Saturday, March 03, 2007

Two More Courses and a Random

I have spent a lovely two days with my friend Mark at his family's vacation home in Anglesea, a city on the Great Ocean Road. We drove down to Anglesea almost as soon as Mark got home from work Thursday early evening. We haven't seen each other since my last visit here, and we're getting very excited for our big adventure in Azerbaijan so we had lots to talk about. Yesterday we went on a little road trip to Lorne, and Mark gave me a lesson in coffee. Don't worry... I didn't drink the stuff. We wandered the streets and had a look at the surf. I was a little nervous to have my first surf lesson in front of such a large crowd, so we hopped in the vehicle and drove a bit closer to Anglesea.

I had a quick lesson in the sand... how to "pop" up on the board when you're riding the wave. I did a few practices, and then we were out in the water. On my first attempt I was able to kneel on the board and ride the wave! I was able to get on my knees on the board another time, and then we realized his board needed some repairs and that was the end of my first surfing lesson.

We grabbed some chicken souvlaki for lunch at ate on a bench in town, and as I was telling Mark some story from Antarctica, I looked up and a guy who worked in Carpenter Shop Supply walked by me - for you Ice people, it was Chris (long dark ponytail, tall guy). I just kind of stared and pointed at first. Mark told me to go up and talk to him but since we'd never been formally introduced on the Ice, I didn't know if it would be awkward or not. Then finally I saw him sitting in a restaurant with his girlfriend and he looked shocked when he saw me. I went in and asked him what brought him to Anglesea. Turns out they were just driving the Great Ocean Road and happened to stop in Anglesea for lunch!! What a coincidence!! Mark couldn't believe it! But now he realizes why I didn't want to spend much time in New Zealand surrounded by Ice people.

Last night, Mark's girlfriend Jess, Mark's brother Dave and his girlfriend Nessa, all made the trip to Anglesea. We made up a big dinner and had a few drinks and lounged around. I got the third degree on life in Antarctica and was bombarded with questions; a few times I was really overwhelmed with which question to answer first. But it was a great night.

Today all five of us went out to the beach to play a little cricket and attempt some more surfing. We made a cricket field with two bodyboards as wickets and using a bat and tennis ball, we each took turns batting, fielding, and bowling (similar to pitching in baseball). After a few turns at the bat, we decided to try our luck at catching some waves. Luckily, the other girls are still learning to surf too, but they were all surprised that I was already riding on my knees! The waves stopped coming in big enough to ride, so we went home and had lunch.

Posted by Katie from the Ice @ 6:09 PM