Recently Chris Boyd, founder and director of AYAC, was flown to Melbourne to present his charity to a panel of judges for the Young Social Pioneers Australia competition. He was selected as a finalist after submitting a written application on his charity.

AYAC was picked as one of thirteen winning organisations. Over the next twelve months, Chris will participate in a series of workshops that will provide him with the skills necessary to build and manage the charity effectively as it continues to grow. He will meet with CEOs and community leaders, as well as networking with other Young Social Pioneer winners from Australia and around the world.

This is an enormous achievement for Chris and AYAC, especially considering the charity was only founded earlier this year. Beach and Bay once again congratulate Chris on his relentless efforts and outstanding ambition.

I’m sure there are plenty of aching legs in the Shire this morning!

Yesterday over 7000 people lined up to take part in the 2010 Sutherland to Surf. The overnight rain made for a very wet road, but the sun came out as the pelaton (I have Le Tour fever) followed the Kingsway down to the Cronulla beaches towards the finish, making for an enjoyable (and exhausting) morning.

Rachael, Murray and Natalie from the Beach and Bay team ran the 11km in (almost) record time. Kylie’s fund raising efforts are focused elsewhere as she runs the final legs of her own personal marathon as Dry July draws ever closer to its end!

Beach and Bay were part of the Australian Youth Against Cancer (AYAC) running group, who collectively managed to raise over $4000 (and counting). Beach and Bay would like to congratulate Chris Boyd and the AYAC team on their efforts yesterday in raising so much money.

Congratulations also to everyone who completed the 11km course. The City to Surf is coming up next month and spots are filling very fast, so get involved! Online registration can be found here.

In a week we are exercising more, feeling fresher, avoiding hangovers and navigating social situations booze free. We are also eating more chocolate to compensate, complaining quite a lot and reflecting on how alcohol has come to play such a huge part in our daily lives (quite scary!)

I’m finding the challenge quite tough as am in the thick of 21^st season – 2 per weekend with unlimited free bar tabs. It’s not easy that’s for sure, but it’s a hell of a lot easier than dealing with cancer (obviously!) and so whenever I begin to feel sorry for myself, I just have to remember that this is a tiny tiny challenge in comparison!

We have been logging our experience in a daily journal and you can read more about everyones struggles here! I also found this hilarious video a fellow Dry Julyer made (hopefully it doesn’t get to this point!)

Kylie has been full of energy and ideas this week – getting more and more excited about the amount of money we are raising and the impact this will have on The Prince of Wales hospital and the adult cancer patients we are directly helping. In order to celebrate our halfway mark we are organising a get together at Bass & Flinders café in Cronulla next Friday 16^th July. Friends and clients are more than welcome to join us – to share a coffee (not Irish ok!) and a cupcake (famous Cupcake Kitchen ones). We are asking for a $2 entry donation to go towards our fundraising and anyone who has already donated is especially encouraged to come as a thank you!

Cupcakes & Coffee to celebrate Dry July

Where: Bass & Flinders, Cronulla

When: Friday July 16th at 11am

What to bring: Yourself, some positive encouragement for Dry Julyers, $2 donation & money for coffee

Please email info@beachandbay.com.au or phone the office on 9527 0008 if you would like to join us. (So Kylie can bake enough cupcakes!).

Cheers!

Kylie Emans started Beach & Bay Realty with many great ideas. She wanted the agency to be independent of franchises, technologically advanced and with agents committed to ethical practice – honest, hardworking and fair. From the get go Beach & Bay has been at the forefront of adapting to changing technologies, embracing the internet as an advertising medium from the very beginning. Over the last year we have been working tirelessly to improve our website – collecting auction results for the public as usual but also adding more and more features.

In the last year….

Looking at Beach & Bay Realty Offline

• Beach & Bay had a record month in February 2010, selling over $15 million dollars worth of property. Considering only 2 agents were responsible for these sales this is an enormous achievement, if we do say so ourselves!

• Beach & Bay was appointed the exclusive selling agents for Drift Cronulla, a  luxury lifestyle apartment block with state of the art inclusions. Everyone here was absolutely blown away by these enormous prestige properties which set a benchmark not only for Cronulla, but Sydney-wide in regards to apartment living. Starting from $2.25million, built by Sammut Developments, and located in the heart of Cronulla, Drift attracted a lot of attention.

• Kylie Emans was nominated for a Telstra Businesswoman of the Year award

• Yet again we have had another full year of secret sales at record prices, proving that our database is not just a gimmick but an excellent selling tool and one we actually use. Instead of 1000’s of names on a list we work with a handful of value clients.

