breathing

I recognize that it has been just over two weeks since my last post, but I have a sure excuse, promise! I've been in New Zealand, and the past two days have been filled with quite a busy schedule of doing nothing at all. I went on a long walk and talked to no one but the asian take-out guy at the register, and then sat in a park watching all of the Easter festivities of the families around me, feeling very content with my journal and my satay shrimp. And then I went to church in the evening for my first step back to society after two weeks of camping and hiking in the glorious country of New Zealand. I'm trying to catch up on homework right now, but as soon as I can, I'll be posting up my daily entries from NZ, and photos as well :) The trip was wonderful, and we'll leave it at that for now.

Pre Enn Zee (or: NZ, or: New Zealand!!)

Bahh I leave for New Zealand with Lucie (from France) and Taylor (from Canada), in t-minus eight hours! Woop woop!

We'll be gone for two weeks, so I probably will not be blogging whilst I am away. But maybe. If internet cafe's are cheap, and I'm not busy hiking through the mountains of Lord of the Rings at the moment, then I may or may not make an appearance.

So the basic plan, currently:

• fly into Christchurch

• renting a stationwagon car

• Armed with tents, sleeping bags, and hammock... we shall camp every night, unless we decide to splurge on a random night or two of the high-class hostel world

• It will be cold... at night, at least. 60ish degrees (farenheit!) during the day and about 40 at night. Totally doable. Just in case, though, I bought reusable hand-warmers. Given the fact that it's about 68 degrees outside of my window right now, and my toes are already turning white and slightly numb, I am reminded that I must bring warmer socks n such.

• So we'll be journeying upon a scenic loop about the entire South Island: Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Franz Josef Glacier, Mt. Cook, Abel Tasman coast, Nelson, Picton, Blenheim, Kaikora! Phew

• Amidst all of those cities, we shall be hiking (heaps!!), sky-diving, bungee jumping, venturing upon LOTR territory, building campfires, standing in awe of awesome beauty, listening to sweet playlists, and experiencing the other random adventures awaiting us every day!

• No limits... except in the name of safety. Don't worry, everyone, I am a daredevil, I know, but I will be discerning enough to not accidentally fall off the edge of a cliff. But just in case, pray for me, k? :)
  

So, until I can reach a computer again,
your adventure-savvy friend,
R

post-mountains

Oh the simple joys of being simple.
I feel so refreshed and at peace, since coming back from the Blue Mountains.

Something about the fresh, clean, crisp air must have swept the dust off of my ribs and spun through the endless tracks of my mind, because I feel like I can breathe more deeply and think more soundly.

Allison and I had such a lovely adventure together... We began the day by accidentally boarding the wrong train to Sydney, so that was a hopeful start! I called the train operator: she just laughed at me first and then told me that we could easily hop off and catch another train coming two minutes later. Phew! Allison and I both love train rides... we can sit and read and chat and listen to music and just... be-- with no expectation for productivity because there's nowhere else you can go and phones don't have reception. Blissful!

When we finally arrived at our destination of Katoomba, we checked in at our hostel, the YHA Blue Mountains. Katoomba has still maintained a lot of its vintage art-deco style, and the YHA was no exception-- the decoration was cute! It was so clean and well-kept that I would've been shocked to find dirty dishes, hear loud music, find hair in the shower, smell rancid odors in awkward places, or anything else that hostels are known for. It was like a hotel! We were happy for it, but we both would've rather had a place with a bit more character, because, well, that's what hostels are known for ;) haha

We then went and meandered up and down the main street of Katoomba, which is scattered with an innumerable amount of lovely little cafes and shops. We settled for lunch at a spot called "Harvest Mountain" where I had thee yummiest korma-curried lentil burger and Japanese green tea. Woop! And I also splurged on buying some "raw" chocolate bars (which are apparently still not much healthier than regular chocolate, but it says "healthy" on the front, so I'll take it).

After that, we walked down to the epic site of the "Three Sisters" at Echo Point, which is one of the top tourist destinations in Australia. It really does take your breath away. I mean, really.

The scene displayed before me seemed to be as vast as the Grand Canyon (which I haven't actually seen before in person), only filled with an endless sea of green trees, covered with a light blur of blue hue from the eucalyptus trees within it. Wow!

We hiked around for about four hours after that. About two hours into our hike we met a man named Ron. What a bloke. He was in his 60s, I'd bet, and retired. He walks everyday, and makes friends everyday. Unfortunately, though, it seems that he still doesn't have many people to talk to on a normal basis, for he proceeded to talk the entire two hours that we hiked with him. Lovely man, though, really. I gladly let him go on and on about how he got his cat, Bruce, and why he loves walking n such. Sometimes you've just gotta let it go. Plus, he let me take his picture, so that made me happy.

We had some delicious Italian food at an art-deco cafe called The Savoy, paired with some live music, and then rolled our tired legs and full bellies into the comfiest hostel beds (better than my dorm bed).

Next morning we went abseiling! For those of you that don't know, abseiling is basically just repelling down the side of a cliff. Bah!! It was so beautiful to do first thing in the morning... we could see the mist flowing amongst the canyon rock and then we saw the abseil ropes dangling over the edges of that same rock. We spent the morning laughing at things that shall not be mentioned here, because they are politically incorrect, but we had fun and I'll leave it at that. Allison conquered her fear of going down the 30 m cliffside! Next time I have the chance, I would love to do a full day of canyoning, which is when you simply go from one point on a mountain/canyon and then hike/climb/abseil/fly your way over to another point. Ohhh I bet I could find a few pals who would care to join me... ;)

After that endeavour, we got some lunch and then the sun began to disappear behind the clouds, making it rather chilly, so we decided that we would just head back home. So we left at about 3:30 and finally got home to Wollongong at about, after a bus, two trains, an hour of people-watching in Sydney, and a crazy fly inside the train car.

Mmm what a nice, nice weekend adventure.