Nerd Vs Wild - St Ives

    I once met a man going to St Ives

Entering Sydney, where the traffic is still calm.

Sydney’s North Shore is synonymous for the upper class. Beautiful streets lined with beautiful green trees and beautiful homes were everywhere. Soccer mums can be seen walking their toy poodles or parking their Mercedes in front of boutique businesses. Artsy cafes as far as the eye can see and I can almost smell the coffee roasting as the baristas expertly put the finishing touches on late art for the customer eagerly awaiting their delicious mocha. Then there’s us and the Chernobyl van. Ruby covered in mud and a sheen of drool streaking down the side of our Kia 4WD, and Court and I haven’t had a shower or tidied up our hair and I have a huge stain down the front of my “Call of Duty” shirt form where I dropped butter on myself.

We stop at the lights and a lady walking what I can only assume is a dog or a long haired mouse looks at our car. The horrified look on her face is hilarious. I am tempted to tell her we are her new neighbors, but Sydney traffic being what it is I had no time. I have a theory about Sydney traffic. I think that when Sydney-siders go for their drivers licence they are taken to downtown Baghdad, fired at, and told that if they can make it to the other side of town they can have their licences. Never before have I seen so many pissed of drivers. People even beep at you before the lights turn green! Court tells me I need to write something positive here so it doesn't sound like I’m whining… How about this? Sydney traffic is cool because it feels like I’m in my own personal destruction derby. Court tells me she wants to live here. I’ll consider it when I buy a tank.

After surviving the Sydney traffic we pull into St Ives showgrounds. What a place! As soon as we pull up we had Steve and Steve approach us. “I’m young Steve” one of the rangers says “And I’m the older but look younger Steve.” The other Steve adds. Friendliest and most helpful guys, they pointed out all the features and areas. St Ives showgrounds is amazing. It’s $20 a night for a powered site and it had hot showers! While I catch up on a bit of Nintendo, Courtenay headed into Chatswood to pick up some supplies. She comes back with some steak and potatoes and I fry up some camping steak and chips. I remember the wise wisdom of my father in law telling me to heat the pan until its hot and sear it on both sides for 3 minutes. I do this and it created the best steak I have ever tasted! It melted in my mouth and was so tasty. I wish I was a better writer but even then I doubt I could utilize the English written word to do the steak justice. Dinner will never be the same after that meal.

Next Nerd Vs Wild we become a part of the Nomad tribe! Wednesday 7pm!