Wineglass Bay

The past couple weekends have been fantastic! Last Saturday I went with Courtney and a group of Austrians (not Australians) to Wineglass Bay (about three hours northeast of here). We rented a big 12 passenger van and had a ball!





Here's Courtney and I at the Wineglass Bay lookout. It was about an hour hike up to this point, and well worth the view! -It was a bit of a dreary day, but it was still beautiful!










Here we are on the beach. We didn't know you could go swimming there, so we didn't bring our bathing suits, but the Austrians were fully prepared (why didn't anyone tell us what this trip was about? I had NO idea what we were going to do. So, I wound up hiking 4 hours up/down a mountain in those darn rubber crock shoes... I ended up barefoot).






I was quite excited when I got my first real wallaby experience. They are so friendly! We petted them and played with them... AND since there is no rabies in Australia, there is nothing to worry about with them! YAY!






Here's Courtney and I with 'Santa Fe', the only other person on the trip who wasn't speaking German all day!
(No Dad, that is not alcohol being consumed in the van... while we're driving.)






The Austrian gang coming back from their swim.













But, trips with large groups are always a little more difficult, and you don't always get to do everything you want to do. So, Courtney and I decided to go back this weekend with Slim. It was AMAZING! The weather was FANTASTIC- warm, sunny- couldn't have been better!





We decided instead of hiking up to the lookout this weekend, that we would find an even better view from an even higher point. After an hour of serious rock climbing and lots of cuts and scrapes, we made it up to a beautiful peak and a wonderful view!

...and if Dad is reading this... uh, we totally had safety equipment, and no one got hurt...






Here's Slim and Courtney after hiking up... I don't think they were too keen on the idea, as I called to them from the top and made them come up after me... I think they were content just going to the beach... sorry guys, but wasn't it worth it once you got up there?











And here's the gang hiking away! (this was before we went six and a half hours without food and had to hike back to the car in the dark... once again, my apologies, Courtney.)



So after climbing we decided to hit the beach. We had a great time climbing/sliding back down the mountain to the trail... I need new jeans if you want to send a pair, Mom. But the beach was fantastic!!!! The waves were HUGE and the water was warm. We spent a few hours fighting with the incoming tide (I lost that battle pretty bad a couple times and came out with a terribly bruised tailbone... ouch- not fun in the softball game today!) Then we decided to take the flat trail back to the car park, but the trail that goes all the way around the mountains... and we left right when the sun set, so it was a bit of a sketchy last half to that hike since we were in the woods in the dark... oh well, we made it!

Today was our softball game against Jane Franklin College. The first inning was ok, we were only down two, but then they scored about 15 in the next inning, and I think we all just lost hope. But, in defense of the team (sorry to our pitcher) they did score 10 of those runs because we kept throwing 4 balls and filling up the bases and walking everyone home.

Well, it's time for our cricket match against Christ College... has anyone ever watched that sport? Apparently it's an all day event. And in the pros they play for, like, five days (no seriously, I'm not exaggerating, it's a five day game)! Thanks for keeping up with me! It's great to hear from everyone back home!

Another Great Weekend

This Friday we had a 70's and 80's themed party at John Fisher.
I went as Tom Cruise from Top Gun... just go with it; I thought it was a good idea when I came up with it.











Ben... I feel that Ben's outfit speaks for itself. Though, I was impressed that he stayed in that ski suit all night (we don't have air conditioning in John Fisher... especially not in the Buttery)








Casey is the treasurer at John Fisher. He probably had the worst 80's outfit ever! I almost gagged when I saw him (the back of the coat had a big florescent Mickey Mouse beach towel sewn on it). It was perfect.













Poor Dan, I think he must have forgotten to dress up. But he still looked good with his outrageous sideburns.


And as for Emma... there are no words to be said for her 80's-ness.



















On Saturday I went to Port Arther. It is the sight of the oldest penitentiary in Tasmania. Not only that, but it is the most beautiful place in the world- yes, even more beautiful than Hobart



Here's by buddy Slim and I at Port Arther... I think the camera took the picture right as it started sliding off the rock- great photography skills on my part!

Another beautiful view at Port Arther... I can't remember what this was called, it might have been the "Devil's Kitchen"






This too was in Port Arther, and I wish I had written down the names of the places we went. Sorry.




This was just at the top of a hill looking down on the area, I believe the peninsula there is the only golf course in Australia where you have to hit a ball over a body of water and continue the course on another piece of land.

The little island there is Dead Island, it is where they buried the convicts after the bodies started piling up. It is said to be quite haunted and spooky.



I joined the softball team, and I have started playing rugby for John Fisher. We will be getting our jerseys in soon, and I have yet to invest in a mouth guard and cleats. I am pretty excited to bust up a few Jane Fisher (another college) girls. I think this will be a pretty exciting sport!
I am planning on going rock climbing this weekend, so hopefully there will be some good pictures there!
Thanks for keeping up with me!

Rafting Campout

This weekend only got better! Sunday morning we met at 8:00 to head up to Tahune. There were too many people (not enough helmets and life vests) to raft when we got there, so Courtney, a couple other Americans, a German, and I volunteered to go hiking and check out the Tahune Airwalk instead and just raft on Monday. We went hiking with a guy called the "Banana Man".

Here is the Banana Man and I in front of a Man Fern.

