REPORT FROM MOOMBA

            BY     CALE BURDICK

After 24 hours of traveling, my Mom and I landed in Australia. To be honest, from the plane, the place wasn’t that pretty. Just grasping the idea that we were in Australia was fantastic though. Driving through the city of Melbourne (on the left side of the road) was pretty cool. The first day we were there, my Mom and I went shopping and got a feel for the city. The next day it was time to ski. Skiing on the Yarra River was quite an experience. First, there was a current which had to be considered as if it were wind.  Second, the river is only a mile upstream of the ocean so it was salty, making the ski ride higher in the water. It was also very bumpy with lots of rollers.  The coolest part though was after the boat “hits it”, the skier is pulled under a bridge with cars going over it and as the ceiling of the bridge goes by the skier can look straight up at sky scrapers only a couple of hundred yards away. The skiing was SO FUN! Even though competition was tough, the location and set up of the site was amazing.  Iwas happy with my skiing, excluding my second round in slalom. Thank God everyone else skied badly during the second round.         

       My Mom loved being surrounded by a different culture too. She was a great cheerleader and gave me someone to talk to on the flight. I couldn’t have done this without my parents, so THANKS MOM & DAD.  I was also very proud to represent the United States in this very cool tournament.

Cale

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