However, I am mindful that we more often than not blog about what we’ve done and where we’ve been, not so much about some of the great people we share that time with.

Of course it would not be fair to name and shame this lovely lot and so I will be delicate about it.

Firstly, I reconnected with an English colleague from a fair few years ago when we first arrived. She in turn introduced us to her fella and from the off we became good friends. Recently I realised just *how* good. And no, they didn’t ask us to put our car keys in a bowl.

A common theme we share is being so far away from our families and so in a sense, your closest friends begin to fill that gap. Last weekend we went on a trip to Melbourne together and we had a bit of a heart to heart (sponsored by Chandon). She said some thoroughly genuine and lovely things which dispelled any concerns I may have ever had about us suddenly arriving and encroaching on their established life here in Sydney. They, for their part, have gone on to introduce us to some equally great people.

It’s always a bit of a comfort when you realise that someone is going through the same feelings as you. Makes you feel less alone and more connected.

Being away in unfamilliar territory like this is a little bit like being back in the playground in your first week at school – you have to go through the rigmarole of getting to know who you do and don’t want to spend time with, why, what makes them tick and how much you can depend on them. You experience that awkward ‘will you be my friend?’ moment but far more self consciously because you add adult values to the equation.

Effectively, it’s the adult equivalent of  asking them if  they’ll let you play with their My Little Ponies…..

At the same time as working all this out, you find yourself being somewhat reliant on people you might not otherwise have lent on, purely because they are all you’ve got.

Does that sound cold? I think everyone does it at some point in their lives, both as an adult and as a child.

You don’t want to rely on people back home because whilst they may wish to help you out or support you, the time difference and distance makes this even more of a challenge than it would otherwise be. I don’t want to worry the people I would usually talk to -  my sister in law or my mother, for example – over something which may turn out to be rather trivial, or about something which I need feedback on quickly. Which is where our ‘Australia’ friends come in.

People talk a lot these days about how horrible people are to one another. I can safely say that we have received nothing but kindness from the people we’ve met over here in Sydney.

Take the ’social media crowd’ as I will call them. From the off, we were invited by @ScottRhodie to ‘SHTBOX‘   – a Friday night weekly gathering of Twitter users at The Clock in Surry Hills. That wasn’t even a toe dip. That was a full on ‘push you in the deep end’ moment. Which is, to be fair, what we love.

From then on in we met a variety of people who dabbled in or worked in social media – from filmographers and photographers to PR people, journalists, tekkies,  marketeers and more . A totally eclectic mix. I am not saying we clicked with them all (if you will pardon the pun) but isn’t that the beauty of meeting people?

That led to us to attending and getting involved with a number of sites and events, from IgniteSydney to Digital Citizens (at the last of these we attended, Himself was a speaker) and a load more besides, including one lovely lady I now consider a friend asking me to guest blog on her fabulous Law&Shoes site.

Our colleagues from both our places of work have been great, too. I mean it is rare to want to socialise with the people you work with all day but both of us have had great experiences.

Which brings me to our friends and family back home.

We miss you, terribly. Thank you for the cards you’ve sent and the texts, calls etc. Particularly for the pissed up early morning Sunday calls and texts – we do love those. Those fill us with joy . (Anyone who went to our wedding will appreciate that pic!).

Sorry for OUR (mistaken/pissed up) early morning/late night calls/texts. Thank you for bothering to facebook and e-mail us and for reading this.

Most of all, thanks for keeping in up to date with what’s going on in your worlds. Makes us feel closer to you and not so much like we’re on complete the other side of the globe….. which sometimes can feel almost like another dimension.

We look forward very much to welcoming those of you who are coming over in the near future. Get those flights booked!

Big love

Herself

x

Related posts:

1. A bit of a rant!
2. Sydney Festival, Mind the Gap and more

[photos to follow tomorrow]

As per our other post, we were renting a cottage in Leura – 10 minutes from Katoomba by car, and on the Saturday morning, we headed over to Echo Point in Katoomba to see the Three Sisters and the views that we kept hearing being raved about.

