As a little bit of a break from packing, I thought I'd just say a quick hello before I head off to Fiji tomorrow!
I sent off a good 25 kilograms worth of stuff back home this morning which should arrive in about 12 weeks, give or take! I think I might actually have spare room in my pack when I've finished! I'll let you all know!
So, this time tomorrow I'll be midway over the Pacific Ocean (easily the best ocean I've been in!) on my way to Nadi in Fiji. For those that are interested I am staying at the Seashell @ Momi resort where I plan to do lots of surfing, lounging on the beach and that kind of thing. Expect some awesome pictures.
From there I head off to Hawaii on 9th July, and, interestingly, I arrive a whole day before I leave... A lot more surfing and a trip up to the volcano will then follow. After that I head to LA for an overnight stop before landing back in the UK, a year to the day since I left, at Heathrow Terminal 5 at 11.45 local time. Goodness knows what time I'll think it is.
Whilst it is still a tad premature to reminisce and all, it has been a truly incredible year so far, one I am sure will only get better! I have so many amazing memories and have met some great people (two or three of which I'll probably be at Uni with!). Thanks to everyone back home for putting up with my lack of communication and what not, not long 'til I'm home now and I am looking forward to seeing everyone.
For the last time in Oz, cheers and G'day. xxx
Monday, June 28, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
There was no appropriate title for this; I tried about three before I settled on this.
The three week mark has now passed. That is until I leave Australia, there is another two after that. I spent this week at Finniss, the school's outdoor education centre, on Year 8 camp. I had a pretty torrid time of it and I am now very thankful for the (very) long weekend we have off at the moment!
Today will be spent not doing an awful lot, besides some indoor soccer this evening and, of course, the start of the World Cup which I am most excited about! Tomorrow, after coming on in the second half last weekend (and, I might add, scoring a conversion) I am benching for the Second Grade against the Barossa Rams, which I am really looking forward to. There is loads of rugby on this weekend too. Speaking of which, I might be heading over to Sydney next weekend to watch England take on Australia! What a way to finish my time in Oz!
On Sunday I might be heading down to the coast for a spot of bodyboarding, but I am waiting on confirmation of that. Then, on Monday, I would imagine I won't do very much at all!
Whilst I was away the 1st XV here lost to PAC, who I may have mentioned before as being the huge rivals. Suffice to say I am not too happy. Doubly so because they're off to Melbourne on a tour this weekend...
Anyway, I don't really have too much to add. My last few weeks in Australia will be spent playing rugby, going to the St. Peter's bakehouse as much as I can and trying to save some money for my trip off to Fiji, Hawaii, and now, LA. If anyone has any suggestions for what I can do, let me know. Also, if you're really bored, you can now "follow" me on Twitter! (twitter.com/peterjskinner)
Today will be spent not doing an awful lot, besides some indoor soccer this evening and, of course, the start of the World Cup which I am most excited about! Tomorrow, after coming on in the second half last weekend (and, I might add, scoring a conversion) I am benching for the Second Grade against the Barossa Rams, which I am really looking forward to. There is loads of rugby on this weekend too. Speaking of which, I might be heading over to Sydney next weekend to watch England take on Australia! What a way to finish my time in Oz!
On Sunday I might be heading down to the coast for a spot of bodyboarding, but I am waiting on confirmation of that. Then, on Monday, I would imagine I won't do very much at all!
Whilst I was away the 1st XV here lost to PAC, who I may have mentioned before as being the huge rivals. Suffice to say I am not too happy. Doubly so because they're off to Melbourne on a tour this weekend...
Anyway, I don't really have too much to add. My last few weeks in Australia will be spent playing rugby, going to the St. Peter's bakehouse as much as I can and trying to save some money for my trip off to Fiji, Hawaii, and now, LA. If anyone has any suggestions for what I can do, let me know. Also, if you're really bored, you can now "follow" me on Twitter! (twitter.com/peterjskinner)
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Shoulders, Shenanigans and Sh... what else begins with Sh-? Alliteration is hard.
So, only about eight weeks until I land back in the UK! I realised as I was watching the Antiques Roadshow (on every afternoon on Channel Nine here), that I could simply type stuff on Microsoft Word and copy and paste it with my five or ten minute quota time on the blog. Speaking of which, sorry for the lack of hyperlinks detailing what I’m on about; the filtering means it is a simpler version of the blog site and I have to encode them in HTML format which I have no real idea how to do!
