1) We watched cricket.
Cricket. When I hear the word I think of a bug, something that I dissected in my 8th grade bio class. But no, here in Australia cricket is one of the most popular sports along side of rugby and football (aka soccer). Australian's obsession with cricket has always been and will remain a mystery to me. At first I thought it was because I was unfamiliar with the game and didn't know the rules, so I had my English roommate explain it to me one day when he was intently watching a match on TV. What I cam to understand was this: cricket is sort of, kinda like American baseball except one game takes place over 5 grueling days (yes, d-a-y-s) rather than 9 short innings. There is a pitcher who throws a ball at a batter with a fat wooden bat and helmet, except unlike baseball there is no "Three strikes and you're out" rule. Technically, the batter could bat forever if the opposing team doesn't get him out. How you get "out" is a little fuzzy to me still, but I think catching a ball is one way. When a batter does hit the ball into the outfield he runs back and forth between two posts, and these count as "runs". That's basically all I have gathered. So the way I see it, if you made the posts 4 bases in the shape of a diamond and implemented a rule about balls and strikes- you would have baseball. But that's not even the point. The point is that cricket is one of the most boring sports to watch- it's on right on par with golf. Cricket is so s-l-o-w paced. I mean it takes 5 stinking whole days to finish! They have tea breaks for goodness sake. Tea breaks?! I just cannot grapple watching nothing for 5 entire days. But Olie was a huge cricket fan, and so we watched for a few hours as nothing unfolded on the screen before me. And that's it. I have nothing more to say about cricket really. I watched it. I don't get it. I vented. And I am now over it.
2) We watched Castle
On Boxing Day (Dec 26th, the day after Christmas) we went to Tash's uncle George's house for a barbie. That evening Tash insisted that we watch the movie Castle so that I would finally understand what a "bogan" was. According to Wikipedia: The film gained widespread acclaim in Australia and New Zealand, but was not widely distributed globally. Hence the reason I had never seen nor heard of the film. Well we watched it. It was about a bogan family that fights to keep their home when an airport threatens to take it to expand. I enjoyed the film, although I'm not sure I have complete clarity as to what exactly a bogan is. Still, if you are curious I encourage you to rent or legally download the film for your viewing pleasure. Maybe then you will have some understanding as to what I'm poorly trying to talk about.
3) We went to the Big Banana
Fun Fact: Australia has over 150 BIG "things" (I guess you could call them statues or monuments?) erected across the country for tourists to see. For some odd reason, Australians are obsessed with taking any aussie-related object they can think of and building it as large as they can. You can visit the Big Avocado, the Big Axe, the Big Beer Can, the Big Spider, the Big Trout, the Big Wine Bottle, the Big Boxing Crocodile, the Big Golden Gumboot, the Big Macadamia Nut, the Big Mango...I think you get the point. On Monday we went to see the Big Banana. I had been looking forward to this the entire time in Coffs because a) I love bananas, I mean really really love them and b) it is such a quirky, unusual thing to do. Do you know anyone with a picture in front of a ridiculously large banana (asides from me now)? I certainly do not. Basically we went, took a pic in front of the banana, wandered through the banana souvenir shop and ate a chocolate covered frozen banana, but as the sign outside the Big Banana read, it was "a whole bunch of fun!"
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| Tash & I at the Big Banana |
4) We went fishing for crabs
On my final evening in Coff's Harbor, Josh and Craig took Tash and I out to go fishing. (Side note: The Aussies love how I pronounce the name Craig. I don't know about you, but when I say Craig it rhymes with Greg. When they say Craig, they emphasize the 'a' sound much more strongly). The main goal was to drop two crab nets into the ocean water in the hopes of catching mud crabs to take home and gaily consume. First, we hopped in a large green canoe and paddled through an enclosed area of the ocean until we reached an "island" where we could get out and fish. I say "island" because the tide was so high that the entire land mass was under water. So, we carried on in the canoe looking for the perfect places to drop the crab traps. Then we returned back to the wanna-be-island where the tide had lowered slightly and attempted to fish. This proved unsuccessful and we returned to the house empty handed. The following morning Craig and Josh went to retrieve the crab traps and found to their dismay that they were empty. Despite the failed fish and crabbing attempt, it was fun to take part in this favorite past time activity of my host family.
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| The canoe, fishing gear and team |
1 comment:
I think you should build the BIG "MO-vember" mustache and charge people to come see it. It could have a spot for people to stand and have their picture taken while it looks like they're wearing it! You could become an Aussie institution. (or end up "in" an Aussie institution.) Have a BIG time.
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