Trust Me, I'm A Professional

Brassall, QLD – 1 April 2011 at 11:50pm
Kansas City, USA – April 1, 2011 at 7:50am

Happy April Fool’s Day. 

I think I was tricked today. 

Kenny and Leanne invited me to go on a hike up to Mt. Mitchell. I was pumped. They picked me up early in the morning as in early I mean it was still dark outside. We made the hour drive toward the Great Dividing Range. Conversation is always great with these two I never feel awkward or out of place…they are so down to earth.

We stopped at one point when the sun was rising and highlighting the mountains…it was absolutely beautiful.

I knew this was going to be an interesting adventure as soon as we parked the car, loaded up our hiking “gear” and I soon notice I already have a leech on my leg….AHHH, I scream. Kenny and Leanne have not been privy to the information about my dislike for leeches…I failed to mention it when they invited me… I’m trying not to be a wimp but I am a wimp when it comes to leeches… Kenny helps by detaching the blood sucker from my leg and says to me…”Trust me, I’m a professional.” Ummm, okay, I’m thinking a professional what? And hoping he means leech killer, hiker or bushwalker…something along those lines. Leanne hands be a bottle of “bushman’s insect repellent.” Thank goodness…I hate leeches and pretty much most bugs.

We set off up the mountain and about five minutes in Kenny stops and says “wait, I forgot the camera, I’ll be right back,” and he goes running down the mountain and back up again….all out of breath, he again reminds me to “trust him, because he is a professional.”  This quickly became the theme of the day when anything would go awry.

We continue the hike....it is a beautiful morning…a little cool, fog still hanging low…amazing. I start to notice that my shoes are covered in leeches…so I say something along the lines of “so, does that bushman’s stuff repel leeches, because I’m starting to get covered in them.” Classic Kenny, “oh, I think it might have been expired, but don’t worry, I’m a professional.” Again, I’m thinking that if he is a professional and we are only 10 minutes in to the hike I’m in serious trouble…this has got to be some April Fool’s joke…I’m hoping at this point he isn’t a professional hit man and going to leave me in the bush for dead.

We keep on hiking…at this point Leanne is leading, I’m in the middle and Kenny is picking up the rear. As we are hiking Kenny’s phone starts to ring. Leanne and I stop turn to look at him (I’m sure both of us were thinking the same thing…”really, we are on a peaceful hike and you haven’t turned your phone on silent?”) and when I turn back to look at Leanne I notice a GIANT SNAKE next to her foot…she jumps one way and I jump the other. Kenny is laughing and I’m about to pee in my pants. This thing was huge! Randomly I was wearing my exercise heart rate monitor and while we were walking I was averaging around 130 but when we saw the snake my heart rate skyrocketed to 160….I was laughing and freaking out inside…I’m not really sure how much time passed or what really happened but they both gave me kudos for not screaming….luckily they had no idea I was about to pass out… I hate snakes and after we looked at it awhile (it was alive but not moving at this point in the morning) Kenny estimated it was at least ten feet long… TEN FEET….that is huge… Thankfully, it was a carpet snake which the professional told me was not poisonous…I’m praying at this point he is correct. Next challenge, pass by the snake without stirring it up… yuck...

Onward and upward we go…the hike is lush and green…the incline really doesn’t even feel like an incline. The leeches are piling up…I lost count at 30…we discovered if we kept moving at a good rate they wouldn’t attach but if we stopped they were all over us…my plan, keep moving!

The higher we went the thicker the vegetation became…at one point I couldn’t even see Leanne because the plants were taller than her!

We made it to the top…success!

View from the Top!

Leanne had made fabulous sandwiches for a morning snack and some chocolates from Austria! So we sat and ate and starred at each other because unfortunately we couldn’t see anything else…the fog hadn’t lifted yet…it was actually pretty comical….we hike for an hour or so to look at each other…classic. See why I’m thinking this might be a April Fool’s joke? But again, I’m trusting “the professional.”

After our snack we started back down the mountain through the ‘Venus Flytrap’ like foliage. I’m still freaked out by the snake so I’m on the lookout constantly for any little wild creatures that could possible eat me. And as we guessed we actually came across the same snake again…he had moved about five feet. Kenny touched it…gross.

After we made it back to the car and cleaned off all the leeches we made our way to another tiny country town for some lunch and beer… Aussies drink lots and lots of beer. We ate at this cute little restaurant and sat and chatted for a couple of hours.

After resting, eating and conversing they took me on drive around the area…basically the middle of nowhere (again I thought I would be left for dead somewhere). It actually reminded me a bit of home…we even saw a few cows roadside….I made Kenny stop so I could take a photo and moo at them.

 

We stopped in another cute little village for a cup of espresso and then we made our way back to Brassall because Grams and her friend Rae were taking me to the Broncos game at SunCorp Stadium in Brisbane!

I got home just in time to shower and make it to the train to head to the game. I’m really loving this sport the more I watch it. Grams and Rae got us front row tickets! These Aussies really know how to spoil a girl. SunCorp is an awesome stadium…much bigger than the stadium at the coast. It was pretty impressive. The game was really good as well…the Broncos won (of course)! 

I’ve decided I’m going to be an overseas fan of the Broncos.

Additional Photos: Mt. Mitchell
Additional Photos: Broncos Game