Corvallis was turned into a winter wonderland over the past few days! The snow started early Thursday morning and was constant all the way through until the end of Friday. The result was 15 inches of snow which is quite unheard of here. Due to the snow, the campus was shut down and classes were cancelled on both Thursday and Friday and I ended up having a six day weekend! I don't know why exactly snow is so exciting and magical. Maybe as Australians we rarely ...

Spent the weekend in Bend which is a 3.5 hour drive east from Corvallis in Central Oregon. Bend is often described as an outdoor lover's paradise and it is easy to see why. It is set right by the Deschutes River with Mount Bachelor close by. There are all kinds of outdoor activities to get into such as hiking, snowsports, climbing, fishing, stand-up paddle boarding, mountain biking etc. etc. Bend also has 17 or so breweries which makes it an ideal spot for beer l...

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 w...

This week has been another busy one in good old Oregon. I'm pretty much officially a local now as I have checked out downtown Corvallis a couple of times, have been running in a few different areas, made the long journey to Albany (the next town over but it took me almost all day on the buses to get there and back) and most of all I am now the proud owner of an awesome little cruiser bike to get me around. It is pink and just cool (unfortunately it doesn't make...

Second week of classes has begun and I am certainly feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work, especially reading, I have up ahead of me. So far though I have found the academics here really interesting, stimulating and already challenging which is great. Last week we watched OSU play Stanford in the men's basketball which was a fun night. College sports really know how to entertain and between the band, cheerleaders, dancing and competitions, there was also a...