I have posted some pictures from Sydney!
Well, all good things must come to an end... dang it.
I am now back in Lexington. For about the last week in Sydney, I didn't get on the web long enough to blog. I bought an hour Internet card from my last hostel, but they had some funky special log out thing I didn't do and I lost my time after a 5 minute run. I wasn't about to give them any more money after that.
Which I suppose was just as well, since I really wanted to maximize my time with Jenny while we were still together. I miss her already! (Get ready for another countdown... my rough guess is 22 weeks, but her plans for return aren't final yet.)
So, how was my last week in Sydney? Great! Just like the first three weeks!
Jenny and I saw a play at the Sydney Theatre Company, called "The War of the Roses", which is a modern take on several of Shakespeare's works. (Covering some of the Henry's and Richards I think). The first act was okay, it had Kate Blanchet (I probably spelled that wrong). The problem was that the second act was very graphic and featured some unmentionable acts in a very vulgar display. It ruined the experience for me, but I'll separate that from the first act which was visually very compelling. For live theatre they didn't move much. The dialogue was delivered well and with intense emotion, but as a former drama/theater geek I really would liked to have seen some sort of set (they acted on an empty stage) and some use of movement in their space. Much of the dialogue was delivered with hands down at the actors sides, or seated on a chair. Ah well, I saw a celebrity. That's pretty cool I suppose.
After that, Jenny and I stayed right off Bondi Beach. As you might recall from earlier posts, we found Manly Beach to be the better beach. The convenience of staying so close made Bondi a lot more attractive. We ended up spending a few days on the beach, which was a ton of fun. I really enjoyed relaxing on the beach. The only trouble we ran into was the harsh rays of the sun. I bought some spray on sunscreen and ended up burning because it was crappy quality. Never get Banana Boat dry oil sunscreen, it only covers thin strips and will leave you with zebra burn marks.
Sunday Jenny and I finished up some souvenir shopping, and found another little church. This time it was an old Baptist Church. The speaker wasn't as compelling and I wasn't as impressed as I had been with our other Church experiences... but it was still good. That night we decided to check out the Hillsong City campus, we had been trekking out to their original location further out from the city. Hillsong City Campus was like a slightly smaller version of the same, I recognized some of the same speakers, the music and the production quality were all very similer.
I was a little melancholy Sunday too, emotional because of the impending end of our trip. Jenny stayed mostly cheery, and helped me shake my funk (She is a strong woman!). I'm man enough to admit that I am a sensative person.
Monday, we packed up and left the hostel. We had one last cup of Aussie Coffee (see side note below) and then headed to the bus station, then to the airport.
(Side Note: Aussie Coffee is WEIRD! You have to order a "flat white, long black or short black". I can't tell you the difference, but flat white was my favorite of the three. Aussie coffee is more bitter than American coffee. Usually you can also get a Machiatto or a cappuchino at a resturant if you don't like the bitterness of Aussie coffee. In America I drink coffee black, there I took sugar with it to make it palettable. Also, they prefer instant coffee powders with hot water at casual functions instead of our Foldgers or Maxwell House.)
The Airport. I loved that Airport December 17th as I saw Jenny for the first time in 16 months. It was a great place, and I felt good being there. January 12th, the same familuar airport felt like the death row hallway of an old jail. I love Jenny, and I love being with her. Parting after 30 days of constantly being together was like slicing off a limb. I wanted to be strong, but being that manly but sensative guy that I am... I cried like a baby. Jenny and I had flights leaving at similar times, so we both headed different directions after one last meal together. Airport goodbyes are never like the movies. You picture some romantic scene where you know just the right words to make it better. Or some magical moment where someone changes their mind and an instant after separation you experience a reunion. That stuff never happens. Instead, you get an awkward goodbye. Flush with emotion you sometimes can't even think of anything to say, and it's pretty joyless (even painful). When Jenny first left for PNG, I cried on the shoulder of her Mom and brother Ben after she left security. When I left this go around I choked back tears as I was randomly screened for explosives by Aussie security staff. I sulked for a bit on the plane too, but eventually I accepted that waiting another 5-6 months isn't nearly as bad as waiting 16 was.
My flights were long, but uneventful. No celebrity sightings, nothing extraordinary. I had a 15 hour layover in Chicago after 16 hours from Sydney to L.A. and 5 hours from L.A. to Chicago. One of my best friends, Corey, happens to live in Chicago. So, instead of being an airport hobo I called him up. He picked me up from the airport and let me stay at his place (he and his wife Annie are awesome!). They bought some pizza and I got to spend a couple hours with Corey before getting a full nights rest. Then it was back to the airport for more lovely travelling. Checking baggage, security checkpoints, and lots of waiting.
During my flights I drank probably 2 gallons of water and liquids. I stuck to mostly water and juice, but I had a couple colas for the caffine. I think that's helped a lot with jetlag. I also updated my phone's time every time i was in a new time zone., That may have also helped. I didn't sleep much on the plane. Tonight I'll crash harder than the hindenburg, hopefully tomorrow I won't feel totally wrecked.
