everyone loves a sufer girl

For the last couple days I have been meaning to update this buuutt….it keeps getting put off (just like my homework…I can’t help how tempting the beach is!) On Thursday (the 12th) we went on a field trip to Lismore and Southern Cross Uni for marine science. We got on a boat and collected plankton samples. I volunteered to pull in the net, and of course I found some way to screw it up. I accidently got the rope wrapped around one of the motors and it took a good ten minutes for the dude to untangle it. (you think I would have known better…sorry, dad!) After the boat trip, we went to the Uni’s science lab and looked at our samples under the microscopes….and it was pretty interesting. This week’s marine bio field trip is to some swamp area where the prof warned us about leeches….great!

Friday was the big surfing adventure (finally! It’s been pushed back several times) It was awesome! The weather was pretty crummy out…rainy, windy, and cloudy BUT the waves were great. Initially, I was pretty skeptical about it all. I was thinking surfing was going to be impossible and miserable but I might as well try it for about 30 USD. The surf instructor looked just like a younger (and thicker) version of Steven Tyler. (I looked around for Joe Perry, but no luck… sorry Tree and Laura..) Steven Tyler…aka Doug was this crazy, old hippie-man that was bouncing around, jumping on and off the board. After doing some land exercise, it was time to hit the waves. Some people got up right away… and after an hour, some were still struggling to get up – I was in the middle. It took a while to feel out the wave and the right time to get up (and the balance to STAY up!) I never did stay up for that long, but standing up on the board and riding a wave for just a little bit was incredible. It was so much fun…even to wipe out. I couldn’t help but laugh at myself and the other kids. Towards the end, we were all exhausted and cold and ready to get some lunch. About 30 of us ended up staying in Bryon Bay for the night to party at Cheekie Monkeys, a “backpacker’s pub.” Since alcohol is so expensive at the pubs, we all got a liter (the closest we could get to Edward- 40 hands..) of beer and we “brown bagged” it on the streets of Bryon, trying hard to stay dry from the pouring rain. The pub was defiantly interesting…there were people from all across the world. I couldn’t imagine backpacking through a country…these people are NUTS. Bryon Bay is about 40 minutes away so at the end of the night, 10 kids pile into a maxi-taxi (a van) and it’s about a $10 cab ride back to the cabins.

Saturday was a “recoup” day for everyone. The weather was awful…rainy and windy all day. I think we all got a little cabin fever. Saturday was Valentine’s Day and we had a big fancy dinner planned for weeks. We had reservations at a nice Italian restaurant in town. All the girls got all dressed up and even the guys cleaned up a little. It was nice to actually be “clean” for a little bit. This isn’t a complaint but- you know how you go on a beach vacation for a week…and you finally get home and realize how sandy all your stuff is, including yourself. Well I’ve been living like that for 3 weeks now. I get out of the shower, step on the bathroom floor, and become instantly sandy again. So to say the least, it was nice to be clean and wear a dress and actually fix my hair (my “hair” aka a big fro-mess that has over taken my head…) So we all look very nice…and then realize we need to walk about a mile into town to this place…in the rain and wind. By the time we ended up there, we all looked like drowned rats. But, it was well worth it…I had this delicious seafood pasta …yum!

Sunday was my first pool session for SCUBA. There were 7 of us that got picked up and went back to Bryon Bay (see a pattern here…there is NOTHING in Lennox Head…we always go to Bryon for things…) After getting all geared up, (wet suit, booties, fins, snorkel, mask, weight belt, tubes and hoses, and a big heavy air tank) I was feeling a little uncomfortable! It took some while getting used to in the water. I did not like not breathing through my nose and the sound the air made going in and out was weird. At one point, I felt like I was at the dentist breathing in the “happy gas” and I did NOT like the feeling. After a while, I got adjusted to it and began to relax. We did a bunch of different skills and safety procedures (it kind of reminded me of lifeguard training.) The vest that you wear when diving inflates and deflates so you can maintain buoyancy and that was the trickiest thing to get used to. Every time I would take a deep breath in, I would rise to the surface and an exhale would send me to the bottom. Yesterday (Monday) we finished the theory/book part of the class and I passed the final exam. Friday and Saturday we have 4 dives and then I’ll officially be SCUBA certified! I’m excited to be done with the class so I can begin traveling the country (and go diving, of course!) I’ve been here for three weeks and have not done any significant traveling. A group of three boys (already SCUBA certified) spent the past weekend in the outback to see Ulru (Ayre’s Rock) and I’m jealous! I feel like we have too much planned on the weekends to go out and travel…if I could do it again, I would have gotten SCUBA certified before I came on the trip so I’d have free weekends. There are so many places I want to visit before my short time is up here, and I better get started. I’m really exicted to go visit my family (my mom’s cousin, husband, and kids) that live a few hours away. Although I haven’t been homesick yet, it’s nice to have family down here. Everyone once in a while, I miss my family and friends back home…but then I think about Muncie…and the snow and embrace the fact that I’m a part of this wonderful experience…and am LOVING it!

We (a few girls and I) finally booked our tickets for Spring Break. We’re planning on going to the Gold Coast (comparable to like a Panama City Beach I guess) for a few days for a surf competition (no, I’m not competing…haha), then flying to Melbourne for a few days, then off to Sydney for the remaining time. I’m really looking forward to Sydney…I’ve been itching to get there since I landed in Australia. One thing I really want to do there is climb the Harbour Bridge. I can’t wait!!

Sorry if this is too much to read (Mike) but I’ve been busy...
Hope everyone is doing well back home…love you all!!!