Hey World!

After 3 flights, 4 airports, 10 hours of sleeping, 17 hours of sitting on a plane and 30 hours of traveling….I arrived in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia.

I was greeted at the airport by England’s Dan Oliver, who works at Stoney’s, and he took me to Stoney Park. This is where I am staying, training and it is the site for the 2012 Australian Open. Jason Stone developed the park in the early 2000’s. There are 2 man made water ski lakes; both lakes have a ramp and the front lake even has a few wakeboard obstacles. One of the lakes runs north south and the other east west; so one lake is always skiable. They also offer housing. You can rent a bunkhouse, two different types of cabins or even camp. Over the years, many world class skiers have trained here and called Stoney’s home. Most notably Karina Nowlan and Jacinta Carroll.

The weather is pretty hot. I’m guessing it is in the high 80s to low 90s with some humidity. Feels a little bit like Florida. I have to make sure I am drinking enough water so I don’t get dehydrated. Since we are close to the beach, there is a breeze that comes in around 3 or 4pm each day. So it does cool off in the evening due to the breeze. I’m enjoying sitting on my porch, or as Aussies say it…my verandah, as I write this post.

Today was my first full day here in Australia. I was able to hang out and ski with one of my Australian friends, former world record holder, Master’s Champion and fellow HO skier, Karina Nowlan. Less than 2 months ago, Karina married Cam Kochorek of Canada. They are both great people and I’m really happy for them. I asked her how married life was and she said, Everything is the same, things haven’t really changed. She said it was hard leaving Cam back home in Canada for a month though. Karina made the trip back home to where she grew up to train for the Aussie Open and Moomba Masters. She has only been on the water for 5 days but she is already running up the rope and starting to get back into the swing of things. We are excited that we are able to get some training in together. We plan on pushing each other as we get ready for the upcoming events.

Today, I also had my first kangaroo sighting. Not the best picture since I was afraid to get too close. I plan on taking a few days to travel while I am here. I hear there are some pretty cool beaches near the lake that I must see. Continue to check the site for more updates from down under!

I will leave you with my view from tonight. This is the beautiful Australian sunset!! Enjoy!