Well, spent most of Sunday being a normal Aussie teenager. Brad, Jono, and I woke up late, lazed around the house and watched cartoons until 2 PM, and then the sun came out so we went out bike riding. Apparently Jono thought it would be AWESOME if we took our bikes off-road in the local rainforest. I wore my helmet because apparently it's illegal if you don't and we rode down rocky hills, over sandy slippery slopes, up treacherous cliffs and past large spiky trees and poisonous insects in the underbrush. I also almost died trying to ride off a rock. Pretty neat. I was bleeding in about five places. We rode out to an overlook and sat there for a bit and just looked out at the blue mountains and talked about how much I needed to see The Castle, a movie that apparently "defines" Australia. After all this nice relaxing talk I realized that we had to go back and do the whole route again because it didn't just go in a loop, so there was more bike riding and body-killing on the way out. We also checked out a place called Hole in the Woods (really original) where there was a hole...in the woods...that you rode into and it was filled with scary jumps and tiny creeks and empty cigarette packets and the lingering scent of marijuana. We didn't spend much time back there but it was so bad that we just walked our bikes through it rather than riding through. On the way back we stopped at the corner store for ice cream and gummi killer pythons and candy and Solo drink (which is AWESOME and it's the drink of champions AND it's low fizz so you can SLAM IT DOWN! <-- television ad campaigns).
After we got home I had the opportunity to laze around for a little, and then I went to church with Jono, where the sermon was about depending on God. Afterward I met lots of very nice people and there were snacks. I got to tell everyone about "bell peppers" which they called some weird name like choomba or something. I also got more TimTams, which completed my day.
Just when I thought the awesome food was over, Jono took me home where Mrs. Ward had prepared for me... *drumroll* my first real Australian lamb. It was delicious. We had it with mint jelly, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, zucchini, broccoli, and MORE SOLO!! For dessert the Wards had gotten Mars bars because they knew I'd never had one. It was all delicious and amazing and I want more right now but we're having maple salmon tonight instead.
After dinner Jono and I watched The Biggest Loser (Australian series!) for a while until I fell asleep on the couch, and then he woke me up and I went to sleep.
I had a terrible nightmare that I was at a huge mansion and a serial killer was picking off my friends one by one and I WAS NEXT but I escaped with a backpack full of supplies and had to survive in the Chagrin Falls wilderness for weeks but I made it just because I was so RUGGED from having been in Australia before I came there.
Then I woke up, but it was very early, so I went back to sleep and dreamt that I was eating caramel kisses. Which is another name for a caramel slice. Which, incidentally, Mrs. Ward gave me the recipe to that evening. YAY! You can get most of the supplies at World Market (the ones you can't get in normal grocery stores, that is).
When I woke up, I decided to go for a run. I remembered my way to the Hole in the Woods, which was surprisingly easy to run through. It's so hilly here! And very shady. In North Sydney it's actually illegal to cut down trees unless you get special permission from the city. It's also illegal to pick flowers; even wildflowers. When I got home, Jono had finally gotten out of bed and told me that we were going to Centrepoint! Yay! I got showered and dressed, and then hopped into the car. We drove to Mackers (the word for McDonalds here - weird, yes) so that I could take cash out. Turned out my card was declined. I got the last of my money out at an ATM in the city. I'm officially 20 dollars away from broke. (HELP ME MOMMY!!!!!) We took the train from Gordon all the way to Town Hall and walked over. The tower is, duh, very high up. It was really exciting to see everything from such a vantage point, and Jono pointed all of the key landmarks out for me so that I could orient myself. He's also been testing me lately on how well I know my way around, so he asked me to show him where certain beaches and key streets were. I've been doing fairly well. I don't get lost around his neighborhood at all, and I can make my way around the city without too much trouble. I love knowing where I am halfway round the world.
After Centrepoint, Jono and I walked to Hyde Park, which was very pretty and scenic. We also visited the Sandringham Gardens (made to honor the memory of George V and George IV). After that we walked over to Darling Harbour, where I had my very first meat pie! Actually, I had my first two. As I walked out with the first one, a seagull swooped down and GRABBED IT OUT OF MY HAND!! He knocked it down and called to his seagull friends and they all came down and started devouring my lunch. I had never been more angry at a bird of flight. I ran over and stepped on one of them and almost started crying because I was so mad and flustered and migraney but then I remembered that I was a civilized American. So I stopped killing the one seagull and sniffled a little and Jono told me he'd buy me another. My second was better than the other would have been, anyways. And it was bigger. So there. Stupid seagulls.
After this large Harbor-y adventure, we decided to head home. We hopped on the train next to a very smelly Lebanese man, and spent the ride back looking at a Korean newspaper (which I grabbed for Stephanie because...well she won't be able to read it but I mean...she knows a Korean person....). We also looked at our horoscopes in the most popular free magazine in Sydney (Jono's popularity is on the rise and I'm focusing more on my family this month!)
We made it home relatively early. Jono just left for his stupid Hornsby Gang Show, which I realize I haven't properly explained yet.
He's playing trumpet for a community theatre performance of Once Upon a Time. It's rather average, as Jono would say. I'm being dragged to it on Wednesday. It's going to be terrible. Ah, well. I'll live.
Tonight Mrs. Ward is making maple glazed salmon, because she has delicious maple syrup now with which to make it. Thank you, thank you, no applause please. Yep that's pretty much all that's been going on. This entry has been extremely long because it covers two days. I thank all of you that made it to the end of it.
Ttyl!
Love,
Janet
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