(no subject)
Welcome to Laurens Week.
Saturday night was the most fun time I've had since I got here. It started with the Asia-Pacific dinner. I figured out that the Australians and the New Zealanders are kind of like the weird kid that no one really likes but everyone feels a bit sorry for. Still, got to eat yummy Asian food (and uncooked damper from Michelle that we told everyone was meant to be raw inside) and have a chat with various people. Then was the Jackie party. We all got dressed up and ate cheesecake. All the boys in their suits looked pretty impressive. Josh took the cake though with his ensemble of various tartan and flannelette articles of clothing. Even he folded after a while and him and I then spent a good part of the night strutting around in our finery. After that, I headed off for the spiritual centre (which is still wall-less but has an amazing view) and had a sing a long with a bunch of people and Chris who is like a human jukebox. Then was back to East house for a party for Steven and Sitraka. All in all, a top night.
I have just returned from Action week of Awesomeness. It was so much fun. I didnt think I could ever enjoy a weeks worth of camping and hiking and stuff. I think it was because it didnt rain. We had the most amazing weather all week. It was sunny every day except one.
Sunday: Had to get up by 7:45. Set my alarm clock for 7:30 except I didnt realise that for some unknown reason my clock was 2 hours slow. Luckily, the roomate of cool, Michelle, woke me and I was still on time. The bus trip took about 5 hours with the last hour and a half on an unsealed road. Not the most comfortable journey in the back of a bus. The bus drivers managed to drop two full bus loads off at the wrong place and because we didnt have a teacher with us, we just sat for an hour outside Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. Eventually we arrived at Pachina Bay at about 5pm. After dinner (which was only just edible and we had to cook ourselves) we went onto the beach and made three campfires and hung out there for the evening.
Monday: Group A packed up all our tents and headed off for Keeha beach for a night. It was about a three hour hike through a tonne of mud and finally up an incredibly steep hill and over the other side. I have never been so glad to see a place in my life. On the way, my awesome yellow plastic overalls kind of disintegrated which was very sad. It was a really nice beach with pine trees bordering it. The sand was tiny pebbles in all different colours. The best bit though was that apart from us, it was about a kilometre of empty beach. I was so hot when I arrived that I went swimming in my underwear which I never would have done at home. I got to swim in the cold side of the Pacific! It was absolutely freezing but the air was so warm that it didnt matter too much. Got to laze around on the beach for an afternoon which was so nice. After dinner, there was a big campfire in which Jeremie dropped the bombshell: "Mischa (Michelle from Melbourne) told me she was doing Self taught Australian." I laughed so much I couldnt even lie about it.
Tuesday: Returned from Keeha beach. This time I actually got to enjoy the hike because it didnt seem as hard. There was just so much mud it was ridiculous. Got back to Pachena bay at about 5pm and got to hear about all the shenanigans everyone was up to while we were away like skinny dipping in the freezing water in the middle of the night. That night there was a big campfire with singing and marshmallows. I didnt realise how hard it is to find a song that people from all over the world know the words to.
Wednesday: Went to look at rockpools on the beach. They were amazing. I have never seen so much life in any rockpools. There were mussels, crabs, starfish, regular fish, pippis, anemones, sea snails, clams and a crazy hermit crab which decided to abandon its shell while on my hand. After a lesson in canadian sea life from Simone (completely insane from Newfoundland) we went back for lunch. We then went for a tour at Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. Or at least we thought we were. Actually, they made us volunteer and Swelen (tent mate from Venezuela), Cecilia (also tent mate from Italy), Mary (US) and I got to pick up rocks and spread a pile of topsoil. It reminded Mary of home (being a farm girl) and me of Ag class. The upside was that we got to eat at their very well equipped cafeteria for afternoon tea and was able to swipe some Chai tea from their supply.