Hopefully mu shoulder will have fully recovered by the time I get home. For those that don’t know, I’ve slightly torn the AC joint playing rugby. This is not too bad; a full tear would have put me out for a good six weeks meaning I wouldn’t get another game in Oz. As it happens I’m having physio and treatment and should be back in a couple more weeks. Still, it is really frustrating, especially never having been injured before, but I guess it had to happen some time. The most frustrating part is watching and losing fitness, especially after such a good pre-season and start to the season. Such is life.
The school’s First XV is going well, we recorded our second win of the season yesterday, though they worked rather harder for it than they needed – after scoring first we then had 15 unanswered points scored against and left ‘til the last fifteen minutes to do anything about it! We clung on for a good 19-15 win though. Real test next week when we take on Pembroke, the team with all the ex-pats and foreign coaches; definitely the team to beat.
What else is new? I’ve picked up even more work now in the last few weeks before mid-term exams tutoring and scribing for a few boys in the run up as they prove too much to handle for teacher’s trying to get people ready before these tests! My laptop is really on its last legs, having been infected by the school internet and now they refuse to do anything about it claiming it’s not their fault and recommending outside help, which seeing as I am trying to save is not ideal. (Sorry Mum and Dad, probably not the best place to announce it…). Aside from that I am trying to keep myself out of trouble, and like I say, trying to save for my little trip home. I’ve been in touch with the travel agents and there’s no need to worry about ash clouds, apparently they’re flying round them now… I’ll let you know how that goes!
I best sign off and get to ready to head to the club for some fitness and ultrasound treatment (don’t worry, I’m not pregnant, the sound waves help promote healing in the shoulder). Hope everyone is well back home. Cheers for following my blog so closely!
Pj xx
Hopefully mu shoulder will have fully recovered by the time I get home. For those that don’t know, I’ve slightly torn the AC joint playing rugby. This is not too bad; a full tear would have put me out for a good six weeks meaning I wouldn’t get another game in Oz. As it happens I’m having physio and treatment and should be back in a couple more weeks. Still, it is really frustrating, especially never having been injured before, but I guess it had to happen some time. The most frustrating part is watching and losing fitness, especially after such a good pre-season and start to the season. Such is life.
The school’s First XV is going well, we recorded our second win of the season yesterday, though they worked rather harder for it than they needed – after scoring first we then had 15 unanswered points scored against and left ‘til the last fifteen minutes to do anything about it! We clung on for a good 19-15 win though. Real test next week when we take on Pembroke, the team with all the ex-pats and foreign coaches; definitely the team to beat.
What else is new? I’ve picked up even more work now in the last few weeks before mid-term exams tutoring and scribing for a few boys in the run up as they prove too much to handle for teacher’s trying to get people ready before these tests! My laptop is really on its last legs, having been infected by the school internet and now they refuse to do anything about it claiming it’s not their fault and recommending outside help, which seeing as I am trying to save is not ideal. (Sorry Mum and Dad, probably not the best place to announce it…). Aside from that I am trying to keep myself out of trouble, and like I say, trying to save for my little trip home. I’ve been in touch with the travel agents and there’s no need to worry about ash clouds, apparently they’re flying round them now… I’ll let you know how that goes!
I best sign off and get to ready to head to the club for some fitness and ultrasound treatment (don’t worry, I’m not pregnant, the sound waves help promote healing in the shoulder). Hope everyone is well back home. Cheers for following my blog so closely!
Pj xx
Is Goldilocks a juvenile delinquent?
Sorry there's been no news for a while! I did have something typed up and ready to post but the school have made it nearly impossible to get on here and write because they've imposed a quota time.
All is well down under though; mostly the usual day to day thing whilst trying to get ready to come home.
Until I get chance to sort something out and type something properly, here is a little something I had a bit of fun with the other day in class. One of the boys I help is in Year 8 and as such learning to write essays properly. So, Mr. Hopewell set them this as their question given that they all know the story.
I hope you like it!
"Is Goldilocks a juvenile delinquent?
The age old fable “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” has long been regaled to youngsters but it does raise questions of morality. As such, its relevance and benefit as a fable are thrown into question. On the one hand, Goldilocks is a simply an innocent young girl who stumbled across an empty house with some delicious porridge on the table and a comfy bed in the bedroom. However, on the other hand, her actions show an inexcusable disregard for the law and set her, like many of today’s youth, on a slippery slope towards more serious crime.
