Andrew's Diaries

The USAFL is delighted to announce that James Andrew Lamont (Andrew) of the Golden Gate Roos has been selected for the Macquarie Scholarship.  Congratulations, Andrew, we know you will represent the USAFL well and are sure your time in Australia will be an exciting and demanding one.

We asked Andrew to put down his thoughts on being selected.  Here is his response:

“Finding out that I had been selected for the Macquarie Scholarship was indescribable. For the last 3 years I have been dreaming of getting a chance to go play in Australia and explore the county side. I thought I had a small shot at this scholarship and with the help of my teammates worked as hard as I could to give myself the best shot. When I was told that I had been chosen I was shocked and overjoyed and couldn't wait to tell my friends and family.

Thanks to US Footy and Macquarie for this great opportunity. I am honored to carry on the tradition of excellence to Australia and I can’t wait to have a kick with my new team.”
Andrew Lamont
Marin Mavericks. 

We look forward to reading their exploits on the USFooty web site – www.usfooty.com.

Paul “Plugger” O’Keeffe
Chairman
Selection Committee  

My Name is James Andrew Lamont, most people know me as Andrew. Going along in true Aussie flavor my footy team mates have adopted the name "Lammers".

I am 23 years old and I currently attend California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) in Monterey, CA. I am pursuing a B.A. in liberal learning with an emphasis in outdoor recreation.

My footy career began 3 years ago when my Australian room mate here at CSUMB introduced me to the game. We were both runners on the school cross country. I was getting a bit burned out with the sport so he convinced me to come and have a kick with the Golden Gate Australian Football Club in their metro league San Francisco Bay area. I played my first game in the summer of 2004 for the Marin Mavericks and was immediately hooked on the game. The free flowing, aggressive and athletic style of the game compared to nothing I had ever experienced before and I immediately became a fan and a player for life. The boys of the GGAFL were some of the top blokes I have ever met and I learned fast. I earned myself the GGAFL Rising Star award in my first season.

The 2005 season was another great year - the Marin Mavericks took home the GGAFL title and more importantly the Golden Gate Roos took home the USAFL Div II National Title. It was after this season that many of my friends in the club opened my eyes to the idea of playing for the Revolution and possibly even going to have a kick in Australia.

I was lucky enough to play with the Revolution in Los Angeles in January 2006 and, more importantly, meet Swans and Roos players including Barry Hall and Adam Goodes. It was an awesome experience that taught me to play with much more confidence.

The 2006 season was by far the best so far; I had a blast and was lucky enough to take home the honor of Golden Gate AFL Best and Fairest for 2006. This scholarship has been the pinnacle to a wonderful season and I want to thank all the people too numerous to name who helped me get there.

Andrew' Diaries.....

Week 1  January 31 - Feb. 3
After a massive last minute effort to pack all my things with out taking too much, I was off to San Francisco for an overnight flight to Sydney. Having been busy all week leading up to the day I left, the realization of what an awesome chapter of my life I was about to begin had been slow to set in but once I had cleared the intense scrutiny at the boarding gate and got on my plane I suddenly opened my eyes to the idea and was quite exhilarated. I was lucky enough to procure an exit row seat and was quite happy to have the extra leg-room for the trip.

After stowing my bag and taking my seat I was eager to see who I would be sitting next to for the 14 hour plane ride. I lucked out and my trip mate turned out to be a very nice lady from Canberra who was returning from her first time in the US and her first time out of Australia. We shared many stories and she joked with me about the slang I needed to learn and sites I needed to see once I was settled in Sydney. The flight was rather uneventful; I was actually able to sleep for a good while and just as my legs were trying to convince my body to start a mutiny on the plane the captain announced that we would be landing shortly and that it was a windy 25 degrees on the ground. After finally getting my bags and convincing the man at the baggage claim that the bag with the skateboard attached to it was actually mine I whisked through customs and met up with the driver taking me and two other students to Macquarie.

