Since writing my last blog entry we have entered a new year. I can only hope that the next one is as amazing as the last; for me it will be a very hard one to top. My time in Africa was the most liberating, interesting, educational, challenging and humbling experience of my life. I have done things that I never dreamed I would be doing (speaking Swahili, driving to remote villages in a Beetle, singing ‘I’m a little teapot’ in front of 100 5 yr olds), meeting some real characters (the drunk Maasai Lemenguay who guided me and friend Becc up Mount Longido, my good friend Selina who spoke about as much English as I spoke Swahili but with whom I forged a good friendship, and of course the amazing kids at the school, not forgetting my adopted son Issiah who I miss every day) and achieving amazing feats that really pushed me to the edge of my comfort zone (climbing Mount Kilimajaro and learning to get used to the cockroaches in the long drop toilet)! I fell in love with the people of Longido and can’t wait to go back – either as volunteer or friend. Sorry if it sounds like I’m showing off but I’m assuming that if you’re reading this you are a friend of mine and know that I am just proud of myself and amazed that I finally found the courage, money and kick up the bum I needed to take the plunge into the unknown!
Ok, sentimentality over and done with… let me tell you what I have been up to. New Year’s Eve was the best one I’ve ever spent (although I have had some good ones, most notably enjoying Louise’s singstar efforts last year). I was in Sydney - Henderson people, you’ll be pleased to hear that Coxy and I have been reunited and are causing trouble as usual! We stayed with Kamani, a friend of mine from the Africa overland trip, along with a few others who are now travelling in Australia, so it was a bit of a mini-reunion. We packed up a pic-nic and got up at 5am to be at our chosen spot as early as possible. The crack of dawn start paid off, as we secured an amazing view of the Harbour Bridge and were under a rotunda to protect us from the grey clouds that were hovering overhead and threatening rain all day. The channel 7 news crew came round and interviewed us, I was eating a fruit salad at the time and said something stupid about getting some vitamins (yes Dave, in an English accent so the aussies probably wouldn’t have understood me). Luckily my clip didn’t make the news, but Gemma’s did! It was classic, they asked her how she was going to spend her day and they cut it down to show her saying ‘I’m just going to get drunk’! I’d like to say that we were civilised and had our pic-nic accompanied by a glass of champagne as the clock struck midnight. Unfortunately I think we all know that’s not how things really went. My mum’s reading this so can’t be too explicit…but let’s just say a good time was had by all, and the fireworks were amazing (or so I was told…)
On 2nd January it was my 26th birthday, so we re-donned our gladrags and hit the town. Mark and Nathan, friends of mine from home had flown in that morning and it was great to see them. I was very lucky and lots of people came to help me celebrate. We had a great time, finishing up in a club at around 4am.
The next day Gemma, Mark, Nathan and I took a day trip into the Blue Mountains, a range just west of the city which are said to appear blue due to the moisture given off by the eucalyptus plants when seen through the haze. I had hoped to do some hiking while I was there but time and weather didn’t allow. We stopped at a wildlife park where there were loads of koalas which we had our picture taken with.
Then we went to a lookout but visibility was so poor that we couldn’t see past the end of our noses. Luckily, after lunch the weather cleared and we had some good views of the famous 3 Sisters rock formation. There is an aborigine legend that says something about girls getting turned into stone but obviously that’s a load of rubbish and all you need to know is that they are rocky outcrops formed by some sort of erosion (geography buffs, feel free to elaborate…). On the way back to the city we stopped off at the 2000 Olympic Stadium and then took a river cat back to the harbour. I was really nice to get another view of the opera house and bridge and a good way to top off a good week in Sydney. However, Gemma and I were haemorrhaging money so decided it was time to move on. We had an adventurous 20 hour journey up the coast to Brisbane in the most uncomfortable van in the world with 2 german guys. Not something I would usually do but we checked them out beforehand and as we were together felt safe. Don’t worry, it’s a backpacker thing…
I am now back at Yvonne’s house on the Gold Coast, and plan to be here for the next couple of months while I get a job and earn some money to enable me to carry on my travels.
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