Highlights of Camp

I'm back from camp! (I wonder how many posts have started off with that sentance similar to that?) It went sooo quick. 5 days with just friends!
I'm not going to go into great detail, but here are the highlights.


Highlight #1: Prusiking
Have you ever been prusiking? Wait, you probably don't even know what it is. Prusiking is a way of climbing ropes where you sit in a harness, loosen the knot of a loop and push it up, then put your foot in it and hoist yourself up. Then you loosen the knot holding the harness on and push that up, sit down and do it again. It's a bit hard to explain.

I like to think I owned, but I was 5th fastest in the class, so I infact did not own.But I loved it, even when I did get 5 blisters after climbing the rope 4 times. YEAH!

Theres a photo on my friends camera that I'll add later when I get the photos :)

Highlight #2: Archery
I love archery, and I know want to take it up as a sport, like you do with netball and basketball. The lady said I had a good posture, so I guess that's a start...

Highlight #3: Being with my Friends
Who doesn't like spending time with friends? No further information needed.

We also went to this little island, to a Naval Base island, to the beach a lot and make rafts (am I seriously the only one who know what a reef knot is and how to do it?). The camp was right on the beach.

Now this is off the topic of friends, but, I can't stand reading anything in a sort of bad condition. In this case, I don't think I'll ever share my things again. Ya see, I let my friends borrow my new Dolly magazine, that I hadn't read my self yet, but then I came back and the cover had come off. I had to get a whole new magazine.

Same thing happened to my Heist Society book. I bought it in Febuary, put it in my school bag to take to school then to have my drink bottle leak over everything. The pages on the in one corner are all puffy and annoying.

So yeah, pictures later.

Meet Fashion Dog and Einstein Dog

My pet pups. Well, technically, they're not puppies anymore.

This is Dobby. He is about 2 1/2 years old and is a blue healer x jack Russel. He definitely isn't the smartest dog, but he is *really* cute. He used to live with this old man who abused him. The man eventually got rescued when he chewed up the man's azaleas. Did I mention he got a fish hook up his nose while we we're in Sydney? That's Dobby for you!

He has a crooked eye, which we think is from when the old man kicked him.

Dobby always likes to wear the latest fashion, and doesn't care what it is. A bandanna or a hat.

Here he is sporting the latest shades...

He's name is Dobby beacuse when we first got him, he resembled Dobby off Harry Potter; his floppy ears, the scared look in his eyes and the shape of his face.

Now Eddy is a different story. He's a corgi and is really smart. And he speaks! Well, sort of. He howls at us when we get home, and it sounds something like "helloooo!" His ears are as long as his legs, and he always looks like a bobble head in photos taken from above :P

Eddy is also the "boss" dog beacause we've had him longer and he thinks he's important. He's always beating Dobby up.

I love my dogs.

____________________________

In other news, this will probably be my last post for a while because I'm off to camp for a week! And I'm so excited!

Home Again, Home Again

I planned to post ever 2-3 days. I meant to post every 2-3 days. But I didn't. At the end of each day I was tired and lazy, and I had already used up waaay too much of Mum's download limit. So this is gonna be a long post.With lots of pictures, beacuse I can't decide on just 2 or 3. 

Thursday 7th - Day 2
We also bought a ticket to jump on the Sydney Explorer Bus, which takes you around Sydney, whilst giving commentary. It was very good.

Queen Victoria statue outside QVB wearing clothes

First we went to the Queen Victoria Building (thanks Random Rawr :D). The QVB is massive. Like, 5 floors. Then we hopped of the bus at the National Maritime Museum. I've always had an interest in those places...

Later that night, we went out for dinner at Darling Harbour.

Darling Harbour

Friday 8th - Day 3

Me at bondi. Proof.

We hopped on the Bondi Explorer Bus, similar to the bus we went on yesterday. Apparently, this house near Bondi sold for $52 million... whoa.

Because our ticket only lasted until midday, we spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, at Paddy's Market/Market City and on the monorail. I got a pair of pretty purple converse for $50. Cheap, cheap.

We jump of at the Paddy's Market station, and there are the Teen Choice Awards being filmed. Right in front of us.

Saturday 9th - Day 4

PARRAMATTA! We jumped on the ferry and headed out to Parramatta, where Westfield Parramatta, one of the biggest shopping complexes in Australia. And let me tell you. It was massive. I got a pair of jeans and a purple top to match my new shoes, from one of the thousands of floors.

