The Catch Up Game

Yes, yes, yes, we are well aware of how far behind we are on our blogging! But crickey mates, things have been more wild than a kangaroo getting out of the zoo! And let us tell you, that  could probably get a little crazy.  Anywhos, we'll try to catch y'all up as much as we can!
Let's start all the way back to Thursday, January 2nd, we went on the longest walk of our lives.  Okay, not really, but it felt like it was.  WE took the Spit bridge and walk to Manly Beach, which was a little over six miles, (so they say.) We're pretty convinced it was about 20.  The real kicker was that it was at least 99 degrees, the hottest day yet here! Which probably doesn't sound too bad compared to the -1000's degrees you guys are about to experience, good luck with that one! The walk consisted beautiful views over many bays and beaches.  Unfortunately, this is when I, (Hallie) really started to feel sick. We slowly dragged our way to the ferry but then we lost our professor! So we told the rest of our group that we'll stay behind and look for him, he was no where to be found! Then, when we gave up looking for him, we hopped in the next ferry.  We come back to the hostel and found out our professor was on the ferry with the rest of our group before us! After we cleaned up a bit, we had a short lecture on communication fancy schmancy stuff, though I stayed back and slept because I still wasn't feeling well.  My night consisted of getting over 14 hours of sleep! I, (Zoë) had to leave poor Hal so she could get some rest. So, I ventured down with some of the girls to get some tucker, (that's what they call food here!) We ate in the hostels cafe and I had spaghetti, which was very good. After dinner, we just hung out and then I came up to check on Hal and she was fast asleep..getting her beauty rest (she needed it). That night, I slept in the top bunk and I was pretty nervous for it, it's been awhile since I've slept that high. But luckily for me, I was a champ, haha but seriously I kinda was.


The next day, Friday, January 3rd, we had a guest lecture by Chris Tobin.  He specialized in Aboriginal Politics and Land Rights. We both thought that he was very interesting to listen to. He brought in different tools that the aboriginal people use on a daily basis. Neither of us knew much history about the Aboriginal people. Chris, is Aboriginal and he provided a lot of education and insight on the Aboriginal culture.  After the guest lecture, we had another group activity... Which meant we were separated again! No Bueno!  Luckily, we had the same assignment, therefore, we ended up at the same destination. We both went to Harry's Café De Wheels, here we were instructed to ask patrons about the famous meat pies that are sold here and of course we had to sample. I (Zoë) got a chicken one and Hal got a beef one. We both enjoyed them and then got on with the assignment in our separate groups, arg!  A little background on Harry's: It is an iconic establishment of Australia and opened up 70 years ago. The first franchise came about in 1998 and currently Harry's is trying to be expanded into Europe and America, which we would be pretty pumped about! A really cool thing about Harry's is that  it is a must for visiting celebrities and the one that we went too had pictures of all different famous people trying the meat pies. In 2004, Harry's became classified as a "Quintessential Sydney Icon" by The National Trust of Australia on the wall. Go to Harry's website for more information. We approached people and asked them what they thought of the famous meat pies and what they thought of iconic American foods. Sad to say, most people associated America with fast food, we godda work on changing that people!

Front: Hallie, Megan, Ahnna, Zoë
Back: Michelle, Jade, Lexa, Becky 

Later that night, we were reunited again! Yay us! (Yes, we are well aware how pathetic we sound.)  We then went out to dinner with a few of our friends.  We ended up going to Darling Harbour and found a nice place to eat.  Afterwards, we were walking around and some street performers caught our eyes.  There were three men, probably in their mid 20's and they were dancers, pretty incredible we might add as well.  It was a lovely way to end the evening.
Saturday, January 4th was a big day.

It was Blue Mountains Day!  This was one of the days we couldn't wait for! I, (Hallie) was still not feeling my best, but nothing was going to stop me from seeing the fantastic views.  Our day started out with possibly the coolest tour guide ever.  His name Nigel, and he reminded us so much of Nigel from the Wildthorneberries, (some of you may know what we're talking about.)  Anywhos, we had about an hour bus ride up and we both fell asleep the entire time, shocker.  When we finally got there, we couldn't believe our eyes, it was gorgeous! First we had to take a cable car where we saw the three sisters, which are just beautiful rock formations.  Then, we got to go on this awesome railroad which had an incline of almost 180 degrees! Afterwards, we did a a little walking around and headed towards a cute cafe for lunch.  This is when things took a turn for the worse for me.  I felt absolutely wretched.  As soon as we got into the cafe, I found some couches and just laid on them.  Then I felt nauseous, so I told the tour guide and the people at the restaurant gave me a rubbish can.  And then it happened... I will spare you the details, but I bet y'all can figure out what happened next.  There I was, just having the time of my life, while everyone was in the other room eating.  Clearly, I was not up for any more hiking for that day.  Which was really frustrating because hiking the Blue Mountains was something I really wanted to do.  Instead I just slept in the cafe until everyone came back. I (zoë) was just about to take my first bite of fish and chips when Nigel flew around the corner saying that my friend wanted me. So, i dashed to see poor Hal bent over the rubbish can, like she said, i'll save you the details. I sat with her awhile (and the bestie award goes to Zoë Page!) and then proceeded with the rest of the group to go on our walk. (once again we were separated) However, it was definitely good Hal did not go because it was an uphill climb! But so worth  it, the views were amazing and we saw the most gorgeous waterfalls! On the way back we had the option to go on an extended hike just about a half hour, so me and five others did so and saw some more beautiful waterfalls. On the way back we got a little lost okay a lot but we eventually found our way back to the group!

When we got back I, (Hallie) headed to the Prince Royal Hospital, sounds fancy, I know! And honestly, It was very nice.  After a few hours later, I come to find out that it I have a chest infection and there really wasn't much I could do, except sleep.  So thats what I did, I got a lot of sleep!