Rock Climbing, Formula One Grand Prix, Dad and Joe!

I hope you enjoyed the celebrity post! Maybe Joe will be interested in contributing before or after they're home. Keep your eyes peeled for updates!

The last time I wrote was after our trip to Werribee Zoo, a little over a week ago. I apologize for the time lapse, because that means this post will be slightly longer than ideal. Bear with me!

Last Wednesday, Daniel and I went bouldering (rock climbing) at a local place in Geelong. I've been rock climbing before in a harness and on rock walls, but this was my first time bouldering. I really enjoyed it!!! We have a bouldering wall at Iowa State that I will definitely be making time for next fall. Daniel was very encouraging and helpful throughout the whole process, giving me pointers and tips. The only downside to rock climbing? I might have hurt my wrist again... Almost exactly a year ago I sprained my wrist while working in the Iowa State dining center. I thought it had healed but rock climbing did something funny. It already feels better but I should probably get all healed up before trying again... I've included a video from rock climbing. While I had completed this path a few times earlier in the day, this was taken right before we left and my muscles were incredibly fatigued.

Earlier last week, I was able to score some free tickets to the first day of the Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne. Luckily, neither Em or I had classes so we took the train in and saw some racing! Neither of us really knew anything about racing, but it was still really cool being so close to such fast (and loud!) cars. We got to Melbourne around 1:00 and stayed at Albert Park for a few hours watching the various practice sessions and qualifying races. While I've never been interested in professional racing, I can definitely see how some people enjoy it as much as they do. It was incredibly exciting to hear what sounded like a million bees or twenty cars approaching and instead see three cars come whipping around the corner and turn around corner in a flash. The first video is from a qualifying race. While exploring the event, Em and I found a mini track that had been set up for people to sign up and have a go at racing in a Jaguar sports car. The second video is that. After we felt we had seen enough racing, we headed back towards the train station and stopped for some coffee. Melbourne is world renowned for its coffee, and with good reason!

Friday evening Nina, Daniel, and I headed to Melbourne to stay in a hostel. Dad and Joe were scheduled to arrive at Tullamarine Airport at 8:30 on Saturday morning and Nina and Daniel were attending a lifting showcase in Melbourne on Saturday, so we all decided to go up the night before and get dinner and stay at a hostel. We went out for all you can eat sushi, and oh boy. We were all pretty hungry and the food tasted magnificent, leading us all to eat too much. Daniel best exemplified this in the picture I included, checking out his food baby in the mirror on the way out of the restaurant. The hostel was exactly what we needed it to be: a cheap crash pad for one night. We were in a room of about ten bunk beds with one bathroom. The whole process was quite easy, and I'm glad that was my first experience staying in a hostel, because it really is a great way for students to save money while traveling.

The next morning I got up early, walked to Southern Cross train station, took a SkyBus to the airport, and met Dad and Joe! It was so incredible to recognize their familiar faces. When I first arrived here, I saw look-a-likes everywhere. I think my brain was so starved of seeing people I knew, it started making connections where there were none. It's slowly waned the longer I've been here. We took the SkyBus back to Southern Cross and grabbed a train to Geelong. We spent the day getting them settled in the AirBnb with groceries and a late lunch. Joe was asleep by 4:30, and Dad followed suit around 8. The next morning we got up and took the bus to my apartment, where we then walked to church. Everyone at church was so welcoming and kind, talking with my dad and brother about their trip and plans for the week. After church, we went to Murphy's for some St. Patty's day festivities. They had a really fun inflatable pub they were selling drinks out of. It dawned on me later that the only time I've ever been carded when buying alcohol over here is when I go to a liquor store or try to go to a club late at night (times when EVERYONE is carded). I have yet to be carded at restaurants, sporting events, and the like. I can't even drink in the United States, and here I'm not even carded. Lol. For the rest of the day we explored Geelong and Eastern Beach a bit more.

Top: (L) a sectioned off area of Eastern Beach, with different floats and places to jump in

(M) perspective from near the white tower in the first picture looking out

(R) a pool overlooking the beach for those not wanting saltwater

Bottom: (M) my delicious dinner of fried butterfish and sweet potato fries (chips!)

(R) a view of Geelong while I waited for the bus

Monday after class, I took the intercampus shuttle bus to Geelong, where we went to McDonalds for lunch and did some shopping after. The highlight of the day, however, was the Narana Aboriginal Cultural Center. They had an art gallery, gift shop, presentation of various Aboriginal tools/weapons, and large fenced in garden. If you read the celebrity post from a couple days ago, a particular emu named Nigel was mentioned. (If you want to see videos of Nigel, go back to that post and scroll to the bottom.) The area was fenced in for the animals, but open for anyone to walk through. They had kangaroos, wallabies, and Nigel roaming around. Living in Iowa for the 20 years of my life, having an emu as tall as me with sharp, beady eyes and a sharp beak approach and make a deep noise was a test of courage. Same thing with a kangaroo, which are "purely made of muscle, and to be avoided at all costs" according to a native Australian during one of our first international student presentations after arriving. We all survived the encounters with some pretty cool pictures and videos. I am constantly blown away by the respect and acknowledgement Australia has for its indigenous population. The United States has yet to publicly apologize for the horrors and atrocities inflicted on the Native Americans, let alone celebrate their heritage and make efforts towards fixing damage. The Aboriginal flag is regularly flown next to the Australian flag, at the exact same height and given the same amount of respect. Hopefully American can follow Australia's footsteps.

Tuesday after class we walked to the Royal Botanical Garden near Eastern Beach in Geelong. The garden was historic and extensive and BEAUTIFUL. Everything smelled so fresh and delightful. Plants from all over the world were included, from South Africa to China to Peru to Mexico and everywhere in between. The collage will be larger than normal with all of the pictures, but make sure to look at the shrimp bush from Mexico -- the flowers actually resemble shrimp!

Today we walked around Geelong a bit more and stopped by the grocery store to stock up my pantry before they leave on Friday. Tomorrow we will head to Melbourne for their last full day in Australia. It's been such a great week having Joe and my dad! In my next post I'll include a video of me trying to force feed my brother Vegemite (and eventually succeeding), but this post is long enough. :) Sorry it took so long and that this post is so long. That'll teach me to not wait so long! Huge congrats to the Cyclones for a Big XII championship win! I can't wait to watch them win March Madness ;) Let's go state!