Bowral Buddies

With the end of the first year of medical school, of course something had to be done to celebrate. Although this wasn't as extreme as our Port Stephens trip, it was nonetheless a great get-away and one that will stick in my mind for a while to come.

There's always something quite relaxing about going out rural. I noticed over the years that whenever I was away from the city there almost seemed to be a change in the air itself (technically there is, considering the amount of pollution and soot in the big city).

Catching that two-hour train ride in the morning and then driving along almost endless roads in a foreign environment wasn't so much a hassle as it was a pleasure. There's something quite captivating about watching the fields and cows flash by, rather than being faced with faces-upon-faces and the loudness and static of the city.

One particular thing I love about being away from the city is the quiet. One might say the 'serenity' of the place.

"How's the serenity? ... So much serenity"

But enough of that. 

We rocked up in the morning and first stop after being picked up and welcomed by our local friend EL we headed off to her father's Garden shop to meet her family and settle in. Despite my fear of insects flying at me (oh boy) I can say that it was a gorgeous sight to behold.

Soon after hopping back into the car (appropriately named Sparky) we headed off to start the real tourist business. First stop? 

Australia seems to have an odd and endearing love for upsized versions of things. Most of them seemingly very ordinary objects such as a pineapple, prawn, ram, and of course, a potato.

Admittedly as an Australian, most of these are not the biggest tourist attractions but merely an oddity to behold. Their accuracy is questionable and often the elements will have left their mark on these structures, but let's not forget that this was a giant potato. A POTATO.

Much time was spent outside it taking a series of tourist-esque photos, including classic jumping shots (with our trademarked squad jump pose) and some inspiration from the Leaning Tower of Pisa Tourism. Who would have known the giant spud would be so attractive?

Now on to more fun stuff. It was finally time to head out to the infamous water-hole nearby Bowral. A secret, secluded place away from the hustle-and-bustle of life where there was nothing but a small waterfall, fresh-water, and most of all, serenity. And the dragonflies, diving beetles, ring-tailed possums, flies, tadpoles, spiders, and potential leeches (their existence is debatable). 

Good ol' Mother Nature. The water also wasn't exactly 'fresh', but it was definitely refreshing.

To really enjoy the hot Spring Australian day out (the weather was perfect for a swim) we brought along some fruit and sandwiches (courtesy of EL) in some trays to munch on as we relaxed on the flat rocks. Unfortunately, due to several reasons (such as the dragonfly that was charging straight at me, and also mostly due to my lack of coordination) I managed to trip over a tree root an send the entire tray of watermelon and strawberries soaring through the air in slow-motion. They promptly landed in the dirt and gravel.

Chaos, chaos everywhere. Somewhere, someone was laughing. (Also, I was laughing).

We salvaged what we could and left the rest for the wildlife to take care of. After a quick dip and great debate about the presence of leeches in this body of water (I like to think that there weren't, and there was no evidence to prove otherwise... Sort of) we all headed up to explore the trails around it, and to head up to a few look-outs.

Walking along those trails was slightly reminiscent of explorations in the Blue Mountains, except a lot less humid and somehow the air felt fresher, though you could argue that that was probably the placebo effect.

But nonetheless, it was a breathtaking sight to be able to walk to the edge and look over to see a sight such as this.

There was never really such a time where I wished I had the ability to fly as much as that very moment. 

After spending a great deal of time there taking photos, re-enacting the Lion King on a nearby rock, and generally having a fantastic time trying to clear out the decades of tar accumulated in our city-air-laden lungs amongst the crisp air, we decided to head off again to another look-out for a better view of the waterfall.

Along the way we managed to stumble across (or slide across) a set of very flat rocks and small water pools, and found ourselves staring at some murky water with tadpoles swimming amok. Tadpoles!

With great dexterity and skill we managed to corner one and lure it into the palm of our hands. After filling the palm with water and ensuring we weren't breaching animal rights legislation, we took a closer look and a few happy snaps.

LOOK AT THEIR TINY LEGS. Almost at full transformation!

Much fun was had but it was time to move on. Crossing a flat surface of rock covered in slippery moss was not the most elegant thing to behold. Much false screams-of-alarm were had, and I am sure the tadpoles were scheming to make us slip in a sick version of karma and sweet revenge. It was unbelievably slippery. (Only kidding, tadpoles are the sweetest). Eventually we managed to cross over the other side, which was a massive relief, considering the fact I was walking across with my DSLR in one hand (non-water proof, mind you) and my one-and-only towel wrapped around my waist. Probably not the wisest decision, in hind-sight.

