Be Prepared for a LONG Post

I haven't written for a while, so this is going to be long. I figure the best way to write my recent activities is to simply put up pictures and write the stories that go along with them, since I tend to take pictures of every noteworthy thing that happens to me.

I went sailing for the last time a couple weeks ago and am proud to say that we never capsized our boat on accident. I'd say that's a noteworthy accomplishment. Anyway, this picture is of Rachel and me. Don't the huge glasses make us look SO hott? Yeah, I thought so. They were $5.

Maike and Tom. Tom doesn't like pictures; Maike does.

I was rather jealous of the other boat when they whipped out eye patches and a pirate flag. Turns out the eye patches were made out of tape and dental floss and the flag was a black pillow case with white cloth stapled to it in the shape of a skull.

I went to my first rugby game. I was extremely confused since there was nobody with me to explain what was going on. I got even more confused when the guys started lifting each other off the ground like cheerleaders. I still don't know what was going on.

A couple Sundays ago I mentioned that I wanted to try to make Pavlova, an Australian dessert. We, being me, Richard, and Aileen (the people I live with) tried two batches and it failed each time due to the faulty oven. So, Richard and I went to the chapel to use that oven and ended up making one that turned out rather well, but not perfect (this is the one pictured above). We've been making pavlovas ever since trying to perfect the recipe, and I have found a new dessert for my top ten list.

I saw this while walking into class one day.

Doug, the dog here, loves his balls (no crudeness intended), so I decided to try to get pictures of him jumping up for a ball. It was pretty fun and he got rather exhausted (it took a few tries to get the picture), but as long as there's a ball flying through the air, exhaustion means nothing to him.

I found an art gallery while biking around one Tuesday and decided to take a look.

Later on the same bike ride I went to Kershaw Gardens and took pictures.

See, Cassie taking pictures... of herself.

There's a monorail in the gardens that I've wanted to ride for months, but the monorail bikes are always locked up. Well, on this day the maintenance guys were working and I think they saw me eying the monorail and offered for me to ride. I couldn't resist, and spent the next five minutes peddling a bike meant for a three year old around the monorail.

At times, the bike would tilt and I would get way scared, so this ended up being more of a thrilling ride than I thought. It actually did get about eight feet off the ground, so it was a bit scary.

Just a sunset. I rode up (okay, so I pushed my bike up) one of the steepest hills ever to get to a view to see this.

Magpies=Evil. I get swooped every day. And by swooped, I mean the cursed thing swoops down and hits me rather hard in the helmet. I've named this one Fred, since he swoops me most often.

We need cones like this in America. These Australians, they're smarter than you think.

Two Saturdays ago, I talked the Brearley's (the people I live with) into going to the crocodile farm. This is the main lobby at the farm, with several dead crocodile skins nailed to the ceiling.

This sign may look like it's telling you to swim. No, no, no. Do not believe the sign. These were put up in Northern Queensland to warn people of crocodiles. The sign originally had a big red circle with a line over the swimmer and a little green crocodile head underneath, a pretty obvious sign that there's a crocodile there and that you should definitely not swim. But the red and green faded away, giving a VERY different message.

Look, a crocodile eating a cow esophagus.

Awww, look, he's smiling for the camera!

Look, another happy smile!

See the little crocodile on the right? That's the big one's mate. See the big one in the middle? He's big.

I was the first one who got to hold the baby crocodile. About half an hour later I ate crocodile steak. It was... okay. Really fatty, and tasted a lot like pork.

On the way back from the crocodile farm we drove by an old chapel built by guys who were here during World War II. Notice the United States emblem on the left and the Australian emblem on the right. I felt like I belonged in the middle.

False advertising. And to think, I bought ten of these packs...

I hiked Mt Jim Crow again with my outdoor pursuits class, which actually just included Tom, the professor, and me; nobody else came. It was still a good time though.

Another mountain in the distance that very closely resembles Mt Jim Crow.

Yup, so... this is me. At the top of Mt Jim Crow.

A pretty pond at the base of the mountain. A few weeks ago it was just a plain, water filled pond. Now, it's full of lily pads and flowers. I like nature.

Last Saturday I went scuba diving again. We went to this place, which is called Man and Wife rocks. On the second dive, the boat was anchored at the right of the rocks. When we surfaced after our dive, we were between the rocks and had to swim pretty far to get back to the boat. Guess who was navigating for that dive?

I decided I wanted a picture of my last time on the dive boat. I got really wet.

On Sunday I went down to Emu Park with Chris and found this sun dial with all the surrounding islands written on it. I never knew there was a Mt Westall near here, but it reminded me of myself.

Romantic walk on the beach? Well, take out romantic and put in "enjoyable" and you've got it.

I made cinnamon rolls. :)

Returning from my bike after class yesterday I was confronted by these guys. Apparently I was getting a little close to their nest. Usually they are shy little birds, but I've never seen anything get so defensive and obnoxious so quickly.

I found out why they were getting so defensive. If you look to the right of the picture, you can see one of the babies crouching down, trying to hide from me.

I learned how to ride bike with no hands, so of course I take advantage of this talent by taking pictures of myself WHILE riding bike. Whoa.

I went up to Mt Archer with Chris and possums approached us. I was in shock since this never happens at home, since animals are terrified of people and guns in America. But here, in Australia, people don't have guns, so the animals don't fear us, and I get to make friends with wild animals. Oh, yeah, they also thought we had food, and bit my finger in an attempt to eat me. They failed, but still broke the skin. I don't mind.

A mama and baby possum. I don't think I've ever seen anything so adorable.

I mean, come on, does adorable even explain this??

Later that night I was looking at a tree and noticed the shape of an iPod (see the middle empty part of the tree? look just barely to the left and up). Luckily Chris saw this too. I also saw a fish (very left side of the tree is the tip of it's nose, it's a bit harder to see); Chris also saw this. I'm glad I'm not insane.

Okay, so that's my life over the past 20 days. Yeah, pretty sure future Cassie is the only one who's going to read this, but that's okay, she's a pretty cool chick, so I'm glad she's reading this. And for everyone else who may have survived this long, you're awesome. Here, take this Token of Awesomeness: