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Sydney
Eventually arrived, think i felt more tired and jet lagged than our long haul flight. erika found us though i hadn't said we were at the domestic terminal...don't think i really knew where i was. We caught a bus back to hers bit busy and mental with all our stuff!! We dumped our stuff had a wash and bite to eat ...yummy chips and dips which turned out to be a staple diet for us for bit. Then we headed to go back on the buses to the City. Erika lives in Maroubra one of the suburbs out of the city centre, south of it close to the coast. We didn't get chance to catch a bus though, as somebody Erika knew had spotted her and pulled over to give us a lift (a work collegue of hers). He dropped us off pretty central, so we pottled through the city. Erika showed us Chinatown on the way to Circular Quay where the majority of ferries sailed from.
Manly
We were taking a ferry to Manly to meet with Reinout a young dutch lad who Erika had said she would meet and take out at new year too as he was staying at her friends house, but they were away. so he didn't know anyone else in the Sydney. We were meeting him to become equainted before having to meet him in the crowds the next day; New Years Eve. I don't think we would have had too much of a problem though as he is bout six foot five. We must have looked like a giant with three midges!!!! The ferry journey across the harbour though a little grey was impressive with the brilliant architecture of the Opera house and the bridge...i couldn't believe we were actually in Sydney.
In Manly we took a walk to both beaches ocean side and harbourside. Such a difference between the two;one is so ruogh and the other calm as a mill pond. We then went to a take out and had a falafel (turkish chick pea burger thingy with tatziki and salad, YUM) and sat out in the sun. A lot of the Sydney peeps have dinner out as there are so may places to eat and it is so cheap. They live what Erica described as 'the outdoors life'. The transport system is so good that they dont think much of travelling half and hour by boat from the city to get to the beach. Australia is so vast that it takes agaes to get anywhere to travel is essential. In sydney we bought a travel pass for $37 wich gives you a weeks worth of unlimited travel on all ther busses and ferrys! We made the most of that like the auzzies and travelled all around Sydney!
After our tea we took a lovely long walk around the Manly coast then ended up in a roof-top bar watching the night draw in ( very rapidly here) and listening to the noisy lorikeets roosting in the trees. We called it a night after a couple drinks and left Reinout to begin our hours journey home. Sailing across the harbour it was amazing to see the city, bridge and opera house all lit up at night. I was still a bit spaced out by the whole thing so couldnt really take it all in. By the time we had arrived home we were knackered as we had been up since 430am NZ time. We needed a good nites sleep to enjoy the new year!!!
New Years Eve
We must have woken up at mid-day as we were so tired. As it was so late we just headed down to Pacific Square which is a big mall, to get booze and nibbles for this party tonight. By the time we had fart arsed around the mall it was time for lunchtea which consisted of a hefty salad. It was so hot that i couldnt eat much which really is a recipe for disaster when conbined with tiredness, drink and new year in a brill place. We prepared ourselves for the night ahead donning a t-shirt, skirt and flip flops (sam), shorts, strappy top and flip flops (em) whick is all you have when you carry your stuff on your back. I wasnt convinced it was suitable for a posh guys party, but Erica reasured us it was a smart/casual dress code.
Early eve Fireworks Cruise
We hopped on the bus and headed into the hustle and bustle armed with booze hidden in bags and a selection of cheeses, dips and crisps. We met Reinout outside the customs house and it turn out he forgot his boat ticket!! wally. Its the sort of thing i would do and we were joking about it earlier. He looked a bit sheepish after that. Then we met Ericas friend Kim who got us invites to the party. She was a tall american and Emma managed to insult her as we were dissing other nationalities! Fantastic. Eariler i hade manged to offend Erica as she is half german by doing the same thing! Just one more person to insult. Circular Quay was absolutley packed with people standing round trying to secure a place to see fireworks from. Me and Em had to hold hands through the crowd elce we would have been lost and squashed. It was a claustraphobics nightmare. Erica is about the same height as me and Em, and Reinout and Kime were really really tall. So as you can image we looked like a bunch of freaks. The one benefit to the freak gang was that when in crowds, the two tall ones went at the front and back, with the littleies in the middle. If we thought we were lost it was conforting to know that we would prob be able to see one or the other. Erica had to go and sweet talk the ferry guys to try and get Reinout on without his ticket. She was sucessfull that god elce we would all have been in a bad mood.
