Sunday, July 24, 2005
Toowoomba
After a very fun and late Friday night out in Brisbane, I slept on the back seat of the car to Toowoomba (1 1/2 hours drive from Brisbane) where we're visitnig Todd's folks. Saturday was pretty much a write-off (I did manage to lose Scrabble badly) and I couldn't even stay awake to watch the SA Aus kick-off, but we taped the game and watched it jubilantly this morning before our mid-morning tee-off time. I wasn't allowed to play with the men yesterday in the Saturday competition (blessing in disguise!) so they arranged a Sunday game too so that I could have a last round with my Dad for a year or so. The weather and the birds came out to play and it was a very pleasant day outside. South Africa beat Australia by 1 point, adding to their sorrowful rugby loss (although they don't really care cos they're mostly into rugby league!). We're heading back to Brisbane tomorrow and will visit the Lone Pine Koala sanctuary where they have kangaroos too (we still haven't seen any). After that it's big-time job searching for me!
Stradbroke Island
The Dermans spent 2 utterly relaxing and lazy nights on Straddie Island, inside a top floor apartment while the sea and wind stormed outside. 
We were hoping to spot a few whales but I think they stayed far away from the choppy seas.
We were hoping to spot a few whales but I think they stayed far away from the choppy seas.
Jobless!!
I forgot to add this when I was last online... but the polo place phoned me to say that they'd found another girl with lots of polo experience so they don't need me anymore! :( Very bleak, and starting to get slightly stressed and confused about what I should be doing. I'm kinda hoping something's gonna jump out and hit me in the face, but realistically I think I need to spend some time this week doing lots of admin. The folks leave early on Wed, and Anna goes back to work, so it's going to be very different to the last 3 weeks of family holidaying and traveling! Please hold thumbs for me, and if anyone has any kind of horse connections in Queensland, please tell them they need to emply me!
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
I could live in Bondi!
Todd, Anna and I spent Sunday night at a friend's house in Bondi, Sydney. Wow what an awesome spot! I can't wait to return in the summer so that I can park myself on the beach for a week solid.
That night I met up with a kiwi guy I met at the U2 concert in Twickenham (Al), and an aussie girl I met in Ireland on the Paddywagon tour (Nics). Al had a few mates there who had all entered the pool competition, so Nics and I decided to give it a bash too. Lucky me got a first round bye, and Nics was up against a walking tatoo, who she somehow managed to clean up much to her fan-club's delight! I met one of the guys in the 3rd round and reluctantly had to knock him out. Then suddenly I was in the semis and knocked myself out by sinking his red ball whilst going for the black (funny NSW rules, also no 2-shot rule). He went on to win it... but I still played for 3rd and 4th and managed to sink the white after sinking the black, but my opponent refused to take the win because he felt I had thrashed him, so I took it and ran! I must thank my support team and especially my coach Shane who was specially flown in from Auckland for the evening. Jokes, he is one of Al's mates, but a genius at telling you what shot to play!
Monday morning we walked along the coast to Bronte and had breakfast there. We spent the day wandering and shopping in Sydney, plus had lunch at the revolving restaurant at the top of the Sydney tower. As luck would have it, the digital camera decided to pack up at the most scenic spot with the most magnificent views over the whole city!
That night I met up with a kiwi guy I met at the U2 concert in Twickenham (Al), and an aussie girl I met in Ireland on the Paddywagon tour (Nics). Al had a few mates there who had all entered the pool competition, so Nics and I decided to give it a bash too. Lucky me got a first round bye, and Nics was up against a walking tatoo, who she somehow managed to clean up much to her fan-club's delight! I met one of the guys in the 3rd round and reluctantly had to knock him out. Then suddenly I was in the semis and knocked myself out by sinking his red ball whilst going for the black (funny NSW rules, also no 2-shot rule). He went on to win it... but I still played for 3rd and 4th and managed to sink the white after sinking the black, but my opponent refused to take the win because he felt I had thrashed him, so I took it and ran! I must thank my support team and especially my coach Shane who was specially flown in from Auckland for the evening. Jokes, he is one of Al's mates, but a genius at telling you what shot to play!
Monday morning we walked along the coast to Bronte and had breakfast there. We spent the day wandering and shopping in Sydney, plus had lunch at the revolving restaurant at the top of the Sydney tower. As luck would have it, the digital camera decided to pack up at the most scenic spot with the most magnificent views over the whole city!
