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Croc!
At the aquariumIts been a hectic few days, but been absolutely brilliant! Done all the boring bits - banking, medicare etc - on the tuesday. We then went for lunch down on the harbour and spent the afternoon in the aquarium. It was a nice aquarium, but I feel that I have been to sooo many that I was kind of indifferent to the place to be honest. Then that night we went out to a bar/nightclub called The Gaff. Cool place with cheap alcohol ($3 beer), plus a free meal. It was a good night, although they had that wet T-shirt competition towards the end of the night. Seriously it was just a chance for the girls who entered to dance topless, was the most stupid thing I've seen. Of course all the guys were cheering while us girls were looking at each other thinking it was ridiculous! We left at 1am (we had a bus taking us there and back) and a bunch of us headed down to the beach. It was a really mild night and in the distance, you could see fork lightening. Me and Stephen went into the water to below the knee and it was like bathwater!
Turtle
Massive turtle at the aquarium Was so nice!
Wednesday was the surfing lesson, so this was a relaxing time for me. There was no way I was going to do surfing with having just dislocated my knee in Spain, so I watched from the comfort of the van with one other girl as the rest of the group gave it a go. The weather was horrible! There was gale winds and pouring rain. So was kind of glad I was in the van!
On Thursday, we drove to Bondi beach and walked back along the coastal path to Coogee. It was about an hour and a half/two hours. Lovely views and a nice gentle walk. We then had a BBQ on the beach and just relaxed before going back to the hostel. It was an early night then to prepare for the 7.30am start on the Friday.
So on Friday we headed into the Blue Mountains. What a day! We were going with a company called Oz Experience and had this typical hippy Australian dude called Smokey as our driver and guide. He gave us a low down on the history of Sydney as we headed to our first stop. Here I
saw my first kangaroo. Amazing! Especially when we saw a female with a joey in her pouch. Took loads of pics - so cute! And Gordon there were lots of ahhhhs that day! The next stop was where I nearly died - seriously! We went to this waterfall, where we walked down nearly 400 metres, using the steepest steps I have ever seen. THEN, we had to walk back up... Now, as you guys know, I am not exactly hugely fit and boy this is literally the hardest thing I have had to do. It was so steep in places, I had to use the rails either side to haul myself up! I did not think I would make it. I was the last up, but two girls didn't want to do it, and the others who did were much fitter than me. I can say I was very proud of myself! Stephen was very sweet and stayed at my pace and carried my jumpers and water bottle in his bag! The guide I think was very impressed that I did it, considering he then found out I was asthmatic and the problems with my knee. He said he has
'Roo 1
Female with her joey in her pouch had a guy have a heart attack doing it in the past. Basically, its pushes your pulse right to the limit because its such a climb. I can tell you that my legs are killing today!
So after this, we went to another place where we had to descend 960 steps into the valley. My legs were shaking quite badly by this stage, but luckily we weren't climbing back out. We used this mining train thing that pulls you up the mountain backwards. It is at such a steep angle, its like you are hanging down. And get this, there are no seat belts or bars keeping you in. You just have to hold on! I hated it, and was panicking I was going to fall out! I had Stephen on one side and Smokey on the other, who were both laughing at me! Stephen took a really bad photo of us both with a very scared expression on my face! The angle then got worse and I had to close my eyes! Smokey kept telling me to open them!
So... a pretty scary day for me! Now its over though, I am glad I did everything and
'Roo 2
The joey jumped out of her pouch didn't wimp out. Today (Saturday) is kind of a day off. We had a meeting this morning with Ben to talk through our traveling plans and book stuff. Plans have changed a little from what we were originally going to do. We (me, Lynsey, Stephen and maybe Michael) are doing a six week trip up the East Coast stopping at Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, Brisbane, Noosa, Fraser Island, Whitsundays, Magnetic Island, Mission Beach and then Cairns. We have booked about 2 weeks worth of accommodation, with a lot of food included, and all of the trips we want to do. It is all open dated, we just call a few days in advance to confirm. We are using the greyhound to travel up. After the 6 weeks, Stephen is flying to his family in Melbourne before flying home. Me and Lynsey are then working our way back down the coast so that we end in Sydney for Christmas and New year. Then, we will sort out the Red Centre trip and the West Coast. We live Sydney on Wednesday. Am so looking forward to this now and can't wait for the hot weather up north!
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Mum
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Oh My God!!
Well Darling, all I can say is, glad I didn't know about the scary bits in advance (probably just as well you didn't either, or you might not have gone!) You, brave, brave girl. I'm sure I would have whimped on the mining train, and yes, you should be proud of the climb there and back at the waterfall. What a memory for you ay. Glad you got the trip now all booked and sorted, and yes, am sure you are looking forward to sunnier weather. Slap on the sun-cream though, no burns please! Looking forward to the next saga. Keep safe, love you lots, Mum xx