Looking at www.beachandbay.com.au

• 25,000 people have visited our humble independent website
• You have looked at over 78,000 pages
• 11,165 of you are new visitors – (thanks for stopping by, we love you and hope you come back!)

Auction results

• 12,768 is the number of times our auction results have been viewed. We provide this service for free because we want to be the local experts and we want to share our love of realestate with you. (We were also a bit tired with the lack of coverage of our area.)
• 1344 is the number of times our blog has been read – Don’t be frightened guys, we encourage you to stop by and read more. It’s not all real estate talk we promise. We cover local events, charities, property news, current affairs. And if there is a specific topic you would like addressed, just let us know!

Drift, Cronulla by  Sammut Developments

• Drift listings, blogs and posts on Sammut Developments were viewed over 5600 times on our website alone. Many of you wondered what living in the Drift Penthouse would be like and this listing was viewed over 1200 times.

Fundraising for Teneile

• Natalie Vials put the call out to help a friend and past client whose daughter had suffered from brain damage. We developed a website for Teneile Pawley, hoping to raise money to go towards medical costs and buying her a much needed wheelchair. Online donations came pouring in, Nat’s husband, Steven Vials, ran 250km through the Kimberleys to raise support and we topped it all off with a HUGE party at the Brass Monkey Cronulla. To date we have raised $25,000 in 6 months and will continue to support this great cause.

Fundraising for The Leukaemia Foundation

• I asked Kylie if it would be ok if her front of desk –marketing & social media manager was bald. She asked if it was just a new hairstyle I wanted to try (I’ve been known to do drastic things to my hair) and I told her no, it was for the World’s Greatest Shave. With Beach & Bay’s full support I raised money for the Leukaemia Foundation online and also held a fundraising night at Northies, Cronulla where staff and clients attended. $7500 in total was raised and I was in the top 30 fundraisers for NSW. Kylie did draw the line at the eyebrows (I said I would shave them too if I raised $8000…so close!).

Cronulla Buzz

• We created a new feature on our website that lists upcoming events in and around Cronulla. This is more work for us, trawling websites, actually reading flyers in our letterbox, and always keeping an eye out, but it means you can plan your weekends in advance, and that we know exactly what is going on in Cronulla. It’s just another way we hope to show you that our staff members live, work and play in Cronulla – and that it’s a great place to buy realestate!

E-Newsletter

• We recently overhauled our e-newsletter to make it packed to the brim with juicy real estate news, auction results, local events, new listings and blog rants. Released fortnightly this is something you don’t want to miss out on! Email info@beachandbay.com.au and tell us you NEED to be put on our mailing list immediately.

REUNCUT Interview with Kevin Turner

• Kylie Emans was interviewed by Kevin Turner on REUNCUT ‘The Daily Internet Show for Real Estate Professionals’. They discussed online marketing, the transition from print media to online media, the benefits of social media (twitter, blogging and facebook) and the impact it is having on the real estate industry.

Property Ad Guru

• Beach & Bay Realty was featured on this American real estate industry website with a spotlight on our auction results section.

Ok, so enough bragging. What about next year you ask?

Well, we aren’t stopping here. We are a force to be reckoned with and we are only going to get better.

• Our website will keep developing (we have an in-house (overworked) web designer).
• Our auction results are going to be more comprehensive
• Our support of charities will continue. July 2010 marks Beach & Bay Realty’s first attempt at “Dry July” where staff members are giving up grog for a month to raise money for adults living with cancer.
• We will continue selling luxury real estate and expanding our marketing (we currently offer individual property websites, the only agents doing so)
• We will be doing more project marketing since our success with Drift. Stand by for news on this.

Watch this space.

]]> http://beachandbay.com.au/realestateblog/2010/07/02/looking-back-one-year/feed/ 0 http://beachandbay.com.au/realestateblog/2010/06/29/beach-bay-team-goes-dry-in-july-for-charity/ http://beachandbay.com.au/realestateblog/2010/06/29/beach-bay-team-goes-dry-in-july-for-charity/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 05:32:32 +0000 Kylie Emans http://beachandbay.com.au/realestateblog/?p=1879 Beach & Bay has decided to give up alcohol for the month of July to raise money for cancer research. Some of our clients and friends have joined us in this quest. Please forgive us if we are a bit short tempered in July, and if you see us around please give us some encouraging words. We will be updating our progress throughout the month with how we are dealing with social situations and how much clearer our skin is getting!

If you would like to donate, here is the link: https://www.dryjuly.com/groups/boozefreebeachbayrealty

Participants Kylie, Rachael, Mel M, Mel C, Nat G, Anne W. (No NOT Nat Vials – she said she can’t do it!)

