Happy 2010 from Australia! We were one of the first to ring in the New Years and I can safely say it was nothing like any New Years I've experienced. I come to you from the Blue Mountains Backpackers Hostel in Katoomba, a little town in the mountains just a 2-hour train ride from Sydney. Why am I here, do you ask? What brought me to such a remote location on earth for such a monumental day, the welcoming of the new decade? Sit back, my friends, I shall fill you in...
I left you off in Sydney where I was hostel-less and friendless. That all changed hours after my posting. Feeling a little lonely and scared, I knew I had to push myself to get out of my little shitbox hotel room to go explore and, more importantly, find a place for me to stay for the next two nights that didn't involve coughing up a fortune. I consulted my handy travel book gifted to me by Brennan (best thing ever!) and found a visitor's info centre about a 10 minute walk from my hotel. I ventured towards the harbour, leaving most of my possessions locked safely in my room. Sydney reminds me of Halifax/Montreal. Sydney's harbour-feel and steep hills are very similar to these Canadian cities and it is also quick to get around on foot as long as you have a map.
I found myself at Darling Harbour, a neat part of town that was the gateway to many harbour attractions like the Aquarium and Imax theatre. It is a pedestrian hub, accessible by many byways, one of which I took. Minor relief swept through when I noticed the large, blue letter 'I', for the info centre. I bee-lined over. The crowds were ginormous. The day before New Years and nearly everyone had flocked down to the harbour, some people already securing seats for the big show the following night. It was a bit cooler down by the water, but gorgeous!!! Countless sky scrapers overlook the water and the many little peninsulas stretch out into the ocean. I didn't have time to go exploring. I stood in line at the visitor's centre, the constant feeling of butterflies never subsiding. Would I find a reasonable place to stay Dec. 31?
Just as I approached the desk and began to explain my situation, I overheard a voice next to me, a girl's voice, who seemed to be explaining the same situation to another visitor rep. Out of impulse, I turned to her and suggested we split anything we can find for New Years Eve. She agreed. After browsing options for a few minutes, we were still room-less, but we had each other. I cannot explain how important and amazing this situation now seems, looking back. But at the time I didn't think much of it. So I met Charlotte, an 18 year old girl from Holland traveling alone in Australia (she arrived two weeks ago). What sort of cosmological events and arrangements had to be aligned for this moment to occur, we both didn't know, but we do know how lucky we were to meet exactly when we did.
After hours of searching for a hotel room to split, the results proved to be too expensive or inconvenient. We enlisted the help of various travel centres, and finally decided to walk around and pop into various hotels/hostels to ask about availability. Nothing. It was nearing 4pm. At this point, we both had a place to sleep that night, and Char was lucky to have found one hostel bed at a YHA near the train station. Walking back, we stopped into a flight centre and worked our case with a very nice agent who eyed us with pity, humour, and dedication. She was determined to help. Char and I realized that in order to have a good New Years, we would have to leave Sydney. The agent found us a room in a town called Katoomba, a mountain village a couple hours out of Sydney by train. Mountains, trains, cheap hostel, and new friends - we were sold!
Jet lag hit me fast, and perhaps the comfort of knowing I'd made a new friend and secured plans for Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 knocked me out. So I went back to my little room, leaving Char at her hostel, and we made plans to meet the next morning for our adventure.