The beginning of the story sees Goldilocks come across the Bears’ unlocked front door and curiosity get the better of her, which culminates in her trying all three of the bear’s porridges. Many have argued that this constitutes “breaking and entering” and therefore she is in clear breach of the law. Whilst her actions are probably questionable, it is an over-exaggeration to label them as illegal. The door was unlocked and being a curious young girl, her intrigued mind simply got the better of her. On the contrary, Goldilocks has undoubtedly trespassed on another’s property. What possessed her to do this we are not told, however, the fact she was left to her own devices in a forest first thing in the morning highlights an abject failure on behalf of her parents. This therefore gives some credence to Goldilocks’ case: how can she be expected to know the moral repercussions of this when she is quite clearly a product of what David Cameron, the British Prime Minister calls “a broken society”? Surely Goldilocks is not at fault for simply being a product of her society?
Goldilocks’ subsequent actions; breaking Baby Bear’s chair and falling asleep in his bed – the two that were “just right” – do seem to show a lack of respect for other people’s property, something society dictates as wrong. However, as we have seen, Goldilocks, being a young girl is unlikely to have much of an understanding as to the demands of society, she was simply interested in finding the bed that was most comfortable. As such, it is fair to argue that Goldilocks’ actions are not those of a juvenile delinquent, simply those of an innocent and curious young girl. Moreover, who can blame Goldilocks for falling temptation to what is obviously the house of a loving and caring family? The comfort of her surroundings is indicated by the fact she actually fell asleep in Baby Bear’s bed. Can we honestly assume a juvenile delinquent would be relaxed enough to do this? I would attest that this behaviour would be highly unlikely from someone who had broken and entered and whose actions were calculated. Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume that a juvenile delinquent’s actions, and reasons for entering, would be somewhat more malicious. The naivety of Goldilocks’ actions highlight they are simply those of an intrigued and curious young girl.
However we look at this story, whether with harsh cynical eyes, or with a liberal forgiving outlook, there is undoubtedly evidence that Goldilocks was in the wrong. Where the disagreement lies is in the extent of this wrong doing. We have seen the arguments that defend her actions as those of a naïve youngster with a curious mind on the one hand and the accusations that that argue she is a delinquent with serious issues that will continue to be a burden to society on the other, despite the timeless nature of this story. When we look at this in the context of Goldilocks’ family, who have clearly abandoned her and left her to fend for herself in the forest; her actions are hardly surprising. With such a blatant parenting failure, is it any wonder Goldilocks’ moral compass is somewhat skewed? Many would counter this with the argument that we have an intrinsic sense of right and wrong and Goldilocks’ actions clearly contravened this. Our sympathies, however, must lie with the protagonist. We must allow her the benefit of the doubt; all youngsters make mistakes and Goldilocks is no exception. Wild accusations of “evil” and juvenile delinquency are misplaced and a gross over exaggeration. Whilst she is undoubtedly troubled and needs professional help, her actions were by no means calculated and pre-meditated; they were simply those of a curious and innocent youngster crying, perhaps, for help."
All is well down under though; mostly the usual day to day thing whilst trying to get ready to come home.
Until I get chance to sort something out and type something properly, here is a little something I had a bit of fun with the other day in class. One of the boys I help is in Year 8 and as such learning to write essays properly. So, Mr. Hopewell set them this as their question given that they all know the story.
I hope you like it!
"Is Goldilocks a juvenile delinquent?
The age old fable “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” has long been regaled to youngsters but it does raise questions of morality. As such, its relevance and benefit as a fable are thrown into question. On the one hand, Goldilocks is a simply an innocent young girl who stumbled across an empty house with some delicious porridge on the table and a comfy bed in the bedroom. However, on the other hand, her actions show an inexcusable disregard for the law and set her, like many of today’s youth, on a slippery slope towards more serious crime.
The beginning of the story sees Goldilocks come across the Bears’ unlocked front door and curiosity get the better of her, which culminates in her trying all three of the bear’s porridges. Many have argued that this constitutes “breaking and entering” and therefore she is in clear breach of the law. Whilst her actions are probably questionable, it is an over-exaggeration to label them as illegal. The door was unlocked and being a curious young girl, her intrigued mind simply got the better of her. On the contrary, Goldilocks has undoubtedly trespassed on another’s property. What possessed her to do this we are not told, however, the fact she was left to her own devices in a forest first thing in the morning highlights an abject failure on behalf of her parents. This therefore gives some credence to Goldilocks’ case: how can she be expected to know the moral repercussions of this when she is quite clearly a product of what David Cameron, the British Prime Minister calls “a broken society”? Surely Goldilocks is not at fault for simply being a product of her society?
