HIGHs and lows

When I returned from New Zealand, Ginny and I drove to Canberra from Sydney, and were playing in the Australian Open qualifier the following day. After the three hour drive from the airport, we met up with my friend/caddy and headed out to play a practice round. When we stepped up to the first tee and began to get our balls out and take notes, Mick, my caddy, pointed out all of the kangaroos right in front of us! We rushed to grab our cameras and and started taking tons of photos and videos. We were taken aback by how many kangaroos we continued to spot as we played the first few holes. We ended up having a great practice round, especially with all of our "friends" on the course. After the practice round we dropped our things off at the hotel, and Mick took us out to dinner right around the corner. We had a great dinner and I was ready to play in the qualifier the next day. I had a great solid round of golf, but had one bad hole that caused me to miss it my two shots. I took it pretty hard because I was so close, but knew that things happen for a reason and need to get focused for my next and last tournament while I'm here in Australia.

After the round, Finny and I drove back to the suburb of Sydney to my housing, host family Judy and Chris's house, where we stayed for the night. They had prepared dinner for us and we were able to relax and hang out. I feel very blessed for having such outstanding host families during my stay here in Australia. The next morning we had breakfast and I got things packed up and headed off to take Ginny to the airport. After I dropped her off, I decided to hang around Sydney and walk around and have lunch. I went down to the Harbour where I had lunch and walked around the shops for a couple hours. When I got back to the house I took some time to get organized and clean out my car. That night, everyone was out so I ate leftovers and got some reading in.

The next morning I met my caddy, Mick, to go play with him and some friends. We had a great game and I really enjoyed playing the newly designed Greg Norman course. Afterwards I stayed with him and his sister, and she made all of us a great dinner. We sat around and chatted about the differences between Australia and the US. We had a big day planned the next day. One of my hosts, Chris's favorite hobby is canyoning, which I have been wanting to do so bad. Chris said if we had some time that he would take me, so on this day Mick and I drove back to their house to meet Chris and his friend to finally go canyoning! We really had no idea what to expect, but it was AMAZING!! We had a two hour drive up to the mountains, where we parked and walked to the trails. We then walked through the "bush" for about thirty minutes and then cam to the creek. We waded through the creek, while jumping and sliding over the trees and brush. We were having and absolute blast and asked Chris is this was canyoning..he said we weren't even there yet!

When we finally made it to the rushing water, we started to get a little nervous because we had to slide down rocks and jump in small, deep pools of water and slide down some of the waterfalls. Besides the obstacles we had to go through., the views were outstanding! We were at this canyon, and there was only a small opening at the top, where huge boulders were edged together. It is really hard to describe, but if you have seen the movie 127 Hours it is similar, but a different climate. This experience came in a close second to bungee jumping. After our two hour trek we headed back to the car which was parked next to a dam. At this dam you could also jump off a cliff into a deep pool of water. Since the day was already full of adventure, we thought we would continue with the theme and decided to do it! When I got to the top, I was a little scared so I went down one level and jumped from there. The top was about forty feet and the level that I jumped from was about thirty-five feet. We were all exhausted after and headed to a place called "Pie in the Sky" that Chris said would be the best meat pie we would ever have. I had a meat, cheese, and bacon version, and for dessert I had an apple pie. I don't know if it was because we were so hungry, but the pies were so delicious and hit the spot! After our stomachs were full we headed home and watched some tv and then passed out because now we were full AND tired.

Wish me luck!

Learning Experiences

Here at the Gold Coast, I have played two rounds of golf. I played really solid for for 35 holes...unfortunately on my last hole of the second day, I had a few bad breaks and ended up triple bogeying and missed the cut by one! I was so frustrated and could not believe it! I just HAVE to remember that everything happens for a reason and to remember the bigger picture: to glorify HIM. After having such a great couple rounds, but such a bad ending, it took me a few days to mentally grasp what had happened. After I was able to get my thoughts gathered, I was able to focus on the fact that I was going to New Zealand! 

The Monday after the tournament, I flew back to Sydney for a five hour layover. I saw Laura Davies at the airport at the Gold Coast and struck up conversation with her and her caddy Gerald. When we arrived in Sydney, we managed to find the only restaurant in the airport that was airing the Super Bowl. Not only was I sitting with one of the worlds best golfers, but watching the game too! It was very cool to talk to her, and pretty funny to see her so into the game, yelling at the tv when there was a bad call. After the game we decided to head over to the gate, where we met up with more golfers. Once the plane took off, it was only a three hour trip. We arrived in New Zealand around 11pm. It took forever to get through customs because they have to check all of our golf equipment for dirt, and if they find some they will clean it for you.  It's not such a bad thing right?! 

