Dragons Abreast Central Coast

22/10/2026

🩷 Breasts & Brews – Celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Month! 🩷

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and what a wonderful way to raise awareness!

On Thursday 22 October, staff at Wyong Hospital came together for Breasts & Brews, a breast cancer awareness morning tea organised by Wyong Mental Health, Central Coast Local Health District, in collaboration with BreastScreen NSW.

The morning combined important breast health education with plenty of pink, delicious treats and a little fun!

💗 An educational video helped explain what to expect during a mammogram, making the screening process feel a little less daunting.

💗 A Myth or Fact? activity challenged common misconceptions about breast cancer and breast screening.

💗 Information and resources encouraged conversations about breast health, screening and early detection.

💗 Pink-themed morning tea treats, guessing competitions, lucky door prizes and fundraising activities brought everyone together.

A fantastic example of how Breast Cancer Awareness Month can inspire conversations, encourage screening and bring people together in support of breast health.

A big thank you to our Dragons Abreast Central Coast 🌟member Samantha Buse for sharing these photos, and congratulations to everyone at Wyong Mental Health and BreastScreen NSW involved in making the morning happen! 🩷

13/10/2026

🐉 Dragon Boating vs Metastatic Breast Cancer — who knew they had so much in common?

Today, 13 October, is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day. 🩷

Stage 4 cancer is serious stuff, but that doesn't mean we have to be serious all the time!

So here's a slightly cheeky comparison of dragon boating and life with metastatic breast cancer.

Turns out there's quite a bit in common — teamwork, stamina, digging deep, getting soaked and occasionally wondering what on earth you've signed up for! 😂

Because life doesn't stop with a Stage 4 diagnosis. There's still living to do, laughs to be had and paddling to enjoy.

And sometimes you've just got to laugh at the absurdity of it all! 🐉

02/10/2026

28/09/2026

🐉 DRAGONS ON THE RUN! 🌺

We joined our paddling partners from Central Coast Dragon Boat Club on Sunday as course marshals for Run Fest Central Coast Run at The Entrance.

A fun morning cheering on the runners, supporting CCDBC’s fundraiser and adding a little Hawaiian dragon spirit along the course! 🌺🐉👏

28/09/2026

🐉 WHO NEEDS NESSIE WHEN YOU'VE GOT A DRAGON?

After paddling at the IBCPC Festival in France, our Natti Ann wasn't quite finished with her European paddling adventures!

Next stop: Scotland, where Nat joined a composite Dragons Abreast Australia crew from around the country to take on Monster the Loch dragon boat competition on legendary Loch Ness. 🐉

The original challenge was a whopping 21 miles — around 34 km — along Loch Ness, but Scottish weather had other ideas! Rain and near-gale-force winds forced organisers to shorten the course, and conditions were challenging enough that the crew couldn't change their sweep, strokes or paddling sides along the way.

But they did it! 👏🐉

And here's another example of just how far being part of Dragons Abreast can take you. Being a member of DACC gives you a crew here on the Central Coast — and connects you with a much bigger paddling community and opportunities well beyond our own waters. 🩷

What an adventure, Nat — France one week, Scotland the next! 👏🐉🇫🇷➡️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

25/09/2026

Sun down. Moon out. Paddles up! 🐉🌅🌕

Another glorious Friday evening on the water for Dragons Abreast Central Coast paddling practice — and we managed to dodge the rain heading up from Sydney! ⛈️ The lake started out a little choppy, but soon settled down and gave us a beautiful evening for training.

Fourteen in the boat, 6.19 km under our paddles, and Coach Janice Kennedy keeping us working with plenty of solid paddling and lots of different bench work.

And as always, a big thank you to our three guest paddlers — Liu, Jenice and Allyce from Central Coast Dragon Boat Club — who joined us on the boat today. 🐉🩷

With some of our DACC crew still making their way home from 2026 IBCPC Participatory Dragon Boat Festival, France, having our dragon-boating friends jump in and paddle with us makes all the difference. Thank you! 🙌

Up front setting the pace were our strokes Liu and Jane. And Jane Greenfield certainly wasn't mucking around tonight — she paddles like the water owes her money. 😂🐉

There was some sweep training for Alison Newell too, before we marked her birthday with an appropriately sweeping rendition of Happy Birthday! 🎂🎶🐉

And as if the evening hadn't already delivered enough, Budgewoi Lake put on another spectacular sunset for us, with the moon making an appearance too. 🌅🌕

Rain dodged. 6.19 km paddled. Birthday celebrated. Another cracking Friday on our home waters.

