Drawing Room Rocks Hike with my Best Friends

A Hike: Drawing Room Rocks @ Barren Grounds Nature Reserve, Brogers Creek Road, Berry NSW. All photos taken on Canon D70 DSLR and Google Pixel 3 XL.

When the work week is over and we don't get to share our lives because we are so busy answering emails, taking work calls, looking after children and taking care of ourselves, its so nice to reconnect with friends.

I have lots of friends, but few best friends such as Erin, Jaye and Betty <3

When we plan trips, it's almost like we share one mind and come up with similar ideas. Three years earlier, we made the trip to Berry to eat their famous donuts and do the local Drawing Room Hikes and we just decided to recreate those memories. Also we must've been in the mood for some delicious donuts. The two hour road-trip meant we spent the entire time sharing what our work weeks were like - frustrating co-workers, our ten to twelve hour work days, what Betty's kids learnt that week, quests to move to other countries for love. We also talk about what snacks we bought along for the hike, as sustenance are essentials. Usually Betty made us cupcakes or sandwiches and Erin brings a big bag of lollies.

Arriving in quaint Berry, one must embrace life and go get some fresh, steaming hot cinnamon donuts from the Famous Berry Donut Van with a side of hot coffee. We did just that, lining up patiently for a bag of them. We sat outside and devoured them like little kids, playfully convincing each other that we would burn off all those calories at the hike. We were wrong, we just kept eating them while on the hike, haha.

We did this hike a few weeks ago but I only thought it was a good time to blog about it now as we actually completed a different hike at the Blue Mountains today. I guess I'm feeling sentimental and I just wanted to share my love for these girls who constantly make me laugh and feel so comfortable. 

Here is a story I shared with my friends today, from one of my days at the office. 

- My soul left my body this week at work. I had to reset the factory settings on my Walkman because it started to corrupt. All was fixed but it meant that I had to reconnect my work speaker by Bluetooth again. I always listen to music at work but at very low volume so I can only hear. The work speaker decided to reset itself to a louder volume so of course at 8am in the morning, when all was quiet in the office, I played my first song. Which was of course... Cardi B's WAP (Wet Ass P*ssy) and is a pretty explicit and crude song and definitely NOT safe for work. Anyways the first few seconds of "There's some wh*res in this HOUSE" played three times so loudly that my SOUL DEFINITELY LEFT MY BODY. I scrambled around to shut down that work speaker so quickly. I did and I found my breath again and almost threw my Walkman away in embarrassment. Although no-one commented on the song that played, it felt like the loudest sound in the world to me. LoL. A lesson was learnt that day. Mistakes were definitely made.

Knowing my dirty-minded friends (actually I'm just looking at Betty here), we all had a good laugh and it felt so nice to let some walls down and share stupid life fails with them. It really takes your mind off on how mundane the week can be.

The Drawing Room Rocks Hike is simple and only a few minutes drive away from the Famous Berry Donut Van. You have to park at Brogers Creek Road, but do not park in front of any private properties. It's hard to U-turn so ensure you are confident you will find a parking spot before reaching all the way to the top. The walk is just straight up - 4.5km return and about a 2.5 hour round trip. The Lookout is rewarding as you can view NSW coastal line and the surrounding valleys.

We took our time navigating the slippery path (it was raining that week) and talking about how unfit we were heading up and how weak our legs were when descending. We spent thirty minutes at the lookout eating lollies and enjoying the view, taking some sweet photos of each other to celebrate making it to the top. Walking down we danced to "Walk like a Man" like they did in the movie Heart and Souls and sang the theme song to Moana and Frozen 2 as they were Betty's kids' favourite songs that week.

We always have such a good time together, always heading home with a belly full of food and cheeks hurting from laughter. We already started planning out next outing which would be around mid September. Can't wait <3

A Birthday Lunch at The Potting Shed

A Birthday Lunch at The Potting Shed. 41/43 Bourke Road, Alexandria, NSW 2051. Photos taken with Canon D70 DSLR and Google Pixel 3XL.

So, the other week I was sad that I couldn't take my friend out for her birthday like I did every year as our little tradition. I considered cancelling it due to Covid-19. It has really put a damper on everyone's 2020.

