Good-bye NSW, Hello Victoria!

Once we arrived back in Sydney it was hard to believe our east coast trip was over. All I could think was "Now what?". It didn't take long for things to pick up again. Suzanne flew in from Christchurch New Zealand and Cassia flew from Vancouver to spend Christmas in Sydney with me! How spoiled am I? We stayed at Kelly and Matt's and got to experience a traditional Aussie Christmas, which was such a treat! We went out for a Christmas brunch at a friend of Kelly and Matt's and the heat was so intense that everything on the table liquefied rapidly. It was just so hard to wrap our heads around the fact that it was Christmas! After opening our gifts Cas, Sue and I threw on our bikinis and Santa hats and were off to the beach to meet up with Katie and Amy. After another gift exchange with K and A, we spent the day and evening sipping gin and tonics on the beach and doing our best to spread Christmas cheer. The whole day was very surreal.

The next week in Sydney was a blur. I had been so used to relaxing from Byron Bay, that when Cas and Sue arrived and we found ourselves constantly on the go, it was a bit of a shock to the system. A good one though. Every day was a new adventure. We went to the massive aquarium to see the sharks, and mammoth rays, the botanical gardens to see the HUGE bats. Ahem, sorry, "flying foxes". I've been corrected about a hundred time. Whatever. They're big and ugly and look just like bats and I don't like them. Hmph. We went for drinks in beautiful Darling Harbour and without fail were out on the town every single night. We spent a day up in the Blue Mountains, where, I gotta be honest, the Aussie's speak a little slower. That was experience on it's own. We spent the day horse back riding, which was by far the best I've ever done. Horse back riding in Australia is not like riding anywhere else. I mean, we were on rough terrain. When they said we'd be riding "through the bush", they meant it literally. We would head straight into thick bushes and when we'd emerge out the other side it was always a treat to see what insect had decided to catch a lift on our back, head or most often our face . We came out bruise and scratch, but I must admit that most of my wounds were self-inflicted. We were absolutely swarmed by flies! The guide had given us small branches to get the horse up to a gallop, but about 90% of the ride I was using it to smack flies off my face. "Oh, look at the gorgeous mount..." Smack!, "This is amaz...." Smack!, "What beautif......" Smack! Apart from the flies, the mountains were stunning. They actually look blue because of the Eucalyptus oil in the air. There you go, another little piece of trivia for you. You will be tested when I get back, by the way. Well, our two hour ride turned into a three hour one and it goes without saying that we could barely walk once we got off. Oh the pain! But walk we did. We went to see the three sisters (there used to be four but she fell over) which was absolutely breath-taking. We hiked down the cliffs and back up again and then lucky us, missed our last bus and had to hike back to the station. It seemed like the longest day of my life, but was just amazing.

New Years day we went to Lady Maquireys Chair, a peninsula that sits on the Sydney harbour. We camped out the whole day with thousands of other people. It was like being at summer camp. Everyone was in such great spirits. There was this overall vibe that we were somewhere really special. The fireworks were incredible over the harbour bridge. Like nothing I've ever seen. Did anyone see me on the televised broadcast? New Year day was a record-breaking heatwave. 46 degrees in the shade and +50 in the sun. The thermometer doesn't even go that high! It was a miracle we actually survived it! We spent the day in the Museum of Australia, which was so good, but most importantly air-conditioned. Our time in Sydney was pretty unforgettable. Just non-stop fun and non-stop action. It wasn't a big shock when we all got sick by the end of the week.

After New Years, Suzanne and I had to part ways with Cassia, as she was heading to Byron to surf, while Sue and I set off to Melbourne. Our first week in Melbourne was also a blur. More museums, the Old Melbourne Gaol, which is actually "Jail", yet I pronounced "Gay-ol" until it was brought to my attention how wrong I was. But seriously, come on...whose idea was that to spell it that way? Hey, if they want to be different, they're just going to have to deal with people...or okay, maybe just me, calling it a Gay-ol. Anyway, it dates back to the 18 hundreds and is where the famous convict Ned Kelly was hanged. Don't know the story? Rent it. Amazing story and as a bonus, you get Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom acting it out for you. Yeow!

