quarter century camp-out!

My Oh My. It has been a while, hasn’t it? So many things have happened! And all while I was disconnected from reality. aka: the internet.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks, that much I can say for sure. And though I find it slightly embarrassing, my life is fully and most definitely reliant on the internet. I live on the OTHER SIDE of this huge world of ours and my family and I can only really communicate via skype and emails. On a side note: why are phone calls still SO expensive? I mean really… when we have unlimited internet for 50 bucks a month… who is the idiot who says that 1 minute of a phonec all costs 4 dollars. Someone should kick that guy.

Anyway, I have been trying my hardest to keep up with the Jones’ from free library internet while struggling with an ever increasing phone bill… which incidentally is actually from internet use (damn you ever-available internet). I have missed TV shows, I have missed skype dates, I have been tardy with my emails and I have been generally out of the loop. All this sucks, and yet I have re-introduced myself to books, cooking and using a computer that doesn’t have a wifi connection. It’s weird. What did I used to do on a internet-less computer? Play Minesweeper? Yep.

So I have yet to share my pictures from the coast, my birthday fun (I’m 25. uh… what?) and some other delicious activities such as PIE making.

Let’s go back. To coastal walks and an angry ocean.

For the celebration of my quarter century birthday, I decided I wanted to get back to nature. Get in touch with the great mother herself and spend some time with a couple of my closest friends.

We planned our meals, we packed our bags, we got on the train and we hiked to the coast, and then some.

Some favourite shots…

burning palms…

A very angry ocean. An ocean that ripped off my bathing suit with one swift and knee buckling wave. I guess she wanted me in my birthday suit. well-played ocean. well-played.

Our sweet and secluded camp-site.

An awesome tree in the middle of a field of shrubs.

My very own Bear Grylls.

Our gluten-free dinner. (the meat was omitted from mine)

My very canadian friend in her very australian hat.

Various levels of excitement for the hike back to civilization.

My birthday was a couple days later… Too many pictures to post right now, but it was a good one. This weekend in nature was exactly what we needed to get away from Sydney, work and the general business of life.

’twas grand.

You may have noticed in these images that I am experimenting with some new post-processing effects and a water-mark that I have yet to perfect. 🙂 New software = lots of new possibilities. Time to get amoungst it!

xxx

pindarrrrrrrrrrr

Back in Canada, autumn is my favourite time of year and so October was my favourite month. Mostly because of Halloween. I love the colours and the smells, the cool weather, the abundance of pumpkin and dressing up like a fool in order to get candy from strangers. That’s totally normal.

However, the tables have turned… or rather the seasons. Because now Spring is in October, the leaves are not turning, the pumpkin is not aplenty and strangers have stopped giving me candy. It’s a dilemma. None of these things are happening, HOWEVER, the days are warmer, the sun is ridiculously bright, the air smells of eucalyptus and the ocean is calling, nay, it is screaming my name. So… you’ll have to excuse me as I have a date with the coast this weekend. We’re going to frolic, we’re going to knock down each other’s sand castles and we’re going to make each other’s hair unbearably tangley with salty sea breeze.

So while I do that, you can take a gander at some photos from a  hike that Sean and I did a couple weeks ago.

We took a train to a top secret location (you have to request the stop upon boarding) and then we hiked for two hours to Pindar cave.

We slept in the CAVE!

We set up our tent and we were visited by rats in the night. They’re weren’t gross though and I only saw their tails. buttt I could hear them trying to chew through our packs.

We took pictures of the crazy rocks.

We made fires and we cooked soup and made garlic bread.

We also drank cider.

Then we hiked back and flagged down a train.

And we stopped for coffee and some communal knitting in Brooklyn. Sean was mad that his fingers didn’t fit through the cappuccino cup handle.

Anyway, that was that. It was a really lovely camping trip.
Coming soon: The breakfast that fueled us for the hike to Pindar! 🙂

And after that, photos from my date with the coast.

xxx

Jurassic Park

Summer is coming! I know this because over the weekend we sprang forward. The sun now sets at 7… and getting later everyday. Too bad I’m abnormally tired. I feel jet lagged. It was only one hour though… I don’t… I don’t understand.

Anyhoo, with warm weather and longer days comes summer fun! Swimming, hiking, camping, and lunches on the dock!

A couple weeks ago Sean and I took a hike in Kuringai Chase National Park. We hiked to Resolute beach and back. I spent about an hour numbing my feet in the freezing cold waters and taking pictures of rocks and yachts. The water was paradise blue. Had it been even a degree warmer, I woulda jumped in.

By the time I spotted the wallaby, he was hopping away down the beach. I only saw a bum. Lame.

But then we spotted this GINORMOUS yellow-bellied black snake. By far the largest snake I have ever seen in real life. Not poisonous, but still scary. He’s a python so he’ll strangle his prey. This one was about 1.5-2m long. AHHH.

And though it may be hard to see in this picture… I also saw a dinosaur. I know you think they’re extinct, however -little known fact, they do still exist in the wild bush of Australia. My knowledge of dinosaurs is obviously extensive, as I was an avid watched of The Jurassic Park trilogy when I was young. True, the first one made me scream in terror and drop my extra cheese pizza all over my lap, but I soon ‘grew up’ and was able to watch the following two movies while experiencing only minor panic attacks.

Side track. Anyway, from my studies of  the ‘Saurs I know this to be a compsognathus. Der.

After experiencing the Jurassic period first hand, Sean and I found our way back to an old favourite. A lovely restaurant on the dock at Church Point.

His and her post-hike refreshments.

Kuringai never ceases to impress me. 🙂

Next week? Camping in a cave = Awesome Sauce.

In other food news, I have a granola recipe coming up that is delishhhhhhhhh! Check back soon!

xxx