After a long flight learning names, creating friendships and minimal sleep, we arrived in Santiago to find our hotel wasn't ready. So our first adventure in the city was exploring the closest shopping mall, Costanero: an experience in food and culture. 

Soon training and competition began. Considering we were a relatively inexperienced and under-exposed team, we went extremely well.  Many other countries have great exposure to tournaments and training, while in Australia our exposure and experience is quite low.

We had 18 competitors fighting over the four-day world championships, in which our best placing was 7^th against dominant countries. 

At weigh-in, I was one kilogram under, despite limited access to lighter foods (and a few trips to the local chocolate shop by this time).

I woke up on the morning of competition extremely nervous, remembering I had to fight. My draw was released. I was fighting an athlete from Kazakhstan, a country known for its young and competitive judo team. In the days leading up to this moment, I had watched this country compete well and even win some medals with their aggressive and dominant style.

After breakfast, I caught an early bus to the stadium and arrived at the warm-up mats. I was fight No. 3 and, if I lost my first fight, there would be no second fight. I had one advantage over my competitor, my height; although she was a bit stockier than me.

Our fight lasted almost four minutes. It ended with her holding me down and eliminating me from the rest of the competition. I was extremely disappointed, but later that night I was selected for the teams competition, and looked forward to my second chance. 

I was selected to compete in the +63s categories, meaning I could fight someone at 65 kilograms – or 120kg! I was scared I’d be squashed or, worse, injured for footy finals.

Nevertheless, I went out there, ready to fight. Thankfully the Brazilian competitor was 90kg, so only a 20kg advantage over me. I went out there to win a fight for my country.

I fought extremely well and better than my previous encounter, but I was disappointed again with a loss to the Brazilian athlete, and an 8-nil loss for the team.

That night was the night of our departure, and our first official team dinner, which was amazing. The team had bonded really well with strength and respect for each other.