Spring is here!

G'day!

Spring officially arrived on September 1, and although the temperature has only moderately increased, the whole idea of spring has made me feel warmer and more willing to leave the confines of my house. And now that the sun sets later, I have more time to take nice long strolls around the lake.

I have been extremely busy since my last journal update. I suppose that since my trip will end in only a few months, I am trying to fit as much in as possible. My most recent Rotary activities include working as a runner at a Model United Nations Assembly, which is an annual event organized by the Canberra Sunrise Rotary Club. High school students from different parts of Australia come to Canberra for the weekend to represent various countries and discuss a wide array of issues from human rights to nuclear proliferation. I was extremely impressed with the attitudes and presentations of the students. They stayed in the character of their respective countries very well, and I think that it was an extremely rewarding event for those involved.

In continuing with Rotary, as I mentioned in my last blog, the Rotary Club of Berry-Geringong hosted the four scholars from Canberra for 4-day weekend in the Southern Highlands and along the coast. On Thursday, we visited the Illawara Tree Top walk and the blowhole in Kiama, as well as several nearby beaches. Then at night we each gave our presentation to the Rotary Club. On Friday, we visited some more beaches such as Hymes Beach which apparently has sand as white as salt. Then, we took dolphin watching cruise in Jervis Bay, and although approximately 60 dolphins permanently live in the Bay, we didn’t see even one dolphin! But the Bay is beautiful, and we had a very relaxing cruise. Later that night, my host family took us out to dinner at a local pub that had Friday-night karaoke. Although I do not typically like to embarrass myself in front of large groups of people, I managed to convince another American girl to sing Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine” with me. We each “twangafied” our accents and had a great time showing the audience a little bit of southern culture. After our performance, we went on a wombat search, and unlike the dolphins cruise, we saw 15 to 20 wombats! Of course, they didn’t stay long once we started flashing our cameras at them, but I did manage to get one or two good pictures. The next day, we visited the Minnamurra rainforest and waterfall and went shopping in Kiama. And on Sunday, we went to Kangaroo Valley and then caught the bus to Canberra. It was such a wonderful weekend with fantastic people!

Two of my friends had a joint birthday a few weeks ago, so I went out to my friend’s farm near Lake George, a waterless lake (check the pictures). We had a nice dinner, and then I spent night and played the role of farm girl the next morning. I drove a tractor and collected chicken eggs. The property is about 200 acres, and it’s full of eucalyptus trees and grass trees. It has a sort of rugged, barren beauty.

This week, I’m planning on going to Narooma, a town on the South Coast, with a friend, and I’ll also be speaking to a Rotary Club down there. Then, it’s off to the Great Barrier Reef for a few days of snorkeling, kayaking, and exploring a tropical region of Australia.

I hope that you all are well. Thank you again for your encouragement.

Cheers