And again...

My computer is still on the wrong time zone.

Sunday we went to the sand dunes and did some sand boarding. Basically, it's sledding and snowboarding on sand instead of snow, which means it's a lot less painful and a lot warmer. It wasn't terribly warm because of the wind, but we did apply sunscreen three times I think. And there was the view of the super blue ocean that was sort of incredible.

Yesterday we were going to go to the beach but the sheep decided they did not like that plan. Shortly after lunch we started rounding them up. What normally takes ten minutes took two hours. There was one ram that was so fat that after running away from us for a while, he just sat down, heaving. Really fat sheep are hard to move because, shockingly, they are heavy. So we hooked up a makeshift sled to the back of the car and drug the not-so-brilliant thing out from under the trees. Ines (the German girl) had to sit on its back the whole time, which was hilarious. There was definitely some screaming involved.

Today we sheared some sheep. By we I mean a friend of the host family. Ines and I watched and picked up the wool. We got to try shearing too (just a tiny little patch), which is kind of scary because it's really easy to accidentally cut the sheep. Oh, and we got to put some bands on the sheep tails. I used to wonder if it was that important to knock off the tails, and then I saw the nastiness that results when you don't. Ew.

After two days of really warm, beautiful weather, today was kind of sad, but since we were inside the shearing shed all day, I suppose it doesn't really matter.

Fires, Dunes, and Sheep

We've done a bit of weeding of garlic, planting tomatoes, collecting wood, and other various farm-y things. And a bunch of other things.

Guys, Australia is fun!

Friday night was the birthday of one of the members of my host family, so a bunch of people came over for a barbecue. There were shrimp and a barbecue, but not shrimps on the barby. And they are called prawns here (the shrimp, not the barby). We ended the night with a giant blazing inferno of a bonfire.

And I just realized what time it is and I need to call home!

Righty-Oh!

Internet is a little limited, so as a courtesy for those actually paying for it, I'm not going to be uploading any pictures. Sorry.

Melbourne was really nice. Monday morning I took a stroll to town (about a half hour/forty minute walk). On the way I came across the Shrine of Remembrance, and since it was free I checked it out. Then I continued along until I got to the aquarium where there were PENGUINS! Lots and lots of them! There were waddling around, trying to steal the stones from other penguins' nests. Some of them were even swimming. I'll have to put together a "I love the Aquarium" video at some point and show you just how much I loved them.

They also had a tank with sharks and giant rays and lots of fun fish. They had a couple tunnels to walk through where the fish would swim over and you could see them up really really close, like the Adventure Aquarium in Camden (they still have that, right?). So cool. I do love fish...when they are behind glass and can't touch me :)

Then I walked back toward the hostel that was actually in the outskirts of Melbourne. On the way I went through the Royal Botanical Gardens. Lots of pretty plants and birds that I thought were ducks until they got out of the water and had chicken legs. Weird.

Tuesday I met up with Catherine, a girl I met in Wales. We walked through the center of the city and checked out the Victoria Art Gallery (with some fantastic albeit expensive pastel works). Fortunately for my wallet I have the problem of anything that I buy now I have to carry on my back for the next six weeks. Then we went to the Melbourne Gaol, which is a prison.

It was really cool. I learned all about Ned Kelly, who was sort of like Australia's Jesse James, only he wore armor! They hanged people right in the jail, so that was....interesting too. They don't still hang people there, in case you were worried.

We checked out the Koorie Heritage Center, which was really neat - lots of stuff about the Aboriginals. Their treatment was not Australia's shining moment. Not unlike some other people we know...

Then we went back to Catherine's house, walked the dogs on the beach (and had to watch out that they didn't try to eat the washed up PUFFER FISH), ate some snack, then some dinner while watching the Big Bang Theory (always a winner).

Wednesday was conquer the public transportation day. I got a bus at 6:38am to the train to another train to a bus. The bus ride was beautiful. I'm finding I'm a giant fan of wide open spaces, no matter what the country. And...