Finally I was able to get out and meet my host for the week, Bruce, and then went straight to bed. The next morning Bruce, who was also going to be my caddy for the week, and I headed to the course. It was raining and cold out and the wind was blowing at about forty mph! I decided to go ahead and play all 18 for the extra practice. Afterwards we headed home and Bruce cooked me and his wife Sandy a diiivine steak dinner. The next day I went out and practiced a little, and then met up with Dori, Jenny, and Angela to go see some vineyards. I forgot to mention that this is Waitangi day here in NZ. It is there national Independence Day. So I have gotten to experience both Australia's and New Zealand's national day! We visited a few and ended up meeting a really nice lady who owned one of the vineyards. Her husband, the wine maker, loved golf so we left them some tickets for the tournament. On the way back we decided to go visit the ocean. We walked on the beach for a while and enjoyed the view, and then decided to go out and grab some Mexican food for dinner. Like everything else on this side of the world, it was pricey but good.

The next morning the weather was starting to warm and clear up. I went to the course to practice and to wait for Dori to finish her pro-am. I had been telling everyone that I really wanted to go bungee jumping during my time in New Zealand. Dori said she was not sure she could get herself to do it, but that she would accompany me. So that day I rented a car, which was probably built in the 1990s and had over 80k miles on it, but it got us from A to B. The drive was beautiful and we finally made it to Hamner Springs. When we went to check in, we saw the bridge. It was 35 meters high, aka 115 feet! We began to feel a little nervous, especially after signing the release form. Dori said she would do it too, under the condition that I went first. We surprisingly walked calmly to our doom..I mean the bridge. When we got there, we were greeted by the guys running the show who were able to calm our nerves and get our full body harnesses on. Once we were suited up and all the safety checks were into place, I walked to the edge.

It suddenly hit me what I was about to do. He started to count down and I stopped him and told him to give me a second. During that time I said a quiet prayer to myself and then he counted down....3....2....1...Bungee and I jumped!! I can't explain the feeling but I had no control and just prayed that the rope was going to keep me alive. I think I held my breath the entire way down because I didn't scream or anything until I bounced back up. It was the most intense adrenaline rush I have ever experienced in my entire life! Once I stopped swaying, a boat came over to pick me up and take me to shore. I then waited at the bottom for Dori. I was a little unsure that she was actually going to do it, but I was wrong! She even got a running start for her jump! Afterwards we collected our certificate and our shirt, and we headed home, still high on such a rush. We could not stop yelling out, "that was awesome!" for 45 minutes. When we got back home we were worn out from the day. That was one thing I could finally check off of my bucket list! Dori also captured the jump on video and I posted it on my facebook or you can email me to see it! I then had dinner with Bruce and his wife and I headed to bed. 

With all this adrenaline I am sure to tee off with a 500 yard drive tomorrow! 

Cyclones!

At the start of Monday morning I headed to my friends, the Strongs, house to drop off my car for two weeks while I would be at the Gold Coast and New  Zealand. I was constantly hearing reports about bad storms hitting all around the Gold Coast before my departure, but I checked my flight and everything was in the clear. When I arrived at the airport it was a madhouse! There were lines everywhere because apparently all of the flights had been cancelled for the day. I stood in line for two hours and was able to book another flight in the morning, and they provided me a hotel for the night. It was raining cats and dogs outside and was such a hassle to make it to the hotel shuttle. By the time I made it, I was soaked and ready to be somewhere dry. When I finally got checked in to my room, I went downstairs to grab lunch with some other golfers, as many like me were stranded as well. After lunch, I headed back to my room to enjoy the lazy rainy day. 

The next morning I made sure I was up bright and early to head to the airport and immediately started praying that my flight was still happening because Sydney was supposed to have the bad weather that morning. I was so happy to hear that my flight was still on and I would be in the Gold Coast before lunch.

After my quick flight, I arrived at the Gold Coast to an Aussie volunteer holding a sign with my name on it. We took a short ride along the coast to the hotel. All of the lights were out the entire way to the hotel, as well as scattered debris and ripped up trees lined the roadways as a result of the cyclones. I met Dori and Jennie at the hotel and then we headed to the course to scout it out. The course was closed because it was under water!

After we registered, I headed back to the hotel to rest. When the other Jenny arrived, we decided to stay in and cook; it was nice to see everyone and catch up. We woke up the next morning to play a practice round, but the courses were closed again because it was raining again. All that we were able to do was walk the course and use the range. After walking the course and getting pseudo "notes" (we weren't allowed to hit any shots...), we headed home. 

When we got home and were hanging out, we thought we saw a massive killer whale in the ocean!! We started freaking out and Dori grabbed her phone and started to film the whale. I then grabbed my range finder to check it out up close. To our dismay we found out it was simply a huge tree trunk. We all died laughing and could not believe we mistook a tree trunk for a whale. Afterwards we decided to go out to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. It was walking distance from our place, and Ginny and her mom, and Dave met us there. After dinner we all went to bed because we were exhausted. 

In the morning, Dori and Jennie were playing in the pro am and Jenny and I were going to practice. Once again we woke up to rain and decided to sleep in a bit. We made some breakfast and headed down to Starbucks to use the free WIFI. After we caught up on the net we headed down to the course to finally get in some practice. After our "practice sesh" we grabbed dinner and spent another easy night in the condo and rested before our early tee times in the morning. 

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY!