A new edition to my bike family

I'm looking to get into riding my bike more, particularly as a primary transportation to and from work. I have a mountain bike that I could use but I wanted to get an inexpensive road bike that would be a bit lighter and faster. Luckily, I have a good friend that builds bikes and he put one together for me with my specifications. This beauty is what I got! I am going to test my work route before jumping in, and I'm not sure how I'll fare in the rain and Florida heat but I'm determined and I've learned that's all I really need to get stuff done. In other news, I signed up for a bike/run race with Shirin in early June in Atlanta. I've always wanted to run the Muddy Buddy and now I get to. Riding to work will help train for that as well. These posts will probably stay short and sweet for a while but at least I'm keeping up.

(Female) Family 5k and Strawberry Festival

This past weekend was quite eventful. On Saturday, Natalie, my mom, and I ran in the Lighthouse 5k in St. Augustine. I have run my fair share of 5k races and they are hit or miss for me. I generally like supporting a good cause (registration for this event went toward the Junior Service League in St. Augustine) and participating in a fun run but hate running at 8am. Actually, I generally hate running. I do love all of the sideline supporters, though. I wish they were with me every time I ran at the gym. 

I'm getting sidetracked. The highlight of this race was the fact that this was the FIRST race for my mom and for Natalie - neither of which have run more than 2 miles before. We had 3 goals: 1. Finish, 2. Don't get run over, 3. Finish in 30 minutes or less (goal #1 should have been to have fun but we laugh so much at ourselves that was almost a given). We certainly accomplished goals #1 and #2 and were just shy of goal #3. I was SO impressed with both of them, nearly running the entire thing. I know I walked more at my first race (I probably walked more at my last 5k!).

Me and mom finishing strong together. 

Natalie a sprinted ahead and finished few seconds ahead of us. She gobbled down a banana after this and I thought she might vomit. Luckily, she did not. 

The next day I met my friend Jeremy in Plant City, Fl for the Annual Strawberry Festival. Apparently everyone in Florida knows about this festival except for me. Aside from the chilly 50 degree weather, it was a lot of fun. We saw a plant auction, a 4h exhibit, lots of guns, knives, and other weaponry, rides, and, of course, deep fried everything. I tried deep fried cookie dough.

Still blogging?

It should be no surprise that I have less to blog about now that I'm back in the states. My job has started up and I really enjoy it. I'm working on getting settled in my new city and learning about my new life. It stinks to have to make new friends yet again (well, its fun too) but hopefully I won't be moving again for a long time so tearful goodbyes are no where in sight. I'm already planning my next adventure to visit friends and take advantage of not working on a dissertation. I'm going to try and keep up with the blog for the sake of writing but I'm admitting now that it may not be nearly as interesting or frequent. 

A weekend with Natalie

This weekend Natalie stayed with me while my parents and Grant took off to the cabin in GA. One of the primary reasons I chose my job at UF was to be close to family so I welcome weekends like this. We tried to pack in as much as possible, running errands and going for bike rides. I hope Natalie had as much fun as I did!

Natalie is a pretty veracious reader. She is currently into Greek mythology and fantasy. 

Charlie loved having Natalie visit!

Tank loved having her as well. This is the two of them, thick as thieves, in the back yard.

We also went for a long bike ride on the Hawthorne Trail near by. Its a beautiful, wide trail that goes through Payne's Praire for about 16 miles from Gainesville to Hawthorne. I was determined to get the dogs some exercise as well so we took them along. Natalie had Tank on the Walkie dog and I held Charlie's leash. it took quite a while but we all enjoyed it. 

One of the many overlooks. I just love the mossy Oaks.

The 4 of us squeezing in for a picture. 

On Sunday we went for another ride (to test my route to work) and stopped through campus. A group of trees were painted UF blue as part of an environmental art exhibit. 

Charlie the super smart, happy, good dog

On the night after I arrived I picked up Charlie from Kate's house. That night he was happy and curious but just didn't seem like himself. I think he remembered me but his behavior just seemed a bit reserved and made me so nervous about what it would be like to bring him back to FL with Tank and a new home. Luckily, when we woke up the next day he was his old self. He has been SO very happy and well behaved and I am so proud of him. His entire body wags when he gets excited. That's true happiness. I decided to take him to group training class with our dog trainer, Stacia, to gauge how he is with other dogs since he has had issues in the past and has been an only dog for the past 6 months.

