It was an absolute blast and I was able to pick it up right away to enjoy the surfing experience. I definitely want to go surfing again before leaving and am thinking of getting in touch with another Australian friend who has surfboards to take him up on his offer to go surfing. I will also have to ask my other baseball friends if they are planning to go anytime soon.
Manly Beach
After the surf lesson, I met up with the Garret family (my host family over here) to go on a trip about 2 and half hours north of downtown Sydney to a city called Newcastle which is the 2nd most populous city in New South Wales. The population is around 288,000 which isn't too far off from Rochester (215,000). The city was an industrial powerhouse in its heyday and has quieted down since, being saved by the harbor it has which is home to large tugboats and remnants of industrial production.
One of the views from "Nobby's Head" NewcastleThe purpose of our trip was to see a musical performance by one of the other regulars at the weekly "Orphan Dinners" held by the Garret's; Rob McDougall. He sings with two other guys in a group which performs big band, blues, and jazz music with the act also featuring ballroom dancers and a live band providing the music. I was blown away by the performance which felt like something you would see on Broadway, which is where Rob hopes to continue his career.
I didn't realize just how extensive his singing background was, and he was recently selected to attend a 3 week workshop for singing at Julliard in NY. To give an idea of how good a singer Rob is, I have a Youtube clip below of an old solo performance he did since I wasn't able to upload a track off his cd.
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