I SAW A KANGAROO! In the wild! It was just chilling under the trees by the road. I almost missed it because it blended in pretty well, but I saw it! I did not, however, get a picture. Sorry.

Met up with my WWOOFing family in Mt. Gambier. They are really nice and funny and there are two other girls here too who are pretty much hilarious. So far it's been a good time.

I'll be here for nine days I think before heading up to Adelaide.

Oh, and I'm staying in the world's most awesome camper van. I was a little leery at first since it's completely gutted except a bed and a heater, but last night I slept really really well and wasn't as cold as I originally thought I would be. I woke up to the sound of roosters, but managed to fall back asleep (which is great, since roosters don't have the best concept of when morning actually is). And it's nice to have my own space at night.

This is a lot of text for a post with no pictures. Hopefully I will get some posted at some point, but it really just depends on my connections in the future.

Airports and parrots

I've made it to Australia!

It took a while, but I finally got here. I was supposed to arrive a day ago, but I didn't. Also, I know what airline is no longer on my nice list.

Thursday evening I flew from Philly to San Francisco. The flight was uneventful, which is always good. I got off the plane, ate a highly overpriced sandwich, waited a bit at the gate, then boarded a 747. It had actually been a little while since I'd been on a 747. Everything felt a little old school, including the leg room.

But I digress. Next to me was a lovely gentleman traveling home with his wife and son. We chatted about Australia, his family's travels in the US, the usual sort of conversation that happens when preparing to sit next to a stranger for 14 hours. This conversation lasted, off and on, for four hours. The plane never left the ground. 

Apparently, when the latch to the cargo door doesn't lock, it's a problem (which I guess makes sense since otherwise all the luggage would end up in the ocean) which cannot be easily remedied. Or at least not quickly remedied. Four hours!! we sat on that plane before the captain announced, "Ladies and gentleman, thank you for your patience. Unfortunately the flight has been cancelled." Followed by a lot of information that you probably don't care about.

Awesome, because I really did want to be trying to find a place to sleep at 2:30am. 

So we took our merry time getting back off the plane, down to the ticket counter, and then over to the big ole board of hotels and various other places to stay in the San Francisco area. There was but one catch.

A convention was in town, which meant there were no rooms at the inn. At least not enough for most of us. I gathered my things, found a quiet place near the baggage claim, and tried to sleep on the floor. There were a lot of us scattered about the place. It was quite sad looking.

The worst part? I totally forgot my glasses case on the plane. I have my glasses (since I was wearing them in preparation to sleep), so that's at least something.

I hung out in the airport for 24 hours. I would have gone into the city, but my sleeping failed miserably and I had visions of myself getting lost in San Francisco and completely falling to tears in my fatigue. Because that happens when I'm tired. So I decided not to risk that; instead I would just try to sleep a little more. 

Happily, the next flight was not cancelled and since I was so exhausted, I actually slept a bit on the plane! And watched Men in Black III. 

My connection to Melbourne from Sydney went without a hitch, which was great. And the 1hr 40min flight went by so quickly after being on the plane for 14 hours before that. It helped that I fell asleep while waiting for it to take off and only vaguely remember lift off. I do, however, remember a very suspicious clunking noise as we went down the runway...

So here I am in Melbourne. While waiting to check into the hostel, I walked a bit and found a place to get a prepaid phone. I walked into one shop and told the girl what I wanted. She responded with, "Oh! The cheapest one we have is $129, but there is a sale at such-and-such a place. Much cheaper. Just take a left on Chapel St and it'll be on your right." 

Love it. And it was much cheaper :)

Also, on my walking adventure, I heard a bunch of birds in a tree and went to investigate. Parrots!! Pretty green ones with red and yellow markings. There were probably about eight of them. I was walking away and a couple of them flew right by me! Seriously, they were precariously close to my head. It made me nervous.

