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Published: March 17th 2008
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me with all my gear!
we hadn't even gotten up to the rockface yet! Hey Everyone! So, I did a bunch of stuff this weekend that I NEVER would have done! I'm proud of myself! A bunch of us joined the Mountaineering Club and went on their "big weekend." which means we go camping for a weekend in the Yarra Valley area and do a bunch of outdoorsy campy things. It was definitely a challenge....especially with my minor fear of heights.
We got there Friday evening and set up camp, which consisted of me and the other girls I went with picking a spot on the ground to put out sleeping bag on. We slept under the stars and I got to see the Southern Cross constellation! BEAUTIFUL! There were so many stars. I slept like a rock, so much so that I didn't know until the morning that our camp was surrounded my kangaroos and a bunch of them came into the camp and took some food from people! Brenna said one was right next to her, and I was right next to Brenna, so I wish I had seen it! So, we got up bright and early and went off to our first activity. Nichole, Brenna and I went rock climbing! This
dominating that rock!
STILL not to the rockface! means I had to conquer my fear of heights and climb a rock face....on a mountain...with just a rope and harness keeping me from falling....AHHHHH. But first, we had to make it up to the rock face. It was a lot of work getting up there! We hiked and hiked (much more challenging than anywhere I've hiked before) and I got a few scrapes, but it felt amazing to just jump on a rock, find the grooves to set my hands and feet in and dominate it! haha. So, we got up there, I watched a couple people do it, and then it was my turn. I took a big deep breath and went for it. It was hard! But, I did it and it was great. Very exhilirating. I think when I get home I'm going to look into taking indoor climbing classes because it's sometihng I'd like to get better at.
We came back to camp, had some lunch (by the way, Nutella sandwiches are DELICIOUS) and set off to our next activity. RAFTING. We got there, found our rafts, blew them up, and we were good to go! I was in a raft with my friends
Mary and Miranda and we were also joined by a girl named Sarah who's from Germany. Our guides were actually from Monash Uni's Mountaineering Club and they were lots of fun. We did a bunch of tricks on the boat, most of which involved us jumping out of the raft and being flipped over. The water was great! Super refreshing. We went over a few rapids, and then decided to bring the raft on land and go through the last big rapid by swimming through it! What a rush. We went in (I had a life jacket don't worry!) and then had to swim through the current to calm water so we could get out and back on land. That was such a blast, we didn't stop laughing most of the time.
By the time we were finished with dinner, we were so tired that we just plopped down and went to sleep. Slept really hard again.
My last activity was mountain biking which I DID NOT LIKE AT ALL. I rarely ride bikes on flat land let alone on a mountain, so I was really unbalanced and unstable. So, things didn't go so well for me. I
brenna and i climbing
she's on her way down and i'm on my way up! should probably practice riding a bike in normal situations before I try that again.
When we got back we all went to the creek to cool off, which felt GREAT! Then, we packed up our stuff and headed back to La Trobe. Very successful weekend, but we were all ready to get back and unpack and relax. We were also really tired of the stupid flies being in our faces all the time. The flies were TERRIBLE! They were massive (we called them mini-vans) and if you swatted them away, they just came back. I don't think I can tell you how annoying they were, you just had to be there.
I got back last night with a decent sized migraine, so I popped a pill and went to sleep. When I woke up this morning, one of my eyelids were swollen! I was going to go to the doctor, but once I took a shower and everything, the swelling was down significantly and has only gotten better since the day has gone on. No worries!
I hope you like my pictures! I miss you all! I'll be sending pictures soon!
xoxo,
Amanda
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Brenna
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Awesome!
What a great weekend! Amazzzzzzzzzzzzing! :)