Let me start off by saying - we had an amazing anniversary weekend at the Gold Coast and I'll update about it soon.

Still don't have internet at home! Argh!!!

I came here specifically to write about an Australian rite of passage which I was subjected to today (and didn't particularly like, AT ALL!!!!!) I was biking along the side of a busy road, and all of a sudden realized this crazy bird was dive-bombing me and shrieking. I crossed the road and it stopped...so I just kind of took it as a strange thing that happened. About 15 minutes later, I was still biking and the same kind (I don't know if it was the same one) of bird was actually BASHING ITSELF INTO MY HELMET!!!! I was telling someone about it and they knew exactly what kind of bird it was. Apparently this is common. I looked it up and this is what the website had to say:

In winter and early spring, many Australians start scanning the skies for a crazy black and white bundle of feathers. It's coming into breeding season for the Australian magpie Gymnorhina tibicen, and when they are feeding chicks they can be quite frightening. Many of us have childhood memories of aggressive magpies, and indeed, a national survey has found that 90 per cent of males and 72 per cent of females have been attacked by a magpie at some time in their life!
Being the target of a magpie’s ire is an inevitable part of growing up in Australia. Or is it? Certainly, when magpies pounce, they can do real damage. The Injury Surveillance Information System (ISIS) is a national collection of hospital emergency department attendance records. Their data shows that of 59 magpie attacks, the eye was the birds’ most common target.
Magpies seem to get particularly infuriated by bicycles: nearly half of those attacked were riding a bike at the time.
Most magpies attack the same few individuals again and again, possibly because they remind the bird of someone who once hurt them.
Interestingly, most magpies which attack pedestrians attack the same few individuals over and over again. If they attack others, it’s probably a case of mistaken identity, says Dr Jones. He believes such magpies may have had an early traumatic experience – perhaps someone who looked like these people had harmed the magpies chicks, or even 'rescued' a fledgling, something the parent mistook as predation. Magpies are able to recognise and remember individual human faces, even if the person wears different clothes!

HOW SCARY IS THAT????

I'M SERIOUSLY TERRIFIED.

They go for the eyes. They remember individuals. They have a great sense of timing and will attack at the same time each day. They hate bikes.

Not to mention, it's still technically winter and it's 33 DEGREES!!! Biking in this weather is not the most pleasant thing I've ever done.

But - swimming in the ocean on the weekend was amazing.

1 month till Canada!