Dragons Abreast Central Coast trains every Friday at 4.30 pm on Budgewoi Lake, Toukley. 🐉🩷

22/09/2026

🌸NEW - FREE CENTRAL COAST MENOPAUSE SERVICE 🌸

We now have a FREE Central Coast Menopause Service — and you can self-refer for an initial consultation.

If you're struggling with symptoms from menopause, this is a fantastic resource to have on our doorstep.

And for women going through breast cancer treatment, it could be particularly valuable. You're often thrown into medically induced menopause while dealing with treatment and medications at the same time — and it can be really difficult to work out what's causing what and what can actually be done about it.

The Central Coast Local Health District Menopause Service can help you make sense of it, provide education and advice, and work with your GP on managing your symptoms and improving your quality of life.

💗 And this is the really exciting bit for anyone with more complex needs.

The Central Coast service provides a pathway to the Royal North Shore Hospital Specialist Menopause Hub, giving women access to a multidisciplinary menopause team.

Depending on what you need, that can include gynaecology, endocrinology, reproductive endocrinology, specialist menopause nursing, dietetics, exercise physiology, physiotherapy and pelvic health, psychology, social work and other specialties.

That's a pretty impressive level of support to be able to access through our local service.

📍 Central Coast clinics:
• Woy Woy Hospital
• Gosford Hospital
• Wyong Hospital
• Wyong Central Community Health Centre
• Long Jetty Community Health Centre

📞 Self-refer: 1300 725 565
📧 [email protected]

🔗 Central Coast Menopause Service – information and access
https://www.cclhd.health.nsw.gov.au/menopause-service

FREE. Local. You can self-refer. And there's specialist multidisciplinary support available if you need it. Definitely one to know about and share. 💗

Helping women feel informed, confident and supported through menopause is at the heart of Rayna Shimakage's work as a physiotherapist in the Central Coast Menopause Service.

“The Central Coast Menopause Service helps women maintain their physical health and wellbeing throughout menopause and beyond,” Rayna said.

“Menopause is a natural stage of life, but that doesn’t mean women should feel they have to always accept changes that are affecting their quality of life.

“If something doesn’t feel right, is affecting your day-to-day life or you are unsure whether what you are experiencing is related to menopause, it is worth seeking support and having a conversation with your GP.

“If your symptoms are severe or complex, ask your GP about a referral to the CCLHD Menopause Service, or self-refer by calling 1300 725 565.

“You don’t have to navigate these changes on your own, and there are people who can help you understand what is happening and explore the options available to you.”

For more information, email [email protected] or call 1300 725 565.

08/09/2026

💗 Metastatic Breast Cancer – Free Online Q&A with Breast Cancer Trials

This may be of interest to members of our Dragons Abreast Australia community living with metastatic breast cancer, as well as family and friends supporting someone with metastatic disease.

📅 Wednesday 16 September
⏰ 5:00–6:30pm AEST
💻 Online and free

This Breast Cancer Trials Q&A will explore the latest research and treatment developments, as well as the things that matter when living with metastatic breast cancer – quality of life, exercise, wellbeing, support and living well with an incurable diagnosis.

👉 Register here: https://bit.ly/3SrajRY

🐉💗

MEET OUR EXPERT PANEL

Join us online from 5:00–6:30pm (AEST), Wednesday 16 September for our free Q&A: Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Moderated by author and journalist Annabel Crabb, this session will provide a compassionate and informative space to explore the questions many people living with metastatic breast cancer—and those who love and care for them—are asking.

Featuring:
Dr Nicholas Zdenkowski: Medical oncologist with a strong interest in breast cancer clinical practice and research, and Chair of the Breast Cancer Trials Scientific Advisory Committee. Nick is also the study chair of the Breast Cancer Trials CAMBRIA-2 clinical trial.

Professor Lisa Beatty: Professor in clinical psychology at Flinders University with over 20 years of research and clinical expertise. Lisa has led the development of multiple digital psycho-oncology programs including Finding My Way-Advanced, targeted towards supporting metastatic breast cancer patients.

Dr Andrea Smith: Diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2016 and an early career researcher involved in collaborative, multi-disciplinary research in fields of health promotion and disease prevention, with a current focus on the application of implementation science and practice across the cancer continuum, specifically in metastatic breast cancer and melanoma.

Ms Sarah Lee: Diagnosed with de-novo ER+ HER2 low metastatic breast cancer in April 2017 at the age of 41. Since her diagnosis, Sarah has run 13 marathons and a 54km ultra-marathon, hiked over 400km of the Camino Trail in Spain and is planning for more marathons in the future. Sarah is a member of the Breast Cancer Trials Consumer Advisory Panel.

📅 Register now: https://bit.ly/3SrajRY