Blue Mountains and Back to Sydney, 3-20-10

Isabella, Sanjeev, Jonatan, and I met up at the train station with our backpacks and bags of food at 9am. We caught a two hour train to Katoomba and checked into the YHA hostel in town. We left straight away to start on a scenic hike we could do on our own. The hike took us about 2 hours and we saw mountains everywhere with clouds casting their shadows over the hills below. We saw a couple waterfalls along the way and leisurely walked around the marked route, it was a good trek.

Back at our hostel we cooked a large dinner of penne pasta, a fresh salad, some wine and chocolate for dessert. We curled up on the couches in the common room and played an Australian board game similar to Monopoly, only a bit more “Aussie”. The object of the game is to get around the board while collecting enough pub tickets and beer cans to be allowed into the ball. Pretty funny game and Isabella and I were neck and neck up until the very end. 

The following morning we rented a car and drove out to the Jenolan caves, ranked top 5 in the world. We spent the afternoon spelunking, using our phones as torches while climbing though restricted areas we weren’t supposed to be in. Jonatan used his Swedish boyscout skills and used a stick to unlock a one-way exit; so we had the caves to ourselves for the day.  At the end of the day we packed up, took the train back to Sydney, and said our final good byes to our Subaru Kangaroo group.

When I got back to Sydney it was Garrett’s birthday and our big group was getting together for a BBQ. We cooked out on the grills by the beach and then changed into our party attire for the night at a bar/club called the Sheaf. Our group of 20 stayed together all night (not something that usually happens) and the entire dance floor was ours for the evening.

It was now the weekend and for the next few days we all went to the beach during the day and partied at the bars at night. Nothing too out of the ordinary, except for one taxi ride home. Katie was a bit drunk so I went back early with her. She was actually so drunk that the taxi drivers would stop to let me in, then see her stumbling over, and speed off! We tricked the next taxi driver though, Katie hid behind a pole and once I was inside with the door closed, the plan was for her to run over to the taxi. But the driver started to drive away before she got in! I yelled for him to stop and Katie got in and then passed out in the backseat. The driver was trying to kick us out, but I assured him she would be alright, she was just tired and wanted to sleep.

Halfway through the taxi ride another taxi driver illegally swerved into our lane, crossing over flag-pole barriers, causing our car to almost hit the taxi in front of us which was over packed with young partiers. Our taxi driver honked his horn and the driver in front of us slammed on his breaks to retaliate. This time our driver SLAMMED on his breaks because we were so close to the other taxi we almost smashed into it! Katie’s shoe went flying into the windshield (although she stayed asleep) and I was scared for my life. Our driver started yelling and cursing in Punjabi and then our taxi and the other taxi started racing next to each other while the other driver swerved towards our taxi twice! I was telling my driver to “slow down, calm down, that the guy is crazy!”. 

We stopped at a red light and the other taxi driver got out of his taxi and walked towards our car, I was wide-eyed with fright of what might happen. Luckily, the light turned green and we sped off. So glad I made it home safely that night. Katie still has no idea what happened during that taxi ride back.

Before I left Sydney, I met up with Will and Emma, my SE Asia traveling mates who are from England. Will is working at a bar in King’s Cross in Sydney and Emma had just come back from India and was visiting Sydney for a week or so. We went to the Paddington markets together and then sat on the grass in Hyde Park, reminiscing about our trips together, telling stories, and catching up with what we’ve all been up to the past three and a half months. We were all pretty sad Richard couldn’t be with us.

 

The day before I flew to NZ I ran a few errands. Picked up a couple bathing suits, a dress, and bought some house-hold stuff for Sham’s apartment. I spoke to a couple bar managers and hopefully will be able to find work when I get back in 6 weeks. I’ll need to work for a month in order to have some spending money for when I get back to The States. Fortunately, I haven’t had to work yet since traveling, but Australia is the best place to do it since the minimum wage is around $18 per hour and the Australian dollar is almost equal to the US dollar right now.

Alight everyone, speak to you from NZ~!