The driver was an absolute cracker of a character, part time airport bus driver, part time solicitor and head of a world competition-travelling Aussie barbeque team. He was very laid back and friendly and tried the whole ride to convince me to be his assistant at a future Jack Daniels cook- off in the States. I made no promises but I have his card, so we will see. He dropped me off at Macquarie University Village, an awesome spot that will be my home for the next 5 months. I am in an apartment with 5 rooms. The first day went very smoothly, all of my paperwork had been taken care of and my main goal was to meet my advisor and get the lay of the campus. The campus is a very beautiful area full of many grassy areas bordered by tall tress with the school buildings set amongst them. I made my way over to the International Students building and met my advisors who have and will be helping me immensely. They were very cool and have helped me get the classes I want and an internship with a local outdoor-rec program. It was quite a productive day and with my first practice the next day I hit the sack pronto.

I awoke the next day to rain outside and proceeded to be lazy all day to get over the jet lag and rest up for the first practice that evening. Since I couldn't wait to get started at practice I got there early to see what the field was like. What an awesome spot, after 3 years of playing on random fields in the US it is quite a reward to finally get to train and play on a true oval. A few of the blokes had turned up early as well and I went over and introduced myself to them and met the assistant coach who was filling in for the day and some of the boys. We started off by doing a few laps and more and more guys showed up and when practice began we had about 30 guys plus some of the under 18's. My goal in getting to Sydney so early was to be able to get in some pre-season training and be in good form when the season begins. This was only the 4th practice so I was glad I had showed up early. The coach introduced me to all the boys and they were all very friendly and helpful. I have no idea how I will keep track of all the nicknames (kinky, spaz, etc.) but I will try.

Friday was another long rainy day that I spent mostly organizing my stuff in the apartment and planning my itinerary for my foray into proper Sydney downtown the next day. Saturday was a brilliant sunny day and by 7.30 the absolute concerto of bird activity outside had convinced me to get up for a run. I jogged over to the athletic fields to see if I could find any trails to run on and as luck would have one I found a single track trail heading off into the bush. I immediately felt thrown into the wild as the brush surrounded me and all other sound were drowned out by the incredibly loud rhythmic humming off what i am guessing are crickets or cicadas. After about 10 minutes of jogging down the side of a small valley i burst onto a small road with a welcoming sign to Lane Cove National Park. I was amazed, a national park right in my back yard, definitely a find. I ran for another 20 minutes onward and was awed by the sheer beauty of the eucalyptus jungle forest and the swarm of giant sulphur crested cockatoos and other parrots that noisily squawked at my passing. The variety and activity of bird life here is amazing - unlike anything I have ever seen.

After that foray, I showered and headed to the bust stop to catch one to Sydney. Once we had negotiated the suburbs the bus began its crossing of the Harbor bridge and I was awe-struck by the view I took in. Th Opera House framed by the skyscrapers to the right and the harbor filled with more boats and ferries that I could ever have imagined to the left. I soon dis-embarked and for the next four hours took my own meandering tour by foot of the city. After taking in the George Street area I strolled through The Rocks and around to Circular Quay where I had lunch on a hill overlooking the Opera House and the bridge. I continued on to the Royal Botanical Gardens, full of sun bathers, exotic trees and birds and hundreds of squeaking fruit bats. After another stroll around the impressively modern Darling Harbor I was completely wiped and took the train back to Marsfield. What a Saturday.

Week 2   February 5 - 11 
To begin the week I had a meeting with my advisor here on campus to fill out forms for my medical coverage. When we were done he introduced me to the Internships Manager who had set up the programs for the last scholarship winners and she filled me in on the program that I would be starting with a local company in the next few weeks. The focus of my major back in California is Outdoor Recreation and Education, and Jo was happy to inform me that there were several companies in the area that I could work with.

Practices this week were very hard and the coach has been working us with a lot of running and  fitness drills. One rather intense drill was that we had to run back and forth as a team between 2 cones about 100 meters apart. While were were running the coach would blow his whistle 1, 2 or 3 times signify that we had to do either 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups or 10 leg tucks and immediately get up and keep running. After about 10 minutes of that exercise with the whistle blowing quite frequently, I was ready to throw up. The one part of practice that I am struggling with is the heat and humidity. While it doesn't really bother me fitness wise, it seems as though there is always a sheen of sweat and condensation on my hands and on the ball making marking and hand balling more difficult than I had ever experienced back in the States. It is trick but I think I am getting the hang of it.

