Day One Hundred And Three - October 17th, 2013
Narrabeen

Well, the travelling chapter of our trip is officially closed. We sold the car to a lovely English chap from Cornwall living in North Sydney for $4,100. We paid $300 more than that when we bought it, but with an added 16,000km now on the dash board, we thought it was a pretty good deal. Goodbye, Hector The Protector. You served us well and kept us safe in some of the remotest places we shall ever visit! Thank you for being our home for the last four months.

We ambled our way down to Milson's Point from our buyers house, remembering the last time we visited there on New Year's Eve, and the spectacular fireworks we had front row seats for under the Harbour Bridge. What an amazing introduction to Australia that was. It all seems to be rushing to a close very quickly, and while we're excited to start the next phase in our lives, it will be dreadfully sad to leave this wonderful country behind (for now!).

We caught a bus to Mosman, changed and came through to Manly. We had some lunch (sushi for Elly from his favourite little Japanese cafe, Mexican at Guzman y Gomez for me) and then utilised a gift certificate at Max Brenner we had from a friend, known as Jules Canada (three guesses as to her nationality) when she crashed on our floor - when we had one! - for a week back in May. The cinnamon Babka with molten chocolate sauce and marshmallows was too rich even for me, so Elly stoically polished it off.

A nice wander around our old haunts made us more melancholy still, so we pressed on to the road agency to officially sign over the car to Adam with the paperwork we'd completed at his home earlier in the day. This took little time and as luck would have it a bus stop was located just outside, and one headed to Narrabeen pulled up presently.

The heat of the day was rising, and as we came back to the campsite ours was the only tent left standing. The winds had ripped through the park and many patrons were hastily trying to secure their belongings and straighten out bent poles. We hammered in our pegs as best we could and covered our bikes before seeking refuge in the kitchen. We stayed glued to the news for the rest of the evening as the bush fire crisis unfurled. The heat and wind had wreaked havoc in the Blue Mountains and other parts of the state, claiming homes but fortunately no lives. The smoke hung thick and heavy in the air over us, even all the way out here in Narrabeen, and we sneezed our way through the day in a haze of bonfire smelling air. We nipped out on or bikes to Woolys and saw or friend Dale for a spot of supper. All in all it's been a tiring day, but we have a huge weight off our minds with the car sold and a bit of cash in the bank!