A Rugby Game, a dance class, and chocolate

Gold Coast Titans vs Parramatta Eels

Rugby Match

Skilled Park is located in Robina which was a 20 minute drive north west of here. Tommy and Jenny dropped us off on the way to their Benihana dinner in Surfers. The stadium was really nice. It was much smaller than our NFL stadiums and much cleaner. There was only 1 floor and the concessions consisted of 2 vendors: one that said Bar for drinks and one that said Food for food. Sauces cost 20 cents extra, only salt was free. We figured out the local bus system on the way home which an experience in itself!

The yellow shirts were the Eels from Sydney and the light blue shirts are the Gold Coast Titans which was our Team!!

We had pretty good seats, we were upper section on the side. The end zone had cheaper seats but we wanted to get some perspective since this sport is new to us.
They had the signs in the seats for free. A "try" we soon learned was a score!!! The final score was the Titans 32 and the Eels 12. It was a great game.
We were lucky that the guy who sat next to Mikey claimed to have played Rugby with some of the Eels growing up and had to quit due to injury. He enlightened us on this sport which really made the game exciting to be a part of. The team that is driving gets 6 possessions. They have to pass it backward in their hands and can kick it forward, also they must kick it on their last possession. If the ball is caught in the end zone like in the NFL it is 4 points and then they kick a field goal for 2 extra points. They can kick it through the goal post on their last possession for 1 point which would be like the NFL field goal. The tackling is awesome and hard hitting. Our NFL players could take a few tips on these tackling efforts. The game hardly stops, much like soccer. There are two 40 minute halfs and one 10 minute intermission. By the end of the game we were the Titans biggest fans and will definitely go to more games since we will be missing our Football season:( Also it was our 6 month anniversary and what better than to be at an Australian Rugby match.

Paradise Performers Academy

This studio was where I took my first dance class in Australia. The studio was located in Mermaid Beach near Surfers Paradise, a 25 minute drive. I signed up the for the Adult Jazz Class from 10:30-11:30 Thursday morning. The studio was in a warehouse making the studio nice and spacious with high ceilings. It was a one roomed studio with a nice outdoor waiting area. I was among 6 other adults who were a good bit older than I. We started out with an aerobic standing warm up including plies, isolations, lunges, and flat backs. We then moved to the floor with some sit ups, push ups, and stretching. It was your standard classic jazz warm up. We then went across the floor with a pirouette combination. It was interesting to prepare into the turn with 3 kick ball changes and a pirouette instead of the pas de bourree. We then did leaps and a side pas de bourree short combination in a square. A fun energetic combination brought the class to an end. It felt good to move and experience the dance community in another country. All the other students were really friendly accepting me right into the mix of things. I have to say that though it was not too difficult of a class, it never fails that I am SORE after not dancing for a few weeks. I am looking forward to more dance experiences in Melbourne and Sydney!

Chocolate Treats

Tim Tam's are a chocolate cookie with a soft filling almost like an oreo. We have been experimenting with as many different chocolate selections as we have the chips. The Tim Tam is pretty popular among the household. Others we have tried include the Bueno, which is 2 sticks with 4 pockets of chocolate filled with a hazelnut cream and wafer. The Vault is your standard snickers, though the caramel is not quite as soft as in the snickers. There is also the Devo, which is a direct descendent of the twix. The local bakery knows Mikey and Tommy by name for their purchase of the meat pies and sweet treats!

Love

Kristen