The Adventure in Oz Comes to an End

I have been writing up posts, but have been sans internet for quite some time (I must admit, it's almost killed me not checking my email thirty times a day, but I'm a better person for it!), so I figure I'll post them separately and everybody can get a decently chronological idea of my life down here!

2/13/08
So last night I ended up sleeping in a sketchy room called "the Church," a 28-person dump of a room in a hostel in downtown Sydney. It smelled like boy-socks, was slightly humid, and was a hub of activity until about 2 AM. Lesson learned: next time, I'll make sure I have my accommodations booked plenty of time ahead.

My flight out of Uluru yesterday was delayed by about two and a half hours because when the plane initially landed there, it scraped along a tractor (I was the only one that seemed shocked about this and was questioning the pilot's ability to actually fly his plane). To ensure that the plane was okay, they had to fly out a mechanic from Alice Springs, the nearest place around, which is about 4 hours by car. He signed it off right away, but we were still off to a turbulent start, though that was apparently due to the hot air of the desert and not the large gash caused by the tractor. We did get free tea and biscuits (bikkies) while stranded in the airport, and once on the flight, they claimed they were giving us free drinks but who serves lunch without serving drinks, anyways? I got into Sydney about 3 hours later than planned, and therefore missed my plans with a friend that I had made last time I was there. I ended up watching terrible TV and part of a Meryl Streep/Robert DeNiro flick and going to bed early. C'est la vie.

This morning, since I had to check out of the dump at 10 AM, I hauled myself, my backpack, and my duffel over to where my other bag was being stored, where the guys took about twenty minutes to find it. Again, I found myself picturing worse-case scenarios: living in New Zealand and somehow combining all the shorts I brought to Oz to make pants, whacking open all the cases and searching them all myself, making my travel towel into a cape and pushing it as high-fashion, etc. Thankfully, the guy found it (it was behind somebody's TV or something) and I left my bags with the girl working at the travel agency where I use their free internet to go explore Sydney one last time. Because of the Bridge Climb, I had a free ticket to go to the Pylon, this lookout on the Sydney Bridge that lets you climb up pretty high, so I hiked out to the bridge one more time. Despite the occasional rain and layer of clouds, it was still a nice lookout, and I got some good pictures of other people doing the Bridge Climb so I can show other people how it works.

As I was walking back to grab my stuff, I made a discovery that will most likely turn me into a rolling pile of lard by the time I walk back: Hungry Jack (the Aussie version of Burger King) has 30 cent ice cream cones! That has got to beat even Chilean prices!!! Obvio, someone counting pennies cannot turn down ice cream without a dollar sign attached, so I had to stop and get one. It was really good, and I'm banking on New Zealand having the same deal going on.

Now I'm waiting in the Sydney airport (after pulling every muscle in my body from carrying all my luggage--I DEFINITELY overpacked...blerg) to fly to Auckland, and that means school is starting. While I'm totally bummed that my Aussie trip is over, I'm slowly getting more excited for New Zealand adventures as well.

My time in Oz has definitely taught me a few things, not the least of being how to plan, budget, book, navigate, and execute a vacation on my own. I've also finally learned to appreciate time on my own: growing up, I got so used to being with Michelle all the time, it felt like I was always using the word "we" instead of "I." Even through the first few months of college, I found myself having a hard time breaking that habit. It's so easy at Oxy especially to spend time with other people and never really catch a moment to yourself, and here, at times I've been totally overwhelmed with me-time. Still, I've mastered the ability of eating by myself with or without a book, I've figured out where to most easily meet other people at hostels, figured out the best spots to sit on buses, and and learned to enjoy seeing sights without somebody else to talk to about it. That's not to say I've spent this trip walking around all the time by myself by any means, but the fast-paced nature of my trip meant that there was certainly lots of time to spend with just me. It's been a great learning experience, but I'm jazzed to meet up with the other people on my trip and have a solid place to live, a solid group of friends, and a sense of regularity to my life.

Sorry for the freakishly long updates, hope everyone is well! Heaps of love.