We arrived in Australia on Thursday, and spent Friday meandering around the cute little town of Leichhardt, where Aaron and Melissa live. We also took advantage of free internet and phone, and thoroughly enjoyed watching English TV for the first time in weeks.
In the afternoon, we drove to Bondi Beach to rent a board and wetsuit for me to use all week, (Jord was borrowing Aaron's stuff). When Aaron and Melissa got home from work, we packed up their little car with tents, ice chests, blankets, pillows, surboards, and wetsuits. There was no way 4 people could fit in there too, but somehow we squeezed. Aaron called us the Clown Mobile, and it felt like it!
Driving in Sydney is actually very much like driving in the South Bay. There are no freeways, lanes come and go, there is no direct way to get anywhere....but after two hours of manuevering, we finally got out! The difference between Sydney and LA is once you are out of the city, there's nothing there! Immediately you feel like you are on the Central Coast, cruising through forests and meadows, and before long we came to a cliff drive along the ocean. It was so incredibly beautiful driving along the coast, and soon we got to our campsite. It was a big grassy area right in front of the ocean. Jordi and Aaron went surfing while Melissa and I put up our tents (what good wives we are ;) ). Later in the evening more of Aaron and Melissa's friends showed up, and after they set up their tents we hung out for a bit before going to bed.
I woke up early in the morning to a baby crying. More like whining, actually. Where the heck is it's mom, and why does it not stop?? Maybe that's not a baby...? Is it some sort of animal? I learned later that it was a bird whose cry is uncannily human. Australia has all sorts of birds that make the craziest loudest noises!
Saturday we went surfing in the morning, it was fun and beautiful. We had a big Australian breakfast of baked beans, spaghetti, sausage, bacon, and eggs (interesting...). The boys went surfing again, and we played some bocci ball as well. Jord and I went for a really long walk up the coast, and it was seriously sooooo pretty!! Even though it's relatively close to Sydney, it's not even close to being crowded.
That night more friends arrived and set up tent, and some of the guys bbq'd steak. Right after dinner it started raining, so we ducked into tents to hang out until everyone went to bed.
The next morning some guys went surfing, and we all had breakfast together. After breakfast I was going to go surfing also. But I couldn't find my rental board. Yup, it had been stolen in the night! I was incredibly bummed and mad - who steal a surfboard at a campsite?? There is a road behind the campsite, and everyone else around us had things stolen also - camping gear, alcohol, etc.. We think some punks drove up in the night, hopped out and grabbed stuff, and drove away. It was super lame. So, we ended up having to pay for a new surfboard that I had ridden once, on top of renting it for a week. Fabulous.
We loaded up the car again, and went with two of Aaron's friends to another beach in a nature reserve. The drive was awesome, and the beach was really pretty too, but windy! Aaron, his two friends, and Jord surfed while Melissa and I worked on our tans and read gossip magazines :)
We got back home in the afternoon, unpacked, and got cleaned up. Melissa's dad, Joe, is a pilot for United, and flies from San Francisco to Sydney on a regular basis. He happened to be in town on this Sunday, and we met him in downtown Leichhardt for some incredible Italian food.
It was a quite a weekend! We had so much fun camping, aside from the board being stolen, and it was great to see Aaron and Melissa, and a little bit of the Australian coast and nature reserve, and fun to see Joe again! :)
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