Post Three

Saturday April 3rd
I forgot to mention that our shooting practice was enhanced yesterday by the fact there is a bush area behind one of the goals and we were reminded that snakes may be about, be careful retrieving that ball! No training this morning as the boys were a little stiff and sore from yesterday’s game. We will be having practice at 7am for the next two days before breakfast and then heading off to the theme parks. Today we went to Harbour Town, a large outlet style shopping centre and to my surprise the boys spent very little. Anu probably purchased the world’s worst looking sunglasses although he assures me they were a good deal at $5; you certainly wouldn’t have wanted to pay more. After two hours in the maze of stores we headed to Surfer’s Paradise where it appears a large percentage of the population were as well. After we had to wait at the parking building because the 4wd in front had to take his surfboard off to fit under the height restriction we were all set to hit Surfer’s. The sea conditions weren’t ideal with messy waves and a strong undertow. A lot of people were happy to relax on the sand and take in the view. Jono was appointed an honorary lifeguard as he kept a close eye on the ‘swimmers’ on the beach and not in the water. After a mix of window shopping, street entertainers (including the always present stand still man) and swimming, the boys ended up in Timezone where they mastered the art of putting tokens into a revolving shelf to try and knock other tokens off before putting them all back in anyway. Apparently there was a point to this. They even encountered an expert ‘tokener’ who entertained with stories of how much he had won. All was not lost for me as I discovered a pinball machine I hadn’t played before, Big Buck Hunter Pro, part of my world wide quest of playing every pinball machine there is. I give it the thumbs up. After making our way home the boys organised themselves for their own practice and washed their own practice gear! They are entertaining themselves until the big game tonight.