The Australian Bush

      G'day Mates! How ya going? I survived the bush and am here to tell you about it! I have been debating how I wanted to explain my experience with you all. If I were to explain what we did in a day, it may seem a bit repetitive and a bit dull.. hike, hike, hike. Well, that is how I kind of viewed it before I left for the trip. Honestly though, it was the most enlightening experience for me. What a wonderful place to have my first REAL camping experience.

     A group of about 25 of us (including my lecturer and 2 instructors that worked there) spent 3 full days and 2 nights at Meebunn-bia which is very close to the small town Rathdowney. Boy, was it beautiful. I do not think pictures could ever do it justice. We started out the trip by sitting down as a group and discussing what we expected out of this trip and what we wanted to take away from it. The instructors, Tony and Tonya, proceeded to explain that this trip is a "Challenge by Choice." Basically, you take what you want out of it and you push yourself to challenge yourself, they aren't going to do it for you or force you to do anything. Basically you could do the trip without going out of your comfort zone if that is what you wanted to do, but of course it was discouraged.

      Keeping that in mind, I kind of came to Australia with a different mindset than I have ever lived with before. I told myself this trip was a time to prove to myself that I can do things that I NEVER thought I would be able to do. I knew this camping trip alone was a challenge within itself for me. Having heard stories from the first two groups attending this trip, I knew it would be no slice of cake. I was so proud of my mindset that I had during this camping trip though. I had no other choice but to think positively and soak it all in. I wish I knew how many kilometers or miles we walked but with all the climbing maybe it wouldn't do the distance justice?

      Because of my trip to Sydney I had to go with a different tutorial than I regularly am in, so I went in not personally knowing quite a few people. Can't believe how much of a family you can become in a quick 3 days! I am so glad to have gone with this group because I got the chance to meet a bunch of new people!

      Anyhow.. the first day we did a lot of hiking. Our first part of the hike we climbed up this huge hill, with our packs too! There was definitely times where I was on all fours and too scared to look down. There was a large group of us so one false move and it would quickly become a game of dominoes. It was quite a climb so we had to continually pause to give our knees a break, maybe even our lungs too. Getting to the top alone felt like a great achievement, but scared me for what was to come! We actually just climbed the hill to eat lunch up there and enjoy the view. As hard as it was, it was so beautiful that it was well worth it! Below is a picture of Steph and I after that mountain climb and lunch.

      I began to find my groove as we hiked, look at the ground while talking and meeting new people as they tried to keep their mind off the hike as well. Sometimes when you saw what was in front of you to hike it was a bit discouraging, so I took it as it came. Sometimes though you would run into HUGE spider webs if you were ALWAYS looking down. The insects here in Australia are never small so it was a bit frightening. I don't think running into spiderwebs ever got easy for me.

      At about 3 o clock (note: We got to Meebunn-bia at like 8 or 9 am after a 2 hour drive so it was already quite a long day!) we found our first campsite and set up our tarps and metal rods (aka "tents" not really sure if I would actually consider it a tent). After everything was set up for the evening we went to the high ropes course. I had never done anything like this nor would I probably ever if I wasn't living with my new mindset! I knew I wasn't even allowing myself to question anything because I was going to do EVERYTHING that I had the opportunity to do. I think the high ropes course was a little easier for me mentally than preparing myself for the flying fox zip line. I had always wanted to do a zip line before so I was definitely excited, but this was probably the biggest challenge for me (the free fall being a close runner up.. ill explain soon). To get to the zip line you had to walk across a wire (u were connected with 2 caribiners of course but still frightening) and a scootch across flimsy wood on top of wobbly wire. THEN climb a tree using very small rings. Looking down was.. just.. wow. I kept telling myself I had to do it and asking the instructor Tanya for reassurance and making sure I remember how to get to the other side properly. I even had her double check my harness. ha. The small 2 foot platform at the top of the tree was well above 13 meters. I got the biggest rush after I finally jumped off and felt dumb for even questioning this. It was amazing. Practically flying over the beautiful Australian bush was simply amazing and I quickly found myself wanting to do it again! Because of time none of us were able to do anything twice but I still absolutely LOVED it!! :) The night ended with making dinner and sitting around the campfire. Oh, and did I mention keeping possums out of the "tents"??? it is a regular occurrence thing. They are crazy!!

    (This is one of the creepy possums)

      Each morning was an early morning and by early morning I mean before the sunrise! Yikes. The first night of sleep was a bit easier for me since I only got a couple hours of sleep the night before and it had been a BIG day. With all of those challenges.. especially them being challenging physically and mentally. It takes a lot out of ya! The second day we did a navigation course. We split up into groups of four headed out into the bush in attempts to find cans marked with numbers by only using a map and a compass. It was quite a challenge finding them because there were no paths so it was up to your group which was the easiest way to take. I was advised to wear pants to avoid getting cut and scratched up. If I were to do it again I would have just toughed it out because wearing pants while hiking in fricken AUSTRALIA is really hottttt. It took us quite a few hours to accomplish and it was very challenging! We were one of the first groups done which felt good! So, now I am feeling a little more prepared for the next camping trip. The next camping trip is a much higher level of higher intensity where WE decided where to go using a compass and map the whole trip.

