Hi everyone - lots of work things going on at the moment so I have been a little slow on the email. While I live in Canberra, I come from Adelaide - then again - a large number of people here really have a home somewhere else. I have been working in the Defence Department since 1995 in DSTO - the Defence Science & Technology Organisation. I worked up near Katherine in the Northern territory last year - here are some pics!
I found out about this trip through my girlfriend Kirsty. I recall when she applied but I really didn't consider that anyone other than a student of Japanese would be selected. I later discovered that Liz Day from Adelaide Uni had been on the ship - not a student of Japanese. After meeting all of the delegates for SWY 11, Kirsty told me that her life was forever changed - you might note that this was not the Ship itself - it was a pre trip gettogether. This was rather worrying - there was no question that the ship was going to change her life. Anyway, when Kirsty came back, I enjoyed hearing the stories but the people really were faceless or characterless - hearing gossip or stories is much more fun if you have some real knowledge of the people. I saw a video shot by Rob on SWY11 and this brought some of the people to life before I met them. I am sure Vi has his advice for post Ship conduct but from my experience, friends are usually more receptive to hearing stories than partners. In my case, I enjoyed hearing things, but half an hour every night for a month was starting to rub in the fact that my life was normal and someone else had an amazing experience.
Ah - back to more stuff about me. 1995 was the year I gave up swimming - I used to train around 20 hours per week and competed at Australian Opens and Olympic/Commonwealth Trials. I was never going to make Australian teams for such events but I enjoyed things just the same. Now I am much more of a slob - I do dance though. When Kirsty came back from SWY11, she had all of these plans for latin dancing thanks to the influence of the South Americans. So we went to classes. I came to like and learn a few dances:
Smooth : Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango
Latin : Cha-cha, Rumba, Swing (Rock-n-roll),
Triple swing
Street Latin: Merengue, Mambo, Salsa,
Samba
I don't know if the rest of you can dance (except for Tegan and Bonnie) but you are going to learn. Fellas - sorry there is no question that dancing is harder for guys than girls. Guys have to know the steps, leads and navigate - the women have to follow.
I used to rockclimb a bit back in
Adelaide but not here.
As I am the author of this web page, I thought I might indulge myself
- here are some pictures of my friends back in Adelaide. They were taken
at the Wedding of Felicity and Adrian in December 1998
