Week With Wade and Melissa-Part 1

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Day 140-142

23^rd-25^th January

We checked out of the Formule 1 hotel and psyched ourselves up to drive into the centre of Sydney and find the car hire place, without a sat nav or a very good map. It was a guidebook one! I still to this day cannot believe we managed it without too much trouble, the car hire place was in a part of Sydney we didn’t know and although we had to circle around a block when we missed our turning into the car hire place that was the only mishap. We returned the car and got our deposit back (yay!) and loaded ourselves up with our bags so we could walk to Kings Cross station where we were going to get the train to Wollongong. It wasn’t that far to the station, but it was uphill and it was a seriously hot day so it was bloody hard work! We were pretty knackered by the time we reached the station and managed to buy two train tickets for a train that was due to leave in about 30 minutes. Just enough time for Ellory to mind the bags while I went and got us some snacks and drinks for the journey.



Trains in Sydney are pretty cool, for starters, they’re two tier ones, so of course, for novelty value, Ellory and I decided to sit on the top deck. We kept our backpacks with us so we were pretty squashed into our seats with all of our bags around us. The journey took us just over 1hr 30 mins and soon we were there. We couldn’t get hold of Wade or Melissa at that point so we decided to walk into the centre of town and get a drink or something while we waited. It was a gorgeous day and we had a lovely relaxing time, sitting outside Costas. We managed to get through to Wade and we decided to wait where we were for them, we had too much stuff to move! Finally we saw two familiar faces making their way through the crowds and it was time for another reunion. It had been several years since we’d seen Wade or Melissa as they had moved back to Australia in 2008. A lot had changed since then! They bundled us into their car and drove us back to their house, which was gorgeous! We put our things away and chilled out for a bit before heading over to Wade’s parents’ house in Kiama as they had very kindly invited us over for dinner. They knew Ellory quite well as they had visited when Wade and Ellory shared a house, but I’d never met them before. We had a lovely evening. Wade’s parents have an amazing house overlooking the beach and we had a yummy dinner and several glasses of wine. Wade’s brother, Matt was there as well who we also knew from London so it was a really cool reunion evening.



The next morning we chilled out for a few hours. Ellory and I had been travelling fairly intensively for a week or so and Wade and Melissa were enjoying their week off so we all were quite happy to have a quiet morning. In the afternoon we’d decided on a trip to Nowra Wildlife Reserve. It was so cool, there were loads of animals there and we spent hours wandering around looking at them all. The highlights definitely were: hand feeding the kangaroos (amazing!), the male camels showing their pink throat sacs (really gross looking but strangely fascinating!), and the friendly birds who we ended up talking and singing with. We lost a lot of the photos from that day sadly L but you can take our word for it, that if you are in the area it is definitely worth a visit.



The next day of our chilled out visit actually ended up being quite busy. Wade and Melissa decided to drive us up the coast. First of all we stopped at the Kiama Blowhole, to see whether it was ‘blowing’ that morning, apparently it can blow up to 25 m. We weren’t lucky but we ended up witnessing an accident in the car park. This girl reversed at high speed into another car while all four of us were nearby. It looked for a second like they were going to drive off, but when they saw that the 4 of us had just witnessed the accident they decided to stay put! We started talking to them to assess the damage and make sure they didn’t leave and then the owners of the damaged car turned up. It turns out the girl who reversed the car didn’t have a license and wasn’t meant to be driving. The guys who were driving the car that got hit had borrowed it for the day from the church group they belonged to, so it was a bit of a mess! The girl’s friend or boyfriend, kept trying to get us to say that he had driven the car and that the insurance company didn’t need to get involved. Err…the bumpers a mess and there’s scratches over the whole thing, I think they will! We ended up staying with them and giving our names and addresses to the church guys to contact us as witnesses for the Insurance company. I can’t believe the nerve of the girl and her friend/boyfriend. I mean, we all make mistakes, but you should just own up and accept you messed up! Also, in future, don’t let someone who can’t drive, reverse a car in a crowded car park! After that drama, we got ice creams (yum) and had a wander around on top of the cliff.



After that we got back in the car and went for a drive up the coast, it was really beautiful and on the way, they stopped the car just after we’d driven over Sea Cliff Bridge. As we walked back to the bridge we could see hundreds of padlocks on the bridge. It was one of the ‘Love Padlock’ bridges that have become very popular where people get padlocks inscribed with messages of love to each other or in celebration of a birthday etc and then they are padlocked to the bridge. We spent ages looking at all the messages and some of them were lovely. We kind of wished we’d thought to get one done ourselves to commemorate our trip, however maybe one day we will return and we can do it then!



We also walked down to the sea and Ellory and I loved the fact that there are so many swimming pools carved out of the rock here and they are filled by the sea water. There is no way that would become popular in England, too flipping cold! We could definitely see why so many English people emigrate to Australia; the lifestyle seems so much healthier than in the UK.



Wade and Ellory got it into their heads at that point that they’d like to go fishing. Melissa and I weren’t too fussed so the boys and girls went their separate ways. We all headed back to Wollongong where the boys bought fishing licences and bait and the girls picked up their swimming stuff so we could go swimming in the river. An odd concept for an English girl like me who only swims in a pool or maybe the sea, but it was great! We spent a couple of hours chilling out, chatting and floating around. There were loads of people there and as I write this, a year later, back in England, on a very cold day, I suddenly miss it a lot.



The next day was Australia Day and in preparation, after we had come back from our swim and the boys their fishing, we headed down to the supermarket to get food, alcohol and Australia themed stuff. The place was rammed! We got loads of beer, wine and these amazing buckets of cocktail mix where you add vodka etc and then put them in the freezer so in the morning you have alcoholic slush puppy cocktail things. I have yet to find them in England L. We also got Australia t-shirts, flags and temporary tattoos. We were ready! Then it was an early night in preparation for the busy day tomorrow.

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