My "parents" for the weekend on top of Bushranger's Hill
Darren and I on top of one of the many large rocks on their property
Rolling some sushi!!
Petting Ume with Io and Darren.Hello Folks,
I just arrived back in Wollongong from a very pleasant weekend in the country. My study abroad group sent us on a country life weekend in a little town about 4 hours west called Bathurst. We left Friday afternoon, drove for a few hours and then met up with our host families. I ended up staying with two guys from my study abroad group with the sweetest family ever. The parents were youngish (well, at least young in spirit) and they had one 18 year old son. They welcomed us that night with a delicious Thai meal (the mom was a phenomenal cook) and we all just sat around and chatted for most of the evening. David and Kerry (the parents) have traveled all over the world and had some very interesting stories to tell. They were very worldly and told us all about their adventures.
They also had the most beautiful house. They converted their old sheering shed into their living room/kitchen area. It still had a tin roof and they left a lot of the sheering equipment inside of it. It had one huge window that looked over the rolling country hills of Bathurst.
We finally hit the hay around midnight and I had one of the most restful sleeps I've had since being in Australia. The next morning we woke up and they took us for a hike around their farmland and their neighbor's. It was a beautiful hike, but the most amazing thing was that there were kangaroos everywhere! Every 20 minutes or so we would come across a small herd of them (5-10); they would sit and watch us for awhile and then they would hop away. I felt like I was in some sort of fantasy world. . .it was unbelievable. We also searched for koalas, but were unable to find any up in the eucalyptus trees. Kerry and David have a pet Emu (name Ume) and were able to pet him and take some pictures.
After our hike we headed off to Morgan's (the son) school to watch him play rugby. It was the first live rugby game I've seen and it was just as violent as I imagined. Just picture football without the pads. . .scary. His team ended up winning and I think I actually started to understand the game.
We headed home for a late lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon cooking. Kerry taught us how to make sushi and we also made some appetizers for dinner that night (bruschetta and Indian chicken). I had never made sushi before, but it was actually quite easy (Kelsey- think spring rolls only easier and tastier).
For dinner we went to their neighbor's farm who were also hosting students. We ate our delicious appetizers and they made us homemade pizza, which was delicious. We had another relaxing evening talking to the students and the children of our host families.
Sunday morning we went for another early morning hike. This one was to the top of the Bushranger's hill (so named because a gang of Bushrangers used to hide out there) and we got to see Bathurst and the surrounding areas from a new perspective. The view was absolutely stunning and it made me think that country life might not be so bad afterall. We had to catch the bus at noon, so we went home to pack up. Before dropping us off they took us to the famous car racing track in town and we also stopped by a motocross race.
All in all it was a wonderful weekend. I forgot how much I missed the comforts of home. Of course this family could never replace my family, but it was still nice to have a home for a weekend.
I just have one more week of class before Easter break when I head off to New Zealand!
Cheers!
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