Mountains & Beaches

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February 4, 2010

I’ve gotten confused with my days so from now on you’re just getting the date I post and my wonderful stories!

I’m on a train on my way to Port Macquarie from Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. The weather in Katoomba was not my cup of tea. It rained every day and was about 30 degrees colder than it was at the beach where it was about 90 degrees everyday! I managed to get one good day of hiking in and actually cooked something decent for the first time since arriving in Australia.

The first night I arrived at the hostel which looked like a huge mansion. I found out later it had originally been used as a Catholic Boarding School. I felt like I was Harry Potter. My room was on the second floor and there were no elevators just 2 flights of stairs…the entertainment of me dragging my giant bag on one shoulder and my little one on the left while always having a backpack on began again. I swear if you had a video of me at all the train stations, getting on buses, etc. you would win a million dollars on America’s Funniest Home Videos…thank God I’m travelling alone so I can look like a fool in front of strangers I will never see again. Also, some people mistake me for German or Swedish so as long as I don’t open my mouth I don’t have to disgrace my country.

Once I tackled the stairs and got to my room, it was quite spacious. There was second room attached with French doors, almost like it used to be a sun room. That little room was all windows, I wished I could’ve taken that bed but some other foreigner got to it first.

Downstairs there was a huge game room with couches and bean bag chairs and stuff, a dining area, giant kitchen, TV room and a courtyard with lounge chairs and a fountain. I’m not sure when those lounge chairs ever get used though because it does not seem like the weather is ever above 65 degrees! It is strange to me that in this colder climate is where Cockatoos live in the wild and fly everywhere! I saw some around Sydney as well but there’s definitely a lot more here. At first I was thrilled to be seeing these beautiful creatures flying around my head…but then I got to know their voices which are the most annoying squaking birdy screams I’ve ever heard. All day they just fly around letting the world know they’re coming with their yellow spikey feathered heads. I wanted to shoot them down, put them in cages and sell them in America for $1000 the way it’s supposed to be!

That night I went to the food store around the corner and bought Udon noodles, chicken, spinach, mushrooms and sesame oil to make a healthy asian inspired meal! It was quite delicious if I do say so myself, and I made a lot so that I could reheat the rest the next day!

My roommates consisted of 2 older German women in their 50s or so and an English woman who was probably in her 30s but trying to pretend she was in her 20s. Well she was the closest thing to someone I could hang out with so we had some wine outside and then went to find music at the local bars. Well this is a mountain town which means a few levels up from hippies and in the middle of nowhere. So, needless to say Monday nights are not a happenin time in Katoomba! After walking up the steepest hill ever we came back to the hostel and sat outside for a while. When we decided to go back to the room a boy approached us and of all the Americans to meet he was from Long Island…his charm did not win me over so I said goodnight and have a great trip! Chris would be proud 

My roommate, Michelle, is a funny little thing. She is from London but has a more proper accent and is I guess what we Americans imagine English women to be, snotty, unimpressed by everything and a bit rude. She’s one of those people where you can tell when you’re talking she’s thinking about something else and isn’t really interested. She was entertaining though and not a total bitch (excuse my language) so we did get along fine but then again it really isn’t that difficult for me to make friends.

The next day I got up to see that the sky was cloudy and the air coming from the open windows was too brisk for my liking. I tried sleeping late to avoid my roommate asking me to hang out with her all day, some people are just good in small doses. I then spent most of the morning in my room contemplating whether I should leave for the beach or try to hike in the cold. Eventually I put on several layers of clothing and made my way towards Blue Mountains National Park. The hostel is about a 10 minute walk to Echo Point where you can see the 3 sisters formation very close. By the time I got there the sun had come out a bit and I was hot from walking so all the layers but a tank top had come off. I then headed down the path along the cliffs for a day of hiking. I had a bottle of water and a bag of dried bananas to sustain me. It ended up being a really beautiful hike, the flowers were out and there were incredible views. I passed several waterfalls and went to the absolute bottom of the “canyon” I guess you’d call it where the rainforest is. Once you’re down there even if it were to rain you’re completely protected by the trees and cliffs and such. Down there was where it was truly amazing and you’ll have to check out the pictures I took to see.

It was great hiking alone because I kept a slow pace and stopped whenever I wanted to take pictures of everything and anything. It wasn’t too crowded that I felt I was in people’s way but not so empty that I thought I would never see another soul and get lost forever. Once I got to the bottom luckily there’s the WORLD’S STEEPEST RAILWAY! to take me to the top. That’s when it actually started to rain a bit. So I took it up, stopped at a gift shop for a couple things and headed back to the hostel. I wasn’t actually entirely sure where I was at that point or where I should be going for that matter. I saw a bus stop so I decided maybe that would take me back.

You see, this town is hills, hills and more hills…very steep hills…and the walk to the park was all down hill SO I really REALLY hoped the bus was going my way! Luckily it was and with my YHA membership I only had to pay $1. By the time I got to the hostel it had really started to rain so it was perfect timing, for me at least. I finished the rest of the dinner I had made the night before, skyped with Chris and didn’t do much else.

The next day was actually pouring so I stayed in all day figuring out where I was going after I checked out the next day. I was planning on going south but a couple I met in Collaroy was heading north to Brisbane stopping at all the beaches so it wasn’t a difficult choice to meet up with them! It is the rainy season up north and much hotter so I hope it’s not raining every day, everywhere I go! So my schedule for the next couple weeks with Ryan & Charlotte is: Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay & Brisbane. Once in
Brisbane we all hope to find some sort of fruit picking job to get a little extra cash.

Thursday I woke up to take the commuter train to the main train to a bus to Port Macquarie. The whole ride was about 7 ½ hours. The ride was actually not bad because the views were beautiful; farms all over with goats, cows and giant mountains in the back. We actually passed an area where there were tons of wallabies just hopping around! On the train I met Allisandro, a boy from Italy who was going the same place I was. So I had someone to talk to for a lot of the way. The bus ride from the train station to the bus stop was about 20 minutes and people from the hostel actually picked me up which was convenient!

It was great seeing Charlotte and Ryan again but this hostel truly sucks. It is basically a small house that is always about 20 degrees hotter inside than it is outside with outdoor bathrooms and a tiny kitchen. I thought Collaroy was a true beach house but this place makes Collaroy look like a 5 star hotel!

After a very sweaty, uncomfortable night we woke up had free breakfast which consists of toast and tea…not really breakfast just free bread really with all the Vegemite you can eat…yuck! We then walked to the beach which is gorgeous! The beach curves around for miles with a harbor as well so we wanted to try to get to a long stretch of beach which proved to be more difficult than we imagined. In the distance, the gorgeous beach we saw seemed close enough but upon walking towards it we realized walking was really not an option. So we stopped where all the boat cruises and adventure tours are and asked if someone could ride us over. We had to wait too long so we ended up walking back to the beach closest to our hostel and sunbathing there. The water is so warm and it’s fantastic to be back in the sun! Along the bay there are rocks that everyone has painted. You are welcome to paint your own rock so me, charlotte and ryan are going to find some paints and a rock and do that before we leave! There’s some really amazing paintings on the rocks actually. I walked along the beach and found some nice shells as well.

We then went back to the hostel to drop our stuff off, shower and go to the Koala hospital! It was just a 15 minute walk down the road and when we got there they were feeding them. I got some great pictures of a little baby koala riding on its mother’s back. On the way back we got some lunch and realized we hadn’t re-applied sunscreen so I started to burn a little. I’m so tired now from all the sun and walking, it gets so hot here! Not sure what we’re doing tonight, I’ll keep you posted!

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