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Published: September 9th 2008
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Wake up this cool Spring morning at about 10.00am. I had a great sleep and felt much better. The only disturbance I had was when the clock/radio they have in there went off at midnight! First things first, I had a refreshing shower, which did make me feel much better and relaxed.
I read the local newspapers, which had been delivered: the Manly Daily, Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Telegraph.
Once Damon woke up we went, with Bryan, for a short walk. At the back of Bryan's place is Freshwater School, a large secondary school, so we walked across the school field and then along a creek, and down to Curl Curl Beach. This was where both Damon and Danielle were lifeguards when they were younger. On starting the walk I noticed the pesky flies. I was now doing the ‘Aussie Salute’, which is the movement of your hand across your face, to get the flies away. It was about a mile or so walk along the lagoon, and the sun was shining. We came to a steep ascent through some tall grasses, until we reached the top, where we looked out. It was the Pacific Ocean. It was the first time I’d seen this ocean, and what an awesome and intimidating sight it was. The wind was particularly strong now, and the waves were crashing against each other. There were many ‘white caps’, which is a term used to describe choppy waves, which have a large white crest. Far away in the distance, I could see the gradual curve of the horizon, where the sea and the sky meet. I’ve never seen that before. There were a few people on the beach, mostly surfers making use of the wind.
When we come back from our walk, Paula was back home from work, so Bryan then went to pick up Eileen and Vic up from their flat in nearby Narrabeen. When they came back, Damon drove us all to Warringah Shopping Mall. The mall is only a ten minute drive from Harbord.
The main reason for going there was because this was where my Connections tour had been booked through, and they needed this to be paid for. I thought I'd try using my Switch card, as I didn't want to break into my travellers' cheques or cash. I didn't expect it to be accepted, but it worked at the second attempt.
With this now paid for, we went for a look round the rest of the mall, and the first thing I noticed here, was how much cheaper everything was. It was awkward at first trying to calculate the prices all the time, but I just went with the $3 to £1 rule.
We then went back to Bryan's where I looked through Danielle's African safari photos, which she had taken whilst on her tour of 2000. I asked to look at them, as I was interested in seeing how close the tourists were allowed to the animals, and was quite surprised. Some of the photos she had taken, were very professional looking. She said she sometimes looks at them, and they bring back all the holiday memories all over again. I am sure I am going to be like that when I look back on the Australian photos I take over the next few weeks.
That afternoon, we also went for another drive. This I found throughout my time out there, was easily the best way to see everything in Australia. We drove north as far as Palm Beach, taking in Dee Why (which is where Paula grew up), Narrabeen, Collaroy, Mona Vale, Whale Beach and Avalon on the way along the coastline. These are known as Sydney's 'Northern Beaches', or 'Surf Country' with the best surfing beaches. It seemed to me like every small suburb had it's own beach.
One thing I noticed was the amount of trees everywhere, and I told them this. Bryan said that my Grandad had said the same thing when he was over there a good ten or fifteen year’s back. He had said though that he'd expected it to be full of sheep. Do you know what, I never saw one sheep in my entire time out there!
The roads we drove along were very narrow and winding, and very similar in fact to roads we had encountered on holiday in Wales. The classy housing there is also built in some precarious places, like right on steep slopes, or low down deep out of sight from the main road. There was a slight wind today which had kept the temperature down to a modest 21ºC (70°F).
Avalon Beach was backed by bush-covered hills, and is said to be ‘a slice of paradise’ by many. Back in 1999, American television producers had the bright idea that they would film a special episode of 'Baywatch' on this beach. However, a special episode then turned into the producers wanting a whole series filmed there, so they asked the local council if they would allow an increase in the amount of filming they could do. However, the locals objected and protested vigorously, for fear it would then become a regular attraction, and spoil the quiet surroundings. So this idea never took off, and the locals kept their beach free from television cameras. Whale Beach is a further 8 km north of Avalon.
Finally we arrived at Palm Beach, whose claim to fame is that it has a double life. Apart from being a beautiful inland beach, it is also used as ‘Summer Bay’ in beach scenes of the popular Australian soap 'Home and Away'. The area is also home to many millionaires, whose properties sometimes perched in bushland above the beach, and out of sight from the main road. Apparently many rich and famous Australians live in and around there, and it is a very exclusive and sought-after part of Sydney. I must admit it seemed no expense had been spared with some of the large properties around there. Australians are different to English though. They like to think of their country as a classless society, where the rich and the famous are treated as equals to the normal public. Famous people don't get special treatment, and they wouldn't expect it. It doesn't matter where you live, what car you drive or what job you do, you are treated equally.
Palm Beach is nineteen miles from the centre of Sydney, and it is usually swarming with tourists during the peak season, but not during ‘off-season’ October.
We got back from our drive at about 5pm. Danielle had popped out to pick up Lorna, from her sheltered housing.
When everyone had come back, we all had a nice dinner: roast lamb and potatoes. It was like the dinners we always have at home, with everyone sitting round the dinner table. I was again the subject of the conversation for most of the night, and they were just inquisitive about how we live our life back in England.
We chatted until the late hours, before Eileen, Vic and Lorna all left to go home.
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