Beaches, friends, and the Kangaroo Valley

It has been way too long since I’ve written! So much has happened…

Last weekend Katie and I went to Manly beach together, just the two of us. It was fun to enjoy our first day at the beach! We rode the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly (30 min.). It was a beautiful day and the perfect temperature. We had fun getting tan and drinking diet cokes on the beach.

Quick story…In L.A. when I was in the long line to check-in at Qantas, I met a guy from England traveling on his own for 6 months around in the US, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, and China. We talked for about 40 minutes and exchanged emails so that he (Ryan) could contact me when he arrived in Sydney. Anyway, he arrived on Tuesday, so my friends and I met up with him at one of the bars downtown called Scruffy Murphy’s. It was so fun to catch up with him and his travels! It was such a random meet, but so fun.

I also met up with the Burchett family’s friend Liz Hawthorne. Liz is a student at Sydney Uni, and when the Burchett’s lived in Australia, the girls were friends with Liz, and have still stayed in touch with her. We finally had coffee on campus together after talking via facebook for awhile. She is such a sweet girl, and it was so fun to meet face-to-face! We are planning on getting together again before I leave.

This weekend was absolutely wonderful! I went with six other students from my program to the Kangaroo Valley. We volunteered for the weekend with CVA, Conservation Volunteers Australia, in Chakola, a camp recreation area. Chakola is Aboriginal for Lyrebird. It was a beautiful weekend—the weather was sunny and breezy, in the high seventies. We stayed in cabins with bunk beds and cooked together in the kitchen.

On our way to Chakola we stopped at Kiama Beach, home to the biggest blowhole in New South Wales. The beach and rocks were amazing. When we arrived we got settled and then got dressed in our “work” gear. This consisted of long sleeves, long pants, bright yellow neon vests, and fishermen’s hats—the traditional Aussie nature hat. We looked so goofy, but it was fun to get the whole Aussie experience. We raked the pathway down to Kangaroo River and stopped on the way to enjoy the green bush.

On Saturday we worked at a national park about an hour from Chakola. Our guide, Matt, came with us everywhere and we met up with another man from CVA and a girl from Wollongong. We went in the swampy area to pull these huge weeds that looked like mini trees, however, the land rover type vehicle got stuck in the mud! We spent most of our time there trying to get the car out, but finally managed to after a lot of stick gathering and digging. The rest of the day we chopped down weeds in the bush and poisoned them so that they wouldn’t grow back.

When we came back to Chakola my friend Lisa and I went to look for kangaroos and wallabies. The paddock (field) that was part of the property was filled with about 15 kangaroos/wallabies. It was hard to tell them apart since we were far away, but we saw them hopping around. We also saw a herd of cows, and they came running up to the fence, right by where we were standing. It was pretty cool to be face-to-face with six cows.

At night we had a bonfire with s’mores, and we also made muesli cookies for dessert. Muesli is my new favorite breakfast food. It’s similar to granola, but there’s more fruit and nuts. They have really good muesli bars here too…I’ll have to bring some back! Anyway, this morning we did some more weeding on the property near the river, and then ate lunch and headed back to Sydney. On our way we stopped at Fitzroy Falls, a gorgeous waterfall in the mountains (near the Blue Mountains). It was stunning! Australia is unbelievably beautiful. I have never seen such beautiful landscape. The mountains, green hills and valleys, rivers, waterfalls, etc. You all should spend the money and come sometime, because there is nothing else like it!

I was sick with a head cold most of the week, so I am finally feeling better. A weekend away did miracles. This week will be really tough since I have a consultancy report due for my science class, and a group media kit for my media relations class both due on Friday. My mom and dad arrive early Friday morning, and I absolutely cannot wait!!! Then it’s off to Melbourne and the Outback for SB 08 #2. Your prayers are always appreciated, and I will keep you in mine too.

xxx Megs