So we'll start with where we left off - SYDNEY. We had a fabulous few days in Sydney, staying with the wonderful Mel who we met long ago at the orphanage. We were greeted by her at the airport (such a good feeling to be picked up instead of having to work out where to go!) and were made more than welcome at Mel's - in fact part of the family. Day 1 in Sydney we did a walk in the sunshine, starting at the surfers hangout Bondi beach and carrying on around the coastline. We felt rather out of place with our jeans on (so many Aussies in their gym clothes running along) as well as the odd man (quite literally) doing a spot of yoga on the cliffside. It was such a beautiful sunny day, therefore a Ben and Jerry's ice cream at the end watching the sunset was well deserved! We topped off the evening with our first Aussie BBQ, delish!
Day 2 was spent as true tourists, dragging Mel around the sights, and even into the tourist information so we could pick up some things for our ever growing scrapbooks. We of course went to Sydney harbour, and enjoyed views of the opera house from different angles, as well as going inside. We also went up a pylon of the harbour bridge, with amazing sights from the top and the perfect weather for many a cracking photo. After a wander around 'The Rocks' area, for a hot chocolate, Anzac biscuit and market wandering, we set off back to Mel's to get ready for our next adventure...
That evening we found ourselves travelling the few hours coach trip to Canberra, where we were met by Henry (a old family friend of Mair's) and his friend Tim! After a couple of drinks in the local pub, we watched a film and then headed to bed, after much chatting and catching up. We woke up the next morning freeeeezing - and that's with scarves, hoodies, fluffy socks the full works!! Henry rustled up some egg and bacon on toast, on the little old hob, and with no knives in the flat, Rach attempted the spoon and fork while Mair tackles a plastic one. We felt like uni prep was well underway in that sense, unsurprisingly as Henry lives with 5 other boys. We then headed off to have a great guided tour of the Canberra sights, covering the lakes, the old Parliament House, and a fantastic war memorial and museum with some very striking exhibitions (a recent video documentary of men fighting in Afghanistan, and the stories behind those who have been awarded Victoria crosses for acts of bravery and commitment). After a lovely meal out, we hopped back on a bus to Sydney.
Sydney day 3 was spent in the Blue Mountains, a drive out of Sydney (spent enjoying listening to the radio and catch up on current music, with Mel laughing as we got all the lyrics wrong). We saw the famous 'three sisters' rocks from various viewpoints, and did a beautiful walk down the mountainside via a waterfall, to the valley. After walking around a boardwalk, we then took the Katoomba scenic railway back to the top - the worlds steepest incline railway. What fun! After this exhilarating experience, we then of course went to... You guessed it, to get a hot choc and yummy cake at a quaint little cafe in Katoomba. That evening we then met up with Danny, the nephew of a great family friend of the Marks's, Alan, and had a really lovely evening at opera bar, casually overlooking Sydney harbour. We talked all things travelling, Danny having covered a lot of the world himself, got some top tips for New Zealand and left after a really great evening - thanks Danny!
We left Mel's sad to say goodbye, and headed off for a flight to Brisbane. In Brisbane we were met by Melanie, a good friend of the Doughties who we were with in Malaysia. We had a couple of days chilling out, enjoying spending time with Melanie and her wonderful family, and definitely making the most of a lie in or two! Josh (Melanie's son) took us to visit the wildlife park, where we saw an array of Aussie animals, including the little joeys which were very cute!
We had a fab day meeting up with an old friend Rich - who we met originally met in Thailand for the Thai new year. After a BBQ brunch cooked by Rich's Aussie friend Nathan and his girlfriend, (who knew that hash browns and fried eggs were possible on the barbie? Only in Aus) we went and played... Bare foot bowls. It's safe to say we stuck out like sore thumbs, arriving at the bowls place while there was a competition of old Aussie men who clearly took it very seriously. However we had such a laugh, and became professionals, after some tips from a 'coach' who gave us pointers like "you need more grass" and "add weight" whatever that meant. We had a real laugh though, thanks guys! We then went to a lovely bonfire, with Melanie and all the extended family. We had a lovely evening, chatting and sharing about our travels in Asia (Melanie and her family lived in Malaysia for some time), toasting marshmallows and making s'mores, and generally eating until we were fit to burst. It was such a lovely experience being so welcomed into their family. After a great day sightseeing around Brisbane with Danielle and Josh, we said a sad goodbye and flew back to Melbourne, where we stayed a night before returning to... The FARM. We just couldn't get enough!
Being back with our Ozzy family was a huge pleasure, between us we definitely found our places and fitted in very well! After spending nearly 4 hours waiting to be collected by Rob our farm dad, we were met with huge smiles and massive hugs from both him and the boys! We were quickly back into our old routine, hand holding across the road, keeping them entertained around the supermarket and being squashed in between the two car seats reading Thomas the Tank Engine during the drive back to the farm. Our final five days definitely flew by! Back on the farm with Robs we were straight into the cattle herding, tagging and vaccinating, amongst other things, hundred of calves over the first few days... Promptly thrown, quite literally, into the cow poo- since leaving a ton of rain had happened and so the cattle yards were half a metre thick of sludgy muddy poo! Unfortunately for Mair, she soon found herself waist deep and bottom under in it after suffering the dreaded stuck welly (or Gum Boot, as Finn often reminded us), all however to the great amusement of both Robs and Rach- one way to keep the morale up for sure!
Rach found herself being taught how to drive a manual motorbike, after getting the hang of it she soon became rather a professional at it, much to Robs amazement and so her got her herding two of the farms biggest bulls pretty pronto! Childcare routine was as ever pretty manic, although between them the novelty of having us back didn't wear off with the boys and so they were incredibly happy to have us around, and on many an occasion reminded that we were not allowed to leave and could we please stay forever and ever and ever. Rob and Georgie treated themselves to a night out, leaving us with babysitting duties, a 007 bond night for them meant that we were able to see them incredibly dressed up, as opposed to the usual farm attire! All round they had a fab night and it was great for us to enable that to happen- two young boys and a farm to run mean that they very rarely happen! And we were even able to leave our mark on the farm... Georgie being the biggest recycler ever, had an old bench with missing legs that needed fixing up, a few screws later and many a lick of paint and it was done, our memory for them.
And so that was it, before we knew it it was time for us to leave... Kisses and hugs to Georgie and the boys, a drive through the local 'mountain' range, (any Ozzy mountain is our version of a hill) called the Grampians, and a trip to Arrarat, the fattest town in Oz and before we knew it we were waving goodbye to Robs and off on the bus to Melbourne!
16 hours later, 6 modes of transport, 1am in the morning (somewhat reminds us of being back in Asia) and we found ourselves in an airport hostel in Auckland, in our cardboard box size room, ready to start our final leg of our 7 months... 3 weeks in New Zealand!
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