I was woken up by a slack from work this morning. I forgot to turn off my slack notifications because I forgot that everyone was back at life starting today. Well it's actually yesterday for me back home. Anyway the message was asking me if my coworker was still doing his meeting today. How the heck should I know?! I politely told her that I wasn't in the office and she should ask him. Then I thought I'm already agitated by work might as well read some emails while I'm at it. Next thing I know an hour has gone by and I'm still sitting in bed. I made up my mind the night before to do the bus tour of Sydney. It seemed like the best way to see the most of the city and find something to see. I also booked a trip to the Blue Mountains which I've heard is an amazing trip but the earliest availability was tomorrow.
Finally out of bed and dressed I went back down to the kitchen slash common room to see what the breakfast was. They had oatmeal, beans, toast, peanut butter, Nutella, jam, vegemite, butter and cereal. I also had left over chicken tenders and cheese covered buns in the fridge. I heated those up and made some toast then sat down to eat. As soon as I sat I had a friend waiting to talk to me. Everyone in the hostel is very chatty but I don't find myself really clicking with anyone. The woman and her friend were traveling for the last six months through Australia. They had a year planned out of places they wanted to hit up. Maybe that's why I'm not getting along with anyone as well as I have with hostel people in the past. Almost everyone is on 6-12 month travelling trips. They're all a couple months in at least and seem to be hyper focused on two things - seeing everything and spending no money. It's very difficult to do both, believe me I've tried. The night before the Canadian was talking about how he thought Sydney was better then Melbourne because there's more to do here. He wasn't the only one to chime in with the same opinion. I seem to also be the odd duck who started in Melbourne instead of Sydney or Perth.
All their hype about Sydney honestly makes me question their general taste and ability to formulate an opinion on anything. I got on the bus tour after finally escaping the conversation with the three droll women at my table and was off to see this city that supposedly had so much to do in it. When I take a bus tour I usually do the whole circuit first then go around a second time with a specific destination in mind. In this case I didn't even realize I had gotten back to the start because I didn't see a single thing that made me say, "oh I have to remember to get off and see that on the next round." Everything about Sydney and the tour are perfectly generically urban. There's a natural history museum, a bunch of parks, more chain restaurants then you can shake a stick at, and a few high end restaurants and shops. I got off the bus and hopped on the Bondi road leg to see if that would be any different.
Bondi (pronounced bon-die) beach is about 30 minutes outside the city and made me realize by the end of the day that that's Sydney's redeeming quality - the areas outside the sprawling city. Later in the evening I spoke about it with a bunch of the other guests and employees of the hostel and they agreed that the city itself is like any other but the surrounding area is very interesting. I got to the beach and walked around for a while then headed down to the sand. I attached my sneakers to the outside of my pack and took off my socks, then walked down to the sand and ocean. I wasn't sure, being 500 miles away from Melbourne if the ocean would still be cold. When I shared my observation about the ocean water on St. Kilda with Bren he responded, "well we're not very far from Antarctica."
The water at Bondi was still cold but after a while walking along the beach and feeling the waves lap against my ankles it didn't feel all that cold. I walked up and down the beach in the surf, I watched surfing schools and the other tourists. After I got back to where I started I put down my backpack, nestled on top of my tiny blanket, and laid down for a bit. I later learned while watching a surfer that it is smarter to use your tiny blanket or towel to cover the top of your backpack not the bottom. As I laid there I started to feel a wave of depression hit me like the waves crashing on the rocks on the edge of the beach. I felt like I should have stayed in Melbourne. That I could have had more time exploring. That on my own was so much harder then having a friend. I felt like if I went back or went home then everything would be better cause I would be with the comfort of a familiar face(s) and voice(s). I closed my eyes and tried to come to peace with those feelings and think of all the wonderful things that are ahead of me. Maybe a chance to see Bren again or have a bigger meeting with all my video game friends. Then I tried to appreciate the moment. I squeezed the sand between my fingers and let it trickle down my hands. I tried to relax and breathe. When that didn't work I decided to text Ariana. I shared with her everything I was feeling and sent her a photo of what I was looking at. She helped me to see that there was no sense in getting all worked up over the maybes and what-ifs.
When I had my head on straight again I sat up in the sand. My backpack was covered in the stuff, my hair was sticky, and my poor little selfie stick was filled with sand. I looked around and watched the groups of people around me playing footie and sunbathing. By now the sun had come back out and I closed my eyes again and enjoyed the warmth. I thought about how far I was from home and how lucky I was to have the opportunity to be on the other side of the world. After a while I started to brush off all the sand I was covered in and got back to walking. I went back to the concrete boardwalk to look at the graffiti. I chose to keep my shoes off since it seemed moderately acceptable to be barefoot which also helped me feel better. I hate shoes but back home they're necessary 95% of the time. The graffiti was really cool and so well done. I sat on a bench and continued to watch the people and the surf.
Eventually it was time to catch the last bus back. The bus drove through the suburbs and I thought now this is the kind of view I was looking for! From the last stop I made my way back to the hostel. I realized that besides some gelato I hadn't eaten anything all day so I stopped to get a burger. I ordered a chili cheese burger but regret not actually reading what it was. It turns out chili means green chilis. I scrapped off a bunch of the mush to prevent the inevitable stomach ache as much as possible. After I was fed I went into the mall again to check out Coles. I got distracted on the way and ended up stopping at a liquor store and getting myself a couple drinks. A well deserved treat if you ask me. I thought I would have a drink or two in the common room while writing my blog post and sending a couple work emails. Little did I know the night had other plans for me.
I arrived in the common room to find the hostel staff playing Jenga and drinking. I came back with my laptop, ready to get to work, when one of them turned to me and said would you like to play? They were just about to start a game of Kings and I tried not to but they convinced me to play. An hour later I was hopping in an Uber with a bunch of new friends and going to karaoke downtown. The bar had the stickiest floor I've ever seen. I was totally convinced I would break my shoe in half trying to lift it back up off the floor. We listened to people singing and a girl with her boyfriend convinced me to sign up with him to do a song. Unfortunately the bar never picked us to sing so we walked to another bar. Back on New year's Eve one of the things I learned from Bren was about drinking in Australia - the land where ginger means ginger beer and dry means ginger ale and if you get cut off from doubles just order two singles. This new found knowledge made me the most efficient patron at the bar. Before I knew it it was 3am and I started my walk back with a new friend, Autumn. I crawled into bed as soon as possible with an early morning tour departure to look forward to in the morning.
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