91Èȱ¬

Now, as always it's been a while since I last wrote, so here I am sat in front of the computer with my diary beside me working out what to write.

Walking through there makes you feel like you're out in the bush – the sounds of all vehicles disappear and it's just a perfect getaway. One other great bonus of where I am is that my cousin lives in a block of apartments right next door – so I can see the family whenever I want.

I'm paying $150 a week and that includes all bills and internet, it's the equivalent of about £60 a week – not bad hey? I live with another girl called Jenny, who is also from the UK, she's a lovely lass and then there is the guy who owns the flat called Peter Kay!

Unfortunately it's not the real Peter Kay, now I that would be a laugh. Just the other day though I was informed by the flat owner that the flat has been sold. I've got one more month here and then I'll have to move out. The annoying thing being that I then only have one month left after that and I will be going to Queensland. I am going to ask around at work and see if I can crash at a few mates places till I leave – I'll keep you posted on this one.

We also went to see The Three Sisters and they were truly amazing. The Three Sisters are a set of three closely-spaced, steep-sided rock pillars, on the edge of the Blue Mountains Plateau, at Echo Point, Katoomba. Their name is derived from an Aboriginal legend which speaks of three sisters, Meeni, Wimlah and Gunedoo who were turned to stone for their misdeeds. They are made of Triassic sandstone (Banks Wall Sandstone), and were formed by erosion along two prominent sets of perpendicular joints (planes of weakness) in the rock.

Erosion has cut away rock along the joints, leaving step-sided blocks of sandstone separated from each other by narrow spaces and steep vertical cliffs. After a lovely walk here we went on the world's steepest railway it was so fast and very steep, it even gave me a little fright – good fun though.

Good Vibrations was in Centennial Park and included acts such as Beastie Boys, Jurassic 5, Snoop Dogg and loads of fantastic Australian bands and DJ's. It was a day and evening affair and I had a fantastic time. Future Music was at Randwick Race course. This was more DJ based – Carl Cox, LTJ Bukem, Nick Warren, plus many more – unfortunately it poured with rain for quite a bit of it, so we all looked like drowned rats – not such a good look – but everyone still had fun dancing in the rain.

As well as these outings I've been working lots and doing very well at saving the cents, all of which I'm probably going to spend once Nay comes out here to join me on 14 May. I've got just under two months left of working hard and then it's time to hit the road once more and fly to Cairns and explore Queensland for a month or two.

I'm going to miss Sydney as it's such a great city – there is always something to do come rain or shine. And plenty of fantastic restaurants to enjoy every type of cuisine imaginable. I'm also going to miss all the friends that I've made here – but I know that I have got so many more adventures ahead of me and I can't wait to experience them.
To wrap up this edition of 'Rachael’s travel diary' I want to tell you all about my fun filled weekend in a place called Crookwell the other week. It was here that I got to attend the Crookwell and District Picnic Race Club's 64th annual picnic race meeting, held at 'Funny Hill' in Binda.

The Crookwell Picnic Races are one of the few race meetings held in a truly 'bush' setting with no power and very little mobile phone coverage to provide distractions from the entertainment on the ground. Picture this – a huge field, lots of marques, jockeys and their racing horses and then heaps of beautiful people dressed up to the nines in their party frocks and suits, many of whom had a glass of bubbly in one hand – a fantastic day had by all. I was lucky enough to be able to go to this event as my mate Em ('Team Border') has a friend called Fliss who lives near to me and fortunately she was heading up there as Crookwell is her home town. And being the lovely girl that she is, she offered to take me with her.

Having only met Fliss on the Friday morning (day before the race), I proceeded to go with her to her family's farm and spend the rest of the weekend with her. We had an awesome weekend and I'm so glad that I got to make yet another great friend. Getting back to the races – this was my first ever horse race and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It really gets you going when the horses fly by you at a great speed.

From where we were stood it really didn’t look that far – but we were fooled! Imagine three girls, Em, Skye and myself, in dresses and heels stumbling across a field in the wind and rain – it was certainly a moment for 'You've Been Framed'. I decided to just give in and off came the shoes and in went the cold, sticky mud between my toes. Next came another comedy moment – we hit a fence – the only answer was to go over it.

Luckily we had two strapping young men with us – Jim and Dave – to help us over it! When we finally made it to the bus and we found that other people had just caught another bus over to where ours was – doh!

Annoying but funny all the same. Once I was dried off and didn't look like such a drowned rat – it was time to hit the town of Crookwell for dinner and a bit of socializing in the middle pub – another fun night out in Rachael's travels. Well people – I really do think that I have written enough for you this time – till next time, cheerio x