Wollongong and Beyond

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Greetings and salutations!

In an effort to catch up to where I currently am in my travels, this is my attempt to condense about a month’s worth of travelling and leisurely activities into one blog. I realize that you all have lives and your attention span is limited, but hopefully you get the chance to read through some of this!

Enjoy.

Wollongong.

A short train ride south of Central Sydney is the beach town of Wollongong. Eager to get to the beach and enjoy a weekend away from school, I relished in a few hours of solidarity while exploring a completely foreign town, before meeting up with a few friends at a quaint little hostel a few blocks from the main street area. I soon learned that the University of Wollongong was only a short 10-minute walk from the beach and that it was renowned for its English department. This news came two months too late, as I was already resigned to the concrete walls of Macquarie University and it’s thick un-Australian atmosphere that I’ve described vaguely from previous blogs. Still, I did my best to ignore these annoying thoughts about having enrolled in the wrong university and familiarized myself with the unique town. The nightlife was very lively, with university students packed tightly into three main bars/clubs (one of which had a massive fish tank just behind the bar!), and shops opened later for our convenience. Since I was having an intestinal problem from antibiotics (don’t worry, I’ll spare the details), I retired early our first night and decided to take it easy for the rest of the weekend. Besides, the group that I met up with at the hostel was really starting to test my nerves with their incessant nagging and complaining over just about anything and everything imaginable. I’ll do my best to abstain from sounding like them...
Day two in the ‘Gong’ was overcast, so I rallied four people and trekked out to Nan Tien, the largest Buddhist Temple in the Southern Hemisphere. It was unbelievable! One room had 5 enormous statues (over 15 feet tall) and was surrounded by floor-to-ceiling shelved walls that held over 10,000 individually carved Buddha’s! . The rest of the compound was littered in Buddha statues, pagodas, gardens, ponds, and meditation fields.
Again, my nagging group rode my last nerves, so we left a bit prematurely, but managed to sample some of the temple’s tea, which was beyond-words-delicious. The rest of the day we pretty much hung out and explored sights like the lighthouse and the harbour. Luckily, two of my more relaxed friends, Alison and Sean, arrived and rescued me from the rest of the group...
Day three’s weather was a bit dreary so we all hit the shops in search of ‘local’ brands and clothing. I lucked out on the pair of sunglasses that I’m sporting in my profile photo! Although everyone in the group was weighed down with homesickness for the MUV (I can’t imagine why...!), Alison and I decided to break off and go someplace else. We departed from Wollongong without any plan, just a direction. With rains dumping almost cinematically, we arrived in the coastal town of Cronulla later that evening. I found out a few weeks after that this was the setting for last year’s controversial race riots (yikes). Still, we lucked out on a hostel that gladly took us in for the night, and enjoyed a peaceful conversation over dinner before admitting to exhaustion and going to sleep. Even though we hadn’t ventured especially far from our ‘home’ I was incredibly relieved to know that I can still travel independently and have a great (if not greater) time!


Sydney Nights.

A few years ago, in Maine, I worked as a camp counsellor for eight weeks over summer. I had a great time, met tons of interesting and foreign people, but ultimately lost touch with everyone there. Since great social-networking websites like Facebook weren’t around, all I had were names - no e-mail addresses, phone numbers, nothing. Just names. However, two names, Scott Lanham and Steve Ellem, stayed firmly in my memory from that summer simply because those two Australians, both 3 years older than me, were my good friends. Sadly, we lost touch for over four years.
After a week of being back in the classroom and the MUV, I chanced upon some unimaginably good fortune. Scott had joined a traveller’s network called WAYN.com, and somehow obtained my email address (completely accidental). When I saw a ‘friend-request’ from him, I immediately accepted and wrote him a message with my Aussie mobile number attached. When he got the message, I got the phone call. After four years of complete detachment, I was reunited with my old Australian friends, and even better, they were eager to take me out and get the most of my time in Sydney!
The weekend after I got back from Wollongong, I went to a rugby league game (best sport I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching), and went out with Scott, Steve, and their friends the following night. Kings Cross was the venue - to those of you who don’t know anything about Kings Cross, it’s like the red-light district crossed with a hugely popular club scene. So while you’re walking to these bars and clubs, you’re more than likely to be solicited by elderly prostitutes asking if you ‘want to have a fun time with a real lady.’ Thanks, but no thanks.
Otherwise, we all landed at a popular club called ‘Peep Show.’ (Not what you think, I swear!). I met a ton of Australian people for a change and ended up staying out all night with the guys, enjoying free rounds on them! Steve dropped me back off at the MUV the next day and invited me to dinner with his folks the following Wednesday. I happily accepted.

