Monday:
I woke up still feeling not the best, and it was raining. It was such a great start to the day. Gardening was cancelled because of the rain, so I tried to get a little more sleep. I had some weird dreams about Thanksgiving, and then I got up in the hopes of being super productive since I wasn’t motivated at all the night before. I wrote quite a bit for my sustainable communities paper which was good to get out of the way. It helped that I had made an outline on the bus to Wet N Wild on Saturday. I also cooked a little, and Kiley and I made our plans for traveling to Melbourne and Tasmania after we’re done with classes. It was a pretty chill day for me just spent in the apartment trying to feel better and get some work done. Tuesday: I went to the gym for a little bit in the morning and then I came back to the apartment to shower, do a few things, and eat lunch. Then, I walked to campus to study before my sustainability class. The lecture was about personal ecological footprints and how we can reduce our impact on the environment. I thought it was pretty interesting because he talked mostly about the things that he had already changed in his life. After lecture, I went back to the library to finish up my presentation for the next day and read a few articles for another class. The reading never seems to stop here. That night was trivia for “Stone Week.” Trivia was pretty fun. We got free pizza and french fries aka “hot chips” which made everyone pretty happy. Our team didn’t do very well, but we had some fun, so that’s all that matters right? We walked back after and got ready for bed and studied a little. Wednesday: I woke up feeling much better which was nice. There was a guest lecturer in nutrition who talked about the links between food, disease, and cancer. Then, I talked with my parents and practiced my presentation on community gardens to them. It helped me get a bit of my nerves out before my sustainability class. The presentation went well, so I’m glad that’s over. Then, I worked in the garden for a while planting a few things and weeding more. I got to take home some fresh broccoli, leeks, kale, parsley, and mint leaves. I walked back to the apartment and read some articles before watching the Bachelorette with Kiley and doing some laundry. I ended the night with a few last minute school things and reading my book. Thursday: I went to the gym in the morning and then looked at my nutrition presentation for a little bit before eating lunch and then heading to campus. I worked on a few university things, and then my group met up to practice our presentation and make a few changes before our tutorial. We wanted to get our presentation over with, so we decided we wanted to go first or second. Our group ended up going second, and we were glad when we finished. They said that everyone did pretty well, so I’m hoping for the best. When I got back to the apartment, I made some delicious fried rice with chicken, leeks, celery, broccoli, and carrots. It smelled good, and it tasted light and delicious. Kiley and I watched the Bachelorette together and ate dinner. Then, we watched Gaurdians of the Galaxy and colored some pictures to relieve some stress and embrace our inner child. Friday: Well, I was a little tired that morning because I had to register for classes back home at 1am. I didn’t fall asleep before then, and I couldn’t get to sleep until after 2am. Then, for some unknown reason, I woke up at 7:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep. I finally got out of bed and went to the gym. After showering and eating lunch, Kiley and I got chai tea lattes at “Chatterbox” to celebrate getting my presentations and her practical done. We had some good life talks about what it’ll be like when we get home and how this journey has been so far. We also helped proofread some of Nicola’s assignments since she was stressed out. We walked back and finished packing for surf camp! Then, I worked on some school stuff for a little while before we left. The bus ride was longer than expected, but we made it to surf camp around 9:30pm. We had a meeting and split ourselves into rooms, and then we went to bed. Saturday: Our group was second, so we ate breakfast and started a little later in the morning. It was pretty rainy and very cold most of the day, but our group got lucky and didn’t have any rain during our surf lessons. We learned the surfing techniques and safety rules on the beach and then headed into the water for the first session. The wetsuits definitely helped to keep us warm, and the water actually felt warmer than being outside. We had around an hour and a half in the water with our boards. At first, all I did was slide off the board on my stomach or not paddle enough to stay in front of the wave. As the session went on, I got a better sense of balance and picking good waves, but surfing was much harder than I was expecting. After our first session, we walked back for our lunch break. We all changed into warm clothes and enjoyed our lunch. It rained a little more during lunch. Putting our wet swimsuits and wetties (of course there’s a shorter version of wetsuits for surfers ;) back on was a little rough, but we pushed through to get better and have fun. Before our second session, they taught us about making sure it was safe to surf and how to tell if the conditions were good. There was a cross wind, so the current kept wanting to push us down the beach. That was pretty tiring to fight while holding a surf board, but it wasn’t too bad. I got up a few times during this session which was a pretty cool feeling. I thought I would be better than I was, but I shouldn’t have expected so much from myself knowing how clumsy I am ;) I wasn’t awful, but I wasn’t great either. I think that surfing takes a while for most people to get the hang of. Hopefully I get the chance to try more in the future and get better. After our second session, we all hurried to shower and get clean and warm. We had dinner which was pretty good. I was so hungry after the fun, tiring day spent in the waves, so I ate a lot of the yummy food. After dinner, everyone hung around before heading to a pub nearby. It was pretty interesting because they said we’d be able to dance and stuff, but there were little kids there when we arrived. After some of them left, some surf instructors showed up, and a live guitar player started singing. We danced and did the limbo. After a little while, we left to get some sleep since we were exhausted. Sunday: We were part of the earlier group on Sunday, so we had breakfast sooner. As we got our wet swimsuits and wetsuits on, we had to push through because it was cold. We walked down to the beach, and the second we got out in the open, the sand started hitting us in the face. I shielded my eyes, but it didn’t help much. We walked to get our surf boards and got them back to the beach. The instructors said we could try to surf for 10 minutes to see how the wind affected everything. I tried to surf two waves, and then they yelled for us to get out of the water. They said people could get swept out to sea, and the boards were dangerous because they could get picked up by the wind and hit people. I agree the current was strong, and it was pretty hard to keep control of our boards. However, it was still sad to have to call it quits. We walked our boards back and walked back to camp to shower and change. Some of us went on a walk while others did yoga before lunch since we had extra time. After lunch, we still had a little time before we left, so some people went for another walk. I didn’t feel good because I was still permanently cold from the day before even with all my clothes and 2 blankets on, so I just laid in bed and read a book. It felt nice to relax and try to warm up again. We had a last meeting with everyone and then got on the bus back to Canberra. The ride seemed long again, but Kiley and I played Heads Up. We did the movies and music categories; it was nice to keep our minds off of the ride. When we got back to Canberra, we walked back to Weeden Lodge. I started some laundry right away and unpacked everything else after. We watched some X Factor and then one of the newer Transformers movies while I caught up on my blog and did some school work.
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December 2016
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