4/4/2013

I spent most of the day cleaning and skyping. I washed the tent, did laundry, and went shopping. I made vanilla bean ice cream. yum! and put it on the apple crisp that Kat made.
At exactly 12pm I signed up for ironman Melbourne march 23rd 2014. It again sold out in less than 5 minutes. My friend Bruce is coming over from Pittsburgh to run it with me! Yay!
I went for a nice 4km swim on my way to work footy training. Footy training has more injuries now but mostly just aches and pains. We have practice matches this weekend and the season starts next week.

4/3/2013

Day 6 of the walk. We got up early and made quick work of the 14.8km. I made a wrong turn and added a couple extra and went from front of the pack to the back. We made it to the end around 1:30 then we packed the car and walked down to the beach. We had decided not to swim here but wait till after lunch. As Kat and I laughed a Bird trying not to get wet, we were swamped by a wave. Kat escaped but I was pulled down and was soaked for the car ride. We drove the length of the hike in less than an hour and a half. For late lunch we went to a fish and chips shop(for chicken). once we were well fed, Bird and I went for one last swim in the Pacific Ocean. It was cold so the others wimped out though I thought it was great. Then it was 2.5 hours drive back to Melbourne. When we made it home Kat and I depleted our hot water tank, very excited for a shower after 6 days.

4/2/2013

Day 5 of the great ocean walk. We made it from Ryan's den to the last campsite at devil's kitchen. On the way we saw more spectacular scenery and some grey kangaroos. Bird and I walked fast and were trying to make it to camp by lunch. We did but lunch was a bit later than expected and we rushed the end of the walk as we were excited to eat. The others follow, not to far behind us. At around 3:30 we took a side hike down to the beach to see some ship wrecks. The beach was impassable so we didn't make it to the shipwreck site but we did have a nice swim. Tonight was more relaxing, cards, and my first post Passover hiking meal. It was glorious I had risotto, rice, a musseli bar and popcorn. Mmm:) this camp site has the world's most scenic toilet. There is a full wall window across from the toilet overlooking the ocean. It was the only place from camp that we could see the sunset. My camping buddies were getting a bit cold this evening so we called it a night early. Up early to get 14km back to the car.

4/1/2013

I woke up to find a rainbow over my perfect campsite:) Today was a shorter walk so we took it a bit slower. Only 13.8 today but it was steep trails with a good deal of climbing. It was spectacular but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't carrying a pack. We saw an akidina and then about an hour later another one. They are so cute. Along our walk there was a house in prime location and they set up some buried treasure for passing hikers. We got to camp around 4 and relaxed again with amazing views.

3/31/2013

Day 3 of the great ocean walk. Today we walked 24 km between campsites and took a 2km detour to see rainbow falls. This morning the cost was absolutely beautiful and by lunch we made it to a lookout where we can see the end of the walk. The second half of the day was a bit harder and we were struggling a bit more to make it to our campsite by dark. The last 4km were across a beach and up a hill. Walking along the beach is beautiful but can be quite difficult with a pack and boots. The campsite was worth every step. It was absolutely beautiful overlooking the ocean and the stars were so vivid on a clear moonless night.

3/30/2013

Great ocean walk day 2: today was one of the long days. We started out the morning strong and made it 11km by lunch. We did the steepest part of the hike and saw a wallaby too. We stopped at a beach campsite for lunch and swam a bit.

3/29/2013

Camping and hiking day 1: we spend the morning shuffling cars and actually started around 12pm. The first part of the walk was through a town and an RV park. Once we got on the trail the views were amazing. We made it to camp around 4 and had time to play cards and eat dinner before going to bed. We were one tent short so things were a little tight but we made it work. I was tired so I ended up going to bed quite early but it was a nice campsite toilet paper included.