I got home, and my Mom was at the airport waiting for me. She was worried because she thought i was supposed to be in yesterday (thats what my itinerary said.). But, that itinerary was on Sydney time, not Lexington time... so I gave her a bit of a scare. That over, i grabbed a shower and shaved. Then... I went straight in to work, where I am now typing this blog. I've not been home for 4 weeks, and right back to the office. I've got a lot of remedial stupid things to do today. This whole week I'll be catching up, but I had to take at least a couple minutes to slack off and type this. Expect pictures in the next few days as I make time to import, crop, color adjust and post them. I have several hundred, but I won't post a ton of redundants. You'll all get the best of version of the slideshow.
I waited a lot the past 2 days. shuttles, delays, layovers, and flights. Hours, and hours and hours of it. I think I came up with 44 or 46 hours of waiting with layovers on my return. Right now I have 1 hour and 20 minutes left in my work day and I can honestly say that this feels longer.
So, there you have it... an incomplete but fairly detailed account of my trip to Australia. I'll come back later on and add pictures. I may also revisit with some better perspective on the trip on whole after I take the time to readjust to America. I do feel a little bit of culture shock, despite how American Australia feels. It's good to have 24 hour phamacies (not "Chemists" that close at 7). Its odd to see cars on the right side of the road. And as I type this... I am feeling sleepy. So... I'll see you all later!
Thanks for keeping up with my travels on this blog! Keep an eye on it for random ramblings about other happenings in life.
~Paul
This must be a quick post, so pardon the sparse details. I'll hit the quick talking points and flesh out what I have time to do.
First, New Years in Sydney.
Jenny and I actually got to celebrate the new year twice! While helping Christmas day at the Newtown Mission Church we ran into a Swiss girl who had 2 spare tickets to a fireworks show at 9:00 on New Years eve, which was awesome! We arrived just as people were lining up, so we got to sit in the very front. We got a great view of 2 different fireworks shows which were near the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was great!
After that, we headed down to the Harbor area where we rang in the real new year. We got so close to the firework show that a guy in front of us had to dodge one of the lower flying pieces of debris. AWESOME. We made our way home through some very loud partiers, and I think Jenny and I both are realizing that we must have skipped a season in life... or we are just old souls. I can't remember a time in life where peeing off a overpass or singing loudly in the streets would have appealed to me. When I was your age...! (Okay, Jenny just said I sang loudly in the streets, so maybe I am stretching the truth a little.)
The next part of our trip saw us to the Blue Mountains, at a backpackers hostel called "Cecil Guesthouse". Our first impression was the Bates Motel, it was a bit creepy with some creepy characters there. However, it has been really nice! It's very old, but we met some interesting people there. Our first night in we met some Israeli and German folks whom we hung out with for the evening. We also met a Chicago guy named Thomas whom we went hiking with a couple days ago.
OH THE HIKE! Gosh, i will probably exaggerate that one for years to come. But you, my loyal blog readers, shall hear the truth right now. It was 50 miles, in the snow and broken glass up a mountain and up a hill both ways!
or... it was 17 kilometers (total), including up a mountain, and down the mountain was even harder than the climb. I felt like a lazy bum because I was definitely the dead weight at the end of the trip. I kept needing to sit down because my legs had given up. Perhaps working in an office and sitting in a car all day has made me weak and flabby...? At any rate, Jenny was a champ and talked me through each agonizing step and we finally made it to a road. We called a cab for the last 5-6 kilometers because I was a whiny wuss, it was dark out, starting to rain, and we were cold-tired-hungry. We did leave with a sense of satisfaction, having trekked in a single day what many people stretch over 2 days. I have some great pictures! (If you wonder what satisfaction feels like, take a hammer and hit both your legs all over, then rub your feet on sand paper til they blister. Then run on a treadmill for 11 hours)
Today was another amazing blessing. We went to a Melanesian church, on invitation from another person we met while helping on Chirstmas day at Newtown. The pastor was a man named Johnny, who was from Vanuatu (Van-ah-wah-too), so this was the closest experience I've come to seeing what Jenny sees in the village. The service was small, and I was a little freaked out that Johnny asked us to get up front and say something on our invitation. But I was also flattered, and I had a wonderful time. They showed us such amazing hospitality! After the service, I exchanged contact info with Johnny, we will probably stay in correspondence. If you would, pray for him and his church... they face a lot of trials ahead with a growing muslim population in their neighborhood. (Lots of opportunities too! - Jenny)
I have to go, so there you are... my "condensed" update. Expect more soon!
Aussie Word of the Day - "Pram"
Meaning - A baby buggy, or stroller.
Used in a Sentence: "I wish that mum would get her bloomin pram out of the way before the door shuts on the train!"
