AspiringNomad

It would be misleading of me to write this whole blog without mentioning that Arron and I, at this point, have spent 7 days together. When we wake up, after we shower, for every meal, for every second of every day until we go to sleep again! It’s only fair for us to get a little frustrated with one another every now and again but I won’t delve into any of the bickering. I’m sure you can imagine the disagreements we had as siblings and so I’ll spare you the details!

We woke up Thursday morning feeling rather motivated. I headed out for a run while Arron enjoyed a little longer in bed. We then went to the gym together! After quickly rushing back, we got ready as quickly as we good but Arrons surfing debut at Bondi Beach was booked at 1pm and we were cutting it fine!
We made it to Town Hall station before deciding that getting an UBER was the only way we would be able to make it time.
Bondi was overcast but the temperature was perfect for a dip in the sea! While I indulged in a lunch time vino and some fries, Arron was squeezing into a wetsuit and applying some suncream, ready to hit the waves. In typical Martindale style, Arron was given the bigger board to support, we guess his big bones! I spent the next two hours sat on the beach, thoroughly entertained by watching Arron attempted to surf. The effort and determination was apparent but execution could have been improved. Having said that, I do have an eye witness account of seeing his stand up a handful of times!

I met Arron back on the beach after he finished and we headed back to mine. Due to spending so much time together, we decided to have an even apart doing our own thing. It was a much, let’s say, needed break from one another and feeling refreshed, we were ready Friday morning to face each other again! I was desperate to show Arron to Manly beach, I knew he would like the Northern Beaches as much as me and the sun was shining. After arriving in Manly, we decided to walk along the promenade and over to hill to Freshwater Bay. We settled next to the rocks for what we hoped would give us some shelter from the wind. No such luck with that and we later walked off the beach looked like sand men. Nonetheless, we laid in the sun, took a dip in the perfectly, aptly fresh water and entertained the other sun worshippers with a best of 3 game of wrestling. I tried my best but lost 2-1. We exhausted ourselves and used the facilities to wash away half of the sand on the beach which seemed to be stuck mostly to side of Arrons face!
I had booked Arron and I into the Natures Energy Spa Baths for 6pm that evening. We had just enough time to peruse a couple of shops down The Corso in Manly before getting the Ferry back to Circular Quay. We boarded the ferry like any other and took out seats on the outside where the sun would have warmed our skin up from the cool breeze. The cool breeze however, had other plans, and as the heavy vessel made its way across the mouth of the Harbour the waves were kicking up the front of the boat enough for a warning to be broadcasted on the tannoy for passengers to stay seated. We had swiftly made our way inside just in time. Unfortunately, Arrons resent milkshake beverage was threatening to come back up. With a Pale face and fear in his eyes, he asked how long the boat ride was. My answers of 30mins didn’t go down to well! As the waves started to subside as we went further into the harbour, Arron started to gain colour in his face and the panic was over!

Once we were back to Circular Quay we were then straight on the train through to Redfern. I was keen to show around past my old place in Chippendale and since we had booked an afternoon at Natures Energy Bath Spa’s nearby, it was the perfect opportunity to do so. As we got to my old place, Arrons Milkshake started to make an unwanted return. The Chippo Hotel had provided a backdrop for many a night out over the last few months, but never did I think I would be waiting outside for Arron to finish his business, hoping that we wouldn’t get noticed for using their facilities and not purchasing a drink!
After what seemed like a lifetime, Arron and I were back on track and walked all the way up to Glebe. It was a walk that I used to do frequently while on facetime to Arron either before or after the gym, so it felt only right that this time, we were walking it together.

For the next couple of hours, we took some time to unwind in the infrared sauna, the steam room and relaxation room and I even took a plunge in the ice bath, much to Arron’s amazement! Arron had a little snooze in the relaxation room and we took advantage of all the free moisturisers, toners and exfoliation creams that we could. Not to mention drinking about half of gallon of fruit tea!
Relaxed and revitalised, we slowly made our way back to Kirribilli where I made us both some pasta before heading off to bed.

Arron and I were unsure as to how to play out our Saturday. We had time to either head into the blue mountains or go south to the Royal National Park to Karloo Pools. To avoid tourists, big roads and the cost of having to rent a car, we opted to get the train to Heathcote and hike from there to the natural pools that I had heard you can comfortably swim in to cool off!

As the journey began, google maps informed us that the trains were not running between two stops that were pretty essential for a smooth journey there!
Arron had been witness to my train rage when there were strikes earlier on in his visit but I think today he had front row seats and 4D tickets to full train rage! What should have been about an 1-1.5hr journey was going to take us over 2hrs! Not only that, we had to get off and grab a bus for part of our journey. Nonetheless, we managed to arrive a Heathecote unscathed and were ready for our hike to Karloo Pools.
During the stress of the train rage, I seem to have made my way through large amounts of my water for the day. This meant we were dangerously low and despite having snacks (salted peanuts and spinach and ricotta pastries) we were running the risk of severe dehydration throughout the day on our rations of water.

