So about that triathlon.....

Now, I know a few of you have been concerned with the quantity of shark attacks that have been reported here on the east coast of Sydney this summer - and I thought to calm your nerves I would share this little piece of news with you. 

This would be the time where you click the link and read on.....

http://www.smh.com.au/national/navy-diver-fights-off-shark-in-woolloomooloo-2009211-8404.html?page=-1

Now, I bet you are thinking to yourself, "Now, Sam, really Woolloomooloo, there is a neighborhood  named Woolloomooloo?" and I would have to say that yes, yes indeed there is place called Woolloomooloo. In fact it is only one little bay over from where we live. Chris and I go running right along this exact spot all the time. 

So, here's the thing, I have been keeping up with my triathlon training, and even before this incident I was a bit weary about the swim portion of the race. And really it was not because of the other animals might be joining me in the harbour -- but more or less, the fact that I am less than a stellar swimmer. But now you go ahead and add this whole "shark factor" thing and well we've got ourselves a whole new ball game - a few of my pals down here have said, "Well you will just have to swim faster -- oh gee thanks. 

Did you see the photo of that NAVY DIVER?  You really think if he couldn't get away in one piece that I will be able to? My good friend John Herrity once told me that I just have to be able to swim faster than the slowest victim (swimmer/racer.) Dear lord John, I hope you are right. 

February - Australian for BBQ.

I bet you're wondering what I have been up to since the Australian Open ended last weekend.

Well lucky for you - I am here to give you an update.

As we are all aware of by now, Nadal and Ms. Serena Williams took the cake at the AU Open - Federer shed a few tears, I lost countless hours of sleep I will never get back, Nadal and Serena continued to rack up their millions and the heat wave let up a bit in Melbourne. But just as the weather was easing up a bit in Victoria it began to really sizzle here in NSW.

Last Sunday we took a little day trip out to Seven Hills/Blacktown via train to have a BBQ at the Hull's-- I should note here that previously we had really only been on city suburb trains, and not the intercity trains, when we hopped on to platform No. 7 at Central Station we climbed aboard to a rather comfy air conditioned train -- we later learned that there is a 1 and 3 chance we would have gotten a non aircon (what the aussies call Air Conditioning) train - which would have been a bit unpleasant in that heat. Dan picked us up at the station and we headed to his parents house, where his Dad, Mark immediately asked us if we would care for a Budweiser -- he bought a 6-pack especially for us (Dan's calls us the Americanos). It was sweet of him, and actually I would never order a Budweiser back home, but it was rather refreshing on a 90 degree day.

The BBQ was a sweet success, Deb, Dan's Mum (not mom) was the mastermind of the entire operation -- Mark is not to be left alone by the grill for more than 2 minutes -- and both Deb and Dan's older sister Kate, had their hands full with him...it was rather hilarious. Mark is such a talker that the least of his concern was what he had going on the grill, and he was much more focused on his guests. The spread that afternoon was amazing; Chris and I were most excited because we hadn't had a real "home cooked" meal in months, and the Hull's did not disappoint!

There was steak, lamb, sausages, shrimp (prawns), sea bass (I think, I am not sure what kind of white fish it was, but it was delish!!), we had potatoes, bread, two kinds of salad....and my wine glass just kept refilling itself every time I would look away, it was the wildest thing. And then, just when I thought I couldn't possibly eat any more Deb pulled out the home made brownies and ice cream she had made for dessert. And of course I couldn't turn down a perfectly good brownie...so I devoured that too.

We spent a good chunk of Sunday hanging out with Dan and his family, exchanging travel stories and mindless trivia - Dan's parents and sister have both been to the states recently so they had plenty to tell us about, and we had tons to ask about Sydney and things.  It was a great get away from the city, and I've already invited myself back over for another BBQ soon, it really was a wonderful time and felt a bit like home which is why I think I enjoyed myself so much.

Let's see here, on Tuesday this week we went over to Joel and Kari's to help them celebrate Mr. Ethan Robert's 2nd birthday -Kari whipped up some excellent tacos and we all watched the birthday boy inhale the cheese and chips:) I am not sure who was more excited for his new toys he opened up....Ethan or me?! Either way I will let him use them first, and I will try out the pail and shovel when he's done...I have always been good at sharing.

Thursday night our pal Andrew invited us to dinner at La Mint, www.lamint.com.au which is only about a 20 minute walk away in a nearby suburb, Darlinghurst. It was French-Vietnamese cuisine and I must say, I was super surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Andrew brought along two bottles of Savion Blanc from New Zealand and we shared the 7 Beefs Main course -- which was amazing.