Wine, more wine and Australia's longest par 5!
The Dermans and the Millers all headed off to the Hunter Valley for a weekend of wine-tasting and golf. We flew into Sydney, jumped into our hired people-carrier and drove north to the Cypress Lakes Resort.
Saturday's golf was cold and windy but also great fun as we zoomed around in our buggies and merged into a 6-ball for about half of the holes.
Being the big hitter that I am, I managed to bogey the longest par 5 (as opposed to double-bogeying it like a lot of the others...).
That afternoon and the following morning were spent wine-tasting. After trying all the reds and deciding I didn't really like them, I tried a white which was lovely and found out that the region was much more famous for its white wines...
Saturday's golf was cold and windy but also great fun as we zoomed around in our buggies and merged into a 6-ball for about half of the holes. 
Being the big hitter that I am, I managed to bogey the longest par 5 (as opposed to double-bogeying it like a lot of the others...).
That afternoon and the following morning were spent wine-tasting. After trying all the reds and deciding I didn't really like them, I tried a white which was lovely and found out that the region was much more famous for its white wines...
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Bush and sea
All I can say is thank goodness I packed my beenie, gloves and neck warmer! Binna Burra Lodge is in the Lamington National Park, SW of the Gold Coast and about 1 1/2 hours south of Brisbane. It is 770m above sea level, hence the icy temperatures!.
We managed to do a few walks and activities to keep us warm and out of trouble - my Dad and I even tried the Flying Fox, a 165m long cable which you fly down in a harness and helmet. We also heard/saw about 3 million different birds, plus we spotted a family of mini kanagroos (I think they have a proper name which I don't know yet) chilling in the forest..
The following day we checked out and drove for half an hour to the polo farm where I will be working for 4 months (assuming the 2 week trial is sucessful). It is literally in the middle of nowhere!
I decided I'm either going to go mad from lack of entertainment, or I'm going to enjoy it so much that I won't want to leave! I start at the end of July, working with another groom for a guy called Michael King who owns the whole place - the two of us look after all his horses so that he can play polo! In the mornings we feed, groom, clean etc and then in the afternoon we exercise them by cantering along on one horse while leading 2,3 or 4 others. The cool part is that there are 4 tournaments lasting about 2 weeks each, so we get to see a bit of NSW, including Melbourne for the November Melbourne Cup!
45 mins later in the car, and we hit the Gold Coast. What an awesome stretch of coast - white sandy beaches for miles, flanked by skyscraping apartment blocks. I had my first swim in the Pacific and am happy to say that it's far warmer than Clifton, and a bath compared to North Devon!!
On our way home I got a call from a guy from Manchester that I met on the plane - he's living in Toowoomba and working for the Queensland Rugby League board, so came and picked me up to go to my first rugby league game! It was the students World Cup so the footie was great to watch but the eye candy was soooooooooo much more worth it! Yummy young, fit boys in tight clothes!!
We managed to do a few walks and activities to keep us warm and out of trouble - my Dad and I even tried the Flying Fox, a 165m long cable which you fly down in a harness and helmet. We also heard/saw about 3 million different birds, plus we spotted a family of mini kanagroos (I think they have a proper name which I don't know yet) chilling in the forest..
The following day we checked out and drove for half an hour to the polo farm where I will be working for 4 months (assuming the 2 week trial is sucessful). It is literally in the middle of nowhere!
I decided I'm either going to go mad from lack of entertainment, or I'm going to enjoy it so much that I won't want to leave! I start at the end of July, working with another groom for a guy called Michael King who owns the whole place - the two of us look after all his horses so that he can play polo! In the mornings we feed, groom, clean etc and then in the afternoon we exercise them by cantering along on one horse while leading 2,3 or 4 others. The cool part is that there are 4 tournaments lasting about 2 weeks each, so we get to see a bit of NSW, including Melbourne for the November Melbourne Cup!45 mins later in the car, and we hit the Gold Coast. What an awesome stretch of coast - white sandy beaches for miles, flanked by skyscraping apartment blocks. I had my first swim in the Pacific and am happy to say that it's far warmer than Clifton, and a bath compared to North Devon!!
On our way home I got a call from a guy from Manchester that I met on the plane - he's living in Toowoomba and working for the Queensland Rugby League board, so came and picked me up to go to my first rugby league game! It was the students World Cup so the footie was great to watch but the eye candy was soooooooooo much more worth it! Yummy young, fit boys in tight clothes!!
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