We caught the bus back, because it was quicker. We get to the city and stop at some lights. I look out the window and see an Apple Store, so out comes the camera :P I love Apple Stores.

Apple Store!

Is it weird that I felt really cool (lol)  when I swiped my MyMulti card at the station and on the busses?

Sunday 10th - Day 5 (10/10/10)
The big day. The day we climb the Bridge. Because it wasn't until sunset, we went to Luna Park and wandered around a bit. We didn't go on any rides though.

If you can ignore the un-natural looking circle...

Wharf outside Luna Park

After that, we walked across the bridge, along the side of the road, on the footpath.

At the other end of the bridge was The Rock's Market. much better than Paddy's Markets. Did I mention that on the plane on the way over, my face cleanser leaked over my brushes and combs and my toothbrush and everything else in my toiletries bag, ruining (well not completely) the actual bag. Lucky it was in a plastic bag. Anyway, I got the most awesome make-up bag to use as a toiletries bag. It's made out of old plastic, which had Chinese writing all over it. I love it.

We got lunch at Circular Quay, then walked to the Botanic Gardens. They're pretty awesome. By now, our feet we're *really* sore and achy, so we caught a little train-y-ma-jig around the gardens...

Famous shot

Then wandered back around to where the Bridge Climb was to start and I wandered upon this little tunnel and I just had to take a photo. Also in this area was a ghost tour brochure and I grabbed one, as you do when your hyped-up-because-your-about-to-climb-THE-Harbour-Bridge. We got home and I chucked the brochure on the bed, walked out of the room, the walked back in and was too scared to go anywhere near the brochure because it had a scary-ish picture on the front.Back to the story though.

 I just *had* to take it.

We got to the place where you go when you're about to climb the bridge, checked in, and geared up. Our guide was called Bernie (I think) and he was very funny. The Harbour Bridge was definitely the highlight of the holiday, and I'll probably never forget it. (Before the climb I kept telling Mum and my aunties that I hoped I got the suit that Daniel Radcliffe wore. lol)

Monday 11th - Day 6
 I hadn't really been looking forward to going to the Blue Mountains, mainly because we were catching the train and it was to be a 2 hour train ride. The train turned out to not be that bad, because it was a long distance train. But the scenery was *beautiful*. We hopped on the Blue Mountains Explorer Bus to the Scenic Railways which was equally as beutiful. First we caught the cable car to the otherside of the valley. Then we went on the steep railway, one of the steepest railways in Australia. I loved that bit the most.

The railway. That's just the bottom of it though. It was much steeper.

We wandered around the rainforest with was beautiful, before hopping on the other cable car back up.

Tuesday 12th - Day 7

We were going to go to Maitland Gaol, near Newcastle, but none of us could be bothered with a 3 1/2 train ride, so instead we went back to the Bondi area. First, we went to Westfield Bondi Junction, another one of the biggest shopping complexes in Australia. It was a lot more up-market than Parramatta. It was funny beacuse there was a Louis Vutton, David Jones and Chanel all next to each other, then you look up a floor and theres Target.

The Gap

Then we went to Bondi Beach, but didn't swim. We saw some life guards telling off people for swimming in the surfing section :P

Wednesday 13th - Day 8
That day, I did wear my bathers. We went to Manly on the ferry, which had free wi-fi! Anyway, the beach was closed because of how how big and dumpy the swell was, but of course, there was a couple of surfers out there. Also, I discovered the frame feature on the camera.

On the ferry

Manly is much nicer than Bondi.

Manly - View from south

We pulled in to Circular Quay, and then out of no where, this massive cruise ship appears!

The Cruise ship - Sun Princess

Thursday 14th - Day 9

The last day :( We caught the taxi to Central Station, where we put our bags in storage. We went back to Paddy's Markets to get some last minute souveneirs, then to Darling Harbour for lunch (I had Subway - how gormet!), then the best bit... TO THE APPLE STORE! As I mentioned before, I love Apple Stores. Their glass walls, modern stairs, and iPad displays.

My aunty had this poncho thingy from Supré that was really pretty, and Mum wanted too see if they stil had some. Before walking in, I declared that I hated Supré (don't ask why), but the I saw this pretty green singlet I love. There goes that frame of mind.