Katoomba: Three Sisters/Echo Point/Scenic World

Echo Point and Price Henry Cliff Walk

This time our trip to Katoomba was in beautiful sunshine, with not a cloud in the sky. We headed over in the car and parked up in a side street near Echo point before walking the 5 minutes to the viewing point and platform near the visitors centre. The views are stunning over from the point, towards the Three Sisters and out over the valley below. The drop must be somewhere near 1000 ft – I can’t think that I have seen anywhere like it. The only straight drop similar that I have seen, is the one in Norway at Preikestolen. We took plenty of pictures this time and to explain just how bad the weather was the first time that we went – we hadn’t even noticed/seen the visitors centre – which was about 50m back from the edge – the fog had been so thick that we had just completely missed it!

So anyhow, we walked from Echo Point over to the Three Sisters, and looked back over the valley to Echo point and then descended the steepest walk that I have ever done – The Prince Henry Cliff Walk! Down the side of the cliffs on a narrow path and steps/stairs/ladders descended down into the bowels of the valley – it must have taken about an hour to get down to the path which would lead us through the forest towards the famous Cable Cars/Skyway at Scenic World.

There is a bit more information on the walk that we did here: Price Henry Cliff Walk Katoomba

and there are LOADS of walks in the area – detailed here at Wildwalks

To be honest – if you aren’t fit then you will struggle. I wouldn’t take kids down there to be honest, but there were a few people with young ones – but it was full of steep steps and lots of railings.

The path at the bottom had loads of different walks that you could head off and undertake, but the climb down certainly gave everyone something to think about in terms of aches and pains, so we just headed off to the vertical railway station and about two hours later we arrived – a little jaded to say the least!

Katoomba – Scenic World

From the bottom of the valley back up to the top there are about three or four options…

One – stay down there, Two – get the vertical train (Scenic Railway) ride ($11 one way), three the Scenic Cableway (again $11) or Four – to walk. One and Four weren’t an option, so we opted for the Scenic Railway… It basically rises almost straight up the cliff face and up to the Scenic World complex. Herself had an absolute episode on this thing – now bearing in mind that I am not a big fan of heights either, she nearly made me panic in her petrified state – beware – if you are of a mild constitution it might frighten the living daylights out of you… however – its a great experience.

We had a wander about the shop up there and a look out on the platform we grabbed the most expensive coffee in the cafe/restaurant from the most miserable woman in the world (why be involved in customer service if you hate all and sundry) and then took the Scenic Skyway ($9) back over towards Echo Point. We arrived back at Echo point having spent about 5 hours doing the loop and it was a fabuous way to spend the day. We didn’t race around, and I am sure you could do it quicker – but we had a lot of fun, and I would recommend it to anyone.

The photo’s (coming) show it all really… I can’t really say – oh it’s beautiful… just look at the pictures.

Well – that’s about it for our Katoomba experience, apart from to say that the shop at the visitors center sells some amazing slippers, that we invested in, and that we only found one bottle shop – which had a really really good selection of wines – on the high street, between the station and the Westpac bank on the left hand side – it was next to an Italian I think.

Anyhow – tomorrow, I’ll write about our second trip over to the Jenolan caves as well as get all of our photos sorted out and uploaded into this post & the one about Leura!

Much love,

Himself!

Some Links About The Blue Mountains and Katoomba

http://www.bluemts.com.au/

http://www.visitbluemountains.com.au/

http://www.visitnsw.com/town/Katoomba.aspx

http://www.wildwalks.com/bushwalking-and-hiking-in-nsw/blue-mountains-katoomba/

http://www.bluemts.com.au/tourist/thingsToDo/threeSisters.asp

http://www.katoomba-nsw.com/

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1. A Weekend in Leura in the Blue Mountains, NSW

ANZAC day is the Australian equivalent of Remembrance Day in the UK – a day of celebration, remembrance and mourning for the fallen troops and servicemen of military conflicts and actions. Less we never forget.

