Alps Day 3 (LaTrobe University) - Bendigo, Victoria Australia

SOOOOOoooooo tried. Every part of my body aches - places I didn't even know existed. I have a glimpse of what it's like to be old… My eyes can barely stay open, just wanting to shut. Got back to Bendigo at 7:30pm-ish. Last night was probably the best sleep I have had outdoors, it wasn't great, but I'll take it. Amelia, Gabby, and I, all fly partners, had a nice setup on the side of the hill with Chris and Maddy and Brea and Chloe. We had a nice sunset and sunrise view. After brekky we packed up pretty quickly and took off to Mt. Howitt. The climb wasn't as strenuous as past mountain expeditions. There was relatively a nice clear path to walk on and the angle of elevation wasn't that high. The area was pretty clear of trees too, so there was a breeze that made it a cozy temperature. After Mt. Howitt we crossed over to West Peak, then we went down the mountain and back to the vans to head home. Going downhill was actually difficult, hard on the knees and legs. It wasn't a huffing and puffing workout, but severe pain in the legs. When we took breaks to rest our leg, rehydrate, and snack, our legs felt like jell-o.

There was definitely some pain getting back to the vans. Skipping lunch, and probably a break so we could get back sooner, we trudged on, doing three river crossings. As soon as we made it back we had to jump in the van and take off because the other group was waiting for us. The group we met up with had a bit of a problem - the leader didn't fill up with fuel when he left Bendgio, and after hauling a trailer he only had about less than a quarter of a tank - barely enough to make it out of the park, let alone to the next town. Of course JT volunteered to go and get fuel and bring it back.After traveling for over an hour we picked up fuel at the Geelong Grammar Timbertop School. Very fascinating:

According to the people in my group, Timbertop is a private boarding school ($30,000 a year) for just year 9 students. The students go to school seven days a week for an entire year, except for the holidays. At this school students learn the basic subjects, but also go on outdoor trips, most of the focus being on the outdoors. Other common living duties include chopping wood (which a group was doing while we were there) and a variety of rigorous rules that have to be followed. They also have sheep, horses, and a bunch of prairie land on campus. My group members were telling me some of the students at the school are the result of rich people sending their troublemakers there to straighten them out - my reaction: $30,000 therapy in the outdoors? Okay. I guess there's a lot of work done incorporated with learning the school subjects. Once they graduated they can go to year 10, 11, and 12 back in the city of Geelong, and the tuition is a little bit cheaper. Different. Back to the story:

So we got fuel and start texting and leaving voicemails with the van that needs fuel and not getting a response. JT drops us off at a park so we can eat lunch since it's after 3pm and we haven't eaten. He tells us it could be up to three hours before he comes back. A little over an hour later he returns, never finding the van. So we pack back up and drive back to Bendigo.Still not receiving any communication back from the other van. We assume that they made it to a petrol station.Somehow we get a response that they made it back to Bendigo just fine. Well that's great, now we're an hour and half away from Bendigo and behind schedule. People were pissed. A failure of communication. JT handled it well in front of us though. We were the last to get back and it was dark. I got home, took a nice hot shower, cleaned every part of my body, and am ready to collapse and sleep for days…