Skip Into Summer

I survived my flight! In fact, I almost thrived. Thanks to the goodness that is Advil PM I slept roughly 10 hours on my trans-Pacific flight. Upon waking, if you can call it that, I was zoned out enough that the remaining 4-odd hours slipped by without much discomfort.

Upon arrival the heat and humidity hit me, but I was so happy to be away from snow and cold that I gratefully let it envelop me. I made my way through immigration, baggage claim and customs, but not without a few hitches- first, a sniffer dog named Andy came and sat by my bag, which red-flagged me for getting inspected by a customs officer. Customs in Australia is very strict as there is a big risk of introducing a pest species on plant or animal materials, or even sporting goods. Anyway, I ate some fruit and vegetables that I had brought from home in San Francisco, but Andy the sniffer dog was convinced I still had them in my bag. Bummer. Good thing Andy was cute or I would have been more annoyed at having to wait so long in the inspection line.

Then I got out of the airport, Tom picked me up, and we had a great day at the beach and wandering through the woods to a waterfall. The beach was so pretty- the sky was a perfect shade of blue, there were big fluffy white clouds, the sun was shining, it was hot, and the water was refreshingly brisk. Ah! So nice!

But it's not all warm fuzzies- I got a leech! I didn't even notice until we got back to Tom's house, and by then it was all engorged with my blood. Tom put some salt on the sucker and the it dropped off, but the bleeding lasted forever! Good thing there's anaesthetic mixed in with that anticoagulant... Despite the ickiness of having something small, worm-like and slimy sucking blood out of me, I still thought it was pretty cool. I think my nerdiness has reached a new level.

Tomorrow we're heading out to the Blue Mountains for some more hiking and swimming, and maybe a bit of climbing, too. I'm stoked! After that I'll have to sort out all the things I have to do for uni, so I'm taking this chance to enjoy myself before the grind starts.

And as far as jet lag... so far, so good! I feel sleepy, but I think I'll make it until bedtime tonight. Thanks again, Advil PM!