Once on the boat we had prime seating out on the front deck. There the five of us cracked open the goody bags and put on uv bands, ate chocolate, dips etc and looked out over the city and harbour lights. The boats were all lit up with dimonds on them as it was the 75th anniversary of the Harbour Bridge. There was also a pirate boat all done up wih lights like they were drooping sails There were so many people arond the quay and the opera house they must have been so crowed in. The people on land kept waving and the boat guy tooting, there was just such a good atmosphere. I just couldnt believe we were actually here.
The first lot of fireworks were going off over the bridge and the opera house and the boat kept turing round so we could see all of them. They were cool. Drinking was not allowed on the boat so we had to cover our drinks with jumpers etc...not really convincing. Reinout wanted a picture of himself with his drink so Erica took a photo then he realised he had packed coke.! OH my god this guy was worse than me. Not only did he forget his ticket, he also spent time popping a cooling thing around all his cans. No sooner than we got on the boat than it was time to get off. It was 10ish and time to head to the party.
Toasters Party
Even though it seemd that the penthouse was only a stones through away, it took a while to get through all the crowds. Eventually we got to the right side of the quay, which they close off after so many people have gone through due to the millions of swarming people wanting the best spot. Though ofcourse we were like royalty this night!!! We had passes to get us through....felt like VIP's. As we walked nearer the appartments i still couldn't believe our luck. Then we entered and Kim spoke to the consiege(i think my spelling might be cr*p), letting us into the lift and up stairs...it was all like a dream.....we were paupers in a palace!!!
As we walked up the corridor even the toilet had its own little foyee. I also noticed that there were a few posher looking ladies in nice frocks, felt we might be a little underdressed. Luckily though my worries were quashed as we walked into the appartment, people were in all attire of dress and everybody appeared to be pretty much just like us ( though i think we were a little more in ore of the whole thing). It was an extremely swish appartment with lots of marble everywhere, it was one big open plan room with an island like kitchen over looking the gorgeuos view. As we had been told; there was a minimal amount of furniture (plenty of room for dancing!!), this is because ofcourse he bought it as a party appartment!!! (i can't even contemplate such wealth). Saying that if you had met him in the street you would never guess; a very down to earth guy.
We explored a little more finding the food that everybody had brought and added ours too it( this was the only clause as such!!! spending a few pennies on some chips n dips etc...it's a hard life!!) We also found the fridges and fridges of free alcohol, i still could not believe it, as we helped ourselves i felt myself loooking around as if we were in the wrong. Though nobody batted an eyelid, this was great. Then for the "piece de resistance" we walked out onto one of the balconies (the smaller of the two but definetely the better); we were truly dumbstruck with the sight in front of us, it was like being in a dream. We both looked at each other but neither of us could say a word, words just could not describe such feelings.
We were looking down onto the architectural beauty of the Opera House all lite up, and across to yet more impressive architecture of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We could also see up and down most of the harbour with all of the fantastic boats lite up for the occasion. I think the thing that made it so amazing (i'm sorry this is gonna sound so smug...but never mind) is the fact that we were looking down upon millions of people trying to get the best spot; but by pure chance we had baggsied the best spot in the house so to speak (it was a one in a million chance); they looked like ants below us. We could here the drums they were playing below, and even from the balcony you could feel the atmosphere building.
We did bagsy it as well, from eleven till midnight at least one of us (sam, me, erika , kim and reinout) stayed on the balcony in our spot, relaying toileting and food/drink trips. I think our new found friend Reinout was in just as much ore as Sam and I, we all just kept looking at each other and the view and sorta shrugging our shoulders in disbelieve.
