Australia First Days

Wednesday
The 6am landing and shakedown through customs ended with us meeting up with Adam and Chris. They caught us up with their adventures from the past week in Melbourne. The highlights included teaching a clinic to the eventual 3 man winners who defeated a team of Nikky Cuba and Ollie Lang to win it, as well as a “footy” game along with 90,000 other screaming fans. Bells beach and the great Ocean drive were spectacular as well. They capped off their time in Melbourne with an all night 800k ride to pick us up. After some time flailing around the city getting lost we check into our hotel and grab a delicious breakfast of eggs tomatoes, mushrooms, tea and toast. After getting a decent map we take off around Sydney to check out the iconic Opera House and the neighborhood “the Rocks”. A great Mediterranean dinner in Darling Harbor and we pass out early after a big day.

Thursday
Waking up at 6 am with a bit of jet lag I crush a breakfast of sausages, eggs, hashbrowns, tea and toast. A bit of scouting around the Central train station to familiarize myself with the extensive, excellent Australian public transportation, and I head back to the hotel to wake the guys and head out of the Blue Mountains. A 90 minute drive ends with us high up at Echo Point looking out onto the iconic 3 sisters.

We struggle through a hike and head off to the petting zoo to hang out with some kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, and Tasmanian devils. We head back into town and have a great meal at the Japanese restaurant Musashi. Fresh sushi and melt in your mouth Wagyu beef dishes fill our bellies. We decide to explore some of the local places in our neighborhood and have a great night.

Friday
We all sleep late even the 5th guy that has to sleep on the floor, as we decided to only get one room until our Australian teammates show up this evening. A bunch of hearty breakfasts with some free Internet, and we load up the car and head to Bondi Beach. This world class surf beach has some serious waves as well as a skate park and pool beachside. We head straight from there to the field in Rouse Hill. Due to high winds Daniel and Ethans flight from Melbourne is delayed so we have to walk their spots for them. We spend a solid couple of hours walking the fields and talking with Mike from actionpaintballgames. We get a little lost on the way home but end up finding a superb Italian restaurant. Bread samplers, fresh salads, followed by lasagnas and cannelloni’s insure we will have plenty of energy for the 10 games we have to play tomorrow