There's no place like home...

And home is where I am! Finished my trip with hiking, a wine tour in the Hunter Valley, some fabulous dinners out with friends and a good old fashioned, backyard barbeque for Kim's birthday (not me...the other one!). A few pics are posted below. Oh, and there was the whole getting robbed thing, but we'll just try and forget that portion of the program.

A final thank you to CheapAz Travel in St. Kilda for being sooooo helpful to Vicki and I while we were there...you two are bloody hilarious! To the staff at the Capitol Hotel who helped me out when I had my brush with the Sydney underworld, my trip would have surely ended on a far more sour note without all of you. And most of all to the Amazons and the Chorney entourage for making this a very memorable trip indeed! You are focusing awesome :-)!

Final kisses from the Red Baron...off to sleep in my very own bed again!
XO

Now What?

It's been a bit of an emotional ride, getting to the end of the Worlds, having won a medal, but nevertheless coming to the end of something that we were all working on and planning for for the last couple years. It left me with a distinct feeling of 'Now What?' All of that spare energy spent preparing is now available for...something else.

For now, I'm decompressing and relaxing in Clifton Beach, near Cairns. We're in tropical barrier reef land, and it's hot! Our 'Tropical Homestead' vacation home is beautiful and spacious. All of the girls who stayed with us in Ingleburn will appreciate that there is a dishwasher, a full-sized refrigerator, lots of towels, two showers and one bathtub, and a bedroom for everyone. In fact--Kim, if you're still looking for a place to stay, you should fly up here--we have a guest house that is currently sitting empty, with its very own wine rack, bathroom/shower (not included in the bathroom/shower listing mentioned previously) and a queen sized bed! All in its own separate building on the property. Might be just what the doctor ordered. Currently 29 degrees, slightly windy and sunny. Lovely.

Amazon out.

Oh, and as for the other teams...

If anyone cares how the rest of the tournament shook out--Brazil did end up winning gold in three games (of five) against the Funky Moas from New Zealand. I can honestly say that they were the better teams, and while we held our own against both of them (and only lost by three points in one of our games against Brazil), we truly were the third best team there. And we got third place. I'm very happy with our standings. And very VERY happy to have played with such a great team of fantastic women. I love you guys!

Amazons Win Bronze!!

At noon today, we started the bronze medal match. We were lined up against a team from Manly, the first team that we played in the tournament. We lost to them in three games on Thursday, while we were trying to get to know each other on the court. Having now gelled, we were ready for them. We completely dominated the court in the first set, winning 25-12. We kind of fell apart in the second set, and ended up losing that game. I figure we do that just to keep things interesting. How boring would it be to just win in two games??

We headed into the third match swinging (loud cheers, singing and huge support from the bench, several Australian men and several Canadians from upper age divisions), and again, just to keep things interesting, once we got to 9-2, we missed three serves in a row (yay, me, Lori and TJ!!). We stayed strong in spite of that though, and finished the game, 15-7. And we had won the bronze medal!!

It was pretty emotional to have come all this way and work so hard, and squeak into a playoff spot with so little room to spare, and to come home with a medal! One of the Manly girls (strangely) started to sing Oh! Canada when we were getting photos taken, so we ended up singing the whole anthem (well, not me, because I can't sing the anthem without getting choked up, and since I was already choked up, there was no hope) after our win.

I wimped out going to the closing ceremonies, because it would have meant another three hours on the train (we're staying WAY far from downtown), and believe it or don't, I'm TIRED. Most of the girls are still out, and I'm sure we'll hear lots of great stories about their adventures. Hopefully some of them will be appropriate enough to share on the blog.

There are many many many more pictures to be seen, and we will post them when we can. For now, anyone who is interested can look at professional photos on-line. They're posted until October 30. Go to www.melbastudios.com.au, click on Sydney 2009 World Masters Games, Volleyball icon, then Womens 35+, and you'll see shots of us in action.

Time for bed. Amazon out.

Crossover Day--*SQUEAK!!*

I'll spare the suspense and say right off the bat--we're in the bronze medal match tomorrow (Oct. 18) at noon our time (Oct. 17 at 7PM Saskatchewan time; 6PM Vancouver time). Think of us!

Today we played three games in the crossover round robin--so we played the top ranked teams in the other pool today. We were starting from behind the eight ball, since even though we were 2nd in our pool, the other two teams that advanced with us had beaten us, and since you bring your points with you, we were starting off with two losses. We won the first game (against an Australian team) fairly handily. The next game, we were matched up against Brazil, the tournament favourite, and a team well-known for being very talented volleyball players. We had a slow start in the first game and lost quite handily, but the next game we gave them a great run, and took them to 22 points (and then we lost). Fantastic game, though. They actually had to sweat!

The last game of the day was an easier go, although we couldn't always pull it together, and ended up giving them too many points. We won in two games, and then when all point calculations were counted, we were BARELY in fourth place. But close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades--fourth place is fourth place, so we are in the bronze medal match tomorrow. We play against the team we lost to in three games at the very beginning of the tournament. We can TOTALLY BEAT THEM!! We have really gelled well, and we will be a different team when they meet us this time.

Very tired, but very determined to come home with a medal. We'll keep you posted!

2nd in our pool!!!

In spite of our rough start to the games, losing our first two matches, as Lori mentioned, we did move on to completely dominate the next team, which had us on the upswing for our last match of the round robin. This was the one that would determine our placing, so we needed to win. We started off well, although it was a close game, and ended up having to play catch-up for the last few points, winning 26-24. The second game of the match started much better--we pulled ahead easily, played really really well, and took the game 25-17 (or something like that).

First statement: FINALLY, after FOUR matches, we have gelled! As Kelly says, "NOW, I recognize this team!" We're playing like we can, which is a relief.

Second statement: It was touch and go whether we would advance to the higher ranked pool or not, since we were 2-2, and the top three teams advance to the higher pool and the bottom two teams go to the lower one. Mom and Lori checked out the results and came back looking crestfallen. Turns out there was a tie three ways for second place, and when they figured out our wins and points, we came...SECOND! Mom and Lori put on the sad faces just to stress us out. Lovely surprise to come in second place after starting off losing our first two matches.

So tomorrow we have to play a cross-over round robin, where we play the three top-ranked teams in the other pool. There's at least one tough team in that pool--Brazil is big and strong. But so are we! We play at 9AM, and then again at 12:45 and 3:15. Another full day of hard games.

They have massage therapists on site for $10 for 10 minutes. My 20 minute massage today between games was a VERY good choice. I may have to do that again tomorrow.

Back on the home front, Daniel is traveling very well, and Eugene is holding down the fort at home, doing the 'wave' in the bleachers (all by himself) and then heading home early to make supper for the team. We have had lovely meals hot and ready for us when we get home from play, which has been fantastic.

Currently, we're sitting around after supper sampling hibiscus flowers in sparkling wine, followed by mango sparkling wine, a la Lori (from a winery up by Cairns). Delish. Early to bed tonight, for early games tomorrow.

Go, team!