After dinner we headed up to Oxford street which is just a couple blocks from La Mint, and we had a drink at the Colombian Inn, and then we walked up to the Oxford Hotel - which looked fairly promising from the curb, but once inside it was as if the patrons at this bar had been dancing since last Friday night - and they showed no signs of stopping, it was barely 9pm, several of them had on their sunnies (sun glasses), shirtless, and were apparently not only drinking, but on a cocktail of rave-like drugs as well, we quickly decided not to hang with the party animals and decided to give it another go at the Midnighter. (I think that's what it was called any way) About half way into our drinks we heard some noise start up in the front of the bar, and wouldn't you know it....we had made it just in time to see Thursday nights Drag Show! It was great, and unfortunately I did not have my camera with me last night, but let me just tell you - the second performer of the night had the best pair of stems I have ever seen; for some reason I want to say her stage name was Winnie Cooper, but I am not positive on that.

Aahhh... the Wonder Years.

Oz Open

Okay....I think it's time that admit I have a problem. I am severely addicted to the blue court that is the Aussie Open. Tonight, Friday evening at 7:30, Nadal and Verdasco began semifinal play. It is now 12:18am - and I am up - alone, watching and yelling - and just moments ago Senor Verdasco just took the tie break of the fourth set, and we are now headed into the fifth, and deciding match. Some time ago, probably mid-second set, I ditched the contacts and have been sporting the specs, but my eyes cannot handle this - they(my eyes and the athletes) have been at it now for 5 hours...I was really hoping that Rafa (that's how the cool kids refer to Nadal) would put Fernando (and me) out of our collective misery in four sets - but that's not how the game is shaking out tonight.

I am not sure if it is because of my close vicinity to the AU Open (I do usually get into other Grand Slam matches, but not like this) this time around or what, but I can't pull my self away! I partially blame the lack of ESPN in my diet here in Sydney, so the fact that this is live, and exactly like it would be at home, is really speaking my language. If you'd like to join in on the madness I suggest you hurry up http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/index.html

Because it is all winding down...tomorrow S. Williams and Safina will play for the woman's title, and on Sunday will be the men's final.

I learned today that there is a massive big screen and bleachers set up down at Circular Quay to watch the games live - and they are actually selling AU Open gear (and other necessary souvenirs...so you can bet that I will be checking that out tomorrow).

It's 12:38 in the A.....and they are still going at it. 

Day 2

Tuesday morning started early as well - breakfast, buffet style, yet again -- cereal, toast with an assortment of spreads, Vegemite included of course, some fruit...and baked beans?? I didn't ask questions, it was 7am, and I really just wanted to get back to the beach.

Here is the entire group during our morning stretch together. I think I am over there on the right somewhere. After getting the limbs nice and warm, we broke into our groups, and Justin taught us a bit more about the ocean, how to "search" for the good waves, the currents the rips; the different kind of rips, how to get out of a rip, etc.  And after our lesson on the sand we were back into the water. And as much as I wished I would be able to pop right up on the very first wave, it wasn't that simple. I think it took me about 25 minutes to get the rhythm back that I had the day before. The waves were much smaller, and more inconsistent than they had been on day one - so once a good wave came along we were all fighting for it.

Most of my down time between the lessons were spent glued to the big screen back at camp watching the the drama unfold at Australian Open - it's safe to say I am addicted, and that if I could've I would have spent a fair chunk of January in Melbourne seeing it all in person. The only perk about missing out on the action is that Melbourne is experiencing a massive heat wave right now, they have had 3 days in a row of 43 Celsius (which is about 111 F) They have never had a heat wave like this - ever. So all and all it is okay I didn't make the trek down to Rod Laver Arena in beautiful Victoria.

By the time our fourth and final lesson rolled around my arms were beyond tired and pushing myself up on my board was becoming difficult to say the least. The waves had calmed down to a gentle lull and were even more few and far between than they had been in the morning session. Every so often when a good wave came a long we all wanted it - but at the beginning of the fourth lesson Justin had taught us about surf etiquette, the dos and don'ts of catching waves and how not to look like a complete beginner out in the surf. So, with that being said, we had to try to show some restraint when a good wave was coming up the back.

And surfing may not look like a ton of work, but you couldn't be more wrong. There were campers who were scheduled to stay for 4 full days, and I am willing to bet they are still a bit sore today.

We are heading out to Manly Saturday morning  to try out our new surf skills - we hear the waves are going to be good, and we're not about to miss out.

Gidget goes to Surf Camp!

