It’s pretty incredible to think about this whole trip. We officially have only 2 days left and then we’re jumping on a plane headed for home. The last three months have been a whirlwind, but without a doubt the best three months of my life. I’ve made some incredible new friends and have had experiences I’ll remember for the rest of my life. It feels like yesterday that we arrived yet I’m so comfortable here that it seems like I’ve been here for longer than three months. It’s a strange concept to wrap my head around. I’m starting to get to the point where I’m ready to go home. I’ll definitely miss many, many things about being here and I know that there will be instances when I get home that remind me of things that happened here which nobody else will understand.
Today I had a good time relaxing on the beach, on my first official day of summer vacation. I was enjoying watching the guys throw a vortex around, being interrupted by dogs on occasion, and just spending time with the company I’ve gotten so accustomed to having around. Around 12:30 I came in to the cabin for lunch before our “Ironman” competition that Kim and Butters put together for their class. It was a lot of fun and I was enjoying being the photographer. The first even was the rope grab which was each competitor laying on their stomachs facing away from the rope (or tennis ball/baton that was used) then when told to go they had to jump up, turn around and race down the sand to grab the rope. There was always one less to grab than competitors competing to eliminate people quickly. This was probably the most exciting event to watch (and photograph). Next was the beach sprint which just ended up being running to a line, then back to the starting line, then running to a far line, then running back to the starting line. The third event was the lake swim where the competitors swam around a bouy in the lake back to shore. Fourth was the surf ski event. Surf skis are like small kayaks that are much more difficult to control and handle. The competitors had to make it out to the same bouy and back then drag their surf ski out of the water. Finally was the kayak race. I took part in this one (and unfortunately finished last). There was two heats because there were only 3 double person kayaks. Erika and Matt ended up winning the event! Because the kayaking team that would have finished second didn’t make it to the finish line, there ended up being a tie-breaker. This tie breaker was to eat a Picnic the fastest. A Picnic is an Australian candy bar that is literally impossible to finish in 30-seconds (they have multiple commercials stating this). I’m not completely sure what all is in it but they’re actually pretty good. I had one the night we got back from Coffs Harbour. Anyways that ended up being the tie breaker, even though it ended up being kind of a blow out.
After the competition was overwith everyone went back to their cabins to relax for a little while before our barbeque. I edited and uploaded photos while some people played some one-bounce and volleyball. The barbeque was a thank you dinner for all of the people that made our trip enjoyable. We had people from the bus company, our Australian professors, the diving staff at Sundive, and staff of the Lake Ainsworth camp attend. We all split up, made thank you cards and said a few words thanking them for everything they’ve done for us. Overall I think it was incredibly successful. It was amazing to see how the trip has gone full circle though at the barbeque tonight, the first night we were here we were completely unfamiliar with the place and had a barbeque put on by our Australian Life and Culture professor Lyn and his wife, and now we had a barbeque in the exact same location three months later and we were the ones putting on the barbeque in the place we’ve gotten very familiar with and have called home.
Tomorrow we are presenting all of the projects we have done this semester for the community of Lennox Head. We’re setting up right in the center of town by the IGA and Subway and the community has been invited to see what we have done during our time here. I’m hoping it will be a very enjoyable day and I hope that the community is impressed with what we have been able to come up with. At some point tomorrow we’re having another barbeque that is being put on by the community for all of us. We’re also going to Byron Bay for one last time tomorrow afternoon to do some last minute souvenir shopping and to take some photographs. There may or may not be a party/bonfire tomorrow night, but that is still all up in the air. I guess we’ll just see what tomorrow brings.
