Another day, another week chalked up, waiting! Well last week following the dizzy heights of wildlife weekend, I bumped back to reality hard, and unpleasantly. On speaking with the immigration lawyer who works with the firm that want to make me an offer, it appears that getting sponsored by a company might be somewhat harder than preciously anticipated. After years of my lack of degree being a complete non-issue, suddenly it rears its ugly head! Although it is still possible to get sponsored, the process is a lot harder, and with some changes to the rules recently, it appears immigration are being uber-stringent. So, with my tourist visa due to run out in a few weeks, the long wait for my partner visa suddenly seemed much less tolerable. I took some advice from the lawyer, booked in my medical, and started to cross everything, tightly! After a little bit of moping, luckily I had plans that night with a friend, which was just what I needed to make me feel better. We drank wine, ate yummy food, chatted lots and then practised our moves for this flash mob we have signed up for soon. It was a really good laugh and all the nicer because I was staying over, so didn't have to make a late night trek home across the city. I also had plans for a walk on the north shore the next day :) And so, the following morning, I kicked off my day of walking with a hearty breakfast of poached eggs and avocado at a nice little place in Crows Nest. A short bus journey later I found myself marvelling at the absolutely stunning beauty of Balmoral Beach. Stunning. Seriously. Of all the gorgeous places I have walked around/seen so far, Mosman is the first to make me think "Oooooh yes, I absolutely want to live here". Although I'd happily live in most places in Sydney, something about this area really turned my head. Of course, it's bloody expensive, but hey that just means I have good taste, right? ;) From Balmoral Beach (did I mention it's absolutely stunning, by the way?) I walked along to the end of the bay to continue my planned trek around the coast to Taronga. I hadn't planned much further than a brief look at a map, and figured I'd just follow my nose, with google maps as a back-up. This would have been fine, if it weren't for the evil b*stard ***img STEPS that I began my walk with. The steps lead up from the back of the beach to the Middle Head, and let me tell you, they are not kidding. OMG. About half way up, I thought I was going to die. So, if you're ever in Sydney and want to walk that bit of the coast, walk from Taronga TO Balmoral Beach, not the way I did it!! Once I had completed the marathon of steps, I had to have a little sit down. Luckily there was a strategically placed bench, overlooking the sea with the north and south heads either side. Not too shabby a resting place!! When I felt sufficiently recovered I continued on around the Middle Head to explore. It was amazing, just amazing. The sun shone, the sky was a deep blue and I seemed to be the only person around; ideal! At the end of the Middle Head you start to see the first glimpse of the harbour forts that were built during the 19th century. In their present disused abandoned state they are pretty eerie but also creepily fascinating. I investigated as many as I could, and often broke off the beaten track down paths through the greenery to find amazing hidden lookout points. You could easily spend a day just on the Middle Head; it really is incredible. I had more coast to walk, however, so I pressed on down Chowder Bay Road (great name), stopping only to check out Obelisk Beach. On the way down to the beach I noted how there were a lot of steps, and steep ones, and that I would have to walk up them shortly to get back to the road. I was keen to see the beach though, so I tried to ignore my thighs beginning to whinge at me. Well, Obelisk Beach was definitely worth it, but I did get a bit of a shock...Turns out it's a nudist beach! Luckily, there was only one person partaking in this facet of the beach, and I was able to look in alternate directions so as to avoid having my retinas scarred for life. He was your standard nudist beach type: old, wrinkly, slightly overweight, and clearly happy as larry in his own skin ;) Shame I had chosen this beach to eat my lunch... Hmm! After climbing back up the steps to the main road, I continued on, breaking off the beaten track where I could in order to go exploring. I found tonnes more forts, concrete structures and incredible lookout points. It is a truly breathtaking area. I started to get a little paranoid that if I tripped and fell, or was leapt on by some eight-legged monstrosity, that there wouldn't be anyone around to come and rescue me. Luckily at that point I rejoined the main road, saw signs of civilisation and told myself to stop being ridiculous. Just at that moment though, something very strange happened. I spied a crow a little ahead of me and, as I usually do with birds, gave it a good ol' stare (don't ask me why, because I don't know, I just always do it!). He stared back at me, I smiled to myself and walked on. A few paces on I hear the pitter-pattering of little feet behind me, turn around, and there is my little crow friend... following me. I feel a little uneasy, as I'm pretty sure birds are supposed to know their place vs a human, but I carry on. Then I hear the unmistakable sound of a bird's wings and out of the corner of my eye, see my little crow friend whistling past me, to land on the branch of a tree just ahead, and give me a good stare in return. Or so I thought. As I look at him, somewhat perturbed, I hear a pitter-pattering behind me and realise that my original crow friend is still following me! Clearly he has called in aerial support and the crow ahead of me in the tree is his buddy. I try not to panic; I am a bit freaked out now as I am actually surrounded. I walk a little faster, so as not to appear bothered, but eventually the pitter-pattering behind me, accompanied by the intermittent sound of low-flying wings as aerial support crow repositions himself, begin to get to me. I do the only thing I can think of: I turn around to ground crow and shoo him. Yes, that's right, shoo. "Shoo" I shout, waving my bag at him, "P*ss off!" Ground crow takes a couple of steps back, cocks his head and looks at me. "Shoo!" I add, for good measure. I can feel aerial crow staring at me from behind. I turn and find him in a similar position to ground crow, head cocked, looking at me quizzically. I trounce off down the road, purposefully. Ahead there appear to be signs of human civilisation and I figure that should put off my crow foes. They dog me for about 200 yards. It was like something out of "The Birds" - I swear to god. By the time I look back and find I am no longer being tailed, I have a full sweat on and am feeling more than a little bit mad. I do this with none of Tippi Hedren's grace whatsoever. I have been bested by a couple of birds. Sh*t. At the next park/beach - Clifton Gardens - I have a throughly good sit down and start to feel normal again. By this point I realise I have actually walked quite a long way, and with a fair share of hills and steps, my legs are pretty tired! I am determined to finish my route, however, so I press on around Bradley's Head to Taronga; the final stretch. This section of the walk is all through bush, with intermittent views of the water, and is so peaceful and beautiful that I end up feeling like I am the only person on the planet once more. No bloody crows, either. By the time I reach Taronga, I am absolutely shattered but thoroughly pleased with myself. Luckily, a ferry is waiting at the wharf for me, and I gratefully hop on to be sped back across the harbour to the city. Thank you, Sydney, for another wonderful day :)
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