Happy 2012 to everyone!!! :)
Welll...here am I again...back to my trip in Australia (New South Wales)...this time, just after New Year in the South Coast (Batemans Bay) - we went back to Sydney...
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| Some beautiful lookout form Royal National Park, not far away from Sydney (1) |
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| Some beautiful lookout form Royal National Park, not far away from Sydney (2) |
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| Sydney (Harbour bridge) |
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| Sydney (La Perouse) |
...and, from there, I went to the
Blue Mountains by myself...I spent 2 days and 1 night there. It is basically, a spectacular national park (UNESCO world heritage), about 100/150 km west from Sydney.
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| Katoomba waterfalls |
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| Scenic skyway with the "three sisters" just behind (1) |
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| Scenic skyway with the "three sisters" just behind (2) |
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| My aboriginal guides and the mount solitary (in between them) |
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| Creating the aboriginal body painting from the rocks |
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| Welll...do you really think I took the photo because of the guy in the middle? :P |
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| Blue mountains - amazing view (1) |
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| Blue mountains - amazing view (2) |
Afterwards, me and Daniela went to the Central and North Coast, where we visited Newcastle (industrial city with nice beaches) and Hunter Valley (the most famous and eldest wine region in Australia). In Newcastle, I have figured out that one of the type of wines produced there is "Verdelho" which comes from Madeira island, Portugal. I couldn't actually recall this name, as we have also great wines in portuguese mainland.
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| Blackbutt reserv - lizard |
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| Blackbutt reserv - Koala |
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| Blackbutt reserv - Peacock |
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| New Castle - dog friendly beach |
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| Hunter valley wineries (1) |
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| Hunter valley wineries (2) |
Back to Wellington, back to work, back to the boring life? Well...not that much...as you can see (by the photo), there is still time to have some fun. What can I tell you about this night? Maybe that I fell asleep in the bus back home and ended up in Eastbourne; the bus driver didn't give a shit and just "kicked me out of" the bus; I ended up walking almost 10 km, which took about 4 hours. I can tell you that instead of getting home at about 2/3am, I got home at 8am. But even in moments like this, we have time to think about the bright side of the life: the walk was amazing, between the sea and the forest...listening the breaking of the waves and the sound of the birds...I am pretty sure that you just don't find this kind of stuff just anywhere (especially so close to the capital...here you find it even in the capital)!
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| The so called legendary popped collar shirt and blue glasses worn by Papi (not Popeye, the sailor man) |
Also back to sports...soccer (indoor, outdoor and even participated in a beach soccer tournament), some jogging...and waterpolo...well, from this last one, I can hardly survive...not easy at all...their "professional" coach came back from Hungary (yes, they take it so seriously that they have imported an hungarian coach!), after winning
last year title...and, me, well...I just try to survive to the trainings...until they decide to kick me out of the team!!! ;) As it wasn't enough, I have decided to re-start learning guitar...and, for that, I bought an awesome second hand guitar (electric one)...and, believe me, very good deal...but too good guitar for such a beginner! :D
The end of this month is a milestone in my life - I am just completing 1 year as e/imigrant...I have arrived to New Zealand 1 year ago (30th/31st January 2011). Thoughts like the one expressed in the poem "A felicidade exige valentia" (see below), from Fernando Pessoa (the most famous portuguese poet...and, probably, one of the best ever in the world), have inspired me...and, as I said previously, I do believe that I made the right decision, despite of the distance to my closer relatives and closer friends (although I already have very good ones here!).
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"Happiness requires braveness", Fernando Pessoa
(for who likes poetry, this is a highly recommended poet) |
Finally, the last, but (definitely) not the least...it is actually the best: since awesome Matt recently decided to post one of the best videos ever (at least, in the actors'point of view) in youtube, I have just decided to share it with you - these were some of the my best times in New Zealand (sorry for the ones that were very important in my first year in NZ and are not in the video...if it was me doing the video, (it wouldn't be as good as this one, but) I would add a few more great moments with few other great people that I met in the southern hemisphere!!! Anyway, I strongly recommend you this video (if possible, with sound):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgLYuXCbkP8Matt: besides being an awesome person, you are an awesome movie director and very kind in giving me permission to post in my modest blog such
AWESOME TIMES. Thank you soooo much for making my blog sooo much better!!! :)
