Getting The Hang of Things

For the almost two weeks that I have been here, just about every day has been action packed, as I have made an effort to experience as much as I possibly can- and let me tell you..there is ALOT to do! 

I woke up Sunday morning and got ready to head to the course, where I was greeted with overcast weather. My team for the day was three older Aussie women, Robin, Renee, and Claire, and we had a great time hanging out and playing together. The most exciting part of the golf day was my strong finish, birdieing three of the last four holes to shoot one under! This finish placed me in the top ten! After I finished, I hopped in the car and was on the move again...

This time I was headed back towards Sydney to a town called Oatlands for the New South Wales Open. I arrived at a lovely house where I met Judy and Chris, my host family for the week. I decided to take that Monday off and go touring with Ginney and Dave. Before we took off, we hit up the gym and did a crazy workout (I am so sore even three days later). After we got our beach bodies, we headed to Manly Beach which turned out to be one of the nicest and most beautiful beaches in the Sydney area.The coolest part was the route to get there. We took a forty minute ferry ride to Circular Quay, the Harbour area where the Sydney Bridge and Opera House are. The Manly Beach town reminded us of a beach in LA- it had a ton of surfer shops as well as boutiques. We even ate at a sushi place that had a rotating sushi bar. After refueling, we headed to the sand. Watching the "life savers" aka life guards practice wasn't a bad view. They were on paddle boards, and would paddle out a mile then turn and paddle back to the shore. They were in super fit shape, and Ginny and I were starting to believe we took up the wrong sport! After staring in awe for a bit, we decided we wanted to go snorkeling, however all of the shops were closed! We were still determined to see some wildlife so took a dip in the ocean. It was sixty degrees and very chilly but warmed up after a while. I have officially swam in the Pacific Ocean! The sun was beginning to set, so we decided to head home to get some rest for our early practice round in the morning.

The two highlights of the practice round day were me holing out from 80 yards and Ginny getting a picture of a Kookabura. After the round I relaxed at the house for the rest of the day. On Wednesday, I decided to do another sightseeing day. We headed to Featherdale, which is a wildlife zoo containing only animals found here in Australia. This was one of my coolest experiences thus far! We were able to feed kangaroos and wallabies as well as pet koala bears. We spent a few hours marveling the uniqueness of these creatures. We also became super excited when we saw a baby joey go in and out of his mama's pouch. I have over a hundred amazing pictures that I can't wait to show all of you when I return! 

After the zoo, we went to the Blue Mountains, which is the Australian version of the Grand Canyon. Rather than being an open canyon with water at the bottom, there were gorgeous trees and plants everywhere. At the mountains, we walked to a place to view the "three sisters," a famous view because the aboriginals believe that one of the masters of the town turned his daughters into stone so they would not be exiled! After we saw the view, we took a gondola down to the bottom and walked around the forest. The views were absolutely incredible! We had a fantastic time and of course took a million photos. I definitely underestimated our trip to "see the mountains"...

The next morning I had to be up early for a pro-am tournament. I ended up having a great group composed of my new friends, Mick, Raff, and Davy. After a great round with the guys, I headed home to "chill." Judy has been making some amazing meals every night that I look forward to, and we also have been watching the Australian Open tennis tournament. I tee off tomorrow afternoon and am ready for an exciting tournament ahead!