Teresa up at the Northern Orrorral Ridge Abseil site (Feb. 23, 2007)~~~
Hello my dear family & friends,
I had started this update a little while back, I have finally been able to finish it off & can now share it with you ... then, once I have some lunch, I will work on the whitewater rafting update & of course all the nitty gritty about the 7 day Expedition that we just finished on the 16th of March ... ENJOY!!
...
Feb. 22 & 23 Climb & Abseil days ... I already gave you an update on the climbing session we had on the 22nd of February & here is a little glimpse from our abseil session the day after that ... a pretty relaxed day, where we got to practice setting up aseil anchors and the belay/abseil rope systems ...
view of the Orrorral Valley (Feb. 23, 2007)
close up of some of the great rocks in the hillsides
Orrorral Valley continued
Teresa enjoying the great view from up high (Feb. 23, 2007)Also, here are a couple of pic's that Benny Kaiser got of me doing my "cut away rescue" on our High Ropes Course assessment day ...
we had 4 min. to get "clipped in" to our patient in order to be deemed competent for this assessment ... I was quite successful with a "clip in" time of 2 min. 54 sec. & was back on the ground 4 min. & 8 sec. after I had first headed up the ladder (March 4, 2007)
Teresa on her way up the 15m pole to get hooked on to the top line~~~
Feb. 24 - super hero day for Chris' birthday which was on the 23rd but we were away from the national OBA base for our training at Booroomba Rocks & NORA that day ... here's a few pic's of the ROMEO Super Heroes that we created ...
ROMEO's in our Super Hero attire :)
"Poodle Girl" (Tanya), "Super Amy", Zohara, & "Turtle Girl" (me) with my Super Hero sidekick, who else but ... "Sherpa Dog"
"SUPER CHRIS" ... the birthday boy
"Rainbow Girl" (Pecky) & "Zinc Man" (Mikie)It is truly amazing how easy it was to create a Super Hero costume ... the main items you need are thermal long underwear or other tight fitting long leg wear and underwear or shorts that you wear over top, plus a cape of some sort, I used my torquoise turtle sarong that I brought with me ... any any other accessories that you add to make the costume complete :)
Mikie, Chirs, & Jean-Michel ... with the birthday cake creation J-M & Mikie whipped up this time ... I helped a little too but mostly offered moral support :) It was a tasty cake enjoyed by ALL!
~~~
Feb. 25 & 26 - I ended up with two extra days off last week over the 2 days training Environmental Management training block, since I have the background I do in ecology and impacts on the natural environmental of various user groups such as campers, hikers, etc. This is what is known as Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
So I enjoyed the extra time ... On the 26th I went for an early morning swim with Kira & Belinda, two of the OBA staff who have been keenly training for various swimming events. I had a great swim, it was an excellent way to start the day energized & ready to get things done. Although, by the afternoon, I was kind of tired & should have had an afternoon nap ... so the day wasn't nearly as productive as I would have liked.
I was able to study for & do my Caving Exam, one of a couple of exams that we can take whenever we choose ... I also managed to figure out a few things with my computer & the music I have on the external hard drive I brought with me. It turns out that the Macintosh computers don't have the same set up for Real Player, but I have now figured out how I can listen to more than one tune in a row without having to search it out each time :) Once I can sort the same thign out for Windows Media Player, then I will be very pleased since Nadia (my younger sister) had so diligently saved a bunch of my CD's as wmv files ...
Feb. 27 & 28 - FLAT WATER CANOEING out at Lake Tuggeranong (25th) & Lake Burley Griffin (26th)
We got out on the water on a lake in the suburb of Tuggerangong, which is one of the closest to where we are here in Tharwa for our first day of flat water canoeing.
Our second day took us into the center of Canberra to the west end of Lake Burley Griffin ... thanks to Chris' water-proof digit camera, I can share some pic's with you from these times on the water :)
Flat Water Canoeing on Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra (Feb. 28, 2007)
Chris & I heading toward the big fountain (Feb. 28, 2007)
another canoe of ROMEO's having fun under the fountain!
Chris & I making our way to the fountain's falling waters (ours is the canoe clsoest to the fountain... what a GREAT way to cool off while paddling about!
playing "Tug-of-War" with our canoes, I am at the back end of the canoe on the left, Tanya is at the front (notice the Parliament building in the distance, with the white metal spire)
enjoying the mid-day thunderstorm & the big rains that fell upon us in the middle of the lake, I am in the middle with my blue rain jacket :)
Chris & I contemplating the finer points of flat water canoeing ...~~~
In addition to the great fun we had out with the canoes, I went for a float down the Murrumbidgee with Lisa, Pecky, Tanya, Jean-Michel, Megan, Ali, & Peter last night ... what a great thing that the river has risen so much and we could do this ... from when we first arrived until about mid-February it's been so dry & the river was so low that you could walk across it & only have water up to your knees at most as you crossed the small stream running through the middle of the river channel. For the first half of this float, I moved along with only my kick board & motored myself along with the current ... it was a little precarious making my way over the small rapids we came across, fortunately, I only ended up with a little scrape on my knee. I made sure I got a hold of the small inner tube that Ali had been using to tote the little cooler that was brought along, this helped me float over the next patch of small rapids without rubbing up against any of the rocks below :)
March 1 & 2 - RDO's ... into Tuggeranong with Claire Peck to get things, I finally got the outback Aussie style hat that I had wanted to get my previous time "Down Unda" & then for a swim. It was nice to have lanes to ourselves in the middle of the day as we did ... we also stopped in at the "Op Shop" or "Salvo's" ... that's the second hand or thrift store that the Salvation Army operates. I found a couple of pairs of "board shorts" and some fairly new bedding for my bed plus a wool blanket now that the evenings are somewhat cooler than when I first arrived.
Lastly, here are a few pic's of the Murrumbidgee since the rains have been filling the river ...
we were able to walk across this point with water barely over our ankles just a month or so ago!!
... & the very excellent spirals of rocks near the Murrumbidgee River that I had discovered on a quiet little walk to the Murrumbidgee to see the higher waters & finally get pic's of this splendid rock art ...
... plus a spiral like flower blossom of a local weed species ...
... & another work of river art by the same folks who created the rock spirals (& the medicine wheel that I saw between these two pieces of nature art~~~
More to come tomorrow since it is another day off & I have heaps more to catch up on with sharing of my OBA adventures ... from the more recent white water rafting fun we had over a week ago ... & the BIG seven day Expedition that we got back from 2 days ago ... which we have been recuperating from since then to let our bodies rest & heal from the very big days of hiking, navigating, bush walking & bush whacking, as well as getting more familiar with the nuances of OBA expedition practices ...
Big hugs to you all & hoping you are all well & happy wherever you are,
Teresa
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