Shadow Jumping

Hmm, now where were we?

Oh yes, 4 shell-shocked girls hurtling down the highway, byron in our wake, the beautiful byron shire landscapes passing us by, with Sydney as our final destination. We eventually took out the maps and guidebooks and very roughly planned our voyage to take us along the coastal route, stopping/sleeping at whatever beaches struck our fancy along the way. We decided to avoid cities, stopping only in places small enough to call themselves towns. Other than beaches and towns, our only real stops were petrol stations (gas, snacks, water, and bathrooms....) and supermarkets.

I can't speak for the others, but I know i personally spent these first few days ungluing my mind from byron. My body may have been in that car, but my mind was miles and miles away, still firmly planted In Byron, amongst all the friends and places I had come to truly love. By the time we got to sydney, I had myself reassembled into something mostly like one piece. I was more or less ready to move forward, and it seemed the blue mountains were our next stop.

They were stunning. I can honestly say by now that the best things to see in Australia is pure, unadulterated nature. We stayed at the YHA in Katoomba, a sweet, tiny mountain town full of cafes, 'adventure' equipment stores, and art deco architecture. Our hostel couldn't have been any less like the Factory; dead quiet almost all the time, half empty at that, the guests more focused on planning exhuasting hikes rather than thinking about what they're gonna get from the bakery at 2am that particular night (spinach and ricotta slice, or asperagus+corn+cheese pie? tough call...) The sights were amazing, and the 3hour "National Pass" hike tamar and I took was easily one of the highlights of my australia trip so far. And I FINALLY rode a horse, for the first time EVER in my life. It was pretty cool.

One and a half days in the blue mountains proved enough for myself, Jenny and Tamar. Amber had set her sights on an ambitious 2 day hike, so she and Matt (whom we met up with there) went off on their own into the Jenolan Valley, while us three girls headed back to the coast for more beachy paradises. We set our sights on Jervis Bay National Park, and by the light of dusk set up our tent at the "cave beach" campsite, kept company by the local roo population the whole time. By this point my enthusiasm for camping was pretty well worn off, and fantasies of a nice comfy bed, mine at home even, were frequent.

That day and next were spent relaxing lays on beachs, taking slow forays into local towns for coffee and breakfast, and a hilarious rural op-shop-stop. Night two saw me serenading an audience of fellow campers as we finished off our dinner, right before heading out on a futile mission to find an open pub/bar at 11pm. A laughable venture, really. The next day we packed up and headed towards woolongong, occasional beach stops along the way, to meet Amber and Matt before continuing to Sydney, since we had to return our rental car by 10am the following morning

At some point during these ten days, we coined a motto for our trip, which has since become the motto for my trip as a whole, and perhaps my life? As we raised our wine glasses/mugs by the rosy light of dusk in the bluemountains, I demanded a toast.. I'm big on toasts.. Jenny said, using a lovely translated-from-german turn of phrase, "To jumping over our shadows" which basically means: to facing our fears, pushing our boundaries, and going beyond where our selves seem to end and the rest of the world begins.

And how.