Reflecting on the week, the main underlying themes were ‘new’ and ‘spontaneous’. New courses, new schedule, new places, new faces, new experiences, the list goes on. It feels like a month ago but the week started with some poor decisions. Even though they were poor, I would have made the same exact choice if I was in the situation again. For the first time in my life, the superbowl fell on a Monday. Me and my friends bought tickets to this restaurant that had what appeared to be the opportunity of a lifetime. The main perk to purchasing a ticket to watch the superbowl at this restaurant was that there was an “all you could eat hot dog station”. Being 22 years old, hungry, and ignorant, we not only decided to buy the tickets, but we decided to make a contest out of it. People from other tables looked at us in both disgust and amazement as they watched our table eat enough hotdogs to gain the respect of Joey Chestnut. When the clock struck triple zeroes at the end of the fourth, I realized I had not won the contest (which I am still upset about), but I did not lose which gave me the comfort of a participation trophy. Why was this competition a poor decision? Because on the walk back it felt like the force of gravity had increased three fold. When I finally made it back to my apartment, I admitted defeat to the hotdogs and fell asleep for a grand total of 14 hours (new personal record).
On Tuesday I began my courses for the second block of classes and was at school from 8 AM – 3:30 PM. Spontaneously, my friend and I agreed that we would watch the new Captain America movie. However, we did not only want to watch this movie, we wanted to watch it in 4D. We booked a screen time for 9 PM and started brainstorming on things to do for the next couple of hours. After a grand total of 30 seconds, we decided to go to an arcade. I think the last time I went to an arcade I was at the age where I was learning what the names of the planets in our solar system are. Nonetheless, I was excited to go back to my second grade roots and give the arcade another go. We walked in, bought tokens, and explored. As if it was meant to be, one machine caught my attention. Sitting front and center in the arcade was a soccer game. The game had an automated goalie which would move left to right and the obvious objective was to slide the ball past the goalie, into the goal and accumulate as many points as possible in a short period of time. I tried one game for fun and got a score of 21. As I began to walk away I looked at the leaderboard and saw that the high score for the machine was 31. I was going to beat that record if it was the last thing I did. Each attempt I reached a little bit closer to the high score. And then finally, after 7 tries, 20 minutes, and according to my apple watch 200 calories, I scored 32. I am both proud and ashamed to say that I now hold a record at an arcade machine at KOKO Amusement.
Fast Forward to Saturday, I have discovered the maximum amount of hot dogs I can possibly consume and am the proud owner of a high score at an arcade. The week has already been extremely unique. The night before, one of my friends suggested we explore Royal National Park. Royal National Park is a protected park about 90 minutes from Sydney. We researched transportation options and decided the most rational mode of transportation was car rental. I downloaded Turo and booked a car for the next morning at 10 AM. Having not driven a car in a little over a month, I was excited to drive. Having not driven a car outside the US where drivers have the steering wheel on the right side and drive on the left side of the road, I was not excited to drive. Furthermore, being from Santa Fe, New Mexico, I have close to no experience driving in a city. However, I did not go abroad to relive Santa Fe experiences. I took a deep breath, made a decision that driving this car was going to have 110% of my focus for the next hour and a half, and skittishly stepped on the accelerator. Eventually, I got the hang of it and can say with confidence that I can drive a car in a foreign country with different road laws. I parked the car, we all got out, took note of the address, and then we began our walk towards the trail head. We planned on doing a 7 mile hike with the turning around point being Little Marley Beach. The hike was unlike anything I have ever experienced. We followed the trail surrounded by small trees and shrubs which cut inland and lead to the coast line. Once the trail hit the coast line it made a sharp turn right. The result was the trail running completely parallel to the coast. The coast line was special. It was not a line of beaches or vegetation, the coast line was a series of cliffs towering over the water. The sun blasted through a thin layer of cloud and reflected off of the crystal blue water. When peering over the cliff and looking down, you could see rocks sitting 10 feet below the surface and then watch those rocks disappear as waves rippled over them, eventually crashing into the smooth cliff wall. Enjoying nature’s amusement park, we scaled small boulders, journeyed over rocks that looked smoother than butter, explored hidden crevices, and spotted wildlife we had never seen before. In what seemed like 10 minutes but was actually 2 hours, we reached Little Marley Beach. This beach is small, completely secluded, with scenery unlike anything I have ever seen. The beach was nearly empty and the only noise that could be heard was the wind quietly whistling over the water. The purity of this location is challenging to beat. After sharing stories, enjoying the water, and relaxing on the sand, we had to say goodbye to this heaven on earth and head back to the car. In a week filled with spontaneous decisions leading to new and unmatchable experiences, this hike was the perfect end.
(Photo Taken from Royal National Park, 2/15/2025)
(Photo Taken from Royal National Park, 2/15/2025)