Goldilocks’ subsequent actions; breaking Baby Bear’s chair and falling asleep in his bed – the two that were “just right” – do seem to show a lack of respect for other people’s property, something society dictates as wrong. However, as we have seen, Goldilocks, being a young girl is unlikely to have much of an understanding as to the demands of society, she was simply interested in finding the bed that was most comfortable. As such, it is fair to argue that Goldilocks’ actions are not those of a juvenile delinquent, simply those of an innocent and curious young girl. Moreover, who can blame Goldilocks for falling temptation to what is obviously the house of a loving and caring family? The comfort of her surroundings is indicated by the fact she actually fell asleep in Baby Bear’s bed. Can we honestly assume a juvenile delinquent would be relaxed enough to do this? I would attest that this behaviour would be highly unlikely from someone who had broken and entered and whose actions were calculated. Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume that a juvenile delinquent’s actions, and reasons for entering, would be somewhat more malicious. The naivety of Goldilocks’ actions highlight they are simply those of an intrigued and curious young girl.
However we look at this story, whether with harsh cynical eyes, or with a liberal forgiving outlook, there is undoubtedly evidence that Goldilocks was in the wrong. Where the disagreement lies is in the extent of this wrong doing. We have seen the arguments that defend her actions as those of a naïve youngster with a curious mind on the one hand and the accusations that that argue she is a delinquent with serious issues that will continue to be a burden to society on the other, despite the timeless nature of this story. When we look at this in the context of Goldilocks’ family, who have clearly abandoned her and left her to fend for herself in the forest; her actions are hardly surprising. With such a blatant parenting failure, is it any wonder Goldilocks’ moral compass is somewhat skewed? Many would counter this with the argument that we have an intrinsic sense of right and wrong and Goldilocks’ actions clearly contravened this. Our sympathies, however, must lie with the protagonist. We must allow her the benefit of the doubt; all youngsters make mistakes and Goldilocks is no exception. Wild accusations of “evil” and juvenile delinquency are misplaced and a gross over exaggeration. Whilst she is undoubtedly troubled and needs professional help, her actions were by no means calculated and pre-meditated; they were simply those of a curious and innocent youngster crying, perhaps, for help."
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Beginning of the end...
An ominous sounding title, I know, but given how quickly the first three terms have flown by, appropriate nonetheless!
My Easter holidays improved markedly in the last weekend; I had a good surf down at Middleton on Friday and again on Monday. The one on Monday was followed by the greatest pie of all time: a cheese, chilli and mince one. And a superb custard tart. In between I had a superb brunch on Sunday morning up in the hills at the Stirling Hotel and came home via Mount Lofty with some superb views over the city.
I've emailed my application to vote by proxy home so hopefully I can bypass all this volcanic nonsense and get it in on time. I've been keeping track on things from afar (remarkably little coverage over here) and it looks really interesting, shame I couldn't be home for it really!
We had the first school rugby session of the term today. Lots of work to be done, but I am really excited to be helping out with the First XV and doing some more coaching; this is definitely something I'll be pursuing when I get home. Unfortunately I won't be able to go on the tour to Melbourne on the final weekend of the term; the teacher's get first priority!
We have community day this Saturday. I can't remember if I've mentioned this before but basically it's all the house sports and a big barbecue and school get together. I have a fairly busy weekend ahead; I'm refereeing some football in the morning, then got a rugby game, back to the boarding house then I'm on duty on Sunday which will involve getting up at the crack of sparrows for the dawn service for ANZAC Day, which I am actually really looking forward to. Speaking of which, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hank's latest collaboration, "The Pacific", is showing in Australia at the moment. It is in a similar vein to "Band of Brothers" and is really superb.
That's all for now, there's not too much to report since my last blog. I hope these more frequent updates are assuaging for the lack of contact earlier this month!
Till next time, cheers.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Easter Holidays
Hello All,
Once again apologies for what has been far too long since the last blog. I don't really have a good excuse. All that needs to be said is I got stuck in a bit of a rut doing nothing the last couple of weeks and the blog, like a lot else, has suffered. So apologies to you all.
There hasn't been a lot happening though. The rugby pre-season competition has kicked off and my club, Old Collegians, has two teams in. Unfortunately the seconds got thumped last week and so we're in the plate competition. We play Port Adelaide this week, and after a solid performance last week and working my socks off at training tonight I should be starting (I think) on Saturday. Despite toying with a switch to hooking, I am still playing breakaway up at the Senior level. Sorry, slipped in to Aussie speak there, that's flanker.
