a cold body does board on a trail

in the pics: I'm cold now, so more clothes, and nice faces for the camera:)

12/17
December 5-17…there has been a lot of nature, a lot of sunblock. Body boarding, biking, hiking, and running—in my new running shoes. I stayed with a family I met in Samoa. They live on the central coast—Eastern Australia. In the middle of a strip of land between the ocean and a lake. Very beautiful. A trail called coast track (trek?) I ran on that trail almost every morning. I liked it very much.

But sorry, I gave my camera to my school in Samoa, so a 1000 words for every picture I wanted to take. Or not…
No reef, where I met the beach, so “big” waves crash on shore. When hot and sweaty, crashing against waves feels so nice. Not the sucking in ocean water part. And timing it right and actually riding a wave feels nice. The water is colder than samoan waters. I guess a good thing because Oregon waters are even colder—brrrrrr especially since it’s winter where I’m headed—double brrrr. Alan is a surfer, so knows what he is doing. I learned how to spot a rip tide (where no waves are breaking). I also learned Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer (deadly sun), and the highest cost of housing in the WORLD.

The ocean is colder, so when the waves are not bashing me around—when I was looking for sea urchins or shells, I was cold. Two years in Samoa and I still don’t have much fat on me. So Alan let me borrow a wet suit—first time…stretchy. My arms and legs are still cold. Wearing a wet suit was what stopped me from entering a triathlon b4. well, I have no excuse now. After two years swimming in very warm water it kind of feels weird to have to wear a wet suit, dry suit, hot suit, warm suit, cold suit. I miss my fins, and goggles, and high tide.

Back to Australia. The bike. There was a bike. Alan had a bike he let me borrow to ride around the lake. The seat was too low, but I was glad I had a bike. I have a sense that a box I asked a PC staff to mail for me might not be coming back. It will cost more than I left in Samoa.

The smorgasbord …hmmm a lot of food food. Good food. I always feel inadequate at buffets, or I should say my stomach feels inadequate, meaning not big enough. 4 plates. Is that enough? Seafood, salad, fried, desert.

I found a trail, the trail. I don’t know…the Central Coast Trail is very nice. It rocks. I like it. It’s very pretty. I bought new running shoes. (I gave my old ones to my students.) I ran four days out of the two weeks. And yes, I was also a tourist and went to the wineries (well, 2)…cheese factories and an art gallery. And bought wine, cheese, and a few picture books—very pretty-and seeing how I didn’t have a camera, I thought I’d let someone else’s lense do the talking (www.kenduncan.com). I watched Alan spear fish ( I did collect shells (snails), but I got to eat bbq fish—yummy in my tummy with sweet chili sauce.