Game On!

Week 1, sort of:

Brisbane

This should be the one week marker for my trip to Australia. Should be, but its not. Somewhere along the way, a day went missing, probably sitting in the same place as all those missing socks from the dryer. I left on a Wednesday, traveled for 17 or so hours, and then arrived on Friday. One week ago today, I didn't exist.

Of course, had I actually arrived on that missing Thursday, then today would be Wednesday and I still haven't been here a week... bugger.

Either way, today was my first Thursday in two weeks, so I was glad to live it up. I celebrated the most fantastic way I knew how- I didn't get lost once today. Not when taking the bus to the city, nor when finding my way to the shops in Fortitude Valley, which were awesome by the way. I visited 5 or 6 outdoor stores today in a 3 block radius. You'd be lucky to find 5 in all of Atlanta, and 3 would be REI.

I'd swear one of the salesmen used to work at a car dealership. I had inquired about sleeping bags for my New Zealand leg of the trip, and he knew the perfect bag. In fact, it was the bestest bag in the whole wide world. He pointed out some "grand" flaw with any other bag I tried to look at. Oh no, I would not want that one, it was red and teal, and, as we all know, the combination of red and teal attracts sharks. That one over there had horizontal stripes, which made me look fat. The patronizing belligerence was thankfully absent from all the other stores; I even managed to learn quite a bit sleeping bags and tents, though I didn't buy anything yet. With the heat of Queensland I will need little more than sheet and some mosquito netting. Besides, most of the sleeping bag manufacturers are Kiwi companies, so I'm hoping they will be a bit cheaper over there.

Today turned out to be a fine example of a skin searing day with temps in the 90's (F). Despite this morning's warning to the general populous of the extreme danger of bush fires, several broke out around the city (most were the result of negligence or arson). Lee and I ventured up the hill to a fantastic vista looking out over the city, though foolishly I left the camera behind. You could see one fire glowing along the ridge a ways west of the city, with the smoke beginning to fog the city lights. Why didn't I bring my camera?

I didn't even have to time run back for it, as it would have made me late for Ultimate. As much fun as it is to bike 20 miles for empty fields, I emailed ahead this time. Sure enough I arrived to lit fields and discs flying through the air; its always a welcome site. One team, who was down a few players, was unlucky enough to be stuck with me. Ironically, the team was comprised of UQ (University of Queensland) players, the place where I was I was snubbed just two nights before. Perhaps it was a little cocky for me to start the game with a layout score, but you take what you can get. Add in a few (unintentional) "Ole" catches (the defender dives for the defensive block but you catch the disc with a flourish just enough in front of him to give enough false hope to try several more times), and a good time was had by all. Coincidentally, when I head down to Australian Nationals with a team from Townsville, we will be sharing accommodations with the folks I played with tonight.

I'm glad I didn't miss this Thursday.

And of course, a picture. This one is a few days old and I've been saving it to spice up a lack-luster post. I took this one at the Multicultural festival in Roma Parklands last weekend. Cute girl, cute dog, nice picture, right? ILLEGAL! Its a illegal to take pictures of other peoples children, even if you give them candy first. So enjoy, this picture may very well get me deported, or a severe caning.