I touched down after being well fed again on Air China. I was now staying in Panania, a southwestern suburb about an hour away from the CBD by train. I met up again with my travel amiga Kristen who kindly arranged everything and bought Yorkshire Tea. It was the final week of my visa so there were a few things left that I wanted to do. Unfortunately it was forecast for thunderstorms all week but I wasn’t going to let that stop me.
We headed into town to meet up with Liam and Jade at their flat to make the most of their pool and broken sauna that they had on site before having pizza and watching Step Brothers ‘so much space for activities.’ We met again later on in the week too at Pancake On The Rocks for Jade’s birthday and to enjoy their delicious offerings one more time.
Manly beach was one of the main places I had not been in my previous time in the city so we took the Manly ferry there costing $8.50 each way. It’s a pretty decent way to have a cheap harbor tour too as it takes you past the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House before heading out too sea. Now the first mistake our friends made (Liam and Jade) was to depart the boat and go to the nearest piece of sand possible and claim you went to Manly. That’s not the case as you have to walk through the promenade area to the other side where the official beach is which is about 20 times larger. Maybe next time ay guys.
The beach was currently hosting the Australian Surf championship so there was quite a hustle about the place. We first took a walk along the shoreline before realizing we had to continuously look down because of the hundreds of Blue Bottle jellyfish that had been washed ashore. We set ourselves down between the safety flags and watched a few people come out with sting marks from the deep blue coloured strands the jelly has trail behind it. The pain can last for up to an hour but is not lethal and the only thing you can do is apply water to it. I hadn’t come all this way not to take a dip and the majority of people in the water seemed fine so I applied logic and went for it. They do get great White sharks around manly too, so I was hesitant about going out too far so I went out around 15m max to reassure myself. We only spent a few minutes in the water but job done I was happy to call it at that. If we had more time there was a really nice coastal walk to the right of the beach and the shops looked really good in the area. We stopped off for coffee and cake on the way back before the rain started to drizzle down again. We dashed across to Coles to get some veggie burgers but making the 1 ½ hour journey home.
There was only 1 place left on the list to do now and that was the Blue Mountains. With the nearest station proving a nightmare for logistics, we had to connect onto 3 different trains before ending up on the correct one to go into the national park. Taking around 2 ½ hours, we left the station at Leura and planned to hike up to Gordon falls and then around to the Three Sisters.
The town had lots of character featuring wooden paneled buildings along the main high-street and felt very much like the town off Twilight. We reached Gordon Falls within 20 minutes then took the windings and slippery side paths down to one of the falls. Half the path was washed out so we both had to maneuver ourselves across the railings and rocks to get down. We stopped for a couple of photos before moving on.
We trekked through muddy pathways to reach the main road again and gradually made our way to the top passing rock pools and lookout points. The 8.5km walk took us to the end of the viewing platform at the Three Sisters where we had to jostle for position amongst the bus loads of Chinese tourists for a clear photo. The green covered gorge spread out into the vast horizon and you could see the rainfall blowing in from miles away. Despite the crowds it was quite peaceful up there for the hour we spent and was fully worth our previous efforts.
On the penultimate day a few of the NZ gang rolled into town. The fuzzy beard of Charlie’s was instantly recognizable when he called out my name in the street. Talli and Kathryn had met up with some of their friends so we were now a group of 6. The pressure was on as they presumed I knew where I was going after spending a collective 3 weeks in Sydney. After one wrong turn I guided us to Mrs Macquarie's Chair which is situated at the end of a costal path looking out over the Opera house in the botanic Garden. Me and Charlie turned camera men as we photographed the now trademark leaping photo. After a few attempts our attention hovered as we began snapping ourselves, you are welcome guys!
It was also my final chance to see the pointy white building and some famous bridge before flying back to the sunny UK. The conditions were perfect with the sun setting in the background silhouetting the CBD skyscrapers. My journey was at an end now and sadly I had to say see you later to them again.
My bags were packed and my trainers had just about held together long enough. Kristen and I headed into town where I needed to buy souvenirs from Paddy’s Market. I managed to get an ornamental boomerang for $5 and a magnet for $2.50, job done!
With only an hour left of my adventure it was time for one more treat. In the first week I went to Oliver Brown, a chocolatier café which I remembered fondly. One more trip down memory lane wouldn’t hurt. It was a sugar fest. I ordered a chocolate balls hot chocolate with a Ferrero Roche cake and Kristen got a coconut hot chocolate with a Black Forrest cake. It was sublime and sickly at the same time but I had no regrets.
One final goodbye (see you later) had to be made. I had travelled with Kristen for just over 7 months after our Loka group headed off in different directions for work etc. We had both seen every state in Australia apart from Tasmania in that time. What a journey! Good luck in your next adventure and I look forward to catching up soon.
Manchester, UK. The 25-hour journey seemed nothing now in comparison. The passenger doors opened to a bitter coldness that I had not felt in a long time. Since being away Brexit had happened and Donald Trump was in office to name a few changes. A lot can happen in 12 months. I walked through arrivals to see Mum and Dad were nowhere to be seen. So much for the dramatic entrance. A few minutes later they walked in as I saw them sat down from a bench in the corner, they looked excited but were now looking in the complete wrong direction. I hauled my bags on and made my way over tapping my mum on the shoulder with my first poetic words for 12 months saying ‘you are late’ haha. It was nice to see them both and that was the final line drawn under this adventure. Until next time, I am signing off. The Nomad.
