Ice, Ice Baby

So yeah, two blog posts on the trot it's been a while since we've done that.

Anyways, this'll be fairly short and snappy, just to get everything up to date, and let the folks at home know how we're getting on as of late.

So after our jaunt in Jiliby, and also a quick visit to backwards country - Wyong (Take Heed of this warning), we headed back to Narabeen where we chilled to the max once again doing alot of Babe Bird/ Wildlife/People Watching:

Fig.1


(We've seen awesome birds, surfers, and also Dolphins, yeah that's right Dolphins! - Twice)

So yeah after plenty of time spent chillin' we made our way to the Blue Mountains via the train from Sydney Central (took two hours, but was dirt cheap). Upon arrival we realised that;

A, It is freezing here; even when it was 25°C in the city, apparently it's only 6-10°C in the mountains.

B, That you need to make sure you send the right card details to the Hostel you intend staying at because otherwise they just ingore you, rather than tell you that you've sent the wrong details.

C, Free hostel Coffee is interesting, and likeable to what instant, instant coffee may taste like.

D, Hostels have awesome Bed Sheets (see fig.2)

E, There are loads of awesome op shops (what the Aussies call Charity Shops) where you can buy cardigans or jackets for under $5 to counteract point A - Sorted.

Fig.2

(Note Dolphins, yeah DOLPHINS)

So after settling in to our new accomodation, we made our way round the awesome and beautiful surroundings (yeah we're doing a cultural trip) and enjoyed Three Sisters...

Fig.3

Three Sisters is a scenic mountain range, and unfortunately not literally Three sisters...

Also whilst in the blue mountains we headedff the main track, did some dodgy climbing and hung off the edge of a cliff for shits and giggles. (sorry parents, I'm alive so it's all good).

Fig.4



Fig.5

Don't worry it wasn't that dangerous, honest :D.

So yeah we had an awesome time in the Blue Mountains, here's some of the other adventures and goings on that occured;

• We hit up the giant staircase (900 of the steepest steps you can imagine) which upon reaching the bottom we then decided to go straight back up - awesome, we beat the estimated time it should take by a staggering; 1 hour and 40 minutes though so pretty good :D.




• Went on a forrest walk to waterfalls and climbed on the waterfall and nearby rocks and what-have-you
  


• Lived off Coles basics (imagine Tesco basics, bhut more basic) for five days
  


• Met a German guy who stayed in our room for one night, and had the balls in the morning to steal, wait for it... my half drunk bottle of water, Sorry what?!!!!!



• Got asked by some fella in the hostel, who was about our age if we had any Ice, which at first I thought related to some sort of head injury he must be suffering from or other body related injury as he genuinely looked like shit. No actually he meant Crystal Meth, yeah that's right he wanted meth, which is called Ice over here, and has a street name because it is one of the most popular drugs in Aus, Crystal Fucking Meth.
  



• Went to the Edge Cinema (effectively IMAX without the branding) and saw Iron Man 2, frickin sweet, SJ is insane, and RDJ was once again awesome. Check it if you've seen the first, and stay after the credits, trust me. (Sorry Dad I've seen it, though look up Inception, we should see that in NY)
  
  


• Visited the Norman Lindsey art house gallery, well worth going to if you get the chance located in Springwood, and a bit of a mission from the station there but worth it, great great art, and make sure you take part on the tour that they run as it was really insightful and added such a greater depth to the whole experience.

After all these awesome events, and fun times at this friendly looking place;

Fig.6

Cheap as chips - $21 a night and buy two nights get the third free, aslo the cheapest in Katoomba by at least $7.

After the Blue mountains we didn't head straight back to our Narabeen base, instead we made our way to Woy Woy (to eventually go to Ettalong) to meet up with another of Sirus' many Australian relatives; Uncle Alan. Now this man deserves a post of his own to do him justice, lets just say he's the coolest man his age you'll ever meet, trust me, he's awesome. And here's a sneak peak;

Stay Tuned,

Ben, Over and Out ;)

Fire, Spiders, Ice Cream Cake- not in that order.

Right so since we've been in Syderz we have basically been living the good life, as we are staying on a beautiful surf beach, everyday is wonderful and full of surfing, good food, and basically just awesome stuff. So apart from this magnificent house and the boat, my Aunty and Uncle (technically Great-Half Aunty and Uncle or something like that) also have a place out in the bush, in a town...village...hamlet... well a small settlement thing called Jilliby. As they have to maintain the garden and house there, we went up with them for the week.

It is different from the city, the nearest shop is a long way away, the post is delivered to one communal box on the main road into Jilliby and there are lots of horses. There is the main house and then a smaller separate building to the side with a garage and bedroom, which is where we slept.

They have two bicycles there, so on one of the first days we set off on a bike ride, just to wherever the dirt road took us. We ended up cycling for about an hour and getting to a really rocky, very steep road up to a forest of some sort, which was intriguing and the prospect of riding down the scary hill on the way back down was good one, and so we pedalled incessantly up the hill. Panting, sweating and with a friendly dog following us, we reached where we thought was far up enough to turn around, and with a few more pushes, straining my pulled left Gastrocnemius we were ready to head back down the rocky road before us, but wait, hang on now, what's this? I'm moving the handle bars, but the front wheel sure isn't moving, must have just come loose, I'll try and tighten it with my knees, oh nope, that hasn't worked, ummm right well my bicycle is now very useless and we're at the top of a very steep hill 6 miles from the house. So I told Ben he could ride the insane hill, whilst I walked the bike down. I soon got bored of the walking accompanied with the gradient, so I just got on and hoped that inertia was on my side. I nearly died a few times but eventually made it to the bottom of the hill. Then to cycle home was quite interesting, as the handle bar was in no way connected to the front wheel, and so whilst nearly getting hit by a few cars and riding into the long snake saturated grass more than enough, I mastered the new type of bike and just steered with my body weight, I think we actually got home faster than it took us to get to where we turned around. So yeah when it comes to bikes I'm cursed.

Apart from cycling mishaps we were Pete's little helpers for the week, assisting in putting up the new guttering around the garage, which involved many an encounter with creepy little critters. We also worked potting plants for a man called Greg, typically on the one day that it torrentially rained. I think we potted around 680 plants or something, basically loads. We were also fire starters and supervisors for an evening, trying to read my book by firelight left me with a very black face, but gosh did I look after that fire like a pro.

9 months ago my aunty Kath promised me a birthday celebration in Australia, and by goodness did she stick to her word. We travelled to Wyong home of the shallowest gene pool on the central coast, and the only place on Earth where you can buy a 'Calamari Burger', we simply bought cake and cheap Hemingway novels. Had an awesome few meals for my belated bush birthday, and then rushed into the room past our friendly Huntsman who came out every evening as soon as dusk was upon us and sat on our door, just waiting till morning.

We did loads of other things too, I looked for snakes and took photos, but failed at both and we generally just played around in the fields in the sun. It was good fun. Anyhow we're back now, look forward to a post from Benjamin about a certain Blue Mountains trip, that we may or may not have taken (we did take one).

Sorry there's no passion in my post, I just felt I should update.

Love Love Love

Sisi

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