After tough losses to South Africa and Nauru we bounced back and finished strong with a big win over Japan.

Personally my match versus Japan was a microcosm of my entire tournament. I started strong kicking 2 goals in the first quarter, but also took a kick to the thigh that gave me a Charlie horse (corky) that put me out for the rest of the game. The rest of the San Diego boys performed well in the Japan contest, and I'm looking forward to continuing this momentum into the US nationals.

Let's switch gears a bit onto some of the non-football related topics. We had a fantastic Wednesday in Warrnambool. We started the day at St. Joseph's school where we split up and got to answer some questions for the kids about America and Aussie Rules Football. Apparently they thought we were some kind of celebrities asking us for autographs (and how much we got paid to play footy). It was a great experience and I think we enjoyed the visit even more than the kids. The St. Joe's footy club is quite impressive with their skills, and I think it made a lot of us wonder what kind of players we might have been had we been kicking the footy since we were young boys. The kids had some great questions, and it's truly amazing how much Hollywood has developed what these kids to be American culture.

We had Wednesday afternoon to ourselves and a group of about 17 of us piled into a 12 passenger van and made the hour trip to the famous twelve apostles. Fortunately, Jay Mueller, a Melbourne local, offered to drive the group out. I still can't get used to getting into the passenger side on the left. The sites absolutely did not disappoint. I'm not sure the pictures can do it justice, but we were treated to surf with waves between 18 and 20 feet tall providing a backdrop to mammoth rock formations jutting from the sea--truly breathtaking.

Today is our last team function with a dinner and what I am sure what will prove to be a big night out. I know everyone (especially Jon Loring) is looking forward to letting their hair down and enjoying the new and strengthened friendships that have developed over the past two weeks.

I leave for Cairns on Monday, and I'll be sure to have some great pictures from there. I'm looking forward to getting back to some warm weather!

Article courtesy of Justin Valley's travel blog on TravelPod.com.

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