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Stuck?... not quite. Stranded?... I don't think so. It's hard to be either in a place such as Sydney - such a beautiful and dynamic modern city. I'll go with temporarily rendered... immobile! Grimtang and I are trying to offload our increasingly less beloved van, Sheila, and our efforts so far have been in vain. Brandishing more than advertising - we've hit every hostel, every online advertiser and every Sydney car market in an attempt to shift our van whilst maintaining the smallest possible net loss. Impossible. So the price has been dropped by a fair margin ($2000) and instantly we have two viewings organized. Things aren't too dire.. but when you're in Sydney.. and the amount of bad luck trailed behind us that we have.. we were definitely hoping for a more momentous outcome. Ehhh c'est la vie.
This was no simple war of attrition.. no determination of soul... this was outright desperate persistance. Given a more bouyant amount of money we would have ditched poor old Sheila road side with the insides gutted.. but no such option.
Anyway, enough business talk.
As many of you would never guess... Australia actually does get cold - no eternal summer! During the winter months temperatures at night can get bloody nippy. Especially when sleeping in the back of a van in the middle of a national park (centred 2 km from Central Sydney). I've carried a bloody sleeping bag around for 2 months... for it to finally come in use in the last place I would expect. Brilliant.
Also I've stayed true to my word... shaving has been kept to a minimum, I'm currently sporting a pretty thick bit of facial hair... which I will soon shave into a goatee... thats right. It shall be both sauve and sexy, incomprehensible I know.
As our stretch in Oz is coming to an end... apart from wanting to splash out on cheezy Australia memorablia... Grim and I have loooked back on how far we've come... (3000km in 3 weeks) and it's a bloody trek! If i had any advice to give (of which I will have loads when I return) the most prominent would be to avoid buying a car... the hassle and heartbreak of buying a faulty car can be enough to ruin any trip. However we've taken both the lows and the times we're were at rock bottom and revelled in them.
There has been so many substantially low points that they've shaped our Australia leg of the trip... so much so that they're now both comical and life changing. There was one time where we broke down... 1 km from a service station... not able to go anywhere, on a barren high way in the pitch black of night. I can not tell you how difficult it is to push a Mitsubishi Express uphill on a motorway in the middle of no where with massive trucks zooming by every now and again it was definitely an experience that left us broken and downhearted. However despite all this we made it to Sydney, in one piece and in a van that worked. That, my friends, is a god damn miracle!
I know it has been a while since I last blogged... out here time sort of just flies by and it seems difficult to comprehend that I've been away from home for over 2 months. For everyone unsure about how I feel about Australia (I have expressed a bit of a mixed review) - Its brilliant! Just remember to fill your wallet before hand!
Of course there will be more to say about it later.. but I'm running out of internet time. Hope everyone is well. Take it easy x
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