We walked back to Central Station and caught a shuttle bus to the airport, where we got off, sorted out our seats, and went through security. Why does the thing always beep when I go through. Last time I went to Adelaide, they confiscated my favourite scissors. On the way too sydney, they were trying to work out what something in my backpack was. This time it beeped, and I had to take my belt off. I HATE YOU AIPORT SECURITY! No, not really. You keep us safe.

Beautiful sunset :) It was also a long long long sundet. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that I was travelling west...

Have I ever mentioned how much I love aiplane food? Well I do. This time it was dinner they served us. I had Spag Bol while watching Toy Story 3 on the screen. Also, I think I may have got a good profile pic on the plane :) It was a much smoother flight as well, with not as much turbulance, but those clouds... they annoyed me so much.

__________________

During my time in Sydney, I did travel on some really nice trains that were newer though. Just thought I'd add that ^.^

__________________

What can I say?

I LOVE NSW! 
__________________

P.S. Yes, I took 4 days to make this post.

First Impressions

First Impressions are everything. Here are my first impressions of Sydney.

We took off...

QANTAS much?

Check out the cloud cover over Adelaide...

There was a LOT of turbulence, which was a bit scary because I've only flown once before, when I was little. I kept thinking we were going to crash :P

Landing at Sydney. Again, QANTAS much?

It was really cloudy, so we flew through the clouds when we were landing!

A couple of hours ago, I hopped of a plane at Sydney Airport, and jumped on a train. My first impression of the trains was "ewww". They have graffiti all over them, are two story, and very plastic seats. I've been spoiled with the trains back home. {I forgot to/can't be bothered watermarking the photos, so please don't copy.

Train at airport station.

I'm a tourist alright...

The Harbor Bridge from outside Circular Quay train station.

About to drive over the bridge in a taxi.

Last but not least, the view from where we're staying.

Isn't it beautiful? I think it's funny how the Harbor Bridge and Opera house don't really stand out like they do in pictures on tourist websites and stuff.

Now I'm sitting here on the balcony waiting for it to get darker so I can see all the buildings lit up.

As You come To Read What this Post Says...

As you come too see what this post says, after seeing a notice on your Blogger Dashboard, you'll see that there's a new header and background that look quite good (hopefully).

I would like to thank the lovely Olive Tree @ Robin Blogs for this free makeover that I won in Hayhay's 100 followers giveaway. Thanks Guys!



P.S. I have a blog button up!

The Show

The constant chattering. The fireworks. The showbags. The rides. These are just some of the things I love about the Royal Show.

Somethimes, I think the only reason I still do Guides is because I get free entry to the show.

Let me tell you, gettting up at 7.30 am on the school holidays to jump on a crowded train on a weekday is not fun. Especially when it's Peak Hour.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love showbags? Well, now I am. I LOVE  showbags. Last year, I kept checking the website every couple of days until September to see if the showbags had been posted yet. I even check The Sydney easter Show website and The Royal Melbourne Show websites so I can get a bit of an idea what will be in them.

This year, not so much excitement. Maybe it's because when I went on the site in February, or something like that, and it said "Showbags put up in September". So I stopped looking.

Anyway, back to the point. I got up at that un-godly hour of the morning, got ready and jumped on a train. It was crowded. Normally, all the Guides somehow get a seat. We transferred trains, to a different line, and that was even more crowded. Maybe because it was the Show Express Line.

We got there, skipped the ong line, and went showbag looking.

Skipping a lot, the showbag I wanted (Girlfriend) was all out, and so were all of my "back-up bags". So I didn't get a showbag this year :O!

Then we went to a stand where we had to stamp "passports" and and give out freebies. Pretty boring.

Then Mum and Dad picked me up and we went to where all of the rides were, where we went of this really cool ride where you sit on this incredibly uncomfortable cane and metal seat, and then you get spun around really fast. I go on this ride every year, and it's definitely my favourite.

Not my Picture

Next I went on a ride called the Gee-Wizz where you sit in these cup things, and then go around the circle track really fast. I like how you have to hold your neck tight and still :P

The last ride I went on was the Super nova. This was the biggest, fastest ride of all (well that I was game enough to go on). You sit in a seat and then you get swung like a pendulum. It made me feel really sick. If it had stopped a couple of swngs earlier, it would have been okay though.

Not my Picture

I took some pretty awesome photos with my phone, but I don't know how to put them on the computer  *grins sheepish grin*.

Last, we went to went to the fireworks display. The fireworks were AH-MA-ZING!




P.S. This time in 5 days, I'll be in Syndey!! EEEEEEEEE!