Welcome Back Canadians!

Alas! The time had finally come for us to graced with the presence of the beautiful people of South Sydney. We moved into our new home with the Ng's, a family in the Disciples of Jesus community who agreed to have us live with them for the next few months. They are originally from Singapore, but moved to Australia 14 years ago. Basically this means we get to eat ridiculously delicious Asian cuisine all the time! BEST!
Although we would be moving with them to their new house exactly a week later, we were so excited to unpack our backpacks and have our clothes in drawers or the closet where we could see them! Ah, you don't appreciate the little things until you have gone without them for so long. Like a real bath towel. The towel I'd been using for the past 4 months was literally the size of a hand towel. We're really living the good life now! Get to use a real towel every day! How good.

A bunch of our friends threw a welcome back party for us, complete with nachos (courtesy of Steve), cider and quality company. Being back in Mortdale was another dream come true, although I loved gallivanting across the vast and varied landscape of Australia, it was here that I felt the most at home. After spending our first week in Australia here in Sydney, I was convinced that after we were done backpacking, all I wanted was to settle in Mortdale for the last few months.

Daniel, Sam, Tim, Steve, me and Jennine at Oatley Pub!

Anyways, after dinner it was time for the after party at the Oatley Pub! Some of us weren't so keen on the whole "clubbing" thing, so they bailed early. Lame. Apparently this place was a bit 'seedy',  I didn't know what that meant at the time, but I soon found out. There was an outdoor location with music and dancing, pretty epic! Unfortunately Canada doesn't typically have such venues. The boys dubbed us official 'Mortdalians' cause of the experience. What a blast. We stayed till closing then met up with a few more friends later on. We felt quite privileged to have a party thrown in our honour! What gems, they are so good to us.

Wattamolla in the Royal National Park.

A couple days later, which happened to be Valentine's Day, a group of about 15 of us headed to Wattamolla for a day at the beach! It was gorgeous out, beautiful blue skies above, crystal clear water below. Maegan, Pete, Jennine and myself arrived fairly early - after claiming our spot on the beach, we didn't waste any time getting in the water, climbing up the rocks and jumping off the cliff! Got the adrenaline pumping pretty quick. Part of the cliff was a meter or two higher than the rest, which Jennine and I wasted no time conquering, but had to encourage couple guys at the top just kept looking down and phsyching themselves out.

Adventure time! After swimming out into the ocean a bit, a few of us climbed up on the rocks and quickly found the sheer joy awaiting us. Lotsa scaling, scrambling and scoping with waves crashing along side us the entire way. Ah, paradise. I just couldn't get enough. We headed back with cuts and scrapes all around, every one was worth it.

We had a nice little picnic, then played soccer on the sand, which felt like we were playing on the surface of the sun it was so hot. Lasting maaaaybe ten minutes, everyone, sweaty and covered in sand, booked it to the water for some refreshment. Ah, what a glorious feeling. Couldn't cool down fast enough! We were sure to grab frozen cokes from Maccas on the way home, good life choice.

All in all, our first weekend back in Sydney was a solid 8/8. So much good.