#backtosydney

31/10

My 6am flight from Melbourne touched down at 7.30am. The airports in Sydney are on the train line but as the airport stations are privately owned a ticket is about $15. However, I’d read that if you walk the 1.5km to the next station then the ticket is $3.60. So of course I walked. It was hot even though it was only 8am and rush hour so I got pretty frustrated but I walked slowly and found the station. It was only two stops to Central and then I walked ten minutes round the corner to find my hostel. I had decided that I didn’t need to stay in King’s Cross again and so just booked somewhere in the city. I knew that I would be too early to check in but I needed to drop off my bags and head out again.

Last time I was in Sydney I took part in a kid’s yoga teacher training course. I was on a work in exchange for relief of fees program so I had paid $100 and then worked to cover the rest of the fees. I had been doing some social media and online research work for the company whilst in Melbourne. I was due to work in the office that day so after dropping my bags at the hostel I set off walking. It was about an hour’s walk and I’d familiarised myself with the route beforehand. I did take a couple of wrong turns but quickly realised and got there just after 10am. I worked there until 5pm helping to put together conference packs, working on social media and organising the filing cabinets. Not exactly an exciting travel day to write about but I was so grateful for the opportunity. I walked back to the hostel where I checked in and I’d been upgraded to a 4 bed en-suite dorm which was perfect for a shower and some much deserved sleep!

01/11

I was up earlier than I planned thanks to the Italian guy who thought it was acceptable to Skype (loudly) at 7am in the dorm! I grumbled at him a bit then had some breakfast before setting off to work in the office again. I spent four hours there adding resources to the teacher’s area of the website. When I left I walked back into town and found myself exploring Chinatown and Paddy’s Market.

I was on my last few dollars so was being strict about not buying anything and walking everywhere that I could. I ended up going back to the hostel at about 5pm as my feet were burning from too much walking. I climbed into bed and finished up Season 4 of Breaking Bad. Again, not an exciting day but I was definitely ready to leave Australia.

02/11

I had run out of clean underwear. I should have taken this as a sign that my day would not be great. I was hoarding all my washing until I got to Bangkok and could get cheap laundry done. So putting on my bikini and picking out some relatively clean clothes, I packed up my bags, had breakfast and checked out. My flight wasn’t until 10am the next morning but being the penny pincher that I am, I decided that I might as well sleep in the airport that last night. After all, check in would be open at about 7am if not earlier. Also, I’d already slept a night at Sydney International and it was alright. Not exactly comfortable but worth the $25 saving!

I left my bags with the front desk staff and went out to enjoy my last day in Sydney. I had decided that I’d walk through the city, to Circular Quay and then sit in the botanical gardens and enjoy the view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge for the last time. I skipped out through the front door and was greeted by thick fog. I definitely hadn’t expected it! Then I realised it wasn’t fog. It was smoke. I could smell it. It reminded me of the haze in KL and I figured it must be from the terrible bushfires that NSW were having.

I walked into the city and headed for Circular Quay. I had made the decision to get rid of my running shoes. It was a hard decision but I would probably only get the chance to run a few times in Asia and the shoes take up so much room that they had to go. I’m meant to be having a break from running anyway and they’re not the best running shoes. They were still pretty new as I bought them in Perth so I tried to find an op shop to drop them off at. The one near the hostel was closed and as I walked into the city I couldn’t see any. Suddenly I spotted a homeless girl, about my age, sat on the street with her dog. Her sign said that no one would employ her as she had alopecia. I never know whether people on the streets are genuine or not but I decided that I should offer her my shoes. I explained that I couldn’t give her money but that my shoes were really new and I couldn’t carry them anymore. She said that shoes were so much better than money and she had tears in her eyes. I couldn’t believe how much it meant to her. They were the right size too. I was happy that they went to such a good new home.

I walked on to Circular Quay and my feet began to rub. I had run out of socks so was wearing my converse with bare feet. Bad idea. When I got there I had to stop to put plasters on my feet as they were blistering and of course I’d run out of plasters. I did have medical tape so I taped all my toes up. Desperate times…

I was determined to have a good day but was just in pain, sweaty and couldn’t see anything. I could barely see the harbour bridge. I checked online and it was smoke from the bushfires! I got my camera out to take photos. After taking a few I noticed a black mark on every picture. I tried rubbing it off but it wasn’t on the screen. I realised it must be a scratch on the lens or something. I had dropped it at the Eureka Skydeck in Melbourne but thought it was okay. I wanted to cry. Every photo had this ugly black mark. I would have to pay to get it fixed as I couldn’t travel through Asia and have every photo ruined!

