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