Group class is held in a park so I was walking with another classmate to the class location when an off-leash dog came walking toward us. As the dog approached I called out to the owner to please call off her dog. I nervously started walking in the other direction with Charlie not knowing how he'd react to the approaching dog. The dog eventually got right up to Charlie and started sniffing and then standing quite close in a dominant position. Basically, the dog was showing Charlie "I'm bigger than you." I went through Charlie's commands of 'leave it' and 'heel' to get him away and ignore the dog and, to my surprise, he did. Then, the off-leash dog started humping Charlie! Charlie growled a little but stopped quickly. A year ago Charlie would have growled immediately, shown his teeth, and possibly attacked the dog. At this point I am irate at the dog owner and I tell her she absolutely has to call her dog off and should put him on a leash. She pulled her dog off and ignored me.

Leash laws are created for a reason, people!

We then walk to class and twice during class the off-leash dog leaves his owner and comes up to the other dogs in class. Let me be clear. We aren't in the middle of a dog park. The park is not fenced in any way. The owner is 50+ meters away. This dog is not under control. This time a young guy comes to get the dog and I tell them 'You have to put your dog on a leash!' He replies "Yea, sorry it's not my dog." Sigh

Anyway, Charlie did great in class. He 'placed' on a big rock and was patient while other dogs walked passed him and came up for greetings. While at Brendan's he hasn't jumped on people when they walk in the house, he doesn't go through doorways unless invited, he doesn't get up from a sit unless released, hasn't barked, whined, whimpered, or growled at passing dogs/cats/squirrels, pulls less while walking, and always comes when called. Such a good dog. I can't say the same for my sweet Tank but his training is part of my new two-year plan.  More on that to come.

New house!

The day after I arrived mom and I went to Gainesville for house hunting. I am just renting for now. Even though now is a 'buyers' market I don't want another mortgage until I know the town better and I sell my GA house. Mom did most of the work for me before I arrived, setting up appointments galore with realtors. The semester started a few weeks ago so most houses are already taken, as I expected. Beyond that obstacle, I needed a house with a fenced in yard and that would accept two 40lb dogs. We saw over a dozen homes and, long story short, I found a place. It is way more home than I need at around 1500 sq ft but it has a great back yard for the pups and was clean (a surprisingly unique factor). The house has 3 bedrooms so as soon as I have a bed for one the spare rooms, you are all welcome to visit!

Living room # 1 and dining area

Living room #2. Who needs 2 living rooms? I'll make one into a dance floor. 

The beautiful screened-in porch. Outside there is also a deck. I have no furniture for either but maybe one day I will.

The big, fenced-in back yard. 

I'm leavin on a jet plane...

I am writing this on the plane from LAX to Houston, about 2/3 of the way through my looooong journey back. Candice brought me to the airport yesterday at 9:30am and after checking in, going through Australian customs, etc. I boarded around noon on the 15^th. Took a plane to Sydney then departed for LAX in the early afternoon. I had an aisle seat for the 13 hour flight- not my favorite spot but things could have been worse (like for the guy next to me in the middle seat). There were at least 3 small babies on board, one was about 9 months and sitting a few rows in front of me. He was happy and quiet for the entire trip. A few rows behind me were two more (these two in the same family), I’d estimate one was about 18 months and the other about 4 months. They took turns crying most of the night. I had so much sympathy for both sets of parents, particularly the second set that were not likely to sleep for the entire 24 hrs of travel. I also wondered what circumstances brought each family on this flight and could only imagine it had to be something quite important as to warrant bringing babies at those ages on such a long flight. Nonetheless, I did get some sleep and arrived in LAX at 9:40a on the 15^th (got there before I left, funny huh?). This is when the adventure started.

I had 2 hours to get off the plane, get through immigration, through customs, pick up my baggage (which weighs close to 100lbs), re-check my baggage, go back through security, and find my gate for my next flight. The catch is I brought kangaroo jerky (planning to share with you all!) and the US policy is vague about which meat you are allowed to bring in so it was possible I would get stopped at customs for a bit. The regulations generally restrict any meat (or meat product) from an animal that has had recent diseases, is an endangered species, meat that needs refrigeration, or that is in packaging that isn’t properly sealed. I got an express pass through customs, baggage re-check, and security because my flight was boarding so soon but sometimes my line was slower than the regular line. My jerky cleared customs and I made it to my gate as they were boarding (whew!). I have now been traveling almost 24 hrs and my eyes hurt, I need a shower, would like to brush my teeth, and am starving. At the same time I am elated to be back in the states and am happy dancing through each airport, boarding line, crowded bathroom, and my now plane seat.  I turned on my phone just before I boarded at LAX and was able to make a few quick calls. It was so nice to actually be able to call people back home again. Nearly there!  

