Australia

Australia? Yep, I'm travelling down under to the big oval continent at the hypothetical 'bottom of the world' that is Australia this December. I received the chance to go as a result of being picked as an athlete for the International Children's Games in Lake Macquarie, which is just north of Sydney. The Games are an international, multi-sport competition, hosted by the Olympic Commitee, and are the largest multi-sport youth games in the world. I am a swimmer, so, I'll be swimming at the games. To put it into perspective, it's like the Olympics, just for youths of ages 12 to 15. There are four groups of swimmers going to the games from Canada : Kelowna, two from Ontario, and one from Quebec. 88 cities from 32 countries in total are participating, so it's a huge event!

Me swimming in Kamloops this summer at a swim meet. Believe it or not, this is the best picture I could find of myself that downloaded properly into this blog!

Bad picture aside, I am pretty proud of myself that I was able to qualify for an international competition after six years of hard work!

The games are from December 7th to the 12th, but I'm leaving for Australia on November 30th, so I have time to recover from the severe jetlag that takes a toll on you after the 17 hour flight.

Right after the ICG ( International Children's Games ) are over, I'm heading straight out of Lake Macquarie, southward to Wollongong, and I'm going on an Aussie pelagic!!! I am very, VERY excited to say the least. Who knows what could be out there? WAAL, BBAL, WCAL, WTSH, GWPE, PRPE, and BRSK are some of the possibilities. You figure out the four letter codes. ;) ( Tip - just Google any of those codes, for example "WAAL four letter code" and the answer should be in any of the links provided. ) Anyway, from there, I will embark on a chaotic three week birding roadtrip, zipping across New South Wales, ACT, and Victoria, until I leave on my return trip to Kelowna on January 8th. My goal is 270 species of bird, but I'll be happy even if I get 200 - hey, I'll be birding in glorious Australia - it's all good!

I'm not sure if I'll have time to update this blog while I'm gone, due the lack of computer access and time.

Well, I will be departing on the Aussie adventure in... eesh a week, so I don't know if I'll be able to post until the new year, but just in case, you can check the blog sporatically if you want.

Have a great Christmas everyone, Bon Voyage, and this may sound really cliche, but G'day!

Logan