The time at finally arrived, there was a count down from ten projected onto the bridge; as it got to one; due to all of the suspension and excitement and not wanting to miss a thing none of us did the usual kiss everybody thing. We just watched as the first fireworks exploded into the night sky. It was hard to know where to look, we were spoiled for choice. As we could see them over the Opera house and the bridge as well as many others on the harbour (we could actually see five out of the six lots that go off simultaneously). They were as spectacular as you would imagine, the timing was impecable and the amount of fireworks being launched into the air practically lite the whole harbour up. The finalie being on the bridge with them shooting up all along it like a fountain in all the colours of the rainbow....bloody brilliant. (I have tried to capture the brilliance of them in photo but due to the amount of light and shaking with excitment (nothing to do with free booze) they are not the best photos). After a display like no other i'd ever seen the hooter sounded and we were all thoroughly elated, now finally we had the usual New Years kisses which proved a little tricky seeings me, Sam n Erika are all pretty midget like compared to the giantness of Kim and Reinout.
Sam me and Reinout left Erika and Kim to the balcony and decided to have a good old boogie, we were definetely getting the most out of the experience. It was such good fun we all danced around like loons. Sam talked to everybody and anyone as usual, she was very social and was obviouslyhaving good time. We all enjoyed dancing with the other guests to, apart from one!!! I(em) was dancing with this aussie guy (looking back on it wasn't really all that but seemed like nice guy...and we were all just having a laugh), danced for a while and chatted he was obviously a little drunk and abit forward with his talking ....next minute Sam dragged me away and informed me that he had a girlfriend and she was right opposite us only a few meteres away and she was pretty darn gorgeous.
I couldn't quite believe it so i actually asked him, and sure enough it was true. I asked him what he was playing at, and he didn't seem to see that there was any issue!!!( f**king d**k). I then went and apologised to the girlfriend and she didn't seem that bothered either ...what?? Apparently he never normally gets that drunk and so it was all bit of a joke, nevertheless I felt like a price A tit. (maybe its bout time I stop dancing with complete strangers!!!). Though P**sed off for a bit nothing would spoil this night and it all added to the fun n games!! Finally after lots more dancing and trips to the toilet where me n sam were again in ore and had to take pics; we were one of the last ones there and had to think about going before being chucked out. Sam spoke to a few more people on the other balcony, who just couldn't understand how we had managed to get in the appartment (to be honest neither could we).
We said our goodbyes to Kim and thanked her; i don't think we could really ever thank her enough, it was the best New Year ever and i really think i'll be hard pushed to top it, though i'll give it a go. Sam then went to say thanks to the owner, though came back a little disappointed. I think he just wanted everyone out by then, and it may not of helped that she was carrying twobottles of beer; she some how was drinking from both as she decanted them into one at the end. The unbelievable night had come to an end and we had to take our place again back in paupers ville down on the street!!!
We walked a little way to catch the bus back home, hopped on the bus and i think it then hit us how much we had drunk and how tire dwe were. Sam and I both fell a slepp on the journey back. Later Erika told us how she had watched Sam's head drop right into the guys lap next to her and then sprang back up,as we went around the corner, hitting the window. We both just about mangaed to get off the bus. Though only a few paces from the bus stop Sam was feeling a little worse for where and slumped down onto the pavement, to spew into the gutter, she was also pefusely apologising. Though there was no need, it was bound to happen to one of us. Oh what an eventfull night ....we crashed with content, exhaustion.
New Years Day
As every new years should start, it started with hang overs of quite big proportions. There were many pain killers taken, trips to the toilet and trying to consume copious amounts of water. Eventually by mid afternoon i actually left the building. Me n Erika left Sam to feel better, and took a bus to the beach at Maroubra. We went for a swim in one of the many sea pools around the area (They are basically walled of aprts of the rocks, where the sea fills them with the tide. i guess they are popular due to a few reasons, one being sharks in the open ocean, two being the strong waves and currents and they probably also get a little warmer than sea temperatures). It was so lovely, the temperature was stunning compared with our and nz's. It felt very odd but fantastic being in the sea (as such) on New Years Day with warm summer temperatures outside. We rang Sam from the beach to see if she was alive?? good start she's answered the phone, Erika asks if she's ok and wants to come out? She had to check by standing up first ...yep all ok. I guess that ment she didn't fall over or feel too sick. So we went back to meet her and headed out again and caught another bus.
