Sydney: first impression, and a second, a third… a
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Kirsten
03 Augustus 2013 | Australië, Sydney
It was May 26, yes that is a little while ago, when I first set foot in Sydney. This is a lie, because the airport is in Sydney too, but that is irrelevant. I don’t know why I never decided to go to Sydney before that time, because I’ve been a regular visitor to the city since.
Anyway, unwilling to be bored, lonely and lost in the big scary city, I decided to join the Sydney 18-25 meet-up group, a website for anyone who is in Sydney for any reason and as desperate for some company as I was. I am a bit reluctant to just meet regular strangers of the internet, but it seemed quite alright and since we would be playing paintball, I sort of agreed to have them shoot me anyway.
The day started of incredible. I think we decided to meet on the Central station around 11 or 12 o’clock. Since it takes a 2,5 hour train drive from Newcastle and the train goes more or less once every 2 hours on a Sunday, it meant getting up nice and early for me. Still not knowing the way around in Newcastle properly (Seriously guys, I don’t know what I’ve been doing those first few months here, seems like I just slept my way through), I would be taking a bus to the nearest train station. What I also did not know at the time, was that buses in Newcastle on Sundays are about as rare as finding a platypus in your pool. Let alone that they would come according to a time schedule. So I neatly waited at the bus stop from 30 minutes before the bus was supposed to arrived, till more or less ten minutes after, where it was time to stress out. Furiously staring at the bus timetable and the road where a bus was supposed to appear was my next-best attempt to make it happen. Of course, nothing did happen. This was the moment where I could desperately pull my phone out and finally use the phone number of a taxi agency, that I randomly saved in my phone, just in case. The seemingly friendly taxi-driver charged me 20 dollars for a 5-minute drive. Didn’t care about the money though. I made it in time for my train.
Trains, I have experienced, are the only form of public transport in Australia that actually work. At least, along the east-coast they do. After a sleepy train-ride on which one of my fellow passengers all of a sudden decided that she needed to tell me that I looked like a younger version of Jurassic Park Laura Dern: ‘she is beautiful and so are you’. Thank you, I guess…, I managed to meet my new “friends” and we had an awesome time getting hurt on the battlefield together.
To be continued...
Anyway, unwilling to be bored, lonely and lost in the big scary city, I decided to join the Sydney 18-25 meet-up group, a website for anyone who is in Sydney for any reason and as desperate for some company as I was. I am a bit reluctant to just meet regular strangers of the internet, but it seemed quite alright and since we would be playing paintball, I sort of agreed to have them shoot me anyway.
The day started of incredible. I think we decided to meet on the Central station around 11 or 12 o’clock. Since it takes a 2,5 hour train drive from Newcastle and the train goes more or less once every 2 hours on a Sunday, it meant getting up nice and early for me. Still not knowing the way around in Newcastle properly (Seriously guys, I don’t know what I’ve been doing those first few months here, seems like I just slept my way through), I would be taking a bus to the nearest train station. What I also did not know at the time, was that buses in Newcastle on Sundays are about as rare as finding a platypus in your pool. Let alone that they would come according to a time schedule. So I neatly waited at the bus stop from 30 minutes before the bus was supposed to arrived, till more or less ten minutes after, where it was time to stress out. Furiously staring at the bus timetable and the road where a bus was supposed to appear was my next-best attempt to make it happen. Of course, nothing did happen. This was the moment where I could desperately pull my phone out and finally use the phone number of a taxi agency, that I randomly saved in my phone, just in case. The seemingly friendly taxi-driver charged me 20 dollars for a 5-minute drive. Didn’t care about the money though. I made it in time for my train.
Trains, I have experienced, are the only form of public transport in Australia that actually work. At least, along the east-coast they do. After a sleepy train-ride on which one of my fellow passengers all of a sudden decided that she needed to tell me that I looked like a younger version of Jurassic Park Laura Dern: ‘she is beautiful and so are you’. Thank you, I guess…, I managed to meet my new “friends” and we had an awesome time getting hurt on the battlefield together.
To be continued...
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03 Augustus 2013 - 19:40
Margot:
Hoi Kirsten,
Mooi verhaal weer, en dat dan om je bont en blauw te laten schieten ......, maarre alles voor de fun hé.
Ben je al bezig met het organiseren van je terugreis of plak je er nog een periode aan?
Voor het mooie weer hoef je niet weg te blijven, we hebben het hier lekker tropisch!
Hoop wel dat het mooie weer nog even aanhoudt, de vakantie van Gerrit en mij is net begonnen en we stappen vrijdag 9 augustus op de motor richting Ardeche om daar een week in een pipowagen door te brengen ..... en natuurlijk mooie tochten te gaan rijden.
Het is niet zo avontuurlijk vergeleken met wat jij allemaal doet, maar voor mij al spannend genoeg!
Kirsten geniet nog lekker en ik ben benieuwd wanneer we je weer zien!
Liefs van Margot en Gerrit natuurlijk -
04 Augustus 2013 - 20:20
Brenda:
Hoi nichtje,
Leuk verhaal weer! Tja, dat openbaar vervoer is in het buitenland dus niet beter dan hier.
Maar goed dat je je trein gehaald hebt en dat het een leuk uitstapje was naar Sydney!
Geniet nog van al je komende avonturen!
Liefs,
Brenda
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