Catherine, a Filipino girl planned her first out-of-country travel to Sydney, Australia. Traveling with her friend Lance, who's an avid fan of Bondi Rescue, they stayed near Bondi Beach hoping to see some live rescue adventures of the Lifeguards, bu...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"What should we wear?" Lance asks while checking her closet.
"I'll wear a shirt and jeans" I answered.
"Cat, seriously?" She turns to me.
I said, "Yeah."
"No, no, no," she opened my closet and checked the clothes I have, "you did bring a dress right?"
"Uh-huh, but I'm not wearing a dress."
"Why not? It's a party, Cat."
"I know," I laughed, "it's a children's party in case you forget."
"We'll be meeting locals here, neighbors, Lifeguards..." Lance was trying to say something.
"So?" I laughed, "Should we dress to impress?"
"Well, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. And what if Troy or Michael will be there?" She chuckled.
She got me there. Among the Lifeguards, I'm really looking forward to meeting Troy (Gonzo) and Michael (Mouse). Yeah, a fangirl. A teenager at heart, having crushes at 30ish years old existence. Duh!
Suddenly, I got excited with the thought that I'll be able to meet them later, maybe talk to them, or even just shake hands. Nah! Even just a gaze will do.
I've decided, "Okay, dress on."
"Yes!" Obviously, Lance is as excited as I am. Even humming as she picks one dress and another.
-----
(CLARK RESIDENCE)
"Hey, guys." Whippet met us in front of their house, "come in."
We thought we were the first visitors to arrive because the house is quiet. We followed Whippet to the backyard, and to our surprise, the other guests were there. There's a lot of them actually.
"C'mon mate, I'm going to introduce you to our friends here."
Chill girl, chill. My legs are feeling cold because of the short dress, I wish I was wearing pants.
I can see familiar faces. Of course, after watching the whole season of Bondi Rescue you'll be able to memorize the names and the faces of the Lifeguards. Like, I wanna freeze time to relax myself and my shaking hands.
I'm not gonna drink coffee ever again.
I feel like palpitating. Inhale, exhale.
"Everyone," Whippet trying to get the attention of all, "I'd like you to meet Cat and Lance, my neighbors."
What an introduction. Now, all eyes on us. Geez!
I raise my hand and wave. I was taken aback. I looked at Lance and she was doing the same thing so I laughed. A good way to shake off shyness.
A lady walked beside Whippet to greet us warmly, "Hi, welcome to Sydney. I hope you enjoy your month-long vacation here."
"This is my wife Gina," Whippet said, "later I'll introduce you to the kids, they are running around the house somewhere."
"Gina, It's nice to meet you. I'm Lance." A quick greeting hug, "and this is my friend Cat."
"Gina, thanks for inviting us over." I said.
"Oh, no worries. Neighbors are family." she smiled.
The Clarks are so nice and so friendly. They made us feel so welcome and comfortable.
"Alright, let's head over to the other side ladies." Whippet leads us to the Lifeguards.
Oh, Gawd. Here it is.
Lance and I looked at each other, trying to compose ourselves and look normal. Normal, as in the sociable kind of girls. Where in reality we're nervous and freaking out deep inside.
"I'd like you to meet my mates here. We're Lifeguards at Bondi beach, including Tama and Bronte. They're not all here yet, but hopefully, the others are gonna come over."
We know.
Lance held my hand and squeezed it. I grinned unintentionally. I squeezed her hand back like telling her to relax and just go with the flow.
"That old bud right there is Kerbox," waves hi as Whippet introduce each of them, "the one grilling BBQ there is Reidy. The all-out smile guy there is Harries, another all-out smiley guy there is Matt Dee, there's the senior lifeguard Hoppo, our team leader Chappo, next to him is Deano and our Maxi."
They greeted us all with a warm embrace. Like what?
"Oh, by the way, Cat. I remember you calling me Whippet last night when I introduced myself as Ryan," he asks me, "how did you know my name?"
I smiled, "Well, we've been watching Bondi Rescue."
"What?" Reidy said.
"So you probably known us from the start then?" Kerbox said.
"Yeah." Lance answered. And we laughed.
And now they're chatting with us like we've known them for years. This is amazing.
The food is good and we've had drinks too. We were laughing the whole time because these guys are so funny. Like every Bondi story that they had to share for the night was all the craziest experience they had.
"I was always on patrol with Mouse and I tell yah, before, it's like he always brings bad omen with him." Matt Dee said laughing.
"Aren't they coming?" Chappo ask.
"I'm not sure," Whippet said checking his phone. "I have not received a text from them."
"Oh, here they are." Hoppo said pointing at the new guests coming in.