Erika suggested making the most of our passes and taking a ferry up the river, a good suggestion as it entailed a minimal amount of effort. We hoped on a river cat this time; as the name suggests a catermeran(not sure of spelling???) so pretty nippy trip. We cruised up the river contending with on and off showers just like home really...we popped in and out of the cabin. We had a good view of how vast the harbour was and how many diifferent pretty little bays there are; though they are still very built up. There was obviously lots of money about as well, shown by the many beautiful boats moored. I liked to think that all of the fresh air was finely putting the hangover to rest though in reality i knew we wouldn't feel completely human until the next morning.
Darling Harbour (still New Years's Day)
It escapes me how we got to Darling Harbour; ferry, bus, foot ??? maybe we were beamed there, nevertheless we were there. By this stage it was chucking it down again so we it wasn't the best we could have seen it at. You could still get the vibe of a smart little marine area with many eateries and interesting water features and gardens. As we were all getting peckish by this stage, it must have been bout half eightish; we headed for the shelter of the foodcourt. Where there was every possibilty of food under the sun, it was all bit too much as me n Sam are indecisive enough at the best of times. Bout 15mins later we had decided and all sat down to esat together with varrying foods. Erika had the good old fallafel ( i think we spoke of before) though it was suppsoed to be the plate version it came out as a roll, nevertheless i think she enjoyed. I opted for thai green curry that was pretty much not green at all but still scrumciuos very rich with coconut. Sam had a wrap which was pretty much the first proper food that day; it didn't come back up so i would deem it a success. Then finally we headed back home to a much needed bed.
Day after New Year's Day ( feeling human again)
Erika was back to work really early today, so we were fending for ourselves. She had given us loads of notes and bus timetables etc though so we still had help. We managed to get up and out by bout midday and hopped on the next bus to somewheer hopefully town. We had lots of boring stuff to sort out as we had decided we wanted to stay in oz for a week longer and still had to sort out staying in New Zealand for a month longer.
Visited the STA changed our flights from nz, rang and changed oz flights and sorted out trip to the blue mountains from sydney. We also armed ourselves with of info on trips up the east coast, which included the good old greyhound that we ended up on.
Boring stuff out of the way we rang Reinout who had suggested we meet up, so we arranged to meet for lunch bout 2:30pm.
Monorail
On usual top form though it didn't quite go to plan. we spotted the monorail that Sam had really wanted to go and thought it would be a nice view of the City too. So thinking all would be fine we hopped on for a little trip round before meeting Reinout i thought we would just have enough time. We decided we would go all the way around and one stop then get a busto the Quay to meet Reinout. As we got on it was hectic we had to stand and hold on tight to not fall over; after a couple stops, even more people and the consideration of just getting of ....we managed to get a seat. Phew...we could just sit and enjoy the ride. It was a good way to spot the prettier/ older buildings that had not been modernised too much. Also we could get another view of Darling Harbour, quite a compact little area with gorgeous boats in the harbour and Japanese gardens. We hopped of the monorail at the city centre i think and b***** we only had ten mins to get to Reinout ( about a twenty minute walk away). So we headed to get a bus i think we went to the wrong stop as the next bus was gonna be another twenty mins. In the end we walked anyway, all of this faffing about made us even more late so by the time we got to Reinout he had been seating having drink for half hour on his own ...bless felt bit guilty but said our apologises and mad a bit of a joke of it. (made the now becoming general excuse of we're a nightmare ...which to be fair is pretty true).
We found i nice little cheap sandwich shop and eventually all decided!!! I can see that the coin is gonna have to be on stand by at all times soon. We chatted with Reinout for a little while, enjoying the memories of New Year's Eve and what we had got upto and how we felt the day after. Then we all headed off to catch buses, Reinout had to get back to the uni to sort out his accomodation for his studies.
