Teresa's getting more Outward Bound ... & loving every minute of it :)

success in setting up the ropes for abseiling ... right on!!

Hello my dear friends & family,

Tonight is my first "Friday" night here at the OBA national base, because it's the first time we have 2 RDO's in a row making this upcoming time off more of a "week-end". It's quite a warm/hot summer night ... following a very hot, dry, smokey day out at Booroomba Rocks ... & the not so full, waning moon is glowing in its haunting beauty amid the smokiness that is still present in the skies. There are fires elsewhere that were sparked by the lighting that occurred during the thunderstorms that happened about 3-4 days ago. Barely any rain fell here at Tharwa then but the thunder that boomed out a numerous occasions was quite impressive, as were the couple of lighting bolts that I saw crack down through the sky ... and quite a bit of rain fell in Canberra, where some of the OBA staff had to wait out the rain until they biked back from the swimming pool.

glorious sun beams & beautiful, big clouds (preparing for the big thunderstorm that night) greeting us on our way back to our"apartments" on Pirate Day

Speaking of swimming pools ... I finally got out for a more decent swim workout again a couple of nights ago ... it went well ... & I am starting to get a better understanding of what I need to do with me sidestroke kicks and the importance of the gliding in the survival backstroke. I am going to get in to the pool each of the next two days to keep working on these strokes & my endurance with the freestyle and breast stroke ...

I will likely bike in at least one if not both of these times. Back on the 31st of January, my last RDO, I biked into Canberra with Ben & Mike ... it took about an hour to get into the southern suburb area where Ben & Mike carried on to do their errands/workout and I mucked about a little while longer, then headed back toward Tharwa after a brief stop at the grocery store for more fresh fruit, yoghurt, muesli (unbaked granola) to help my breakfasts be more tasty and nutritious. The OBA supplied breakfast foods are more basic and even the simple goodness of multi-grain bread is not as readily supplied ... something I will give my input on for our next breakfast food order ...

All in all, I got about 3 hours of cycling in and quite enjoyed the sections closer to Tharwa where we cycle on a road that is no longer in use because the local bridge that it leads to has been closed to traffic. I didn't see any kangaroos at all during this big bike ride but it was great to get back out of the city and into the countryside, although it is a countryside that is suffering majorly from overgrazing, forest fires, and severely dry, drought like conditions. I still marvell at the fact that anything can grow in these majorly hot & dry conditions.

Since our Bronze Medallion training I have been getting out on my bike first thing in the morning ...

out for one of my morning bike rides (February 1, 2007, 7:18 a.m.)

I have enjoyed some nice sunrises ... and glimpses of roos near the roads & in the fields ... and even an eagle up in a tree ...
view of the Gudgenby River that is just north of our OBA base near Tharwa, ACT (January 26, 2007, 6:49 a.m.)

roadside roos (January 27, 2007, ~7:05 a.m.)
"roo on the run" trying to get through the fence ... it eventually found the hole :)

another view of the landscape I have been enjoying during my morning bike rides ... between 6:45 - 7:30 a.m.

All of the Romeo's did the recently initiated OBA fitness test on the last day of our Faciliation training block the first couple of days of February. We met up at the OBA gate at 6:30 a.m to do the 3.3 kilometre run out to the Namadgi Visitor's Centre www.environment.act.gov.au and back ... I made my way through the run/jog with only a couple of tiny stops to shake out my knees/legs ... it was comical to see the sheep huddle there way along the roadside ditches as we would approach them ... I can't quite remember if there were any roos encouraging me/us along. I was a little preoccupied trying to stay focused on peaceful thoughts so that messages that my body might have been trying to send to my brain would have a harder time getting through. This was mostly successful until the medium sized hill just before the OBA gate ... I did keep going after one tiny stop to catch my breath at the top ... I think my time was around 22 minutes. So this will be the benchmark to compare any future runs that I do to see how my running time has improved. The rest of the fitness test took place by the ropes course, where we had to do the following ...

* sit & reach ... measure how far before or past our toes that we could reach ... 11 cm past my toes
* Sergeant Jump ... reaching up as far as you can and then from a standstill jumping up as high as you can & touching the wall to see the difference between those two reaches ... I think I was around 23 cm
* push ups ... as many as we could do until we either quit (or threw up, as some folks joked around) ... I did 35 total ... the first 10 regular and the remainder from my knees ... it's been quite some time since I have regularly done these & I only ever did them the regular way ... so I intend to get back on top of that so that I don't need to do the modified version from the knee :)
* as many sit-ups in 1 minute as we could, ... I did 51 with Zohara (one of the 3 Claire's in our group) holding my feet :)

Given the less active training days we've had during the 6 days of core modules in the middle of January and the 2 facilitation 1 training days, it's been great to increase my level of physical activity.

