This Sunday Christen, a collegue from the Sydney office, took me out for a bike ride through the Blue Mountains.

The Blue mountains is a region west of Sydney consisting mainly of sandstone plateaus, gorges and woodlands with the highest point being around 1km. It gets it’s name from the blue haze you see when looking out over the stretched land.

Christen frequently does roadtrips together with other members of the New South Wales HOG (Harley Owners Group) and they were kind enough to bring me along. Of course I wouldn’t jump on the back of a bike without proper protection so he hooked me up with a leather jacket and tough lookin’ helmet with a skull on the back!

He picked me up in the morning and drove to the meeting point at a Harley dealership to meet up with the rest of the guys. Most of them looked like you expect Harley rides to look, tough, bearded and wearing a lot of black but really were very friendly and welcoming.

Around 10am we all left together which was an impressive thing to see, 30+ bikes all riding together making a lot of noise. After about an hours drive the scenery started to change indicating we we’re getting near to the Blue Mountains. After stopping for a re-fuel we took off and had our first steep descent. The scenery was really amazing here and I felt comfortable enough on the back of the bike to take out my camera to shoot some pictures and movies.

About two hours later we took a turn into a dusty back road where the real fun started. The road had a lot of twists and turns so almost felt like a long rollercoaster ride. At the end of the road we arrived at a pub in a small town called tarana where we all had lunch together.

This marked the end of the trip and from there on the group split up into several smaller groups. We took a nice ride out through a dense forest area, stopping at a lunchroom for some drinks where we spotted some nice cars as well. The day ended with me and Christen riding into Sydney over the Harbour Bridge at sunset.

Took the ferry from Circular Quay up to Manly today. The ferry gives a great view on the opera house and the bridge so was a very enjoyable trip. After my bushwalk in the Royal National Park the day before which didn’t went as expected I thought I’d give it another go. I arrived in Manly around 12:45 and quickly found the signs to the Manly Scenic Walk. It’s a popular track of about 10km and follows the coast up to the Spit Bridge.
This route was a lot more accessible, has a proper stone path and no thick bush to wade through. The route has some good views out over the water and some nice small beaches so managed to take a few nice pictures. If I would do this route again I’d probably do it on a weekday as there were many people about.
I arrived in Spit around 4pm and from there took the bus back to Manly. Had a chicken burger at a restaurant along the boulevard and then took the ferry back to Circulair Quay. When the spring really starts I’ll go back to Manly to check out the beach and Surfers there, who knows maybe i’ll take up a lesson myself!

Left early morning to catch the 06:40 train to Otford. I thought I’d buy some water on my way to the station but it was a bit late already so figured I’d buy my ticket in the trainstation first. otherwise i could still buy some water in Otford, well i was wrong…
Arrived in Otford at 07:40, Otford Station is a very small trainstation and there’s really nothing out there, a few houses hidden in the woods, no coffeeshop, supermarket or anything in the vicinity. That meant no water so it was to dangerous to do the full 13km walk I had planned. The trainstation did have a small water tap though so I drank a lot of water and headed up the path for a shorter version of my walk.
I wasn’t even in the national park yet and already had to conquer some steep steps. Eventually I came to a lookout over the sea and started my walk. I was pretty worked up the first half hour since the path was a lot more dense than I had anticipated and was a bit nervous of the stories about the three poisonous snake species that live here. After an half an hour I relaxed probably because I was to tired to really care anymore!
I came up to an intersection and confidently took a right turn, not knowing yet that this was the wrong path. It led downwards through a very rough and narrow path, with a steep cliff of bushland right next to it. After about 45 minutes climbing over rocks and trees I turned the corner and got a real great view of a beautiful deserted beach!
Took a few shots with my camera and had some lunch on the rocks. When I wanted to continue my walk I realised I had been walking on the wrong track! Since I didn’t bring any water I didn’t want to risk it and decided to backtrack my steps back up to the intersection.
Walking down the track to the beach was pretty difficult but going back up really was a challenge. When you go back up you start to realise how steep the path actually is and having to climb rocks didn’t make it any easier. Eventually made it back to the intersection and from there took a different path that led me back to the trainstation.
Really enjoyed the walk but was dissapointed that I couldn’t do the trip like I planned it. Next bush trip will be better prepared! Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow…

Got up on Saturday morning Juli 31st ready for my trip down under! Laura picked Astrid and me up around 8am and drove us to the Airport.Astrid bought me a small going away present, a really nice silver alarm clock with an engraving in it. Then after an hour waiting it was time to say goodbye… I could walk straight through to the plane and settled myself in. The seats were really good, could almost drop flat and had a lot of leg space. This really made the trip a lot more bearable, couldn’t imagine doing the same 24 hour trip in economy.

After a long journey someone from Coorporate housing was waiting for me at the appartement and showed me around. It’s a real nice apartement in the middle of the city and only 2 minutes walk from the office. Had a small stroll through the town and went to bed trying to get used to the different time zone. The next day I had a nice walk around town, went to Hyde park watching some guys playing a life sizes checkers match. Everyone seemed to be very relaxed and I think I spotted John Lennon’s son there…

I continued my trip up north through the Royal Botanic Gardens up to the Opera house. I have to admit that the building looks better on pictures but I guess it’s just one of those things you have see when you go to Sydney. Relaxed a bit and then took a walk through Circular Quay back to my Apartment. Since I’ll be staying here for about three months I decided to go out and buy a guitar. Found a guitar store about 5 minutes walk which specialised in Fenders so bought myself a cheap Fender Squier Bullet. To finish my day I took a dive in the apartments swimming pool and had my first Skype sessions with Astrid and Pepijn. 

Tomorrows my first working day! Looking forward to meeting the guys and starting the project