Blog 3

July 12

Last Friday night was our first night out on the city. We started with goon bags, the Australian way, and later found ourselves in the upstairs of The Elephant & The Wheelbarrow, a traditional-looking bar, jamming out to a cover band playing “American Idiot.” Typical.

The past three days our group ventured to Halls Gap in the Grampians, a range of rugged cliffs and peaks with large stretching valleys in between. Upon arriving at our camping park, we realized that kangaroos were literally everywhere and could care less that we were joining them on the lawn. Many of the roos also had tiny, chihuahua sized joeys in their pouches, which was incredible to see up close. During the days at Halls Gap, we went for beautiful hikes, runs, and also a visit to an aboriginal cultural center that enlightened us about the spiritual history of the land in which we were staying. At night, kookaburras laughed and cackled just outside the windows, and the largest roos snuck out into the fields to rest. Don’t try to catch/tackle them. You can’t. They’re too fast. The final day in this area was our rockclimbing day and I was forced to transfer my indoor climbing skills over to the real deal on a stained 100 foot rock wall. In addition, we climbed up on top of the large rocky peak to find a breathtaking panoramic view of our surroundings. This is definitely Australia.