Getting more physical & doing stuff outside is exactly what we've been doing over the past 2 days ... which has been great fun although quite hot come midday ... the temperature has been back up in the mid 30's from the cooler temperatures in the high 20's during the "stormy" weather. I am using my water backpack quite regularly, thanks for the wise recommendation on this Phoebe!!!! Turns out the Kathmandu water bladders are "dodgy", so I am glad that I went with the one I got when you took me to the outdoor shops in Perth :)

Our ROMEO internship group just finished 3 days of rock climbing & abseil training (setting up the sites and getting familiar with guiding participants in these activities as well as playing with these activities a little too. The last 2 days had us out in the surrounding Namadgi National Park at a place called Booroomba Rocks. We had a chance to put the skills we had been learning about on base, into practice "out in the field."

Teresa "on belay" ... helping an abseiler get to the ground by slowly releasing the belay rope (Feb. 5, 2007)

The basis for Outward Bound's experiential education philosophy is PLAN, DO, REVIEW ... alongside another key concept that covers PEOPLE ... PROCESS ... PRODUCT which are viewed along each side of an equilateral triangle ... getting too focused on any one side often compromises the success in achieving/maintaining one or both of the other sides. Soooo, we had a chance to immerse ourselves in the PLANNING where to set the anchors and the climbing or abseiling set-ups, the DOING and REVIEWING as well as getting more familiar with the PROCESS side of climbing and abseiling. Our goal in doing these activities with the participants will be to provide them with opportunities for personal development, not to turn them into hard core rock climbers or abseilers, that would have things too PRODUCT driven and less PEOPLE and PROCESS focused.

Teresa's 3rd of 3 abseils for the day at OBA's Northern Orroral Valley abseil site (Feb. 5, 2007)
As for the actual climbing and abseiling experiences I have had, the past 2 days have been great! I am not sure I could have ever imagined a year ago that I would be standing out on high ridges and large, ancient granite boulders honing my skills at setting up anchors for climbing & abseiling sites as well as "belaying" people from these perches to either help someone hop down along side the steep rock walls or from below to help someone miraculously make their way up a large crack in a granite boulder with little more than the odd/very small finger holds, foot rests, or in one case, a nice ledge to regroup on after making our way up the first third of the climb :)

almost to the top rope ... what a workout & such a seemingly impossible rock face to climb up!! ... Februrary 4, 2007 at Booroomba Rocks

It was also pretty sweet to look acoss the Orroral Valley amid the smokey aura and to have Pecky (one of the Claire's in our group) point out the huge eagle soaring overhead above the valley ... yes indeed, that dark spot overhead is a real eagle!!
Oh what fun ... that experiences such as this are now part of what I am training to do for my life's work, is quite a delightful concept to contemplate ... oh goodie, goodie ... & ... as awesome as these experiences are over here in Australia, ... I am finding myself thinking and wondering ... how great it would, and will, be to be having these awesome adventures back in The Rockies & out on Vancouver Island ... or elsewhere in Canada's North ... or in the Maritimes ... or down in the Pacific NW and through to the Sierra's or Santa Cruz mountains and coastline of California ... amid the grandeur of all these amazing, beauty-filled places, lush with their water rich foliage and majestic peaks.

hiking back from NORA, the Northern Orroral Ridge Abseil site (Feb. 5, 2007) ...
"lego land" in the splendid & mysterious light of the day, amid the very smokey air (Feb. 5, 2007, ~5 p.m.)

we were enveloped in the stunning sunlight amid the smokey skies (Feb. 5, 2007, ~5 p.m.)

I have a feeling I will be connecting with/thinking of many of you from "back home" quite a bit during this first full week-end of mine here at OBA. Trudy, I had tried calling you with my calling card a while back in December & it wasn't connecting ... I do hope it works when I try again over the next couple of days ... you have been with me quite often as I have journeyed about this landscape and during our time at base doing facilitatation work, etc. ... it will be great to connect with you over the phone sometime soon :)

Tomorrow will be more of a resting day in comparison to the hiking, climbing, abseiling we've just done ... with that said though, it will be great to get out on my bike again and to get into the pool ... As well, tomorrow night, I was supposed to be doing the second "Thinking Like a Mountain: Introduction to Deep Ecology & The Work that Reconnects" workshop for folks here at OBA :) I did my first one back on Feb. 1st, it went quite well considering I wasn't sure how many folks were actually going to have the energy or the time to come ... 10 people came along and participated for the whole 2 hours, despite a few folks that started out feeling like they might not last 2 hours being inside/not moving much and/or in need of finishing moving to a different residence on base. There's a bunch of people interested in catching one of my workshops before they head to Victoria, the state south & west of New South Wales and I had offered to do my 2nd workshop on the 6th but plans have changed, so many of thos folks will have to wait until they return from "the Snowies" down in Victoria.

