Guys Day Out

Sydney Swans vs. Melbourne Demons
A couple of weeks ago, Phil took me to see my first Aussie Rules Football game. This game is quite different from American football or "gridiron" football as it's called here. There are no offsides, the game is continuous, and the ball must be either "punched" (much like an underhand volleyball serve) or kicked. The differences in the atmosphere include: meat pies instead of hot dogs, the crowd sings the team songs in unison when goals are scored, instead of saying "come on Swans" they yelled "con Swans," and the most popular fan apparel was a team scarf even though it was a hot day. Phil was able to explain the game very well as he used to be an Aussie rules umpire. Even though the Swans lost, the game was very exciting and came down to the very last second. It was great experience and I can now watch sports on tv again because I now know what's going on! Tomorrow Cristin and I plan to meet some friends for our first professional rugby game (Cronulla Sharks vs. St. George Illawarra Dragons).

Today, I was invited on a deep sea fishing expedition with Lloyd Markwell of Caringbah Rotary and some of his best mates. There were seven guys in total including another Rotarian, Eddie Swinyard and his son Marty. As you can see we had an early start. Lloyd and I were on the boat by about 5:40 am! They say catching a fish is the best medicine for sea sickness! This was my first catch of the day. I know it doesn't look too big but it was still very exciting. I caught three fish for the day but none of them were classified as "keepers." This fish is called a sweep; we were looking for Red Snappers and another one that I can't remember the name! We were usually fishing in water about 65 metres deep, using mullet fish and squid as bait.
Here's Captain Lloyd and Garth on the way home. This was especially a good trip because we were able to see dolphins. None of my pictures turned out, but I promise we saw them! They also said that this area was good for seeing whales in September and March. Cristin and I have put this on our calendar.
Here's the boat. It's huge, 43 feet long! All in all the day was very exciting as there were many "firsts" for me. We all had a great time. It was even better when I was able to bring a fish home for Cristin (of course, she thought it smelled!). We cleaned it and cooked it for dinner. It was excellent! We both are excited about eating more fish now!