(Can you spot the wild Kangaroo??)

     

      Anyhow. I was sweating intensely, like I pretty much was the whole trip, and luckily I packed an extra pair of socks and let me tell you.. heaven. Yes. Also, I of course put on some shorts.. which thank God I did because the hike we did after lunch to our next camp site was the longest continuous hill ever. After everything that day and the day before I found it most difficult to stay positive during that. I honestly do not think I have sweat more than I did that day. It took quite a while to get to our campsite and we arrived just before sunset. We hurried to build our "tents." This time, the tent consisted of a rope between two trees and just a tarp over that rope. At this point I really didn't mind where I was I just was looking forward to being able to stop and lay down. After we set up our "tents" we hurried up this hill near our campsite to catch the sunset. It was honestly the most breathtaking thing I have ever seen in my life. When we all got up there it was silent because of its beauty. It was awesome to sit there on that mountain soak it in and think about everything that I accomplished to get there. It was such an awesome feeling because anyone can take a bus to the top of something but I walked and climbed to get there. It just made everything that more amazing. What an accomplishment! It made me gain a new appreciation for nature.

(This is my professor teaching us how to clean and scrub pans using dirt and water!  Can't believe how well it actually worked!)

      After dinner we all kind of hit the hay early that night.. well attempted too, while trying to keep the possums out of our tents. Many people woke up to possums running across them, by their heads etc. We had a possum come in once, to my knowledge, but I was so passed out later that night that I wouldn't have known if there were a few extra visitors. I did wake up with a bunch of bug bites though. Pretty sure I had ants galore in my sleeping bag because I had bug bites all over my legs, butt, stomach etc. The ants here are brutal!

      We woke up before sunrise to walk on top of that same mountain to see the sunrise. Unfortunately the clouds were in the way of most of it but it was still very peaceful to lay and watch all of that beautiful scenery. After sunrise we quickly ate breakfast packed all of our stuff up and headed out for our last adventure at Meebunn-bia. The free fall and a partner High Ropes Course. I decided to do the free fall first so I get the hardest one over. Well, I thought that at first anyways. The free fall could somewhat be compared to a zipline except instead of moving from tree to tree you move tree to ground. haha. It was quite scary! You climb up a rope ladder (that was definitely physically challenging) to a small platform a couple feet wide and probably one foot in length. Not very big. The platform was about 40 feet high. Boy did I hold onto that tree for dear life. I definitely had to practice my deep breathing techniques I learned in my stress management class the week before! phew! Well I will let you all watch the rest! :)

                              

      The next activity was the partner challenge. Steph and I were attached by a 3 foot rope and had to complete the high ropes challenge course. It was WAY harder than it looked and there was no way to complete it without communicating, staying positive, and helping each other out. It was very physically challenging, I am still aching from this one. There were two levels to the course the first level was like a really crappy bridge with small wooden steps every few feet. To get to the second level you had a climb a ladder.. which is not connected at the bottom so if you can imagine swinging back and forth with a partner on a ladder.. yikes. At first we didn't think we could make it all the way since there were many groups that hadn't but I just didn't want to quit. I did everything I could to stay positive and I couldn't believe how much I believed in myself. It definitely took us about a half hour to complete but it was so rewarding! I was so proud of us.. it was not easy and yes I was dripping sweat at the end. We got to ring the bell and that is all that matters! It was AWESOME! and so satisfying. After we ate our last lunch we walked back down that huge hill back to the bottom. We all sat in a circle reflecting on our last 3 amazing days, cleaned up our camping stoves and packs and headed back home on a very smelly bus. Haha. Poor bus driver. 21 students who havent showered in DAYS and full of sweat.

(our group after our last lunch ready to hike back down to go home!)

    A shower had never felt so amazing. That night I just lied in my bed and swore I would never take this small single bed for granted again. I didn't sleep until late, maybe because I was enjoying the feeling of relaxing too much. Oh, and of course, I treated myself to a diet coke (I had it all ready for my return)! I definitely felt I deserved that pop. MMM.

      Overall. I loved it. It was spectacular and I never imagined how amazing it would be. Of course there were many times where I would rather be on the beach or even sleeping in my little twin bed in Lismore. However, I will always cherish this memory. I made a lot of new friends and I grew a bigger appreciation for nature. I felt so accomplished and I felt like I grew so much personally in just 3 days. I proved so much to myself and did more than I ever thought imaginable. I feel very empowered and it was awesome.  These short few days really made me fall in love with Australia.  I mean, I have loved this place from the very start but my appreciation for where I am, what I am doing and the memories I am taking away from this is just unbelievable to me.  I feel myself not wanting to go home, can you all just come here? haha just kidding.  But really, I love it here and I am glad that I have a few months left to enjoy this beautiful country.  I can not believe how fast time is already flying!

      Well, thats all I got for now. Thank you for reading. Hope this blog wasn't too much of a snooze fest. I know this one didn't include a world record attempt fall or any beautiful beaches but it was one of my favorite memories yet! I feel like I can do anything! ..except maybe the next camping trip! haha yikes. but.. I HAVE to do it because I don't want to! Sorry Brooke, its the rules! ;-).

cheers,

Brookie