But at the last minute, I asked my friend for permission to take her out anyway.  I tried to find some joy in 2020. Making sure we weren't sick and practising social distancing guides, I booked lunch at The Potting Shed. We are currently lucky in NSW Australia that we have loosened the strict lockdown because our cases have slowed down.

Life is not always made up of grand gestures or the big milestones. It's the little moments really, like spending some one on one time with your bestie and getting excited over some delicious food. And being in lockdown for months now, it's something we both needed. 

When me and Betty are together, we share our thoughts on everything going on in our lives, even when we think its mundane it's surprisingly nice to know when someone cares. We are both genuinely interested in the little details, especially when we get the time to share them in person.

I learnt that Jasmine (Betty's first daughter) has sweaty feet exactly like her father, which Betty probably can't understand, but finds funny anyway. She constantly takes Jasmine's socks at the end of the day drenched in sweat. I reminded Betty that I don't have that problem because I don't sweat (which is true) and Betty teased that I was weird (which is also true). 

Hai has been calling me way too 'cool' for him lately and that he likes to playfully beg me not to leave him. I tell Betty I don't know what is with him lately as I haven't done anything different but Betty just declared that I've ALWAYS been really cool and then we have a laugh about it and I tease that it might be true.

I've been into BTS lately so I've been watching alot of their variety shows where the members feed each other food with spoons or their fingers and putting it straight into someone else's mouths. In Korean culture I understand it's a way to show they are looking each other well and a good sign of close friendship which is really sweet. But in Australia, we just don't do that, we never grew up with it and I can also understand its an intimate thing we are not used to. We show affection by teasing and giving each other shit. Or shouting each other food or drinks. Betty and I talked about these cultural differences in awe. And then I attempted to feed Betty some cake with my spoon - and the spoon wasn't even halfway across the table before we shrieked "no we can't do it!" and had a good fit of laughter about it. Since then, I haven't attempted it again. Not even to my own husband.

Lastly, we wondered what our lives would've been like if we had not met each other. We did not want to think about it! We've been friends for so long and my 20s and now 30s have been influenced by Betty's everlasting friendship. We talk about the extension of our friendships, like how I would've not met Jaye and Erin if it weren't for Betty. Or if I would've turned out just as strong as Betty is. What our weddings would've been like without each other by our sides or even our birthdays.

I didn't even want to think about, instead just be grateful for what I have today with Betty.

Let's remember to be grateful and appreciate the little moments that make up our lives. It also helps to have good food to fawn over as well. The Potting Shed's menu, ambience and service really help make Betty's birthday lunch one of the highlights of the year.

A Year Ago Today at Acre Eatery

Lunch at: Acre Eatery, 31A Mallett street, Camperdown NSW 2050. Photos taken by me with my Canon D70 DSLR

So I had no intention of posting these photos to my blog. It was a day I took out my best friend Betty for her annual birthday lunch, one year ago. Our tradition is to 'surprise' each other with a restaurant we know we both enjoy to show how much we care and love one another. <3

But this year, with the Covid-19 pandemic, Australia has been in lock down and I think me and Betty quietly knew we couldn't celebrate our birthdays in our traditional way.

But these photos came up as part of my 'Facebook Memories' as Betty's birthday was a few days ago and I realised how much I missed our old lives before lock-down.

Everyone, please do your part and wear a mask, sanitise, isolate if you feel sick and practice social distancing so that next year I would not need to experience the same frustrations. Hoping I am lucky enough to take my best friend out for her birthday in 2021. I hope everyone else does too. We all deserve to be safe and happy.

Reflecting back, I picked Acre Eatery because of the cosy farm-to-table feeling I felt when I saw the website photos. When we arrived, the eatery was surrounded by a garden where you can see that they grew their own foods where they can. The menu is seasonal so unfortunately it changes all the time so I couldn't find what I ate a year ago on the menu today. But everything was delicious and our favourite was the garlic topped baked Camembert with rosemary crackers.

My favourite thing was that I could order a special in-house baked birthday cake for Betty to be served at the end of our meal. I pre-ordered before I arrived to the restaurant when I was made my booking. It was beautiful vanilla sponge cake topped with cream and fresh colourful fruit from the gardens. I remember the look of glee on Betty's face when it came out and the sinking embarrassed feeling I had when I realised I had to sing the birthday song to Betty solo, but I love her so much I would do anything for her.

That's the beauty of our friendship <3

Stay safe everyone x