Sunday, July 30, 2006

Day 104 - First Kitesurfing Lesson - Yorkeys Knob, Cairns - Mueslix Bars

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Today, I embarked on completing another item one of my list of "Top 10 Things To Achieve in Australia": learning to kitesurf!

To start off by learning proper technique as much as possible, I signed myself up for a 2-day private kitesurfing lesson package with Extreme Sports (which organized a kitesurfing competition in Cairns a month ago). I arrived at Yorkeys Knob for Day 1 of my lessons, searching for my two Kiwi instructors, Jed and Rachel (husband and wife). I found them unloading equipment out of their camper van, which they have been travelling with for some time (the term "no fixed address" came to mind).


Weather was great for learning, with the tide just on its way out. We spent the day going through the basics (wind theory, equipment knowledge, kite safety, self-rescue techniques, body-dragging, etc ...). By day's end, I was pretty "rooted" (i.e. exhausted) although feeling good about the day's accomplisments.


I didn't get up on my board today (that's reserved for Day 2 ... stay tuned), but feel confident that signing myself up for lessons was a good idea.


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They day was pretty much non-stop, with little rest time (I was warned about this ahead of time). I knew any food would have to be eaten quickly, so I stocked up on lots of energy drinks and snacks. I bought the above mueslix bars at a local bakery the morning of (Aussies seem to love their mueslix for breakfast), which reminded me a lot of "Rice Krispy squares".

There are several differences in cereals in Australia as compared to North America. The ones that have caught my attention since arriving: North America's "Rice Krispies" are "Rice Bubbles" in Oz, Coco Pops in Oz have a really creepy mascot (https://www.cocopops.com.au), and generally there are a number of North American cereals which simply don't exist in Oz (Corn Flakes, Raisin Bran, Vector ... to name a few).

I will adapt a Rice Krispy square-like recipe for mueslix bar for this blog ... everyone needs a little marshmallow in their lives, no?

*** Note: Recipe soon to come ... experimenting in the kitchen.

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