Rudy and BE met in 1997 when they were both travelling in Bolivia, meeting up again Rio. The friendship has stood the test of the time (and the not inconsiderable distance between Belgium and Australia).
So we took the ferry upriver – a treat in itself:
Past the rich people’s houses:
And kayak practice:
To Rydalmere dock. Where we waited. And waited. BE didn’t arrive. We figured that she hadn’t got our message sent from the hotel. Rudy tried calling, but his Belgian phone wouldn’t connect.
Time to rely on the kindness of strangers… who duly obliged and very generously let us use their phone to make a quick call.
Whilst we were sat waiting, a cyclist pedalled by… with an unusual helmet:
Apparently, if you get between a magpie and its nest, it’ll attack. The spikes are supposed to deter them (although BE explained later that as magpies are quite bolshy birds, they can interpret them as a challenge!).
Lunch at the lake:
Followed by some travel planning. Bush fires are raging around the country, and are particularly bad on the east coast. It’s probably no coincidence that eucalyptus oil is highly flammable, meaning gum trees may explore if ignited. There were lots of explosions – they were fierce fires.
We established that they won’t directly affect our plans (although the smoke might), but we should definitely keep an eye on them.
An great pho bo (beef noodle soup) at the local Vietnamese place for dinner:
Nom, nom 🙂