A night away

Day 6 -

We woke up at Jack’s and he was a great host. He made us toast with vegemite, which we really liked, cereal and orange juice. We played a little Call of Duty until Drew and Georgia showed up randomly. They were nice.

Pat picked us up around 12 from Jack’s. We went back to Ross’ and showered up. Jack came over and we walked down the street to play a little bit of basketball at Freya and Erika's house, but they weren’t home. After a few games, we went back to Ross’ and tossed the football for a while. Drew showed up and we went back to the basketball hoops. We played a ton of horse and had a dunk competition or two. We got creative and attempted a shot rivaling some on the “Dude Perfect” videos. It was about 60 feet, on top of a mail box and over some tall trees. We each tried it at least 30 times, and the flip video ran out of batteries. Ross told me I would never make the shot, I replied with “Don’t tell me what I can’t do” (at which point he made a 30-rock reference “you’re not my Dad!”) and then everyone started slow clapping. I lined up the shot, spun the ball in my hands. Jumped off the mail box as high as I could, and released. The seams of the ball tumbled end over end toward the basket. As I landed on the soft grass, the ball was lost from sight. All clapping stopped. A clean *shwoosh* and screams came from behind the wall of trees. We all lost it. It was so perfect. SO PERFECT! And we didn’t get it on video.......

We dropped off Jack, returned to Ross’ and ate some super good chicken enchiladas. Yumm! After that we closed the night watching Tosh.O and going to bed early. Ross has school tomorrow. Sucker!!

Shark Week Begins...

Day 5 - Urunga

I woke up earlier than the other two boys and ate breakfast. Everyone else went to the beach, and I stayed back to wait for Liam and Ross to get out of bed. When they finally got up, we had a solid workout consisting of power cleans, bench press, shoulder burn-outs, etc. As we finished up, Diantha came back to the house and took us to the beach. Luke, Jack, and Fergus (Jack’s dog) tagged along. We got to the beach and the weather was gloomy. It was kinda chilly, kinda windy, and kinda dark. Gloomy. We went into the water expecting to be freezing, but it had nothing on the Oregon coast waters. Once we got in all the way, it was actually quite nice. We body boarded on the 4-6 foot waves, which are pretty freaking huge! We came in and started playing with a football. The Aussies taught us how to throw a ball the “proper” way, and then we told them they were wrong and helped them do it the right way. We started up a game of 2v2 football (the right way) with Ross as the all-time QB. Early in the game, Pat told us that they had found an 8 foot shark washed up a kilometer or two down the beach. We took off running...

When we got there, a guy was starting to cut out the shark’s jaw. I guess that was alright though, because the body was just gonna be washed back into the ocean and decompose, why not take a trophy? He left and we decided to take pictures with it. Too bad the camera was TWO KILOMETERS AWAY AT THE CAR! Obviously, I was the one voted to run back and get it... so I did.

We had a lot of fun with the shark. Looking back, it seems a little weird to be playing with the body of a dead fish, but whatever, it was worth it. Here are some pictures (more on facebook):

After pushing Phil’s (thats what we named him) body back into the sea, we washed up and went back to Ross’ to eat grilled cheese and drink cokes. After about two hours, Luke left to work and Jack took his dog home. We watched our videos of the shark, uploaded the pictures, and made up a story about how we wrestled it to death.

Later in the evening, ate dinner and then went to the pub. After a few hours we went back to Jack’s for the night. Great day!

Urunga!

Day 4 - Urunga

Liam and I woke up to an empty house around 8:30. Ross had left for school (sucka!), as did Diantha, Pat had gone fishing with a friend, and Diantha’s two friends had gone on a walk. Liam and I took this opportunity to relax a bit and write/post the blog. The pictures took a while to upload because of the dial-up internet. After about two hours of blogging, we went on a short walk around the block. When we came back to the house, I found a blue-tongued lizard just outside the back door catching some rays.

I took a short nap and when I woke up, Pat was back. He drove us into town and dropped us off near a nice walking location. We spent a few hours walking on a beautiful path to the beach.

After our walk we were famished, so Liam and I stopped at a corner store to buy a couple snacks. We got Australian salt and vinegar potato chips (honestly, I have no idea how they differ from American chips) and a hazelnut snickers bar each. Pat picked us up around 3:30 and we arrived at the house around the same time that Ross did. We hung out for a while, trying to figure out what to do. I took yet another short nap and woke up around 7:30 to a dinner of hamburgers with beets, which were quiet scrumptious. After the meal, Ross invited over a few of his friends and we walked around town. They were very nice and we exchanged questions about each others countries and people. Their names were Freya, Erika, and Luke. The girls were twins and we wound up at their house until about 2 in the morning. Thank goodness for the naps! We spent most of the time talking and watching football and rugby. We returned to Ross’ house and crashed.

