Bridge Climb

As you may know, I did the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb on Monday. And it was amazing. We did the night climb, so we got to see the sunset from the bridge, and later see the city all lit up. I actually have a fear of heights, but it wasn't scary at all. The only semi-scary part was climbing down the ladders on our way back. I've always hated climbing down ladders. BUT ANYWAY. It was glorious. Probably one of my favorite things that I've done while I've been here.

WE DID IT! (Even though this picture isn't from the top...)

There was even a proposal on our climb! It was adorable. I somehow missed the whole thing, and there was one person behind me, and then the couple. I think everyone was oblivious, until our climb leader said he had good news, and then said, "____ just asked ____ to marry him and she said yes!" (Yeah, I forgot their names.) It really made me wish the hot guy behind me would decide to propose to me...no such luck.

I kind of thought I'd have more to write about this...anyway...here are the bridge stats:

Yeah...that's the back of the sweatshirt I bought. For those of you who don't understand meters, the bridge is 400+ FEET tall. And the length...well you can convert that yourself.

Sooooo.

Yeah, yeah it's been forever since I blogged last. But that's only because I have done nothing. Buuut on Friday afternoon I went to Wollongong, where there is another university. I went with Abby so she could see her friend Jess from her school at home and we stayed with her. Alexis came up Saturday morning and I went back with her Saturday night.

Anyway, Friday night we got dinner and then went out. Saturday morning we had planned to hike up Mount Keira, which Jess said takes about 3 hours to the top and back. So, after a slow start to the morning...we ended up taking the hike. I know I mentioned before that I went bushwalking VERY hungover one day a couple of months ago, and it cured my hangover. Basically, same situation yesterday. I couldn't believe we actually made it to the top. I was so proud. Oh and we saw a guy hiking down the mountain barefoot...I was creeped out. So on the way down, Alexis and I went ahead of Abby and Jess. Bad idea. We ended up getting lost. We took this trail that was all steep hills all the way down. It was a little terrifying. And Alexis lost her keys somewhere along the way...yikes. I did see a herd of deer in the wild though, which I didn't think I'd ever see in this country. When we got to the bottom, we were on some farm, and went to a house and asked them to direct us to Wollongong University. Luckily we were close, and once we got to campus we were extra lost again. We finally found the bus stop that we arrived at and Jess and Abby were there waiting for us. They had waited for 45 minutes, apparently, and I felt awful.

After that whole debacle, we had delicious fish and chips and walked around Wollongong and saw the lighthouse and the beach and such. It is a really pretty area. Alexis and I had planned on taking a train at 8 or 9 o'clock back to school, but we were basically out of things to do by 5ish, so we took the 6 o'clock train instead. I was so anxious throughout the whooole ride to just get home and shower and pass out. And that's exactly what I did. I slept until about 10:30 this morning...which is freakishly late for me lately.

Today I am holed up in the library writing a paper, and tomorrow evening I am going to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, so I'm really excited about that.

Should've been a farm girl.

As you may or may not know, this weekend I returned to the alpaca farm where I had my country life weekend in early March. I will get that next, but first I suppose I should fill you in on my life since my last blog post. Basically...nothing happened. Except Anzac Day. I went in to the city for the parade with Abby, Sara, and my mother. It really made me realize how little we do for Veteran's Day at home...kind of sad. There were groups of different veterans and soldiers marching, and also bands and such. For some reason there were about 43802 groups of bagpipers...I didn't know bagpipes were so big in Australia. But anyway, bagpipes always make my mom cry, so she had an emotional day. Aside from that, my parents went back to the 'homeland' or 'old country,' as my dad wouldn't stop referring to it. I also went out for the first night in basically two weeks...but there are no fun stories there.

SO. The farm. I have decided that I should've been a farm girl. Actually, I always wanted to live on a farm when I was little. Man, would I be in good shape. But seriously. Fiona picked us up from the train at about 6 pm on Friday and it was already dark, so we didn't go see the alpacas. We had delicious dinner and dessert, as usual, and then Ian got back from being in Queensland for work. We chatted a bit by the fire and went to bed. The next morning we accompanied Fiona on the morning feedings, and also learned to drive the Gator! It was so fun. I'm terrified to go home and start driving again, since it's been so long and I'm used to seeing cars drive on the left side of the road now, but driving the Gator may have helped ease my nerves a little. The steering wheel was on the left side, so that also made it easier for Sara and I to comprehend. Obviously, it is a lot simpler to drive than an actual car...

We got to witness more spit-offs (or the alpaca pregnancy test that I described in my previous blog about the farm). Saturday afternoon we went up on the hill and literally picked up rocks. We were finding rocks for Fiona and Ian's rock wall that is being built in their front yard. Somehow, it was fun. Everything we do on the farm is fun. We did the evening feeding of the alpacas as well. After that, Ian drove us around in search of wildlife. We still had not seen a wombat in the wild, so we were hoping to see one. We ended up seeing two, and some kangaroos and rock wallabies. There was also an owl, but I just barely saw it. We went back for dinner, and after dinner, Ian took us out again. That's when the best thing ever happened. We were driving along and then an animal was on the road in front of us. We all thought it was a wombat at first, but it turned out to be a KOALA. Koalas are endangered, so it's rare to see them in the wild. Ian has lived there for 10 years and seen 3. Sara and I were there for two weekends and saw one...soo, I'd say we were pretty lucky. We ended up seeing another wombat and some more roos/wallabies, but they paled in comparison. That was my Cinco de Mayo. I even went to bed at 10 pm. I'm quite the party animal, but it was an exhausting day.

Sunday we got to see Fiona and Ian trim some nails, and also trim the fighting teeth that male alpacas grow. It was interesting. Oh, and the last time we were on the farm, there were two very pregnant alpacas...this time we got to see their babies. (Baby alpacas are called cria, actually.) One of them was only a week old! The other was three or four weeks old. They were adorable, and we even got to hold the smaller one. I can't believe I actually won't be going back to the farm again before I leave...it makes me all emotional! I will miss Ian and Fiona, and Trema (the dog) and the alpacas.