Prelude to a Bushwalk

On Sunday, as long as the weather cooperates, The Sister and I are going to go on a bush walk in order to a) gain some exercise and b) break in our brand new, virginal trekking boots. Apparently, walking or rather, trekking, in unbroken-in boots or shoes is very, very unwise and as such some breaking-in of said boots needs to take place. Sooner rather than later.

SO.

We shall most likely attempt to do the Giant Staircase/ Furber Steps walk in the Blue Mountains. As the name of the walk implies, it consists, in part, of walking down a series of many, many steep steps down the side of a cliff. Which will be interesting because, according to quite a few of the reviews on Trip Advisor (Holy Grail of Independent Travel Reviews), it is a walk neither for the faint-hearted or unfit due to the steepness and exposure to heights. Given that I am TERRIFIED of heights, it should prove to be an interesting descent to the valley floor.

Wish me luck.

39 Days

Thirty-nine days until The Sister and I depart for our trip to Nepal and Bangkok. To say I am excited would be an understatement. I am consumed with thoughts of what to do, what to organise and what to prepare in the coming (less than!) 6 weeks. Thus far, I have managed to accumulate most of the gear I will need to take and use throughout my trip, in particular for the trekking portion of the holiday. I think what has excited me more than anything is the fact that I have been purchasing items with the expectation that this will NOT be the last trip I do to Nepal. I have been reading blogs (again) which have covered peoples experiences of doing the Everest Base Camp trek and I am more determined than ever to do this trek in the next year or so myself. I cannot explain why I have to do this trek, I just know that I must. It has been something I've dreamed of for the past 12 years and the time has well and truly come for me to just do it.

That said, doing the 5 day Poon Hill trek, may well prove to be a completely hideous experience and I may discover that I detest walking for hours each day, having to use squat toilets and being deprived of a daily shower.

Somehow though, I don't think that will be the case. Time will tell, yes?

Last day of Summer

.....and it fecking well rained. The sky and sea were grey. And cool.

Typical.

Insert something meaningful here...

......because, for the love of all that's good, I cannot think of a single thing which I can write to commit to this blog.

Sorry. Fingers crossed this inertia will not last for long.

The black dog prowls in my backyard and I am trying hard to keep it at bay.

Seasick

What a delightful three days it has been!

Seasickness without the boat. Waves of nausea. For free!

Queasy. Like I've drunk waaaaay too many beers the night before. Except I haven't.

Ill. Lethargic. Sweaty. Mmmmm, so good.

Crap. Literally. And as a general expression for this horrid way to spend a few days.

Damn you, gastro virus and your vile inhabitance of my poor bowel.





Although, on the plus side, I'm closer to losing that 3kg I want to ditch before heading to Nepal in 10 weeks.

Three Songs...

....which I cannot get out of my head.

This lush loveliness:

This layered, melancholy:

And this, creepy, menacing and disturbing (song AND video):

And so ends the school holidays....

Sigh. Back to early mornings, rushing, nagging, shortened days, earlier nights, readers and homework. Not to mention the frenzied sandwich making, dodgy and harried hairstyling of unruly locks, the nagging, the mad rush to beat the clock which surely goes MUCH quicker on school days and the nagging. No more sleep-ins, lazy, cruisey days, lunch at two and dinner at eight for another ten or so weeks.

It's been a lovely month and a half, but as with all, time passes and things change. And so for now, the period of rest and rejuvenation ceases and the cycle of new learning (and nagging), begins.