The Glenelg River

I last posted on Sunday and it's Wednesday. Usually not a lot would have happened in such a short time period, but in the last three days a lot seems to have happened. I've been canoeing and kayaking on the Glenelg River, America has elected it's first black President, and. . . .ummmmm. . . .well, it seemed like a lot when I started writing. . . :) Anywho, like I said, I just got back from the year nine camp along the Glenelg River. We went just south of a town called Nelson, if any of you feel like whipping out that map of Australia I know you keep on your person at all times, you can have a look :) The first day was wet and rainy and the last thing I wanted to do was go out on the water, it funny cause every time I start writing about this that song 'Smoke on the Water' pops into my head. . . The second day was better cause it got sunny and I got to watch my entire team sink into the river, it was HILARIOUS!!!!! The instructor told them all to get into the same canoe and I was with the instructor so I didn't have to, but when the last person got in the boat just started filling up with water and down they went. It was funny as, sitting up there nice and dry watching these kids go screaming into the river, desperately trying to jump into the nearest canoe. HAHAHA!!! Then we went night canoeing, that was amazing. The third day, this morning, was good cause it meant we got to go home and have a shower!! YAY for showers!! :) And, not only my team, but almost the entire camp ended up in the river. The same thing happened, except they weren't all in the same boat and they had at least managed to paddle up and down the river before falling in. But it was still funny as :) I'm surprised the idiots didn't fall in as they attempted this move, there are like four kids standing up in the middle of canoes in this photo! If you've ever been canoeing, you know how stupid that is :)

On the second day we also had to build rafts out of jugs, string and boards. Ours looked pretty sturdy but the moment we picked it up to move it down the hill, it practically disintegrated in our hands. Then Mitch tried to repair it at the edge of the water. That didn't do much good, yet he go on anyways :) He actually ended up falling two meters backwards. . .and Scott (the bloke on the jetty. . .without a head), who only made it a total of two meters before falling in, beat us. Bummer :) It was another one of those oh so hilarious moments.
This is me and Meg during the food challenge that we had on the second night. These kids are really into putting their heads together and taking their own photo. . .I don't really get that cause then you just have faces in the picture rather than the background. . .Anyways. . .I just had to eat three dry WheatBix. That's just an Aussie cereal, so it didn't sound that bad cause I've had WheatBix with milk and every thing was fine. Little did I know they are a pain in the ass to eat dry. They are meant to soak up all the milk when you eat them for breaky, so they soak up all you saliva and make chewing, let along swallowing, impossible. But I did it, didn't win anything but hey, A+ for effort right :)

Kaniva Auction

So today I was a volunteer. I did something for the greater good. Became a better person if you will. Ah, who am I kiddin??? I served snags, steaks and hot dogs to hungry Aussies. . . :) I went to the Kaniva Auction today and helped out a fellow Rotary club, serving the hungry people. I even got to wear those sexy rubber gloves. If any of you have seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show, you should be remembering that seen with Frankenfurter and his creation where he snaps his glove on. . . or off, I can't quite remember. . .anyways. . .Twas fun, well as fun as serving snags can get. . . It was raining, so I was happy to be inside next to the barbie keeping warm. :) Oh and a snag is a sausage. But their sausages are different here in the wonderful world of Oz, they resemble hot dogs. Except they taste funny. The firs time I had one, no one told me it was a sausage and it looked like a hot dog so I'm just thinkin "wow, this is the weirdest tastin hot dog I've ever had. . . "

At this auction they had a little bit of everything. They basically collect junk from people and sell it. Most of it happens to be from people that have croaked and then their houses have been cleared of all their excess stuff. And it was raining. . .so I found an umbrella. . .

These are the men who were auctioning the stuff. Ya know how in the states they do it all properly, they have people up on the stage holding the item up for bid while the bidders sit neatly in rows silently holding up their numbers to make a bid? Well here in Oz, they just follow the auctioneer around like a mob, with the auctioneer standing on tables and yelling out to the crowd, the crowd yelling back. Then they simply pass the items out and take the bidders number down so they can record who owes what to who. It's a much less organized process but it works just as well.

This is a camping toilet, usually they sit over a deep hole in the ground and that's where you do your business. It's called a long drop toilet. It was up for bid. I thought it was pretty funny. Made me smile :)

This was the sign that was in the bathroom. The sinks were all rusty and the toilets had spiderwebs all over them. . .typical Australia, everything has spiders crawling all over it. In fact, there is a massive, well massive to my American standards but tiny to Australian ones, spider living in the window sill at school. But no biggie, we just let it be. But every time I'm in that corner of the room, I remember it's there and turn around to make sure it isn't sneaking up behind me thinking a bit of Yankee might taste good :) Anywho. . .this is a sign that was on the wall in the toilets, obviously you shouldn't drink the water. But why would you want to, the sink was pretty rank.