happy birthday to me!!!!

july 10th, 2007
1242 pm aussie time

okay. so. back to business of writing this thing. im trying really hard to keep up with it..so far so good eh? right now we're on the bus ride home from grampians... we went out this morning for a bush walk to a waterfall that was about a half hour hike away..really pretty stuff. i climbed to the top of it (by myself - no one else was daring enough to get their pants dirty?) and saw a fantastic view of the mountains of australia. who knew australia had mountains? there is pictures of it and all that good stuff so no worries, mate. you'll see it.

i guess i left off on yesterday's adventures. i don't know where. we had the wine tasting blah blah went to bed early blah blah and then the next day woke up, had breakfast, then went on our rock climbing experience.. the place we went to was about 30 minutes away on this crazy unpaved sandy road in the middle of nowhere..that was an adventure in itself, i guess. we got there and met earl and ian (our guides) and picked up our gear, then hiked it to the wall. the greatest part about it all was that it was a real clif we were climbing..not man made in anyway at all (not even the parts of the rock that seemingly made excellent handholds). so we all took turns climbing and belaying and all that good stuff. i climbed two walls..first, an easy one, then the hardest one they had there...and just so happened to make it higher on that wall than anyone else (this wall was tough, i earned the bragging rights). so take that, boyzzzz.

after that we went to the top of the cliff for abseiling (repelling). this was FREAKY.. you tied a rope to you and basically just walked backwards off the edge of the cliff...i'm not so bad with the heights fear but this scared the crap out of me. earl was really trustworthy though (for an aussie bushman) and i made it down alive. obviously.

all in all it was a fantastic experience..like nothing i've ever tried before. i'm really proud of myself for what i was able to do and it really connected the group with the whole bonding thing. it gave everyone an adrenaline rush and all those good exercise endorphins. by the time we finally made it home everyone was starving. or at least me. mostly me. so we went out to this resturant (the quarry) and i had a kangaroo fillet, which was a bit juicy (read: bloody) for my taste. the best part of the meal was the dessert..our table each ordered a different one and then passed them to share. mmmm sticky date pudding...apple and pear pie...brandy snaps...so far the food here has not disappointed. THEN after that luke & liz surprised me with a lamington cake (much better than any kind i've ever made) with a sparkler and singing candle on top. everyone sang to me, it was really sweet and surprising and made me happy. right now this is one of the greatest experiences of my life, and i'm so glad i'm here.

amanda and george and vito all called me at midnight MY TIME on my birthday..the only ones (although tim was close at 3am). i really appreciated that. i miss them tons and vito i'm sure is crawling and hopping and talking in tongues by now. thats the only part about this trip i am truely missing. otherwise this is one of the greatest opportunities of my life and i can only hope that it keeps getting better.

now, enough of being an unsocial computer geek on this busride home (i'm gonna go listen to my ipod).

going out tonight for my birthday! hopefully it should be a good time (finally legal!)

love, me