Bondi Beach
We had decided we were gonna head to see Bondi that afternoon so jumped on the next bus headed that way not realising it was going via Mars, i think it would have been quicker to fart our way there. Nevermind we got there, and i think this was where the being bums started from a little warm up to being professional bums). We got straight on the beach slapped onthe suncream and chilled. Soaking up the rays, the views and generally taking the mick. It is a nice beach with gorgeous sand; but its just bit comercial and overated a little bit like Newquay. erika met us on the beach after work by this stage it had started spitting yet we hadn't finished with the bumming around so stuck it out for bit longer before heading to the bus. Erika took us to Bondi Junction which had lots of big shooping centres and was usually open till late, due to holiday times still though it was all shut up.
Erika always had another trick up her sleeve though, we headed to another beach further south; Cogee. It was at the bottom of two extremely steep hills, a similar beach to the other with a long wall stretching along the sea front. We strolled along the front looking out to sea and onto the beach. Oh what a view!!! there was a couple playing a bit more than beach volleyball....just what we wanted to see. We had a drink in a pub/bar there, well i say drink me n Sam actually were like to old women and had hot chocs!!! What has happened to us one big night out once in a blue moon and were done in for days.
Crasy Day Tour a la Sam n Em
We decided there was still so much to do cos we'd been a little lazy. So we made a challenging list of things we still wanted to see and do. Then we did our best to do them all.
Watsons Bay and The Gap
Despite an early rise we still didn't get into town(city centre) till bout midday, so then we had to get our skates on. We headed to the ferries and took the next one to Watsons bay;from what i can remember it is the last bay in the harbour. It was a pretty little bay with stunning sand and a large grassy area, though it was also very touristy. We ate at the famous Doyles ( just go with me on this one as it is very famous over here and we're special cos we ate there!!!) Calamari and chips take away but nevertheless; very tasty. I suppose its like the equivalent of Harry Ramsdens meets Rick stein for the infamous staus. We then did more obligatory tourist sight seeing and walked the ardous 400m!! to the Gap. A landform on the ocean side; where the cliffs have eroded away over the years creating a huge gap believe it or not. It's a very pretty spot; where the tradition is apparently to kiss and then throw yourselves off!!! We didn't really fancy either so we just took some pictures and enjoyed the view.
We strolled to the headland; South Head. We looked across the mouth of the harbour to the North head and onto Manly. On both headlands is National Park status, so although the rest of Sydney is pretty built up there is still lots of lush green to be found.
Opera House
Back to circular Quay and next stop the Opera House, only a five minute walk away. We took our own llittle tour around the outside of it taking many photos. The architectural shapes from all angles are very impressive and pleasing to the eye. Though the material itself and the texture up close are not the most desirable, in my opinion anyway. The pattern on the top/roof is supposed to resemble nature; shells, leaves etc.. though i'm not sure i quite see it myself just kept seeing old curtains and carpet patterns like you'd expect in the 70's/80's!!! We decided against having a look around inside because; 1. The beauty was on the outside for me, 2. We're skinflints and 3. when we're rich enough we will return and see the inside whilst watching the Opera!!!! We stopped for a quick coffee, soaking up the views.
The Rocks
Next destination the rocks, just a couple minutes walk other side of the Quay. This area is the old docklands with old style terraced buildings now being souvenir and arty shops. It also has a very old cottage left preserved, the oldest in Sydney. You could see it had very small doorways as everybody back then were short asses just like us. It was a very quaint area with lots of character.
The Harbour Bridge
We found our way a little past the Rocks up some stairs to the Bridge. We weren't doing the climb but felt we should walk across it and enjoy the view. That we did and we couldn't help looking at the toasters with a smug smile. We both took many photos and eventually got to the otherside. There were so many beautiful yachts and cruising boats speeding around the harbour. Including a public boat for trips in the harbour that was run by solar power...i was impressed with this ...as a geek.
Luna Park
Once we'd got to the otherside we found our way down to Luna Park. Where i'm afraid to say that the ladys face scared me. (painted not real lady). Luna Park is an old school type fair on the waters edge just the otherside of the Bridge. the entrance being a ladies face a little clown like with big teeth and eyelashes which for some reason scared me much to the amusement of Sam.