We were initially invited to head up to a cottage in the Leura about six weeks ago, and after our mixed time up there the first time; (Read about it here: Our first time in the Blue Mountains)

The plan was to leave Sydney on Friday night and to drive up in two cars (for the six of us) and get an early night before having a good walk about on Saturday (as the weather was better than Sunday) and then to head to the Caves at Jenola on Sunday. Monday we left free as the weather is quite changable up there and we had to check out at about 11.30 anyway.

Driving to Blue Mountains from Sydney

Last time we headed up to Katoomba, we hired a car from Bayswater Car rentals (it cost about $35/day inc Sat Nav & Full Insurance) and we headed up early on the Saturday morning so basically missed all of the traffic. Friday night leaving Sydney is a bit different; we ended up sitting in a taxi for about 45 minutes going from our studio in Darlinghurst to Kirribilli where our friends live. On arrival it seemed evident that everyone had had a shite Friday and this was compounded by me leaving my phone in the taxi and losing the plot before we left! Not a great start to the Bank Holiday weekend.

Anyway – as I said the traffic is awful – here for live Sydney traffic reports.

When it is quiet, apparently the best way to get up there is the route that we went (and there are no road tolls) – the first time; Straight up the M4: Sydney To Leura (Blue mountains)

If you are travelling at peak time or during weekends when people are heading out of the city or if you are leaving from North Sydney, (the way we went this time) then take this route: Sydney to Leura via M7 There are a few tolls roads so it can rack up if you don’t watch out.

It has taken us about 2 hours to get to Katoomba & Leura everytime we have gone to and from Sydney – so expect it to take that long (traffic permitting)

WATCH OUT FOR THE NSW POLICE – They are bloody everywhere!

The coppers over here are buggers – every single time we have gone anywhere – they are either pulling someone or lying in wait. You basically can’t speed in NSW – stick to the limit and don’t drink and drive.

The main encouragement is as follows: Double Points Apply on Bank Holidays, Christmas, and almost every major event that is held – you speed – you will lose your licence.

from the NSW RTA website: On declared public holiday long weekend periods in NSW the demerit points for all speeding, seat belt, child restraint and helmet offences are doubled.

The Rented Cottage In Leura

The cottage that our friend had rented was a beautiful wooden cottage called Harmony Cottage about 5 minutes walk from the centre of Leura and 10 minutes drive from Katoomba.

We had a great first night, sat up drinking wine, chatting until the really late hours of Saturday morning, and generally wound down after what had been a pretty rough week for everyone.

So anyway, you can read about the day we spent in Katoomba at Scenic World and Echo Point here

Much Love,

Himself!

	On declared public holiday long weekend periods in NSW the demerit points for all speeding, seat belt, child restraint and helmet offences are doubled.

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1. A Day in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, NSW

When I look back at one of our first ever blog posts, I laugh in the face of the broom-wielding antics which took place in order to dispose of an arachnid the size of your finger nail. We should have nurtured that little fella, kept it as a pet, perhaps. The rehabilitation it would have offered us may have at least in part prepared us for the RHINOS of spiders that we have since encountered.

It’s always a good one, never fails. You can be skipping along happily in the sunshine, chatting away, throw a casual glance to your left and be confronted with Aragog’s meaner, older brother. It’s like a car crash. You just can’t tear your eyes away. It takes about three minutes for your brain to even compute that something that large can just be hanging there, on a tiny thread without breaking it. Ready to scare the living shit out of you.

Equally, they’re pretty fascinating. Providing of course that there is at least 3 metres , an ouzi or a pane of glass between you and them.

We have been very fortunate I think to not have had one in the flat yet – the closest we’ve come to this is the little guy I snapped sheltering from the rain on the outside of our back door when I was off work sick. It was a Hunstman which are the good spiders. Yeah. Define ‘good’…..

We’ve been lucky thus far as we have not come across this fella – the Sydney Funnel Web. Only the males are able to do any damage but they are extremely poisonous spiders. Here is how to treat a Funnel Web Spider’s Bite.

Bear one thing in mind. These spiders’ webs are like the Forth Bridge. I believe that, given a favourable breeze, they could actually span entire villages. So when you are strolling merrily along a quiet, tree-lined Sydney street, take a glance upwards.

