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AUSTRALIA TRULY IS AN AMAZING PLACE!
That's all I need to say really because it really, really is, but I feel I should tell you why seeing as you've taken the time to come read my latest entry.
Let's forget for a moment that unfortuantely Sydney was the first place I visited because it really doesn't do Australia justice in my eyes. Although it does have some redeeming features (I'll talk about a few in a minute), after giving it another couple of days I still didnt warm to it. However, the moment we left the city I fell in love with Australia.
While still in the city we took a walk from our backpacker hotel, called Wake Up!, to the Australian Museum. The building itself is very pretty from the outside and inside, and we were met by the most charming and enthusiastic musuem staff inmaginable. They were both incredibly proud of the museum and the fact that they worked there - great start. The first thing we looked at was the temporary exhibition from London, The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008. I never knew this existed but both Kav and myself are now huge fans of it and will most definitely be going to see this next year and beyond. I've never seen such an amazing amount of stunning photos before. If you're interested check it out online HERE (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/onlineGallery.do)
After that we took a wonder through the Indiginous Australia exhibition, which actually wasnt as interesting as learning from Bill Bryson but it was nice to see things that I had read about, including a very eye watering letter written by the Australian Prime Minister to the Aboriginies apologising for their treatment in the past.
There was also exhibitions on Endangered Australian Wildlife, Dinosaurs and minerals which were all very well presented and just enough information so that it didnt become boring (very important for me!!).
After this we took the train and a bus to Bondi Beach with the intent to walk from there to Coogee Beach. Again, Bondi Beach was slightly overrated and over populated, but did remind us both of Cornwall. There's a quite nice cliff top walk that takes an hour or so from Bondi to Coogee but we ran out of time part way in so stopped to have our picnic then walked back to Bondi to take the bus and train back to Central. Nice that we can say we've been but not sure I'd recommend it to anyone.
Before I go on, I want to say that I'm really trying not to moan too much, but there's a huge difference between wanting to go 'backpacking' around the world and see all the touristy, over populated and over priced places, and then there's taking a very long holiday and seeing the beauty and secrets that countries have to offer and Kav and I have decided to do the latter. Therefore, some of the places that have been recommended by travel guides, the internet and friends sometimes aren't really hitting the spot. Wait til you hear about the places that have!!
So, leaving Sydney on Wednesday, we took the train out to Mascot to pick up our motorhome. We were both so excited about the prospect of living out of one place for a month instead of constantly moving around packing and unpacking every other day, driving around ourselves to see places instead of flying and taking minibuses, and being able to save money on accomodation and food (even though I'd have to cook every night!), but at the same time we were both nervous about seeing the size of this thing we'd booked!! Basically this house on wheels has two seating benches on the sides with a table that can be inserted in the middle for eating, but which also helps make the seats turn into a bed at night, a 3 gas hob cooker, a fridge, larder space, cupboards for clothes etc, a sink for washing up and, get this, a tiny weeny compartment with a shower come toilet!! It's amazing how much you can fit into a vehicle! It also has an airconditioning unit which has definitely come in handy the last few nights!
While I'm on the subject, dont worry for those watching the news on the bush fires in Victoria, we're not heading down to Melbourne until March 4th and most certainly wont be driving into the bush! We did kind of get a taste of the heat down there though 2 days ago when the temperature reached 44 degrees centigrade (approx 118 F). Thank god we were driving at the time and have air conditioning, but even to stop for gas was pretty unbareable. Luckily, it seems to have cooled slightly yesterday and today and will get cooler as we head more north.
So after watching a DVD on how to operate our new home (how to empty the dunny, connect to power supply, work the cooker etc) we set off for a 2 hour drive to the Blue Mountains as our first stop. Now, being the ignorant person I was in the past, never thinking I'd ever want to come to Australia and so therefore knowing nothing about it, I had no idea this beautiful country was filled with amazing national parks. And boy, is the Blue Mountains National Park a beauty. I might even go as far to say that it's in my top 3 most beautiful places I've ever seen (so far!).