UPDATE: I made it! I adjusted to the time immediately and went house hunting with my mom yesterday and today. I found a place to live and will hopefully move in right after I get back from Athens.More soon...

Last few days of Oz

In true Melissa fashion my last days were jam packed. With the exception of one day, I worked every day for nearly 2 weeks. I was trying to finish up tasks I promised the hospital I’d do for them, mostly data analysis and then editing a couple of papers. I figured my primary goal was to relax between the time I get back to the states and the time I start my new job so I could afford a few packed days before I left. I also squeezed in fun time. One day Candice brought me (and her husband, her brother-in-law, and her brother-in-law’s girlfriend) to her husband’s uncle’s houseboat about 2 hours NE. On the way we stopped for meat pies in a country town because Candice said my life was incomplete without trying one. I tried it, it was okay. Imagine a pot pie with minced steak and gravy inside and ketchup (‘tomato sauce’) on top. Not bad, but not something I want for breakfast on a regular basis. The houseboat was nice, mostly because it was on the water and I am happiest when near the water. On the way home we stopped by a Chocolatier and it was AMAZING! They brilliantly had free samples at the door and after trying only a few delicious morsels I bought 3 boxes and an ice cream. Don’t worry, I brought them home to share.

Myself and the infamous Candice.

I also had a special dinner with my housemates over the weekend and a special breakfast with my housemate Katrina the day I left. She made me toast with Vegemite (my first try believe it or not) and a cup of tea – very Aussie. Vegemite wasn’t bad. When applied correctly, it is just a bit salty giving the toast a salty-buttery taste. Then, she made me smell the jar. It smelled like rubbing alcohol. I mean absolutely reeked. After that I couldn’t eat it without smelling it and the last few bites were not nearly as good as the first few. Ah well, another check on the bucket list. I brought some home for everyone to try as well.  Although not featured on this blog enough, Katrina and I became good friends quite quickly and I will miss her. We’ve talked a lot about her visiting Florida one day but she is currently finishing up a master’s in architecture and so she, like many of us who pursued higher education, is short on cash for traveling. Hopefully one day soon. 

Me, Katrina, Georgia, and Sebastian

(in Dolly Parton's voice) 'I'm workin 9-5, what a way to make a livin"

I got a job! I'll be working as a research coordinator with the Institute for Child Health Policy at the University of Florida. Of the many applications I submitted, several faculty positions, this job was #1 on my list. The reasons I wanted (and am SO happy about) this job:

1. It is in Florida
2. UF is a great school with resources (people and money) abound
3. The position is research without the pressure or politics of a faculty position
4. I'm very interested in the subject matter - pediatric health care
5. My research will have direct implications for policy change
6. I will work with an interdisciplinary team of physicians, psychologists, and economists
7. There is a lot of room for growth; they encourage taking classes, teaching, or pursuing my own projects
8. I will be learning the money and governmental side of pediatric health care (in addition to the psychology side I am already familiar with)
9. Work will be 9-5. No nights, no weekends, no looming papers haunting my every thought.
10. It gives me a real pay check

I begin on Feb 1st so it will be crunch time when I get back to visit Athens, find a place to live in Gainesville, and move. That brings me to my next important news - I'm coming back early! I leave on Tuesday the 15th and will land in Jax late that night. My plan is to head up to Athens on the 18th for a week or so and then back to FL to start work. I'm so excited!



In case you missed the title reference, click here. And shame on you, you should be familiar with all of the great works by Ms. Parton.

Nearly there..

As I near my trip back, I have been thinking about some of the things that I miss most about home. Of course, friends and family (human and canine) are at the top of the list but here are a few other things I look forward to:

1. The freedom of driving. Not having a car hasn't stopped my from doing anything while here but I do look forward to being able to come and go as I please without waiting for the tram.

2. Publix, where shopping is a pleasure. My local grocery store is mediocre at best. Picture a smaller Kroger with nicer people and less smell. I miss the perfect lighting of Publix, the friendly staff, the inviting music, and most of all, the deli. I want a Publix sub!

