Surfs Up!

It has been a week-long celebration of everyone's favorite Aussie - Belinda Thackray - so Thursday kicked things off when I was lucky enough to be invited to the Thackray family birthday dinner. I was really looking forward to seeing Bel's parents again so we started the night off with snacks and drinks at their house. I absolutely LOVE Bel's parents. It's so cute - her mom calls me "Pet" - it's adorable. "Would you like some more wine Pet?", "Are you warm enough Pet?". It kind of reminds me of Wallace and Gromit for some reason. Is that weird? We then headed to this great little Thai restaurant for a delicious feast. Most of the restaurants here are BYOB so Bel's dad brought some tasty wines along with one of my new favorites - sparkling shiraz. It's pretty tasty. I also got to meet Bel's Grandmother who is 92 and as bright as you or me. She was a real treat and wished me well on my stay here.

Bel's actual birthday was on Friday. After work we all headed to the Blah Blah Bar for some "drinkies" as Bel would say! This is a great little bar about 3 blocks from our office. Again, not sure if I could back there by myself but I actually did end up back there again before the weekend was over! That was a great night. I got to meet a few more of Bel's friends and family. You'll probably start hearing some names over and over so I'll point them out to you! On the left (from left to right) is Melinda, Dennis and Bel and over on the right is Bel and Mark. Dennis, Bel and Mark have been friends since they were about 15 years old! These guys are super nice and hopefully I'll be hanging out with them quite a bit. Actually, by the end of the night Dennis was nice enough to let me in on some plans for Saturday evening - there was a HUGE rugby match on - Australia vs. New Zealand - which is one of the biggest rivalries going. So Friday was a big success - good times.

On Saturday I woke up at a decent time and decided to go for a run. As I was running along the beach I decided to do a little investigating on this idea I've been toying with. I really wanted to take some surfing lessons while I was here even though it's the middle of winter. Who cares!!! Everyone else is still out there, surfing everyday so I figured I could handle it! I stopped into a surf school to check out the dates and times and before I knew it, I was signed up for a class that afternoon. It worked out perfectly, the sun was out, it was decently warm and the waves weren't out of control. I have to say, after you finally manage to get the thing on, wetsuits are pretty amazing! I couldn't believe how warm those things keep you. So, the four other students and I toted our 300 pound practice boards down to the calmest part of the beach. The practice boards are HUGE and made of this dense foam stuff. It was like hauling a dead body down the beach - so heavy! We had a quick lesson in paddling and standing up on the board on the beach and then we were off in the water. The instructor would hold the back of your board while you laid down and basically just give you a good push right as the wave approached. Then you paddled like mad and hoped you caught the wave! I managed to get up three times including my very first try. I was pretty excited! I also ate it many a time and was massacred a few times by oncoming waves. I had no idea how hard it was just to paddle out there! I definitely need to work on the upper body strength. I made the decision to go back a few more times and hone my skills before I leave. And yes, today my entire body is aching!

Later that night, I met up with Mark, Dennis and one of their friends at The Oaks which is this amazing bar in Neutral Bay (the other place I almost moved to). It is a huge converted hotel. A lot of the old sleeping rooms have been converted to private pool rooms and there were huge lounge areas everywhere. Everyone and their mom was there to watch the games. We managed to find a room with heat and a television so I got yet another lesson on rugby. I am starting understand however there are about 3 different versions of rugby going on at the same time -all with different field shapes, scoring and rules. Dennis is keeping me on my toes by constantly quizzing me on the rules and scoring. He says I'll have a written exam before I leave! Besides the 2 different types of rugby going on that night - Australia was also playing Japan in soccer so it was a sports bonanza! After watching the main rugby match, we decided to change locations and low and behold - ended back at the Blah Blah Bar! We watched most of the soccer match there before finally calling it a night.

Sunday has been a catch-up day. I ran first thing in the morning and then came back to "chore time". I cleaned the apartment, did the laundry and now have to pack for Melbourne! I am really looking forward to my first Aussie program. It's a newspaper which I am not that familiar with so it should be interesting. And then my first chance at dancing in Oz on Thursday! I can't wait!

That's all for now.
Cheers!
B.