While all of the above was incredible, I have to say that a major highlight was our trip to Tasmania. First of all, I cannot believe how much it looks like Canada. That's probably why we loved it, because it was so familiar. It was definitely one of the most beautiful places I've seen on this trip. We only had a week, but we needed 2 at least! We flew into Hobart which resembled a little fishing town. Actually, it very well could have been. We couldn't stay long enough to find out. We picked up the car the next morning, only to realized the reason we'd paid so little for it was because it was a 1986 Ford Falcon that was dying a very slow, painful death. We tried to come up with a special name for it because it would be ours for a few days, but inevitably kept coming back to the same one which would be slightly inappropriate to write in this blog. So, we drove Sh***y, around the island dodging on-coming logging trucks and darting kangaroos along narrow dirt roads, on the edges of cliffs, on the WRONG side of the road!!!....deep breath......for the next 5 days while she puttered, spewed, and creaked like a 150 year old ship. We could almost hear her saying "I think I can" up every hill. Each day she made it through was another triumphant day for us, as the oil, water, and breaks fail (I'm not kidding) lights glowed ominously in front of us after the SECOND day in the car. It was stressful at times, but Sue and I both agreed that that poor old piece of junk was the basis of so many jokes and laughing fits that in the end it was worth it.

Our first stop was Port Arthur. *Shiver* Port Arthur was the first prison in Australia where convicts were sent from all over the world. This place hold the most gruesome, disturbing and traumatic stories you could imagine. Stories of torture, insanity and death. On top of it, 10 years ago a gunman entered the grounds and shot dead 38 tourist and staff in the visitors cafe. It's been torn down and a memorial put up, but it makes this place extra eerie. So, to lighten things up Sue and I decided to go for a ghost tour. I know Sue is smiling while reading this because it is one of the funniest nights. Anyway, very freaky, very cool. Between us, Sue and I must have taken 700 pictures of widows, trying to capture an image. No luck, but a girl in our group did faint in the dissection room of the old hospital. She was probably drunk though...

Next onto Tribuna where we hiked to Wineglass bay, all the time having kangaroos hopping beside us and once on the beach, dolphins diving in front of us. Sigh.... Then to Bicheno where we went on a penguin tour. Hundreds of tiny blue penguins coming out of the ocean and waddling around our feet. I've never seen anything so precious! Onto Lauceston where we took yet...another ghost tour. Come on, do they ever get old? Although I have to say that our hostel was far scarier than anything we saw on the tour. We realized it was a freshly converted old folks home and sure enough, they had left half their old residents there. The senile half.......which is probably why we fit in. Cradle Mountain was our final destination. Freezing cold (colder than Toronto when we were there) but absolutely stunning. We grew very attached, very quickly. After doing some of the most beautiful walks with some sort of animal (a cross between a rat and a kangaroo - I should know by now) and coming face to face with a Wombat, which is basically an enormous guinea pig and very very unnatural (They FREAK me out!), and seeing Tasmanian devils outside our kitchen door, we begrudgingly headed back or should I say raced back to Hobart to catch our flight out.

It was an incredible trip that we will never forget. The next day Sue and I headed to the Australian Open. It was a blast although neither of us know a thing about tennis. Basically we clapped and booed when everyone else did. After a whole day watching 3 unbelievably long games, you'd think we'd learn something, yet inevitably after every game Sue and I would look at each other in complete confusion when the guy we'd thought had lost came back out onto the court as the winner. Every game. Still fun though, although I'm convinced my neck will never be the same. Back and forth....back and forth....

Sue had to leave me the very next day which was very sad. BUT we will be seeing each other again soon. Till then, onto the next chapter........






















Yes, those are flying foxes in the tree!!!