That Was The Weekend That Was

Gee, I'm starting to fit a lot in on my weekends. On Saturday morning I was booked to play golf with cousins Shayne and Joe, two guys that I played with last weekend. We played this time round at Marangaroo Golf Club. I arrived first and that was unusual as I've never been to the place before and went the wrong way, twice. I was thinking to myself, "It's a little bit built-up to be a golf course". And so it was. The entrance looks more like a school.

Joe and Shayne arrived just after I'd paid and was about to head to the practice green for some putting practice. Very important to get the speed of the greens correct so as not to look stupid when on the course. I complimented them on picking a perfect time for golf as it was warm and sunny. Just then the course controller asked us if we would head to the first tee - a full 20 mins early! Bugger. Nobody was warmed up and ready.

And it showed. I shanked my first drive into the trees. I had some mixed feelings after finishing the first hole with a triple bogey seven with three putts. On the third hole it started raining. And I didn't bring an umbrella or a jumper. It stopped raining by about the time we putted out on the sixth. After three holes I had given away five shots to Joe. It is his home course but I don't like to get beaten. Joe went an amazing four holes in a row where he only one-putted. One of them included a par-3 for seven when I three-putted for bogey. Could have been a much bigger turnaround for me.

Yackas - very sharp leaves. More like a woody grass.
Watch out for the bio-hazard - no water hazards to worry about.
These guys watched our every move on the 8th tee.
I guess the golf wasn't too special so these locals didn't show any great interest in proceedings.
More of the locals.
The 17th at Marangaroo Golf Course.

On the sixth Shayne hit his second shot into a yacka. And the bugger wouldn't play it where it lay either. I started to play a bit better and by the end of the front nine Joe and I were level pegging on 47. Joe only took 15 putts and I had 19. Game on.

We both parred the 10th and then on the 11th I hit a nine and fell four strokes back. Talk about being behind the eight-ball. It was then that I started to play with strength and determination to brilliantly fight my way back into the lead. That's BS of course as Joe just starting playing worse than me, including a nine of his own on the 17th. The last, a par-4, was a challenging hole, uphill, into the wind and I decided to play it like a par-5 and take three strokes to reach it. Well, I landed on the green in three and then sank a 10 footer for par! On the back nine Joe took 52 with only 14 putts and I had 48 with 14 putts. Joe had an astonshing nine one-putts for the round.

I'm fairly happy shooting another 95 and can see myself getting down to 90 soon. I thought that Marangaroo was quite short but it turns out to be longer than Whaleback where we played last week. The tees were set right back on every hole and some were further back than the marked length.

After arriving home I cooked lunch and then rang the missus. Had to be quick as I had a bike ride appointment with my friend Ben and his nephew Nicola. Or is it Nicholas, the French accent loses me at times? I was surprised how far it was to Ben's house. It doesn't seem nearly that far in the car. So I was a little bit pooped when I got there. We weren't sure where to go, airport or Ascot Waters, but headed to Ascot Waters. Nice and gentle ride and it was nice to be travelling in a group and not on my own. Ascot Waters is a rich mans' paradise but there is a bit of nature on display. A good place to bring the boy and the missus for a walk when they return. It wasn't too strenuous a ride but I still had the trip home in front of me. Had to get home before dark and only took two minutes longer than the initial trip to Ben's place. Not bad. Covered at least 36.5 km on the bike. Needless to say I had an early night.

The cyclists.
Not bad digs down at Ascot Waters.
Ascot Waters Marina.

There was a bit of wildlife to see along the canal at Ascot Waters and the surrounds were quite peaceful. What do these rich people do on a weekend? Obviously they aren't at work but having to be at work during the week you think they would be home. Nevermind. Like I said, quite peaceful. Even if the locals didn't show their best side.

Still not built-out yet.
Swan with cygnets.
Bottoms up
This artwork should probably be considered too risque for conservative Perth.
Sleepy pelicans on the canal.
Bridge to escape civilisation.

Ben is always worried what I will write on my blog after getting together with him. He needn't worry as he has a blog so I can't possibly say anything bad.

After getting home I took the car to Bunnings to get some paint and painting equipment. The ceiling in the living and dining rooms needed to be painted.

Sunday saw a bit of a sleep-in. Quarter to seven before I turned on the radio for the news. Washed the clothes and hung them out. Moved the furniture and covered up what remained with plastic so as not to get paint on. By now the V8 Supercars were racing at the Indy 300 on Surfers Paradise. Sat down to watch that. Definitely not time to work. Actually, I did do the first lot of primer. The ceiling was badly stained due to water damage from a storm about 15 months ago now. Or is it longer than that? I can't remember. Had lunch in between coats. Whilst waiting for the Champ Car race I weeded the garden and did some watering. Caught a European wasp whilst gardening. Caught him with my fly swat.

My new pet - a European wasp.

When the Champ Car race finished I was about to do some painting when my mate Bill rang and asked me if I was going to watch the Glory play. I'd forgotten about the match. I'm glad he reminded me. Bugger the painting as I had more important things to do.

Members Equity Stadium prior to kickoff against the Melbourne Victory.

Bought a ticket from a scalper which saved a bit of money. It was even for a seat but I wanted the standing area in front of The Shed, which is general admission, so it didn't make any difference. Stood next to Dougy and we had a great chat throughout the match. Glory beat the Melbourne Victory 2-1 courtesy of a goalkeeper error when clearing the ball that hit Naum Sekulovski's arm and rebounded into the goal. Here's the match report.

There was more farce than just the goal from a handball. Damien Mori, our best striker, was in the starting 11 but wasn't allowed on the pitch because he had his wedding ring on. The rules state that no jewellery is allowed. After five minutes, and apparently some skin and blood loss, he still wasn't able to remove the finger and so had to be substituted. So we played the first five minutes with only 10 men and were left with only two substitutions for the rest of the match. Needless to say, it was the same useless referee we had in the match against Sydney FC.

The boys in The Shed came up with a nice little ditty to the tune of "The Addams Family":

"Your mother is your father,
Your father is your mother,
You just ****ed your brother,
Mark Shields the referee"

Something along those lines. Nice way to round off the weekend. And now it's time for bed.