Aussie! Chapter One

Oh Australia! How long I had waited for the day I would grace your fair plains! And I did have to wait a long time- it took me 23 hours to get to Sydney, door-to-door, from the Gili islands. I had a boat ride, a bus ride, a plane ride, a long layover, another (long) plane ride and two train rides. Dang. I was therefore absolutely WIPED when I finally got to my hostel in the Kings Cross area of Sydney on the morning of November 14, and slept until the mid-afternoon!

Once up, I decided I'd better go and see what all the fuss is about so I set out for a long walk to the Royal Botanic gardens (the first of many I would see down under. It used to be forts, now it's gardens) and through to Bennalong point to see the Sydney Opera House and the harbor bridge. Well folks, it is fantastic. It was a beautiful day and the water glittered around the harbor. I had a lovely mosey around, stopped to listen to some live music, then walked to the opposite side to visit the area known as The Rocks. This is where the city of Sydney began when European settlers claimed the land in 1788. Lots of little windy streets and boutique-y shops- lovely place to wander around, after which I walked all the way back the way I came to the hostel aaaand passed out!

The next day was poury rainy so I hid out in an Internet cafe for most of the day. Nothing interesting to report UNTIL...I decided the time had come to start celebrating the best day of the year: MY BIRTHDAY! I managed to corral a guy staying at my hostel to join me for a pre-birthday tipple...just the beginning of what would be a very LONG birthday celebration, given the MASSIVE time difference to the States- 16 hours to the East Coast and 19 to the West!

The next morning I woke up to phone calls and messages from friends and family wishing me a happy Australian birthday. I took myself out for a PROPER brunch after that- I was not doing peanut butter and apples for my 27th! At the restaurant, I opened a few cards and things that my dad had brought to me in Singapore, leading the waiter to inquire about the occasion. I told him, and at the end of my meal I was presented with a little heart-shaped cookie and a candle! I was SO touched by this, especially as it was the only candle I would blow out that day. Whoever you were, waiter in Sydney, THANK YOU.

Once fed and watered, I had a little think: What's the best way for a poor backpacker to spend her birthday on her own? Why, spending money she doesn't have of course! Armed with my credit card, I set off. Though I felt a bit of a traitor to all that comes with backpacking, I decided I couldn't take ONE MORE MINUTE without a pair of high heels. So, yes folks, I bought a pair and...aaaah! It was like putting on a comfy pair of woolly slippers! They were a good buy though, because it meant I was ready for my birthday date...with someone who's already been made famous by this here little blog of mine.

Perhaps you recall a tale from many moons ago in Croatia about a slightly awkward Italian man, an extremely premature proposal of marriage (or something) and a daring rescue by a brave young Australian? Well, you guessed it, I had a birthday date with Fabrizio!

Ha! Only joking! My dinner date was with my Australian savior, Kyle. It was EXCELLENT to see him again and swap travel stories. Afterwards, the icing on the cake was a drink with my friend Kate (a high school pal who now lives in Oz) and her boyfriend Paul. I hadn't seen Kate in, oh, five or six years, so it was a real treat to catch up with her as well.

The next day I packed up and faffed around, getting ready for my overnight bus to Byron Bay. I had another fantastic treat before I set off though- Kate's mom and sister were visiting from our hometown in Connecticut and I got a delicious home cooked meal and we had a lovely time catching up before I hopped on the Greyhound bus. Where I found cockroaches. What is this folks? India?

I arrived in Byron Bay- famous for its laid-back vibe, beautiful beaches and excellent surf- at about 11am the following day. As you may have gathered from past updates, the overnight buses are killer- for me at least- and I was wiped so I hopped straight into my bunk. In the early afternoon I joined a Canadian from my dorm room for a walk to the supermarket. I didn't feel quite satisfied with this being my only activity of the day, however, so I decided to go to a yoga class- Bikram, which I've never tried. It was, um, hot. I know lots of girls like to say that we don't sweat, we glow, but sorry folks, I sweat like it's my J-O-B and let's just say I don't think I'll be doing hot yoga again anytime soon...

Still, I felt accomplished and once back at the hostel had a nice evening chatting with folks and watching Office Space which, horror of horrors, some of the little kids (the 1988ers and so on) had never seen! It was therefore a pleasure to introduce them to this classical classic!

The following morning I was feeling unusually energetic, and though it was (surprise) raining, I decided to go on a 'run' along the beach to take in the lovely views. It didn't turn out to be much of a run in the end, because I stopped every few minutes to take photos, and climbed up to a lookout to watch the surfers. I was much engaged by their skills (ahem, sexy surfer bodies. What? Sorry?), and it was quite some time before I could tear myself away.

I spent the rest of the day Internetting and the like, and in the evening joined hostel friends for some 'goon' drinking (boxed wine- THE thing to do in Australia. Why? I don't know). We then went out for one of my favorite activities- KARAOKE! No doubt that my rendition of Pink's 'U + UR Hand', accompanied by new friend Laura, was one of the best that Byron Bay has ever seen. Fact.

The next morning it was off to Brisbane. It's only about two hours from Byron, so I was settled at my hostel by mid-afternoon. I went for a stroll around the city and along the river that runs through it- it's a fairly small city, manageable but there isn't TONS to see. Later that evening in the hostel I met Sara and Julia, from Holland and Germany respectively, and joined them for a trip to once of Brisbane's nightclubs, Victory. It was a good time with a live band playing Men at Work songs (yep), but it was jam-packed so we decided to head to a highly recommended bar called Down Under. (This amused me, as did restaurants in India with names like 'Taste of India'. You don't say.) It was good fun, and there were surprisingly quite a few Australians in this Australian-themed bar in Australia. Other than that, it was backpacker central, with many a drunken European stumbling about. We stuck it out for the free ladies drink at midnight, and got outta there.

The next morning I went on the walking tour of Brisbane as laid out by Lonely Planet. Awkward thing about this- one tends to keep running into other travelers doing the same thing. I think one Dutch couple thought I was following them and, well, they'd be right! I ended up at the Botanical Gardens where I people-watched for a bit and documented recent happenings in my journal. In the evening after some supper I rolled back to the hostel, where I met Shane and John from Idaho (awesome) who were in town for business. We had a lovely chat about the trials of spending time in Oz (um, there aren't any) and made a plan to have breakfast the following morning before they had to go to meetings and I had to bus up to Hervey Bay for my trip to Fraser Island, where part two of this tale begins...