We arrived at our first caravan park (I had visions of Summer Bay Caravan Park from Home and Away) and had hysterics as Kav tried to hook up our power supply, water etc for the first time! It's not an easy job for a novice and you feel pretty silly in front of the hardened caravaners sitting next to you sipping beer in their picnic chairs smirking at your pathetic efforts! Of course, it's all second nature to us both now and we totally look like pro's whenever we park up in a new place!
The next day my very snazzy and expensive walking boots/shoes got their first outing! I've got to say I'm not a keen hiker and it took a lot to coax me out of bed ready for the hike Kav had planned for us! He sold me a cliff top stroll to see the mountains - 2 hours tops! Well, had I not seen the most stunning sites ever while on this 5 hour hike(!), Kav would have been at the bottom of the valley and I would be travelling alone for the rest of the trip! We walked from the Katoomba Caravan Park to Echo Point, stopping at various look out points to look at the view and the valley. It really hit home just how vast this country really is and also how friendly Australians are. Every time we passed anyone there would be a friendly "G'Day" or "How ya doing?" partnered with a beaming and meaningful smile - just wonderful. I must say, I did look the part, with my fabulous trainers, knee length leggings which looked like gym wear, my bandana (or 'gang colours' to those in the know!) and sunglasses, and I felt so healthy! That was until the lovely stroll turned into 30 or 40 steps up hill followed by 10 down, followed by 30 or 40 up again, and up again, and up again! My face turned to beetroot red and my mood went from upbeat and happy to "hmm, I wonder if anyone would suspect if Kav suddenly disappeared". After a couple of hours to Echo Point and back those happy endorphins that appear during exercise that people talk about and I never believed obviously kicked in and I started having a great time. So, we started walking in the opposite direction and decided to walk all the way down to the bottom of the valley - a good 500 metres down! There must have been around two thousands steps plus terrain to walk down, but hardly anyone was doing it so we pretty much had the walkway to ourselves. We passed various points of a waterfall that goes from the top to the bottom, saw gorgeous birds and huge lizards and felt like we were in the centre of the earth. Thinking about it now brings tears to my eyes because it was so stunning. My only problem walking down was the slight uneasy feeling that to get back up to the top we would have to walk up those two thousands steps and my legs would not only have never forgiven me but I think would have actually fallen off. I was terrified! Would anyone know we were down there, would I ever be able to get back up, would I ever know what happened to Louise in Hollyoaks? Thankfully though, there was a lifesaver called Scenic World. A horrid, tacky, touristy place that offer the just plain lazy 3 options to see the Blue Mountains. You can take the Scenic Skyway, a glass bottomed cable car which goes across the valley, the Scenic Cablecar which goes from the top to the bottom and vice versa and the Scenic Railway, the steepest railway incline in the world with a 415 metre descent! This was at the bottom of our walk down!! I've never been so happy to see a railway line and train in my life, that is until I saw how steep this thing really is. The train is in a cage like thing (very hard to describe so take a look HERE - http://www.scenicworld.com.au/index.php/scenic-railway-en) which you actually have to hold onto otherwise you'd end up at the bottom of the line and the valley, and feels so slow and rickerty that you honestly dont think you're going to make it. I cried the whole way up and was physically shaking when I got off. Kav bought me a fluffy Koala Bear to make up for the whole traumatic experience!!
All in all though, one of my favourite days so far and one I shall never forget.
I'm going to say goodbye now because even though I've only got up to Thursday I think I've taken up far too much of your time already and my fingers are about to fall off. Plus I'm hungry and have to go back to the caravan park and cook us dinner!
Just one small addition though, my last blog from Monday made Blog of the Day on the STA Travel Blogs homepage which was pretty exciting! Am looking for a publisher for my memoires as we speak!!
At present am in Brunswich Heads just next to Byron Bay and will update you on the rest of this week soon!
Lots of love to you all,
Sally xxx
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