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Published: December 14th 2016
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Made it to Sydney! Man, that was a lot of travel. I felt very sick on the plane. I'm not sure if it was altitude sickness and if that's possible on planes, but I felt better as soon as we landed. I know I was also dehydrated and very tired, so perhaps it was a combination of things.
Once I landed in Australia, I went through customs and they didn't stamp my passport which I thought was super lame. The exchange station told be it was 50 dollars to exchange my money. I asked him why I wouldn't just go to an ATM then and pay a $2.50 charge. I think he was surprised by that. He laughed and said he didn't know. I told him no thanks and I'd find an ATM. $50, seriously??? I also had some RM from Malaysia left and it would have cost more than half of it to change that over. I didn't have much left, so I just kept it. My brother Jon likes to collect money from different countries so I thought he would be happy with that.
I picked up my bag and took the train to the station
near the hostel I was staying. It was probably half a mile walk to the hostel. I found an Starbucks along the way which was wonderful. Didn't realize how much I missed it, especially since I don't often drink coffee.
Once I got to the hostel, I had to wait an hour to check in. I felt so gross after traveling for 24 hours and all I wanted was a shower. I finally got to my room, which was a 6 person share. I showered and learned that none my adapters work in Australia. So I ventured downtown, bought an adapter and upon realizing I really hadn't eaten in 24 hour and had thrown up much of what I had eaten the day before on the plane ( sorry for the details) I decided to try to get a little something down. I found a burger place where I could plug my phone in. Burgers are you different here and they have no onions which is the best part of a burger. I felt a little offended by their burgers here, as they are one of the few actual American foods and they really ruined them here with their
lack of produce and cheese, and the weird chipotle mayo they smothered on it. French fries are called chips here and they are fried in duck fat. They asked if I wanted a side of duck fat chips. That sounded gross and I felt bad for the duck (but apparently not the cow) and took a pass. But I digress...
I went back to the hostel and went to bed at 5 . My roommates came in. 2 are guys from New Zealand, originally from the U.K. and were in town for a
Concert tonight at the opera house. They were really nice and we talked about my trip to NZ. I couldn't understand half of what they said, but I liked them.
The other 3 are from Germany and traveling around Australia for a few months. They were the rudest group of people I ever met. I guess that's mean to say, but they were so loud all night. They came in and out until 4 am, yelling, laughing, slamming door and whistling. I barely got any sleep and one of the NZ guys yelled at them at 4 am. Personally, I've enjoyed going to bed early
and waking up around 6 to enjoy the quiet of the early morning. But I can also understand being 20 and wanting to go out till 4 am, but you don't have to be a jerk about it.
I move to the room next door and met a guy named
Mo from the U.K. He is here working as a
Construction worker and doesn't seem like the happiest fellow, but was pleasant enough. He said he was sick of meeting new people and having the same convo about where everyone is from. Which is ironic since he seemed quite chatty and asked me those questions. I answered and chatted a bit, but tried not to ask too many questions he was clearly sick of answering.
I walked down to the bridge this morning and could
See the opera house. It was super windy and I couldn't keep my dress down so I had to walk back and change. On my way back to the harbor,
I stopped at a roof top bar/restaurant to see the view of the harbor and opera house. I think a lot of people drink here on their lunch breaks. There are a lot
of people in business attire throwing them back. My HR brain wasn't quite sure what to make of that.
I walked back down to the Sydney bridge and met a couple from Canada. The man told me the bridge wasn't nearly as pretty as the Golden Gate. I told him my great grandmother lived in sf before it was built and said the bridge ruined the view of the bay.
After I walked to the opera house and botanical gardens. The opera house was very pretty and unique. I walked around the garden a bit and sat on a bench with a beautiful view of the harbor. Three little birds came and played in the little tree next to me. A red and green parrot was there too. I thought of all the things I "should" do-Darling Harbor, walk the bridge, go to the zoo, go to Bondi Beach, etc. Instead I laid down on the bench and read a terrible book I found at the hostel. I've spent my whole life doing what I "should" do and what is responsible. That's what this trip is about. For the first time in my life, I'm giving the world
the middle finger and doing what I want to do. Perhaps, I'll never be back in Australia again or have another chance , but today, I wanted to read a crappy book and relax by the water.
So I did. And it was a great afternoon.
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