The holidays have been pretty quiet, aside from a trip to the Cathedral on Easter Day, a little trip up to Pine Point (a tiny town on the Yorke Peninsula) for a night just to have a chilled day with friends and what is now shaping up to be a pretty good weekend, heading down to do some surfing tomorrow and Monday, with a nice lunch up in the hills on Sunday.
I have been a bit of a plonker recently, and I apologise to everyone for this; things have been pretty hard after eight months and I am looking forward to seeing everyone again. Having said this, I am conscious not to wish the time away and I think as a result have actually ended winding myself up a bit... Short story: sorry to everyone for a lack of contact, being a Juan Pablo and, to use an Australian-ism, generally being a bit of a bad bloke. I will try hard to make this up to everyone in the next few days.
Cheers.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Footy!
The footy season is well and truly upon us. All forms of the game that use the wondrous thing that is the oval ball have returned. The AFL season begins on Thursday, there is a local seven's competition this weekend and the pre-season cup starts the weekend after Easter, hopefully.
Whilst the cricket season isn't entirely over (the longest running continuous cricket match in the world starts this weekend; unlike Eton and Harrow (don't click on those please, they are ridiculously pompous and annoying websites), Saints and PAC didn't stop for the war (which in my opinion actually doesn't make it something to boast about...)), my boys have a tough job to do against the old enemy this weekend having been set 209 to achieve in 45 overs, and following the epic rugby seven's this weekend, I really have decided that rugby is easily the best game in the world. And that is actually a fact.
The Seven's truly was awesome, Samoa won in a shock final against the USA on Sunday. I took some boys from the boarding house that day and it was awesome; we sat on the hill and enjoyed a great day of awesome rugby. The day before was my opportunity to exploit the free tickets I had blagged for working with the Aussie team all week and so, with Soltaire adorning my face, Scotland shirt worn proudly and a builder's hat to protect me from the sun, I watched Scotland... lose every game. And even me belting out Swing Low and God Save the Queen when my other country played the Aussies didn't help. What a day though!
Next week I'll be playing in a game of Aussie Rules Football! I'm quite excited, especially as it's against the Saints First XVIII! I'll let you know how it goes, though I reckon I might get penalised for tackling too well. I'm playing for SPOC (St. Peter's Old Collegians) F.C. and it's an Under 21 game, so I know most of the guys playing, so it should be a good laugh. I will take some pictures and get them up!
Then the rugby season starts in earnest at Old Collegians RFC, with the, I am told, "traditional" pre-season pub crawl! Friday nights is when the pre-season competition starts then in May the season proper starts, meaning I get around 6 games before I leave. I will certainly be making the most of them!
So bring on the collective "footy" season!
And apologies for my use of parentheses earlier, I got a bit carried away!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Evanshead, Rum and Queensland
Small town Queensland and New South Wales is very strange. Aside from being absolutely bonkers about footy, though up there this is, of course, Rugby League, it is made up of incredibly small towns where all the inhabitants are very wary of anything remotely strange and foreign. A lot like what I've heard of small town America.
Evanshead and Woodburn was a classic example of this. Arriving in Woodburn I was literally left standing on the only street in the town. There were two bakeries, a pub and a tiny tourist information office. There was one bus to Evanshead a day (11 km away) which I had missed because my Greyhound was late, so after a coffee and a BLT on Focaccia (it's funny what you remember about these trips), I started walking. After what must have been about one and a half kilometres, I was lucky enough to be picked up by a lovely couple who were driving into the town and knew where the Surfshack was. It literally is just a shack. It was, however, one of the best bits of my trip. A week of chilled out body-boarding and even dabbling for a couple of days on a stand up. I enjoyed it so much that I'm looking to buy a malibu (a type of long board) when I get home! There was one pub in Evanshead, with a good restaurant and a couple of Chippies. The people were amazing and I even did some yoga. Absolutely amazing.
After a drive up to Byron Bay with one of the other guys staying there, Ray, I decided that it wasn't the place for me (I had a surf there on the last day, and also went to the eastern most place on the Australian land mass), and so extended my trip by a day. I caught the bus up to Coolangatta at the end of the week, after a chilled out New Year's Eve with John (the owner of the shack), his parents and Alix and Kelly. Good times.
Just a quick word about John Plenkovitch before I move on: he's a big wave surfer and gets up early during cyclone season to go out to reef's about 22 miles offshore and get towed in. Mental.
Another point about Evanshead... I went to Chinaman's beach one day for a surf. It was pretty big and I wish I'd been on my bodyboard, but as it happened I was on a stand up board. What made up for it was the pod of dolphins playing around though. Not only did they catch a wave with me (which I wiped out of!) but they swam so close I could have touched them. Two underneath me and one either side. It was amazing.
