Good Bye Sydney

Well, after an entire year living, working, travelling, and meeting such wonderful people in Sydney, it's time to say good bye. I had a great time at my farewell party on Saturday and thanks to all those who came out.

Not only have I enjoyed my time here, but I have met some truly wonderful people, who I can now call my friends and I feel so blessed for all the amazing friendships I have made here. I expect I'll have some visitors in Vancouver... as early as January! See you then Fi! And now that I know more people in Sydney, it just gives me more reason to come back and visit... and that I will surely do!

Many people have asked if I am sad to be leaving. There are obviously a lot of mixed emotions and feelings I have about going home. I'm sad to be leaving the life I have had here, but am anxious and looking forward to getting home to friends and family. It's never easy to say good bye, so the way I look at it is that I'll be back. So... it's really more like, I'll see you soon.

One week of travelling left to do, and then I will send out my final post!

Ularu (Ayers Rock)

They sure don’t call it the Red Centre for nothing! After waking up from my 3 hour “nap” on the plane, I looked out the window only to see miles and miles of red sand… and a whole lot of nothing!

We arrived in Alice Springs early enough to explore a bit of the town and enjoy the day. Boy, was it hot! To go from cold and wet Tasmania to hot and dry Northern Territory… what a contrast. Kinda cool though to be able to experience such opposite landscape and climate within a few days and within the same country no less! It was so dry in Alice Springs, in fact, that they actually hold a “boat race” every year along the “river” where they have to pull their man-made boats along the river bed to the finish line. Apparently it’s the only place in the world where they’ll actually cancel the boat race if there’s water in the river.

A lot of aboriginals live in Alice Springs as well, which you definitely don’t see in Sydney. Not really sure how safe it is there though, considering we had a huge sign on our balcony door saying “LOCK YOUR DOOR AT NIGHT!”, so I was glad we only had to spend one night there on each end of our tour.

Our 3-day adventure in the outback began at 5am on the first day! Why so freakin’ early you ask? Well, in the outback NOTHING is close to each other and we had to drive 450kms to get to Ularu. Our tour guide, Jason, and hostee, Robert, were prepared enough to provide us with some entertainment on the bus though, so the ride didn’t seem so long.

As we got closer to Ularu, the rock suddenly appeared in the distance and it was pretty magnificent. It really is an amazing landmark that is truly red! We by-passed Ayers Rock and went straight to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), another rock formation not far from Ularu. There, we did a 5+ km walk in through what is called the Valley of the Winds. Beautiful scenery through there with a look-out at the end that was well worth the hike.

After Kata Tjuta, we headed straight back to watch the sunset at Ularu. I think what was almost more amazing was the gathering of people to watch the sunset, than the sunset itself. Almost, but not quite! Jason offered us up some champagne and crackers with cheese to compliment this incredible view. And that pretty much marked the end of day one, aside from a wonderfully cooked dinner and a few jokes by the campfire afterwards.

It was up early again on day 2 so that we could watch the sunrise at Ularu. I didn’t really notice too much of a difference from sunset, but it was still beautiful. Then we were set off to do our 8km walk around the rock. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take many photos around the rock as they are sacred aboriginal sites and they prefer we didn’t take pictures. After our walk it was time for lunch and then we headed out on our next long journey out to Kings Canyon. Along the way we ran into some wild camels crossing the road. Now you know you’re in the desert when come across wild camels! (see video)

We arrived to Kings Canyon just in time to see the sunset there as well. Not as good as Ularu, but still such a beautiful sunset. That night the boys played a little trick on me by putting a fake mouse spider up on the wall where the campfire was. It was all fun and games until one of them took the shovel and tossed it at us! Some of you know how much I hate spiders, so you can just imagine my reaction on that one! (NOT GOOD) Then it was time for bed.

Our last day included a 6km hike through Kings Canyon. It started off with a 20 minute climb up “Heart Attack Hill” where up till now, 4 people have died. Fun stuff, let me tell ya. It was well worth it though once we got to the top. The views were spectacular, and I would do that climb again in a heartbeat if the view would always be that good. After lunch we were back on the road again to go back to Alice Springs. We got to enjoy a bit of 4-wheel driving on the way back as there wasn't a paved road all the way, so it was a bit bumpy, but a whole lot of fun! We even ran into another group of camels which Robert whole heartedly tried to catch, but didn't succeed. It was funny to watch though!

And that marked the end of our tour. It was a fun-filled, adventurous 3 days and unlike anything else I've seen so far in Australia. And I never expected to do so much hiking. Between Tasmania and Ularu, I've hiked over 35 kms in the span of 10 days. I think it's time for some relaxation... which we will definitely do in Fiji this week! 3 days left in Sydney now... the countdown has begun...

Tasmania

"Holiday Island" as their licence plate says... and I can't think of a more perfect way to describe Tasmania. I can't say I'd want to live there, but it was definitely worth the visit as it is such a beautiful part of Australia.

My mom arrived in Sydney on Sept. 3rd and after allowing her only 2 days to recover from the jet-lag, we jumped on a plane to fly down to Tasmania for a 6-day self-drive tour.

We spent our first day in Hobart where we got to shop at the Salamanca markets and enjoy a boat cruise around the harbour.

The next day we drove down to Port Arthur to take a tour of the famous "Hell on Earth" penetentiary of the 1800's. Eerie place, but a part of Australia's history that is a must visit if you go to Tassie. We took a quick drive up Mount Wellington on our way back to Hobart to check out the view of the city. It was so cold and we were so high up that it actually started snowing!

Then it was off to Freycinet National Park and Coles Bay where we did a 4 hour hike to Wine Glass Bay and around to Hazzards Beach and back. Not the easiest hike so I was very proud of mom for being able to finish it!

After Coles Bay, we headed west towards Cradle Mountain. I'd have to say this was definitely my favourite place in Tasmania. We were one with nature there... including the animals! We saw everything from Wallabies to Wombats to big huge Possums. Some of the animals would even come right up to our cabin (obviously wanting food) and sit outside our sliding door waiting for us to give them something to eat. We'd even have to push them out of the way if we wanted to go outside so they wouldn't walk right into our living room. Very funny... and too cute!

We also did another hike at Cradle Mountain. A bit shorter this time, only 2 hours around Dove Lake which is directly in front of Cradle Mtn. so we had a constant view the whole way around.

Finally it was time to head back, so we spent our last day taking a tour of the Anvers Chocolate Factory near La Trobe and doing a bit of shopping in Launceston before catching our flight back to Sydney.

We only had 2 days to rest and re-pack though as now we're in Alice Springs about to head off on a tour in the Outback at Ularu. I was lucky enough to go to the Pete Murray (Australian artist - must listen) concert last night with Jorge and then we headed out to celebrate Mexican Independence Day, so at the moment I'm running on less than 3 hours air plane sleep. Might go try to take a nap by the pool now before our little outback adventure!

Not much longer now... when we get back from Ularu I only have a week left in Sydney before heading off to Fiji and then home sweet home! Looking forward to my farewell "partay" next Saturday though... will be a blast! Can't believe my year is almost up!