On Monday morning we set out for a two day adventure to Rip Curl's Surf Camp.

We met up with the rest of the novice surfers at Sydney Central YHA (the main youth hostel here in Sydney) at the crack of dawn, well it wasn't that early, but taking the train at 6:45 in the morning isn't my favorite way to wake up.

Chris and I were waiting around for about 10 minutes before anyone walked past who looked like they might be heading to Surf Camp too - we all stood around waiting for our Grey Hound to pull up to the curb. The majority of the crowd were younger back packer types who smelled, and appeared as though they hadn't seen a bar of soap in a few days -- it was like an 8am lecture in Iowa City all over again.

We packed into the Grey Hound , aka the Skinny Dog and headed about 2.5 hours south of Sydney to Seven Mile Beach, just south of the town Gerroa. We pulled into the camp, off the Pacific Coast highway - and headed toward the Rip Curl bungalows which sat on the river that led us to the beach...where we would spend the bulk of our next two days.

I realized pretty quickly that not only were Chris and I bit older than the rest of the campers, but we were the only wannabe surfers from the states. And besides the instructors there was only one other Australian - our crew was full of Brits, Germans, French, Swedes, Swiss, Norwegians, there a few from Denmark and Finland as well...it seemed like all of our fellow campers smoked, and were more interested in looking good while at camp, rather than actually surfing - I found this all very entertaining.

Chris and I bunked up with Dave, the Australian and Robert the German -- who were also the only other campers signed up for a two day speed course on how to surf. About an hour of orientation and getting settled into our bunks we hit the beach for our first of four lessons. 

Chris, Justin (Our Coach) and Me on the Second Day of Surf Camp.

We spent the first chunk of the lesson on the sand, it is much easier to learn how to stand on your "sand" surf board, and than it is to actually figure out how to get your feet about you in the ocean.  But a few waves into lesson numero uno I was actually standing up on my own!

The way they broke it down for us was a three step process (sounds simple enough right?) Once you feel the wave start to push the board you 1. Push up, 2. Front foot 3. Back foot -- Meaning, you push yourself up, and bring your front foot (could be your right or your left, it just depends which way you stand on your board - I am "normal/right" footed, and Chris is "goofy/left" footed)  between your hands (that should still be down on the board) and the lastly slide your back foot up and it should sit perpendicular to the board. Now, I realize the "1, 2, 3 - Surf!" process may sound easy, but actually mastering it is a whole different ball game.

After the first lesson we headed back to the main hangout/picnic area of camp for a buffet style bbq, and let me just tell you now, the kitchen staff is not paid, they are young guys who came through camp - and decided they wanted more time to surf...so their housing is taken care of, and they can surf whenever they want - but they have to make the food, usually for about 50 campers plus the instructors 3 times a day.....and although we were all starved after our first go with this surfing business, I was happy to know that I would only have to eat the camp food for two days.

By the second lesson, I was no longer dragging my knees along my board, and I had quit doing the "Titanic" move as they call it - facing forward on your board with your arms out like an airplane - you basically look like a huge moron, but I was just so excited not to be wiping out every few waves I could care less if I looked like Kate Winslet in a wet suit! Chris was having a great first day too - he was getting up and catching waves in the first lesson, and continued to take a few pointers from Justin during the afternoon. Half way through lesson number two Justin was teaching us how to shuffle up the board to keep momentum and how to do forehand and backhand turns on the wave -- and much to my surprise, I was able to do both -- I was even able to pull off a trick on my first day in the water, and I was so excited about it, I am going to re-tell it to you all now, just because I am so proud of myself.  

So Justin said, I think you should try to catch this wave, and then once you have your balance jump up and turn, (a 180 basically) so I would be facing the other way, with my left foot forward - and after getting bashed by a couple of waves, I actually pulled it off! I couldn't believe it.

Day 2 of Surf Camp -- Coming soon! So stay tuned :)

Out and About...pictures included.

I promised pictures of the Northern Beach hike - and thanks to my ridiculously slow Internet connection, here are a couple of the shots I could actually get to load! So here are some pictures we took on the way from Manly to Dee-Why, sorry there aren't more to check out. I have however uploaded the walk in its entirety on facebook.

