I'll warn you right now: this is going to be quite the scatterbrained journal entry. I have a lot I'd like to write about but, as usual, I'm way short on time. Right now I'm in the Sydney state library with limited, although free, time to type. But I'm anxious to share so I'll type what I can.
These last few days have been amazing! Where to begin? First off Christmas was a lot of fun. We ate and drank and (as corny as it sounds) were merry from sun up to well into the night and early morning. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.
On the morning of the 27th I headed off for Sydney. Doug and Shakti, my truly wonderful and amazing hosts in Nimbin (which I will write more about later) took me and my new friend Neil (who was hitching in the same general direction a much shorter way) 20 or so miles down the road to Lismore on their way shopping. After saying our goodbyes and watching our new friends drive off into the distance we began looking for a ride leading down the road a bit farther to Casino. I still had a long way to go (at least 10 hours of road time) before i would make it to Sydney. I didn't think I'd make it by dark at all and knew I'd be lucky to be in Sydney by the next day while relying on rides. But then I had a good idea.
Neil and I continued on our search for a kind soul to pull over with me wearing a Santa hat and a big sign that said simply "Ho Ho Ho!" The cars that passed were at least laughing at us now, which makes the wait as fun a bit more tolerable. Then a single woman named Leslie pulled her minivan over.
As it turned out Leslie was going all the way to Sydney! We weren't even close to a direct route to Sydney but obviously luck was shining on me that day. We dropped Neil off as far down the road as we could and started our way down Australia's southeast coast.
You can get to know a complete stranger amazingly well in a ten hour car ride. Leslie and I chatted each other up the whole way down while taking turns driving (yep, I've finally driven on the "wrong" side of the road LEGALLY now:). We conversed on just about everything during our drive. At one point we were so involved in a discussion that we ended up off the highway and on some random road. It was probably 1/2 an hour before either of us realized what had happened and another 10 minutes of trying to find the right road back to our intended direction. The road to Sydney was an amazing journey and I'm glad to have taken it with my new friend Leslie. If you're reading this Leslie send me an email! I don't have your email address.
Once in Sydney I met up with my friend Amy (www.amyrtw.com) and her friend Greg who was leaving the next morning to go back to Texas. They invited me to share their hotel room at the Crowne Plaza and I cheerfully accepted. A proper bed in a properly air conditioned room was perfect!
The next morning we said goodbye to Greg as he headed to the airport for the long flight back home. Not long after we met up with Leslie from CouchSurfing.com who would become our first host in Sydney. We've just been with Leslie for one night and have already done so much! She and her friend Holger (from Bavaria, NOT Germany, mind you) drove us up the beautiful coast where we stopped for a cool and refreshing swim in the ocean. I loved it!
Uh oh, the libray is suddenly closing now and their threatening to turn off the computer. Gotta run. Will write more later!
Posted December 28, 2004 11:37 PM @ (GMT - 6)
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