In The Forest

Had a weekend picking mushrooms in the forest. When I told people at the time many were somewhat curious and asked me where. At the time I had no idea because other people were organizing the trip and I was like whatever because I wasn't driving. Who knows where you pick mushrooms? Was invited by a person from BWMC because I had previously shown interested during a random conversation. Always interested in trying new things.

I didn't plan too well that morning on the Friday. Firstly didn't realise the bag I wanted to use had been accidentally donated ... Mum's boyfriend was cleaning up outside my room and thought it was my brother's bag so donated it to the Salvos. Wasn't too happy about it because it was pretty much new, used once. Took me awhile to buy because I don't often shop out and had spent a few hours to find it. Mum gave me another bag but it was smaller but least she tried to patch things up. Secondly I packed a lot of stuff. Don't usually pack for winter stuff but the new doctor bugged me about not looking after myself so I thought I'd try. Also packed a bunch of stuff just to be prepared as usual. And also stuff that were required for mushroom picking. The wicker basket and boots were from the opt shop I got last minute the previous day. However the pocket utensil is mine ... always ready to eat. Third I got my blood tested. Well didn't really think about it until after that I couldn't lift anything with that arm for the day. Not a problem if my other arm was working properly. Elbows still giving me trouble. So wasn't much help carrying food and stuff for the trip. Fun start to the trip.

We stayed in a nice house there in Daylesford. I didn't realize I had been before for coffee during a camp we had. I'd rather had played dodgeball but the Koinonia group were having bonding time over coffee ... don't even drink coffee. Pretty sure I still remember the place that took me away from playing games ... 

Shiny

Had 17 people on this trip but we comfortably fit in the place. We let the girls have the "attic" room as it had 4 single beds and we moved a double in because there were 6 girls so didn't want to split them up. Found myself a room across from the bathroom, useful. Most were double beds so shared with someone. I did bring my CPAP machine but only realised later that the filter needed replacing ... hopefully it wasn't too loud for the other guy. People piled in from just after lunch to after dinner. The place was beautiful and had a large piece of land. However the grassy area was all covered in poop, most likely kangaroo grazing. I spent some time walking the land the the dog (someone brought it down for their engagement photo shoot) and climbed some trees. Would of climbed higher if it wasn't for my elbow. The lounge room was small but cozy. Had birthday drinks for the youngest fellow in the group. Just out of High school and wants to drink it up. Got my nails polished ... no not because we had been drinking, they brought some polish to try for wedding planning. Spent the nights hanging out there in the lounge or in the pool room. Yes there was a pool table, not a swimming pool, but still fun. Hadn't played in sooooo long and had some really good games. Fun. 

Deforested Section

All these are poisonous or unknown so take only photos

 So onto what we had planned the trip for, mushroom picking. This was proper in the forest picking, not some farm. We had to listen to instructions proper so not to pick poisonous mushrooms and just some mushroom etiquette. The first pick was in the afternoon on the Friday so not everyone was there. The first forest we went to was the one they went last year however ... it had been deforested. The guy who organized the trip was so devastated ... poor guy. There were other places we could go to but apparently that was the best place. So we went elsewhere. I was typing some stuff but realized at the rate this post would be really long. So to the point I found the first edible mushroom. Had to ask a lot about the mushrooms I had found but the previous were all poisonous. So I was pretty happy I was able to do that. I got to cut down the first mushroom of the trip ... and was it addictive. Pushing that blade into that flesh ... you need to give it a try. Was asked if I had been mushroom picking before because of my mushroom finding but in general I'm just someone who can find things. Which is sort of weird because the previous day I lost 4 things ... anyways. From that point of the trip we found lots of these mushrooms. These were Slippery Jacks. Actually they are false Slippery Jacks, however apparently all the mushrooms in this family of mushrooms were edible. Well were ate them and we're still here. They have this really slimy top which glistens. Apparently has a laxative effect. That's why we shave them. I ended up calling them Slimy Jacks. The second species was called Pine Milk Saffron I think. It was so hard to find. Apparently they had been quite abundant the previous year. Might have been the rain or too early in the season for the reason we hadn't found much. I didn't find any until the very last mushroom and it was because I had given up hope and jumped onto the road ... onto the mushroom. It was small and was hiding in the gravel. But least I found one. Hopefully find more and bigger ones next year.

