Underwater What?!

As a continuation of the road trip update, here's my chance to inform the world (or the small sliver of it that reads this blog) about the wonders of underwater hockey. We went to the Gold Coast in Queensland for the NSW Blue Rings Junior Underwater Hockey team to compete in the national championships. Before I came to Oz, I received an email from the PT I'm working with asking if I wanted to come to the championships. I told a lot of friends and family about it and laughed and made fun of Australians for it for weeks. Well, turns out the joke was on me because Americans play it as well, and practically no one in Australia has heard of it either. It was invented in the 1950s by the British Army and is sometimes known as "octopush." There are 2 teams playing with snorkels, masks and flippers on the bottom of the pool. Each player has a stick that's about 12 inches long, and the puck is weighted and slightly heavier than a hockey puck. There are buzzers that sound underwater whenever someone scores or gets a penalty. You can watch from outside the pool, but it's kind of difficult to tell what is going on. The best way to watch is to put on a mask and snorkel and get in the pool to watch underwater. I have never snorkeled before. This small tidbit of information was almost enough to make our team's coach have a heart attack, aneurysm, etc. They were all in total disbelief and thought I was kidding (most everyone here is excellent at swimming and snorkeling). After a quick lesson, during which I thought they were lying to me (I made sure I saw one of the guys spit into his mask before doing it myself), I was in the pool taking in large quantities of water. After a minute or two I figured it out and really enjoyed it! It's quite fun to watch underwater hockey, the game itself is not that different from regular hockey. The kids on the team are excellent swimmers and in really great shape. The sport is really demanding physically, so it's great to see them involved and enjoying it so much. In Tasmania, underwater hockey is played in the schools, so their teams are quite good. Our team ended up coming in 4th place. They weren't expected to make it to nationals, so they were quite happy with that. And now for a quick photo recap:

The team, including physios and coaches. They are kind of like the Bad News Bears.
The start of the game:
Half time:
"Working"
All suited up and ready to play!

Road Trip

Last Saturday we left Sydney to go up to the Gold Coast in Queensland for the National Underwater Hockey Championships (more about that later). We drove up to Harrington (another town in New South Wales) on Saturday, spent the night there, and then made the rest of the trip up to the Gold Coast on Sunday. Spending 12 hours in a van with the eight 16 to 20 year olds on the team was a real treat, let me tell you. Luckily the scenery was beautiful and there were a few fun stops along the way.
This is in Harrington, a small beach town about 4 or 5 hours north of Sydney.


Crowdy Head lighthouse, established in 1878.


A beach in Crowdy Head, near Harrington. This beach was incredible, there were dolphins swimming in the water and we were the only people there.


On Sunday I made a request to stop in Coffs Harbour, which is still in NSW (the states are enormous here). There was an incredibly important tourist landmark I was desperate to see: the big banana. There are tons of big, artificial things in Australia. It's the most bizarre concept, but it's amazing how well it works. There were so many people at the big banana, all buying banana merchandise in the gift shop and eating at the cafe and ice cream stand. There's also a small amusement park there with slides and a luge (without ice, of course). I can't decide what's more ridiculous: the fact that someone thought of this, or that people go to things like this! We also drove by the giant prawn, which was missing an eye. I suggested stopping there as well, but sadly I was denied the pleasure of a photo with the giant prawn.
I highly suggest you check out this website for more information on the big things.

Taronga Park Zoo

A few weeks ago we went to Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney. The zoo has a wide variety of animals. I'm pleased to announce I saw koalas for the first time! It is situated on the harbor opposite the Opera House and has beautiful views. If you've ever seen the movie Finding Nemo, the zoo is where the dentist's office would be located if it existed. Here are a few highlights:

Surf's Up!

We went for our first surfing lesson last week. It was cold and a little rainy, but we decided to go anyways since we knew we'd be wearing wetsuits. It was challenging but so much fun. We learned about the rips and waves and went through the process of getting up on the board on the sand first. Then we went in the water to have a go at it. We were in the water for about 1.5 hours, and were so exhausted by the end. The first time I got up I rode the wave to the shore, which was awesome. The instructors could tell that I snowboard. I thought that would help me a lot, but surfing is so different from snowboarding. Once you're in the water, the only way to take a break is to get out; otherwise, you are constantly fighting against the waves and getting hit by them. I've never drank so much salt water in my life! Here we are before the lesson:

We went back over the weekend to watch some of the instructors do some tandem surfing, and so we could try it too. They do a lot of lifts and tricks while on the board, it was really cool to watch them. I went out for a bit with one of the guys. We practiced the lifts on the sand and then went in the water to try them. It's so much fun to have someone lift you in the air while you're in the water and on a surfboard! My tandem surfing debut:

He Just Smiled and Gave Me a Vegemite Sandwich

I've decided that when it comes to condiments, Aussies have got it all wrong.

