Randwick Lodge

Our daytrip to Sydney was a nice city day. Dave and I are beginning to realize that we are slowly starting to find it hard to adapt to the city life...we are enjoying the peace of camping and climbing and being around "small town" people a little too much!<br>The train into Sydney from the Blueys is outstanding. For $19AUS each, you take a 2 hour train right into the centre ...

On April 1 we left Ted and Vicki Cain's home on the Central Coast. The weather was windy and rainy so we decided to take the train to Sydney. We were met at Strathfield station by Sue. We last saw Sue when she came to visit us in Ottawa two years ago and it was 12 years ago that we last saw Mike in Montreal. They welcomed us into their home and for the next eight days we ...

... kiln. we cooked, we ate, we avoided the spiders lurking around the door and i kept watch for someone hanging around brandishing an axe! after dinner, during which i was slightly on edge, we ventured into the tv room, where there was not only a tv, but a free pool table, tea and coffee facilities, magazines, seventies style sofas, tourist information and a huge wall hanging celebrating the years that the ranch had been open. our time in the tv room was spent watching a drama ...

... main, and Marinated strawberries with cream and shortbread for pudding. MMMM MMMM definitely worth $65 each, we were as stuffed as turkeys on christmas, i has to undo the buttons on my top i was so full it hurt to breathe! dont worry i still had another top on underneath =P. Waddled back to the hostel, and went on the internet to see if i was loved by facebook haha, and I WAS! Yay. Realised that i had been sent post, but the notification had gone into my junk mail, and i thought ...

... the pool and one of the women brought along her child's inflatable toys and Brad brought an inflatable mattress, so we had an American Gladiator-style running of the gauntlet in the pool. And all of the girls brought along absurd props and many many outfits (I was totally ill-prepared) as there was a black-and-white themed night. Laser tag, which I ridiculed at first, was actually the greatest thing ever as it was ...

... noticed a horse named Courtney was running on the track in Melbourne, she was a bit of a long shot but we all backed her, and wouldn't you know it, Courtney came through with the win. We had a couple other small wins during the day but mostly losses, so we gave most of the winnings from Courtney back to the bookies. One other big difference from the States is that there are many different bookies all with different odds on the races ...

... g'day - hello Gazza - nickname for Gary good on ya - good job, congratulations grog - alcohol hash key - pound key (phone) have a go - try heaps - lots, very hen's night - bachelorette party hire - rent hot chips - fries how ya goin? - how are you? jug - pitcher jumper - sweater keen - enthusiastic knackered - tired lecture - uni class lecturer - professor Macca's - McDonald's mate - friend middie - small glass of beer mobile - cell phone mozzies - mosquitos ...

... had also become overgrown with flowery weeds so you could hardly even tell there's a bench there - I guess it's been a while since I've visited it. After spending some quality time on my favorite bench in the whole world, I met up with my uni friend Daniela for some farewell drinks. I can't believe I'm really leaving Sydney!! I'm going to miss my bench, the Harbour, the laid-back Aussie lifestyle, the awesome people I've met ...

... we should all go do karaoke. So we headed to one of those karaoke places where you rent your own private room (and therefore don't subject strangers to your off-key warblings). I suddenly found myself in karoke hell - both the Saudi guy and my drunken professor were hitting on all of us girls and kept trying to get us to dance with them. My fun professor morphed into this sleazy, sketchy old man... Daniela and I ended up hanging onto each other for dear life, but we ...