Leaving it Behind

still Thursday, August 7
Once we got home I talked with Al a while about the govt. here (Oz) and how they handle drugs i.e methedone treatment, teaching safe drug usage, and "safe" cocaine houses... We all sat and talked a bit, and Leah made us focattia with ham, swiss and avocado. It was really good. We headed off to bed around 11:15. Leah and I talked a little, but not much...

Saturday, August 9
Well, I'm on the plane on my way back to the states. And since I have WAY too much time to kill I might as well catch this thing up with the rest of the trip.

Thursday Leah had to work heaps which was a bummer, but it still turned out to be a really cool day. Leah went to work in the morning so I waited for Al to come home after her Scripture class. Once she got back we met up with Leah for lunch somewhere by the water. I had a hamburger with beetroot - it tastes fine with other things. We talked and ate and hung out a while, then Leah left for her second shift at work.

Al took me out to west head for the afternoon to watch the sunset. We hiked a trail to America Bay, which Al thought would be appropriate. THe hike was about 15 minutes, and the bay was gorgeous. There was a waterfall there as well, but it was pretty scare due to the drought I'm sure. We hung there a while climbing the rocks and getting different views of the bay. After we hiked back Al drove around for a while in search of a place that would have a great sunset picture. We eventually found a spot, and ended up standing on Al's car to get the picture. I also got to see the view out from West Head. You could see the lighthouse and Palm Beach - places we had already been and seen West Head from.

After the sunset we drove straight to Cremourne and parked at Leah's house. I led Al down the trail to the ferry, which was good work on my part to remember the way. Once in the city we walked up George St looking for Soup Plus where we were to meet Leah for dinner. We didn't see it and were a bit early, so we hit a Starbucks. There I got my THIRD crappy Aussie Starbucks. It was somewhat humorous, but mostly annoying. Leah was a bit late due to an accident with a bus and taxi she saw happen in front of her. Once she got there we headed down George, unfortunately the wrong way. After a lot of walking we finally got there after a phone call to Al and Leah's friend Susan.

The club was cool, though not at all what I expected. The meals were home-cooked style, and we sat at long wood tables and ordered our meals at the far end of the place. Leah bought me a drink after I tried hers and I liked it - curacao and oj. There was a quartet (jazz) playing that night - vocals, guitar, upright bass, and keys. I normally don't like jazz singing much, but this woman had a great sound and was really into it without overdoing it. The guitar player rocked and was fun to watch as well. We talked and laughed, and it was a great, relaxing evening. That night we got back and went to bed relatively quickly because we wanted to get up to watch the sunrise that morning....

We got up the next morning a bit after six with good intentions, but in the end decided it would be better just to head straight to the Blue Mountains before morning traffic (which apparently is worst about 8). So we headed tp Al's to shower, and I called Mel and told her we'd be there about 45 minutes earlier than planned. Eventually we got off, picked up Mel and began the drive out to the mountains, but not before a stop for breaky at Mackas. Apparently you can't order milk there; they got me some anyway though.

After a couple more hours we made it to our final destination. We went down the giant staircase and saw the three sisters, then went on a 2.5 km hike to the tram that would take us back up the mountain. The tram was crazy and went up the hill at a 75 degree angle or something ridiculous like that. We made it up alive though, and eventually got back to Leah's car.

From there we went on a quest to find this great lolly shop Leah remembered, but yet against it could not be found. We asked a guy for directions and got there without much more trouble. It was a cool shop and had a section of rare American candy that isn't normally sold in Australia - Butterfingers, Jr Mints, Hot Tamales etc. After hanging there we went to lunch at an overpriced cafe. After lunch we took off for our long drive to Jenolan caves.