When I say adventure... I mean it!

Well after a lovely month of travel through the Tasmanian south, blazing Melbourne, fly-infested Uluru, and gorgeous waterfall-clad Northern Queensland, I have arrived in Cairns. LIMPING, but ok and safe in Cairns a day before orientation. As you can see in the above photo, I was bitten by a snake while walking in the Bush on my tour through the Tablelands in Northern Queensland. Let me assure you that I am ok, and now after we all  have taken a deep breath... Let me tell you how I survived a snake bite in Australia (HOME OF THE 7 DEADLIEST SNAKES IN THE WORLD!)  

Sharon and I had spent the past few days making our way through the waterfall circuit, a series of waterfalls sprinkled within 150Km of Cairns. We had seen 12 of the 17 waterfalls and were continuing along in our adventure when we realized we passed 13 and 14. Determined to catch them all, we returned with more keen eyes and scoped out the 750m walking path to the two waterfalls. Excited, we jumped out of the car to walk the short distance to the falls, only about a 10 minute hike through the Australia bush. About 8 minutes into their walk, Max felt a crushing pain in his right foot, and thinking he accidently kicked a sharp piece of wood, continued (limping) toward the waterfall. Quickly he realized, from the immediate lightheadedness, feelings of intoxication, and two pin sized blood marks on his foot, that he had been bitten by a snake...in Australia. Trying not to panic, he turned to his travel buddy and sternly told Sharon, "Sharon, I think I have been bitten by a snake and we need to return to the car immediately and get help." Haha. When I think about that situation from Sharon's perspective, I realize she must have been freaking out. I mean I could've died and she would've had to watch, and be all alone in the Australian Bush....Crazy thing this life is. Anyway, we (STUPIDLY) walked the 500m back to the car and headed to the nearest town to call the ambulance. The ride took about 20 minutes, and Max began to realize that if he wasn't dead 30 minutes after a snake bite, he'd probably live and be ok. Usually if its a poisonous snake one has 3 to 15 minutes until their body shut down. Arriving into town and going straight to the CLOSED medical center, Max called the emergency line (000 here in Australia) and got an ambulance to come make sure he would survive this crazy turn in his Australian Adventures. As it turns out Max was ok, but after that scare, he decided to return from the bush and lie low for a few days prior to beginning school. 

I have spent the last two days resting and trying to be as conscious of my body as I can be (MOTHER). I am feeling fine, and in a way excited that I survived a snake bite in Australia. Makes for a cool story. I have learned to always hike with hiking boots and not sandals (Although I love my Chacos, so I may not ALWAYS hike with boots...) and to make a lot of noise when bushwalking to scare any asshole snakes away from me as I cross this great land. 

Australia is amazing. Incredible. Phenomenal. The people here are so wonderful and the landscape is gorgeous. I am loving being outside, exploring all that Australia has to offer, and letting snakes suck on my feet. Thank God I was not seriously hurt, and let the adventure continue. 

DID I NOT TELL YOU I WAS GOING ON AN ADVENTURE!!!

Tassy Adventures by Sharon & Max

It was 7:28pm when Max picked Sharon up at the tiny Hobart airport. Max had rented a car and shopped for all the essentials before Sharon arrived, so they began their adventures stocked up and on the right foot. Leaving the airport they met Martin who was playing his drums on the side of the road. Max pulled out his guitar and they whipped out a funky jam while the sun set behind the mountains. After checking into their hostel, they enjoyed dinner with calamari and salmon, topping it off with a bottle of wine. They roamed around the streets of Hobart and after some minor shoe drama, they celebrated the beginning of their adventures at Irish Murpheys Pub. The next afternoon, they met Kat and Claire and made their way to St Imre Vineyards in Dover. Max and Sharon are working for Kat and Paul in exchange for free room and board in their lovely home. Claire is another helper staying from Taiwan- she's super cool.

(Alright now we are tired of talking in 3rd person. The following is recorded at 3:49 pm on Monday, February 2nd, 2009. We just learned of the Steelers 35 second touchdown to take down the Cardinals! It's too bad no one cares about the Super Bowl in Australia because it wasn't playing on any channels! Now back to our adventures...)

For the past week, we have been waking up for breaky (breakfast) at 9 followed by 4 hours of various tasks around the vineyard/farm. These include picking and planting potatoes, picking fruit, cleaning the house, and tending to the grapevines. After a late lunch, we spend the afternoon hiking and exploring the town. We were even lucky enough to get time off to discover Hartz Peak, Hastings Caves and "Thermal Springs," and the most magnificent.. Cockle Creek (the furthest south you can drive on Tasmanian roads). From there, we had to walk 2 hours to the southernmost tip of Australia. It can only be reached by foot and you can stand facing Antarctica with only the Great Southern Ocean between. So gorgeous. We ended the day with a nice Australia barby (BBQ to you septos.. Australians call Americans septos because it comes from septic tank which rhymes with yank as in yankie). We worked hard today cleaning the house and unfortunately only have 3 days left with Kat and Paul.We've been enjoying their food, conversation, intelligence, and company so much it will be hard to leave such wonderful people. Luckily Claire will be living and studying in Brisbane too, so we can still see her when we return in late February.

After Tassy we will continue to Melbourne (to catch a few shows) for the weekend and then visit Alice Springs. Alice Springs is in the center of Australia and is a sacred area to aboriginal communities. It's also one of the best places for stargazing in the world because it is so far from any city lights. We are so blessed and excited to see a completely different view of the universe! After a hopefully spectacular sunrise at Uluru Rock, we plan to head to Cairns for more adventures. We will be meeting the rest of the students from our study abroad program in Cairns, February 15th to begin Orientation and the school part of our Australian experience.

We are both healthy, well and loving hiking and being outside in this incredibly gorgeous part of the world. We are blessed to have this opportunity of exploration and growth and are taking every advantage to connect with the land, culture and wonderful people of Australia. More to come over the next 5 months,
~Max and Sharon~
P.S. Sharon will be setting up a travel blog as soon as she reunites with her computer when school begins... so this is really Max's Travel Blog, but currently being used to let both of our family and friends "in the know" with our adventures. Dont worry grandmas, we are wearing bug spray and suntan lotion!
All the love!