State of Origin

Try to imagine the Superbowl in the US. Now try to imagine the Superbowl played 3 times in 9 weeks. That is what State of Origin is for the Aussies. The game is played between the Queensland 'Maroons' and New South Wales 'Blues' (both on the east coast) to establish who reigns supreme in the rugby world. Serious bragging rights are on the line and the entire country rallies behind one side or the other. Even AFL fans get right into these games. The commercials are more about buying well bred bulls instead of movie trailer debuts or stock trading websites (not even kidding, there were two separate commercials showing where to buy the best bulls). One commercial actually took a side! If Queensland wins you get 20% off everything in the store. If New South Wales wins you only get 10% off.

The camp projector is set up in our main tent with a set of computer speakers. Cheering has gotten pretty heated in tempo with the emotions on display in the game. You can tell that these games mean a lot to not only the fans, but the players. Sometimes you can watch a championship game and after awhile the losing team will also lose its fire. Not so in these games. If anything it's the opposite. The losing team just gets dirtier, more violent and more desperate.

I think the game might seem more intense because they don't have any pads or helmets on. You see all the grimaces, all the cheap forearms thrown, all the neck snapping hits and all the trash talk. And there is a lot of jibber jabber out there.

To go along with the rugby, there's been a new wildlife spotting. It seems like I see something cool all the time. A couple of wallabies hang around our camp. Lately when I go to use our little makeshift gym they watch me from the bush for a bit before they hop off. Cockatoos and kookaburras are the birds that wake you up in the morning, not crows or pigeons. I mean, they don't wake me up, but they do wake most of the rest of the crew. I sleep like a rock in a soundproof basement though.... so I might not be the best example. Where was I again? Oh yeah, a new wildlife sighting. One of the fieldies found a legless lizard last night and brought it over for me.

"He was just a little guy. Since it was technically a lizard it didn't have much for teeth to worry about."

He barely moved in my hand. I wish I would have used my camera to take the closeup because it did have the tiny flaps where its legs should be."

 We're currently in the 65th minute and the score is 34-0 for Queensland and the announcer just said, "There are thousands of New South Wales fans sitting on their couch right now saying, 'I could do better out there'". The funny thing about this best of 3 series is even though Queensland will now be up 2 games to none there will still be a 3rd game played. The series itself is definitely about pride.

I have to ship out to Jabiru on Friday. It's on the eastern side of Kakadu National Park. I'll be there for almost two weeks and then it's a week out of the bush.

Until the next time.....