But, I do intend to keep up the blog for the entire time we’re here, and there are exciting things to share. At least I think they’re exciting. So here we go.
This weekend is the first we’ve been at home both days for quite some time now. The first weekend in May, we went on our first official bushwalk with the Adelaide Bushwalkers (ABW). It was a walk for people under 35 years of age, which means scraping the barrel for the aging Bushwalking Club. We had five people from the club, and our friends Brad and Laila, who came along for the walk. Although we were few, the miles and smiles were many. We went something like 25 kms, starting at the bottom of the Adelaide Hills, and walking up almost to Hahndorf. Grumpy’s pizza restaurant was our final destination, and we were all happy for the delicious food after a long walk. That weekend was a bit epic for us. We also did an 85 km bike ride down to McLaren Vale and back up through the hills. It was a beautiful ride, with perfect weather and a delicious lunch stop about half-way through.
The following weekend, Dave demonstrated (this essentially means to be a TA) for a first-year geology trip down at Sellick’s Beach. I joined him for the first day, and enjoyed a lovely day walking on the beach, and even managed to learn some geology. (I have to say, the more I learn about rocks, the more I like them : ) If water doesn’t work out, I think I’ll become a geologist!) The highlight of the day was watching these guys who parked their car on the beach try to push it out of wet sand. They had parked it at low tide, and had spent the day a ways down the beach, probably drinking beer, fishing and hanging out. By the time they decided to head home, the tide had come in, and even from a distance, we could see the waves lapping at the front wheels of the car. By the time the guys made it back to their car, the sand around the front tires was well and truly wet. They couldn’t drive the car out, as it didn’t have 4 wheel drive. So, they tried to push it. However, whenever a wave came crashing in, they would abandon the car and run up the beach to avoid getting their feet wet. Apparently, saving your car from the ocean is not as important as keeping your shoes dry! Eventually a four wheel drive car came down and pulled them out, but I have to say the whole scenario was hilarious. Hehe.
The next weekend, we headed up to a town in the southern Flinders Ranges called Melrose. The town is really tiny, with a hotel (this really means a pub) and a few little shops, and perhaps one of the nicest mountain biking shops in all of Australia. The area is renowned for its mountain biking, and Dave and Ryan, our neighbor, spent Saturday out on the trails. It was Dave’s first time mountain biking, and Ryan said that he improved by 200% over the course of the day. I went on my second ABW walk, which was an all-girls walk this time. There were six of us this time, and we had a lovely day climbing Mt. Remarkable. My favorite part was actually the descent, which was indeed remarkable. I even stopped to take several pictures, which is sort of a rarity for me. We had a lovely meal in the pub that night, which included one of the best desserts I’ve had here. It was a rhubarb and quandong (a native peach-like fruit) crumble, served in a coffee cup on a saucer. It was so cute, and even more delicious. The following day, we went for a shorter, drizzly walk in the Wirrabarra Forest before heading to a dry, warm bakery for some delicious pies.
The final weekend in May, we played in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament down in Victor Harbor. Although the weather was wet and windy, we played three good games on Saturday, and even got to play on the same team. (We’ve both been playing in a league the past few months, but it’s not co-ed.) It was sort of an amazing thing, because it seemed that each time we took a break (between games, or for lunch), dark gray clouds would immerse the fields in rain. By the time w were ready to play again, however, things had cleared a bit. The best was when we were playing our second game, and the other team took a time out to get a rest. It was actually sunny when they called the time out, but by the time we had all made it over to our sheltered water bottles, it started to rain. It kept raining, and fairly hard, so the other team called another time out. Then, we called a time out. And, then we called another time out. Finally, the rain stopped, and we went back out to finish the game. Frisbee tournaments always involve parties and food after the games, and so after finishing, we headed over to the Chiton Rocks Surf Lifesaving Club for showers, food, and hanging out. I don’t know if we have anything like Surf Lifesaving Clubs in the US, but they are quite common here, and really pretty neat. They are lifeguards for the beach, and they were bright yellow and red outfits with these hilarious little caps. The theme for the party that night was ‘Unsung Heroes’, and one of the girls on our team dressed up as a Surf Lifesaver (she actually used to be one), and I wish I had taken a picture for you to see. The cap is so funny! Anyways, the Club had a bunkroom, showers, kitchen, TV, pool table, and was right on the beach, so it was a perfect place to stay, especially for $16/night!
We ended up not playing Frisbee the next morning, as the weather was still wet and windy. Instead, we came home and went for a walk with our neighbors up into the hills. We’re all going on a weekend bushwalk to the Flinders Ranges next weekend (it’s the Queen’s Birthday weekend, and so we have Monday off). We took the opportunity to do a little training walk, and actually went again this weekend, and this time carrying backpacks with 7 liters of water. We walked back home through Belair National Park this weekend, and got to see a koala up close. It was so cute, I had to keep myself from picking him up for a snuggle.
It’s Sunday night now, and we actually haven’t left the backyard at all today. We Skyped some people in the northern hemisphere, ate some tasty leftovers for lunch, played a board game, cleaned the house, and are about to have dinner and watch a little Master Chef Australia. I’m still in my lounge about clothes, and am really enjoying the quiet day. We have some pretty exciting adventures ahead of us, and it will be a while before we have a quiet day at home again. But, I promise it won’t be that long until we update the blog. Stay tuned for trip reports on our weekend backpack to the Flinders, diving at the Great Barrier Reef, and two weeks of shepherding 80 geology students in central Australia. (Oh, and there are more pictures here, if you'd like to have a look. We actually update these more regularly than the blog!)
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