Spiders and snakes and heights...Oh my!

Greetings from Albany, WA! I am leaving the photo posting to others and thought I'd give y'all a wordy update on things happening with us.

Quickly, here are a few links to places I have been in the past week. I'd love to do an entry on the school system here as I am finally feeling confident in my understanding of things, but that might take a while and is best saved for another post I think. I have been to some unis and to some K-12 places and it's been a nice mix. I think I will be able to discuss it intelligently when I get home which is great. I love to learn new things.

Kojonup District High School
Narrogin Agricultural College
Kattaning Senior High School
Great Southern TAFE
Narrogin Beef Producers

At NBP, we met Matt and Janet Thompson who are transplants from Texas. They were wonderful to chat with and Matt drove Grant, Garry and myself around the feed lot for a bit and to the hay processing plant next door. Definitely something out of my element, but an interesting experience as well.

Spiders (Wendy Anderson will appreciate this I am sure!)
In case you don't know, spiders scare the crap out of me. I have three true fears in the world - other than ever actually finding out what my natural hair color is of course - and they are listed in the title of this post. For the first part of this week I was staying with John and Marion Lightfoot on their olive farm which was quite interesting. It's a "hobby farm" since John has a full-time job and Marion has several part-time ones. We got to ride out to the back paddocks and see some 'roos hopping from the trees. I have to say, that will never get old. It's so fun to watch! Well, we came home from the BBQ on Saturday night and I had gone to my room. I turned around to a HUGE spider on the wall over the doorway. I have pictures, but those are for another day. Needless to say I left the room and called for reinforcements and John caught Ralph (I thought he needed a name) and took him outside. Eeek. Ick. Spiders. It was a Huntsman, for those with that sort of informational interest. Check out this link to see a picture of some of Ralph's buddies. He looked like the one in the top photo.

Snakes
Yeah, I'm not so fond of the reptilian type (except for some of my close friends, haha), but we went to Dinosaur World (which is also home to some beautiful birds, one of which will come right up and put his forehead on your leg for you to pet him. It's too cute!) yesterday and I decided it was high time I held a snake. And YES, there is photographic evidence of this and I have witnesses too! It was a carpet python I believe and was a pretty cool experience. Not that I want to keep doing the snake-handling thing mind you, but sometimes you just gotta try something new. When he started to move around I was more worried that I would hold him too tight to get him to move back around, so I turned him over to someone else. I think Grant had more fun with the snake than the rest of us when it started to climb up on his hat! Definitely photos of THAT to come as soon as possible!

Heights
Lastly, I am VERY afraid of heights. So much so that when I get to close to certain areas, I will start to have an anxiety attack. Scott posted some great pictures of Natural Bridge and the Gap which are nice to see since yours truly couldn't make it that close to the edge. I know my limitations and only go as far as I am comfortable with. Yesterday, however, was a bit of a challenge as we all went on the Tree Top Walk, which at the highest point is 40 metres (about 131 feet) above the ground. The view truly is lovely from up there, but I am not sure I was able to appreciate it as much as some of the others on the team did as I kind of kept moving and would not look straight down. But I would not let everyone else do it and me be too scared to go up there. I had a few moments because the walkways to move with the wind and with other people walking on them, but I'm glad I went up and can say that I did it.

So there you have it. A bit of me conquering some fears or at least facing them. I think that's kind of what trips like this are all about - doing new things and trying things even if you can't get all the way. I even ate a forkful of peas at dinner the other night and confirmed that yes, I really do not like them. haha So yay for me!

What is odder still is that I have lost about 5-6 pounds on the trip so far. That is just from walking around during the day and actually eating MORE than I usually do in some circumstances. I think it's just because we are eating BETTER on this trip than we might back home in the States. Aussies seem to have a healthier diet and while often I find I cannot finish the food that is given to me, none of the team is going hungry and the food has been wonderful.

An amazing adventure all around and we are only half finished. THis morning we met with Peter Watson, a parliamentary member from Albany, and we have one more meeting this afternoon. Over the next couple of days, we'll be at places like the local campus of Great Southerh TAFE, the University of Western Australia, the Albany Chamber of Commerce and a visit to the Sandalwood Factory and more. Thursday it is off for a free weekend in Dunnsborough, then on to Margaret River.

Sorry for an amazingly long post, but I figured since others could give you all some photos, I would give you a lot of words instead! Anyone who knows me personally will not be surprised since I love to talk! And for those reading that I work with, I would like to add the disclaimer that I AM actually doing vocational experience and you should not believe everything you see in the pictures Frank is sending around campus!!

Shannon