My hair is luxuriously long and is only washed 3 times a week. I no longer shave my legs (granted I wear PANTS everyday). I play guitar in my room, on the beach, on the streets...and guess what? I enjoy singing John Denver tunes, James Taylor, and (my personal favorite) Don Mcclean. Christ almighty it finally happened: I am officially my mother.
I mean it was bound to happen, right? I came out of that woman's womb her twin (disturbing as that sounds) and spent my entire childhood development trying to be something other than her. Even in college, I refused psychology classes, confident in the fact that I wouldn't enjoy them just because my mother does.
Well, all I have left to say now is: oops? I listen to most of the songs she listened/s to (except for that Israeli cd you have..), I am studying the same subject she works in, and to top it off, I look AND sound AND act like her. Being my own human being is just not feasible! I guess that's why I chose to visit the most remote place on the planet...so that no one truly knows that I am in fact, a clone.
Well, the Jody II set off on a backpacking adventure this past weekend: giving my father an anxiety attack of a lifetime. To be fair, I did have a massive psychology research proposal due the day after I returned, however, I managed to finish my homework before leaving on the trip. So no worries, pop. Lisa convinced me to join her on a trip with her rock climbing friend Will: a bizarre character from Tasmania. He drove us to his shack near Port Arthur (Southern Tassie) where the other trekkers met up with us.
The trip consisted of Will, Lisa, Pete (english), Anna (Swedish), and Ryan (Malaysian). All were post graduate students working on becoming professors or finishing up their theses. These were intelligent people. Ryan asked the fatal, inevitable question: Alie, what is your major? As the focus of the dinner conversation turned to me, I disclosed I was majoring in Fine Arts. Yup. That was it. Apparently, Will, Lisa, Pete, Anna and Ryan are all in the science department. Excluding Lisa, these people were all various types of Chemists with at least their masters. Two had Phd's and two were working on getting theirs. Oh and Lisa is getting her degree in Physics with a minor in math. That was a fun moment.
Anyways, at the shack, the 6 of us prepared a pre-hike feast: home made pizzas! We all packed our packs and hit the hay around 11. At 6:45am, we got up, dressed in hiking gear, and set off for quite a strenuous hike. We hiked about 20 or so miles in two days. That is a lot for me, ladies and gentlemen. I don't care how fit of a person you are, eight hours of hiking is a bit excessive. Day one wasn't too horrible. There were some vertical treks but those were solely because we were hiking on the cliff on the Tasman peninsula. Towards the end of that hike, we attempted to make our way to Mt Fortesque to make camp. Okay. We were in a rainforest. It was wet. To get to our campsite, we had to walk down a seriously steep hill covered in dead, slippery leaves and rocks coated in moss. I fell. My butt pain rivaled that of my first snowboarding trip. But it was worth it. Mt. Fortesque, in the middle of a luscious jungle, was incredible. We pitched our tents, put on warm layers (as it was FREEZING) and began cooking dinner. Eight hours of walking, even for the fittest of people, causes fatigue. That being said, the sun set at 4:45pm. We finished dinner at 7. Everyone was dead asleep by 7:30. Yup. Incredible.
The next morning was tough: partially because my quads were sore, and partially because I had found leeches on my legs the night prior. Either way, I was less enthusiastic about the massive hill we had to climb to get out of Mt. Fortesque and onto the track for Cape Pillar. I had a brekki of dehydrated apples, packed up the tent and sleeping bags, re-checked my legs for leeches, and off we went UP. As I have said before, if there is any direction to go in Tasmania, it will be up! And up we went. We dropped our packs off at the other top of Mt. Fortesque, and commenced our day hike to Cape Pillar.
That hike wasnt so bad, just long. Pete and Anna were slower walkers so I had some company (finally). Will and Lisa were like the friggin energizer bunnies! Give them ten minutes and they were out of eye/ear shot. Ryan was somewhere in between speeds so every once in a while we would see him. There was no group unity on this trip. Good thing the trails were decipherable.
Before we arrived at the cliffs, we passed by a stream to fill our water bottles. We drank the water without purifying or adding tablets to it. In most of Tasmania, you dont need to purify water. The forests are so secluded and rarely visited that rivers are healthy, clean and clear.
Pete, Anna and I made it about 15 minutes from the point we were going to, when Pete decided to share that he had hyper-extended his knee. Anna, who was already a knee-cripple, suggested that we begin to hike back. Well, Lisa had my water and food, Will had the map, and Pete and Anna were both on the injured players list. So back we went. The entire group finally met up at around 4:00 to where we left our packs. Just on schedule to watch the sun go down.
I hope you just read that previous line: we were watching the sun go down. Funny, hiking at night was never on my itinerary. We had finished the day hike, but not the hike back to the car park. We had 5km to go, which, without injured human beings, is about a 2.5 hour walk. I walked with Ryan this time, speeding up and trying to beat the setting sun. At about half way to the car park, light just disappeared. We were in devil territory, and we could hear them. My head torch was not bright enough and I fell, once again, over my feet, rocks, and bushes. I am just a graceful human. Ryan later asked if I had slowed down because I had sprained my ankle. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I slowed down because I couldn't walk in the dark. ;)
Oh, I forgot one important detail of the trip. All these seasoned hikers had the same brand of shoes, pants and shirts. Partially, I am sure it was a designer thing; however, it was partially because those clothes are the best to hike in. My pants, though a synthetic material, were not backpacking appropriate. That is how I got leeches. Additionally, I kept pulling up what I thought was my pants but really I was just giving myself an atomic wedgie for 6 hours. This resulted in some serious injuries on my thighs (thank you circulation cut off) and now I have to waddle to class. Note to self: I am buying hiking pants and shirts before my scramble (which is 7 days long, not 2).
So that was my trip. Adventurous, social, with a sprinkle of lovely weather. Today I decided to be a student again and go to school. I went to the grocery store at Salamanca near the art building and picked up a bushel of apples for $1.98. That is mega cheap! On the way back to art school, I realised I had extra time before the bus came. So, being my hippy self, I sat down on some rocks on the water front and stared off into the bay. As the sun was setting, a penguin looking bird began swimming right in front of me. He looked up at me, acknowledged my presence and kept on swimming. Moments later, he plopped onto a rock right below me and migrated his way up onto the rock I was sitting on. This bird (I named him Daffodil-Daffy for short) sat next to me for 15 minutes. I stared at him for a while and he would look at me and then just stare off into the bay. People walked by and looked at us as if we were crazy. One man remarked: "Looks like youve got a new mate!" I guess I do now. I tried giving him some bread but he wouldn't take any. Instead he shook his head, ruffled his feathers and showed me his wing span. I got up to leave and he just stared at me. I wanted to take him to my dorm room, but how would I explain that one to Christ College? "Hey guys, you know how we cant have cats or dogs? Can I have a bird?" Thankfully, Daffy didn't follow me to the bus, but he did watch me walk away. It was such a strange experience. Maybe I will see him tomorrow and take a picutre to show you.
Alright. Time to go for now. I have to prepare for tomorrow--its my 7 hour studio day! Yay! Oh, and Sam? In case you're reading this.. I know I am my mother, but I learned my hippy-ness from you.. You just cut your hair and got a job...sold it to the man!!! muahaha!
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