Australian Digest Volume 09

As I'm getting a little bit older and wiser, and all my traveling is allowing me to mix with people from all sorts of different diverse backgrounds. I'm learning so much about myself, mainly what I want, where I want to be and the type of guy I want to be in life. There was times when I was very distant and standoffish towards strangers, but now I find myself being more acceptive of them and trying to get to know them as people. I feel I'm really connecting with people and they're teaching me so much. This has given me an overwhelming sense of wanting to do something and give a little back, I was discussing this with Dean a colleague from work who gives his support to Motor Neurone Disease of NSW. I decided to get involved by making a charitable donation of $200 and agreed to join the guys for there inaugural Walk to d'Feet Motor Neurone Disease in the Illawarra on Sunday 24th February. This was a little over three miles, and I enjoyed being involved in a brilliant community spirit for a great cause from start to finish. I have also pledged to help out in any future fundraising events. This reflects a kind and caring nature of the person I want to be and I will work hard to be that person.

Saturday 23rd I got over to Museum of Sydney with Kerry Miller to acknowledged homage to Sydney's past, present and future. It's very nostalgic and focuses strongly on how life was for Sydneysiders in the 1960's, a fun era which many consider the best in it's short history. It wasn't a great day or anything, but I remember it was a wet, windy and cold afternoon so it was nice to get indoors. If you're only in Sydney for a short time, my advice would be ignore this as this city has far more things to see and do. Whilst on the topic of museums I also visited The Rocks Discovery Museum on Saturday 2nd March which was just about the history of The Rocks which is a suburb in Sydney. This on the other hand was a complete waste of time, I was there about 20 minutes and left without even taking a photo. That speaks volumes because I'll almost always take a photo for FTP and more importantly memories, so yeah that is worth avoiding.

Following this we had reserved a relaxing tall ship cruise with open bar, dining and live music around Darling Harbour. Unfortunately this was cancelled due to bad weather conditions and we rearranged for Sunday 3rd March. This was an unforgettable way to see Sydney aboard an authentic 1850's style timber tall ship, it had unparalleled views across the glittering harbour. We enjoyed a great dinner accompanied with live music before toasting smooth sailing experience with access to bubbly, beer, wine and soft drink stocked open bar over the course of the two-hour cruise. Our entertaining and knowledgeable host provided us with an interesting and informative insight on the unique ship and her amazing history.

It turned Autumn here on March 1st and I guess the weather left with the Summer, for the last couple of weeks we've had some miserable weather. So I've spent a lot of time staying indoors, either watching programs at home or getting over to the cinema where I seen Wreck It Ralph most recently. I also decided to treat myself to a day at the spa, I chose the Fleur De Lys Medispa and paid $399 for there famous Moroccan Hamam experience and then chilled in the sauna and jacuzzi. Was a great way to escape the weather and just relax.

Back in the UK I would just like to extend my congratulations to Craig "simpa" Simpson, who for those that don't already know him you may remember him from my Las Vegas 2012 Trip Report “February” where I spent at week with him over at Rio All-Suite Hotel Casino. He was over in Dublin, Ireland for the Super Poker Event 2013 on Friday 22nd February for the weekend. In the main event, he beat an international field of poker players to capture the €19,920 first prize. I sweated the action and thought he played really well, he thoroughly deserves the victory and the accolades that come with this success. Well done mate, enjoy the cash and the glory. GREAT ACHIEVEMENT

Craig Simpson

Meanwhile here in Sydney I'm mega pumped for the PokerStars ANZPT visiting Sydney next week between 13th and 24th of March. I'm playing six of the nine events;

#1 $330: Opening NLH Event
#2 $1,100: Poker Media Australia Special
#3 $550: Bounty
#5 $440: Teams NLH
#6 $550: Six Handed NLH
#8 $330: Mixed PLO/NLH

For a total of $3,080 and I've sold almost 50% of my action at face value (no mark up or make up), so big shout out to the boys at the NPF who have put their faith and dollar behind me. I still have a final 2.5% remaining for anybody interested check out my full proposal over the NPF;

PokerStars ANZPT Staking

I'm so ready and excited to be a part of this festival, for this opportunity I can't thank my backers enough. I feel I'm playing pretty good and feeling great both physically and mentally, I want so bad to write my name into the history books as an event winner. I was very disappointed with my results in the Star Poker Summer Series, I'm looking at this as a chance to respond in the fashion you might expect from a high roller champion. #ANZPT

Looking forward and again with Kerry Miller we have booked and paid for a Hunter Valley Wine Tour, which should be lots of fun and now we just have to find a date to suit us both in order to reserve our places. This should be good fun and a chance to escape the city and get to one of Australia's iconic wine regions, where we'll have the opportunity to visit a range of different wineries. You can probably tell I'm making sure I take all my opportunities here, and taking nothing for granted. I'll be sure to give you a synopsis including photos of this tour in a future digest.

Please can I remind all readers to keep commenting on my articles. Keeping the motivation and focus to blog regular can be difficult at times, it's the feedback from all my followers that helps keep my general desire and willingness to blog regularly. Wether it's positive or negative, I'd love to hear all your responses.

Thanks for reading