Catching up...

Over the past few weeks I haven't posted anything with the exception of pictures, mostly out of laziness, but also from my time being used up, so that in my free time, I am too tired to write up a post, but now, I'm on my way up to Canberra for my last weekend with the Whitings, so I have a two hour trip ahead of me, and although I won't be able to post this until I get a wifi connection, here I go attempting to give you an interesting post.

I believe the last post (not the video) was of my week long travels and adventures with the Australian Army Cadets to Singleton. I feel it is only right now that I pick up from there to tell you of my past 3? weeks.  This would bring me to start with the Monday after, which was a very good day indeed,  and for those of you who are FB friends of mine, you would know it's the day I got a surfing lesson! That morning was a decent morning with good waves for a beginner, which was great! We started around 9 in the morning for a two hour lesson with Hannah accompanying me, in which we were lucky because there were two instructors and we were the only two in the class, which allowed for one-on-one instruction. It went very well, and by the end of the first hour I could stand up on the board, and just spent the next hour practicing standing and riding the wave forward. I even tried to use a shorter board for the last half hour, which although I was met with difficulty, was still great fun! I'll just give them some free advertising and say it was 'Surf the Bay' where I got my lesson. :) That afternoon I also had tea with my WONDERFUL counsellor, Carol. (that's just for you, Carol. Lol)

Tuesday morning we went down to Bega and then to Eden, which is an old whaling town, who's business now comes mainly from tourism. When we got down there, we had lunch and then planned on going sight seeing. However, by the time we finished eating, it was pissing down rain with very strong winds. So, we quickly ran out of the car then straight back in at a few spots so I could get a quick look and some pictures. Of course, though, once we left, it cleared up... The next morning, we went to the Bega Cheese Factory, got lunch, then split off. While Hannah and Kathryn got their hair done, Kathryn's parents, their nephew, and I went for a drive to see some sights. That night, we then moved to the farm, where we stayed for the rest of the week. The next day, I got to ride a horse! It was really nice and fun, and apparently I did well. Afterward, we got lunch, then I got to milk some cows. :) That was interesting and kinda fun, if you like getting crapped on by cattle. That took most of the afternoon, then we had a fun night. The next morning, we got up and went to Mumbla Falls, which is a pretty good swimming hole and small water fall. Sadly though, we left by lunchtime to get home. It was a quiet afternoon after lunch with Geoff's mom.

Saturday morning, we left around 10am for Alpine, which is a great camping spot on private land. We got there early afternoon, set up, had lunch, and relaxed. Hannah, Kathryn, and I had a nice hour long walk on which I found a walking stick which I plan on carving with different events from my exchange. Sunday morning came bright and early, and after breakfast, while waiting to start the days activities, I climbed the pine next to our site, nearly to the top, about 50ft up. After climbing down to get my camera, then back up again, we then decided to start the day. Of the 10 of us camping, 4 went on a long hike up the mountain that took them 3-4 hours, while 2 stayed at the house, then Geoff, Kathryn, Hannah, and I went for a drive up the other way, and around exploring 4wd. On the way, we found an amazing breathtaking view, where we could see the ocean from 24 miles away. After, we went back to our site to eat, then relaxed for most of the afternoon while I continued carving. Monday morning, we left by 1030 am to get home by 4 after stopping for lunch.

Tuesday it was back to school, then at cadets, we started doing drill to prepare for March Out. Wednesday, no school, so I spent the day making my treats for the District conference for Rotary, as I had to provide something American for morning tea. I made S'more brownies. At the running club, I ran 20:07, then at Rotary I had to speak to the club again, this time accompanied by 5 others as we were talking about our time at MUNA back in August. Thursday was just another day at school, and Hannah and I went to the beach in the afternoon to cool off. Friday, went to school as normal then left almost immediately to Merimbula for the District Conference, where I met up with the other exchange students and had a great time. Saturday morning, we spent at the conference, and during morning tea, I met someone from CT! How funny, what a small world! In the afternoon, after lunch, we went to the beach, before getting changed and going to the formal dinner and dance party at the conference. Sadly, we had to depart before lunch and head back home after a talk from Layne Beachley, a 7 time surfing world champion!

Monday was a normal day at school and that night I tried shark for dinner which was pretty good! Tuesday was normal school and same as last week with cadets. Although I got my slouch hat! Wednesday came, and I made apple pie for my family, which they loved! :) With the running club, I got a new PB with 19:28, then at Rotary it was a normal meeting. Thursday was just school, then Friday, school again. Yet that afternoon I went for a nice 12km run down the beach which was pretty good, and although I should be doing that more often it was my longest run since getting here.

On Saturday I got up at 0630, which, with the exception of AFX, was the earliest I've gotten up all exchange. We drove up to Canberra, and after running errands, we went to the Australian Institute of Sport, where we took a tour of their facilities where world-class athletes can train daily. We also got to see a couple events at the Track and Field section of the Oceana pan-Hellenic Games. AFterward, we went to Geoff's mum's place for the night, and Kathryn and I walked around Bungendore at sunset where I got some great pics. Sunday, we went to the Royal Australian Mint (RAM), where, although we couldn't see them in action due to it being Sunday, we saw some pretty cool exhibits including the key to Parliament House. Afterward, Kathryn and Geoff dropped me off with other exchange students, where we got lunch and went to the National Museum of Australia. Also, while waiting for the bus, we tried some Taiwanese tea, where I tried Pearl Milk Tea, which was good, although I'm not sure how I like the texture of the bubbles, which are tapioca balls. Once at the museum, although we spent an hour in the gift shop, it was an awesomely fun time.

Monday was just an average day at school, then I did hill sprints in the afternoon, where I was called crazy by a runner passing by... That night we had sloppy joes as Geoff ordered some mix online! We played some pictionary and I got an early night at 10pm. Tuesday was another day at school and average night at cadets.