Apparently I Like Baseball

For some reason I’ve finally taken an interest in sports, after a 24 year reign of hatred and content. We have been unable to conduct the survey for the last 3 days due to severe weather, and probably won’t be back on the water until the weekend. So to pass the time I’ve been sitting very comfortably on the couch with Amy (from Michigan) and Zeus watching the post season playoffs in preparation for the World Series at the end of the month. I think I avoided baseball and all other sports for so long because I thought I wasn’t strong or confident enough to play, but I’ve finally realized it doesn’t matter. It’s all about the hotdogs, expensive cheap beer, and hanging out with friends. I think watching baseball reminds me of those summer nights going to Danny my dickhead brother’s games and eating artificial cheese, perhaps it helps ease some of the homesickness that creeps in and out. My favorite memory is watching grandma John’s get tossed out of one Danny’s game because she didn’t agree with the umps call; mind you this was a little league game. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch some of the World Series before I’m back on the road (well actually back up in a plane). Looks like the Giant may make it in, although I’m told they won’t get past the Phillies.

For the daily surf report, the swell has been pumping lately. A few days ago I caught the longest wave of my surfing career; it must have gone on for at least a minute. It was a difficult paddle out, with huge walls of white water that completely swept me off my board and held me under for some time. The current was so strong that you had to continuously paddle in order to remain in the take off zone. Sit on your board for too long and you’d either drift back into the walls of white water, or end up too deep for the waves to feel the bottom. I spent a good 30 minutes paddling, and waiting patiently for a wave with no one on it. Right when I was about to give up in frustration, my wave finally came. I picked it up at the corner at Boiling Point, rode it through the section at The Cove, past First Point, and continued all the way to the surf club beach (also known as Main Beach). It was well worth the wait, and an amazing ride. My legs where actually starting to get sore from standing. Best of all, no one dropped in on my face this time…bonus.

We have just over a week left before this project ends. I may stick around in Noosa for a few extra days and catch as many waves as I can, before my month of hell and no surf starts. The most updated plan is to head back to Mackay and work another shift on the coal trestle for 6 days. From there I will have a few more days to explore before I’m flown to Perth for a 3 day training course for my next job in Western Australia (WA). The WA project well begin sometime in mid November, and will carry my through mid December. The work will be on an offshore island, I will talk about the details later.

The photos are of a Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo (noisy birds that remind me of dinosaurs) taken outside my house at Jabiru, and the view from atop Emu Mountain (where I’ve been spending most of my time on the Scan Team).

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