Rain, rain and more rain!!

Leaving Lower Lila was hard, I was excited about seeing the rest of Australia but had got comfortable at the farm. I was I admit kind of scared of being on the road again.. although at the same time madly excited!! I know I contradict myself....
I also felt sad that I would probably never come back.. saying goodbye to my little babies (Snowdrop and Rickets) was a tad emotional I admit!
Heather and Terry were amazingly lovely and welcoming as ever and decided to take me to Lightning Ridge which is almost 4 hours drive away, Lightning Ridge coincidently is famous for its lightning! Apparently there are the most amazing storms that light up the sky… but even though I asked very nicely for a big lightning storm god didn’t answer..
I was also hoping for rain because then its easier to spot the opals (Lightning Ridge is an opal mining town). I went fossicking and found a few bits with streaks of opal through them which was exciting – but unfortunately no million dollar stone.. so i will have to remain to scruffy backpacker..
We went out for dinner at the local club house, and Heather and I went down to the local bore baths which were naturally hot from the ground.. and boy were they hot, but it was amazing, sitting in this sweltering boiling bath, unsure if I might blister and collapse, looking up at a stunning milky way unimaginable to anything I ever saw in the UK.. shooting stars falling through the sky…
Heather and Terry had also paid for us to stay at the motel.. I had my own room, bathroom, kitchen and TV and everything, it was pure luxury and they wouldn’t take a penny from me.. what lovely people!
By coincidence the bus driver was staying at the same motel so I didn’t have to get Heather and Terry to run me down to the station.. I could just hop straight on.. just as well as that was 5:10am (4:10am Lower Lila time! As there are time differences all over Oz!!)
The journey was fine.. arrived in Dubbo at 10:30am where I had a wander round, got my photos put onto CD so I could finally take some more.. bought pressies for my nieces birthdays coming up and generally occupied my time in the blistering heat until it was time to catch the train.
I arrived in Katoomba in the pouring rain at 7:30pm, the last part of the journey in was absolutely stunning.. it’s a beautiful area..lush rainforests and green everywhere, very New Zealandy!
The hostel was cute and cosy, a 4 share room but ended up just being the 2 of us for a few days. I made friends with my room mate a dutch girl called Mariska who was very nice. The first day we explored Katoomba.. Echo Point, the 3 sisters, the steepest railway in the world, the cable car and all that stuff.. a lot of walking… and then the heavens opened so we hung out in a café to escape! And I excitingly got some more 3 quarter length pants and some shorts, which was just as well as my current ones were full of holes and about to disintegrate… why are my clothes always disintegrating on me? Why do other travellers manage to look like they stepped out of cosmo magazine and I look like I might be homeless? Anyway it was very exciting to have 2 new pairs of pants!! And since they were from Kmart they were only $20 each!! Baragain!! Danielle just laughed at me when she rang me that evening to catch up.. I dotn think I’m supposed to admit to being excited at new clothing from Kmart.. ah well!
I still dont exactly look smart, my teva sandels stink so bad I can barely be in the same room as them, they are worn through so my feet are actually walking on the ground, I lost an underwire in one of my bras so I have wonky boobs.. my strappy top is stitched together so much its like its got little scrunchy patterns all over it.. and I didnt realise till I saw some photos that its quite that see through...

The second day Mariska and I headed to Blackheath and did the grand canyon walk which was amazing!! Absolutely brilliant!! It took a good few hours and basically meant walking down this huge canyon down these slippery steep bits… and then walking all the way up the other side!!
Then we hitchhiked with this cute Indian couple to Govetts leap, which had beautiful views before persuading them to drive us back to Katoomba where it poured with rain again so we hid in a café again! The power went in town and at the hostel so no-one could get take out or cook, but luckily she had a gas hob.. the power was out for hours but it was fun reading and chatting by candle light.
Mariska and I planned to go and do the Wentworth falls before we went to Sydney the next day but it was pouring with rain the next day so there didn’t seem much point so we just jumped on the train instead. We had booked different hostels because I am fussy and refuse to stay at base hostels..
Of course it was raining when I arrived (this will become a theme – whoever said Australia was hot and dry?!!) but I had to get out and explore.. I walked down to the opera house and bridge and took tonnes of grey photos… went on a tour of the opera house and booked my ticket for Monday night…
I decided to go and see La Boheme, I wanted to see Carmen but it was booked out..

