Blech.

Tuesday, October 13th

Woke up to a gorgeous day. We had the best brekkie at a place called Caffiends. Hot Ginger Drink & veggie omelet with sour dough toast. Yum!

Then we wandered thru the town, checked out the University and of course stopped by McDonalds so I could use their free wi-fi.

One of the longest waterfalls and gorges on the area is about 40 km east of Armidale- so we drove over. We thought that maybe there wouldn't be a waterfall because of the drought...but there was!

Again, it is hard to describe the diversity of this land...you see farms and rolling hills and then the land opens up and there is a massive gorge with two waterfalls. I can see the farms on the otherside at the top. So crazy.

Then back through Armidale to head further south to see the Big Golden Guitar complex. Couldn't miss it. Right on the New England Highway. They are big celebrators of the country music in this area. Haha.

We then went to the adorable town of Scone...but made the bad mistake of going to Hogs Breath Cafe. NEVER go to chain restaurants. So gross. Seriously. And I am not feeling well today. So that didn't help.

We were going to stay in Muswellbrook(pronounced Muscle-brook) but we really wanted to see a movie and they didn't have a cinema. So we decided to drive the 40 kilometers to the bigger town of Singleton...where they had a cinema. So I am driving out of Muswellbrook and am passing from a 60k an 80k per hour...and I see a cop to the left pointing a hair dryer at me but I am fine cause I know that I am not speeding at all.

I guess I should point out that the Aussies are very, very strict about speeding. There is a sign posted about every 15 minutes or so- "how fast are you going now?" or "speeding-no one thinks very big of you". They also have a camera pretty often to catch you speeding.

But they do normally give you 3 warning signs before the speed camera. They don't want you to speed. Got it.

So I am driving the correct speed but as I get closer to the cop car- I realize that one cop is out in the street motioning me to pull over. So guess who has a ticket for speeding? I was already over 60k before I passed the 80k sign.

The best part of this story is that the cop asked me how much longer I was going to be in Australia... I said 2 more weeks. So he said with a laugh- "well, if you pay this ticket that is up to you, but you can also not pay it because there isn't much we can do about it.". Then he shrugged and walked off.

Oh. I'm paying it. I'd like to come back here one day.

We went to see Couples Retreat that night. It's funny but it would be a better rental.

Going to some vineyards tomorow and then to the Blue Mountains for 2 nights!!!!