Australia - A Recap

The Sydney Harbour Bridge 

After the Bridge Climb 

@ the Sydney Aquarium 

Hrmmm... Considering that it's now June and I've been back in Toronto for a while now, I guess I should update this thing.

Anyway, my last couple of days now in Australia were pretty eventful. I went back to Sydney from Melbourne to meet up with Jacqueline again. We got to do some more 'touristy' stuff and went to Paddy's Market, Manly Beach, and of course some shopping. Monday was what turned out to be my worst day there. That morning, Jacqueline was going to hitch a ride with Jess back to Canberra. I was going to take the train with her to Jess' place and keep the all-day pass for myself after. We were running late and somehow we got our tickets mixed up, so we said good-bye at Central Station. I quickly realize what happened and tried to chase her down. In doing so, I dropped my camera--it wasn't too big of a deal at the time 'cause my camera has taken a number of bumps and bruises. Unfortunately, I didn't catch which station Jacqueline was headed to, so my search turned out fruitless. On the way back to the hostel, I decided to take a look at some of my pictures, and that's when I realized my memory card had POPPED OUT! I had the sick feeling in my stomach, absolutely started freakin' out, and rushed back to look for it. Since it was a Monday morning and in the middle of rush hour, my search was in vain. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Sigh. After a couple of hours, I eventually gave up and headed back to the hostel.

Although I only lost half of my photos--luckily I uploaded the other earlier in the week to Jacqueline's laptop--I was still terribly upset 'cause I realized that I would probably never see them again. (And this was confirmed earlier this week when the Lost Property office contacted me and said that it hadn't been found.) They included some priceless memories of my time in great time in Melbourne and especially meeting Jacqueline's great friends and roommates. But as someone reassured me, I was lucky enough to 'experience' it, I have the memories in my head now, and it's just more reason for me to go back some day. True, but it still didn't make me feel much better.

In my upset state, I decided that I couldn't stick around all day and sulk. I ended up filling up the rest of my day with as much as possible--Darling Harbour, the Syndey Aquarium and more shopping for souvenirs. I also signed up to climb the the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was an amazing view and experience, but it certainly cost me quite a bit--$160 AUD!

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Anyway, it was good to see Jacqueline down there. I can't imagine going to a far away place and knowing nobody there. It's reassuring to know that she has (mostly) great roommates and friends who've welcomed her with open arms. It seems like they've really helped her settle down and focus on her studies. I'm happy that she's in pretty good hands and she's definitely well on her way to becoming a doctor. :)

In any case, despite my less than memorable last day there, I really did have a great time down in Australia. It was the first significant trip--unless you count Thunder Bay... ummm, I don't think so--that I had taken on my own. I was a bit nervous going down, but it was good to do some exploring on my own. And it helped that Australia is an English-speaking country. I'm glad that I didn't sign up with a tour 'cause I probably would have been rushed to do as many activities as possible and wouldn't have taken more time to enjoy myself down there. I'm actually starting to feel the travel bug and can't wait 'til the next time I get to go on another adventure.