This is the write up of La Boheme:
Life may not be easy, but it is beautiful in this tale of young love in Paris. Ever since its first performances Puccini’s La bohème has been adored. A chance meeting by moonlight, a street-side café and the artists’ garret – they all come alive through Puccini’s music, which delicately captures love at first sight, youthful exuberance and the sorrow of loss. This really is musical storytelling at its best.
Opera Australia presents a bohème for now – romantic as ever, but with the buzz of a contemporary setting and an outstanding cast. Let yourself be carried away by the soaring voices of some of Australia’s finest artists under the baton of brilliant young Italian Giovanni Reggioli.
I am going to see it tonight… I am really excited!! Although amusingly I have now already seen it!! I was lucky enough that the yearly opera in the park was on Saturday night and the opera was La Boheme!! Mariska and I really enjoyed it.. and for once it wasn’t raining!! So at least now I will know the story for when I see it is the opera house tonight… I am really excited about seeing an opera is the Sydney opera house!!
Anyway, the next day I headed to Bondi beach where it rained but still the surfers were out in force and the blond size 8’s sitting on the beach in their bikinis (in the rain), everyone else was sitting drinking beer even though it was 9am!!

I then headed back into the city and caught the ferry to Manly which took an hour there and back.. I was really lucky and the rain cleared up so I had a swim and a relax..but got toasted… the pool in Lower Lila was covered over so my stomach has never seen sunlight… now its so red I can never show it in public again! I liked Manly because controversially I hadn’t been that keen on Sydney up till that point.. but then the life guards started jumping it dragging people out and the beach got closed for dangerous rips which was pretty exciting!

Then before meeting Mariska for the opera in the park I bought a new camera.. now it may seem 5 minutes since I was stressing about which camera to get last time.. and it is.. 6 months.. the old camera now has huge dents, scratches, the zoom doesn’t work at all and it only works when it feels like it.. I am going to send it back because its in warrenty but I have a feeling the goats print on it may hint that it has not had its normal wear and tear! I wandered round a few shops a over a few days and had decided I wanted a crush proof waterproof camera.. so that’s what I have.. I can jump on it and go swimming with it! I went back to the shop I fancied the salesman in since the prices were similar.. he was very cute, I almost asked him out.. and so should have.. I could always walk up there now for a chat (I’m not a stalker – we did happily chat a few times and he told me to come back in to say what I thought of it – but I guess there’s no point.. its chucking it down with rain and it’s a long walk and I’m leaving in the morning and even if I asked him out for a drink I’m off to the opera tonight.. so I guess there’s no point..
I got home at 11:30pm and thought I set my alarm but 7:30am so I could have a shower before I met Mariska but it didn’t go off and I woke at 8:27… and was meant to be meeting her at 9am half an hours walk away…I got there in time hungry and sweaty and went to Palm Beach which is where Home and Away is based and filmed.. unfortunately it rained.. but I was happy sitting in a “diner” with my milkshake watching the surfers…! We then walked to Whale beach which was also lovely and the sun even came out briefly!! It was absolutely lovely.. the houses all looked like hotels so obviously the people round there are very rich!! I reckon I’d be happy having a house there (as well as in the country somewhere)..
Then when we got back to town I realized I was shattered, we went to a sushi train house which was exciting and cheered me up and gave me some energy again.. I loved choosing things off the conveyer belt!! And it was all very yummy, but I was still near tears with exhaustion, I had no clean clothes and I kind of niffed.. so it was time to head back and sort myself out.. my room mates hadn’t left the hostel as usual.. they are really cute, these 18 year old girls from Scotland who have been here a week but have only been to the bars in our street.. haven’t seen the opera house or the bridge… when I showed them by burns from Manly beach they were amusingly jealous! And complained that they could have slept their hangover off on the beach rather than lain about the hostel.. but they had looked out the window and thought it was raining..!They’re not as cute at 4:30am when ones having a panic attack because they’ve lost the other one.. but god their angels compared to me at the same age..
Today, I went to Kings Cross (story attached to Bourke photos), then Darling Harbour and really wanted to walk across the bridge or do a bridge climb but it has been raining so hard that when I go outside I have to wade through the city. I looked like a drowned rat last time I tried.. and 4 days wandering round a city in the soaking wet in enough!! I’m disappointed but walking over the bridge wouldn’t be enjoyable in this weather… so it will have to wait, if its dry in the morning I might pop down, otherwise it will have to wait till next time.. the weather is predicted to stay like this a while and I cant afford to stay in Sydney much longer.. the hostels are $10 more than other towns.. at least I’ve seen the bridge and cruised past it and been on a bus going over it etc etc! I’m bound to pass through Sydney again at some point…!
So the opera tonight and Wollongong tomorrow here I come…!