So it was up to Cooly and the only hostel in the town! I wish I could have stayed a bit longer here: there was another bodyboarder (from Holland so I knew he was a legend) and a group of awesome American surfers. After an evening surf at Duranbah, a legendary spot on the East Coast (and Mick Fanning and Steph Gilmore's local break), which is actually still in New South Wales (as such you're surfing an hour behind the town you're staying in!), which was ridiculously hard and crowded with some of the best surfers/bodyboarders I have ever seen in my life. It was so good we only got out of the water when we couldn't see anymore.
It was this night I decided to change my trip so I could come home a few days early as I was so tired and weary, and running out of funds!
It was also this night that we checked all the swell and wind directions and found that Kirra, might, just might, be working really early in the morning. Kirra is a famed spot. Famed because you can catch one of the best barrels in the world. But it needs to be just right. As it happened it wasn't. Seeing as we were all up at half six and psyched anyway, we headed back to D'Bah and had one of the best surfs of my life. If only because I could have touched Mick Fanning when he popped up next to me out of the white water. I somehow didn't get barrelled (I think my bottom turn isn't sharp enough) and it was here that I really had my last decent surf of the trip... so my quest continues.
On my last day in Cooly I hung around (and watched the cricket in the pub) waiting for Simon. It had been seven years since I'd seen him last, but I had no problems spotting him: the bloke in uniform was a dead give away!
I had an amazing week in Brisbane: I went to Surfer's Paradise, saw a waterfall and a rain forest and went to Sunset Sounds and saw so many amazing artists. It was awesome!
After a lovely chilled out week, I had about another week to cover about 2,000 kilometres. So I headed up to Noosa in the hope of some more surf, but alas, it was flat. It was awesome though; met some amazing people and had a great time.
The next day I caught a bus up to Bundaberg. The only reason to go up there is for the rum. Or to pick fruit and work. As such it wasn't a great time, but I got by!
I have a horrible feeling I'm repeating myself... but hey. I then caught the overnight bus up to Airlie Beach. This is a backpacker's haven. It's where all the trips leave for the Whitsunday and Fraser Islands and some of the reef trips. But I was out of money and time so just hung out on the beach and read, which was cool.
After a day there it was up to Cairns (on the 12 hour overnight-er) for the last three days of my trip. Cairns is really cool, though unfortunately not physically: I was wet for about three days; it was near enough impossible to get dry. But there were some amazing people and a really chilled hostel with a swimming pool, it's own bar and own "restaurant" that made an awesome bacon sanga! I booked my reef trip, which took the second day in Cairns, on Tusa Dive T5. This was an absolutely amazing experience. I met a really nice South African family and there was free lunch. Even though I "only" went snorkeling it was incredible. I saw Nemo's and Brain coral and eels and all sorts of crazy wildlife and colours. I also saw the effects of coral bleaching and pollution, even at the outer reef. I am so glad I could do this now; in five years the Whitsundays and Fraser Island will still be there, who knows about the reef.
That night was the last night of my trip, and also pool competition night at the pub. So a good time was had by all! Again, I met some amazing people and it was a great finish to possibly the best 37 days of my life.
Once again, a massive thank you to all who helped, sent me positive thoughts over the holidays and to those who have let me go abroad for the year and supported me in what I have wanted to do.
A truly epic trip that I really haven't been able to do justice but I hope this gives people something good to read and makes them want to come to Australia.
I'm going to try and get some photo's up soon. In the meantime, it's time for an Iced Coffee.
Back from camp...
And if I wasn't sure about teaching I am now. Not for me.
The reasons are numerous: teachers aren't paid enough, the rewards (of which there are some) are not worth putting up with homesick boys waking you up every half hour or cleaning up vomit (not something I have done on camp, but something I have had to do twice in the boarding house) and the hours are hideous, in fact you never really stop.
However, major respect to those who are teachers.
Anyway, camp was fairly fun. Apart from the afore-mentioned homesick boy, there was lots of fairly mundane tasks, helping getting food ready, getting boys organised and then joining in (a bit) with the activities, such as raft building and boomerang making.
This week was back to the usual, though I am again running the PE office as Sean (one of my bosses) is away on a conference somewhere. I had my first footy training last night which was awesome. So much so that from now on I am going to be doing one rugby training and one footy a week (they're both on the same day) so I can play as much of both as possible. And I am already down to play the school's First XVIII for the SPOC U21's in a trial game on 31st March. Should be awesome!