I had my first Vegemite experience the other day. Nick, my clinical instructor, loves it and said I had to try it. He made me a sandwich with Vegemite, butter, and bread. It was really salty and unlike anything else I've ever tasted. Vegemite was first created in 1922 and is a spread made from brewer's yeast. Aussies love it. They eat it at all times of day, either as its own sandwich or as a spread on a typical sandwich. Everyone says its an acquired taste. I'm not so sure I'll ever get to that point.

Let me continue on to Aussie condiment faux pas number two. They barely use ketchup! How can you eat fish and chips without ketchup?! They dip not only their fish, but also their chips, in tartar sauce. That is just wrong. The other day I bought salt and pepper squid and chips and I had to ask for ketchup because I didn't see it out anywhere. I actually had to pay 40 cents for a tiny packet of it! It was a mere hint of what a ketchup experience should be.

I was starting to think all was lost until I went to the grocery store the other day. I was walking down the aisles and stopped dead in my tracks as I laid my eyes on the most glorious thing I've ever seen...a 12 pack of single serving size Nutella. It's completely genius and gives me hope that someday Aussies will finally get the condiment thing right.

Manly

Yesterday I went to Manly Beach with Nina and Berit.  They are both from Norway and go to school at Fontys in Holland.  Nina is working at the same clinic as I am, and Berit is working at another PT clinic in Sydney.

Manly is a beach on the north shore of Sydney.  It spans about 1.25 miles.  It's really popular.  A lot of people call it the Bondi Beach of the north shore (Bondi is on the south side of the harbor and is the most well-known of the Sydney beaches).

When we were there it was really windy and the rips were quite strong.  They ended up closing the beach for swimming and surfing because the rips were really dangerous.  I was telling Elke and Nick (the family I'm staying with) about it.  They said it's rare for that to happen, and if it does it's usually during the winter.  The wind was whipping sand around, but we decided to stay for a few hours because it's so beautiful there, and otherwise it's a great beach.

Manly Wharf:

Manly Beach: 

Aussie Wildlife

I'm staying in Hornsby, which is about 30 minutes north of Sydney.  I'm really glad I decided to live outside the city.  I've seen a lot of birds and other wildlife that I wouldn't see in the city.

Here's Wally.  He's a wallaby who lives in the backyard.  Actually, we think there are a few of them that come around.  You can here them bouncing around, usually around dawn.  Wally likes fruit.  He was eating a plum when I took this picture.

This little guy is a brushtailed possum.  The people I am staying with (Elke & Nick) have a possum house in the yard, so he lives in there and typically comes out only when it's dark.  He jumps from his house up onto the roof, and from the roof down onto the deck to look for food.  We fed him a plum and some carrots.  We didn't want to turn on the light and scare him away, so we used a flashlight so I could get a picture.  They said on the nights they don't leave food out, they can hear him scratching on the glass door on the deck.

This is a sulfur-crested cockatoo.  These things are everywhere here.  They are really loud.  They like to hang out in this enormous tree in the backyard and fight and scream, especially in the morning...lovely way to wake up!  They make a huge mess, so Elke only puts bird seed out during the day.  They can make the yellow feathers stand up, which I often see when they fly or land.

And here we have the rainbow lorikeets (thanks Trudy!).  There are a lot of these as well, though they are much quieter than the cockatoos.  These two are always together.  I love watching them, their colors are really vibrant and pretty.

Flying and Arriving

I flew from JFK to LAX, which took about 4 or 5 hours.  Then from LAX it was on to Kingsford Smith in Sydney.  That leg of the flight took another 14 hours.  Luckily everyone gets a tv, so I was able to watch movies, tv shows, and play games throughout the flight.  Here's my first view of Australia.

Sydney from the air:

This is my new backyard.  There's a few palm trees and a lot of gum trees.  Aussies call this 'bush.'  It's really pretty and there's a lot of wildlife living in the yard.

Greetings from Aussie!

Hello everyone.  Happy New Year!  I arrived in Australia last Monday, December 29th.  I decided to start a blog so I can keep in touch with everyone, plus share some photos and videos.  I'll try to post anytime something exciting happens, so keep checking back!