Since then I've taken a much needed shower and an even more needed nap. The pillows here are kind of great. 

Hopefully next time I'll have some pictures for you.

Eek stravaganza.

I am leaving in 20 minutes to go to Philadelphia International Airport. It's my first stop on my way to Australia.

I'm really nervous.

But I'm also really excited. These last two weeks have flown by, leaving me not a whole lot of time to process the fact that I'm leaving again for two months. Fortunately, I have 26 hours of traveling to come to grips with it.

That's all I have time for right now, since I still have to stuff a couple things in my bag and print a couple things out.

Jet lag can be very productive

I am not a morning person, BUT I have been getting up early (for me) because I can't sleep past 8 or so. I know, I know, it's been a week since I got home and I really should be over the jet lag. But I figured something out.

I can get a lot done during the day when I actually get up.

For some of you, this is a no brainer (and I guess it is for me too, I just try to deny it). Since I'm only home for a couple weeks though, I want to be extra productive and helpful with farm stuff, because I really do enjoy it. And because the weather was sort of fabulous at the end of last week.

Friday I poured concrete with my mom, sister, and dad. Mixing concrete by hand is a really good core and upper back workout. We managed to get all the concrete in the sales room done (yay!).

Saturday I learned a new skill! Using a torch to cut metal is fun and useful. There was a bunch of steel or iron  bars (I don't know my metals very well) that were about 16 feet long and needed to be much shorter to scrap, so we cut them up. I managed to not burn myself! And now if I need to break into a vault or something, I can do it with a torch. Of course, I don't condone burglary, so I probably won't be using my new skills for that much.

Sunday I went to a lovely wedding of a couple friends. The weather was very not summery, but the rain held off long enough for the ceremony to be outside.

Which reminds me, I'm mourning the loss of summer. There are a lot of crazy people out there that are excited about fall (yes, I believe you are crazy - you are welcome to judge me back for my love of sweltering heat). I suppose I shouldn't mourn it too much since I'm going to fly to summer next week.

That's right, folks, I'm going to Australia next week. I'm excited, but really nervous since I'm going by myself and it's halfway across the world. Also, I'll be there for seven weeks. If I end up not liking it (which I'm not expecting) I'm in a bunch of trouble. I'll  be WWOOFING (world wide opportunities for organic farming), so at least I will be staying with people and working alongside them, so that should be fun.

Time to get working on all that logistical stuff that goes along with such a trip.

Planes, trains, taxi cabs, all the choices hip

Yr wyf yn gartref!

That means "I'm home" in Welsh. The language is a bit crazy, at least to this American.

I successfully managed the bus, train, tube, and plane to get home. As someone who has a fear of public transportation, I'm rather proud of myself.

The last bit of my trip went really well. I met some very interesting people. It's always fun to hang out with a bunch of people who all have different accents. Two of the guys (one from northern England, the other from Ireland) were having a conversation that I think was about soccer, but I seriously didn't understand anything they said. Most the time I did know what they were saying, though, so it was fun.

And I went horseback riding! Yay! I contacted the people on Saturday and they wanted me to go on Tuesday, which I could do. It rained all day Sunday, was really nice Monday, and rained most of Tuesday. I did, however, manage to find the time on Tuesday that happened to not be raining. We rode through some of the Snowdonia hills. I love that the region is called Snowdonia. It sounds like a place in a fantasy novel. There are even legends of dragons! I love a good dragon tale.

I didn't get any pictures of the actual riding because I occasionally don't think through these things. I only thought, "I don't need my phone," and then completely forgot to take my camera with me.

Just picture lots of sheep, hills, and clouds. And some railroad action. And me trying not to fall off an English saddle while riding a slow slow horse.

I'm home now. I can run to the store and pick up my pictures at any time (though I'm thinking I'll wait until after rush hour). After sorting through them, I ended up with 500 pictures. We'll see if they all end up in the scrapbook.