Arriving in sydney
Trip Start
Mar 19, 2007
1
5
39
Trip End
Oct 15, 2007
Sydney,
Australia
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Details, details, details. There is so much I could tell you about, but since this is costing me about $2AU every 15 min, I'm going to try to keep it short. :)
My flight went quite well. For anyone flying to AU/NZ, I definitely recommmend fly Air New Zealand! They have lovely meals, complimentary cheese and wine, and of course the obligatory tea and milk! But the best part? On my 13 hour 40 min flight to Australia (which was 1/2 hour late departing), each of the seats has its own screen with Movies, TV, documentaries, music, and video games for free! Although I slept most of the flight, I did sneak in 2 movies :) My second flight (3 hours 20 min) was a little more boring and no TVs!
So upon arrival in Sydney (yesterday my time), I managed to sneak by customs unscathed but without my beef jerky :( It wasn't too difficult and I am proud to say that I actually got my first stamp in my passport! Woo hoo! After lugging my stuff past the cute aussie guys who check it, I had to sit down and start reorganizing everything- let's just say, it was a mess. And yes, my brother in law was right. I have already started dumping stuff! No worries though, nothing of great important- still got all my undies!
Well, Sydney airport is huge and VERY tourist friendly. There's an entire little section that has info for backpackers with hostels, guides, tour info, etc. I made my way around and quickly bought myself a cell phone which later came in quite handy!
Managed to work out the train system (which is quite complicated but reminds me alot of New York). I took it out to Panania (the little suburb I'm staying in). Upon arriving there, I contacted my host and was a little shocked when the guy who answered the phone said that no one lived there by that name!! Luckily though, after sitting around another 30 min trying to figure out what to do, I called one more time and he finally answered. He realized that it was the 'american girl' calling, but that I had asked for Robert, not Richard (which is his name!) Well, I got a lift to his house (about 15 min walking from the train station). It's a quaint (and not so clean house) but good news is I have my own room and I share a bathroom with another girl (from Lithuania) who is also staying there.
After settling in, I headed out to Sydney harbor area or also known as Circular Quay. Let me just say that it is hot hot HOT here!! And oh so humid. Lol- ironically, I wasn't really expecting it to be so hot! Well, my lithuanian housemate walked with me to the nearest little town to see about using the computers at the local library.
bridge at night
No such luck. After walking me back to the train station and attempting to teach me how to get my automated ticket, she left me on my own to head out and sight see abit. On the way there I met a nice girl from Abu Dabi who kept me company on the 30 min ride out to the harbor. Well, I walked around abit, didn't do much but seek out some gatorade for my thirst.. and then ended up spending the rest of the night outside of the Opera house! Ironically, through a little bad english and misunderstanding, I got a photo taken with some guy from New Zealand who later offered up help with his family when I arrive there. I also ended up meeting a lovely young girl from the UK. We ended up spending about 3 hours chatting outside about our life, travels, etc, and it turns out she is a christian just doing a little indendent travelling after spending time doing missions in Papau New Guinea. Finally around 10:30pm we had to make our way back to the train station to head to our separate locales. She invited me out today to do this beach walk trek, but because getting anywhere by train takes so long.. I was too jetlagged to wake up at 7am to meet her! Good news though, we exchanged emails and phone numbers- so who knows when I'll need a friend in the UK! I know, it's ironic that within my first 2 days in Australia, I've met more foreigners than aussies. But according to the grape vine around here, this is one of the international hubs of the world. And let me tell you, I definitely believe it!
On my way home last night, I had to switch train stations (its complicated) but I was SO very fortunate to run into my lithuanian friend Again!! She turned out to be a lifesaver, because walking home from the train station last night, I realized that I would have never remembered how to get back to my host's house!
Ok, so that's it for now. Just spending another day at Circular Quay. Travel here is probably the most expensive thing, and so once you head out for the day, it's best to get your monies worth!
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, my cell phone number here (dialing from the US) is 011 61 420834759. Feel free to call if you like, because it's free for me!! :) As the aussies would say, Cheers!
