Bucks Party and Cricket?

So Jon and Katie have another person living in their house. Her name is Amy and she is a really nice girl who I am glad to know. She is getting married soon and will be moving out. Her fiance is a really cool guy named Josh. Josh has taken a liking to me and for that I am grateful as I think he is great and fun to hang out with. Now, in Australia, instead of bachelor and bachelorette parties, they have Bucks and Hen parties. Last week on Friday (2/25) I was invited to Josh's buck party. I am so glad he invited me as I had a blast.

The people in Hope Valley are a really tight knit community. So many of Josh's friends have also become quick friends of mine. Thus, going wasn't very awkward for me because I knew a bunch of the guys. It ended up being a great time for me to really get to know some of them and for that I am grateful. Josh's bucks party was a weekend long party in a small town called Clayton on the banks of the Murrey River (a very wide and very long river in South Australia).

This was my first trip outside of the city of Adelaide. I saw their free ways for the first time and their gorgeous countryside. I was really impressed as we drove out there. This part of Australia is gorgeous with rolling hills, beautiful plains, and majestic Eucalyptus trees everywhere. I am so thankful that I got to see it and look forward to driving through it as often as possible before I leave. I am most definitely a country boy, so it was good to be out of the city. The town of Clayton is about the size of my hometown--Concord, MI. Jon's in-laws have a shack (their name for a cabin) there near the banks of the river (which is wide enough at Clayton to look like a lake). The river was gorgeous and the weather was perfect during the entire weekend. The shack was also very lovely and a perfect place to spend the weekend with a bunch of guys.

We arrived on Friday night with just a few people. (The actual party was going to start on Saturday.) Almost immediately Jon was working to get the boat into the water and capitalize on the gorgeous weather. Josh was also very eager to knee board. We got on the water, he and his best man, Steve, hopped on the knee boards and away we went. It was really neat. I had never seen knee boarding before (as most of my life has been spent on land and not around the water). Then, they decided I should have a go. I am not opposed to trying anything once so I hopped in and listened as they instructed me on the fine art of knee boarding. My first few attempts to get on and strapped into the board were disastrous and I am sure I provided quite a bit of amusement, but after 4-5 tries, I had it! What fun! I felt like I was flying over the water. It was such a rush. The people on the boat were pretty impressed too, as I picked it up pretty quickly and was attempting jumps and 360s within soon thereafter. I really did have a blast and I am thankful to have had good friends as teachers. When I get back home, Mr. Quick is going to have to take me on his boat so I can show him what I have learned!

On Saturday, we went back on the boat in the morning before everybody arrived. Around lunch everybody started rolling in and we had a gigantic barbecue. After playing some very funny games to embarrass the man of honor, Josh, we all went tot he Cricket oval. Can you believe it? They got me to play Cricket. I protested, of course, but they said everybody had to play. Let the world know that I suck at Cricket (although, in all honesty, I didn't do horrible). After playing for what seemed like ages, I still have no idea of the rules. My team started in the field first (there is a batting team and a fielding team). They stuck me in a spot where the balls "rarely go" (akin to left field in baseball). Yet, the first three hits all came in my direction (newbie hazing?). The worst part about fielding is that cricket players don't play with gloves. So catch the ball can really hurt and fielding a ground ball is quite difficult without. Needless to say, I made a fool of myself. But that is ok, as I had fun doing it. It took forever for my team to get off the field (and I still don't know what constituted someone being out or how many outs we needed to get). And for some odd reason we rotated bowlers (the people throwing the ball at the batters), so I had to give that a try too. What an odd motion. You are not allowed to bend your arm at all, as you would if pitching. Again...I made a fool of myself. When we finally switched to batting, I didn't do too bad. I stayed in for quite a long time and hit the ball a couple of times. As to what was really going on...I couldn't tell you, but they told me I didn't do to bad.

I can see why the Australians and English like cricket. It is a gentleman's game and a good, casual game to play among friends. I am glad to have played it and experienced it (and I reckon I will play a bit more before I leave), but on the whole it didn't appeal to me. It just seems redundant in the American context, where we have the simpler game of baseball as our casual sport. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying Cricket and Baseball are similar. I am saying they fulfill similar ends (in my opinion). Thus, I prefer baseball :-). But....who knows?....Cricket might just change my life.

After cricket, we hung out at the waterfront for the rest of the afternoon. For dinner we drove to a bigger town nearby and had dinner. I ate a Parmi. A parmi is basically chicken/beef, covered in cheese and some sort of marinara sauce. It was good, but very filling and probably not very healthy.

That evening was full of games, snacks, and Josh's embarrassment. The next day we cleaned and drove home for Church. It was a lovely weekend.

In Christ,

Chris