Day 4: State of Origin and Infamy

I hope to one day see the Sydney sun. Today was cold and wet, with rain coming down from sun-up until the sun set. Seems as though I bring the bad weather with me. Again, this would be the occasion for a sad face.

Today I got to sit on the skills training for a pair of Open Water Diver hopefuls. We began the morning in the pool, with Cem teaching skills and yours truly observing from the sidelines. As I progress in my training, I'll be more involved with the teaching process, but as it was my first day, I watched from the sidelines. There's a great deal to be learned from observing though, so I took in all I could. All the while, rain poured down, but as it was a heated pool we were saved from the discomfort of the heavens' deluge.

Once the pool skills were finished, we had a brief lunch, then headed off to the river for the first open water dive these new divers would experience. Unfortunately the cold was too much for Heather, one of our divers. Jan, the other Open Water-hopeful managed to tough out the twenty minute river dive, despite the rather cold temperature. I was pleasantly surprised by the coral formations in the river, which were host to several different species of fish. I'm a bit slow at learning the names of the fish, but I saw another cuttlefish, and what I believe to be a ton of very small jellyfish.

After spending a few soaking hours in the dive shop, I got home, scarfed some dinner, and managed to dry my clothes enough to head down to the pub. Tonight was the first game of State of Origin, a game of rugby equivalent to the American Super Bowl. The teams were essentially North against South, the New South Wales Cockroaches v. Queensland Cane Toads. I'm in NSW so the cheering was mostly for the Blues, although Queensland managed to steal the win for game 1. I left before the finish of the game, so I missed the despair that afflicted the rest of the pub. Here's to hoping the Cockroaches can pull it out for the next two of three.

Off to bed now, another three dives await me tomorrow.

Go Blue!,
Robert

Day 3: Into the Briny Shallow and Accidental Feats of Strength

I was up today before the sun, which I fear will soon become commonplace for me. I've vowed to never use an emoticon in the hallowed pages of this humble travel blog, but if I were to debase myself in such a fashion, this would be the occasion for it.

After a quick breakfast, I was ferried off to the dive shop, and just as quickly taken to the dive site. My first dives were to be on a little reef just off the path that follows the coast. My dive buddy for the day, Emma, led the way. I wasn't sure what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised. I saw half a dozen types of fish I've never seen before, including two that looked as though they could be related to Gil, of Finding Nemo fame. We quickly befriended a massive blue grouper that followed us for most of our hour long dives. As if by some miracle, he managed to upend an urchin, which became a very loud lunch for him.

Considering my luck, I've been waiting for something bad to happen on this trip. Hopefully I've used up my share of bad luck today, when the key to the truck snapped in the door, locking us out of the car for a good hour. Which normally isn't a problem, but when you're standing around in a soaking wet suit, it can be sort of a buzz kill. Eventually though, we got it sorted, and made our second dive. Pretty uneventful dive, with the exception of a school of fish that must have numbered near a thousand, and a cuttlefish or two. We surfaced after about an hour, and I was dropped at home for a much-appreciated hot shower. Relaxed the rest of the day, and ended the night having a couple drinks with Carl and "three hot chicks" hahaha.

A quick aside, I now have a roommate, an English girl by the name of Lois. We'll be in the same courses all the way through instructor certification, so I'm sure we'll soon be fast friends. But for now, it's off to bed as I have another early day tomorrow. Color me excited.

Yours in Sarcastic Early Mornings,
Robert

Day 2: "You've gotta bit of en eccent..."

Today marks the completion of 1/100th of my stay here in Sydney, so I've vowed to make the other 99 percent more eventful. This will, hopefully, make these posts more interesting. You're welcome.


I've begun making friends around the guest house, all of whom have made note of my strange take on the English language. Yeah, look who's talking, Larry. Everybody's been nice so far though. As far as I can tell, I'm one of the few young people living here, which will come in handy should I have to battle for bathroom rights. I may talk funny, but I reckon I can take most of these old guys in a footrace.

I spent most of the day walking around town, taking in Cronulla -a suburb of Sydney- about 20 miles south of the Opera House, and 42 Wallaby Way. The guest house is a five minute walk from the ocean, and a walkway follows the coast for miles in each direction, which is where I spent much of my time. Along the way are countless public parks and in a few places, they've constructed public pools that are filled by the high tide. Even more shocking was that people were actually swimming in them, joined by various seabirds, not a bottle of hand sanitizer in sight. The birds here are much more vocal than any back home, so when they gather in the trees in the evening, the sound is tremendous. Some of them have pretty colors though, so I guess I'll let the noise slide.

The weather was a bit warmer today and the sun finally appeared, which was a nice change from the clouds. I'd hoped that by some hemisphere-acle that the days wouldn't be shortened by the winter, but alas, it's pitch black by 17:30 (they use the metric system for time down here...). It's still fairly cold, but the caretaker gave me another blanket, so I think I'll live to see another morning.

Tomorrow I have my first three dives of the trip, so I'd best be getting to bed. My days will usually be starting around 6 AM, which kinda breaks my heart. But considering I'm not waking up to the Mojave Desert, I don't mind all that much.

Yours in Early Rising,
Robert

Day 1: Jetlag and the Australian Winter

If you'd have told me this time last year that I'd soon take a break Notre Dame and move to Australia to become a scuba instructor, I would have called you a liar. But since that happened, it serves as a pretty handy introduction for this blog of mine. Perhaps it's a tad cliche, but next to maps and flip flops, a good traveler should never forget their blog.

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As I write this, my internal clock is still working out the math of flying 14 hours to a time zone 17 hours ahead of California time. As far as I'm concerned, I've time traveled and Saturday May 22nd never existed. Mostly I just have a headache. Also, it's winter in Australia, and it is legitimately cold. Chalk it up to my American ignorance, but I thought it'd be warmer.

I landed in an overcast Sydney this morning and - after a little jaunt through the parade of strange people that is customs - met up with my mentor the instructor courses, Carl. After a short ride (on the wrong side of the road, I might add), we arrived at Abyss Scuba Diving, which will soon become my second home away from home. I met a few of the people I'll be working with, stored all my gear, and signed papers to promise that I won't act a fool on company time. Then off to unpack.

I'm living in a sort of hostel while I'm here, which adds to the thrill of being thousands of miles from home. I have a double room to myself at the moment, so I'm stoked on that. I'm told the rooms are co-ed, which could be interesting. Hopefully, du Lac won't judge me too harshly, should I have to room with a member of the fairer sex.

Not terribly exciting, but those are the highlights of my first day. These posts should start getting interesting soon, so bear with me. I'll leave you now with a few things I've learned about Australia so far:
-Outback Steakhouse commercials lie, it's not always warm and sunny.
-The ambulances are pickup trucks, which kinda blows my mind.
-Toilets flush the same way.
-There are far less boxing kangaroos lurking around than I thought there'd be.


Yours in Constant Kangaroo Vigilance,
Robert