3. Air conditioning while I sleep. We had another scorching day last week, nearly 106F, and I didn't  get to sleep until nearly 2am. That was after taking a cold shower, blasting a fan, and wearing nearly nothing. I look forward to controlling the temperature of my house.

4. Pizza. I'm not sure the primary influence on pizza here, but its crap. I know there is a large Italian culture but they didn't bring their delicious pizza. The crust here is really thin and crunchy and the tomato sauce has a weird taste. I want a nice thick crust with tomato sauce, tons of cheese, ham, sausage, and pineapple.

5. Secret (its a brand) deodorant  Most of the women's deodorant here is a spray and the few roll on seems to be an alcohol base - not my favorite powder base. It's a minor thing for sure but if we're listing things I miss, it makes the list.

Despite longing for a few luxuries back home, I have truly loved my time here in Australia. I was thinking lately about how lucky I am to have found the job I did and the people I live with. I am truly appreciated by my co-workers and boss and feel my work has value. That certainly wasn't the case in graduate school.

In other news, is there anything you want me to bring back? A tim tam perhaps?I have a purchased a few small gifts already, mostly for myself, but will be happy to bring back some souvenirs if you have any requests!

Merry Christmas from Down Under!

Last week my housemate Katrina and I went to the city to see the big Christmas tree. It is real, which is unusual for a Melbourne Christmas tree (I have no idea where the got it, these trees aren't native to the area). If you look closely, it says 'Melbourne' across the front.

We also saw this amazing display at the town hall. The images projected on the building from across the street.  So cool. 

It doesn't feel much like Christmas here - the days are long and warm and not many houses or shops are decorated. It actually works out well because it keeps me from feeling homesick. My Christmas Eve was fantastic; I had the entire house to myself (all the roomies took off to their parents' for the holidays) and just did as little as possible. For Christmas I'm going to have lunch at my friend Candice's house with her family, it should be nice. Hope you have a great holiday and I look forward to spending my next Christmas (and all following) in Florida!

Street art

One of the things Melbourne is famous for is the street art. In most places graffiti is legal and kept up if it is good. I suppose local artists decide what is 'good' and what should be painted over. When Katrina and I went to see the Christmas tree and town hall we walked down Hoosier Lane to see this cool art.

I also caught this guy working on the newest addition to the street...

Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest

Last week I took a fun trip to Port Douglas, Australia. It is a quiet little beach town about an hour north of Cairns. It was a wonderful, relaxing trip filled with time by the pool, by the beach, out on a boat, and hiking through a rain forest. While in the rain forest I learned a good amount about the indigenous population - how they used the land and some of their cultural practices.

This was the pool at my hostel. It was probably only mid 80s with a nice breeze - perfect weather. 

This is 4-mile beach, the famous beach across the street from my hostel. 

I took a day trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. It was BEAUTIFUL. I have underwater pictures as well, but I need to get them developed. 

This is the Port Douglas marina where I picked up my boat for my reef trip. 

Another day I went on a day trip to the Daintree Rainforest. This was on a boat ride across the Daintree river where we were searching for crocodiles. We didn't see any. I'm not surprised, there are boats that go back and forth across this river all day long. 

The landscape was amazing the entire trip - beach, mountains, rivers, everything!

This was one of my favorite pictures. Jellyfish are quite prominent in the area, to the point that swimming isn't allowed in most areas, but just in case you get stung here is some vinegar for you. 

Part of Mossman Gorge, in the rainforest. 

Me in front of the gorge. 

A flower in the rain forest. It just stuck out at me and required a picture!

Shrimp on the barbie

Me in my Crocodile Dundee hat taking care of shrimp and roo on the barbie. 

This weekend I went with my housemates, Katrina and Sebastian, to Sebastian's hometown of Castlemaine. It was a beautiful ride through the bush to get there. While there we stayed with his dad and several people were in town for Sebastian's sister's birthday. Everyone was so nice and welcoming and just made the weekend a relaxing trip away. Friday night we went to a local restaurant/bar and were the only ones there at around 10pm. On Saturday we did a quick walk around the entire town (it's pretty small) and then enjoyed a lunch and some time at the local watering hole. The best part was a barbecue on Saturday night. Sebastian's brother was in charge and the man likes his meat. As such we had chicken (chook), sausage (snags), kangaroo (roo), shrimp (prawns), and a little bit of potato salad. I earned my honorary Australian citizenship by putting shrimp on the barbie. When I did Sebastian's brother said "Melissa, can you please go back and tell everyone in America that we have prawns, not shrimp. We don't even know what shrimp are." So there you have it folks, they are prawns on the barbie. Oh, and the kangaroo was quite delicious. Similar to steak but sweeter. This trip crosses off #12. Eat kangaroo and # 16. Put some shrimp on the barbie (prawns will do) from the Goals for Oz list. 

