Saturday 24 December 2011

Merry Christmas from Down Under!


Hi there all. So we have this whole week off of baseball, so I decided to go to the beach! Any other option sounded silly. Before I headed out to the beach I was able to go to a cricket match!! It was a good time! It's an interesting game, somewhat similar to baseball, but with a lot less complicated rules.  


 After the cricket match a group of four of us (Alexis Brudnicki, Alex Maestri, Whitey Wallace, and I) headed down to another teammates house (Steven Chambers). He lives about a hour away from Brisbane towards the beach we were going to, and right on the river!   

We did a little bbq-ing, jet skiing, and laying at his pool. (I'm getting pretty tan again.) Over here in Australia, Christmas is pretty much a reason to party. Everyone that I have talked to about it, is always saying how it's a good week to have heaps (a lot) of drinks, and since I didn't want to be rude or insult their culture, I decided to partake!
This is his backyard.
The Gold Coast, a view from where his house is.

Whitey Wallace, Steven Chambers, Alexis Brudnicki

That next morning we were headed down to Byron Bay, however the car we were driving seemed to have a dead battery. (I left a blinker on, oops) The car we had was all electronic, so the key wouldn't even open the door. Since we couldn't open the door, it's pretty hard to pop the bonnet (hood). So I had to use a long metal rod to stick in through a partially open window. Somehow got the back seat to lay down, find a latch in the boot (trunk), pulled it and the trunk opened. Whitey then crawled through the trunk, the little opening in the back seat, to the front seat, and popped the hood. 10 minutes later we were on to Byron Bay! I figured it would be an interesting trip when it started out like that already!!

Whitey climbing in.
Byron Bay was unbelievable!! It was gorgeous, nice white sand, no trash, and some really blue water!! The first day we were down there we decided to try our hands, or feet at surfing. It was pretty fun but painful at the same time. I can say that I got up on my 5th try! But I only lasted maybe 3 seconds before I was falling in headfirst. It's a very challenging sport that wears you out fricking quick! Half the battle is figuring out how to swim out through all the waves so you can TRY to surf.
here are some pics of Byron Bay: 

The easternmost point in Australia.
Steven Chambers-Australia, Alexis Brudnicki-Canada, Whitey Wallace-America,
Alex Maestri-Italy, Me-?, Dan Mraz-Check Republic
 

All of us out in Byron Bay.
Getting a ride back to the hotel.
 We booked the hotel for 2 people, and I guess when 7 of us get back at 4:00 am…the manager didn't seem to like it too much. So inevitably, 5 of us were forced to sleep elsewhere that night.
I chose the beach. 
Now I always thought sleeping on the beach would be great…however, it does tend to get a little chilly, and if there is any wind, then the sand gets blown on your face all night. It was really too great… Plus, the sun seems to be very bright come morning.   The nice long shower in the morning was the best moment of that day!   Because no matter how careful you are, sand seems to find it's way in and around everywhere.

Merry Christmas everyone! Tomorrow is Christmas day for me. Not quite yet for you in the states.

I better get to bed now, because I have to wake up and have beers and prawns for Christmas breakfast!  

Irony: The famous Australian line: "Let's put another shrimp on the barbie!"  
They call shrimp, prawns. 

Miss you all, hope you have a great Christmas!! 
Soon you'll find out how an Aussie Christmas is.
 
Cheers,
~sEaN~


2 comments:

  1. hi Sean, this looks absolutely gorgeous. Looks like some backyard your teammate had. The Bay looks beautiful. Looks like you are having the time of your life. Good for you honey. I love you.

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  2. Hi; Looks like lots of fun!! I'm kind of jealous! Oh well, You keep having fun & play some baseball if you get a chance! We Love you & Merry Christmas. GPA & GMA.

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