Unexpected events happen often

Just when you think everything is great and the little kitty (our car) is purring again, it suddenly breaks down. Unfortunately, Trinity (the name of our car) didn't survive the journey from the Blue Mountains. We were on our way to Kiama, a small coastal town south of Sydney, when we got stuck in the Blue Mountains National Park. And of course, we were on the highway in the middle of the national park... Luckily, there was a mechanic nearby and we managed to get there with our last bit of strength (and a lot of persuasion).

At first, we hoped that we would be able to continue after an hour, but it quickly became clear... there was no hope for Trinity. So, what was supposed to be a one-hour wait turned into 7 hours until a tow truck took us back to our rental car agency in Sydney. By the way, it was one of the hottest days in the last few weeks and there was hardly any breeze... In that town, there was... the mechanic... so we spent 7 hours in the parking lot.

For those who are thinking, "Oh, but Sydney is great" - we were basically in the outskirts of Sydney and it felt like we spent the night at the airport. And since we arrived at 8 PM, we didn't get to see anything. But that's what we wanted, after all, it's supposed to be our highlight for New Year's Eve.

With a new car, we finally made our way to Kiama after a not-so-idyllic night and a 24-hour delay. The highlight there is the so-called Blowhole (a water fountain) and the town itself is really beautiful. Unfortunately, we had (still have) bad weather and not enough water, so the fountain isn't as high as it can be, up to 15 meters.

Since there wasn't much to see, we continued our journey right away, as we were missing a day. Our destination was Hyams Beach, the beach with the whitest sand in Australia - so beautiful that we decided to have a beach day right away.

Today, we went to Canberra because we wanted to see the capital city. Many people we spoke to advised us against taking this trip, and unfortunately, our first impression confirmed it. Both Jozy and I think Canberra is the ugliest city we've ever been to, and it's so deserted and abandoned that it gave us a strange feeling. I'm curious to see what tomorrow brings - we'll visit the parliament and a few museums, and at least Canberra is well-known for its museums.

BUT there is one highlight: we treated ourselves to a hotel room for the two nights! The first time we'll sleep in a bed in 5 weeks. It's pure luxury, even though the hotel is not really luxurious. It's more like a motel, just like you see in American movies - but we're more than happy with it.