Of course I found a large tree as well. This is the 'big tree' in Castlemaine - it's a large Elm.

Fancy dress does not mean dress fancy

A few weeks ago my friend Candice from work invited me to a 'Movember' party. 'Movember' is essentially the man equivalent to breast cancer awareness month. Basically, it is meant to heighten awareness about men's health and give men an excuse to grow that mustache (hence the mo) that their partners might otherwise despise. I have no particular affinity for mos or otherwise but it sounded like fun so I said sure. When trying to figure out what to wear this is the conversation that ensued between myself and two friends:

Me: What do I wear?
Candice: Oh, its fancy dress.
Me: Cool, what are you going to wear?
 (in my head): Maybe I can wear that grey dress I brought, I have some nice black shoes...
Kate: I'm going as the Black Swan so a tutu and leotard.
Me: Wait, what?
 (in my head): How is a black tutu fancy dress?

Turns out fancy dress is just another phrase for costume. Glad I found out before going to the party! Men were supposed to grow out their mustache and wear a costume to match. Female dates were supposed to match their man's mo. The rest of us were free to make up any costume. Thanks to Tamar, this was what I wore...

...a giant pink mustache! From left to right this is Tracy, Candice, Ben, me, and Be.

The event was so much fun. There were a ton of people there, probably 300+, and everyone did a great job with their costumes. Several people liked my costume and requested pictures, I happily obliged.  

 

These were a couple of the costumes - a group of  Mona Lisas and a mozilla firefox. 

This was another group of my favorites - the army man won the costume contest and Zach Galifianakis (second from the left; from the movie the Hangover) was a great match. There were several 'Goose' from Top Gun as well (far right). 

It's gonna be a hot one, folks

Just wanted to let you all know how unbelievably warm it was today - 44C. That is 111F! It wasn't so bad while I was at work, in the comforts of an air conditioned facility. When I got home, however, I was reminded that we don't have an air conditioning unit (most houses don't) and my bedroom faces the setting sun. When I asked my roommates how to cope at night they said to take a very cold shower, soak the towel (then ring it out), and lay it over you while you blast a fan.

Good news is it should drop to high 80s tomorrow and then low 70s by Sunday. They weren't kidding about this weird weather!

A 5th grade report on Australia

               

Natalie has been working tirelessly on a report about Australia for her 5th grade gifted class. I'm not sure of the specifications of the assignment but I know she had to write a paper of some length (maybe 5 pages or so), prepare 2 audio/visual aids, and give a presentation. I was so impressed with her work this year (particularly the visual aids) that I wanted to share. Above is one of her art pieces. It is a topographical map of Australia. The different colors represent the height of the land with blue being the lowest. She also added the dingo fence (described below), Lake Eyre, a kangaroo, and me (a little flag at the bottom right). Below is some of the paper. I cut it for brevity. Hopefully I have a future researcher on my hands although I think the current career prospect is equine veterinarian. Great job Natalie!

"Welcome to the land down under where many records have been broken. Learn about many fascinating creatures,  exciting locations and much much more in Australia the land down under!!The largest formation ever made by living creatures is named the Great Barrier Reef.  It is the world’s largest coral formation. It stretches 1,250 miles (2010 kilometers) along the north eastern coast. It consists of 2,500 living creatures!! It is even visible from the moon!!! Another Australian record breaker is Lake  Eyre. It is the lowest point in all of Australia!! It is located in the Outback and because of that it is normally just a dry bed of salt!

     The highest point on Australia is Mount Kosciusko (Coo-sce-usko).  It is 7,310 feet above the nearby pacific.   It is almost the tallest point in the world. Australia consists of 6 states. The largest city is Sydney. That is where Nemo was trapped in a fish tank to be given to a dentist’s daughter. Almost one fifth of Australia’s people live in Sydney.  Australia’s largest harbor is in Sydney.   Also seen in Nemo is the

Sydney’s opera house. Tasmania broke away from Australia  more than 12000 years ago!  It is the island southeast of Australia.  It is wet,  cool, mountainous  and green. Such a beautiful site.