That's all for now, I am just about to let you know about the second half of my trip....
Sunday, February 21, 2010
A pretty quiet Sunday evening
Today has been a welcome day of relaxation and sleep after a really busy start to the term. It's the first exeat and time is flying really quickly! Not long 'til I'm home now! (In relative terms).
Temperatures are starting to cool down at the moment, a welcome relief both for pre-season rugby and the day before I head off on Year 6 camp tomorrow morning!
It should be a busy couple of days, with kayaking, raft building and general activities going on. I'm there to help out, and hopefully join in a bit!
I know I still need to give you the low-down on all that happened in my little trip from Sydney to Cairns, but there is so much to tell, I really need a good while to do it, and given that I have to pack tonight, it might have to wait until next weekend. However, if I get a chance tonight I will update my blog again.
I hope this recent activity is making up for an awful lot of inactivity between New Year's and the beginning of February and you're enjoying what I am putting up! I'll let you know how camp goes when I get back!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
A quick update from Adelaide
I hope this doesn't confuse anyone too much, but I'm afraid I don't have time to do the second and third phase of my trip, just now.
I will tomorrow though.
For now, I have to get ready for pre-season rugby training at Old Collegians. It seems rather surreal that I was blogging to you at the beginning of this year about playing rugby and now it is starting up again; I guess this highlights the amount of time I have been here!
Once again, thank you all for your thoughts and Birthday/Christmas/New Year wishes. I trust you are all having a great start to 2010.
Thank you also for being so interested (those of you that are) in what I am doing!
More coming soon.
Cheers for now.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Number Crunching
37 days.
4,334 km.
Four state capitals.
One pair of sunglasses.
One phone.
A couple of t-shirts.
And I survived! I managed to travel this epic distance, on my own, sometimes with very little money, and survive. I can say it now because it's over: I didn't think when I set off that I would! I have met so many amazing people and, honestly, I think it will be this (and the surfing) more than the places I have been and things I have seen that I will remember.
Having said that... here are some thoughts on what I thought of where I went and what I did. (Did you really think I wouldn't have a good waffle?)
After Melbourne I headed up to Mittagong on the bus on the 17th to stay with the Riley's in Nowra for about four or five days. This was amazing, we pretty much surfed everyday and basically just chilled out at the beach-house and cooked pizza's the rest of the time!
I then headed to Sydney on the 23rd and arrived in my hostel at Bondi Beach around 9 in the evening, to be greeted by scenes of mass revelry and offered a ticket to a booze cruise the next day... something I immediately accepted. An early surf the next morning, following some awesome free cocktails that night, was certainly enough to beat the crowds, though Bondi, the fickle beach it is, didn't quite work. We spent that day preparing for Christmas Dinner the next day (I chopped thousands of onions) and then left around 5 for Darling Harbour. An array of costumes was on display, and I can safely say the wetsuit and reindeer antlers I went for, in the middle of the Australian Summer was not the best! An evening cruise round the harbour with the Opera House and Bridge lit up was truly epic. And the count-down to Christmas is something I don't think I'll forget very easily!
After not much sleep the festivities started pretty early. A morning dip was enough to get most people ready for the day, but I am pretty sure some people got no sleep at all! The weather was a bit of a let down, but did provide some massive swell in the afternoon, and the temperature of water meant that we were in a pretty good state!
This was all after an incredible Christmas lunch of roast chicken and salad, with about 120 people sat outside at long tables. Much fun was had by all!
Boxing Day saw a rather unsuccessful, but very enjoyable trip to the races and I was then persuaded to change my bus to the evening the next day so we could do it all again that night... On Sunday we caught the bus into town, hopped on the very to Manly, dropped Candy's stuff off at her next hostel and had (well, only me) another surf before a lovely seafood meal that night. Then it was back to the hostel, pick up my bags, say my goodbyes and back into the bus station.
It was an unbelievable Christmas, I met some incredible people and it was made all the more special for that. This is one I will not forget for a very, very long time...
From Sydney, it was up to Woodburn to begin my surf camp...
Many, many apologies to all
Hello again,
I realise I promised you all a blog summarising my trip when I got back, and I had every intention of doing so. Only I got abducted by my friends and was so tired when I was near my computer that I was in bed. And then term started and, well now it's now.
My trip truly was amazing. To use a fantastic old cliche; a genuine once in a lifetime experience. I must thank all of you who sent me gifts, yuletide wishes, or just simply thoughts over the Christmas break too. There really is way too much to tell you all (I completely missed out a week when I was telling my flatmate) but I will give it my best shot. It may also be a number of blog postings!