It was fun and quite the adventure. Sort of ended up by myself without my phone in the forest ... exploring too far. However not far enough that when calling out a group found me. Another group actually got separated enough that they had to drive around the edges of the forest to find them. The forests were all separated by roads on all sides so was not entirely possible to get lost. Just a long walk around to find the cars. Maybe drive the next time I'm on this trip. Give it a try if you like trying stuff. Just make sure you know your stuff or find someone who does.

Got bored so picked quartz

Move it move it

So I'm not usually that active as shown by some days when my MiFit says I've only done 400 steps that day (think it might not be working ...). However looking at my last week I was surprised how much I had done.

Starting on Thursday night it was badminton. So taken up badminton since the end of last year with some BWMC people. Been pretty regular playing every week when possible. Had some good matches. That was from 9:30 till 11.

Friday night impromptu bike ride, again with BWMC peeps. Started riding around 9ish and finished round 11:15. Rode pretty hard with some big hills. Hills mean one way easy, the other way not so easy ... Was able to pace myself however some hills I didn't manage to gear properly so had to walk them. Still hard. Hadn't eaten so was hangry ... probably made me ride harder.

Sunday we mucked around with a ball with the SCGH but did put in some goalkeeping practice. I did actually have the opportunity to play with the BWMC guys but haven't had much concentration lately so decided to decline. Even though its not physically hard to stand in the nets, it takes a lot of concentration to keep up with the ball.

Monday night finally joined some of the SCGH people swimming. Had been meaning to go swimming with them for awhile but usually they end up swimming quite far away and I ceebs. I actually really enjoy swimming, however that usually in the sea. It's more interesting with the waves. Didn't realize it was so different and actually harder >< in a pool. I mean laps didn't seem too interesting but trying to do them was soooo tiring. My freestyle was pretty terrible so had to rely on my breaststroke. Not as bad but still pretty slow. Can't get my breathing right. Need to practice more. Managed around 18 laps in an hour.

Errrm Monday night still, went badminton again ... Okay Monday night is my usual badminton night. Thursday is my extra if I don't do board games. So Monday minimum. Because I swam before this, during the hour in between I ate dinner. Not a great idea. Even though my first few matches were good I started feeling the food coming up. At times I had to ask to be given a moment to get rid of gas building up from running around. Didn't puke or anything. Just hard time playing some games. In the end wasn't too bad. And that was from 9 till 11.

Pretty active week for someone like me. Thing is I'm not doing this for any sort of fitness/losing weight reasons. I actually enjoy been active. Just rather be active with other people, more enjoyable. Also if there's a goal of some sort helps with motivation. Like winning a match or reaching a distance. So not like I'm avoiding doing these sort of things. Just sometimes location to do these things are too far, or cost too much. Otherwise I'd love to do more. If this old body of my will hold up ... well who knows if I don't try.

Another form of torture

Cathedral Ranges. Woke nice and early to make it on time to the meeting point and what do you know, there was only one other person was there early. By 8:30, the time we had planned on leaving, there were only 6 people out of the 20 people who was suppose to be there. Even some BWMC people were shocked but I pretty much knew it be that way. Old habits. By the time we left it was past 9:30. 


On the drive up people stopped for breakfast so it wasn't until 12:15 that we began climbing. And yes it was a climb. When I first heard about the climb and told how we wouldn't need equipment I was thinking 50-60 degree angle climbs. However once we started climbing it most of the climb was 70-85 degree angles. This was a real dread for me as I am scared of heights. Basically there were no man made hand or foot holds. All you had was the natural groves in the wall. To know where you could climb once in awhile there were orange arrows pointing the way. At times I would look at the arrow pointing straight up the rock face and I would think "how am I suppose to get there?!?" 