After a last visit to the Opera House I walked up to King’s Cross to see if there was a camera repair place. I found one and was told that it would take 2 days and cost $90. There was no way they could fix it there and then. Eugh! I was at a low point. I still had a voucher for a free coffee at a nearby café so I headed there to cheer myself up. I was just around the corner when I got the voucher out and read Mon-Fri only. It was Saturday. That was it! I was done! I sat on a bench, ate my pathetic lunch of muesli and decided that it was time to go.

Nothing was getting any better so I decided I’d just slowly make my way back to the hostel then to the airport. I calmed myself down and played with the settings on my camera and discovered a few different ways to reduce or banish the black mark so I felt a bit better about that. I didn’t walk back to the hostel. I got the train from King’s Cross to Central. My bleeding feet appreciated it.

I loaded up with my bags and walked back to Central. Like the domestic airport, it costs $15 to get the train to the airport station but $3.60 to the next station along. So I caught a train to Wooli Creek and decided to walk the last 1.4km to save $12. I chatted to a nice man on the train who told me the best way to walk when I got off. It was really easy. I mean it’s not hard to spot an international airport. The giveaway is the huge massive planes taking off and landing. It was really weird approaching an airport as a pedestrian though! It seemed quite daunting – like only cars could get to the entrance. I ended up following signs through the car park and in some side entrance. I was a sweaty miserable mess so went straight to the showers to freshen up and get changed. The showers were really great! Better than any of the hostels in Australia. I felt refreshed and went to find a comfy sofa, a plug and some coffee.

I ordered an extra hot flat white at Coffee Club and the woman asked if I wanted in a mug as it’s extra hot so I just said yes. She then tried to charge me $5.10 when it was $4 so I asked why and she explained that it’s $1.10 for the mug instead of a cup. WHAT? Firstly, what the hell is the difference and secondly, how can they justify that! I said I’d be ok with a cup and settled into a comfy chair to charge my various appliances and await delivery of the mystery cup/mug of coffee. I never really knew the difference or the reasoning behind the price but Coffee Club messed with me on the wrong day. I had bleeding feet and a bikini on. I was a mess. I’d even resorted to hand washing underwear in the bathrooms and drying them with the hand dryer. Sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself!

I changed the bulk of my Australian money into US Dollars for Cambodia and started to spend up my last Aussie dollars. I bought a gozleme for dinner as they were half price and looked yummy then I found a quiet corner to Skype my Mum and Dad. My sister was there too as she was on an emergency trip home to see her old hairdresser because of a long story involving a London hairdresser making her look like Draco Malfoy. We had a long chat but my sister was giving me motion sickness with her incessant rocking! It was like I was having a conversation with one of those roly poly clown toys. I loved seeing them all anyway!!

I went down to the sleeping area and made myself a little bed in the corridor. I was curled up in my sleeping bag liner and just falling asleep when I heard someone loud near me asking who the bags belonged to. I sat up and the security woman next to me jumped. She thought I was a bag as I was completely inside my liner and leaning on my other bags. She was checking everyone’s passport and asking what flight they were on. I guess this is to stop actual tramps living in the airport or something!

03/11

After that I managed to get a couple of hours sleep but when I woke up at 2am my body hurt from lying on the hard ground and I couldn’t get back to sleep. 3am came around quickly and the shutters were raised allowing us “sleepers” out of our little area. I decided to power through so went for another shower to wake myself up. I didn’t have many dollars left and wanted to get some travel sweets so I tried to find cheap coffee. Subway was my best bet but then I realised it didn’t open til 6am so went to McDonalds for coffee. My stomach was rumbling and the cheapest thing available was an apple pie. I haven’t had McDonalds in years so I was sad that it was my only real option but at least it was filling and the coffee was pretty decent!

I went to Quantas to ask when I could check in as I was sick of carrying my rucksack. They were lovely and opened up check in just for me. When they asked if I had a seating preference I just said that I’d have the best available so she put me on an aisle seat with no one next to me so I could spread out. I guess it pays to arrive at the airport 18 hours early!

I could finally go through to departures, spray myself with too many perfumes and spend my last dollars on some travel sweets and a bar of chocolate. Eventually it was time to board the plane. I really was soooo ready to leave at this point! My seat was great. I could spread out loads which was useful for a 9 hour flight. Then we were off.