Alice to Sydney

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I made sure I was up early this morning, as I wanted the chance to say bye to everyone. Some of the others had gone on an optional hot air balloon flight, which they had to get up at 4:30am for. I had another shower before I went to see the others, who were having their breakfast. I sat and had mine with them, and we were all chatting about how we wished we were all going up to Darwin together.

Anyway, not long after they had loaded up the entire luggage into the coach, and were now ready for the ‘big off’. I said my farewells to the group, in particular my better friends Edwin, Anne-Marie, Jacqueline, Miriam, Kim and Marjon. Marjon had earlier complained about the price of film whilst in Alice ($35 for three, compared to $11.95 in Sydney), so as a parting gift I gave her my last film. I would be able to buy some in Sydney at a cheaper cost, so I wasn’t that bothered. All I said was to take some great photos with the free film. That is probably the only complaint I have. I know most tourist places hike the prices up a little more than they should be, but around the Outback the prices for some things were just extortionate. For example, I did spot some didgeridoos costing upwards of $500 (over a £150). I promised to e-mail a few of them, and they said they would do the same when they got back.

This left just Lisa, Katrina and myself still at the resort. My flight was a bit earlier than Lisa’s was, and Katrina was waiting for a cab to take her to Alice. She was going to meet Tim, and they were going to catch a film. I checked out from the hotel, and waited for the bus that goes to the airport. I didn’t have to worry about paying, as I bought a return ticket when I had arrived.

The bus was supposed to have come at 10am, but it was now 10:30am and it still hadn’t arrived. I went and checked with the check-in desk and they kindly informed that the bus had already gone, and that they had said no one was to be picked up by it. However, I showed them the return ticket I bought, and they apologised, and paid for a taxi to come and pick me up from the hotel, and drop me off at the airport. During that time, Katrina made her way to Alice, and Lisa said she was going to spend an hour or so by the pool, while she waited for her flight to come round. I said my farewells to them, and got my taxi.

The taxi driver was real friendly, as nearly everyone I’d met, while out there, and talked about what I’d done whilst I was out there. He reckoned that he’d see me again in the not too distant future. He said I would find it hard not to return if I’d enjoyed my time as much as I said I had. Anyway, within ten minutes I was at the airport. I went through check-in with no problems. They had a small store in the airport, so as I had a little time to kill; I bought an Alice Springs tourist map, and also the local Alice Springs newspaper.

I didn’t have to wait that long for my flight, probably about twenty minutes. I wasn’t too fussed, as there was plenty of seating, so I just sat and read the paper.

I had an ok flight back to Sydney, though it was only a two-and-a-half hour flight back anyway. I had lunch on the flight back, and it begin to hit home just exactly where I’ve been for the past week and what I’ve done. It was now coming up to the end of my time in Australia, and on Monday I would be coming back into work. I wasn’t looking forward to it.

The landing was of a steep descent and as there was a strong cross wind outside it made for a bumpy landing. It was strange seeing Sydney from so high up and I was trying to spot all the landmarks, though as the airport is some 7 km (4 miles) away from the city centre, they were quite a way off in the distance.
I had no problems getting through customs, as it was an internal flight, so I just waltzed through and went to pick up my bags. As I was a little early arriving I waited for Bryan and Damon to pick me up. I did phone though, and Paula answered. They were on their way, and she said that she thought they must have been caught in traffic. They picked me up about twenty minutes later, with Eileen and Vic. They were really pleased to see me, and the feeling was mutual. They drove me back to Bryan and Paula’s, whilst I told them about everything I had done. I was telling them about all the great places we had been to, all the awesome experiences I had, and lastly the great bunch of people I had made friends with during my time.

We arrived back at Harbord, where I saw Paula, and also Lorna and Gwen, who had come over especially to see how my time out there went. It was good to go over what I had done, as I just wanted to tell everyone how much of a excellent time I had had out there. They were pleased I had enjoyed myself so much.

Danni was not there, she was away on a school camp with all the pupils, and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow, but I knew it was right up her street. She would love to have gone there, as she mixes well with everyone. I also recommended Damon to go on one of these tours if ever he had the chance. He didn’t seem interested at first, but the more I told him about it, the more he seemed like he would like to go on one in the future.

As time was running out, in getting everything done that I wanted, I wanted to let everyone see my Outback photos, so Bryan kindly ran me up to Warringah, where there’s a cheap photo shop, that does 24 hour turnaround. I had amassed four films that needed processing.

Had a quiet night in tonight, as I was a bit tired from the travelling.

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