Mountain Bike Adventure

I am a little behind but I know this is just the beginning so I will have to get used to it.  I am going to try and write in here a little bit every day rather than one huge one, maybe that will make it easier and less time consuming? Haha!

So Saturday Sebastian and I signed up for a Mountain Bike Adventure in the outback of Australia.  We went on a trail that started about 30 minutes from our apartment.  We were not really sure what to expect out of it but we thought it sounded really fun and plus I needed a good workout.  It ended up being really awesome but by the time we were going back I was 100% ready for it to be all done!  I was SOO tired on the way back I was just hoping that after every hill we would see the van.

Within the first 10 minutes of the ride I fell into a big mud pond and was really muddy for the rest of the way.  I wasn't that embarrassed because I was just happy to get my fall out of the way in the beginning and plus at least I fell on some cushion instead of rocks and sticks.

The whole right side of me was pretty much its own mud puddle, that is our tour guide John to the left of me.

  

I was expecting to get muddy anyway because right in the beginning of the ride John said, "get ready to get really muddy!"  He sure was not kidding!  However, I was not the only one to fall in one of those mud traps.  On the way back Karen, my biking buddy (girls hafta stick together) fell in a mud trap also and she got WAY more muddy than I did so I finally felt some relief knowing that I was not the only one that fell. And also, I witnessed Karen's boyfriend fall.  Everybody fell except the pro, it just took me to break the ice :).

We all got down safely except I got a few cuts and bruises and I am sure everybody else did to.  Karen and I were ready to be done and gave up toward the end and just got off and walked our bikes when we saw a little hill.  The total bike ride ended up being 23K's which is about the same as 14 miles (in the US).  14 miles of pure terrain.  Every muscle in my body was working the whole time, I especially noticed it in my arms when I was going down a hill because I was using all of my arm muscles to have the right amount of weight and breaks throughout my whole bike.  I am glad I got to work out a lot before I got to Aussie though because I wasn't even a little bit sore the next day and everybody else was sore when we got dropped off.  I guess all the running paid off, and P90X legs with Ian (thanks Ian).

The whole group was Sebastian and I and then a couple that was in their late 30's early 40's (I could be off) and then the tour guide.  It ended up being a really great group and we all had a blast.  I was really happy that I was not the tour guide because he ran a half marathon after the bike ride.  He is pure muscle and pretty much did that whole mountain bike ride as a warm up.  He also does kayaking.  He was really nice and just started this business 10 months ago.  He is now working with just this business full-time and quit his job the day before our tour because he is getting a lot of interest in touring and has been staying busy with biking groups.

The bike ride was a little different than anywhere you would bike in Montana because it had different trees and plants but it was really similar to what you would find in Montana.  It was not comparable to biking up the Sun Road in Glacier but the final destination view was still beautiful in the end and made the whole trip worth it.  We did take before and after pictures of us when we were all clean and then our muddy butts but I have not gotten those pictures yet so I might post them up when I receive them but 

most likely I wont :/ haha! By the time we got down John provided us refreshments which were overly needed because I was STARVING so I shoved my face with a banana, granola bar, yogurt and delicious orange juice. 

I was really tired on the way back home that I almost fell asleep in the van and was just ready for bed when I got home even though it was only around 2ish.  I got a text from my friend asking if I wanted to go to the beach and even though I had no interest I thought I should go anyways because it was really hot and humid outside and if I stayed home I would just be sweating my life away.  So we went to the beach for a little bit and cooled off and caught some waves and then I came home and forced myself to stay awake until at least 9:00pm then I hit the hay.  I have to wear ear plugs on the weekends because it is so loud in our complex that it would almost be impossible to sleep if I didn't. 

This picture is right in the middle of two beautiful beaches on each side.  Mooloolaba and Alexander Heads

So that was my Saturday.  Sunday I relaxed, skyped with my Mom, Dad and Chester who was freshly shaved and bathed and just as cute and old as ever and I did laundry, cleaned a little and prepared for my first day of school. Later that day Sebastian and I took the bus to Mooloolaba beach and met Hayley and Nick there and laid out and swam a little and then came home together and made pasta and relaxed for the rest of the evening.  I went to bed early because I had an 8am class this morning. 

My first day of class was pretty easy I just had one lecture to go to this morning, it was almost impossible to stay awake though.  The classes are a lot different here then in America.  For every 1 class you take there are 2 classes that you have to attend, a tutorial and a lecture.  Usually the lecture is 2 hours and the tutorial is 1 hour or visa versa.  So that part kind of sucks but every lecture is video taped and put online for students to access within an hour of the lecture just in case there is ever an accident and students are unable to make it.  I am sure that will not be the case for me on Monday mornings during my 8am lecture ;-).  The tutorial's are not recorded so it is more vital that students attend those.  Sometimes the tutorials and lectures are not on the same day.  Tomorrow I don't have class until noon and I am done at one and then Friday is a free day.  Most students do not have class on Friday's at Uni unless you are really unlucky.  My roommate Hayley only has class Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and my friend Tilly from Saint Norbert only has class Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so most students only attend 3-4 times a week.  I have four days a week but I am happy to have Friday's off.  Sebastian is one of the unlucky ones who has class on Fridays.  I will let you know how the rest of my classes go as the week goes on. 

One more thing before I am done.  I saw a brown snake close to campus the other day.  Those are the snakes that are really poison and scary.  They used to not be around campus or around where I live but since the floods they washed a whole bunch of them up where I live so I hope they die soon.  Also, there are these cute little gecko's everywhere that are just harmless and sometimes they are really pretty colors (In Australia they spell color like "colour").  Which is wrong because it is underlined in a red squiggly in spell check :).

Also, this is my last picture for today and it is one I took on our bike ride of all of the trees.  These are the trees that the koala's live in but unfortunately we did not get to see any.  They are really hard to spot.  I also learned that the reason why they are always so lazy and tired is because the food that they eat (some kind of plant) have a drug in them that makes them high and lazy so they just always want to sleep.  Weird huh?  I bet you didn't know why Koala's were so lazy!

  Okay, now I am done for today! Good night!