City at Night
Blue Mountains Day Trip
Oh b***** we have to get up before seven....been turning into lazy bums. Catch the bus to central station to pick up our tour bus at 8am. It was a nice small bus only bout 18 people on it. Nice not to be on a typical tourist trip. The tour guide/bus driver was very friendly and chatty but a little bit too much for that time in the morning. Once we'd picked everybody up and got on our way he asked us if we'd like to go to sleep for the journey or all get to know each other by introducing ourselves. Obviously at this time in the morning we all opted for the first option in grunts and bleets. Though as we should have guessed it was a retorical question, as he'd already decided what we were gonna do. The latter ofcourse.....we all had to tell everyone over the microphone our names, what we were upto to hobbies, occupation etc..GREAT!!!
It was like being back at school; some people didn't really know what to say and others you couldn't shut up!! When it come round to me I thought right lets just get on with it but i still couldn't help but forget what i was trying to say and kept uuummming. I basically got across the point that i'm a bum that enjoys playing badmington. When it got round to Sam she didn't really wanna talk, luckily i had covered most of it anyhow; then the driver questioned her on what i had said bout being unemployed. ' how did we have any money to come away?', she explained that we had crap jobs for a bit and saved up. Though a very embarassing task it made the hour journey upto the mountains go in a flash.
There was American lady sat next to me from California who was travelling with her daughter for a bit. She was very nice and chatty and obviously loved her children very much and was very proud of all of them (four). Though she was not roughing it so to speak (they were staying in a hotel), she was very down to earth.
The first stop on the blue mountains (not actually mountains; will explain later if i can remember), was the three sisters; rock formation on the edge of a great valley; that stuck up vertically, pinnacles of orange/brown rock of which there used to be seven. This was a very beautiful spot(but it wa svery touristy) where you could look out over the valley and see the blue tinge created by the Eucalyptus vapours(though not as prominent that day as others, it depends on the weather). You could also look down to the platform where tourists picked up the steepest cable car journey in the world (this was to be one of our destinations as well).
Due to the vast bush fires that had occurred a few weeks before, the tour took a different route to usual and had to include some of the very popular tourist spots.
The next spot was less touristy; we walked down the steep valley almost to the bottom. We took a better view at a water fall down the rocks which was basically a trickle, apparently though that was a lot of water for these particular falls ( this brought home just how bad there drought situation is). The steps seemed to get steeper and steeper and as we eventually came to our destination; the platform that we had seen in the valley, our legs felt a bit kiddy (as we had been looking down at the floor for so long).
We waited a couple minutes till the cable car came back down full of passengers then edged our way forwards to get a spot though of course where we were trying to get on nobody was actually getting off (there was three rather large mediteranean looking ladies, oh i best add that usually you can fit four in the seat, i think they might have been stuck and i half expected them to come back down again ). So we waited for it to come back down with another brit and the tour guide, the ladies had manged to get out!!! We made sure we got a seat this time, and held on for dear life as there were no belts or bars across you just had to put your knees on to wedge yourself in. Though offcourse as short arses we didn't feel particularly secure. It might be the steepest in the world but it is a very short journey too, it seemed to go in flash of worrying to hang on and the excitment of going through a tunnel. There was a quick climpse at the stunning view though.
We were then taken on a small drivethrough the bush on a dirt track to another look out point on Black Heath Mount. By this stage it was very hot with very little breeze out but it didn't feel too hot, it was quite a dry heat. The look out point was also the spot where handgliders take off from so it strangely had astro turf like stuff on the side of the cliff. We looked out upon a different view across a more farmland like landscape. It was so vast, i wandered whether it was one huge farm or not; as it is such an enormous country ( though the green lush environment are along strips on the coasts. It was so peaceful up so high looking down upon acres of land not built up. I felt i could have lied there forever; not good idea though as the i would have been very crispy.
We then headed to black heath the town for some lunch, there was an option of having some yummy cafe lunch not for free i hasten to add, but anyhow we'd aleady prepared a packed lunch of something probably pretty unapetising in a sandwich. We ate it on a little bench and watched the world go by. The town was quite a small town and you could tell it was all locals. We couldn't resist going into the cafe for some tea to take on the journey, we needed to wake up a bit by this stage, Sam also got a piece of yummy looking carrot cake which she said she was gonna save till she really needed it in the day!!!!