Thursday: Was the excessively long 20km hike. We left in the morning and walked 10km around the coastline. We walked on the West Coast trail which was established ages ago as a lifesaving paths for shipwrecked sailors. That part of the coast is called the graveyard of the Pacific and the trail supposedly saved heaps of people as they died on land after not being able to find food or shelter in the wilderness. We hiked along that until about lunchtime. It was a beautiful trail, not as muddy as the one to Keeha and lots flatter. We stopped on these rocks overlooking the ocean where hundreds of sea lions do whatever it is sea lions do. To me it just looks like they sit on rocks a lot. Had lunch and a bit of a nap there (courtesy of Swelens leg/pillow) before hiking the whole way back. There was a bit of drama as we couldnt find two of the the group and a teacher but they eventually turned up about 2 and a half hours later, them thinking that we had left already instead of sleeping in the sun. Got back about 4 and later there was another campfire with more singing.
Friday: Last full day of Action week. Went to a tiny community school in Bamfield to help them out with their Thanksgiving preparations. Since the majority of the group had no idea what Thanksgiving is (including myself) I dont know what help we were supposed to be. Supposedly its about family and eating among various other things so it sounds okay to me. Was randomly attacked by some little boy and played a game of badminton with another little girl at recess so that was pretty fun. That afternoon we had to do group activities but before that was several hours of sleeping on the beach and going swimming. We crossed the stream on one side of the beach and rafted about on big logs for a little while. All the boys decided they wanted everyones support getting some ginormous log into the water but the girls and I realised that would never happened and settled on our own much smaller log. We pushed it in then spent half an hour laughing at the boys still struggling while we paddled about. The group activities were making a raft (which we had just done) and building a sand sculpture. I really wanted to build a sea sperm but it was supposed to reflect our week. Instead, we built a totem pole with four people in it which was the coolest sculpture on the beach (even when I take into account extreme bias). Later that night I helped build a massive campfire away from the political discussion campfire which managed to shout at each other about the same things every night. The big fire was fun with singing and variations of truth or dare. Slept on the beach which was horribly cold and not the smartest thing I've ever done but fun all the same.
Saturday: Packed up, wrote a reflective letter to self (which I have no intention of reading) and got on the bus to go home. Have grown new appreciation of caf food and bed.
Saturday night was the most fun time I've had since I got here. It started with the Asia-Pacific dinner. I figured out that the Australians and the New Zealanders are kind of like the weird kid that no one really likes but everyone feels a bit sorry for. Still, got to eat yummy Asian food (and uncooked damper from Michelle that we told everyone was meant to be raw inside) and have a chat with various people. Then was the Jackie party. We all got dressed up and ate cheesecake. All the boys in their suits looked pretty impressive. Josh took the cake though with his ensemble of various tartan and flannelette articles of clothing. Even he folded after a while and him and I then spent a good part of the night strutting around in our finery. After that, I headed off for the spiritual centre (which is still wall-less but has an amazing view) and had a sing a long with a bunch of people and Chris who is like a human jukebox. Then was back to East house for a party for Steven and Sitraka. All in all, a top night.
I have just returned from Action week of Awesomeness. It was so much fun. I didnt think I could ever enjoy a weeks worth of camping and hiking and stuff. I think it was because it didnt rain. We had the most amazing weather all week. It was sunny every day except one.
Sunday: Had to get up by 7:45. Set my alarm clock for 7:30 except I didnt realise that for some unknown reason my clock was 2 hours slow. Luckily, the roomate of cool, Michelle, woke me and I was still on time. The bus trip took about 5 hours with the last hour and a half on an unsealed road. Not the most comfortable journey in the back of a bus. The bus drivers managed to drop two full bus loads off at the wrong place and because we didnt have a teacher with us, we just sat for an hour outside Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. Eventually we arrived at Pachina Bay at about 5pm. After dinner (which was only just edible and we had to cook ourselves) we went onto the beach and made three campfires and hung out there for the evening.