Just before practice on Thursday, I got a call from my sister who had been in New Zealand and she told me that she would be swinging through Sydney for the weekend with some friends. Her flight supposedly arrived at the Sydney airport at 7 am meaning I would have to leave Macquarie Village at about 5.30 in the morning. After having somehow accomplishing this task half asleep, I got to the arrivals gate only to find out that she had missed her flight and would be arriving at 4pm instead. While this seemed an inconvenience at the time I went back to Sydney again for the day and actually had a good time exploring around. Finally my sister arrived. We lugged her bags back to my apartment for the night and then headed off Saturday morning to Coogee beach to meet her friends. It was a long bus ride to the beach but along the way we passed the SCG, home of the Sydney Swans and I was very excited at the prospect of catching a game there soon. Coogee beach is an awesome spot and after meeting up with our friends we had a long swim in the ocean before heading back to their apartment for a big BBQ cook up. Coogee definitely had a Californian feel to it and I hope to head back there soon. On Sunday I saw my sister off to the airport and came back home for a lazy day of watching cricket.

Week 3   February 12 - 18
Bring on the rain! I awoke early Monday morning to the sound of and absolute downpour outside. I stuck my head out the door for a moment to notice what appeared to be a wall of water coming down off the awning. It was quite intense and for the rest of the day the weather would clear for a moment or two and blue sky would peak through only to be shut out again by the next massive deluge. Later in the afternoon I was a bit bored after being cooped up all day so I went out for a run in the rain, unfortunately I came across some loose footing and rolled my ankle over quite painfully. My ankle has been a problem in the past and for a second I saw my whole footy opportunity go down the drain, however, I was still able to walk on it and I hobbled home and iced it and kept off of it the rest of the day. I was worried I would not be able to practice the next day but I bought a sturdy ankle brace and when I got to practice and jogged on it felt good so I was run and kick with the team. It is still sore every day but it feels strong and using my brace I am not having any troubles.

The practices have been getting more intense lately as out first preseason game is less then 3 weeks away. After the Thursday session I was absolutely wiped but I was happy because on Friday there was a welcoming BBQ for international students where they would have tickets for a pre-season game between the Sydney Swans and Collingwood at North Sydney Oval. I got to the BBQ early to ensure I got my hands on a ticket. I was successful and stayed around at the SAMbar and shared some beers with the new students from all over the world. Macquarie truly is an international university and besides the huge groups of American and Asian students studying here, I met people form all over. India, Norway, Turkey, Finland, Tanzania and Mexico were all among the countries represented at the welcoming BBQ.  It was a very hot day outside and the drinks were flowing freely with the students. I was having fun but I excused myself early as I wanted to get to the practice game on time and get a good seat. I jumped on a very crowded bus full of other American students and got to the oval just before the game started. Finding a spot on the grass I had a good view of the whole field and relaxed to watch the game. It was quite entertaining with many young players in the starting lineup. The Swans went ahead early and never looked back, cruising to a 15 point victory. Live AFL games amaze me with the speed of the game as well as the accuracy of the kicking and threading of handballs and I left the oval dying to play in a game of my own.

The next day the club had a beach training run set up at Manly beach and we showed up to a crowded beach, sizzling temperatures and a very intense sun. After jumping in a pool of sunscreen we started the drills, running up and down the compacted sand and stretching or doing push up on either end as we loosened up. The coach then moved us to the loose sand where we did some incredibly grueling running drills and core workouts. For some strength training we got into partners and did grappling drills trying to throw the other person down using only our upper bodies. I had to go up against the Phar lap, the ruckman and while I held my own I was completely drained of energy after the exercise. Next we had a handball game followed by the hardest drill of the day: a relay race i n the w ater where we ran from the edge of the water about 50 meters out into the waves to the coach, slapped his hand and ran back in again. This was so, so grueling trying to run in the water and after 4 laps everyone could barely stand. It was a draining but rewarding workout and after we cleaned up the coach took us out to lunch at a nearby pub. Fish and chips had never tasted so good.