Back on the bus we took longer drive to the to a part of the national park where we could see the Kangaroos. As we drove into the car park we could see them on the grass not far away, i didn't expect them to be there i thought we would have to hunt to find them. Our driver/tour guide told us not to get too close and just to be wary as they are wild animals. As we walked out into an open grass bit of the park we could see so many of them all just sitting around chewing and slowly moving about. There were also people that close they were actually petting them; if you ask me they went a bit far and were bit crazy as they are wild and still unpredictable. Our disbelieve of there stupidity was hightened later when we realised that one of them had a joey in her pouch. It was quite funny because at first all you could see of the joey was its big back legs and long tail sticking out and later it's head popped out too. I couldn't help but think it must be in such an uncomfortable position though it didn't seem to mind.
They are very quite cuddly looking animals and it was such a good sight when we saw a whole group of them hopping away, such power in there hind legs you wouldn't want to get in the way of them!!! What was a little funny was they way they actually walked around they have to lean forwards on there front legs use there tail as a balace and swing through with there back legs. I couldn't believe how close we could get to them and watch them go about eating and chillling out etc... there wa son that i'm pretty certain was male, lying down just relaxing. Time flew and we had to be getting back which was a shame. On the journey back we learnt more about the Kangaroos.
The ones we had seen were eastern greys, there were a lot of diffferent species. The female Kangaroos are extremely clever as they can freeze there pregnancyin times of famine and drought etc...then begin it again. Also if they become pregnant when they are still weening anothetr joey off they can produce two different milks, for the joey in the pouch and the one out. This was our last stop so we were heading home.
It had been a long day and we were knackered so we stayed in chilled and got an early night.
Chill out at Manly
Our lasdty proper day in Sydney, there were still a lot things to see but we felt we had been rushing around quite a bit and just wanted to relax somewhere and soak up the atmosphere. So what better place than Manly: two beaches to chose from relaxing atmosphere and some surf shops for a spot of retail therapy. We got across to Manly early afternoon and headed straight to the beach, giving Reinout a ring to see if he wanted to join us as he was staying in Manly.
We arranged to meet at the beach where we found each other eventually!!!! Also on the phone he had mentioned us coming to dinner( me sam n erika) as Coby and Drago;Erikas friends were back from there working cruise and invited us over. We decided why not you just gotta go with the flow( especially if people are gonna cook for ya), so we told Reinout when we met and all was arranged, Erika couldn't make it but she told us we should def still go and meet them and we'd have fun, we didn't need telling twice, though we did feel a bit bad about because it was our last night in Sydney.
We chilled on the beach for a bit and all went in the water, the waves were so strong though you couldn't swim( as we were on the oceanside beach), we just splashed around abit. Reinout was revising his starch bless him as that was part of the course he was just getting ready to start. We also manged to complete the insulting of everyone we spent New Year with; Sam mistakenly thought that the Dutch were one of the countries that spoke German. In conversation she mentioned that they spoke German there too, Reinout replied: 'you've insulted me, you've insulted everyone now and why don't you insult everyone on the beach'. It's all getting bit out of hand i think we need to both stop talking ever about peoples languages and nationalities. All was fine with Reinout though, it was all quite amusing really.
Reinout wasn't up for shopping and to get stuck into the starch revision so Sam n me went off and did a little retail therapy for a bit, and surprisingly sam didn't buy anything and i bought a top!!! Time to head for dinner we followed Reinout across the beach and up the hill around to their house in another little bay.
Dinner at Drago and Cobys
They have an appartment with a big window in there kitchen/lounge over looking part of the Harbour; such an amazing view. They were very welcoming and made us feel at home. They are both such bubbly people with lots of stories to share; they quite often speak over each other though it didn't seem to bother them. We ended up listening to one of them each. After being there for only a few minutes it was as if we known them for years, they were so open and friendly with great sense of humours. Coby was making a lovely salad and Drago had made his chicken the drago way( which he was explaining to Sam). He was so passionate about good food it, it was great to listen to him.
