HUGE Kangaroo in my Way!

G'day mates!!!
How are ya? Well I'm back in Sydney now, the mountains were lovely. They made my heart so happy and they hikes were gorgeous! I did my first Wwoofing job-organic farming work. You put in 2-4 hours of work and you get free room and board and the rest of the day is yours.

I have to say this first experience was definately an experience! I get to the place, it's two trailers that have a wooden porch in between them that is missing boards so you have to be careful where you walk as you might fall in! ; ) Fun fun! I was brought into a room where I hadn't a clue if it's where I stayed or not. But found out shortly this is where the owner stays, but it's where everyone fixes food and watches TV and listens to music. No heat, just four walls, the ceiling might blow off if the wind got strong enough.

So I sat down with the other Wwoofers after chatting a while-2 from Switzerland, one from Germany and one from Korea, and we all watched a video. I was starving as I hadn't eaten in hours so they sent me to the fridge to fend for myself and not one vegetable to be found there, YIKES! All meat, eggs, cheese and bread. Well I do eat eggs and cheese and bread I'm not fond of but I'll eat. Put it this way, there was nothing organic here and nothing fresh or good to eat. I finally pulled something together and then the owner came in with tomatoes, so I got my veggies. I fixed enough for everyone and we all relaxed.

Well the owner, Lovell, he can talk a mile a minute. Someone told me that people in this area take wwoofers for company and I realized it was true within a short time. He couldn't handle being alone and he didn't care if you worked or not. Just be there. His father, when I went looking for work, told me I was working by keeping him company. Luckily I got to do some unloading huge amounts of aloe veras and a number of other plants from the truck and helped his other son plant some great small trees in front of his two trailers with his living room outside and covered by a huge plastic tarp. It was clean and nice. I liked hanging with him. He was spiritual, into health, though he didn't eat that way, but he knew how he was to eat anyway. He knew cures of cancers and all kinds of things. I liked him a lot and his girlfriend that came by in the afternoon, she was great too!

I went for a walk one day, now mind you I didn't have my glasses on for distance, I was wandering through that lush green trees and smelling the fresh air, while singing to Barbra Streisand on my Ipod-a new experience as I have never been in nature with my ipod, I love nature sounds, but the music took me further in to the now of nature. My voice raised louder and louder, letting the fragrant surroundings take me away! At some point I just stared at the clouds doing a number of things-white and puffy, the blueness of the sky was stunning and the sun just about to set starting streaking the sky with orange colors. I finally decided to head back.

I turned back and looked up ahead and froze in my tracks. What I was looking at from a distance looked like either a Ginormous (is that a word and if so is it spelled that way?) Kangaroo with no head or it was a huge man with a Kangaroo body. I'm talking this thing must have been 8 foot tall at least and heavy in weight, possibly 5 feet around. Without my glasses it was a little unnerving as I wasn't sure what I was looking at, but as I moved to my left I could see his head, as his head blended in with the trees. He just stood there in the middle of my path. Thank goodness it wasn't headless as it looked at first. My first though is "are they dangerous"? I knew I didn't want to get close just in case but how to continue on?

So I started talking to him as I moved closer. He took a few humm.....steps forward, or are they slow hops, not sure, he was bouncing but using all 4 limbs to move forward a few feet. Then stopped. I came a smidge closer and really got to see his beautiful brown colors of his coat and black eyes. I started talking some more and he went a little further off the road, at least I could pass now. He wasn't my first kangaroo I'd seen but that hugest thus far. Then as I got closer he hopped right over a 3 foot fence and right out into the woods. Man oh man, no effort, just hop, talk about humans being no competition for them. Can you just jump standing still 3 foot off the ground and keep going. He was very impressive. I'm sure they are not to impressed by us....I mean really, not physically anyway. We can write and all but they must be all muscle underneath that soft yet wiry coat.

I see Kangaroos all over when I'm in the county, it's pretty impressive and shocking these things actually live. I hear of raindeer too, we'll see.

I saw something two days ago I never heard of walking on the beach. I saw these little plastic filled balloon type things only 2 inches long. I popped a few of them with my shoe, having no clue what they were. I assumed it was something that fell over board from a boat. Later I was told they are blue bottle jelly fish, I'd even touched one with my hands but luckily not the tenticles. I was a little wigged out at I'd been squooshing live things, but they were probably dead anyway, hate thinking of killing something. And they were every where. Now I know why no one was swimming that day, but they were surfing as usual and fishing.

The people here don't seem to get cold, I'll have 3-5 layers on and they have a singlet top on and shorts. I think they have thick skin or something. I'm not sure. Or I'm just adjusting to the tempurature. But luckily I'm over jetlag and culture shock and feeling good. I still ask people "are there banks in this town?" as it's called a town. But I realize now if a train goes to it a bank is there and it is the west. I also got to hear the seranading of sicades again in Windsor and I got to see there burial grounds of shells they leave behind after they shed them. Pretty amazing things. I got to pet a few live ones. One wasn't too happy about it so I didn't pester him too much. But they shed everything but their wings and they only live for something like 24 hours but are in the ground growing for years before-at least that what I was told. Pretty amazing critters.

So my trip is going well thus far. Heading north tomorrow, probably to Port Macquarie, but who knows. I'll decide where in the next hours to come. I went out with Kristi and friends yesterday and really got to see how Ozzies party, pretty amazing. Can't say I could relate but they were pretty simple people and fun in their own right. For me, humm.....it was fun for a day, but not my thing but I could completely appreciate them for who they were and how at ease they were at being them.

I still have great memories of staying up in the hostel in Katoomba, with the fire place blaring heat out of it and everyone reading around it. Just so great. Felt like such a great community of people. Love that place. May have to go back. If you get the chance to stay at the Flying Fox Hostel, it's great!

I loved calling the bus and train station, everyone so nice, and getting them to laugh is so easy. It's truly lovely talking to the Ozzies. So laid back and "no worries".

I'm out of here. Take care and love ya lots, Heather