Australian Maritime Museum

This place was amazing and I was thoroughly impressed. The guides were kind and informative. The boats were awe inspiring and full of history. The exhibits were all great at giving you a feel of maritime history throughout the ages.

Bathroom Selfies are ok when they are on an old Destroyer.

on the submarine 

in the sub

also in the sub

The James Craig

The patrol boat Advance

"Hey ma, if you could se me now, arms spread wide on the starboard bow, gonna fly this boat to the moon somehow, Like Kevin Garnett anything is possible" -The Lonely Island

Sydney so Far

 

  The first two weeks here were very rainy and cold for a Southern California girl so I didn't go out too much.
      I did however learn how to take the train all over the city and spent the first couple days just getting lost.  On one day that was supposed to be sunny I decided to go and see 'Sculptures by the Sea' at Bondi beach which had been recommended by several people.  The walk was great and took one along the cliffs where the sculptures were. Unfortunately it was too crowded to get any good pictures.  right as I was reaching the end of my walk the sky decided to dump buckets on everyone.  It was kind of entertaining to see all these people on the beach, dressed for getting wet, running to take cover from the rain. I continued on my path as I was in a bikini anyways and it wasn't a cold rain. It was surprisingly a lot of fun. I was hoping the rain would end soon and I would get a great spot on a now vacant beach. But the rain didn't stop so I hopped on the bus and went home.
     This is the first week that has been sunny and it's going to be a hot one. I've spent the last couple days at the beach. Tomorrow I think I will go and take a tour of the Opera house.

 

"I read; I travel; I become" - Derek Walcott 

Ive spent a bunch of days reading on the beach. It is so peaceful and relaxing. It allows time for reflection and thoughts to settle.

Food!

     There are two groups of people in this world: those who eat to live and those who live to eat.
     Those who eat to live have no passion for food. The idea of eating pasta with meat sauce and veggies for three nights in a row has no effect on them. It is healthy and fills a void, what could be wrong with that. Rainy days you weather through eat the same as usual and maybe read a book. To them spicy is just spicy. There aren't variations of spicy and seasonings are extras you don't need it's fine if it comes mixed in a packet. To those who eat to live, having a chicken sandwich for lunch is perfectly fine and snacks are for getting fat. What is the purpose of snacks?
     To those who live to eat, snacks are a way of life. They are delicious morsels that hold one over until the next meal. A chicken sandwich every day is not fine, although it may be considered a challenge.  A challenge to figure out all of the different ways to make this sandwich and not get bored with the same taste. Seasoning are unique and each one has its own qualities to flavor a meal. Spicy has multiple levels and variations and having the exact same pasta dish multiple days in a row would be inconceivable. Rainy days are ideal for a cooking/baking day where one might heat up the house trying new things or making a favorite dish then sitting down with a book and slowly enjoy the fruits of one's labors. Those who live to eat have a great passion for food.
     The house I am helpx - ing  at is loving. It is located perfectly. It's near Sydney but not so close that one feels stuck in the city. The people are so kind and caring. The issue is they eat to live and I live to eat. Oh snacks how I miss you and I really, really, really want to bake cookies right now!

"Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious." - Ruth Reichl     This speaks to me. I love food and life. They are both so full of new possible experiences. Life and food bring people together.

On The Road pt. IV

The Blue Mountains

Driving through the Blue Mountains was lovely and I found a nice campsite for free. Just after pulling in and eating dinner it started to poor. So I hunkered down and read till dark and just enjoyed the atmosphere before going to bed. In the morning I went to the Information center where the lady was very helpful showing me great places to hike at an easy level. The hikes were beautiful but there were SO MANY STAIRS that my legs tired out quickly. After a long morning of hiking I decided to try out another free campsite down the road. There I met a nice Turkish man.  He lives out of his van, makes his own yogurt, collects rain water for drinking, uses the river to wash and makes his own bread. It sounded very interesting but certainly not the lifestyle for me. 