There were lots of difficult and scary climbs but I'll just recall some of the most "memorable". Start with the scariest. The mountain was on my right side at an angle of 85 degrees straight up with no ledge till more than 1.5m up. Around 30cm off the wall was a vertical rock formation 30cm wide that rose up higher than the ledge but had jagged rocks on both edges to use as hand and foot holds. I was able to pull myself up the rock formation but it wasn't until I got to the top that I looked on the left side. Let's just say it was a drop there that almost made me hug the rock formation I was on but stopped because it was covered in jagged rocks. I stayed really low and managed to get my foot onto ledge, crawling over onto solid ground. The next part was surprisingly easy. A man was showing a woman how to climb a vertical groove but the woman wasn't very confident. We waited for around 10 minutes for the woman to eventually make it up the climb so that we could move through. The couple had climbed on the outside, the wider section, but further in the groove met in a sharp corner. I got further in before I climbed directly up. I was able to push against both walls and get on top of the obstacle fairly quickly. Sometimes its good to be small. The most interesting climb was a crevice that cut through the edge of the mountain for about 30m. The walls get closer and closer together until you have to climb sideways to make it through. Another good reason for being small. 

With the climb to the top finished me and a friend who made it to the top first had lunch with the previous couple waiting for 15 minutes. The others who had gone the climbing path were spending a lot of time helping some of those who couldn't climb up by myself. I hadn't really considered people needing help because I'm not great at climbing but I still managed it. However the other group that took the easier way also turned back because it was too hard. For the next hour consisted of some people eating lunch, some people going down the easier path to get those who had turned back to climb to the top, and me trying to catch lizards. There was a really large one that kept coming out, however it was too difficult to catch because of all the rocks and spaces where the lizard could hide. Even without catching it I had fun. The next part wasn't as fun.

Rocky, windy, up and down path that seemed to be unending.The worse thing is I ended up being ahead of the crowd, well ahead of the others. This is because firstly because I had no idea how far there was left to go or if anyone was actually following me. Secondly I got to the point and waited for over 30 minutes before the next of our group made it to that point. I had no water at the time so that made it even worse, never been so thirsty in my life. Even at this point there was still an hour trek to the road then half hour run back to the car. Eventually a group of us got together at the road but we found out that the rest of the group was going to be hours late. The lack of water and the difficulty of the path contributed to this. It also got harder as it got dark and people started cramping up. We had planned on being back in Melbourne by around 6-8pm so leaving around 4-6pm. We ended up leaving at 10pm. At least everyone made it back safely, because when it got dark there was genuine concern for peoples safety. 

In the end it was quite fun and would be up to doing it again. I probably would of enjoyed it more of the "hike" if I had water. Got to be more prepared with water next time. Also be good to know the difficulty so know what to prepare for it but I guess difficulty is subjective.

Boarding it

Thought this might be a good place to start. I just got back so started back up the board gaming with the SCGH and BWMC people on Thursday and Friday nights respectively. Originally the idea was to bring the two groups together so that we from different church can get to know each other so that we can work together as ONE church. However it's quite hard when there isn't a regular attendance in any of the groups. I'm not the greatest at organizing stuff so it's probably just me not been able to put may intentions out there for meeting up.

Tailoring board gaming sessions is hard ... well I find it quite hard. Number of players, game time, genre, or theme are just a number of factors that will affect people's willingness play the game. Statistically with our commonality of Christianity, the likelihood we have that many more similarities, having same preferences is lower ... okay I'm rambling but do you get me? Having the same preference in board games is seriously unlikely. I've had to chose to play games that don't exactly fall in my preferences but guess that's what I need to do as game host. This isn't expected of other people. Bringing more and more people means more and more differences in preferences. Maybe I need to have a specific heavy game night and a lighter game night?

Take playing Resistance. Playing on Sunday after like 20-30 minutes two of us were already over the game. People played the game different to how other people expected so were suspected of spy just because they play different. Even under a genre, when people play dramatically different it's almost like a different game because other people need to respond differently.

Think I need to come up with a different way to organize these game nights. I did make an Excel sheet stating peoples preferences in different game properties ... maybe I can come up with something.