Road Trip to Magnetic Mountain
During the period of designing my Stay Driven T-shirts and releasing my video, things were incredibly hectic - so much so that I was having on average 5 hours of sleep each night, which was causing my skin to break out (wahhh) and my stomach issues to worsen. I knew working so hard was probably not the best thing for my health but I've come to realise that I thrive when things are hectic. I like feeling somewhat overwhelmed, being productive and getting a million and one things done. But at the same time, there always needs to be a balance.
I know my limits and know when to take a break and my body was telling me to slow down. So the past two weeks I decided not to take on as much work as I usually would, and have some down time. It was nice because it allowed me to catch up with my best friends Tammy and Ash before Ash left us for Canada *insert crying puppy face*. We went to this amazing cafe in Castle Crag called Back & Forth and ordered 3 dishes - the deconstructed acai bowl, coconut bircher muesli and the house smoked ocean trout (pictured above). The presentation of each dish was really impressive and the food itself was to die for! I'll definitely be going back for sure!
During the two weeks of down time I was less stressed and my skin sort of cleared up - but my stomach was still causing havoc which was strange as I thought that not being stressed out would make my symptoms ease. Urghhh one day I will figure it all out lol. Since my stomach was making me get into that negative mindset that I hate, I knew I needed to escape so I messaged my little brother Maat to see if he was interested in going on a Sunday arvo drive. He was keen so I got ready, jumped in the skyline and met up with him and Damo (who founded S-Chassis on IG). We then grabbed some E85 for Maat's chaser and headed towards the hills.
The plan was to head towards the mountains after this photo re-appeared on my Facebook thanks to Haylee. The photo was taken back in 2014 on my 22nd birthday after a small group of friends and I (Maat included) went go-karting at Butterfly Farm in Wilberforce, NSW. After we had gone go-karting we decided to suss out this place called Magnetic Mountain which is said that if you stop your car on a particular stretch of road, it looks like your car is rolling up the hill towards you - like it's being pulled by some massive magnet. Of course after hearing about this so called Magnetic Mountain, we had to go and suss it out for ourselves.
2 years on and Maat and I decided to re-visit. The initial plan was to meet Haylee out there but she ended up getting sick so she couldn't make it :(
We got to the spot at around 2:30PM, put the cars in neutral and waited for the magnetic forces to work their magic and within seconds our cars began to roll. The sketchy thing is that it's on a relatively busy road so you have to be ready and on the look out for any traffic. As several cars began to appear, we pulled over to the side and hopped out to say hi to the animals that were on the other side of the fence. I could not believe that just 2 years ago I stood in that exact same spot. It made me realise how much has changed over the past couple of years and how much I have grown as a person.
After reminiscing and playing on Snapchat in the same spot we stood 2 years prior, we jumped back in our cars and headed towards the famous Pie in the Sky to grab a bite. It was the same place Haylee and I stopped at on the way back from our recent road trip. We each ordered our own pies (the plain meat pies are bomb!) and devoured them whilst sitting under the late afternoon sun.
We then headed to a place called Mountain Lagoon via the Bells Line of Road. It was about a 20 minute drive and I was hoping it would take us to a nice open area where I could get some cool sunset photos. When my phone said we had made it to the spot, I was slightly disappointed with the location, so I continued to drive - not realising where the road would take us.
As we continued driving, the tarmac turned to gravel and the road became narrower and narrower. At the time I didn't think it would continue to be gravel road the entire way, so I pressed on with Maat following behind. After about 5-10 minutes of solid driving through the gravel roads which were only becoming worse, the sun started to disappear and I began to freak out. Our cars were not made for this road and through each winding bend, the surface became so unbearable. I began to wonder what would happen if we got stuck!?
It was probably the most sketchiest drive I have ever been on, so we decided to turn around the second we got a chance and head back the way we came. We were losing light fast which meant my chances for getting some sunset shots that I had hoped for were slim.
We pulled over to the beginning of the gravel road and hopped out to check that our cars were okay and for those who were following along on Snapchat at the time, you would have seen my reaction when I hopped out of my car.
My car was practically white. It was covered in so much dirt, I had never seen it so bad. Of course I felt a little bad for my car but at the same time, that's what driving is all about - you can't worry about how it looks all the time and cars are meant to be driven.
After we took a few photos and laughed at the state of our cars, we decided to continue our journey before the sun descended behind the hills.
At this time the traffic was becoming heavy so we pulled over the second we saw a turning bay and hopped out to grab a few photos. I was a little disappointed in myself for not getting the shots I had envisioned but I just had to accept it and remember that there would always be next time. With the sun completely gone, we called it a day and headed back home towards Sydney.
The best thing about going on road trips with friends is that it takes my mind off my stomach issues, gets me away from the computer, puts me back in a positive mind set and allows me to stay driven.
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