Monday: Group A packed up all our tents and headed off for Keeha beach for a night. It was about a three hour hike through a tonne of mud and finally up an incredibly steep hill and over the other side. I have never been so glad to see a place in my life. On the way, my awesome yellow plastic overalls kind of disintegrated which was very sad. It was a really nice beach with pine trees bordering it. The sand was tiny pebbles in all different colours. The best bit though was that apart from us, it was about a kilometre of empty beach. I was so hot when I arrived that I went swimming in my underwear which I never would have done at home. I got to swim in the cold side of the Pacific! It was absolutely freezing but the air was so warm that it didnt matter too much. Got to laze around on the beach for an afternoon which was so nice. After dinner, there was a big campfire in which Jeremie dropped the bombshell: "Mischa (Michelle from Melbourne) told me she was doing Self taught Australian." I laughed so much I couldnt even lie about it.
Tuesday: Returned from Keeha beach. This time I actually got to enjoy the hike because it didnt seem as hard. There was just so much mud it was ridiculous. Got back to Pachena bay at about 5pm and got to hear about all the shenanigans everyone was up to while we were away like skinny dipping in the freezing water in the middle of the night. That night there was a big campfire with singing and marshmallows. I didnt realise how hard it is to find a song that people from all over the world know the words to.
Wednesday: Went to look at rockpools on the beach. They were amazing. I have never seen so much life in any rockpools. There were mussels, crabs, starfish, regular fish, pippis, anemones, sea snails, clams and a crazy hermit crab which decided to abandon its shell while on my hand. After a lesson in canadian sea life from Simone (completely insane from Newfoundland) we went back for lunch. We then went for a tour at Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. Or at least we thought we were. Actually, they made us volunteer and Swelen (tent mate from Venezuela), Cecilia (also tent mate from Italy), Mary (US) and I got to pick up rocks and spread a pile of topsoil. It reminded Mary of home (being a farm girl) and me of Ag class. The upside was that we got to eat at their very well equipped cafeteria for afternoon tea and was able to swipe some Chai tea from their supply.
Thursday: Was the excessively long 20km hike. We left in the morning and walked 10km around the coastline. We walked on the West Coast trail which was established ages ago as a lifesaving paths for shipwrecked sailors. That part of the coast is called the graveyard of the Pacific and the trail supposedly saved heaps of people as they died on land after not being able to find food or shelter in the wilderness. We hiked along that until about lunchtime. It was a beautiful trail, not as muddy as the one to Keeha and lots flatter. We stopped on these rocks overlooking the ocean where hundreds of sea lions do whatever it is sea lions do. To me it just looks like they sit on rocks a lot. Had lunch and a bit of a nap there (courtesy of Swelens leg/pillow) before hiking the whole way back. There was a bit of drama as we couldnt find two of the the group and a teacher but they eventually turned up about 2 and a half hours later, them thinking that we had left already instead of sleeping in the sun. Got back about 4 and later there was another campfire with more singing.
Friday: Last full day of Action week. Went to a tiny community school in Bamfield to help them out with their Thanksgiving preparations. Since the majority of the group had no idea what Thanksgiving is (including myself) I dont know what help we were supposed to be. Supposedly its about family and eating among various other things so it sounds okay to me. Was randomly attacked by some little boy and played a game of badminton with another little girl at recess so that was pretty fun. That afternoon we had to do group activities but before that was several hours of sleeping on the beach and going swimming. We crossed the stream on one side of the beach and rafted about on big logs for a little while. All the boys decided they wanted everyones support getting some ginormous log into the water but the girls and I realised that would never happened and settled on our own much smaller log. We pushed it in then spent half an hour laughing at the boys still struggling while we paddled about. The group activities were making a raft (which we had just done) and building a sand sculpture. I really wanted to build a sea sperm but it was supposed to reflect our week. Instead, we built a totem pole with four people in it which was the coolest sculpture on the beach (even when I take into account extreme bias). Later that night I helped build a massive campfire away from the political discussion campfire which managed to shout at each other about the same things every night. The big fire was fun with singing and variations of truth or dare. Slept on the beach which was horribly cold and not the smartest thing I've ever done but fun all the same.
Saturday: Packed up, wrote a reflective letter to self (which I have no intention of reading) and got on the bus to go home. Have grown new appreciation of caf food and bed.