Off to the Races! The Sydney Carnival

This weekend I put on my best dress and hat and headed to the Sydney Carnival at the Royal Randwick to watch the horse races! Although it was raining, it did not put a damper on the excitement at the carnival. It was fashion day at the races and everyone was dressed up and the track was buzzing with excitement. After walking around and experiencing the atmosphere, we took our seats to watch the first of nine races. The 1600m Bacardi Breezer Fernhill Handicap went off at 11:50am. The winner was a horse called Darci Be Good who was trained by Bede Murray and came all the way from New Zealand. Perhaps the closest race of the day was race four. The first two horses came within a nose of each other! It was a true photo finish with Lucha Libre just barely beating Levi’s Choice. The day concluded with the 1400m Bungalow 8 Handicap. The winner was Mr. Unforgettable and his trainer Kevin Moses. All of the horses and jockeys were exceptional athletes. All in all, the day was extremely exciting! I had never been to a horse race before. It seemed to be a big cultural event that was tradition for many families in attendance. It was cool to be a part of that tradition. 

Rugby League Game

Today we went to Coogee to see our first Australian Rugby League game. Prior to today, all of the rugby games that I had seen were Rugby Union games. Today I realized how different these two variations are. In Rugby League, there are 13 players on the field for each team. The objective is still to score tries by touching the ball down past the opposing team’s goal-line. However, a try is worth four points, a goal is worth two points, and a drop goal is worth one point. In this sense, the scoring is very different from Rugby Union. Also, Rugby League is similar to American football in the sense that there are forms of “downs”. The team on offense can only be tackled six times before they have to turn the ball over to the other team. Or, the team can choose to kick the ball away after the fifth tackle is made. It was great to experience the rules we learned about in lecture, in person! Also, I really enjoyed seeing the family dynamic that was present to support the Aboriginal teams. It really highlighted the fact that in Australia, sport is a family centered, cultural tradition. Many children were there to support their dads and spent most of the time passing rugby balls and playing various sports. It was an awesome dynamic to experience!

Surfing on Sand

This weekend we went to the Gold Coast to explore a new area of Australia. We took a day trip to Moreton Island to go snorkeling and sandboarding. When we got to the island, we took a van through the forest and arrived at a large area of sand dunes. It was beautiful! We learned that Moreton Island is one of the largest sand islands in the world! We grabbed our boards (long, narrow pieces of wood) and climbed to the top of a really large, steep sand hill. Once we were at the top, we were given pieces of wax, similar to waxing a surfboard or snowboard, and told to cover the bottom of the boards. It was necessary to wax the boards before each ride down the hill so that the wood would glide smoothly over the sand. Once we did that, we were given instructions to lay down on the board and use our arms to pull up the front to create a sled shape. Then, we were pushed down the hill for our first ride. I was surprised at how fast we got going! It was such a thrill! After a few more rides, I attempted to go down standing up. This was much more similar to snowboarding and surfing and a much bigger challenge. Balance was extremely important and it took a lot more concentration and athletic ability. It was such a unique new sport to try! I was able to use some of my experience surfing and snowboarding to get the hang of it. However, it was still very different and was an awesome new Australian sport challenge.