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Published: December 3rd 2008
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It seems people are reading the blogs, I've had some hassle because it's been so long since the last time! Unfortunately we were in the middle of bloody of nowhere, Australia. So here's a bumper blog to keep y'all happy!
So after a month away from home, I thought I'd share some of my discoveries .................1. There are no bloody snakes in Australia, they are a myth. 2. Ozzie coinage is supersized, far too heavy for the pocket. 3. Backpacking is good for the soul but bad for the clothing! (I've worn out a pair of jeans, trainers, thongs and all my light coloured tops are an off-yellow colour now 😞 ) 4. Ozzie folk as a collectice are probably the friendliest group ever. 5. Low-carb beer = 'healthy' alternative to Stella. 6. Dolmades = the perfect snack in a tin. 7. Surf Life-saving Clubs - THE place for good banter with the oldies and cheap beer (oh don't forget the sea-view)
Anywho, when I left the blog last time I said we were off to a pub quiz, we went and won beer! Somehow I figured the answer to the question was Bhutan (I've had a strange fascination
for the country ever since Michael Palin sung I'm a Lumberjack to a farmer...never mind) The pub quiz was at a place called the Harbord Hilton (nothing like a posh Hilton) and as we were walking in, I had a sense of deja-vu, seems I was there 8 years ago, small place this! So the next day we headed off on the bus to North Narabeen, tent in hand, to Sydney Lakeside Caravan Park. This place was 4* camping, a kitchen, tv room, BBQs and hot showers! So we pitched tent, went on a booze run and settled down with our sausages in the BBQ hut hiding from the thunder storm. Happily playing gin rummy while sipping on a little Chateau Cardboard, Stef happened to notice our tent had fallen over. Bugger! Luckily a lovely couple next door, Barbara and Dennis, had some spare pegs and a mallet and after re-erecting our tent for us, sat us down with a lovely bit of banana cake, aaaah as i mentioned, Ozzie hospitality!
The next day we headed down to the beach where it wasnt the sunniest day. There was an Ocean pool which I had a dip in, bloody freezing! But
it's ticked off my list now anyway. North Narabeen is a lovely wee place, a bit like the size of Monifieth and the beach is beautiful with pure massive surf.
After a couple of nights at the quaint North Narabeen we set off on another bus aiming for Palm Beach (think Summer Bay). So off the bus and a trek across the beach to see the famous Surf Club. Unfortunately it was shut and no sing of some Alf Stewart guy???? We were aiming for the Basin campsite which was only accessed by a ferry, but first, fish and chips. On our way to the wharf we suddenly ran out of pavement along the busy road, so paused and by some luck, a nice old lady offered us plus baggage a lift to the wharf, how lovely! So we got to the wharf, had a quite expensive but delicious lunch of fish and chips. As we waited for the ferry we noticed everbody else was carrying crates of food, hmmmm I thought, perhaps the on-site supermarket isn't up to scratch so Stef ran off for a loaf of bread just-in-case. Hahahaha how I laugh now - there is nothing at
the campsite - some space for tents, lots of wallabees and gas BBQs, oh and cold showers. 6 nights. We booked in advance. So I read a book twice (the same one), walked along the beach, played cards and generally slobbed about for 6 days. It turned out most our time was spent cooking or eating, to even boil water we had to start a fire, and I usually lost patience after a short while. The first night 2 guys took pity on us and gave us beer! They saw us eating cold bean sandwiches and tried to feed us too. The weather for the duration of our stay was pretty rubbish, ended up wearing all warm items of clothes at once! However one day it was lovely and so we went for a 'wee' hike. 15km I counted! We walked through the national park up to a Look-out called West Head and the views were pretty awesome, we even saw a Goanna, but no snakes.
After a looooong quiet visit back-to-nature we left for North Narabeen once again. Dennis and Barbara were gone but our new neighbours were just as nice, giving us a cold drink after we got
the tent up on a very hot day. We took the time to wash ourselves properly, and our clothes, spending the evenings with a beer in front of the telly. The local Woolworths even sold Irn-Bru! We also took a walk to the nearest mall to see 'Santa'. This was not Santa. His Grotto was blue and surely the big man would dress for the occasion, 'ie. 30 degress, and not show up in a fur-lined soot. Total con. The last night we decided we were fed up of walking and hours round trip for beer, yet we wanted beer...... The local surf life saving club was very close so we checked that out and got there just as they opened. Now these places are great, it's like Longforgan Bowling Club on the beach! After our 1st drink we were pretty much aquainted with everyone in there, known forever as the Scottish girls! These guys were great, as it was such a hot day, neh neh neh neh, they provided us with a complimentary cap and then loaded us up with loads of bags of sweets left over from a wedding function! We have also been invited back next weekend
for their Xmas party, fancy dress and the promise of lots of young surfers! haha, I shall report back next Sunday.
Next stop was Collaroy to meet the other 2 girls joining us on our adventure. There ain't very much in Collaroy, so we headed out for tea in DeeWhy with Jane and Steve n I had some Octopus and Squid for tea...mmmmmmm. We spent the next day at DeeWhy beach where I went swimming in the ocean pool (much warmer than N. Narabeen!) I also had the good intentions of trying boogie boarding, but the 6 foot swells put a stop to that!
We stayed 2 nights there in a lovely hostel and today got back to Manly which I really like. We're at one of the hostels we stayed at before and the weather is hotting up dude. I went for a wee swim today and am contemplating doing another surf lesson in the morning, surf depending of course, it was a bit too smooth today I think. And now I'm off to meet the rest of the gang for a beer. As I've said, it's a hard life....................
Toodles.
xxx
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affy wee
Nicola have you shrunk or Stef grown?xxx