Attempt at the Blue Gums

I'm used to an 'attempt' being that I couldn't climb high enough due to weather or some other unforeseeable obstacle. This was my first abort due to not being able to descend low enough.

This last weekend I tried to walk out to a grove or very large eucalypts known as the Blue Gum Forest. It's an incredible scenic area that's only a 2 hour train ride from Sydney. I checked the weather before I left but the weatherman failed me miserably - when I arrived in Blackheath I was greeted with torrential rain.

Not being one to walk away from the wet I made my way down the canyon and was greeted by a very spectacular waterfall: Bridal Veil Falls. It was amazing to see the water gushing over the cliff top but seeing it as the base was truly epic. The water was smashing down with so much force as the bottom that is was creating extremely heavy winds and blowing water sideways. Trees that were 50 meters from the base were being blown sideways!

But this is where my problems began. I had to cross the river near the base and managed to do so but not without getting fairly wet. I continued on until I came to the first of 4 river crossing my map showed and decided I could go no further without taking serious (and stupid) risk. So I found a nicely hidden campsite to wait until the morning. The weather never did improve and while the water level did subside a bit I decided it was still too dangerous to consider crossing and made my way back to Blackheath to head home.

But the best thing about failures is that they almost always teach you a lot more than when you succeed. First, I learned that a homemade tuna-can stove works really well and it doesn't matter if it gets wet. Second, I learned that one should be very cautious around rivers in Australia. What if I was on the other side of that river before the rain started coming down? I'd be stuck for sure. Since the trees here are almost entirely Eucalypts, there's not the option of a tree bridge. So always remember to bring extra food and your ten essentials!

Kristin and Mike visit - and so can you!

Kristin and Mike came to Australia for vacation for the past week and a half or so. They were lucky enough to make it up to Cairns, but they also spent some time with Kat and I here in Sydney and out in the Blue Mountains. We had an awesome time and it was great to show someone around Sydney and to share some pie eating experiences.

The first weekend we went around Sydney and saw the best sites. The ladies did a lot of catching up which left plenty of time for Mike and I to bond over the ancient sport of beer pong.

This last weekend we took an overnight trip out in the Blue Mountains. We started in Katoomba after we enjoyed a delicious mushroom-ginger-soy-rice pie (sounds weird, but was maybe my favorite pie to date). We hiked out to what's called the Ruined Castle and enjoyed wonderful Eucalyptus forests and superb views as you can see in the photos. The cockatoos teased us the entire time by staying within earshot but out of sight in the treetops. Luckily a gorgeous sulfur-crested landed in our backyard the day we got back :)

We also took an entire day to visit the Taronga Zoo. It's the major zoo here in Sydney and I really have to say my favorite tourist attraction in this city. I didn't include many photos because I want people to get a chance to see the zoo for themselves, but the ferry ride to the zoo and the zoo itself has about the best views of Sydney around. And on top of that the variety of animals is very impressive. I highly recommend the bird show, but I'll stop there because I feel as if I'd be spoiling the ending of movie by saying more.

But overall a fantastic couple of weeks. I'd like to give a big thanks for Kristin and Mike for visiting us! It was great to have you both!!!

Click on the Koala to see more pictures:

Mike and Kristin Visit Us!

She Said Yes!!!

I'm very excited to say that Kat and I are engaged! I proposed to Kat right here in Sydney on Observatory Hill overlooking Sydney Harbour. I was pretty hopeful that she would say yes but that didn't stop me from being nervous. But I'm very happy that she said yes and that she likes the ring! Kat's dad, Fred, made me promise not to get married in Australia. But I definitely agree with him and we plan to have our ceremony when we get back home. We want all our friends and family to be able to come to our wedding!

We've both been incredibly excited about being engaged but everything else is going quite well here in Sydney. Kat and doing very well in school (as always) and I've started working with an environmental company doing environmental auditing. So far it's been a great job and I really enjoy opportunity to be doing work for the environment.

As some of you know, Kat and I managed to get evicted from our last house. We're still not exactly sure how it happened but I think it's easiest to just say that our house-mate was a bit strange and doesn't know how to deal with people very well. But as luck would have it we found a much nicer house with three great kiwi guys that's closer to school for Kat and closer to work for me! Plus the guys have a foosball table and there's a pond in the backyard that we've already populated with goldfish. We've yet to name them but I'm leaning towards Tim and Tam. Feel free to give suggestions.

This last weekend we were very happy to have Kristin and Mike stay with us. We all had a really great time hanging out together and it was fun to have friends from back home to see. Plus I had an excuse to show them all the great beers and meat pies that Sydney has to offer! But they left for Cairns today and should be enjoying some great sights right about now.

So Kat and I are both very happy and having a great time in Sydney. But now we have even more incentive to get back to Seattle and have a WEDDING!!!