Day 2 - Friday,9.24.10

Nicolas and I went indoor rock climbing at Bayside Rock in Carrum Downs. http://www.baysiderock.com.au/ I had the best time and can easily see how addicting it can become. My first climb was a little terrifying, however, because I have a terrible fear of heights.  It actually comforted me to know that Nicolas had a fear of heights as well but has no trouble climbing 3 or 4x per week.  Wow.  As I got half-way up the wall on my first climb I made the obvious mistake of looking down.  Not a good idea.  My anxiety started to build and I told Nicolas that I may need to come down.  He said that wasn't an option and that I had to climb all the way to the top and touch the rope hook before he would let me back down.  Damn.  I looked at the top and realized how far I had to go.  Damn.  I realized the only way I was getting off the wall as quickly as I could was to reach the top as fast as possible.  So I kept climbing untiI I reached the top and felt an incredible sense of accomplishment.  Afterward, I became addicted and the heights didn't bother me.  After climbing we went bouldering, a style of rock climbing undertaken without a rope on very short climbs over a crashing pad.  We climbed for over 4 hours that day and I can't wait to go back.

Bouldering

That evening Nicolas, myself, and Adam (his flatmate) went to hang out with their friend, Dylan, in Leongatha.  This area is vastly known for its dairy production.  For dinner and drinks we went to the Grand Ridge Brewery.  At the Australian International Beer Awards, this particular brewery received medals for all 7 beers in their range.  This is quite an achievement considering there were 492 entries from 27 countries and a total of 81 breweries represented.   Throughout the evening the four of us played pool, drank, and made fun of Nicolas' comb over :) As you're probably aware, Australia is a big drinking culture.  I was told before coming here that Australians don't waste time with drinking games because they could be "just drinking."  There is no beer pong, card games, relays, or chugging contests (like in America) because why waste time determining the amount you will drink based on a game when you could be drinking the whole time.