I can guarantee you’ll be walking in the middle of the road once you do. Enjoy the gallery………….

[View with PicLens]

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1. A bit of a rant!

Himself: My sister says there are lots of koala farms round here.

Herself: really? Wow, cool. Like, in the trees and just free to move about and stuff?

Himself: Yes, they farm them for their skins I believe.

………………………………………………………………………

Half an hour later, on arrival at the hotel.

Herself (to girl behind the reception desk): Could you tell us where the nearest koala farm is, please?

Receptionist: Ko…….koala…..farm?

Herself: Yes, there are a few round here apparently. My sister in law has visited them.

Receptionist: I….um. There is a nice wildlife park about 20 minutes away. They probably have koalas.

Herself: No, I don’t think it’s that, apparently it’s an actual farm where…….(looks to the left)

Himself: (doubled over laughing).

Herself: You lied. (To receptionist) He lied. Forget it.

I sometimes allow Himself to have these tiny victories as I know they make him feel good about himself.

Anyway, back to the point. Accommodation was a rather quirky place known as Hotel Blue. We got a booking from lastminute.com.au but they currently have a special offer on their website which looks like good value for money. Their (very good) website suggests that the hotel is more modern than it really is, in reality it was a little worn but to the owners’ credit, they are revamping and decorating the entire place. The owners are a family who have over 20 years experience in the business and you really get the impression that the place is in good hands. Nothing was too much trouble for them and we had a couple of really nice chats.

The lounge had a roaring fire (the whole place smelt pleasantly of woodsmoke), a pool table and several chess boards, as well as some coffee table books about the area.  We had a relaxing drink before we headed out for some food.

Can’t say there’s a mind-blowing choice of eateries in Katoomba, in fact we ended up having something like burger and chips in the oddest place.  Katoomba generally seems very ‘art deco’ and the cafe we ate in was no exception. ‘Cafe Zuppa wasn’t terrible but we’ve certainly had better food. It made me laugh to read one of the reviews on the site I just linked to (Trip Adviser) which mentions how the waitress literally threw the plate down  – the same happened to me but I gave her the benefit of the doubt and assumed she’d slipped! Clearly not!

The dessert I was furnished with was the simply gargantuan. I couldn’t have eaten it had I been starving. When I mentioned this to the waitress she said it was because it hadn’t risen properly in the cooking so what it lacked in height, they made up for in width. I can’t even recall what it was so it obviously wasn’t that memorable. The only thing I really remember was that it was the size of a house brick.

Anyway, I don’t wish to waste any more of your (or my time) on the unremarkable Cafe Zuppa.

On the afternoon we arrived, we went to the Jenolan Caves! They were fabulous, very exciting and the tour we did around the River Cave was really well done. We are returning this weekend with some friends and we have a half price entry voucher to go again. I would quite like to see the Orient Cave if possible.

I was quite chuffed with myself as I faced my fear of heights by climbing down a very tall ladder which had a very sheer drop below. It was probably safe  but it didn’t feel like it at the time! That got the adrenaline pumping!

The photos below will surely say more than I ever could.

[View with PicLens]

We then left to go on a bit of a drive and saw a bit of wildlife – including our first kangaroo! Well okay.  It was probably a wallaby. I don’t know. I didn’t ask it.

The following day we went to see the Three Sisters. This is a famous rock formation which apparently looks like this. However, our photo of the stunning scenery lacked a little of the gravitas of the one above.

[View with PicLens]

In the end, I DID find my koala (more fool you, Andrew!) and despite getting rather wet and bedraggled and not managing to see the very view we came for, we had a good break. It’s a pleasant enough place, really quiet nightlife wise but don’t expect to be the only visitors, bus loads of hat-wearing Koreans abound. At one point I thought it might be the law that when in Katoomba, a hat was to be worn.

[View with PicLens]

Like I say, we’re returning this coming weekend to a nearby village called Leura which we drove through when we were up there and which we thought was prettier than Katoomba. Who knows, we may even get a photo of those elusive rocks………

Related posts:

1. A Weekend in Leura in the Blue Mountains, NSW
2. A Day in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, NSW