While setting up camp for the night a huge storm rolled in and I experienced what was probably one of the biggest rainstorms I've been in. The raindrops were the size of large bird droppings and the lightning and thunder seemed to last all night. The rain even seeped into the bottom of my car door a bit and got my sleeping bag wet. Thankfully only a little spot. next day you would have never guessed that there had been a storm and I drove around a bit before heading down the mountain and to my Helpx in Hornsby. 

 

    "Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world."-Gustave Flaubert

In that storm I felt immensely tiny and was very glad that there were others camping nearby to know I wasn't alone in my tinyness. 

On The Road pt. III

    

     Heading west from Coff’s Harbor you start to drive up into the rain forest. The road was absolutely beautiful and a bit scary. As usual for this trip it was a rainy and foggy day and the mountain road was windy. Trees were tight together and the road so windy that on some of the switch backs the road was too narrow for two lanes and they just stop the dividing lane and its up to you to make the corner. 

     

     Then as you continue on further it just becomes one lane again while construction crews are clearing away what appears to be a landslide that had been covering up the whole road. But the scenery is absolutely worth it and your ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ is Dorrigo National Park. I fell in love with this little place and wish I had spent more time there. They have a bridge to nowhere so visitors can look over the tops of the rain forest trees then one can go below for a sort or long walk among the lower part of the rainforest and experience it at a different view. Unfortunately as usual with this trip it started to rain so I cut my stay short and continued on. 

     At Ebon I stopped at a cute little café and had lunch and decided to re-evaluate my course (the burger I had there was amazing after all of the processed food I had been eating).  I had been driving more than planned and stopping less thus I was making better time than planned and had only a couple hour drive left and still had a few days till I needed to be in Sydney. Looking at my Maps book I decided to check out the Grey Gum café and maybe spend the weekend there after a night in another national park near by. This one had a beautiful hike where you could see the way the mountains had formed with some spectacular waterfalls.

 

    Next day was onto grey gum café on putty road. On the map it looked like I would be driving on mountain roads again and as I kept going it just looked like plains. Then I came upon a memorial for truck drivers and as I was thinking about how strange that was I turned a corner and immediately found out why there was a memorial for truck drivers. The road became extremely curvy and there were lots of signs about land slides. The drive was beautiful and I took a short break at an old abandoned truck stop. 

      

     The Grey Gum Café was delicious and I got to talk to the owner as I ate and he made sure that I was comfortable and had everything I needed. He also encouraged me to stay for the music festival that weekend. I was going to but in the morning as I went outside there were so many flies I couldn’t breath and I didn’t want to live in my car for any longer while waiting so back to the maps I went. With a couple of days left on my trip I figured why not do a trip into the Blue Mountains? And off again I went.

 

"A good traveler had no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving." -Lao Tzu 

I had no fixed plans on this trip and my only intent was on arriving in Sydney, I think I did ok though as there really was no rush.

On The Road pt. II

     After that first night I woke up to an absolutely beautiful camp and I had parked right next to the river and I felt so lucky.

     I continued my way down to Byron bay. Unfortunately it was raining so much by the time I got there that you could barely see anything. Thus I decided to continue on. I figured that sight seeing is no fun in the rain so I might as well get some driving out of the way while I was stuck in my car anyways. This might not have been such a great idea, as the rain never seemed to stop. The rain eventually let off and I decided to check out Bundjalung National Park. It was beautiful dirt road drive for about 20km. I was sure that I was headed nowhere but upon arriving it was a beautiful campsite. I would have loved to stay but I was a bit uncertain as to how to pay for a campsite as the instructions were a but unclear. 

     As it was only noon I figured I would drive on. I ended up at Yuraygir National Park. This park was even nicer and right on the beach. The only downside was that I picked the spot that all of the parrots seemed to like. Needless to say it was a bit loud till dark. Next morning I got up and headed for Coffs Harbor

     Once again the rain caught up with me. Coffs Harbor was also so rainy one could hardly see anything. I decided to give myself a driving tour around and make the most of it. It was a pretty drive and the road up to the Light house was nice. I asked some tourists if it was worth the walk around it and they said you couldn’t see a thing off of the lookout. I was a bit disappointed at my timing and decided to move on.  Next Bellingen to Armidale.

"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience" -Eleanor Roosevelt