March 13th
Mmmmmmm day three of waking up in a tent and damn does it feel good :) I need more camping in my life!
As the sun lit the earth I went through the familiar motions of packing my gear. I checked my map and started walking towards Halls Gap.
My plan was to hike north to Lake Bellview and then loop around the east side into town. Would’ve been about 9 kilometers and I would’ve arrived at Halls Gap around 10am, just in time to meet Lita and Casey. Buuuuuuuuuuut I just wasn’t feeling it. I hiked out to the lake and it was beautiful. Looked up at Mt. Rosea from below and appreciated everything I’d done the day before. But I knew I wasn’t in the right mindset (or heartset, wait, is heartset a thing? How about heartplace? I like heartplace. Let’s make it a thing) to hike. I really wanted to climb.
Loving the red and blue! And check out the reflection of the reeds in the water. So gorgeous <3 <3 <3
So I turned towards the highway, schwacked a bit, and walked along the road towards town. About 30 minutes later a car drove past and the travelers inside stopped and picked me up. Cool dudes, they had gone to an out-of-the-way campsite the night before and had it all to themselves. They had this huuuuuuge blow up mattress rolled up in the back of their car. Barely had room for me!
Once in town I checked out the local outdoor store and browsed a bouldering guide for the area. Between the information I found there and an online database I selected a spot very close to town with some good problems. But on my way to the crag I suddenly got ravenously hungry. It was hot, I was tired, I was having a hard time finding the site… So I turned around, went to town, and a solid breakfast of orange juice, pancakes, and bacon.
Orange juice from Livefast Cafe. It’s not just the coffees and hot chocolates that they make pretty here!
The café I went to had communal tables outside so I ended up sitting with a bunch of other 20-something female travelers. We chatted about where we were from, what we were up to in Melbourne, and where else we’d traveled. After they left an older couple sat down and we also chatted about travel. Meeting new people is fun :) (when they don’t bring up American politics, that is)
Lita and Casey ended up wandering past the café a bit before my food came. They sat with me and then we loaded up the car and headed towards Ballarat.
Just as we were dropping Casey off I realized I had meant to get a picture of the three of us and hadn’t. So we quickly grabbed a selfie outside Casey’s house
I think Casey may have been a bit tired…
Lita was really kind and drove me back to Woodend so I didn’t have to take the train. Thanks Lita!
At some point in the evening I worked through Revolution – Day 8 - Practice Serenity. I think the appropriateness of that for the day is obvious.
Other than that I cleaned and started writing these blog posts.
And now y’all get to read ‘em
By which I mean my Grandma. Because let’s be real, she’s probably the only one who reads all of these. Thanks Grandma, I love you bunches <3