The next day I woke up feeling like I had been hit with a bat and had a real easy day. That weekend everyone else in the village was moving in by the truckload and my house is now full. I am living with guy from New York, a girl from Japan, a girl from Melbourne and a girl from South Carolina. Quite a mix

Week 4  February 19-25
Monday started off the week of everyone moving in and getting to know each other. The Village here is now full (700+ students) and is bustling with activity and voices 24 hours a day. It was a rather nostalgic experience and reminded me of my freshman year back in California. I am living close to a good group of people and we have all made friends easily. Everyone is very surprised that I am here playing Aussie Rules and I have many people interested in coming to watch some of our games. I am considering asking a few people to come to practice but that is another story.

On Tuesday we started practice with some shockingly poor kicking skills and the coach absolutely let into us, making us run 400s as punishment. It was a very tough day and on top of the normal push-ups, we were required to do 3 sets of the bridge as well. The bridge is an abs exercise where you must hold yourself off the ground with your forearms and keep your stomach tight and back straight. It is incredibly hard to do and we were required to do 3 sets of one minute apiece.

I woke up the next day pretty sore but happy as I was going on a kayaking trip in Sydney Harbor organized by the Village. We took a bus to the north harbor near Manly, got set up with kayaks at a shop there. I am a very avid kayaker back home and I was hoping that the shop would let me use my own kayak. I explained my situation to the guide who understood and let me use a single fiberglass kayak. It was an amazingly beautiful day and for the next 2 hours we explored the bay and had lunch and a swim on a secluded beach away from the rental shop.

Wednesday night is college night at the local bar called The Ranch and, as it was the opening night of the semester, it was jam-packed with students. We all had a good time and had to wake up early on Thursday to attend our orientation meetings all day. Although they seemed to drag on forever, the international advisors kept us entertained and we had a few laughs especially during a meat pie eating contest. The university has many events planned for the students and it is looking as though “O” week will be quite entertaining.

Thursday was another prime example of the rapidly changing weather in Sydney. When I walked to the orientation meeting at school it was very blindingly sunny and hot with not a cloud in the sky. However, when I left the meeting four hours later, it was overcast with thunderclouds and rain. It was because of this that we had the first wet training run in the wet and I was introduced to trying to mark the ball in 100 percent humidity.

The sun burned its way through for a big weekend on Friday as there was a BBQ and welcoming function for international students down in Darling Harbor. After eating we took a bus down to the harbor and met everyone at a rather upscale bar right on the water. Darling Harbor is a small inlet right next to Sydney’s business district and it is a very modern and up market collection of bars, nightclubs, museums and restaurants all overlooking the water and Sydney’s skyline. We had a great night and I took the bus home as the Kookas team had a very important function the next day.

I got some well needed rest and headed out on a blistering hot Saturday morning to meet the team at the Epping hotel about 15 minutes from my house. Our head coach, Gary Bull (or Bully), is getting married soon and the team was out to celebrate his bucks (bachelor) party. The boys had organized a Karaoke bus, complete with TVs and microphones, to take us out to the races at Rosehill racecourse in Parramatta. I was not aware but going to the horse races is quite a social event for aussies and the fashion was quite impressive. Almost every woman at the races was decked out in a very fancy low-cut dress and they all were wearing some sort of hat or veil with feathers attached. I asked if we were there on a special occasion and the boys informed me that the attire is common place and a racecourse day is a big Australian party.  I had one stab at the horses with a 5 dollar bet and actually won so I decided to retire in the bonus. The return trip home on the karaoke bus was quite an experience and I think everyone on the trip lost their voice as the desire to sing consumed us all.

Journal Week 5 Feb 26 – Mar 4
 The sun rose brightly on Monday to single the first day of classes for the semester and thus the opening of O-week. I had my first class around lunchtime that day and I got to the campus early to check out the scene. Outside the SAM building there were around 100 tents set up all filled by various clubs and organizations from the Uni. I strolled around a little and had a chat with the bushwalking club but had to leave to get to my lecture on time. As I had expected the lecture was in an absolutely humongous amphitheater and there are probably 300 other people in the class. I did not come from a large school back home and this is something very new to me. It didn’t really bother me during the class and the teacher kept us involved enough to overcome the feeling of getting lost in the numbers.

Tuesday was much the same with lots of things happening as I walked down to class. That day the Sydney Swans had set up a booth on campus and they had a loudspeaker announcing all sorts of promotions they were having. Just as I stepped in into my classroom I heard them announce that Barry Hall would be on campus in 30 min to sign autographs. I stayed in class for 20 min and took an extended bathroom break to sprint home, get my football and get Mr. Hall to sign it. Most of the people at the event didn’t know too much about footy and he had a chuckle because I was the only one to bring a football. I was very content and returned to class to the questioning looks of the students around me.

