autumn in the southern hemisphere

So we just got to melbourne for world champs the other day after coming 3rd in the southern cross cup we had in NZ. I think overall the tournament was a big success and thouroughly enjoyable, for myself anyway! PS I have the cutest niece in the whole world.

I don't know if it's good or bad but more and more I'm just enjoying water polo as this incredible way to bring people together. In NZ last week we had people who had grown up in the soviet union, people who had endured civil war, people who eat pasta for breakfast lunch and dinner, people who I always make fun of like americans and brits, and then us, all together in lil' ol NZ playing a sport that we love. The reality is that really in the end everyone just wants to win but in my brain I think it's such an incredible privelage and so cool to be friends with and play against people from all over the world, from incredible backgrounds and histories. and i just think thats cool

We got to show Meik around a wee bit, so cool, I think she really enjoyed it. So I was really happy about that, we just went to newmarket and had tea. and do you know what I love about Meike? OK so she was on a budget right, and we were in the middle of the shopping district, and Meike spends the last of her money on a bag of tea. Granny's garden fruit tea to be precise. That is was I love about Miek. While the rest of her team went to NZ's poor version of an outlet mall, and Meike bought tea. anyways, then I showed her my old uni, which brought on a big wave of nostalgia eating hummus in albert park and just not going to class. and then we went to Em and Kelly's house so she could see it and they're on the way to Piha. Piha was good. It was an

awesome raw NZ day with wind that blew your hair off and the break going all the way out past the point. I was like, now you get what I mean when I say in NZ the break goes out like 100m from shore.

I was also lucky enough to catch up a little with some good friends while I was back so I'm still on a high from that.

And now here we are at world champs, tomorrow we have our first game against Cuba. They were our nearly last game last time. So it will be a good game and hopefully we'll come out on top!

There is so much going on in Melbourne at the mo, and there was so much going on in Auckland too, there was Pasifika festival, the Auckland Festival and a bunch of sweet concerts and stuff. It just hasn't stopped once coming to Melbourne. As I'm writing this the grand prix is going on right across the road, so that's loud. And also the Melbourne wine and food festival is on right now too. It's crazy! So much to do!