Day 9: "So what do you do for fun around here?"

10:00pm - Last night when we arrived, I asked Sim a very simple question: "What do you guys do for fun around here?" Having looked up Coffs Harbour before coming, the only real tourist attraction of the place is The Big Banana. Suny and I had no idea we would have cousins out here our age, otherwise I'm sure we would have opted to come out here earlier rather than go through so much tourist activity in Sydney. Nevertheless, they packed about as much fun into today as I've had over quite possibly months, at least during the school time.

We started off the day waking up around 9am which was so nice compared to our usual 7am wake-up call routine. We bummed around the house for a bit while Sim and Harman ran around town trying to find breakfast for Suny. The kid is so hard to please. For me, if you just give me a bowl of any kind of normal, healthy, ripened fruit, I'll most likely eat it and call it a meal, whereas Suny is a lot more particular with what he eats and how much.  (I know, it's hard to tell.) In any case, everyone eventually filled up with food and we went on with our day! The adults were busy with wedding preparations and things at the Gurudwara, so us kids went around town.

Harman, let me repeat, is a 16 year old teenage boy. The kid is a complete lunatic, albeit a lovable, friendly, and hilarious lunatic, but a lunatic nonetheless. Why his father let him take the Audi Q7 out for us to go around town in, is beyond me. Why I decided to get in the car is another query in itself. Despite all the bumps in the road, his crazing driving tendencies, and almost dying once or twice (just kidding), we had such a fun day! I'm quasi-kidding about the driving though, he's actually REALLY good for a kid his age who has never had any sort of lessons. But, if I ever want to go on a roller coaster again, I should just skip that idea and come out here instead. It's practically the same adrenaline-rushing, fearing-for-your-life, thrilling feeling.

Our first stop was this Raceway in Raleigh, not too far from their home, where we each got our own go-karts and got to race them around this track! I've never been on a go-kart, let alone raced one, so this was completely new and exciting for me. Harman could be a professional - he was just cruising along like Bowser in Mario Kart or something without a care in the world because he's the biggest badass out of everyone. He wasn't even trying to race, yet he lapped me, and I was actually trying! Sims was much more laid back about the whole thing, while Suny desperately wanted to catch up to Harman...and he got lapped too. Although it was mad fun, those go-karts are so rickety and I had a huge headache afterward. We went around the track 10 times, and by the time I unbuckled my belt and stepped out of the kart, my head was throbbing. It went away after a few minutes luckily, but it's not the sort of thing I could do every day.

After the raceway we headed out to lunch at this Deep Sea Restaurant place which was part of a country club type thing that their family is part of. We each got our dishes, Suny and Harman both got steaks, Sim got a fettuccine alfredo, and I got a lemon-grilled snapper fish. We got a plate of fish and chips for the table (thank God - it wouldn't be a meal without fish and chips), and all the food was delicious! On our way out, they had one of those claw type machines where you can win stuffed animals, and another where you could win chocolate. We got a few pieces of chocolate and Harman won me an Elmo and he won Suny a Stewie from Family Guy. I've never actually heard of someone winning at those types of games, let alone see it happen (TWICE), but the kid's got skills off the race track too apparently.

We left the club to go on another death-defying ride to get to a bowling alley where we continued our fun-filled day! It was so hard to find a bowling ball that I could actually lift, let alone roll down the lane, but I finally found one! Half way through, some Bowling Lady came over and took it from me because it's apparently only meant for children under 10 years old and she said I should be using the adult-sized bowling balls. Stupid crazy B. That ruined a bit of my fun, but I still held my own and came in second place! Suny got first place, I got second, Sim got third, and Harman came in fourth. I guess the kid's not good at everything! They had more arcade games at the bowling alley so we played basketball and air hockey too. Well, I played air hockey with Harman, who I made play on his knees because of his unfair height advantage. Him on his knees is like three inches shorter than me standing up, so it was a pretty fair match. He still won though, 4-3. I didn't play basketball (because of the height disadvantage), but everyone else did and they were all so good! Sim used to play for a basketball team so she was on point with her shots. Harman the Giant just had to reach over and drop them in the hoop, so his high score really shouldn't even count. It really pays to be tall for games like that. Suny started getting mad competitive and really wanted to beat Harman's score (fail)...so we ended up hanging around a bit longer to watch him try.

Before heading back home, Harman drove us to this scenic overlook from where we could see ALL of Coffs Harbour. We could see the family's farms, so many houses, and the beautiful ocean from so high above. I was a little freaked out standing up there since there wasn't a lot to look forward to if I were to fall down, but the lookout was pretty sturdy, so it wasn't too bad. No snake sightings yet either. Harman said that out of the 20 deadliest snakes in the world, 17 of them are in Australia, and Coffs Harbour is the second worst place in Australia for them. If that doesn't help put me to sleep right away, I don't know what will!

We also stopped by this place called The Big Banana for a few minutes. We got some pretty cool hard candy there, a bag of pineapple flavored and another mixed bag, which they manufacture right there in the shop! We loitered around the gift shop for a bit before they closed and we headed out. I think we're going to head up to the Big Banana again tomorrow, when it's actually open though. Oh! I also have to mention that Harman and Sim have amazing taste in music - I guess it runs in the family and skipped Suny.

We headed back home for a little bit to pick up a grocery list, then went back out to the mall to pick up steaks and meat for the barbie. After picking out lamb, sausages - beef and chicken, steaks, and kabobs flavored with sun-dried tomatoes, we stopped to get Suny's hair cut. Harman's very into his hair and his appearances, and when he first saw Suny, he thought he was 34, and when we corrected him, he decided Suny needed a haircut. We've been battling about this with him for the past 24 hours, and finally Suny caved in and went to the hair dresser. Harman was fully in charge of this appointment and told the hair dresser exactly what he wanted for Suny, which funnily enough, looked exactly like how Harman has his own hair. I'm not too sure about how I feel about this haircut, but perhaps it'll grow on me. If not, whenever Suny gets back to the states, he can just buzz the whole thing off and call it a day!

We flipped on the grill when we got home and I helped Sim grill the meat. I've never grilled meat before or even used a bbq, so this was another new and interesting experience. In the mean time, Harman, not satisfied with what the hair dresser did with Suny's hair, decided to take it upon himself to fix it. That went on for about an hour of straightening, blow-drying, and clipping until finally he was satisfied. The girls were grilling the meat and the boys were playing with their hair. Role reversal much? The two have nearly identical hair now though. 

We just finished dinner and are now just hanging out, getting ready for our next adventure for tomorrow! We fit in so much stuff today and I can't wait to see what they have in store for us tomorrow! I'm really surprised that they're able to take so much time and show us around and hang out with us, given that their sister Kamal is getting married in a week, but I really really appreciate the time they've made for us. They're such cool people and I'm really lucky to have such great family. :)

I don't even want to think about writing out "Day 10" tomorrow. Just the thought of leaving Australia and my family here makes me tear up and I don't want to think about it sooo I'm not going to! Okay Harman's bothering me so I think I should go talk to him before he starts reading over my shoulder haha okay bye.