At footy practice it was another wet, humid night and with our first practice game coming in less than two weeks, it was very intense. The numbers are still growing and we have picked up about seven or eight new blokes over the last week. Every day any new guys are asked to introduce themselves to the club, state where they have played before and give their nickname. Most usually have some sort of nickname and those that don’t have one given to them off first impressions (i.e. – mumbles).

The nickname habit of Aussies is a true original and I find it quite funny. The most common are the ones where an “o” is added to the end of a common name: Jonno, Robbo, Steve-o, etc. Other reasons nicknames are given include last names, physical attributes, drunken antics, and some that defy explanation.  Our team has quite a selection of all of the above, here are some of them: Sticks, Kinky, G-stud, Funky, Slug, Astro, Claw, Phar Lap, Smooth, Grim, Miserables, Doc, Rooster, Shagger, Banger, Razzle, Sloth, and Slime. At practice we only refer to each other by the nicknames and no one offers their real name instead. This came to a head on Wednesday night when I ran into a few of my teammates at the local pub. I was there with a large group of girls from the village and they were very keen for me to introduce them. I was happy to but realized that I had no idea what! there name was and I don’t think I helped them out very much by saying “hey Laura this is my friend Funky”.

The next day at practice the coach told us that we would be having a practice game of 3 quarters length instead of regular practice. I was excited to finally play a full size game with all the boys and I was happy they had chosen today. The coach counted off 2 equal sides told me that I would be playing ruck. The game started off well, I was playing against a tall opponent but I was winning most of the taps and jumping well. Back home in the states, my roll on the field was a ruckman/tall ruck rover. This allows me to attack the ball hard and I am frequently on the bottom of a pile trying to get the ball. During the practice game I played in the same manner and I was very tired during ha! lftime. The coach pulled me aside and told me that while he liked my energy I was going to have to change my ways if I were to be playing ruck. I should not try and get the ball as that was the job of the smaller on-ballers. This will be a change for me but it is how I can play my position to the best of my ability

Week 6     March 5 - 11
This week started off horribly for me as I came down with a massive fever late Sunday night. It had been incredibly hot all weekend long and after being out and about all weekend I felt a bit unwell Sunday afternoon. It all went down hill from there as began burning up, hallucinating, coughing generally not being a happy person. The fever slowly receded the next day but I felt a huge lack of energy for the next few days and did not go to practice that Tuesday.

Wednesday night marked the date of the study abroad harbor cruise in Sydney Harbor and I was determined to get some rest and go along. The theme of the cruise was uniforms and not being sure what to wear I decided to wear my footy uniform. Needless to say that I was wearing less clothing than most of the girls but the outfit was a hit and we headed off downtown to catch the boat right next to the Opera House. The cruise was awesome, with the boat taking us on a long loop around the harbor so we were able to see the Sydney Harbor Bridge, Anzac Bridge, Darling Harbor and the Opera House. It was an amazing sight I will not soon forget and to top everything off there were fireworks right above us to finish the cruise. It was a great night and almost everyone got into dressing up and enjoying the evening.

Thursday practice rolled around wet and cold so to top things off the coach decided that we would be having our beep test. I was assuming that this was aussie slang for fitness test and it turned out that I was only half right. It was a fitness test but the main part was running back and forth between two cones 10 meters apart. One of the fitness ladies brought out a speaker system that would beep to let us know that we should have made it to the 10 meters between cones. As the exercise wore on the beeps got faster and the trip between the 2 cones got more and more difficult. If you were late more than 2 times you were eliminated and the drill went on until there was only 1 person left standing. I would have reckoned myself a favorite but with the passing sickness I did alright but nowhere near my best so I told the coach I want another shot sometime in the future. The rest of the practice included push ups and sit up tests which were very intense and I learned that part of the reason for the intensity was that our first practice game that in 2 days had been canceled.