Leaving Sydney (a bit too soon)

Day 3 - Sydney-ish

Today was pretty chill I guess. We got up ridiculously early due to the jet lag, ate breakfast, showered and got packed. We had check out at 10 a.m. so we tidied up a bit. After leaving our place of residence for the past two nights, we took a tour of Sydney’s beautiful beaches: Bondi, Coogee, Clovely, Karamara (?), and many others. We were quite rushed, due to the plane Liam and I had to catch at 2:45.

We got on the plane, had a 45 minute flight, and met Pat at the airport. After retrieving our bags, we drove about 20 minutes to Urunga seeing many Kookaburras and Kangaroos along the way.

Ross’ house is very nice, in a very cute neighborhood. In his back yard is a river, which would be perfect to swim in since they are too far south for Crocs, but it is full of Bull sharks! Pat has caught at least two since he’s been here! Crazy stuff! We had Diantha’s chili tonight, the same recipe that Paul used the other night. Were not complaining, it is really good chili!!

Tomorrow promises to be a great day (for us, not Ross - he has a test). The house is only a few blocks from the beach, and we might fish in the river. Hopefully we see/catch a Bull shark if we do!!

Second Day in Syndney

Day 2 - Sydney

Today we arose pretty early. Mom, Dad, and Liam went on an early morning walk to the beach while I was still asleep. My Dad (as always) believes he saw three different Hugh Jackman’s. They picked up chocolate croissants for breakfast, and then we headed towards the buses. Each of us got a full day bus/train/ferry pass, and believe me, we used it to the fullest. All day we walked around downtown, took a ferry to Manly island, and took several trains. It was a long day filled with many pictures taken at several Sydney landmarks.

We went to Kings Cross, which was an interesting experience. There seemed to be a trend in the shops and stores on the main street, and here’s how it went: Porn shop, Tobacco shop, Liquor store, Some unhealthy food store, “the Chemist”, and then a wild card (sometimes a sports bar, a fruit shop, tea place, etc.). Too bad I don’t turn 18 for two weeks...

We went to Darling Harbor which was pretty cool, strolled through the Queen Victoria building, and China town. After seeing all the sites, we took a bus, two trains, and another bus back to the apartment where we threw some sausages and some “toad -in-the-hole”’s on the barby. After that, I passed out on the couch because it was way past my bedtime, it was 9:15 after all...

Sydney Harbor!!

Day 2 - First day in Sydney

This post will begin when we landed in Sydney. Upon arrival, we retrieved our luggage quickly and ran into Paul right away! He took us back to Belinda and Martin’s house (their daughter and her husband) where we dropped off our stuff. We then took a bus to downtown Sydney. Sydney may be my new favorite city! All the buildings are fantastic! We took the bus all the way to the harbor and had a photo shoot with the Opera House in the background. It was surreal. I have always seen pictures of the magnificent building, and it was unbelievable to see it in person. I cannot aptly describe the beauty of the harbor view in this post. The bridge was awesome, and the fairies were very cute. While waiting for the free fairy to Cacatoo Island, I had a “Hardcore Parkour” (in Liam’s words) session. I will post pictures of backflips and other things.

We boarded the fairy with 250 other people and made the 15 minute journey to the ex-military island. Today, there was an art show all over the place. This is where we met Martin and Belinda. I had a blast! I could have spent all day there, but sadly we had to leave within a hour or two of arriving. We took a bus back to Belinda’s, got the car, and went to check in at the apartment we reserved on Bondi beach. We got to shower for the first time in 3 days! After our shower we went to dinner back at Belinda’s and met her children, Milla (4) and Theo (2). They were very cute. We ate an American meal of Chili and Salad which Paul had thrown together. It was very tasty. It was 8:30 when we left, at which point we were all falling asleep due to Jet lag. We got back to the apartment and crashed hard. Goodnight!

All Sorts of Planes

Day 1 - Travel Day(s?)

Today we left nice and early from the hotel. Nothing too exciting happened, we just hopped on the plane and headed to LAX.

Once there, we had a 8 hour layover!! We were not about to stay in the terminal for all that time, so we started walking to In-n-Out Burger on Sepulvida. Along the way we contacted our relatives in Los Angeles and asked them to meet us there. They arrived just as we finished our double-double animal style baskets with chocolate shakes and brought us back to 3123 Malcom Dr.