The hike down to the pools was fairly difficult with a steep declined of big bolders our knees were taking the brunt of the impact. A few little stumbles were had as we caught our feet in some of the rocks where of course we joked ‘enjoy your trip?’ Just to be annoying! At the bottom of the track, the forest opened up to a large section of a river that had a small waterfall and a deep crevasse that was full of the fresh river water, perfect for jumping and swimming in. There was a chilled, friendly atmosphere with everyone choosing a sensible spot around the edge and carefully making their way in over the slippery rocks to cool off in the water. It was perfect, the sun was beaming down, the birds were chirping in the trees, and there was a gentle sounds of chatter in the air. That was until someone decided to blare Adele from their speaker! We had already decided that we were going to head off, so we took one last dip and used Adele to soundtrack our best synchronised swimming performance possible, then dried off and began our very thirsty walk back up to Heathcote Station.

With about 200m to go, we finished the last drop of water we had. We prayed that there would be a vending machine at the train station to hydrate us! To our delight, the vending machine was standing tall right on our platform. Maybe I was hallucinating but I think there was a heavenly golden glow around the machine that not only sold ice cold water and coke, but accepted card payments too!!
Thirst quenched, we could now concentrate on getting back to Kirribilli. It was much easy to get home, even with a rail replacement bus, we made it back with plenty of time to spare.

I can’t say that getting ready for our meal out on the Saturday evening was a highlight of Arrons visit, but after a Facetime with Becky we accepted that as much as we hated each other, we do also, by nature, love each other and we brushed up and headed to Newtown for some vegan tacos!
We opted for the set taco banquet and were plied with delicious plant based alternatives to food inspired by Mexico and South American Street food. We were blown away by how delicious it was and Arron was particularly impressed by the Prawns that were not actually prawns! Our bellies were full and we had forgotten all about the earlier argument. Once we finished our Mexican feast we hopped over the road to a bar called the Midnight Special where Arron treated me to a vino and he had a beer. Newtown is quirky, there is not denying it. It’s a bit rough around the edges with a ‘come as you are’ attitude. We had fun people watching and discussing their outfits, finished our drinks and headed back to Kirribilli and to bed after a long, eventful, but another brilliant day!

Sunday marked the controversial day of Australia Day! Unfortunately, I woke up at 4am with a cracking headache that turned into a Migraine, so I was knocked out for the morning. Arron looked after me with paracetamol and cups of tea which was much needed. After a slow morning we had both prepared our things for a day at the beach. I had told Arron that there was a quieter, more secluded beach that we could head to and enjoy the water, the sun and the view of the cbd from across the harbour. After two ferries we were finally walking along the coastal path down to Whiting Beach. We stopped to take photos of the breathtaking view. Even for someone who has seen it a few times, it’s impossible not to be in awe of the greenery against the bright blue sea with a backdrop of the high rise buildings of Sydney city in the distance. We settled on the beach, and were a little disappointed by the number of yachts that had pulled up in the bay, playing music, but it added to the excited atmosphere for the extended weekend. After some time a couple turned up next to us. One of the men was wearing a sailors hat and was sporting an impressive beer belly. He had a pinic basket load full of meat for BBQing. His partner sat back and relaxed as the sailor prepared their food. All of this was quite endearing until they started blaring R&B music from the early naughties so loud that the girl minding her own business next to them got up and settled down again to the other side of the beach! Arron and I put up with 50 cent for as long as we could before we were also forced to move further along the little bay. Finding the funny side of it, it meant for good entertainment. Throughout the afternoon, yachts came and went and the music became less of a problem and we paddled in the sea and soaked up the sun as much as we could before it was time to head back to get the ferry back home! We made sure we left enough time for a mango smoothie for our second ferry back to Milsons Point.
After we filled ourselves up on some pasta, the buzz of Kirribilli harbour was too good to ignore and we headed down to see what all the fuss was about. We could see the performances on the TV and the fireworks from the balcony so decided that we didn’t want to miss out. We had a small encounter with a Possum on the tree outside the front of my apartment block and walked down to the harbour. We waited patiently for the Australia Day fireworks that were just as spectacular as you would expect but they didn’t last for long. After some confusion about when they were going to finish, we had walked halfway back to then realise the true finale was just starting! Luckily, we saw just enough to feel satisfied but were glad to make it back to the apartment away from the crowd.

Monday morning crept up and it was the morning of Arrons departure to Cairns, or as Arron likes to say Cannes! Queensland or France, Arron was off for his solo adventure in the down under! Relieved to have some space but equally wishing I was going with him, we waved goodbye at the departures area of the airport. I was so excited to hear about Arrons travels in Australia as the week went on and although it was slowly becoming the end of his trip here, I was looking forward to seeing him again on Friday evening to enjoy our last weekend together!