Overdoing it & Relaxing

One of Jaron's coworkers recommended a hike to Julie that is 45 min away at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. The thing is, since Julie was not able to use the car, I would need to uber out there and then Jaron would have to come pick me up. The Mt Ainslee hike on Wed was also to test out my insoles and see if I was up for it, and I did wake up decently sore from hiking and walking 3.5 mi on Thursday. 

I was indecisive about what to do. Jaron's words: hopefully you'll still be alive and I'll be able to find you with no cell service. I said he could bring his coworker who would know where to look for me. I have gotten injured a lot and my hip is just now better, and a lot could go wrong on a challenging hike outside of cell range...in a foreign country. The uber wasn't cheap and Jaron would have to spend 1.5 hrs picking me up at the end of his workday. 

But the hike sounded awesome and I wanted to see kangaroos and koalas as advertised. Buuuut I could just chillax and explore town some more and read and have a perfectly delightful day. In the end I said goddamnit Julie, stop being a pussy and go live a little for fuck's sake. (I mean, we all knew where this was going, right?) 

I called an uber and put in the visitor's center as the first stop and the trailhead 3 km away as the 2nd stop, since otherwise uber drivers understandably don't want to take you anywhere different. I had a great conversation with my uber driver, who had never heard of this park. I assured him that the visitor's center had wifi so he could get directions home. On the drive out I sent Jaron pins of the visitor's center and two trailheads he could look for me at (in case I was able to hitch a ride to the 2nd trailhead) with instructions to hullabaloo with the horn in case I was taking a nap. I also sent him a link to the park guide to download before he left. I got a map at the visitor's center and verified some details, texted Jaron, and got dropped off at the trailhead for my 8.2 km/5.1 mi hike to Gibralter Peak. 

As soon as I set out on my hike and was so glad I came. There were not very many people around, which was great. I am still not used to hearing the unfamiliar bird calls here, and there were more in the forest. I hiked at my own pace, stopped when I wanted to, had snacks and electrolytes when I needed them, etc. It was a great hike. 

Here are pics of some cool rocks I saw. 

Proof that I made it to the top. 



I have never seen this geologic formation before, but it was definitely helpful. 





As I got back to the first trailhead and took a break, I pulled out the map and took inventory. I'd brought 5L of water and only had just over 1 remaining (plus some

ice) after a 4 hr hike that burned 1200 calories. It was also 3:00, so I made a responsible decision that the 2nd trailhead was too ambitious (even tho there were 3 cars in the parking lot that I could ask for a ride) and that I would just walk back to the visitor's center, and that the Koala and Peppermint trails would have to wait. I had just enough cell service to eke out a text to Jaron to let him know I made it off the mountain. 

On my 2nd hike back to the visitor's center, I was thinking it was a huge bummer that I hadn't seen any kangaroos and koalas. Literally a quarter mile or less from the visitor's center, I pass a huge herd of them. I can't upload videos from this app so I'll have to add those later.

But here are some plants that reminded me of cabbage instead: 

And this cool hill with rocks on it. 

I passed a little park that had this sundial. 



Another mile and a quarter and 300 calories later just after 4:00, I refilled my water and got some ice cream at the visitor's center. Then I went back in and asked if she had any savory snacks since I'd had nothing but sweet food all day, and picked out 2 books (oops). I'd texted Jaron that I made it back to the visitor's center and at 4:30 he told me he was on his way. 

When Jaron rolled up he found me laying on a bench, reading. He took a look around and we got going. As we got closer to town, he asked me to look for a pharmacy since his allergies were creating hell on earth. So we went to a pharmacy and confused two very earnest employees and their manager. I said no problem, we would look for what we were after, but they kept coming over to suggest things that were probably correct and safe but weren't familiar with them. We found what Jaron needed after much googling and discussion. 

That night we opted out of mandatory fun and got Thai noodles instead. 

Julie felt a blister coming on and knew I wouldn't be putting these boots back on after they came off. 

Friday morning, surprise, Julie was super sore. But did not feel dead bc I'd carbed TF up both days. Also, the last 2 nights had been rough with Jaron's overactive immune system. So Julie took a 3 hr nap after bkst while Jaron finished ip his work week. Like I couldn't even muster up enough energy to get lunch and just had a protein shake and clif bar in the room. Jaron got some blister bandaids and I decided at 2:00 that I needed a massage and booked for 5 at the closest place with availability to minimize walking on my blister. That sure motivated me to finally get started on laundry. 

I went to my Thai massage and received instructions to take off my clothes, leave my underwear on, and put all of my things in the basket. Cool. There were only curtains separating clients, with 3 on each side of a narrow hallway. I was the only client in there for about 5 minutes and then heard another client getting situated. 

Employee: take off your clothes, leave your underwear on, and put all of your things in the basket

Creeper: leave my underwear on?

Employee: yes

Creeper: the entire time? I'm getting a full body massage

Employee: yes, 30 minutes

Creeper: but I have to leave my underwear on?

Employee: yes

Creeper: that's not really what I came for

Employee: we don't have that. I will refund your money. 

Creeper: yes, please

Not sure how you can get a full body massage in 30 minutes, but in any case I think she handled it perfectly. 

Anyway, my massage was fantastic. I am really glad I booked it for 90 min and not 2 hrs, bc I could not have taken 30 more minutes of that. She walked on my back, contorted me, and it was just amazing. 

Jaron met me for ramen afterwards and we both got spicy ramen. Delicious.