Been busy with school work lately (which is the main reason I am here) but have had some time to play and get amongst it.

Highlights of the past week or so:

- I cycled from Corvallis to Albany and back which was 13 miles /20 km (just over an hour each way). The route I took was on the Willamette Valley scenic bikeway which took me past cute farms and streams with a mountain range as a backdrop. The sun was shining and although it was a bit chilly, it was a beautiful experience.

- Went on a bar tour of Corvallis with a big group and visited seven different bars in town. It was good to check out the night life in lil' ol' Corvallis. It was also good to be around people who were a bit older than the 19 year olds I live with! The best place we went was definitely an abandoned building which hadn't actually opened as a bar yet. It had random rooms with old arcade games, no bar but just boxes of beer to help yourself and some cool tunes. The beer served here is obviously quality and I also had some excellent cocktails. Met some fun and awesome people and inevitably ended up a bit fuzzy at the Peacock at the end of the night.

- Headed to Mt Bachelor for a day of snowboarding. I had been looking forward to getting to the snow since I arrived and was not disappointed! We had an absolute bluebird day: clear skies, sun, perfect visibility, decent snow cover and reasonably warm! It was totally worth the 5am wake up with three hours sleep. The mountain itself is one of the biggest (if not, the biggest) in Oregon and the season lasts from November until May. The runs are really wide (compared to Victorian mountains) and reasonably uncrowded. The blue runs are probably a bit easier than the blues at home but the better conditions probably just make it seem that way! One of the lifts is called 'Outback' and the runs from it all have Aussie names like Melbourne, Boomerang and Kangaroo. It was extremely fitting considering we were there on Australia Day! To end the day we had a refreshing beer and watched the day close in on the slopes. Already cannot wait to go back!

- Went for a long run around town. It was late afternoon when I started and the sky went from being bright and blue, to purply-pink and then to a deep velvety-blue. The skies here are gorgeous and it one of my favourite things about living in this area. With about 20 mins to go in my run, a deer dashed past me and then bounded across the road, dodging cars! I was pretty excited seeings I hadn't seen a deer in the wild before. Shortly after this, a guy rides past me on a unicycle, carrying a Go-pro on a stick - random! This is why I love living in Corvallis, it is super random and unexpectantly awesome!