With the first game unfortunately canceled, the social committee of the club organized a mandatory pub crawl into at The Rocks in downtown Sydney. I met up with quite a few of the local boys and we had organized a bus to take us downtown at about 3 pm. We met up with the larger crew at the Australian hotel downtown and had a blast talking footy and enjoying the lovely day. Kinky, the resident social “president” informed us of the roving golf ball that could possibly end up in anyone’s drink. For this reason everyone was required to drink out of glasses and if one of the teammates was able to slip the golf ball into your drink then penalties applied. Very fun indeed. It was a great day and I think by the end we had about 60 guys show up.

Journal Week 7 March 12 – 17
I will christen this week the Aussie Good Samaritan week. Coming home from downtown on the weekend I somehow managed to forget my wallet on the bus and realized this when I got home and tried to get inside my house. I was utterly dismayed and angry at myself for the slip-up. Not sure how to get it back over the next day I heard from a friend that the Sydney Busses had a very good lost and found system and I decided to call them. Used to the usual bureaucracy of American public systems I was amazed to find a super friendly woman on the phone who went off to look and see if she had my wallet. To my amazement she came back a few moments later and told me not only did they have my wallet it was still intact and even had $60 still in it. This left me quite stunned as I am sure that the same would never happen back in the States. I quickly hopped on a bus down the depot and was given my wallet back. 

That was by far the best highlight in a week full of heavy rains and for the second week in a row, a canceled practice match. Despite the lack of an opponent to play, our practices have had good intensity and the numbers have been very high up. Another good sign was that the cricket team had finally finished their season and after weeks of waiting we can finally start playing on the pitch in the middle of the field.  I cannot wait as the field will soon be marked out and the goals erected, turning our oval into a proper footy ground.

The coming of Saturday meant it was St. Patty’s day and the city was a bustle with everyone wearing green and getting ready to party. Val, good friend of mine form my home town had arrived in Sydney and I took off downtown to meet him and go on a pub crawl around the different Irish pubs of Sydney. It was a very crazy day with many Australians doing their best drunken Irish impressions.  There were no dull moments, we had a blast and on the bus ride home I ran into just about everyone from the village I live in so it was a singing bus ride all the way back to campus.

That Sunday marked the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. For the daylong celebration the city had closed to bridge to all automobiles and opened it for everyone to walk across. I had been talking to my internship supervisor and he invited me to come with him and his family as he had reserved an extra few spots at 4 pm. We met up and took the train down to Milson’s Pt. which is just at the north end of the bridge. The train was absolutely jam packed and when we got out there were thousands heading towards the entrance to the bridge. We joined the fray and received the free neon green hats that were given out to everyone. Looking ahead there was a sea of people all wearing green hats, a rather surreal sight to behold. The crossing was very memorable with the arch rising dramatically above me and speakers blaring music and news clips from events over the last 75 years. As we neared the southern end of the bridge the Australian Air Force had a fly-over of four F-111’s and it brought the crowd to a crescendo. After the walk had finished I stuck around with one of the other internship students and we watched the night time light show on the bridge. Once darkness hit I wasn’t sure what was going to happen but soon a misty haze started to descend from the bridge as hundreds of barrels of gum leaves were lit in an Aboriginal cleansing ritual. Soon, bright blue red and yellow light were colorfully lighting up the arch of the bridge to the rhythm of some very atmospheric music. Not the crazy exploding fireworks that I would have expected for an Aussie birthday but very powerful nonetheless.

Journal 8 - March 19 -25
I went down to the University Oval on Monday afternoon and was greeted by a wonderful sight - the goals had been set up and the oval marked out for official games. It was an awesome sight and I cannot wait to have our first game. After four years of playing on hastily converted fields in the States, it is a great feeling to be a five minute walk away from your own full size oval.

While this trip has been a huge adventure for me, I am actually not the only member of my family who has made the jump across the big pond. My younger sister Daisy is studying at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland and has been on my case for a while to come up and see her.  Over the last weekend we had a chat and I decided to fly and see her for the coming weekend. I was excited to finally get to visit her in tropical North Queensland and explore Townsville and Magnetic Island.