After spending the day wandering around the magnificent Manly beach by myself, a dinner with the Ellem’s was great. Mr. Ellem is a fanatic for Jack Daniels (say the words ‘Jim Beam’ and he sneers), Mrs. Ellem is an excellent cook, Bradley and Karynn (Steve’s brother and his girlfriend) were funny and fun to talk to (especially because they are both 25 and living at home...reminds me of someone I know...), and Steve was his usual laugh-a-minute self. I left that night, once again revived by an enriching experience.

Newcastle.

With the weather warming up, I spent the following weekend in a town just north of Sydney called Newcastle. The town’s most recently claim-to-fame occurred only 8 weeks before I arrived in Australia when a massive barge called the ‘Pasha Bulker’ was washed onto the popular Nobby’s beach during a cyclone. . Otherwise, the hilly landscape surrounding the town is dotted with concrete World War II anti-submarine battle stations! Apart from that, the town is laid out around a harbour and a beach, similar to Wollongong, but has a more elegant fashion. A boardwalk that stretches well over 2 km is laid out in white tile and is home to some very high-end restaurants. One thing I couldn’t understand was the town’s overbearing phallic tower that seemed horribly out of place (not to mention humorously crude).
I had one of the best beach days in Newcastle, even though I was with four guys I promised myself I wouldn’t travel with ever again...! Still, with my longboard handy, I was usually off enjoying the sights and Newcastle on my own. After sunbathing for the day, getting a feel for the town’s shops and main attractions, and seeing some unforgettable sights, I retreated to my hostel for a shower. Luckily for me, the third story shower boasted an incredible view of the city and the Pacific!
The next day I woke up around 7 am, weaved my way back to Macquarie via public transportation and made it home just in time before Steve picked me up. As if the weekend couldn’t get any better, Steve’s family invited me to celebrate Father’s Day with them at a fancy restaurant under the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Circular Quay. With a grand view of Sydney Harbour, the Opera House, and all the ships passing through, we ate a true Australian brunch! For after dinner drinks, Mr. and Mrs. Ellem brought us up to a bar in “The Rocks” (another big bar scene area) and sat us down for quite a few rounds of Jack & Cokes, and believe it or not, Jäger-bombs. That turned out to be quite an interesting evening!

Well, that’s about a month’s worth of activities in a nutshell! I’m glad I finally had time to write all of this down (maybe too much time, seeing as I’m on an 8 hour train to Coffs Harbour), but stay tuned, the best part of my journey is yet to come.....Mid-semester break! Also, Mom and Dad, don’t worry, these are just highlights, I’m still attending all of my classes!

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Photos

Inside Nan Tien Buddhist Temple
The Five Precepts of Buddhism

The Ellem Family and I
Location: 'Peter on the Quay' Restaurant, Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour, Australia

Comments

[Celin]

still summer here
Hey Colin, Towards the middle of your blog you made a reference to the lame people still living at home in their mid twenties, but thankfully i know you are not talking about me, seeing as that I am only 24, but you must be talking about your lovely brother... ill make sure to tell him. Glad to hear you are still having an amazing time seeing the sights. Do you have a website of just pictures? If not, you should add them on facebook or something cause I would love to see them. Well as summer is starting down where you are, summer just wont seem to leave us. Its the middle of october and monday will be a high of 78! oh well, ill just enjoy it as it lasts. Justin is up here for his birthday and we went apple picking yesterday. Nothing else exciting, so write some more so I can live vicariously through your life. glad to hear you are having so much fun and just remember that hindsight is 20-20. Enjoy whatever you can about your university and keep doing the side trips. If Macquarie University had been amazing, you might not have seen all the cool stuff you have. enjoy the red-light districts and talk to you soon. -Celin