Why'd It Have to be Boats?

Jenni is away and I've been left to my own devices this Darwin Cup weekend. Yep, we get a day off for the major yearly horse race. Pretty much every major city in Australia gets the day off for that city's major horse race. I think the Melbourne Cup is the biggest and probably a national holiday...

Since, I've exhausted most of my ideas (sitting around and doing nothing) I've decided to do a blog entry. We were invited to go on a canoe trip up the Katherine Gorge; which sounds like a beautiful trip. Unfortunately, I don't do so well on boats of any size. I got sea sick while learning to kayak in a swimming pool...it was a big pool. I do say that with a twinge of pride though. Anyway, smart woman that Jenni is, she went without me. I did go for the first night (Thursday 31-7-08) and camp at the base camp. There were lots of wallabies around. While driving to the campground, I actually hit one and most likely killed it. I tried to move out of the way but I just wasn't quick enough. Left me feeling pretty blue as they are such neat creatures, but I'm still not as bad as this guy.

The most exciting day was yesterday (3-8-08) when I got to be the 12th man for the Uni cricket club. The so called 12th man, 12th because there are only 11 players, was also known as the whipping boy, and consisted mostly on running and getting cartons of beers. I think Cricket (at least at this level) is the only sport where you actually consume more calories than you burn. Actually, I got to spend quite a bit of time on the field so that the bowlers could have a rest when their turn was done. Stopped a few, missed a few, but definitely improved since the last time I was on the field. There might still be a chance to turn pro...Unfortunately, after a good round of batting by the Uni team, the other team turned it around and won the game.

Last weekend (27,28-07-08) was another busy one. We went with a small group of people on a two-day bike ride from Darwin to Mandorah, 130km total. Any ride like that is of course difficult on some level (mostly at the level of your bum), but it was a lot of fun. We even had a support vehicle bring camping equipment to the campground for the end of the first day, so we didn't have to carry it.

We left at 6am on Sat morning. The hardest part of the first day was riding along the Stuart Highway, but it was early enough that traffic was pretty light. We stopped at some of the service stations where people were able to refeul on Coke and cheese sausages. Our first "real" stop was at Berry Springs where some people went swimming in the natural pools. The water was pretty warm, although it was disturbed by some of the local wildlife and their eskie (cooler) full of beer. This was about 10am, and they had turned up drunk, so either they were out all night or started about the same time we did. The trick to avoiding these types of people is to find a spot that is a mile or so up the trail, because they don't want to carry their beer that far...

We camped at a place called Tumbling Waters, and is a nice little campsite complete with an outdoor movie theatre and a crocodile pool. They were supposed to have a BBQ that night, but the cooks unexpectedly and inexplicably left, so we decided to head over to the Litchfield Pub. On the outside the Litchfield Pub looks like a mix of Tourist Bar and Local Bar, and for the most part that is what it is. Surprisingly the food they served was something more than pub food, and verged on gourmet. How many times have you encountered melted feta on toasted pita bread with fresh vegetables in a Pub?

The next day was a little harder for me, having already ridden ~60km the first day (I'm using kilometers to make it sound more impressive and longer). But we made it to Mandorah and had a celebratory bag of crisps at the Mandorah Beach Hotel, and caught the ferry back across to Darwin. Yep another boat...Who would of thought there would be so many boats near the ocean? Anyhoo, it was a rather nice feeling when you rode down a hill that you knew you didn't need to ride back up it on the return ride. So catching the ferry back was worth it.

Berry Springs


Tumbling Waters' Crocodile

Night Herron


Darwin from Mandorah Beach


Mandorah Beach Hotel


This is where the Stolen Generation of Aboriginal Kids would go for their reeducation not that long ago.


Crossing the Finish Line






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Correction

I corrected the blog to fix the name of the position I was at - from Fly Slip to Fine Leg. Chris let me know the actual name, and I told him I guessed based on the Cricket Wikipedia page.

"Mind you weren't far off. Fine leg is on the "On (or leg) side" and Fly slip on the 'off side', but both behind the wicket. You also had a short spell at mid off, and may have ventured in to short mid off, but not quite silly mid off."

Australia is great, just that bloody language barrier...

Cricketers

We went for a walk yesterday along the Nightcliff foreshore area. It was a pleasant walk despite the heat. The water has slowly been changing from the muddy brown of the wet season to the azure color of the dry.





On our way we decided to go to the university and watch our friend Chris play cricket in a local league game. They happened to be a player short, and the fill-in was running late, so Chris asked David to play a few overs till the other guy got there. We now take you on the pitch for some play by play action.

"Ok David, go to Fine Leg."
Blank Stare.
"You don't know what that means do you?"
"Nope."
"Just go over there. No to your other right. A little more. A little more. A little more. A little more. Good enough. Just walk in when the bowler starts."

The bowler goes in, the batsmen doesn't take the chance and nothing happens.

So far so good, nothing to worry about.

"Hey!"

What? Oh you're throwing the ball around to everyone. Oh! You're throwing it to me. Please don't let it hit me in the face. Please don't let it hit me in the face.

Nothing too exciting happens with the next bowls, and then they switch sides of the pitch, and now the batsman is facing David. Crack! A ground ball comes rushing towards David.

Crap! Ok. Remember your training, this is what all those years of little league have been for. Choke up on the bat! Wait that doesn't help. When did that ever help! Focus! Get in front of it, and just scoop it up!. Whooooosh! Right between the legs. Where'd it go? Oh yeah, I don't have a baseball mit on.

"Um, David, next time drop to your knee."

Luckily, later, there was next time. A very light ground bowl, barely missed by the bowler. David, seeking to redeem himself, over zealously charged the ball, sliding down to one knee he scooped it up. It helped that the ball was rolling slowly and had nearly come to a stop by the time David got there. Triumphantly standing up, he looked for someone to tag out, but by then everyone was returning to their field positions.

Luckily no one on the other team yelled out - "Hit it to the bloke in the red shirt!" David didn't have the team colors of black and white on, having just shown up on a lark.

All and all an exciting 10 minutes. They managed to complete the game without David's assistance, as the fill-in had arrived shortly after David started.



Our friend Chris (of Chris, Fiona, and Clare) in kung-fu action figure mode.