The sight was tops, though. Would re-view/10

That waterfall though, seriously.

After a stroll back to our home-base we found the ring-tailed possum (that we had discovered earlier) had awoken from its mid-day nap, so we tried to snap a few pictures of it.

It may not seem like it, but much precarious balancing was had to take this image. Let's just say a 35mm prime is not the best lens to get up close and personal with a living creature that's stuck in the middle of a tree with so many branches sticking out of it that it would make a cactus run for the hills.

"I have an idea! DA, hold my arm so I can dangle precariously off the edge of this flat rock above murky water and extend my camera at full arm's length to get it as close as possible to the possum!" (It worked, though).

With the day still early (I love it when the sun sets at 7pm) we made a quick detour home and took EL's dog out for a walk. Innis was wonderful and beautiful to take photographs of, though admittedly I had forgotten how difficult it is to take portraits of animals (especially excited dogs). They never seem to understand it when I woof at them to stop moving and smile at the camera.

A stroll around the neighborhood led to a full-scale adventure throughout a primary school (don't worry, this was allowed and I assume, legal(?)) and some good climbing fun around here and there. 

With the sun setting in the distance we headed back home and went for a small tour around a mini-rain-forest of the neighbour's, which was highly interesting but also itching (the mosquitoes were the most viscous and bloodthirsty ones I've seen in a long time).

In the meantime, a campfire was lit and we later gathered around the table for one of the most authentic, home-made Australian dinners I've had in a while (I'm one of those 'rice every day' diets), followed closely by roasting marshmallows by the fire and many discussions about world issues and philosophical concepts which included, but are not limited to, the perfect level of roasting of marshmallows, the level of carcinogenic effects of burnt marshmallows, the composition of marshmallows, and many other similar questions about life.

Before you'd know it, it was approaching midnight, and like the group of princesses we are, Cinderella and her gang tiptoed off to bed (i.e., sleeping bags). But wait! Of course not before a quick last gaze at the stars. The clear night sky and peace & quiet are the two things that I love most about getting away from the city, and as the clock struck twelve and we headed in I tried to burn that last image into my hippocampus for years to last.

...

Morning struck and we got up excitedly (Well, that's a lie. It was more like a groggy 'eurghhhh' awakening with a yawn and stretch in super slow motion, promptly followed by crawling back into the sleeping bag. I eventually got up, though). The new day was to start as the other lot of friends was expected to arrive and we planned to head to the Garvin Institute Biomedical labs for a private tour around the mice-breeding facility! Yes! I know! I couldn't contain my excitement (I know this sounds sarcastic but it isn't).

After worries and concerns that the others wouldn't arrive on time (don't worry, they did), we received an amazing tour around the facilities and witnessed what goes on behind the scenes. Who would have known so much occurs for something as simple as breeding mice? Scientific research is a doozy, and perhaps one day in the (very near?) future I'll have the pleasure of dipping my toes into something of the sort. If you ever get the opportunity to tour a lab, I would highly recommend. I can only dream to one day tour CSIRO, NASA, or really anything remotely scientifically-orientated.

A trip down to a garage sale (where we picked up a-many great bargains) and the Big Potato again (who wouldn't want to see a giant potato a second-time?), was then shortly followed by another trip to the water-hole and much more water fun.

It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt. 

Long story short, a little bit of an incident happened requiring us to head off to Bowral hospital, which was not the most pleasant experience and was highly stress-inducing, but all-in-all we came out of it with 100% of us alive and many lessons learned. Memories were made (admittedly, some of them were quite full of fear and worry, but memories none-the-less) and it made me realise that being serious and lightening up the atmosphere are not mutually exclusive things. You can be mature but still have fun too, you know? As long as your friend's not struggling to function properly in the process.

It was about high-time we headed home. Despite our lack of frontal-cortex development, we all realised it was probably wiser to drive up back to Sydney and call it a day. There are priorities to be had, sometimes, and safety does come first.

Regardless, it was a heck of a time down at Bowral with many memories to last a long, long time. I'm confident that this won't be the last time we head down there -- road-trips seem to be our kind of thing. So although we never managed to do everything we wanted to (potato harvesting is definitely going to be on the agenda next time), we had a blast of a time and we were heavily exhausted (and mosquito-bitten).

We laughed, we learned, and most importantly (and fortunately) we lived. The paperwork would have been a nightmare had we not.

Take care, y'all. Stay hydrated, eat healthy, and try not to end up in ED. 

Here's a picture from inside the ED. 

Photocreds DA