This week you find us from the darkest depths of bush-tucker Australia as we were to 'go native' with a couple of our good Aussie mates. We were in Sydney a total of twelve days and like we said before, we had a blast. But we had been in the cities now for three weeks so a taste of the real Australia was calling us, good job we knew the right people then...
First of all we had to get out of Sydney so we said our last goodbyes to Morgan, who we are going to miss big time. I hate saying goodbyes, especially to such close friends. We then hopped on a train to Gosford, around 50kms up the coast. There we would be being picked up by Rowan and Teeny, two guys who we had met in Munich around three years ago and had stayed in contact with. They had both booked off time to come and pick us up and take us on a magical mystery tour throughout the 'real' Australia. We had absolutely no idea where we would be going but I guess that's the beauty of it!
It was great to see them again, I guess despite its many flaws Facebook has some benefits! Anyway, we shoved our bags in the back and set off on our way up to 'the entrance', a spit of land that juts out of the coast with the ocean on one side and a very large freshwater lake on the other. We had planned to get there and set up the tents before dark but the weather, already freezing cold, took a wet turn for the worse as the rain turned torrential. Due to this we changed our plans and booked a cabin instead, a small, self-contained unit where we sat for most of the night catching up and pouring over the huge map of Australia in front of us. At last though, we knew where we would be going!
The next morning we prepared the car, a huge Toyota landcruiser (proper bushmobile!), and headed south and into the Blue Mountains. First stop was to the three sisters, which given their fame were nothing compared to the scene surrounding it from the lookout at Katoomba, a small countryside town. The views were breathtaking from the top and despite the howling wind, you could see as far as your eyes would let you over forest, peaks and countryside without a single building obstructing the views. After buying supplies from the local supermarket we went off to find lunch and found a place that specialises in the Australian delicacy of meat pies, amazing. They were beautiful, the locals not so. It was like a mix between Rotherham and Crewe, all gangly legs and narrow eyes. In a funny way it's a nice feeling to know that special people exist out of places like the above.
Soon after we were on our way, winging around beautiful, desolate country roads until we made it to Oberon, a small country town, where we would be staying for the night. Unfortunately the weather was appalling with the rain coming down in furious clumps with the temperature no warmer than about 4 degrees, not quite the Aussie road trip we had in mind! Despite this, we cracked on, set up camp and munched on freshly cooked spaghetti bolognese, all mustered up by yours truly, not bad going considering the conditions.
In the morning, after a terrible nights sleep, we all piled back into the van and made our way over to Jenolan caves. This cave network, made up of six main cave systems was simply staggering. We chose the most popular cave and ascended down with one of those eccentric geologist types that could have taught a-level chemistry. He was great and the cave even better, completely silent, atmospherically neutral and huge, with some sections as high as a cathedral. Before leaving we had time for a picnic by one of the huge streams that were overflowing due to the amount of rain that had fallen in the area over the past few months. Like I said in the last post, this part if Australia has had a shocking summer, in fact according to Rowan and Teeny, have had nothing but poor summers for many years.
Anyway, from the caves we faced a 300km drive to the south to the nations capital, Canberra. It was obviously a long drive, almost six hours straight, but the scenery and towns we passed on the way were so beautiful that the time and miles flew past. Although we were in the Australian Highlands we still had to remind ourselves where we were, it could have been North Yorkshire or the Lake District, something we would feel for the next few days. As ever we entertained ourselves with a vast array of music spread over four iphones and three ipods (glampers!) and ate sour worms (unsurprisingly shell's contribution!! Such a kid) until we all started to go sugar crazy. We even stopped for a photo of a giant sheep, Australia loves it's big things, it's famous for them! We plan to visit the big pineapple and the big prawn on our way north...
After five or so hours of driving we arrived in Australian capital territory and eventually to Canberra, quite possibly the strangest city I think we've been to. Before we could get out and explore we headed off to Rowans brother's where we would be spending the night.
