i'm moving to sydney, australia, and won't be getting as much ice time as i'd like. i'm thinking about installing synthetic ice in my basement. has anyone ever tried it? can you jump and spin? does it help or hinder your on ice skating?

also, if anyone has any info on skating in australia (nsw), please let me know!
thanks,

fan!

Synthetic ice, if you're on about those plastic jigsaw type things, then DO NOT GO THERE!

It's like trying to commit suicide trying to skate on synthetic ice. It's peices of plastic slotted together and sprayed with water to make it slippy. I don't think you could stand up on it, never mind jump! I've skated on it twice, and almost broke something the first time! It was a nightmare!

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I will second that, my legs parted company and I could not move, anyone who can use it has my full admiration.

Go for Pic skates instead. Check their web site.

Kay

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can you really feel the edges with the pic skate? i hate rollerblading because i can never work my edges properly.

Yes, you can edge on Pics. Order the "coaches' video" available on the PicSkate web site. It shows various skills on pics including jumps, spins, footwork. Cheap and very interesting.

SOmeone from Australia might help here, but artistic quad roller might be more popular in Australia than the US (or wherever you are). You can do many of the same moves on quads. I used to do it recreationally as a kid. Lots of fun. Quad dance is also very graceful and beautiful to watch.

Kay

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Hello!

I moved to Sydney about 9 months ago and skate 3-4 times a week at the Macquarie Ice Rink in Nth Ryde. If you are going to have a car here, it's about a 30 minute drive from the city to the rink (in good traffic), and it's also accessible via bus from downtown as well. Here's their website for more information on skating prices, etc:
http://www.macquarieicerink.com.au/
They offer public sessions every day of the week, with at least one evening session every day except Tuesdays. Except for school holidays (which are going on right now), the evening sessions are usually not terribly crowded and we're allowed to work on FS elements on them. Many of the adults I know at the rink (me included!) also have their lessons on public sessions. There is a later afternoon/early evening FS session on M/W/F, and morning FS ice as well. The rink is attached to a mall, so when you're finished skating you can shop, eat, or even go see a movie.

There are a few other Sydney area rinks -- Canterbury (nearer to the city), Penrith (a bit of a hike), and Blacktown. You can see listings of all the Sydney area rinks at the New South Wales Skating Association website:
http://www.nswisa.com/

Skating here has been a blast so far, I'm having even more fun skating in Australia than I did at home! We also love living here -- we came with our 4 year old and he is even starting to get an accent.

As an Australian living in the US I wish you all the best in the land of sunshine . I was home on the sunshine coast for only 2 weeks and spent most of it up north on the best beaches in the world, the last thing I was thinking about was skating. I can't give you much advice on skating in OZ I didn't start till very late in life but I hope you will have a great time and meet some great people , you will find australians very polite and they will love the accent you already have.

thanks so much for your advice, guys. I'll be living in the eastern suburbs, so macquarie is a bit of a shlep without a car, but i'll get there on the weekends. i just heard that fox studios is reopening the ice rink, which is exciting!

do you know where i can get the lists of the australian test stream tests? i'd like to start trying both dances and freeskate when i'm there.

thanks,

fan

ISA (Ice Skating Australia) has the tests listed and explained in the Rule Book. The ISA website is www.isa.org.au and direct link to the rule book (pdf file so it may take a while) is ISA Rulebook April 2005

I definitely agree with everyone who said synthetic ice is not the way to go. Good luck!