For some reason people assume by virtue of what I am doing that I would be a good candidate for the television show, The Amazing Race. I have never seen the show in its entirety but from what I have seen I figure I don’t have the time or energy to go racing around the globe with a travel partner stressing out about local customs and schedules. I’ve never considered myself a suitable person for the show’s premise.
After a harrowing driving experience during rush hour in Sydney, I have changed my mind. Brooke and I would be ideal candidates for the show. Imagine doing what we do and possibly winning a whole bunch of money just for doing it? So far we have hunted for native wildlife on a golf course in Canberra in the dark. Had we actually found something out there we would have been terrified. Instead we drove down a road on the wrong side, well, right for us, wrong for Australia. We flew in a hot air balloon, hit a tree while landing and tipped the entire basket with 11 people in it over. Okay we weren’t responsible for that little mishap we just happened to be a part of it. We soon discovered that the GPS system we rented from Hertz has no clue where anything in Australia is, constantly flips roads, tells us to make U-turns or shuts down completely just when we need it the most. We named her, but I can’t repeat the name on a blog. Suffice it to say Hertz gave us a refund on that one.
Sydney proved to be our Achilles heel and after a week of patting ourselves on the back as we made our way around the country, Sydney humbled us. We started to bicker which would have made for great reality tv. We circled the same streets having no clue how to proceed out of them. We got a great photo of the famous Sydney Opera House only because we accidentally ended up right next to it. Just as we were ready to quit and change our plans – we found the Hilton. Not a moment too soon either. Not having a reservation I was afraid that after the bad luck we were having they would be sold out. Instead we got a great room and a bottle of champagne sent up with a personal note congratulating our 6th summit and wishing us the best on Everest. We walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner and a few stiff drinks only to end up next to a table of boisterous ‘blokes’ who wanted to insure we understood their country and customs. I asked if they worked with sheep? Just like our GPS name, I can’t repeat the jest of this conversation.
This morning we awoke early to allow plenty of extra time to get to the airport for our flight to New Zealand. We got to the airport forty minutes late. We probably shouldn’t have given the GPS one more chance. The airlines, in typical Aussie fashion, were wonderfully accommodating. “No worries Mate! You’re not late. This flight left yesterday and you weren’t on it!” Guess somewhere between time zones, mountains and just laughing too much neither of us looked closely at our itinerary. We really weren’t supposed to be in Sydney at all.
Heading to New Zealand and the “Kiwis” a day late. Brooke and I are still speaking. Still laughing more than ever to the point we are rendered useless and continue on with our ‘mountain’ adventure.
I think we could have won The Amazing Race!
Climb On!
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