Wednesday July 1st

Laura from Quarterbred came to visit us in our studio and talked to us about the ARI she is  a part of. After a little more insight we got back to work on our studio. Dan and I talked with Michael and got our design a little more fine tuned. Overall it was a very productive day.

Thursday July 2nd 

We went on an all day walk from Bonji beach to Koogi beach. I got some really amazing pictures and the views were amazing. We stopped and got fish and chips for lunch then had class with Adrian about half way through our walk. Then we went on and saw a building Nick recommended to us. We saw a flock of wild black cockatoos as well. When we got back we all packed for our weekend in the Blue Mountains. 

Friday July 3rd

All of us met up at Central Station at 7:30 to catch a train up to the Blue Mountains. We met our guide Evan at 10ish and began our walkabout. It was a very interesting look into the Aboriginal Culture. We got to see rock carvings and paintings, and several sandstone caves. We pretty much went rock climbing over the mountains. The trail took us down waterfalls, up and down almost vertical spaces, across moss covered logs, through rainforest pockets, and atop a mountain. My knee took a good beating through all of that but it was well worth it. The views were gorgeous and we learned about coming to ones senses through dream time. After the long and tiring walk we went to a local pub and got some dinner and a drink. We then caught a train up to where our hostel was. It was a really nice hostel and much bigger then the one we are staying in in Sydney. A few of us played a game of monopoly (the british version) before heading off to bed. 

Saturday July 4th

First off Happy 4th of July!!! A few of us went out for breakfast and had some of the most amazing eggs and bacon I've had in a long time. Then we met up with the guys and and took a much shorter and tamer walk through the "bush" to see the three sisters.

 "The Three Sisters

The legend of the Three Sisters is perhaps the most interesting story heard from around this area. According to an Aboriginal dreamtime story, the three huge rocks formation were once three beautiful sisters named "Meehni", "Wimlah" and "Gunnedoo" from the Katoomba tribe. The three sisters fell in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe but their tribal laws forbade their marriage. The three brothers did not accept this law and tried to capture the three sisters by force. This caused a major tribal battle and the lives of the three sisters were thus threatened. A witchdoctor decided to turn the sisters into rocks in order to protect them and thought to reverse the spell only after the battle. Unfortunately, he was killed in the battle and the three sisters remained as the enormous and beautiful rock formations until today. The magnificent formation stands at 922m, 918m, and 906m respectively."

After our hike we stopped by a local chocolate place and got some hot chocolate, chocolate milkshakes, and some other chocolate treats. Then headed back to the hostel where the girls took a short nap and the guys got lunch before we headed back to Adrian's book launch. It was pretty interesting but not as much as the last one had been. Afterwards I headed back to Sydney to catch up on some work. It took about 3ish hours to get back and then I had dinner with Jul and Gretchen. After getting a little work done it was defiantly time for bed. Not a bad way to spend the fourth but a nice grill out sounds pretty awesome!!