The week went by fast and practice has been great. On Tuesday we had a 3 quarter practice match using the whole field which was awesome. I played in the ruck for most of the game and won a good percentage of the taps to my rovers. It was great practice to play the whole field and have a real game but I cannot wait for a match against another team as we are all a bit tentative on the tackling so not to injure one another. On Thursday we learned that one of the previously cancelled practice games had been reset for that weekend at the last minute. I was a bit frustrated that I would be missing our first practice match but I stuck with my plans to go see Daisy.

I arrived at Sydney airport at 5 am Friday morning to realize that I would be sharing the plane with the Sydney Roosters, a professional Rugby League team from the area. The flight was quick and before I knew it I was walking out into the tropical warmth and humidity of Townsville. Daisy met me at the airport and drove me back to her new apartment right on the Strand, a beautiful beachfront esplanade that runs the length of the Townsville beach. Her house is a 5 minute walk from the beach and a ten minute walk from the downtown area full of bars and restaurants. The beach is very picturesque with the super calm water running away with Magnetic Island on the horizon. Unfortunately, at this time of year it is all a mirage of sorts as one must only swim in enclosed netting due to the danger of stingers and sharks.

The next day we took advantage of free BBQ grills on the strand to have a cook up and enjoy the super hot and sunny weather. Supposedly Townsville gets around 300 days of sun a year and after sizzling in the heat for the second day in a row I definitely believe it. After we ate Daisy had to go to work but introduced me to her friends who would be taking me to the Rugby league match between the Roosters and the Cowboys.

Being that I was from Sydney I was supplied with the Rooster's colors in order to support them. Upon arriving at the stadium to 15,000 screaming Cowboy’s fans, I wasn’t sure I should have taken their advice. Luckily for me the Townsville side smashed Sydney by 40 points and I was left alone.

The next day Daisy had to work again and I decided to take the ferry out to Magnetic Island for the day to go hiking and exploring. Magnetic Island is a large vacation spot/national park/hippie hang-out 8 kilometers off shore from Townsville. I arrived to a beautifully hot day and crystal clear blue skies. I picked up a trail map form the store and decided to take a 5 hour hike through the National Park in the middle of the island. I set off into the hot and noisy Australian jungle psyched to be out of civilization for a while. It was a beautiful hike that took me through the amazing bush land and incredibly rugged rocky terrain. I crossed one of the higher parts of the island and saw many picturesque vistas. It was a great day and I finished the week with a big Queensland steak and hit the sack earlier for my flight back to Sydney.

Journal Week 9 March 26 – April 1
After arriving back in Sydney from a week up in Queensland I had quite a bit of work to catch up on with my internship. I am working with a Guy named Andrew Hill who runs a recreation and sports company for kids called SportsStar. I have been typing up and researching an application for a business award with him 

At practice on Tuesday I was proud to find out from the coaches that I would be sharing ruck duty in the seniors side. I was surprised as I am about 3 inches shorter than the current ruckman but the coaches are trusting my jumping ability. On Tuesday the rovers and ruckman stayed behind and we worked on our taps and strategies for the season. In preparation for our practice match against Sydney Uni on the coming Saturday we went over a lot of our plays for kick ins and re-starts. It is interesting as we near the start of the regular season how the numbers at practice have grown steadily for the fourth straight week. We now have enough number to field full seniors, reserve and under 18’s sides.

Saturday arrived and I was very excited to jump in for my first game of the year. As it was a practice match we only played 3 quarters but it was still a blast. Due to a low turnout I played in the ruck and on the half back flank. I played well and even though the game seemed to end quickly it was great practice and it made me want to play another game the next day.

That night was the opening round of AFL for the Sydney Swans and it was a blockbuster match-up with the West Coast Eagles, a rematch of last year's Grand Final. I got tickets form the club and headed down to Telstra Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park. The area was simply crawling with people and the Olympic Stadium looked amazing in the night sky. We got inside right after the opening bounce and had great seats behind the goalpost in the Swans Members Reserve. The Eagles came out strong in the first 2 quarters and by halftime had a commanding 30 point lead. As Swans supporters we were a bit bummed but in the second half the Swans put in the effort and with 3 minutes to go they kicked a goal to get within one point. An intense 2 minutes passed with the Swans controlling but not kicking the needed point. The horn sounded and just like the Grand Final, the Eagles won by 1 point. It was an awesome game and it lived up to all the hype. I can’t wait for the rest of the season.

- Andrew Lamont
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