By the way, if any of my Seed Mates or Bodhi buddies from the 10 day intensive in the Santa Cruz mountains have adapted Joanna's work and other deep ecology activities for young folks ... grades 7-11, please let me know ... I am looking at ways to integrate The Work that Reconnects into OBA programming, as well as digging into Marshall Rosenberg's NVC (Non-Violent Communication) practices so that they could be incorated into the training offered to interns and staff that would then carry through to how we connect with our participants (Papas).

full moon rising over the Murrumbidgee River valley ... view from outside our ROMEO apartments (Feb. 1, 2007)

It's been great to see the additional posts all of you have been making to my BLOG, keep it up ... it is turning out to be a certain challenge for me to view my care2.com e-mail, so seeing your postings on my BLOG which is easier for me to view has been working out great for getting your messages to me :)

I have now added pictures to this post & hope to update you on some of the other adventures I've had in a new post over the next two days, so keep your eyes peeled ... you'll be seeing Teresa in action in a more "full on" OBA way once I can do this ... I am also planning to pull together a more significant picture based post for the little people in my life, so that they can see some of the neat and wonder-full critters I have been seeing "Down Unda".

I will also try to keep the time zone difference in order and do my best to catch a few of you on the phone during this time off as well. Baba B. I will be connecting with you again over this break, it will be nice to catch up & see how you are doing ... Cheryl & Gleb, please send me your phone number so that I can call you sometime soon :) Nadia, Xenia, Andrew, kt, Phoebe, Mary, Nadine, & Liz ... it's been great to see the messages you have posted, THANK YOU!! kt, it wil be great to see you out this way when you head east from WA ... do let me know the dates so that we can work out the timing for getting together.

I haven't been able to search any wine out yet Xenia, but I'll let you know how it is once I do ... as for the tattoo suggestion, perhaps something to consider but maybe moreso as I get a better idea of what such a permanent fixture would be ... I've more often contemplated turtles, frogs, or more recently spirals of some sort like the Aotearoan (New Zealand) koru (spiral)and I think I would do something like this in tandem with our lil' sis' who is eagerly preparing for her big adventures in Deutchland.

Schmookie Loo/Alexis, I understand that you have sent me an e-card and I look forward to seeing it although, with these Internet challenges I have been having and the smaller pockets of time I have had to check on my e-mail, I have not yet been able to see it. It will be great to see what you have been able to make and send me now that you are getting more in tune with the electronic way of sending cards :)

As well, Pheebs & kt, if you can please help pass the message along to Emma & Claire (& Bobbi, if she'll be coming too, also John & Ruth) that I would love to see them when they are down in Canberra for their workshop 16-17 February. I have Team Ropes & Climbing Wall training those days, so I can't attend the workshop but I hope they'll have the time to come earlier since Feb. 15 is an RDO for me ... I also have the 20-21 of February off ... I wil try calling Claire and Emma (& Bobbi) over the next couple of days but if you happen to be connecting with them, I'd appreciate your help in getting this message out to them.

Caiyloirch, sooooo sorry that I haven't called you yet, I do hope you are still at the number I have for you in the UK. I am really looking forward to connecting with you during my time off :)

It turns out that we can be reached by phone after hours through the OBA telephone number ... you just have to dial the extension 264 to reach the ROMEO apartments ... calls from overseas need to dial 011 61 2 6237 5158 ext. 264 within Australia, it's (02) 6237 5158 ext. 264 ... don't worry about the answering machine that comes on ... just dial the ext 264 and you will be put through to our building ... as long as someone is around and/or we hear the phone, then the phone will be answered ... more often than not, I am around here between 6:30 and 10:00 p.m. on days we are here at OBA. I am actually 18 hours ahead of Alberta's Mountain Standard Time (not 16 as I had indicated earlier) ... so, NOON for me, is 6 p.m. back in AB & 6 p.m. for me is midnight the day before, etc.

Looking forward to catching up with a bunch of you over the next couple of days. I hope all is well and that you are staying warm amid the winter weather back in N. America and staying cool wherever you are here "Down Unda".

Be well,

Hugs 'n' Bugs,

Teresa

p.s. Happy Belated Groundhog Day ... what was the outcome of the groundhog & its shadow this time around ?

... & Happy Brithday & many blessings to Baba Rasko & the other Rasko's celebrating b-days around now, so sorry I wasn't able to call you on your special day Baba, my schedule makes it quite a challenge to connect across the time zones on some days ...

plus big birthday hugs & best wishes to my splendid friends Mary ... & Laura, ... here's to many more special days for us to celebrate YOU !!

p.s.s. Feb. 2 here was Clare Saunders (one of the spunky Romeo's) birthday and at her request, it was PIRATE DAY ... Clare dressed up as Jack Sparrow's wife and the rest of us were pirates of some persuasion or another (pic's to follow in my next post). The day closed off with yet another of Jean-Michel's birthday cake creations ... something he had also done for Amy's birthday, back on Jan. 26th. Jean-Michel & Amy with "Jimmy's" birthday cake creation (January 26, 2007)

The atmosphere here for such occasions has been quite similar to a college/university dorm residence ... although such festivities need to be tempered on occasions when there are Participants (Papas) on base, as was the case for Amy's b-day. Consequently, the groovy disco/dance party that was started had to be cut short to keep noise levels down on base, too bad. The pirate theme request by "Saunders" (she's one of the 3 Clare's/Claire's, so many of us are calling her my her last name) was a fun twist to the b-day celebrations.
ROMEO's Pirate Day (Feb. 2, 2007) ... celebrating "Saunders (aka. Clarita Sparrow) birthday in fine Pirate fashion :)