Swift Water Rescue and a trip to the Big City

Just as a river flows, so does our lives. It flows relentless, using momentum to drive itself forward. Along the way it bends, it ripples, slows at times, rages at others, and eventually ends. Our lives can be metaphored to a river over and over again. Thinking of life as a river, means understanding that we cannot always completely control its momentum, but we can provide direction. It is in this ability that we can learn from the existing moments on the river and make the rest of the journey more positive. Harness the power of the water and enjoy its rapids.

The past two weeks of my life have been filled with several learning moments associated with two different rivers. The Goulburn River, which lies here near the small town Eildon, and the Murray River, which is several hours north. The Murray is a slow wandering path of water that creates the border between Victoria and New South Wales. Its beauty is one of simplicity. It makes it way slowly towards Adelaide, however, providing tons of wildlife along the way. Wallabies, Kangaroos, and tons of Cockatoos reside near the river. Using its water has a drinking hole and a place to cool off on a hot Aussie day. By hot, I mean HOT... It was roughly 105 degrees both days I was there. Extremely warm and unrelenting. The cool water of the Murray provided a sanctuary to cool off in. Ive gotten ahead though. Lets rewind back to the previous week, which I spent on the Goulburn gaining my Swift Water Rescue Worldwide Certification. A training that was by far the most thorough week of education I have experienced in a while. I loved every moment of it, despite the frustrations I encountered along the way. Does anyway know what a "mechanical advantage" is ? Well, it is a pulley system that is utilized to lift weight that is much heavier than what a man can move, by creating a 3 to 1 system that breaks the weight down a third of its actually mass. Therefore, say you have a 300 pound object in the water or on land for that matter, you can set up a 3 to 1 Mechanical Advantage and lift it up by ones self. There is a 4 to 1 system as well called and pig rig, but I wont bore you with the details. It was extremely interesting learning the different systems. Most of the other training involved scenarios in which people were caught in the river through a foot entrapment or caught on a log(which is called a strainer). The course tested your ability to swim in swift water as well as reading the currents and using them to your advantage. It is actually quite fun swimming in swift water when you understand how to use it to your advantage. I passed the course in flying colors and moved on to the next week, Canoe Flat Water Guide, which is a second level course. The saga continues....

What a week. Frustrated at times because of the instructors and learning that not everybody can take feedback as well as I can. Our instructors truly dropped the ball on laying out the expectations for the week and hammered us at the end of the course. I still passed but was told that I could have taken the week more serious. I, with out a doubt, have taken every moment here serious. Once an individual has chosen a career, they normally take it serious. We as staff and participants of the training took part in the week just has we had done in all the other trainings. We had fun and knew when it was time to turn on the serious side of our job. Our instructors felt that we should have treated the entire trip as if we were GL's (Group Leaders). However, at times we were suppose to act like kids. Anyhow, the most frustrating part was when we received feedback, very little of it was positive. I took the opportunity to pass this on to them at the end of the week and it was received properly. It was truly a learning experience that occurred because maybe it needed to for our sake and theirs. Regardless, I passed and have had a great weekend.

I have a Assistant Group Leader position this Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday I have another rock-climbing training and Friday, another Bushwalk day. Then I get 5 days off, in which I will head to Melbourne to buy some much needed gear. Lots of stuff still to buy. Hopefully, I will gain the opportunity to see the Great Ocean Road, where the Twelve Apostles call home. A rock formation that has been made famous by its positioning along the coast. Its quite beautiful in pictures. Have a look on google if you get the chance. I love you all and miss everyone who provides me with happiness. Love you dad, mom, grandma. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do. I am the man today because of all of you. Walk in Peace.