The next morning we woke late as we were all shattered from the bone chilling of camping in 2 degrees celcius with an added 6 hour car journey thrown in for food measure. In the afternoon we headed through canberra's infinitely annoying streets first to the mightily impressive war memorial and then to the Parliament building, the biggest building in Australia. Despite the bureaucratic and sterile nature of the city both buildings were impressive in their own right. Their stupid 10 dollar sandwiches not so. We took a guided tour around both houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Essentially an American based political system but with its roots and demeanour firmly British. It was all going fine until she asked if anyone wanted to ask any questions. Turns out the group had lots. In fact some of the questions left us all slightly open-mouthed. Heres a couple;
Question: What do they (the MP's) do if they run out of paper?
Answer: They can ask for more.
Question: Where do they plug in their laptops?
Answer: In the plug socket provided.
Unbelievable.
That night, after smashing a football around with rowan for a while (a good footballer may I add-and he's Aussie!) we ventured out for Thai food which in itself was a pretty strange experience due to it being our first Asian meal outside of Asia!
The next day we were up at six in readiness for our assault on the Snowy Mountains. After driving for about three hours we eventually stopped on the town of Jindabyne. After filling up on water, paying for the national park permit and munching down on yet more delicious pies we were on our way, this time to the base of Mount Kosciusko, Australia's highest peak.
After slipping on our hiking gear the six of us, including Rowans brother and partner Guy, were on our way to smash down the 18kms that would take us straight to the top. Now let's face it, 18kms is a long way, especially up a mountain, but we all raced up there as if being chased by wolves. The sign at the start said it would take around three hours to the top and then two and a half coming down, we managed to knock two hours off that! Shell was loving it and totally up for getting to the top. It wasn't a massive mountain by any means but the scenery both from the track and the summit were extraordinary, almost like viewing the Peak District on a summers day. Whatever it looked like it did not scream Australia. At the top we posed for the usual photos where I, unfortunately, looked like a massive gnome. On the way down, within about a km of each other we encountered yet more Aussie wildlife. This time more of the 'I will kill you with enough venom to kill 200,000 mice' kind of animals instead of the fluffy and harmless variety. We saw a huge jumping spider that seemed intent on attacking Teenys leg plus two small snakes, one of which, the brown snake, has been called the worlds most poisonous. All in all then, a bit of an eventful hike! Despite teeny and shells big blisters they got round without any major problems which was amazing given the fact they'd never walked that far before.
Back on the road we went in search of a riverside campsite and found a perfect bit of ground which had perfect views of the surrounding valley and was completely silent apart from the sound of the river below us. It was amazing to be able to wash in the freezing cold river with not a soul around for miles, real wilderness. We even had a visit from a family of possums who, despite our every effort to pack away food, seemed to find something to get their big furry faces into. They aren't noted for their eyesight either so we were able to get right up and touch them before they escaped up a tree!
The next day, we were to leave the mountains behind. Before that we paid a visit to Thredbo, a small skiing village in the middle of their summer slumber. We found a great place selling delicious local ales and sat outside for a while to take in the fresh mountain air. It was stunning but deathly quiet, kind of like seeing an actor out of costume, maybe smoking a crafty cigarette around the back.
Feeling suitably nourished we hopped back into the car and made our way steadily out of the mountains. Before we knew it we were back in Canberra where we once again headed to Rowans brothers house for a well earnt shower and sleep before which Shell and I repaid the generosity by cooking up some pea and prawn risotto which went down a treat. The mountains section of our trip, for now, would be over.
We have never experienced topography such as this, esepcially in a country where the guidebooks would have you believe it is a country full of arid nothingness. Compared to the rest of Australia though the size of the area we camped through would be merely a pinprick on the map. It's not exactly the area you think of when you think of when browsing through the brochures. Thing is, this area is about the size of Switzerland. Just without the chocolate and obessesion with the time. What a country.
As you can probably tell we are having an amazing time. Shell said she will write some of the blogs but I tried to do it as we were going along. I'm not being greedy!
Much love, Tommo and Shello xxxx
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