The hike was freezing and the wind was vicious. The plan was to hike to the peak of a mountain, but about half way up Banana, Courtney and I decided we'd rather head back to the bottom. So, the other Americans and the German headed to the top (it turns out it was hailing and there were winds between 95-125mph at the peak). We had a blast coming down. We found a tiny trail and blazed our own trail across a creek and through a mossy jungle area. The moss was really cool; I took off my shoes (I hiked up the Mt in flip-flops) and the ground almost swallowed my feet, the moss was so thick!

We didn't go on the Airwalk until after dinner (a big BBQ once the rafters got back) because they closed at 5pm and we could hop the fence and go in for free. It was pretty cool, but definitely not worth the $17 we would have paid. It was a big walkway up in the tree tops and a little over the river (where the Huon and Picton meet). We did however get kicked off right when we got to the end - the security guard was a little late I guess.

This is Courtney and... I can't tell who else, on the Airwalk

There are probably better pictures of the Airwalk at http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/home/index.cfm?SiteID=675

We stayed up giving back rubs around the fire until about 12 or 1, and since neither Courtney or I had a tent, we convinced Banana Man to let us sleep in the back of his Land Cruiser (WAY better than setting up a tent and having to have it packed up by 8am). After breakfast we got all the rafts together and set out to raft the river.

This is Courtney and Cled, the English man, getting ready to head out for the day.

The water was quite cold, but the trip was a blast! There were not too many "white water rafting" spots, lots of lazy floating down the river, but we had a really good time.

When we finally got things packed up, we had another big BBQ and played at a park.

Tomorrow is the big tennis championship between John Fisher College and the other two colleges... Yes, I am competing for John Fisher in the singles game... No, I do not play tennis. Wish me luck, and thanks for keeping up with me! I love getting all my comments!!!

Mt Wellington

Today we (Angie and Amanda- the other two Iowans, Courtney- a Canadian, Bill from NY, and I) hiked Mt Wellington. It is the highest mountain here in Hobart, and I think the third tallest in Tas. We got a ride up to the trail head and spent about 4-5 hours hiking up (with plenty of breaks of course). It as SO beautiful (and rather physically trying). From the top we could see halfway across Tasmania. Bill told us that looking out from there, the closest populated land was Chile (I corrected him in pointing out that Easter Island was in fact closer- thanks to my information from Dad and Emmy's current trip down there I was able to give everyone a small geography lesson and inform them that Easter Island is in fact populated land- populated by the Rapinuians ... I don't know how to spell that). Courtney and I did not want to hike down the Mt as it was already 4:30 and we still had to get back to Sandy Bay after we made it to the trail head. I didn't want to miss dinner and she had some work to get done, so we hitch hiked from the peak all the way to the university. It was nice.
Well, tomorrow it is off to do some white water rafting and camping. I'm sure that will provide another blog- and good pictures!

Great Weekend

All the first year students in John Fisher had to dress for the classes we had on Friday. I had a class in the fine arts building, so I had to be covered in the fine arts (colored with markers). I also got to carry a hammer around! I didn't realise until someone said "wild party last night, huh?" that everyone just thought that I passed out the night before and didn't have time to wash off all the doodlings before class. Ugh...

I have been enjoying quite a bit of bush walking lately. It is SO beautiful down here (not a very complimentary picture to the landscape though, sorry).

On Sunday we went white water rafting. It was just the introductory trip so we really didn't have much in terms of rapids. It was a blast though. This is Courtney (a Canadian girl), Gary, Simon (both Tasmanians), and I after rafting. We were "Team Nancy Boy".








Amanda (a girl I met down here from Iowa State) and I getting ready for some serious white water rafting. I had a really old-school wet suit, but I bought some SWEET wet suit shorts on the way up to the river.








After rafting we had a BBQ at a nice little park. It was absolutely delicious (or maybe it was just the lack of food between 7:45am and 4:30pm).
We also played cricket! I was pretty excited to play, but I couldn't get the hang of swinging the cricket mallet thing. So, I got made fun of when I held it like a baseball bat... but I played really well when I did! (thanks to my wonderful t-ball/soft ball skills finely honed through the third grade. Thanks Dad)

More pictures

This is Bambi and Jeremy. We were team mates for the "Tour De Cham" (a giant scavenger hunt sort of thing). Bambi had to be on a leash and collar the whole time! We were in the super market here.
I can find country music ANYWHERE!... Although I am a little unsure about that guys outfit.
This is me with a bunch of kids from John Fisher at the Salamanka Market on Saturday.
Erin and I had a BLAST at the jazz festival across the river. It was SO beautiful, and the music was phenomenal- mostly big band.
Here's Owen and I after the big formal dinner at John Fisher.

(Lizzie, Owen is from Swansea! Don't get excited though, I told him about you studying there and he thought I was insane... it turns out Swansea is a town of less than 300 people two hours north of here. I know, I was bummed too)

P.S. I finally got the internet up in my room! Now I can be a little better with the posts and pictures!

This is my bed. They gave us really nice linnen packs!

The desk/dresser area is brand new- it would look realy nice if I didn't cover it in junk (I blame it on genetics- thanks Mom)
This is the view from my window.
I know you are jealous. This is an extention of the view
This was taken lying on the beach at sunset. That is Kangaroo Bay across the river there.