a car, a train, a plane, a train and a car ride back to Sydney..............

So in the midst of this wwoofing madness I managed to swap my days off and get myself to Sydney for a few days to see my mama! 

I felt like the break away was well needed too as I haven't been feeling my happiest the last week, just wwoofing overload really and a need for different surroundings. Wal didn't come with me and I think he was a bit sad to be abandoned and alone on the mountain.

Sad Wally................all alone.

Sydney I am Back!!!!

Any hows, 7 hours of travelling and I arrived a fresh as a daisy in Cherrybrook. Felt a bit strange being back there, almost like I had never left. It also didn't feel like I hadn't seen my mum in 7 months, just slipped right back into the old ways once a glass of vino was in hand! It was really nice to see Sue, Kev and Beth too. 

They had all been to Port Maquarie for the weekend so the house was absolutely freezing that night (yes it gets cold In Sydney!) as no heating had been on so I slept in about 3 layers of clothing, bed socks and my hood up all night. Not what I would expect in Oz! I also had the pleasure of my mum snoozing loudly next to me. (Sorry mum) But as I hadn't seen her in ages I let her off with just a little jab in the arm haha...............

So Tuesday morning we headed straight out to Bondi Beach. I forgot how long the bus from Cherrybrook takes and about 1 hour and 40 minutes later we finally arrived starving and in need of the first beer of the day!

Me and Mama on Bondi

A cold Sunny stroll on Bondi Beach

 After a stroll round Bondi in the sun and a couple more cheeky drinks we took the Bus back into the city and I showed my mum the sights of Kings Cross and whilst there had a lovely cold $8 jug in my favourite local......O'Malley's. (Well it would have been rude not too.)  
This was followed by champagne in the Strand and a stroll through Hyde Park. It was nice to be able to show my mum some of Sydney sights that she had never seen.

Mama with an $8 Jug at O'Malley's

Champagne time!

Mum copying my Hyde Park pose!

  The day was finished with a stroll (or a questionable walk by then) on the rocks to look at the Billion $$ Gucci Bike and have a few more wines and a $10 steak. Perfect.

Don't drink and ride the Gucci Bike Dawnie!

So considering a slight sore head in the morning we managed to get our arses into gear and head back into the city for some hardcore shopping..........and food eating.
Pancakes on the Rocks was amazing. I never even knew this place existed!!! A few hours shopping around the city and Paddy's Market and then some sizzling King Prawns and Dumplings in China Town and a coffee over Darling Harbour. Awesome day.

Cheeky Bird

Unfortunately the fun couldn't last forever as I had to go back to the mountain on Thursday. Had a nice morning around circular Quay and Sydney Opera House with mum and Sue and then had to say my goodbyes and hop on the train. Mum and Sue started blubbing but I held it together! I felt real sad but I think I must be getting used to saying bye to people since being out here so getting a bit hardened to it........either that or I have no soul! Ha!

So after a long trek back to Mount Tambo I arrived safe and sound to get back to work and light up Wally's life again. ;-)

Happy Wally.............kind of???

Hot Rods, Jack Bauer and a big chocolate spot................

The "Garter Belts and Gasoline festival" was awesome. There where loads of really cool old cars, buses, and tiny caravans, bands playing, market stalls and so many people had made an effort getting dressed up in 40's and 50's gear.l. Me and Wal even got asked to have our photo's taken by a few of the people there. We must have looked Retro cool! Definitely the best day we had had on Tamborine. There was also a really great art exhibition with loads of Rockabilly inspired work, pop art, and we just loved everything. Fab fab day.........................

Wish we could travel Oz in this beast!

A mean machine!

My favourite of the day

Awesome car artwork

Life in a wheel trim

 I have booked my flights to Sydney so I can get to see my mama for a few days whilst she is over here so am very happy about that. Really looking forward to being in Sydney again too! I miss the city a lot more than I thought I would. I'm starting to feel a little stir crazy from all this wwoofing. I have enjoyed a lot of it and it's been a good learning experience and we have met some cool people along the way but to be honest I just want to get back on the road and travel again. My advise to anyone thinking of doing wwoofing to gain a visa is to try and spread it out over your 1st year and not do the 3 months all in one go. It really does take it's toll on your mentality. I'm pretty sure it's much better than fruit picking jobs (I don't reckon I would have coped with that!) but I really miss the lifestyle we had in Sydney of being around a lot of people, friends, earning money and having more freedom to feel like a backpacker. Only 3 more weeks of wwoofing though and then we will fly to Darwin so I'm gonna try and keep as positive and enjoy it as much as I can!

Designer wwoofing gear by Dawn

It's been pretty hardcore this week too as we have been working our arses off doing long days as we have been trying to squeeze our paid work at the hotel (which I found out used to be Mel Gibson's home! Ha!) so feeling pretty knackered by the end of it.

So Saturday was a sweet relief for a day off, we had the house to ourselves and spent the day as any good Englishman would..............indulging in junk food and beer. Brownies, cream and jam for Breakfast is the way forward I'm telling you. Mix in 7 hours of Jack Bauer and some Lord of the Rings and we had ourselves a pretty nice little Saturday! ;-)

What a guy.............

......................but before we knew it, Sunday had arrived so it was back to work at Mel Gibson's place for me, Wal, and the huge spot on my cheek from Chocolate overload. Nice.

Looking Good Mel...............cheers for the jobs!