The Gold Coast!

With out further delay I must tell you all about the trip to the Gold Coast; Coolangatta, Queensland to be exact. We left Sydney early Thursday (March 5th) morning and got to the Coolangatta Sands Hostel before anyone was even at the front desk to let us into our room. I will share more about the hostel in a bit, but if you are wondering... it was my first hostel stay, and will most likely be the last.

The city of Coolangatta only has about 4500 people - but when the Quiksilver Pro Tournament comes to town -- I would be willing to guess that the population shoots up to 15,000-20,000 people. There was hardly a vacancy in town (trust me, I would know - I tried to find somewhere else to stay after a few hours at the hostel) and the beaches were packed with surf fans and sun lovers alike to cheer on the men and women competing in the Quikie Pro. I will briefly explain that during these tournaments there is a waiting period, and in the case of the Quikie Pro at Snapper Rocks, it was about a 16 day waiting period - and the officials of the tourney are essentially waiting for the best waves to come through; if the waves are good the competition is on, if it's flat the entire operation is on hold. So that being said, the Men and Women were both off on Thursday, and then Men were off again on Friday....

Day 1:

We spent the majority of  Thursday morning walking around and checking out the city - we discovered very quickly that Coolangatta was quite a bit warmer than Sydney in March. It was nearly 85 degrees every day and hardly a cloud in the sky. While we were strolling around killing time before we could officially "check in" to our room we scouted out places for lunch. And after making a few laps of the town center we had found exactly what we had been searching for in Sydney -- and actual Mexican restaurant - you know the chips, salsa and margs...and after a long lunch full of margaritas we headed down to the beach to soak up an afternoon in the sun.

Later that day - back the lovely Sands Hotel (I think I have mentioned before that the word hotel is commonly used for a bar, and in this case it doubled for the name of the bar and the name of the hostel...slightly confusing if you don't know what you're getting in to) we quickly learned that the Sands Hotel was home to many, many nights of live music...and I suddenly realized I'm old. That's right. Old. The idea of live music blasting a floor below all night long was not my idea of a relaxing vacation at the beach. And come to find out there was to be live music for the duration of our trip...not to mention the beloved AC/DC cover band Acca Dacca, who played until the wee wee hours of Saturday morning. Any way after we decided we weren't going to find a better deal on a room we opted to stay at the Sands, and really it wasn't all bad, and I learned to fall asleep with the rage of a party going on beneath us. And by us I mean, me, Chris, and our two other random roommates - Mark from Wales and our other roomie was from Japan, she was a bit of an odd duck who had a strange love for avocados.

Day 2:

Like I mentioned the waves weren't quite up to par for the men to take on the waves on Friday, but the women were in full swing so we headed down to the beach to cheer them on.  After a full day of watching the 2nd and 3rd rounds at Duranbah we headed over toward the main event grounds at Snapper Rocks and checked out all that Quicksilver and its sponsors had to offer.  We made our way to the main beach and watched several free surfers...as we got closer to the shore we realized that one of the free surfers just happened to be the one and only..Kelly Slater. (If you are unaware who Mr. Kelly Slater is, shame on you. If you just need a bit of a refresher please visit www.kellyslater.com  thank you.) So he rode a few more waves right into the beach where I was anxiously awaiting to approach the legend. Like a crazy 10 year old seeing their favorite ball player, I tried to play it cool, but I was hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.

Chris was not about to be the one to make a fool out of himself, so I went ahead and took one for the team. With Chris's 2009 Quiksilver hat in hand I patiently waited for the actual 10 year olds to clear out and then walked up to him. All the things I could've said went rushing through my head but when I finally got face to face to with him all that I could sputter out was.....

Me: Hi

Kelly: Um Hey

Me: Hi

Kelly: (Giving me a look of....should I know who are you crazy girl?)

Me: I'm a big fan, a big big fan. Would you sign the hat?

Kelly: Sure.

Me: Thanks Kelly, goodluck.

Kelly: Thanks.

As I walked away all I could think was .... I am so lame. A big fan, I'm a real big fan? (Buzz your girlfriend woof.) Meanwhile Chris had ran up the beach and was hiding behind the biggest rock he could find, making sure no one on the beach knew he was with me. Oh but let me tell you - it was so worth it. With the autograph now safe in my possession Chris and I headed off to grab lunch - and wouldn't you know it Kelly Slater showed up where we were eating, so now not only had I creeped him out on the beach, but I would have the opportunity to creep him out all over again. What a day! 

That night back at the hostel...more live music!

Day 3 & 4:

Coming soon!

(I mean it Sara, I will have it posted soon!)

Blogging 101

Whelp, it's official. I have undoubtedly been a piss-poor blogger the last couple weeks. And for that I owe all of you out there in the  blogosphere (yes, it is a word you can ask Professor Tim Johnson and he will let you know that it is surely a word) an apology for my lack of time and effort put into KangaRoute the couple weeks. Several blog experts out there will tell you to keep you blog fresh, updated, relevant, and interesting you must updated at least 2-3 times a week, and as most of you can plainly see I have been slacking a bit in that department. 

I don't want to sit here and make excuses, and I know everyone gets busy with other things, so for the rest of our time here I am going to try to stick to the 2-3 blogs a week in order not to let you all down.  I am sure if there were ways to kick crappy bloggers out of the blogging realm I would be next voted off the island for my disgusting display of blogging - it's just plain sloppy.

That being said I would like to give you a little sneak peak of what all I have in store for you -

 The holiday to Coolangatta, Queensland, the Quicksilver Pro Surf Tourney, triathlon training and tidbits, winery tour in Hunter Valley, the Bridge Climb, and lastly what it's like have four of lovely guests staying with you in a one bedroom apartment. As you can see we have heaps and heaps of things to get through. So I will be back soon with a full update of each of these events for your enjoyment.

Until next time (hopefully by Friday)!

Happy St. Paddy's everyone :)

Footy Footy Futsal

I have some bad news in the sporting world to report.

The indoor soccer team...correction...futsal team I have been playing on since November made it all the way to the finals. At the holiday break we stood at the top of the Futsal league with no loses on our record, and only a couple tie games -- we were set to take the season title. After a few grueling weeks of playoffs, today, Monday Feb. 23rd was the championship game.

The final match kicked off at noon - we took off with an early lead with a quick goal in the first five minutes and went into the second half with a lead. And sadly we fell a bit short....the only game all season we lost - the final score was 3 to 1, the team we lost to we had tied in the regular season match.  The team decided that Chris and I will need to come back for next season in order to make a good run for the playoffs again.

Here is a shot of the team during happier times, our semi-final win last week.

From left to right - Dan, Grant, Giles, Spinos (aka Iceman), Holman, Marcus, Natalie, Me, Mel and Laura. The PGI Eddies.

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.