Happy Belated Fourth of July.

So I made it to Melbourne. Annelise and I did a three day/two night tour from Adelaide to Melbourne...where we got to do mountain climbs (literally up the face of a mountain) in the Grampians national parks. The first day we did the Hollow Mountain Hike (I'm not sure if you guys can look these up online or not). Hollow Mountain was a lot of rock climbing -- over huge boulders and rocks, and through some holes in rocks, but when we got to the top, the views were stunning. We spent the night at a really nice hostel (which was actually a house owned by Adventure Tours), and we made a huge pot of pasta (enough for twenty people) and had spaghetti for dinner.

We awoke early and did another hike, this time up to the Pinacle. It started to rain on us (which made it miserable), and at the top it was rainy and windy (even more miserable), but I'm glad I accomplished it. To get to the top it is literally thousands of stairs constructed out of stones. It was a 3 km hike up the mountain face, and I was exhausted by the time I got to the top. The way down was very risky, because the rain made the rock faces slippery, but I was smart and kept my center of gravity and weight low to the ground. I had a couple close calls, but that one year in gymnastics did wonders for my balance, so my toosh never hit the rocks.

After the Pinacle, we began our journey on the Great Ocean Road. The first half of the road is all cliff faces and is home to hundreds of ship wrecks. We spent the afternoon seeing different rock formations, including the famous "Twelve Apostles". I spent 65 dollars on a helicopter ride along the twelve apostles right over the ocean, and it was amazing. I got some awesome photos. Unfortunately, my camera battery either is not holding a charge, or the battery charger is broken, so I'm going to hopefully find a camera store that sells chargers for my camera. If I fail in that mission then I don't knwo what I'll do for pictures for the rest of my trip. Anyways, I'm sure you can look up the twelve apostles online. After my heli ride, we went to the lookout point and saw the sun set over the twelve apostles. It was pretty magnificent.

That night we had bbq for dinner, and we watched Riding in Cars with Boys (with drew barrymore). I thought it was a wonderful movie. :] I went to bed...where...at some point I was attacked by a spider. I won't go into the nasty details, but my right leg is badly bitten, and if it gets any worse, I'll be touring an Australian Health Clinic. (Exciting?)

The last day of the tour, we spent driving the last bit of the Ship Wreck part of the Great Ocean Road, and then began the second half, which includes all the famous surfing spots, including Bells Beach, where the world chamiponship was held either this year or last. We stopped in Apollo Bay, and Anenlise and I got this heaping mound of fish and chips (which is their specialty), and it was delicious. After apollo bay, we drove up to Bells Beach, and then on to Torquay (for shopping for half an hour). I got a hoodie sweatshirt, and a beanie. It rained all day yesterday, and so far today, it isn't looking any better, but we'll make the most of it anyways.

Anyways, Melbourne is amazing. It's this huge awesome city with awesome city lights and big buildlings. I can't wait to go explore...which I'm going to do right now. This was kind of a short version of my tour from Adelaide to Melbs, so I may add some details later that I have forgotten at the moment. I come home in a week, and I won't lie I'm very excited. I miss my family, and being able to talk to them on the phone every day (haha), and I miss Alex a lot more than I ever expected I would, and I miss my car. Man, do I miss my car. Anyways, I'm sad that I'll only get to be in Cali for a few days before driving to Michigan, but next month I get to go on a Scandinavia Cruise and then I'll be spending a couple weeks on the train backpacking across Europe, before coming back to CHicago to start working.

Hope all is well back home!