DRY JULY

With new life comes new opportunities, and now Chris has decided to help others and founded Australian Youth Against Cancer – a charity aimed to support youth cancer sufferers and survivors. Chris identified a gap in the support system whilst he was enduring his treatment. There were children’s charities, women’s charities and various other institutions but none were tailored to the youth bracket.

Chris and his mate Ian Bacon, are gearing up to paddle the entire length of the Murray River. This will be their inaugural fundraising event, with more events planned throughout the year.  They were recently featured in the Sutherland Shire Leader, to read the full article see here.

Chris is also organising a group to run in the Sutherland to Surf. If you’re registered to run, or plan on running, contact AYAC through their website or visit this event page to see how you can be a part and help AYAC raise awareness. Three Beach & Bay Realty staff members have already signed up to run for AYAC. Now it’s time to start training….

Australian Youth Against Cancer Website. Facebook Group.

If you would like more information please watch this short video on Australian Youth Against Cancer & Chris Boyd’s story.

The night was a party to celebrate the fundraising efforts done by Beach & Bay agent Natalie Vials (who helped organise everything), Steven Vials (who ran 250km through The Kimberleys), Beach & Bay (who created a website and raised awareness) and The Pawley’s wonderful friends and family who also drummed up attention and lots and lots of money. $4000 was raised from the event, bringing the total raised so far to $20,000. This money will go towards Teneile’s medical costs and the love and support shown for the Pawley’s has been overwhelming.

The night started with acoustic gigs from a wide variety of musicians. Everyone chatted away and got to know each other, enjoyed the never ending supply of food and stocked up on drinks. Yvette Vials sang her beautiful version of “Fix You” by Coldplay which has been the song on our website. Special mention also goes to Teneile’s boyfriend Hayden who flew down from Queensland to sing a song for Teneile (it melted our hearts!).

Before the headlining act Chunk came on tables and chairs were stacked away and a dancefloor was created (it was needed!). Chunk plugged in and played a high energy, crazy-fun set with everyone hitting the dancefloor at some stage and singing along.

THANK YOU

• On behalf of Beach & Bay I would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has been involved. It has been a very humbling experience to help the Pawley’s in this small way – and the generosity from everyone has just been amazing. Thank you to all the clients of Beach & Bay that came along and let down their hair. We know you all enjoyed it!

• Thank you to The Brass Monkey for being so accommodating and letting us host the event. The staff were wonderful and looked after us all night.

• Thank you to all the musicians who performed so well and did it all for free.

• Thank you to Misa & Nadine who have worked behind the scenes on the website and design side of the fundraising.

• And finally a BIG thanks to Kylie Emans & Beach & Bay for getting on board.

Fundraising hasn’t stopped here – if you would still like to support this fantastic cause please visit www.beachandbay.com.au/teneile

Quitting cigarettes can do more than lengthen your life. It can shorten the term of your mortgage.

Research from financial comparison website RateCity shows a pack-a-day smoker spends $4,000 a year, or $300 a month, on cigarettes.

Dropping that money onto the monthly repayments of a 25-year, $300,000 mortgage, could reduce the term of the loan to 19 years and knock $100,000 off interest repayments.

“Many households will be feeling the pinch of rising interest rates as we’ve seen mortgage repayments increase by about $340 per month for the typical $300,000 loan since September 2009,” RateCity CEO Damian Smith said.

“Borrowers who have also been slugged with the new cigarette tax will be feeling even greater pressure on their financial situation.

“This is why it’s a great time to re-assess your habits by quitting smoking and use that money to pay down your mortgage.

“Were not in the business of providing health advice, but for most smokers with mortgages, kicking the habit and redirecting their savings into their mortgage will likely have health and wealth benefits.”

Mr Smith said smokers who don’t have a mortgage should take advantage of high interest savings accounts on the market.

He said depositing $308 per month into a savings account with 6.25 per cent interest could earn $108 after one year or about $3,148 in five years time.

“The number one reason for quitting smoking obviously should be health-related, said Mr Smith.

“But the financial benefits of redirecting savings from an increasingly expensive habit cant be ignored and smokers need to assume that cigarette prices are only going one way up.

“Sorry I stopped blogging after day 3, but the physical effort of walking over rocks and uneven ground in thongs after I had taken my shoes of each day, just got too much..

So here’s what happened after Day 3.

