I haven’t written a blog for the past few days because how
could I possibly follow up with anything exciting after the reef trip? Maybe it was the slight ear problem, or maybe
it is because I am homesick, but after Wednesday (the reef day) I was ready to
head home. I had done all the exciting
things I went there to do and was out of energy. I think I was also dreading the next few days
because I knew getting home would not be nearly as fun as starting the trip.
Thursday was a good day, but Syd and I were so exhausted
that we did not do anything too exciting.
The first half of the day consisted of us lounging around the
hostel. Because most of the travelers at
the hostel are out on day trips, it was a very quiet and relaxing morning. I was able to get caught up on blogging and communicate
with my parents and Nick. Syd and I left
after lunch to meander around the town of Cairns, mainly shopping and scoping
out our restaurant of choice for dinner.
The whole trip I had been wanting a good seafood meal, and we decided to
go for it in Cairns.
We found a fancy
restaurant located on the marina called, “Tha Fish.” No, that was not a typo; the restaurant is
actually “Tha Fish.” I can honestly say
I have never been to a restaurant where waiters fill up your glass after every
drink. They also placed napkins on our
laps and set the table right in front of us. It was definitely too fancy for our running
shorts and tennis shoes attire, but the staff could not have treated us any
better. We should have felt out of
place, but we didn’t. This wraps up the
Aussie spirit perfectly. They are always
friendly and happy to help. I have heard
that the Midwest is friendly. Australia
takes that mentality to a whole new level.
Anyway, Syd and I ended up ordering the exact same meal, even down to
the wine choice. Neither one of us
regretted it either. It was hands down
the best baked Salmon I have ever had.
That meal was certainly the highlight of Thursday.
The low point was when Syd and I realized we paid $30 each
for transportation to the Marina on Wednesday, when we could have walked there
from our hostel. To explain further, we were exploring Cairns earlier in the
day and just happened to come across the marina that our boat tour docked
on. It was a 20 min walk from our
hostel. You win some, you lose
some. I will be sure to Google Map it
next time. The irony is that was probably
the only activity we did not Google map.
Friday and today
(Saturday) have been the most boring travel days. Yesterday we left Cairns on a flight back to
Sydney. From Sydney we caught a train to
our accommodation for the evening. Syd
had booked us a night at an AirBnB house outside the city a little ways. She had stayed there before and knew it would
be a good place; the only problem is that it takes an hour to get there. I will always be amazed by how big the city
is. By the time we made it to the house
it was about 4 p.m. We were both
exhausted and ready for a chill night; first we needed food. The AirBnB is just around the corner from a
neighborhood in Sydney known as Little Italy. Naturally we took advantage of the location and
found a great little café with authentic Italian dishes. We enjoyed pasta and reflected on the highs and
lows of our trip. It was a little
bittersweet, as I was sad to be leaving her, but excited to head back
home. I took comfort in the fact that it
would not be another year and a half before I see her again. She is planning on being home for the holidays,
fingers crossed! We found gelato on the way
back and finished the evening watching Moana.
That brings me to today or technically still yesterday. I am not sure how to relate to it. I left for the airport around 8:30 a.m.
Saturday (Sydney time) for my flight back to the states. To save you the math, it was 6:30 p.m. Friday
(Indiana time). As I am typing it is
almost 6 p.m. on Saturday. I am still at
Dallas. As soon as we landed I turned on
my data to find an email stating that my flight to Indy had been
cancelled. Welcome back to the states. Something about coming back to America, I never
seem to arrive to good news. As soon as
we got off the flight from World Tour, the Boston Bombings happened, I mean
within minutes. When I arrived home after
South America, my luggage never showed up, the airlines had lost it. This time my flight had been cancelled.
I spent a couple hours believing that I would have to be
here in the airport until tomorrow morning. The airlines had so kindly
rebooked me to a flight set to leave at 7a.m. I had too many feelings and not enough prayers. Honestly it was not the worst solution; given I had been sitting on a
plane for 16 hours with little to no sleep, listening to the guy behind me lose
his guts several times due to turbulence, I had no patience to wait another 15 hours
sitting in an airport chair bored to death.
By the grace of God I was able to rebook that for a flight to Cincinnati
later tonight. Nick volunteered,
although it would not have taken much sweet talking, to pick me up in
Cincinnati around midnight tonight when I land. So as of now, this is where my trip
stands. Hopefully all goes well and I
will be sleeping in my own bed tonight in my new apartment that I had to leave
so quickly. If it does not though, I
will be frustrated, probably mad, and upset.
That is how tired I am of public transportation right now. It is always a rush to sit and wait. All those feelings aside, I know this is just
a part of it. I still love traveling. I still hate the inconveniences, but it is
still worth it.
No comments:
Post a Comment