I realise I promised you all a blog summarising my trip when I got back, and I had every intention of doing so. Only I got abducted by my friends and was so tired when I was near my computer that I was in bed. And then term started and, well now it's now.
My trip truly was amazing. To use a fantastic old cliche; a genuine once in a lifetime experience. I must thank all of you who sent me gifts, yuletide wishes, or just simply thoughts over the Christmas break too. There really is way too much to tell you all (I completely missed out a week when I was telling my flatmate) but I will give it my best shot. It may also be a number of blog postings!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
One more small thing
I forgot to mention we're now at the halfway point. I have to thank Mum for letting me know, it would completely passed me by otherwise!
So I will see you all this year, in pretty much exactly 6 months: my ticket runs out on 16th July 2010 so I plan to push that right to the limit!
So I will see you all this year, in pretty much exactly 6 months: my ticket runs out on 16th July 2010 so I plan to push that right to the limit!
Mick Fanning, Music, Mess and many many miles...
... and I reckon I will shortly be running out of words that begin with "m".
Once again, my apologies for the amount of time between blog postings, it really can be quite tricky to sit at a computer long enough to get one done!
I did some Maths. yesterday (I never thought I would have use for it ever again) and worked out, using Google Maps that I have travelled, roughly, 3,667 kilometres (that is 2278.57-ish miles) since December 14th 2009 and will travel another 619km this evening to complete my journey, getting into Cairns at around half six in the morning. On Wednesday 20th I fly back to Adelaide and can finally relax.
I will do a trip summary on my return and let you know more stats and figures and what not.
But since I last wrote on here I have done an awful lot... I paddled out at Duranbah next to Mick Fanning, twice ASP world tour Champion, I have been to stay with the Bartlett's in Brisbane and been to Sunset Sounds, where I saw Editors, Seasick Steve, Xavier Rudd, Hilltop Hoods, Dappled Cities, The Temper Trap, King Khan and the Shrines and quite a few more, and I have been on a tour of the Bundy Rum distillery in Bundaberg.
So far it has been pretty epic, and I am sure it will continue to be so for the next four days. That's before we even start talking about Australia day at the ODI back in Adelaide...
I trust your 2010's have all got off to an enjoyable and safe start and I look forward to summing this epciness up for you all when I get home!
Cheers, xxxx
Once again, my apologies for the amount of time between blog postings, it really can be quite tricky to sit at a computer long enough to get one done!
I did some Maths. yesterday (I never thought I would have use for it ever again) and worked out, using Google Maps that I have travelled, roughly, 3,667 kilometres (that is 2278.57-ish miles) since December 14th 2009 and will travel another 619km this evening to complete my journey, getting into Cairns at around half six in the morning. On Wednesday 20th I fly back to Adelaide and can finally relax.
I will do a trip summary on my return and let you know more stats and figures and what not.
But since I last wrote on here I have done an awful lot... I paddled out at Duranbah next to Mick Fanning, twice ASP world tour Champion, I have been to stay with the Bartlett's in Brisbane and been to Sunset Sounds, where I saw Editors, Seasick Steve, Xavier Rudd, Hilltop Hoods, Dappled Cities, The Temper Trap, King Khan and the Shrines and quite a few more, and I have been on a tour of the Bundy Rum distillery in Bundaberg.
So far it has been pretty epic, and I am sure it will continue to be so for the next four days. That's before we even start talking about Australia day at the ODI back in Adelaide...
I trust your 2010's have all got off to an enjoyable and safe start and I look forward to summing this epciness up for you all when I get home!
Cheers, xxxx
Monday, January 4, 2010
Sydney, Evanshead, Byron and Collangatta
...all had way too much happen to write about in about five minutes of internet time!
Just thought I wouold let everyone know I am alive (just), have seen the Opera House and the Bridge and done heaps of surfing.
Thanks to everyone who sent me Christmas wishes, thoughts and gifts, they are all very much appreciated! I hope everyone has a fantastic 2010 and had a great New Years - just think: I will see you all THIS year now!
Cheers,
Pj xxxx
Just thought I wouold let everyone know I am alive (just), have seen the Opera House and the Bridge and done heaps of surfing.
Thanks to everyone who sent me Christmas wishes, thoughts and gifts, they are all very much appreciated! I hope everyone has a fantastic 2010 and had a great New Years - just think: I will see you all THIS year now!
Cheers,
Pj xxxx
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