSC. But if they were in the water, who was running the swim?

This pic not by Glistening Dave, but by Glistening Dave's elder daughter, Alex.

Why is Craig "The Moose" Moore chatting amiably to oceanswims.com? Becasue, after the swim, we were to award him with a carton of James Squire mixed grogs, as his prize for winning the James Squire Bleedback Award for his contribution after the Cole Classic, when he blew the whistle on the starter letting his wave go when many of its constituent swimmers still were on the promenade on the way around the Shelley Beachy. Click here to read The Moose's email. We can't think of any other reason why he'd waste his time chatting to us.

A couple of these coves think they're forming the defensive line to an indirrect free kick at Wembley.

Alex Glistener again. By the way, Alex was one of the subjects of Dave's finalising photo in the most recent National Portrait Competition, to view which he missed the Sydney Harbour Swim. Click here to see Dave's pitcher.

We chipped Jake Nolan after the swim about why he set off without his swim cap. We lectured him on water safety, on risk management, on insurance, and on social and legal responsibilities. We tried to impress upon him the ramifications falling back onto Pacific Palms SLSC had something gone wrong, and had it been exacerbated by his negligence in eschewing the cap issued to him as a condition of his entry. He said it was too loose.

Bearing down.

Steven Gomboso waxed grateful after the swim about how much better he is swimming now with his new View prescription goggles. He even sent us an email Bleedback about it. Click here to read it.

Tacoma Jim was posing for the oceanswims.com Brownie Starflash in a plastic bag. We're sure his head isn't normally that high out of the water. It is amazing, though, how many mugs pose for our little camera as they zoom past. John Koorey poked his tongue out. How fortunate for him that the shutter delay meant that no-one witnessed it but us.

Making art with the water.

Spectacular coastline.

He's just seen something, to be sure. But was it below the water, or above? And whose was it?

1st placegetter, James Taylor, a redhead from Redhead. We'd hoped that James would sing for us afterwards. Just one of those cute, mellow little ballads. But he forgot his geetar.

Mrs Sparkle's touring daughter, Shelley Clark, toured from Merewether to Pacific Palms to spend the day with her folks. Then she left early. She had physics homework to do.

Shades of John Landy ... John Bamberry fell on emerging from the break. He'd have felt like Ron Clarke, falling after another runner clipped his heels at the Melbourne Olympics, only to find John Landy doubling back to check he's alright. And if Bamberry is Clarke, who is Landy? Roll over this pic with your mouse and you'll see who John Landy is ... Step up, a true sportsman ... None other but Tacoma Jim.

Glistening Dave with his clouds again ...

Crowd.

Good elbow, nice wrist ... but still see how much water The Fairy Oddmother drags with her on recovery!

Here she is again.

The Forster girls will be wearing their new cossies again at their own swim on April 27. They'll be noticed again, too.

Grim determination. We won't say anything about the wettie(s).

Mel Eastace had to delay her finish until her support crew got their spelling right.

John Koorey had his first swim of the season at Pacific Palms. Normally, we see him at most swims from Avalon to Manly. But he missed even Avalon this seaosn, normally a "must" swim for him on instructions from the bride. Why? Because the prizes at Avalon include city parking vouchers.

Dave and his clouds again.

Clarke explains to Landy: "Up at Singleton, where I come from," says Clarke, "we're all this big!"

The Moose gets his James Squire, but someone doesn't want to let it all go.

Guess who took this pitcher.

The preso.

The thing about Glistening Dave is that, when he speaks, people around him look for other things to do. Where's that piece of paper? These sunnies really do need a clean. Dave should leave it to his lens do the talking.

The Lower North Coast of NSW.

After Pacific Palms, a cuppa on the deck of John Koorey's pub, the Dorsal Boutique Hotel, on the beach at Forster. We'll be back on April 27.

What is going on here? Mrs Sparkle at play, in a laydees swim, with Fairy Oddmother Rosie Langley. There is a reason for this.

You, too, can look like this in your very own pair of Maui Jim sunnies.

Our travel packages to Hawaii this August-September cater to the discerning, more mature ocean swimmer. Indeed, to anyone who wants to stay comfortably at swim HQ, have their transfers covered, and enjoy life in one of the world's most fun destinations. Maui Channel and Waikiki Roughwater ... Click here for info ...