We played with our cousins and made root beer floats. The time with the family went entirely too fast, and before we knew it, we were back at the airport waiting for the plane. Liam and I went on a walk around the airport and ran into a guy around my age with a U of O lacrosse shirt on! I approached him and we talked for a while. He was here coaching a team of middle schoolers and does indeed play at the University of Oregon! My brother and I returned to the terminal and eventually boarded the plane. It was spectacular! As we entered, there was a full bar and an extravagantly decorated first class area. We made the journey toward the back of the plane and found our seats. Each seat was comfortable, had amble leg room, and had individual screens for our movie, tv, or gaming pleasure. The trip, pushing 15 hours in the air, seemed to fly by. They served us dinner, we fell asleep, woke up to breakfast, and then landed in Melbourne! The flight was quite painless.

The airline lost our reservations for the flight between Melbourne and Sydney. Uh-oh! After a long while, they gave us seats on a flight an hour after our original take off time, so it was all good. The air travel started on the 25th of July and we did not arrive till the 27th! Sadly, due to time differences, I will never experience Monday, July 26th 2010, ever in my life. :(

Time to Leave!

Day 0 - Departure from Corvallis

Summary of the boring parts of the day: Wake up, eat, laundry, clean, pack. At that point it was about 1:30. I went over to the Grand Oaks Pool, a very clean, outdoor pool. Mark, Luke, Kai, and Jake were there and we hung out until 3ish. Mark, Luke and I picked up a pizza and went to Mark’s basement in his house, which we christened the “Man-Cave” many years ago. This pit of manliness is where I spend most of my time in Corvallis. We spent the weaning hours of the day playing video games with Lebron James (inside joke), ping pong, and just joking around. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I left marks around 5:30 with a big man hug. I will only see Mark for one day before he leaves for University of Puget Sound. I returned home, finished some prep for the trip and left for Portland. We stopped at BurgerVille and went to our hotel, which kinda sucked but its all good. The night ended with healthy dosage of “Braveheart” on TNT, which is funny because Mel Gibson is Australian! Have a good night all!

Day Before Departure

Day Negative One -

So I ended up going camping last night. It was alright, I guess. Usually I have a blast when I go camping with friends, but everyone was tired and such. Oh well. Anyway, today was a great day! After returning to Corvallis from the forest with a couple buddies. We dropped off Mark at his house and went back to 2730 to make breakfast with Blake and Ethyn. We made super delicious chocolate pancakes, topped with fresh strawberry puree. YUM! We got all creative and put the jam into a syringe and injected the cakes with it. After tasting that, we decided to open a restaurant, so look for that in the near future. The three of us took a hot tub, played some basketball, and then Ethyn left. Blake and I went to Blake’s house, where we were asked to help an old lady remove a tree across town. Being the fantastic citizen and community servers we are, we gathered up many tools and headed their. Ethyn showed up a few minutes into the work and we had a blast! It was a relatively big tree, with correspondingly big roots. To anyone else, this may have been means for a bad day, but not for us. The sun was shining, we got to play with a chainsaw and dig in the dirt with good friends, and above all, we got to help someone who needed us, and she was so grateful (though not grateful enough to pay us, but we weren’t bitter about it)! After the roots were out, we planted a new, beautiful tree. What a day! But it was only around 7 p.m. at that point, so we decided to go to Eugene. We went to the mall and had some adventures there as well. Upon returning to Corvallis, a buddy of mine called me up and said he was throwing a bonfire and wanted me to come, so I did, and it was a blast! One cannot expect a much better last day than that! However it was bittersweet. That night would be the last time Blake and I see each other until Thanksgiving, because he leaves for UC Boulder on the 14th of August, three days before my return. Love you dawg!

Day Negative Two

Day negative Two -

My ‘rents are being completely and utterly ridiculous. On a beautiful 85 degree, sunny day, they would rather have me inside doing meaningless busy work than go surfing and camping with my friends! One friend in particular, Mark (one of my best friends) leaves for University of Puget Sound on August 17th... What day do we get back from AUS? THE 17TH!!! This means I will most likely never see him again. Ever. Scotty, another great friend, leaves for Cal Poly San Luis Obisbo relatively soon, and I have not seen much of him this summer as it is! He has been in California, and is back for the few short days before I leave. The few short days my parents (who “love me”) want me to stay inside and get ready... Please tell me - who, in their right minds, doesn’t pack the day before leaving on a trip. I know I like to do that! But no. No surfing nor camping nor anything fun for Owen. Dammit Australia...