So with our tickets in hand and excitement in our hearts, we got on a big jet plane to Australia.
On the plane, a thought struck me. I couldn't believe it was actually happening. How did something so casual, so abstract, so fluid an idea find its way into reality? A few months ago, talk of the trip had been exactly that-- just talk. Nevertheless, my excitement built upon adrenaline of packing a suitcase an hour before leaving and I felt an adventure was about to begin.
First of the 2 stops was Sydney. I had been to Sydney last year so it was a lot easier getting around because everything was pretty familiar. We booked a room in a backpacker's hostel and I was so relieved to find it was above and beyond what I had expected. Sure, we slept in 12 degree cold the first night, and sure, it sometimes, just maybe, it smelt like weed -- but it was a roof over our heads. We took a walking tour of the city one day and it was beautiful! The crisp winter air was a perfect reprieve from the (at times) oppressive humidity of home.
Public transport is horrifically expensive in Sydney so we decided to walk everywhere we went, guided only by our senses of intuition (which we called Google Maps). Walking to Glebe from Circular Quay was extremely tiring, mainly due to the insane incline of hills we had to mount. We were glad to get there but many shops had closed by then (5pm) -- at which point, I kinda felt a deep resentment for the work-life balance in Australia..
There wasn't much to do at night because everything closed really early, so we usually had a dinner of soup/ packet pastas in our valiant attempts to save money whilst playing Scrabble and Pictionary -- which was, admittedy, REALLY fun.