The beach communities here are very fond of the beach side pool, or more commonly known as the bathing pool here in Australia. This specific pool is in North Curl Curl (if I am remembering correctly) it was the one I mentioned in the previous blog -- where there were kids darting around me at warp speed along the rocks racing out toward the pool. Once you make it out to the pool it is basically a dead end -- there are huge boulders and cliff formations around the bend from the pool that we walked out to, but in order to continue on the hike we took a daunting, rickety flight of steps back up the hill -

And here I am at the top of Curl Curl....shoes sopping wet, and slightly winded from the climb back up the hill. If you squint really hard you can see Manly in the background. It was close to 90 degrees that day (that's about 40 Celsius) so I didn't mind that my shoes were wet, it kept me cool for about 15 minutes, and then it was just flat out uncomfortable.

I finished up the Bryson book a week or so ago, but when I feel like you need tidbits of Australian trivia I will pull him back into the blog - if you hadn't picked up on it, I highly recommend grabbing yourself a copy.

And just in case you weren't getting enough inauguration coverage back home - I thought I would share a little bit from a daily paper, Mx, here in Sydney:

Australia and Indonesia think "yes he can" but China, Malaysia and Singapore aren't so sure, according to a new study. Media Monitors' investigation into press coverage across the Asia-Pacific found the Australian media was more enamored with the incoming US president than any other.

 -- I found it pretty interesting, they do really seem to love him in the coverage I have seen on the local news - but frankly I think people would have fallen in love with any one who was in line to replace G.W. And Mom, I know you were worried about me missing out on the history of the big day back in the states - and I just wanted you to know my channel 7 news here was just as dedicated to the historical moment as the networks back home, so I haven't missed out on a thing!

In addition to Obama taking over D.C. we have also had a very busy week of our own here in Sydney. Chris's coworker Kari and her family arrived in Sydney on Sunday, and will be living here for a year - and although they have only been here a few days its great to have a few more Americans around :)

Out and About

So finding a job after the holiday rush here in Sydney is proving to be a bit more difficult than my optimistic-self had originally planned for. But have no fear, it has only been about 12 days of unemployment and I have several decent options in the works.  A bookstore, a few clothing stores, restaurants, coffee shops, and a receptionist for a new gym thats opening in a nearby suburb, Newtown (Not to be confused with Iowa's own, Newton.) So hopefully next week I will be writing to tell you all that I am gainfully employed.

But in the mean time -- I have learned a few things; for example that 5 beers here in Sydney-land does not, absolutely positively does NOT equal 5 beers back home. No way, no how. 

I met Chris after work on Friday at our beloved Custom's House, for our weekly batch of wedges and a nice refreshing pint of Stella. I had another to wash down the awesomeness that are the wedges...(keep in mind I had no intention of getting over served). We finished up there and then wondered over to the Belgian Beer Cafe, located dangerously close to our front door. And to make matters even worse (or better, depending who you ask) we have befriended our very own bartender next door, his name is Mo. And well, I am not sure if it was the first European ale schooner (smaller than a pint) that did me in, or maybe it was the tiny shot sized sampler of some super dark German lager, or I suppose it could have been that final Stella I had to have, in order to keep up with the boys. Whatever it was, it didn't bode well for me. And to spare you all the silly, and rather gory details; but I was out around 9pm, and the saddest part of it all is, Chris had gone across the street to get take out from a lovely little Italian place called Giovanni's. (And here comes the sad part)by the time he brought it home I was down for the count. So lame. And so much for my pasta! That's what you get when you think Bud Lights are the same as Stellas.  Sigh.

On Sunday we headed up north, via ferry to Manly where we had planned a morning of hiking the northern beaches, much like we did on the Bondi to Coogee southern walk, it is the same sort of idea to the north...except this trail was more of a "true" hike, compared to the bike path leisure walk of the southern beaches. 

We saw Manly, North Styene, Queenscliff, Freshwater, Curl Curl, North Curl Curl (yes, North Curl Curl...apparently one Curl Curl was not enough to satisfy the locals for that stretch of beach) we finally called it good when we reached Dee-Why  - a good 4.5 miles from where we had started off. While on the walk there were several spots where we had to scale along the side of the shore on huge rocks...and I am sure I got passed up by a dozen 10 year olds, all hoping along the rocks at seemingly warp speed. I was impressed with their talent to move so swiftly from boulder to even bigger boulder, but I was annoyed with my self for suddenly realizing I was the "old" person in their way. I had only one minor slip up (as most of you know I am a bit of a clutz) about half way through the walk, I was strolling along Curl Curl (I think) soaking it all in and watching everything but the tide...which came up a bit high, (out of no where! And Chris's "watch out Sam!" came a bit too late) and put me in soggy Nike's for the remainder of the walk. Either way the walk was beautiful, sunny, and doable for even non-experienced hikers and I do have pictures to post - I'll do that for you tomorrow.

Cheers!