Heaps of Memories and a Rafting Certification

Life for me continues. We wake each day to opportunities. Chances and moments to cherish forever. It is in these times we are given an ability to define who we are and what we stand for. I have chosen to lead a life that is dedicated to helping build a more firm, responsible, appreciative society through the infrastructure of our youth. The last ten years of my life have been a whirlwind of lessons through mishaps and networking. Building on these mistakes and learning from them is what we much do as people. Building bonds through those we meet has built my foundation. It is this foundation that I walk on each day.
My last week here at OEG was once again quite rewarding. I spent five days on the Goulburn river gaining my Whitewater Rafting Certification. Rafting to me is really rewarding due to the team building that occurs. The boat must act as a team to accomplish the goals at hand. Without clear leadership and listening your day could be hell...Each day was filled with technical classroom material and learning to read the water in the river. We talked of Eddys, momentum, V line, eddy lines, and eventually covered basic safety precaution and what to do in case a boat were to flip.My instructor for this course was Leanne Guy again. She is amazing. Leaanne is one of the original founders of OEG and has trained Australian Olympians for two decades.. She says she is retired but you would never know it were her work ethic.. She is a bulldog. A real bitch sometimes but I love her. Each day was extremely tiring but I am defiantly feeling muscle growth in my shoulders and torso. Paddling should not be done by the elbows but rather through your shoulders and waist. It took me awhile to break some bad habits of years of goofing around at summer camp and on the Spring River. I am been told that my form is sensational now. I'm proud of that.
This weekend has been relaxing. I have today off and tomm. Two days in a roll is a first for me here. We stay busy and have covered so much material in the last two weeks that I needed a information break. I plan on watching some of the NFL playoffs tomorrow, hopefully, if the pub is carrying the games. We shall see. Other than that I am going to do some laundry, watch a DVD, and probably for for a long bike ride through the mountains. I'm going to buy a camera next week so I can begin to post pictures of where I am. This place is beautiful and I look forward to sharing its images with everyone.
Next week I begin Swift Water Rescue. This certification runs hand and hand with rafting and canoeing. We will spend our days on the Goulburn River again and practice throw bagging and basic water rescue techniques. I shouldn't say basic because from what I have heard it is actually quite advanced. It should be an adventure. I will defiantly feel everyone in on how it goes. The last week of this month I will be doing some more Canoeing. This should be a great trip. It is on the MURRAY river.. I love that.. It has an overnight competent as well. Therefore we will take our gear in the canoe and camp along side the river somewhere. Exciting stuff. We are still on a Fire Ban so no campfires. I hate this. I love building fires.


