It is not what people expect to hear, when I tell them I have joined a Sports Club in Elwood. Me being a reasonably active guy who likes anything from sailing to football. People turn their attention to what I am saying using the familiar “a-yeah” sentence (Melburninan for “really” or “is-that-so”) and expect to hear something like the-local-football-club or perhaps a-sailing-club. “Yes, the Elwood Croquet Club”.

I like the responses I get. More often than not it takes people a few moments to realize what I just said. They run through the sentence in their head thinking that being a foreigner perhaps I meant to say Cricket or something, anything that is more familiar. When they finally realize I really meant to say “Croquet”, and see the amusement I get out of their confusion people give a chuckle and ask “Croquet?”. Interestingly enough most people eventually admit that they actually quite like Croquet. Many even ask that I take them to play a game sometime, which I of course happily consent to do.

Yesterday I became a full member of the Elwood Croquet Club. The club is set in a quiet park near to the beach. The lawns are green and the surrounding trees are old. There are Magpies and other bird life in the trees and around the clubhouse making the ambiance quite tranquil and relaxing. Yesterday there were four of us playing. We started of with a game of Ricochet followed by Aussie and then Golf croquet. All these games are based on the same course layout as Association rules but with simpler rules making the games more social to play.

Sadly I lost all my games that day. Until that is, finally me and Ian played a game of Association Rules. This is the only game we used to play in Iceland. Although the lawns and equipment were substandard back in Iceland we must have been doing something right. I played to old tactics that me and Haukur used to use and lo and behold, I won the game! My first win as a single player and my first game of Association Rules. It was a combination of luck and some bad shots on Ian´s behalf but my strategy actually worked out.

It was a good day on the lawns. With a bad weather prediction hanging over us we were pleasantly surprised that it did not rain as predicted and there was even some sunshine. We played from 11am to 6pm. Tuesdays and Saturdays are game days at the club but now that I have my own key I can go play any time I like, and guest are welcome.

+ Valberg’s croquet bookmarks
+ Association Rules
+ Elwood Croquet Club

As I mentioned in an earlier post I intend to try out some new sport now that I am in a new country. First of which was kite-boarding. So, last Saturday I went for a kite-boarding lesson. The day before it had been blowing a gale and that was when I booked the lesson. It was meant to continue like that but come Saturday morning the wind had died down to a steady 5-10 knots. My tutor was a French guy about my age who is traveling the world and working in Melbourne as a cook. He was actually a really good teacher and the lesson was well worth the money. The kites were not that hard for me to control and apparently I was doing quite well as a trainee. Unfortunately I didn’t feel the rush of the sport that I was expecting and have decided to put further advancements in the art of kite-boarding on hold. I still wouldn’t mind getting my own kit at some stage and play around with kite-boarding but for now there are just too many other things to try out.

I am thinking of taking up some new hobbies and sport once I move to Australia. Natuarally this will mostly happen in an organic fashion but I still have a few things I intend to try out, a fair few things actually. First on my list is Kite Surfing! Kite surfing is a young sport and all the rage over there right now but the main appeal is in the combination of playing with kites that can lift you off the ground and surfing or at least waterskiing at the same time. I am really looking forward to trying this out. Golf is also something I never got into. It has always been to mainstream for me. However after getting into croquet and beeing told by all my friends that golf is equally challengeing and addictive I just have to see what the fuss is all about. There is a 9 hole course practically in our backyard so i figure that if I am ever going to try out golf this is the time to do it. We also have a tennis court near by so that will be another sport I will see if I get into. Windsurfing is yet another sport I want to try out and perhaps I will find that more appealing than the adrenaline rush of the kite surfing (nea). Tai Chi is a form of martial arts exercises that were created to keep your body and mind fit. I got into this sport when I was living in London and really liked it. I will see if I can find a good Tai Chi class in Melbourne close to where we live. Sailing will go on hold untill I have a chance to build a boat but I dont think this will happen in a while since I have no facilities as is. Then to complete the active-lifestyle circle I will have to get into a sport where I can be a spectator and just enjoy the show with a cold beer and good friends. Melbourne is the home of sport in Australia and there is great veriety of sports, teams and events to get into. The most popular though seem to be aussie rules “football” and cricket. Quite honestly I find new-world-football (Rugby) to be rather brutal and the supporters somewhat fanatical so I have my doubts about that one but the problem is that the other main sport, cricket is such a strange sport that I dont know if I can get into it. There are also horse racing, sailing, tennis and other sports to watch but I think I´ll start with the main two. I´ll go to a couple of matches and see how I like it.

+ Kite Surfing