Guys, I take a lot of photos.
I mean, ALOT.
I tend to go pretty crazy when I'm traveling and have taken many grand and mini trips around Australia these past few months. Seriously though, who knows when you'll be back, so of course EVERY tiny little detail must be photographed. Honestly though, how else would I remember how many chocolate croissants and cute cappuccinos I've had? These are essential details required for reminiscing!
Don't judge.
But the best part?
I have yet to really touch any of them out of the shear overwhelming thought of editing/converting them all from RAW files to jpegs to show the world. The urge to share is just as big as the urge to take.
So I'm rewinding back to April when my German and I took our very first excursion together to the Blue Mountains in April:
Our journey began bright and early at 9am (that is indeed early for us) where we had to run to make the hourly train service that would take us away from this crazy city. We made ourselves comfortable for the two-hour ride on our old school train; I read a book with an ironic title considering we went on Easter weekend and Oster translates to Easter in German. Torsten studied. Exciting stuff.
After a while I think we were both getting bored of what we were doing, at least I think so. Actually, I'm not really sure what Torsten did because I kind of just fell asleep for most of it.
But as soon as I de-suctioned my butt from the train seat and stepped out into the fresh mountain air I was in love. This whole trip reminded me so much of Door County, a country-side vacation area near where I grew up that Chicagoans always invade. Though they invade with their money as well so it's really nice with tons of art galleries, boutiques, resorts and none of which disturb the natural environment.
We even went during the beginning of autumn when all the leaves were starting to change. Have I ever mentioned it's my favorite season and Australia doesn't really get it like America does? Well this is the closest I've ever been, so I was a happy badger.
We stayed at pretty much the only hostel in the area, where like any small town time is of no importance. We waited nearly half-an-hour in a line of two couples to check in before we settled in.
By settling in I mean taking a nap and wasting most of the limited daytime. I can't remember why but we were both extremely tired that day. I'm going to assume we were out drinking with friends the night before considering around that time we were doing that nearly every other night. We internationals know how to party.
After the nap and Torsten's sneezefest we explored the area...
in search of food. Of course. But that doesn't mean we didn't take note of the town's two bars, extensive liquor shop and beautiful scenery. We picked this place to eat solely because of their offering of Nachos then discovered their Sydney prices with American proportions. We were not disappointed.
We wrapped up the night with a walk towards the mountains. We nearly had the whole viewing area for ourselves that night which we knew we wouldn't last the next few days (Easter weekend, remember). By the time walked back to the hostel it was around midnight and we were pretty exhausted, so much that even a dorm bed sounds good at that moment.
Well, as soon as I stepped in my room I noticed something in my bed. As you can imagine that something indeed was a someone who I assume thought that hostel etiquette entitles one to take a bed by simply removing someone else's stuff to the floor.
Gotta love budget traveling.
[to be continued]