Drago made sure that Reinout offered us a drink, we said we'd have a small glass of wine. It took a lot of persuasion against Drago who was trying to give us big glasses. He also brought out from the cupboard some plum brandy a traditional drink of his Country, apparently due to it being so cold in Serbia( ithink thats where he said) everybody there including his mother would have a shot of it first thing in the morning to warm them up. He was so passionate about it, he asked us all if we wanted to try some, pretty much already pouring it out. Reinout definitely didn't have a choice, he suggested just taking a small sip first which Reinout did (first and only i think, Drago later finished it off). I couldn't resist trying it(em) even though Reinouts face said it all( an acquired taste i thought). I took just a small sip, it was different i couldn't quite make my mind up on it, but i didn't think it was half as bad as Reinout. It was definitely warming as it went down too.
We ate indoors much to there dismay as there was a dispute about the deck and the garden( shared with the other flats) they told us all about it and although they were really pieved we all had a good laugh about it (apparently the deck is not save!!!). Dinner smelt and looked so good( the first proper cooked meal we'd had in ages too as we'd been lazy); Drago's chicken, Roast Kumura (if you've forgotten this is sweet potato) and salad. We're still not quite sure what the specialness of the chicken was but it tasted bloody good; so tender and juicy ...mmmm, we'll have to ask him again how he did it.(when we come back in 25 years time for the 100th anniversary of the bridge; not sure if i'd mentioned this yet. I'm sure he will still be cooking the amazing chicken). As we finshed the meal and were sitting drinking and chatting Sam noticed the Cockatoo that we had been told about from Reinout had come to the window.
Every day he comes to the window to be fed and if he doesn't get there attention straight away he will beck at the window ledge and make a racket, there are also others that come around though they alwaysd know this specific one. They are much bigger than i thought and very beautiful. we tried feeding him some biscuit but he wasn't sure about it, he was such a cheeky looking chappy. So tame he'd eat it out of your hand.
Coby suggested that we takea walk just down the road as there were little penguins nesting in the cliffs that you could hear in the evenings but couldn't see. So the thought of wild penguins being so near sold it for me even if you were just listening to them. It was only a short walk to a little lookout point looking out into the harbour, the sun had just setted and so it was such a stunning view. We took a few photos, getting one of all of us( that we must ask Reinout for). We were still all talking sharing stories and had almost forgotten about the penguins; i think we were making too much noise to actually hear them. There was some distant sounds, like a small squeek that Coby thought were probably them in the cliffs below. It was nice just too look out there and feel we'd seen different aspects of Manly; a much quieter even more beautiful part. Drago spoke with such passion about Manly, also saying how you need to spend more time somewhere to really soak up everything about it.
Back at there appartment we checked the ferries and decided the next one would be the best as we had an early bus and it would take an hour to get back to Marourbra. Drago kindly offered to drop us down there, so we said our goodbyes to Coby and jumped in the car. When in the car i realised i'd left my jumper behind (this was the start of things to come!!!), we were cutting it fine to catach the ferry though and so i decided to leave it, i would ask Erika to send it to me.
Once of the bus at Marourbra we popped into the shop to get soemthing for Erika to say thank you, we weren't sure what to get as she's not that fond of sweet stuff. We decicded on a plant as she does love them, a nice looking plant not flowering yet with no name, but we thought if anyone can find out and nuture it Erika would.
Back at Erikas we gave her the plant and spent a little time talking with her about our evening but had to get to bed cos had to get up before six, Erika said she would get up and say goodbye in the morn which was really nice of her. Up for the bus, said more thankyous and goodbye to Erika. We had been there for a whole week by then so i'm sure we must have started to drive her mad by that stage.
We waited a little while for the greyhound bus to come and then when it did, what a palava!!! As there was so many of us it took bout half hour to get us on. Instead of already giving us tags and allocating us seats the driver had to do all of this, the bus driver was also seemed like he couldn't really of given a s*** (which became the general rule of al the drivers on our journey up the coast). Well atleast we were back on the road, the longest coach journey so far bout seven hours; actually wasn't too bad.
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