Day 4….Into the Maze..
Up until today we had been on difficult or moderate terrain, today was listed as extremely difficult, so you understand what that means; it took us 6 hours to cover 17 kms. We spent the first 12km climbing in dry river beds and up and down hills covered with high spinifex and loose rocks underfoot. At the 12 km mark we reached the bottom of the valley and the start of a river, which of course we jumped straight into. The last 5 km was either walking or falling in the river, or walking on rocks at the side of the river, every step was interesting… we had a few falls, the current state of our feet meant that every step was a new experience in pain management, overtime your feet do go numb, so that’s a positive. Generally we were all in great spirits, it was a bit cooler at the base of the valley, and there was lots of water to cool us down. Mickey sang a few songs that echoed through the valley, I tried to play a trivia game, but was told to play it by myself, that way I would win….

The campsite that night was in the heart of the Maze, which is only accessible by wealthy people in a helicopter, and idiots like us on foot. No tents tonight just find yourself a place on the rocks and roll out your sleeping bag. There was a river to swim in and that was also our only water source..

So under clear skies in this incredible setting we went to sleep with a 100k day tomorrow…. My feet were bruised, blistered and pussy

Day 5 -100km..
I woke to clear skies…( clear skies suck) we started the 100km leg at 6:30 am with a 400 m swim in the river, fully clothed with our packs on our back, the first 10km was spent in and out of the river, and walking on the river bed, it was a great experience but very energy sapping, and the sun was already heating up big time.  When we finally climbed out of the maze and reached the 10km Checkpoint at 10am, it had taken us 3.5 hours for the first leg. At this time I kind of lost it mentally, the thought of 90 more kms, with no cloud cover really played with my mind. Just after the checkpoint, I found the one bit of shade on the course and sat under a tree.  I begged Mickey and Hully to go on without me, I told them I was done, they just laughed and told me to get up and walk. I tried again , I said I could not go on, they just laughed and told me to get up and walk.  At that point I knew there was no other option, so I got up and we started the long walk.

It was fairly uneventful until the 30km checkpoint, when I lost it physically, I was severely dehydrated, we spent 1.5 hours at checkpoint three, while I received an IV, the boys just sat with me and waited patiently, they really were incredible, although Hully did make another one of our tentmates cry when they came through the checkpoint, but that’s another story.

From there on it really was just putting one bruised, blistered, infected foot in front of the other through the night. Checkpoints would come and go every 10 km, at which point we would lay down and elevate our feet for a bit, then go through the process, of getting starting again, the first steps were always hell, but after 15 mins, our feet would go numb and we could pick up the pace a bit.

We reached the 80km check point at 4:30am, and rewarded ourselves with a 30 minute sleep. At 5 am we headed out onto the Gibb River rd for the last 20 km, and of course the sun came up….and it was hot again, but we just kept plugging away, and arrived into camp at around 10am. We just hit our tent, after popping a few blisters, and doing some basic first aid to our feet, we just slept all day and night.

Day 6- 5 km
Even though we had finished the 100 the race wasn’t over until we finished a final 5 km leg. The hardest part was getting my feet back into my shoes, but after that it was OK.

We started of at 9:30, and just walked with our tent mates, Suze, Stu and Kelly, we told a few stories, and few lame jokes, and the time past fairly quickly.

We took turns crossing the finish line, Hully, Mickey and I crossed together, it was fairly emotional I couldn’t believe it was over.

Racing the Planet Australia was an incredible experience, at times I hated it , at times I loved it, it was way tougher than I ever imagined. The heat , the humidity, the terrain all combined to make every leg tough, and when you finally get back to camp each day, it is still 45 degrees, the water you drink is still hot, and you can still only eat what you have carried .so it never really stops.

I’ve met some incredible people.
My team mates Hully and Mickey were just phenomenal, without there support and patience, I definitely would not have finished,  we had a lot of  laughs along the way as well.

My other tent mates Dougie, Stu, Suze, Kelly, Dicky were a great group to come home to every night, and live in very close quarters with. We all supported each other, and once again had plenty of laughs despite the pain.

Thanks to everyone who donated to help Teneile, looks like we will hit $20,000 and I know that will make a difference. Many times over the week I thought of Teneile and her family , I am still very disappointed at myself for contemplating giving up , because I know they don’t have that option….Thanks again to Hully and Mickey, for pushing me to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Thanks to Beach and Bay Realty , for all their help with  the fundraising,  I know the hours that you have all put in, and we have an incredible result because of your efforts.

Finally thanks to Natalie, Yvette and Remony,  for there support in the lead up to, and during this adventure. You will always be the centre of my universe.

Thanks……………until next time I decide to do something really stupid”

Steve

The Kimberley Region, Western Australia