1000 miles

This weekend was definitely a new adventure for me.

The task: hike through 30km's of bush (in the Royal National Park) which includes climbing up and down cliff tops, carrying a 45-50 kilo backpack, fighting the natural elements such as sun, wind, rain and deadly animals.

The reward: Personal satisfaction, a large pint of beer and one heaping hamburger.

Without really thinking it through, we were asked a couple days prior to leaving if we wanted to do a hike by a couple of fellow Canadians. Considering we didn't have anything else going on during the weekend, why not? What we didn't realize at the time, but learned very quickly was the physical and mental challenges we were about to face. We would start by walking through what seemed like a jungle with several parts of the trail being unmarked. It was a good thing we had the ocean to orientate us. Once we passed through that successfully, it was then open fields of grass on top of a cliff with the sun bearing down on us. Our greatest challenge came late in the day as we were exhausted and ready to give up only to face what seemed like a cliff that kept growing as you approached it. If that wasn't hard enough to climb on our own, we still had our 50 kilo backpacks still hanging around. As gruelling as it was, to finally look down and see what we accomplished left us feeling victorious that day. As it was a 30 km hike, we did need to break it up into 2 days.

Therefore, as the sun set we decide to set up camp at a cove we found along the way. Our first thought was to set up our tents on the beach, only to find that a storm was blowing in which made it impossible for our tents to remain still. We were lucky enough to find shelter in between some trees but our next task was to find a source of warmth. What better way to do it then create a fire in the middle of a dry forest right? Well, we successfully did so without burning the national park down.

We were triumphant in surviving the night, only to be welcomed the next morning by an infestation of black flies. These of course, weren't your ordinary flies. For some reason, once they land on your back, its as if they've laid claim to the new territory and decide to bring their entire colony over. No joke, there were around 500 or more of these flies hanging on each of our backpacks for the entire day and even as you brush them off, they keep coming back. It was definately a new experience with the Aussie insects.

Day 2 saw us probably doing the same amount of distance as we did in day one. When we finally arrived into town, it was the most bizarre feeling we had seeing buildings, people and motorized vehicles all surrounding us. Even though it was only 2 days, being in the forest definitely played some mind games with you.

Looking back now, I can honestly say that was one of the greatest hikes I have ever done. The natural beauty we saw can never be captured in a picture. You need to experience the real thing!

"I would have walked 500 miles and 500 more just to be the man who walks 1000 miles..."

Where are the RIOTS?

As several of you know, the world cup of soccer will begin next year in Germany.

What you may not know is that Australia hasn't qualified for the world cup in 31 years. Year after year, tournament after tournament there is one heartbreak after another.

This year looked like it was going to be the same as the "Socceroos" were being matched up against Uruguay who earlier this year won the South American soccer championship. The first match was played in Uruguay and the Australians lost by one goal. The second game is to be played in Sydney and in order for the Australians to make it into the world cup, they would need to win by 2 goals. A feet not easily attainable playing such a strong team. Nonetheless we decide to watch the game at a local pub to cheer on the socceroos.

The feeling in the crowd was one of doubt but still remained positive as this would be the closest they've gotten in a long time. The game started off strong, as Australia was able to score in the first half. All they needed now was one more goal and they were in. Unfortunately, that goal was not going to come in regular time or even overtime. It was down to penalty kicks against a hot Uruguayan goal keeper but the good news was that it was in Sydney and the socceroos had the backing of the fans. At the peak of suspense, after the Aussie striker missed the net, it was up to the hometeams goalkeeper to save the day. He did just that and once the final striker kicked the ball through the net, it began another moment in history! The Aussies are going to the World Cup of Soccer!

You can only imagine what it felt like having an entire country come together in support of their sports teams much how a Canadian feels when we win the gold in hockey. There was no gold medal this day, but still it was a time to celebrate and what better way to do it then riot on the streets and share it with everyone else!

Sculpture by the Sea

As summer is vastly approaching and as temperatures begin warming up, it is time to take advantage of the cities natural beauty, hence it is the time for festivals!

It seems that every weekend there is a different festival to attend and though we aren't able to go to every single one, we pick and choose the ones we feel will be time well spent. Sometimes we may luck out and find a nice surprise, but there are other times when we set our expectations too high and become dissappointed.

Nonetheless, here are some photo's of recent festivals we've attended. My favorite one would have to be the Latin Quarter festival where there were authentic food stalls filled with paella, chorizo and empanada's, latin music, salsa dance and much more!

Other notables is the Sculpture by the Sea show which spans from the cliffs of Bondi Beach to Tamarada Beach. Here you'll find artists who integrate their personal visions of the world we live in with the natural background of the ocean, beach, or cliff into life size sculptures.



(far left going right: Latin Quarter festival, hurdles of life, ocean picnic)