Day One Perth Trip

Perth Trip Day One

First Coaching Clinic with Coach Tracey @ Salvado Rd, Wembley

Day one in Perth, Australia. As 14 netballers, 2 teachers, 1 tour guide and I walked out of the airport, the hot sun and cool air rushed out to greet us. Despite the fact that we did not sleep much on the plane (it was a midnight flight), our faces were radiant upon arriving for the 1st coaching clinic by Coach Tracey. Coach Tracey got us pumping by making us jog the entire area (30 over netball courts) as a warm-up. Next, the girls were taught new drills to improve their footwork, agility and ball-handling. Mr Njoo, our netball teacher, was busy trying to take down all the new drills. I'm pretty sure we'll be doing these drills when training starts next year! It was a whole new experience training in Perth. The weather was fantastic...though the Sun was blazing hot, we could not feel it as the air-con like chilly wind kept us cool and we did not even perspire during the whole session!

Immersion Activities - Desert Storm 4WD and Sandboarding @ Lancelin

Next Stop, Lancelin! It was a long journey there. When we reached there, the humongous gigantic Desert Storm 4WD bus caught our attention. The tyres were as big as a human being! We stared in awe...Soon, we were all huddled inside and the ride started. Up and down, up and down we went up the sand dunes, some very steep! The driver purposely stopped at the top of the sand dune and as we tipped slowly down, our hearts stopped like as if we were in a roller coaster...Wheeee....we swooped down the sand dunes at breakneck speed and it felt like we were going to topple but it didn't...the ride then carried on for a couple of times. Not long, we stopped and got out for picture taking. The sight was a joy to behold. We felt like we were in another planet...nothing around us but just the sand and the clear blue sky. It was perfect! Soon, we were taught how to sandboard. The driver brought us to the top of a steep sand dune about 20 to 30m high. Gosh! we are going to slide down with it...It was another heartstopping moment for me as I was the first to slide down. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee...the ride was phenomenal, no words could describe how I feel as I slid down the sand dune. Soon, we were all trying to slide in a variety of ways - sitting down, superman style and even backwards. What other activities could beat this?

Immersion Activities - Farmstay @ Windmill Farm, Bindoon

After a 'high', we proceeded to the Windmill farm at Bindoon to stay for the night. It was beautiful. The only thing we saw were green trees, farm animals and grassland. No tall skyscrapers, traffic jams and people. It was definitely a whole new experience for us. Immediately, when we got off, we were introduced to our hosts and were led to feed the kangaroos, sheeps, cows, chickens and a pony. The rooms we were to stay for the night seemed warm and nice (two huge houses with 3 bedrooms and attached toilets), just like those farmstay you read about in Enid Blyton's storybooks. The food was home-cooked, curry chicken, fried minced duck and mushroom soup (much better than campbells). Soon, we were given a sheep-shearing performance and learnt about spinning wool thread. What a first day! Before I could think of what the next day's programme was, I fell asleep...images of the sheeps and kangaroos in my dreams.