A ridiculous endeavour

Jeremy recently had two weeks holidays, which he intended to spend pretty much relaxing and playing video games.  We discussed going on a little trip to take advantage of this time off and decided to head to Melbourne, a mere hour and fifteen minute flight from Adelaide.  I was looking up flights, which are quite inexpensive, when Jeremy uttered the words "You know, I'd really like to drive."  He explained his reasoning, and I had no disagreement - everything seemed quite reasonable to me.  I only had to take one day off work.  We would leave Thursday afternoon, spend the night in Mount Gambier and then continue on to Melbourne the next day.  We would stay with my friend Jody Friday night and then meet up with some other Melbourne friends on Saturday.  Sunday we would spend driving home.  I don't know why we thought this sounded like a decent idea...let me tell you what it turned into: 8 MILLION HOURS OF DRIVING and approximately 15 waking hours spent in Melbourne.  WHY???  We arrived in Mt Gambier at around 8:30 pm.  We had a delicious Thai dinner, so I really can't complain about that.  At 8:30 the next morning, we were served a complimentary hot breakfast in our room, so that wasn't too shabby either.  We thought we should probably go out and actually see some of Mt Gambier, so we made our way to Blue Lake. 

Mount Gambier is the second most populous city in South Australia with an urban population of 24,905.
Located on the slopes of the mountain of the same name in the south east of the state approximately 450 kilometres south-east of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border, it is the most important settlement in the Limestone Coast region and the seat of government for both the City of Mount Gambier and the District Council of Grant.  The peak of the inactive volcano, the first place in South Australia named by European explorers, was sighted in 1800 by Lieutenant James Grant from the survey brig, HMS Lady Nelson, and named for Lord James Gambier, Admiral of the Fleet. The peak is marked by Centenary Tower, built in 1904 to commemorate the first sighting, and at 192 metres above sea level the landmark is the city's highest point.  The city is known for its geographical features, particularly its limestone and volcanic features, most notably its Blue Lake, parks and gardens, caves and sinkholes.

We had considered doing a walk around Blue Lake, but in the interest of time, we decided to drive instead, and stop at any interesting points.  We ended up walking up to the Centenary Tower (mentioned above) which ended up being a longer (and much steeper) walk than we had anticipated.  My calves were sore for the next few days from our downward descent.  It was incredibly windy and a bit alarming to be up at the city's highest point, but it was also pretty awesome.  From there, we headed back into the main area of the city, did a quick loop of the CBD, and then went on our way to Melbourne.

I have a few pictures and have been trying to post them, but or some reason it won't let me.  I'll continue this story another time.

I'm trying to think whether there has been anything interesting going on recently.  Jeremy started his fourth (and second last) rotation of the year yesterday in palliative health.  He's pretty happy to be back at the QEH, since it's a quick 10 minute walk from our house.  It sounded like he thought the team was pretty friendly, which is obviously positive!  I've had my first slow work week in awhile but it looks like things are set to pick up next week.  I'm still hoping for some new referrals for tomorrow to increase my time sheet for this week.  Next week I have my first book club meeting.  I signed up at this cute little lounge/cafe/bookshop near my work.  They put me into a group, which will meet on the first Wed of each month.  I'm about 2/3 done the book and should have plenty of time to finish it over the weekend.  I'm looking forward to meeting the people in my group and to getting the next book.  I also started a new volunteering position with the same organization as before.  On the first Friday of every month, I'll be driving two people to the monthly 'disco' and then spending the evening volunteering at the disco.  I might run into the lady I was doing volunteering with before, and I will say hi, but also steer a bit clear as I don't really want to be licked, pinched or bitten.