Biking trip and a heat wave

On Tuesday I was told that I will have Thursday off because we are waiting for ethical approval for research I will be helping with. As soon as I heard that I did a happy dance inside my brain because the weather was finally gonna be fabulous and summery with 35 degrees! (btw, apparently, people don't remember the last time it was so rainy in January - my uncle said they have only had sun and warm weather for several years - lucky me!)

Because my friend lives near the beach (and I envy her so much for that!) she offered that I can crash at her place for one night and we can hang during the evening. So I packed my backpack and left on Wednesday after work, planning to come back Thursday evening. I was debating whether to take public transport (which of course takes an hour and a half) or bike for one hour to get there. I wasn't sure how much "luggage" I will have but then I squeezed everything into middle-sized backpack. Then I said I might as well bike because I haven't done that in ages and really miss it. And I had time anyway and wasn't in a rush (even if I was, I would prob be faster with a bike haha).

Sooo, let's talk about biking in Australia. I am so happy to live in Europe where (in my opinion) people put a lot of emphasis on biking everywhere to reduce pollution and be healthier. That's why we have good biking lanes in Finland and Slovenia (also, I think I met only one friend while living in Finland who wouldn't use the bike) - so yeah, biking is a big thing. Snow, rain, ice, wind, parties... Everything is doable. Here I rarely see people bike and if they do, they usually, have to go with the traffic on the roads. Which can be quite scary (at least for me) when you have to change lanes on the big roads during rush hour. And driving on the left is not a piece of cake either. I constantly had to be more cautious about biking. But, at least first half of the path was so nice! Its a biking and walking trail, between trees and parks with no cars nearby (also without any lights, but that comes into the context later). There I could really enjoy biking and making most of my time (during the afternoon biking that is). 

Also, a lot of the times I had to check google maps because I was driving that way for the first time, and sometimes directions didn't make sense. But most time than not, I managed to be on the right path and was quite proud of myself when I reached my destination 90 min later - it was supposed to take me 55 min, but constantly checking gps, taking the wrong turn 3 times and the heat didn't help. 

I finally made it to the beach and had an awesome 2 days of chilling, reading books and exploring places nearby. The first evening we hung out near the pier and saw one of the most amazing sunsets.

On Thursday I bike to Brighton beach (7km away) to check out the "famous boxes" and relax in the shade as it was so hot you couldn't possibly stay on the sun for too long. Biking back was a struggle with 35degrees at 1pm and no shade on the way.

Most of the afternoon later I was exploring st. Kilda and wanted to go fo brunch - but I was too late haha (I guess brunch at 3pm is called lunch already - whoops). I had to stay at the beach until the evening because we played beach volley. Its actually a quite good deal - 15 dollars for students to play 2,5 hours and get pizza and beer at the end (per team). I need to say its more of a fun social event rather than "competing" but it was still fun (I do miss the "real deal" though). My way biking back home wasn't so fun though.

The sun was already getting down when we were still playing. By the time I left, it was getting dark really soon and I didn't have any bike lights (lesson learned!). At the beginning it was okay, but I still felt scared because I had to bike on the road with other cars and I wasn't visible (stupid me) - so I was hoping all the cars would notice me and I was really careful when taking turns. At some point, it was pitch dark already but it was still doable because there are big lights to keep the main roads visible. All the time I was thinking: "Once I get to the park biking road, everything will be fine. Just biking lanes and no cars in sight" - lol, the joke was on me. Halfway I reached the park biking lane and they didn't have ANY lights! There was nobody on the path and there were bushes and trees all around me (there was not even a house nearby if something happened). Then I improvised and used my flashlight on my phone (hoping it doesn't die) while grasping handlebar with my left hand. My uncle has constantly been telling me that it's not safe to walk alone during the night in Melbourne as scary things can happen (as anywhere else). I didn't take it too seriously before because relatives tend to overestimate. However, in that evening all I could remember was "Melbourne is dangerous, you shouldn't be out alone during the night". And there I was, cycling in dark, holding my phone and praying I get home as soon as possible. I was also quite dehydrated (because it was just under 40 degrees that day but didn't want to stop at any point to take a sip) and my head hurt so much (probably from being on the sun the whole day). I think I have never biked faster in my life. Anyway, hearing google maps say "your home destination is on the left" has never felt so good! It was a bit traumatizing and maybe I overreacted a little bit - but at least now I know the way. So in case I decide to go again, maybe I will be more comfortable biking alone in the evening.

So what have I learned?

Either take public transport to the beach or get bike lights and cycle fast (btw at some point a light appeared behind me when I was cycling, but luckily it was just another person biking behind me. For a second though, I got a bit paranoid)