sydney again
same city. same continent. same internet cafe. can you blame me? it's right next door to my hostel. which, by the way, is very large, like a hotel, and OLD people stay there.

and before i forget, i have a funny anecdote. while i was in newcastle and still acclimating myself to this culture, i crossed a street after the little red man stopped blinking. (the little red man being the antipodean counterpart to our red hand/don't walk signs.) as i was running across the street, a guy in a car yelled at me, "c'mon! it already turned red!" the new yorker in me chuckled. the bashful american has decided never to do that again.

the blue mountains are a united nations designated world heritage site, with good reason, too. it is one of the most amazing places i have been. you can stand at the echo point lookout and as far as the eye can see, it's untouched valleys and mountains. it was freaking amazing. i went for a little "walk" through the woods, which included 900 steps down the great staircase. now, i don't know if you've ever climbed or descended 900 steps, but even going down my knees got all wobbly. i was a little unsurefooted for a while afterwards. i then hiked a good three hours or so around the valley, through forests, rainforest, and more typical australian bush (i.e. hot and dry). i had a great time just traipsing through the woods, greeting those around me. the best places were in the middle, far from the easy entries for tourists. that was where i came across more hard core and considerate walkers. i then got to the other side and climbed 1040 steps out. these were easier than climbing the 900 back out b/c they were less steep. but by the top i had run out of water and was talking to myself in a not very humorous fashion. thankfully, the top was also where tourists could watch cheesy big screen movies and ride gondolas and shit like that, so there was a shop where i could purchase a refill for my water bottle. my own oasis. i was pretty beat after the walk and enjoyed the two hour train ride back to sydney, where i had a deserved shower. i think the people around me were grateful too.

that was today. yesterday, i got into town at about 11:30 am and went straightaway into the Katoomba Adventures store, which is right across from the train station. i booked myself on a canyoning tour and had 45 minutes to check into my room at the guesthouse (needed a little personal space instead of the dorm accomodations at the hostel) and get something to eat so i didn't get all sick and hypoglycemic or something on the trip. at 12:15, back at Katoomba Adventures, I got fitted with a wetsuit, a drypack, a backpack, and some shoes. and off we went to pick up four people who did the abseiling (rapelling) morning trip, and then into the canyon. we started off, very auspiciously, with a cliff jump. you could jump anywhere from 5, 12 to 40 feet. i didn't make it any past the 12, which was plenty good for me, little miss petrified of heights. i like my adventures on the ground (except for skydiving...) anyhow, then we went into the canyon.

canyoning is, essentially, hiking through a canyon. canyons are typically carved by water, so there's some swimming, climbing, hiking, wading and sliding involved. we did a little of all of it, through this really cool canyon, which was pretty tight in some parts, like you see out west. but with water. which, by the way, was very cold. if you told me there was a glacier feeding that canyon, i'd believe you. it was freezing and my hands, which were the most unprotected part of my body that was submerged, hurt from the cold. but it was an amazing trek. aah, adventure.

in the morning i'm off to new zealand to really start the adventure. i'm looking forward to using my body, and to be judged on my physical abilities, instead of what my little monkey brain can manage to pound out on a computer keyboard. i love to write and i love writing, but this is a nice change of pace.

speaking of change of pace, i went down to cockle bay and darling harbour, some of the more touristy and famous areas of sydney, and there was a bacardi festival going on. it was crowded down there, full of hoochie mamas in their little halter tops, their midriffs showing, their blonde hairs perfectly in place. the guys, of course, were enjoying the scenery, hootin and hollerin. people bumped into me left and right, nary an excuse me. and i realized i needed to get the hell out of there because that was exactly what i wanted to leave behind in new york city. hell, that was what i wanted to leave behind in freaking baltimore. that area was much more enjoyable in may. yes, the wind had a bit more bite to it then, but it was way less crowded. and besides, i've been to the ORIGINAL bacardi factory in puerto rico and ain't nothing in sydney going to do that justice. ;)

love yous. next time, i'll be in new zealand, land of the long white cloud and 8 times more sheep than people. yee haw!