One Month Later…
Wow! I knew it would be hard to keep up with the blog while I am here, but it has been even harder than I anticipated. I have been spending every moment of my free time either exploring or resting.. from all exploring I have been doing, haha! I haven’t gotten around to editing any camera photos yet but have certainly snapped plenty on my phone so let’s get into it!
First of all, packing was an absolute challenge. Now that I am here, I can say that a did overpack a little, but not by much. I would give myself an 8 out of 10. There are some things that I brought that I could have lived without, and some things that I did not bring that I should have. But I won't go into details. I made sure to snap this photo of my bags before I left because (a) I thought they looked cute and (b) I was very proud of myself when I finally finished packing everything up so that no bag was over the weight limit. Although, both of my checked bags were at exactly 50 pounds so bringing anything back with me is going to be a challenge. But that’s a problem for future Laney.
It was also a little difficult flying with all of this. My two big bags were checked, but I had various things outside my luggage that had to be clipped onto my carry on (pictured below). I also realized that my backpack is too big to fit under the seat in front of my on plane. It’s okay for short distances, but I realized on my 6 hour flight from Detroit to L.A. that I was going to need more leg room for the overnight flight to Sydney. I ended up storing my backpack in the overhead bin (after taking out a few things that I wanted access to and stowing them in the seat back pocket) for that last flight and honestly it was the best decision ever! I had maximum leg room for sleeping which was much needed.
One of my favorite parts of flying anywhere has always been the views! I arrived in L.A. right at sunset, which was beautiful with some mountains in the distance. My layover was a few hours, during which I ate and journaled before departing at 10:30pm local time. I managed to sleep a full 8 hours on the plane, and the next photos I took were right before we started our descent, and then again after we popped out of the clouds and Australia appeared!
Honestly, I don’t think I was truly excited until I got that first glimpse of the coast. The month before I left was a stressful one. Between helping Anna with her move, enduring delays with getting together everything I needed for my visa, dealing with my sublease backing out and finding someone to take his place, and then packing not only for Australia but also having to prep my apartment for two strangers to move in, there wasn’t much room left for me to truly feel excited. It finally hit me on our descent – I definitely teared up a bit as I took photos and peered out the window in absolute awe that I had made it to the other side of the world.
When I got off the plane, this is one of the first things I saw and boy, it made me smile big! I took this photo and then immediately headed towards the bathroom to change into shorts. Australia does not use air conditioning very much so I was burning up in my sweatpants as soon as I stepped off the plane.
Once I changed, I scanned my passport at this kiosk and then headed to baggage claim. I grabbed my bags, loaded them on to a cart, and then I guess I looked a bit lost because one of the airport workers came up to me to ask if I needed help. I said yes (I wasn’t sure which customs line I needed to go in), and he took a look at the declaration card I had filled out on the plane. I’m glad I talked to him because he sent me over to the opposite side of where I thought I needed to go since I had nothing to declare (which meant I did not have to wait in the long customs line!).
I exchanged some of my US currency for Australian dollars (which are beautiful – I don’t have any photos though, so if you’ve never seen Australian currency, you should go look at some on Google right now!) and then headed on my way to the train. The Sydney airport is pretty big – it took me probably 15 minutes to walk all the way to the end where the train was. Before getting on, I purchased an Opal card and loaded some money onto it. The Opal card is New South Wales public transportation card. You scan it when you get on and off the train, bus, or tram. I got on the city train around 10am, where I rode about 10 minutes to Sydney’s Central Station. Once I got there, I had to change again because I was hot. I stopped at a café there for a coffee and a ham & swiss croissant. Then I headed to Platform 8 (which made me think about Platform 9 & 3/4 from Harry Potter) and got on the train to Newcastle!
About three hours later, I arrived in Newcastle. I transferred from the train to the tram, which took me ten more minutes east. I got off at the proper stop, and lugged my bags two blocks uphill before finally arriving at my hostel. At this point I’d had no phone service for the entire train ride, so I was glad to get on wifi and let friends and family know that I had arrived. Quick shout out to my mom for telling me about maps.me which was very helpful in that it allowed me to have a map (and see where I was on the map) when I was without phone service.
I had to wait for about 30 minutes at the hostel until the receptionist got back from lunch. This was absolutely fine by me as it allowed me to lay down for the first time in almost two days. Once she got back, I got my keys and put my stuff in my room, had a look around the hostel, and then went on a mission to get lunch. I was starving, per usual.
I tried to go somewhere down the street that I had found on Apple Maps, but the sandwich shop that was supposed to be there no longer existed, so I ended up asking the receptionist where I should go. She directed me to the Kiosk, which was apparently right next to Newcastle Beach. It took me a bit to find it as it is nestled in the structures built next to the beach, but once I did, I ordered fish ‘n chips and marveled at the free city wifi that was available for me to use right next to the beach!
After I ate, I went straight to the beach and.. wow. The first thing I noticed were the waves. They are huge! I’ve only been to the ocean a few times in my life and never have I seen any waves like I have seen here. They are pretty fascinating – still, every time I go to any beach, I love sitting and watching them roll in.
I ended up at the YHA for an entire week and made way more friends (from all over the world) than I ever expected to! Here are some highlights from that first week in Newcastle (a.k.a. Newy).
One of the most beautiful places I visited while staying at the Newcastle Beach hostel was called Bogey Hole. It was only a 15 minute walk away.
Watch the video with sound to get the full effect!
That’s all for now! I’m absolute dying to edit photos from my camera, but tomorrow I have homework and chores to do and will have a busy week ahead of me. I’m attending a day festival in Sydney on Friday (my birthday!), so I have to get a bit ahead on my assignments. Hoping to find time to edit photos and make some more posts once I am back from Sydney! I have so many stories to tell already :)
