Surfing Torquay & Jan Juc

A couple of weeks ago we got our first pay packet in Australia and spent it wisely - two brand spanking new surfboards from the famous Zak Surfboard Shop in Melbourne! Jen got a beautiful blue Hot Buttered short board at 6'4", 20.25", 2.5", and Joe bought a Zak fishtail 7"0, 22", 3.25". These boards are a huge step up from the boards we had previously rode (Jen 7'6" and Joe 9'2"), so we knew they would take a lot of getting used to - hopefully the excellent Australian conditions would give us a helping hand!

Since our purchase we have been taking the boards down to Torquay and Jan Juc on every spare day we have had! We've had some great conditions and some of the biggest waves we have ever surfed in. In such conditions you have to learn fast otherwise you'll spend all day getting battered by the waves. However, we both feel as though we have already made huge strides on our new boards; and we still have two months of non-stop surfing to come!

There are likely to be plenty more surf pictures in the next two months as we head up the east coast so keep logging in to check out our progress!

Aussie Rules - Hawthorn Vs. Geelong

On Friday 27th March we got our first live experience of Aussie Rules aka 'footy'. It was only the second game of the 2009 season, it was under the lights of the famous MCG, an amazing 70,000 people turned up, and it was to be played between last years two grand finalists - it didn't disappoint!

As a sporting spectacle it was superb. We managed to figure out the rules quite easily and once we were in tune it was fantastic to watch. In a nutshell...the field is the size of the whole cricket oval, there are eighteen players per side on the pitch at once, each player averages well over 20km in four quarters of 25mins, it is 6 points between the centre posts, 1 point either side, you kick the ball to each other to gain a 'mark', and pass the ball by punching it to your teammates. Sound simple? Thought not!

As weird as it sounds, it's by far the most popular game in Victoria and one of the most popular in all of Australia. The MCG proved a great venue and the game finished with Hawthorn coming back from 50 points down in the 3rd quarter to narrowly lose by only 8 points at full time.

It was a great evening that started with a monster burger and a couple of beers before the game, and ended with a snooze on the train on the way home after a fantastic game of 'footy'!

Pimp My Ride!

Over the last couple of weeks we haven't been hitting the dizzy heights of travel that we had become accustomed to; but we have definitely been keeping ourselves busy! We have been working various temporary jobs in an effort to boost our funds for the remainder of our journey. Joe had a two week stint working a data entry job for the government whilst Jen has had a lot more two-three day stints doing administration in various positions.

As boring as that sounds, we have also been pimping our car out with a bed, storage units, curtains and two beautiful surfboards! On days where we haven't had work and on weekends, we have spent a lot of time at Torquay and Jan Juc, two of Victoria's best surfing beaches and only an hour drive from Essendon (the suburb of Melbourne where we're living) - see later posting for pictures etc.

We have had a great time here in Melbourne where we have been able to recharge our batteries and take stock of all the amazing places and experiences we have had so far. We're now looking forward to getting back on the road at the beginning of April to continue our travels all along the east coast of Australia.