The Masters Games

Jake and Dillon were happy to be helpers.

This week has been dominated by the Masters Games here in Alice.  The games take place every two years and are comprised of 31 events for those 30 years of age or older.  The tag line for the games is the friendly games.  The participants are a mix of serious athletes, senior citizens and folks just wanting to have a good time.  If I would have realized the amount of people in it just for fun, I probably would have signed up for something.  I have a friend that signed up for billiards even though she had not played in 10 years.

Not sure of their team name but they were hilarious.

I have been volunteering for the game center for the past few days and in doing so I have met some amazing folks.  The team names have been incredibly creative, some of my favorites have been a women’s volleyball team called “I’d Hit That”, a team of 40 somethings called “CooGa’s” and another group called “Shades of Red”.  Apparently only 50% of folks participating in the games are from the area, the rest come from all over Australia.  I have enjoyed showing these Aussies the meaning of Texas hospitality!  It is estimated that there are an extra 2500 – 3000 people in Alice for this week.  One thing the Masters games are known for is that the town sells out of condoms every time, too funny for an event that caters to the older folks.  A friend told me that there is an end cap at the local grocers dedicated to the Masters; it features condoms, sports rub, sunscreen and water.

The "CocoNuts" walking into the oval  - notice the wagon!

An equestrian team.

Saturday night was the opening day parade, I helped out and was in charge of the cricket group – can I say, a crazy group of blokes – most of them were waiting at the Todd Tavern (a local pub) for the parade to come by and join in.  The team sports were the most fun to see in the parade, the crowd was full of painted faces, creative outfits and inventive signs - one of the men's teams were wearing 1970's leisure suits, I am sorry I did not get a pic. Just about all the participants had a drink in their hand and a smile on their face.  The athletes walked into the Anzac Oval for the opening ceremony, it was a big party with a local band and an Australian performer I was not familiar with.  Before the concert, they had a fireworks display that was amazing – even though there were a few thousand people watching it felt like it was just for us it was so close.  

The rest of the week will be filled up with watching various sporting events and volunteer duties.   We are looking forward to the closing ceremony at Anzac Oval, with the band Icehouse scheduled to perform.

The moon rising

A few weeks ago we went back out to the sand dunes for a dinner.  We had been delayed by one day due to the rain we had the Friday night before, it was the first rain we had seen in Alice in 159 days.  The last time we went to the dunes it was a new moon, so the star gazing was one of the most incredible things I had ever seen.  This time it was a full moon so I was able to witness a beautiful sunset followed by watching the moon rise, I have never seen anything like it before – absolutely beautiful!