Part 1: Paul's farm

Okay so here it is. I have been on an adventure over the last month. It all began in Canberra as we (Carlos Jay and I) were getting ready to leave uni and head out to Paul’s place near Welarawang. We decided that since we had to catch a 7:45 am bus that we would just no go to sleep at all and spend all night saying goodbyes and packing. It felt really weird to leave my room for the last time… seeing it empty and knowing that I would not be back. I shed many a tear saying goodbye to the amazing friends I have made and knowing that I will probably not see many of them ever again. These people had become my family over the last 5 months and I didn’t want to say goodbye. But alas the time came to catch a taxi to the bus stop in civic. However, our taxi we ordered never came so we ended up having to wake up Jack who we already woke up at 5 am to say goodbye to us to drive us to the station. It had frozen overnight and his car was covered in frost. There was no time to scrape it off so he drove us the whole way with his head hanging out the window. We arrived just in time. Jack is my hero! All three of us immediately fell asleep on the bus all the way to Sydney and then we slept some more all the way to Lithgow where Paul was to meet us to take us out to his farm.

Saying goodbye to Arscott House

We arrived in Lithgow at around 5pm and went to the pub for a while because Paul’s dad had to take our enormous amount of luggage to the farm first and then come back to get us. Paul’s place is super cool. They have 2 adorable dogs, a cat and a horse, heaps of beautiful land, and a beautiful home. Paul’s mom made a delicious curry dinner. After dinner we went on a walk out back to gaze at the stars. Tia the horse decided to follow us around on our walk, it was quite amusing. The next morning Paul took us on a long walk out to Stavin’s Cave. We got lost several times but it was worth is when we finally got there. The cave was a huge sandstone cave and we found a dead kangaroo inside… it was pretty creepy. On the way back Paul called his mom and told her that the entrance to that cave had collapsed and we were trapped inside. It was pretty funny… eventually he told her we were fine and on our way back. I had been quite sick so once we got back to the house I napped all afternoon while everyone else prepared a huge lamb feast for dinner. A whole bunch of Paul’s friends and family came over and we celebrated his 21st birthday. Paul’s dad gave a big speech about all the accomplishments in Paul’s life. It was so touching; you could see how proud his parents are of him and how much love they have for him. It nearly brought a tear to my eye. The party was great. Later on Paul and his mom pulled out Paul’s electric bagpipes and her harp and did a duet and then we brought out the hand drums and the tambourine and had a big jam session. It was amazing! I never thought in my whole life I would hear a harp-bagpipe duet! It was a wonderful night.

Paul lost, The lamb spit, Carlos and Paul's dad Andrew, Duet

The next morning Jay and I said some more teary goodbyes and caught the train back into Sydney. I hopped off the train in Parramatta and realized that I was supposed to get off at Westmead so I then walked back to Westmead which took a couple hours to meet up with Joann (you will recall that I planned to leave my luggage with her and her husband while I went backpacking). They were great! They took me out for supper and even paid for my train ticket to the airport the next day.