         Hop hop hop goes the Joey…. That’s a baby kangaroo. They spend most of their young lives inside  a warm fuzzy pouch that  their mother provides. They both eat herbs and grass. Kangaroos can leap great distances on powerful hind legs and a big strong tail.Koalas can eat up to 2 pounds of leaves each day. But the eucalypts leaves they eat all their lives, come from one tree.  That means koalas are in danger of extinction. They need help from us but it costs lots of money to put up fences.

        About 20% of Australia’s people were born in another country. About 85% work and live in cities. Slightly more girls live in Australia. This is because girls live longer than men. People living in the Outback, have to use a two way radio to connect to each other.

       The world’s largest fence is in Australia. It is called the dingo fence. It is 3700 miles long. It runs from the southeast corner of Australia to Queensland.  It was built to keep the wild yellowish colored dingoes away. Dingos are small animals that look like a cross from a fox and a dog.  Dingoes hunt and kill sheep.

Although the smart dingoes managed to dig under the fence.

       Scientists believe the oldest living thing, Kings Holly which is located in Tasmania, may be 20,000 years old.  Kings Holly is a giant bush.  It looks like the top of a redwood tree with more leaves!  It is very bushy and there is not another bush that looks like it in the world.The largest rock in the world, Uluru (of – Look – room) is in the Outback. The ancient Australians named it that.  It is one old rock!!

       Australia has a funny nickname.  It is “The Land Down Under”.  It was nicknamed that because it is under the southern hemisphere. Thank you for visiting the land down under, where many records have been broken. We hope you  will visit  again."

                             

Busy Thanksgiving

I made these fun hats as a throw-back to something we did as kids in school. They also prompted a bit of a history lesson about the origins of Thanksgiving, Pilgram-Indian relations, and the many ways you can cook a turkey. 

This weekend was perhaps my busiest yet (with the exception of when Ali and Brendan were here). Friday night I went with Candice and several of her friends to dinner (Japanese) and then to see the new James Bond movie. I feel like I have seen my share of Bond movies and to be completely honest, I don't really care for them. Nonetheless, I went for the opportunity to socialize and eat a nice dinner. My movie ticket was $20 and the theater was the biggest I've ever seen. The chairs were akin to lounge chairs, fully outfitted with comfy arm rests and plump cushions. Not sure it was entirely worth $20 but it was pretty good. The movie was fine.

Saturday my housemates and I celebrated Thanksgiving. After a morning Pilates class I went the grocery store (twice) and started cooking with my roommate Sebastian. I made pumpkin pie, ambrosia, veggie tray with homemade ranch dressing, and homemade biscuits (American biscuits). Other dishes my roomies made included a stuffed chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans with glazed onions, pecan pie, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, and a kale salad. My roommates wanted a traditional American Thanksgiving feel so they went out of their way to make the recipes as authentic as possible. It was very sweet. We had about 12 people over to celebrate with. The weather was high 80s during the day but ended with a light shower and cooled to about 65 at night...perfect weather if you ask me.

Katrina and Sebastian preparing a bit the night before.

Me working on ambrosia salad (or watergate). They don't have cool whip, so I substituted whipped cream and I don't think it worked as well. I found that it was much more concentrated and less fluffy than I remembered. 

I also took this opportunity to try a new cider. Good thing it is 8% alcohol because at $17/4-pack, I can only afford a few. It was delicious.

My turkey veggie platter.  

Most of the final spread. 

The delicious chicken. 

Getting ready to eat outside. 

On Sunday I went for a long hike with my friend Be and her American friend Jaime who was visiting from California. I've been wanting to go on a hike for a while so I jumped on the opportunity. It was quite a trek of a day, I first had to walk to the tram (about 1.5 miles), then took the tram to the train station, took the train to Be, continued on the train to a new area of town, walked to the park (about 2 miles), then hiked about 10 miles in the park, then walked back to the train, took the train back to town, then walked to the tram (just a few blocks), took the tram to the grocery store, then walked home (about .5 miles). This was an all day adventure, I left at about 7:30am and got home around 5pm. Well worth it though, had a fantastic time. The weather was perfect, probably high 70s with a nice cool breeze. Also, I can now check off # 24 - ride a train - from my Goals for Oz.

Waiting at Flinders Street Train Station.

The back of my friend Be, walking across the bush.

We stopped at a lookout point. The sign said to "Enjoy the antics of kayakers." Sadly, there were no kayakers engaging in antics.

Hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving and weekend as well!