From Down Under
Steven Murray

Meat pies in a Sunburnt Country

Everyone shoud taste an aussie meat pie.. Similar to a chicken pot pit in the states, the meat pie is baked fresh each day in small, privately owned bakeries.. Not like the donut babkerys we are familiar with in the great U.S. of A, but a pastry shop which is meant to be for lunch and dinner.. Anyhow, these are a creation of God.. A food item that should be illegal.. Im on a steady diet of them since I left the field.. Well, lets move on... I finished my first week of training this past Saturday late into the evening. An experience that has once again help mold me not just as an employee of OEG, but as a human being. This experiece has taught me that I am capable of growing each and everyday. Therefore, I choose to do so. I woke up each day with series of different challenges.. The first day was possible the most difficult.. I was given the keys to a work truck.. Doesnt seem like much of a challenge, but WE DRIVE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD HERE.... it was strange to say the least...By the end of the day, I was backing trails from the passenger seat and hollering cheers to my other American trainees to say congrats.. Cheers by the way, means thank you in the land down under.. Upon completing that task we headed for a swim in a small lake near the high ropes course. I will be spending quite a bit of time at the ropes course leading team builing initiatives and trust activites.. I love that kind of work, so I strongly look forward to it. Anyway, back to the swim.. I swam for a bit them headed back to camp for dinner.. I wasnt sure what to expect in regards to our meals, but only one word can be used to describe them now, gourmet... Unbelievable the amount and quality of the food.. Fresh vegatables everyday for lundh and dinner.. We had bacon, lamb, chicken, soy, tons of coffee and tea.. Fresh fruit, cheese, crackers, lots of cereals, and of course VEGEMITE... Vegemite is an australian paste which is loaded with vitamin b.. It is illegal to bring it into the states, someone told me because of the high levels of salt in it.. I would think we would be all about that back home, with the salt consumption that occurs there.. lol.. The week progressed with great success. Tuesday was more ropes and challenge courses and I passed all my qualification tests for the low and high rope elements. Wednesday I woke a bit nervous beacuse of the challenge at hand.. Rock climbing and absailing.. Scary stuff for me.. Ive never been one to think it was a good idea to tie yourself to some ropes and climb up the side of a mountain. However, I was faced with this challenge and wanted to conquer it. I did it so in a smashing fashion. I climbed mulitple times, got a little bit more confident each time and actually passed my certification to facilitate it.. I wont be setting up the system , a more qualified staff will do that, but I will be there to assist the students at the bottom.. Absailing is rappelling. Not sure where the name comes from but its a fun sport. You get to lower yourself down the mountain.. Therefore you are actually walking backwards down the side of a cliff.. Quite a thrill.....Canoeing came next and proved to be a little more challenging than I anticipated. The technical side of canoeing whitewater is extremely by the book and takes great form.. My instrustor competed in the Olympics some time ago and was quite a bitch. Yet, we all fell in love with her direct, sometimes harsh words. I feel that I need alot of practive to break away from my old paddling habits. My form is coming together quite nicely and I am excited about hitting the water in the near future... The last day of training was in bushwalking.. A fancy aussie word for hking.. The heat had been somewhat intense all week, but decided to be at its hottest the day we decided to go trounce through the australian bush. It was HOT... The temperature rose and rose and eventually hit 100.. We constantly stopped by the creeks that had water and would put our bodies and faces into them.. Your clothes dont stay wet long here. They can dry in roughly 15 minutes.. Its amazing to experience.. The day was quite educational and I enjoyed the orienteering and mapreading ecspecially.. Orienteering is a a challenge course set up in the woods by different markings and locations.. We are given a blank map and a reference point to start at. Then we use bearings and linear natural lines in the landscape to find the points. The first group to find all of theirs is the winner.. Ive been told there are competitions throughout the world. Im going to look into it... Saturday came, and the first part of training had ended. It was a beautiful week full of great conversation, valuable lessons, and memories that will last forever. I am growing everyday and know this is where I am suppose to be. I started Raft training today and kicked ass at it.. I love it. We hit the river tommorrow and will get to see some whitewater.. Not much, but a little. I will keep you posted on how it goes. I love you all and will call soon. Please write me and let me know how you are.. Miss you and will stay in touch... Love from down under.... Walk in peace...

Eildon... Trout Capitol of Australia...

It was quite the jouney across the Pacific. My stop in Fiji proved to be worth the time due to sitting next to Pedro at the little cafe in the airport. Never thought I would travel all the way to Fiji to meet such a great guy from Mexico City.
I arrived in Melbourne at 5:30 my time on a Saturday. I was picked up by Belinda, my contact I have had since the beginning. The drive through Victoria was absolutely beautiful and extremely green, despite the fact that this area is in a constant drought. I was taken on a brief tour of the area that I will be working in and then we proceeded to Eildon... Eildon is a really small tourist town on a Lake and a nearby river. Trout fishing seems to be the number one business here.
I got into the staff house quite late but was greeted by some great people who I now call friends. Geoff and Tom are from Adelaide and seem reallt amazing.. I could see myself hanging with the guys quite a bit. There is a girl from England, a guy who has been living in Salt Lake (small world), and a girl from Oregon. I meet everyone else tommorrow morning at 8am. I start training directly at this time and will be away from a computer until Saturday.. I promise to tell all about my week.. I miss everyone.. Especially my family.. I love you all...