My
first full week in Australia is drawing to a close. I am still trying
to get “settled” in but have a feeling that won’t happen until I am in
my more permanent housing and have more of
my things here. Works is going well so far, lot of projects to managed
and of course a lot of new products to learn, but all is good there.
It was really odd not having something to do on Monday night. I can’t
remember the last Monday I didn’t go to “bar
night”, have a baseball game, or was out of town. I did go to a local
pub after work but was definitely missing my Monday Night Crew.
Tuesday
and Thursday I had baseball training. I also can’t remember the last
time I went to a real organized baseball practice as a player. It has
been at least ten years, either in college
playing in an adult league or maybe even my senior year of high
school. The baseball leagues (and all the sports) are different down
here as it seems every town has a club with multiple teams. I am
playing for the Newport Rams Seniors teams. They are a
division 1 club in the Victoria Baseball League and have 4 senior teams
based on ability. I am one of the “old” guys as most of the players
are in their teens and early 20’s, but they have me on their 2nds team
for the first game on Sunday…I assume cause
they needed a catcher. They also have a bunch of U14 and U12 junior
teams and one women’s team.
On
Wednesday, the other Clemson alum in Melbourne and her husband had me
over for dinner after work. She cooked a great meal of fennel and lemon
risotto with whole wheat bread crumbs and toasted
pumpkin seeds. It was great to chat with someone about Tiger Town, the
Esso club, and running down the Hill while in Australia. We are
planning a “big” watch party for the Clemson vs. FSU game, as that game
should be on sometime mid-morning Australia time.
Yesterday, I drove along the east side of the bay to a place called Mornington it is a cool little town right along the bay. The drive was awesome with lots of scenic places along the way. I didn't take many pictures but will probably visit there again when I have more time as it's only about an hour and a half away.