AUS4- The showers are Hyde-ing
This blog post will by a myriad of random things that have happened since my last post! Some stories I will recall from memory and others I wrote in my journal.
*I just downloaded whatsapp for those of you who have it!
Last Friday:
My words aren't coming to me as easily today. I'm officially 3 days out and feel like a basket case. I'm at the point where I have everything that can be done in the states settled. Now I am forced to just sit and wait out three days until that plane takes off and I have a glass of wine in my hands. Oh, except packing, still need to do that...
Speaking of packing, Mark and Sam took me luggage shopping the other day. Otherwise, I would've rolled around my little sister's pink & brown polka dotted suitcase **thanks the lucky stars**. My new benz of a bag is a nice neutral grey color (much more Brooke style) and GIANT. It did look giant, until I realized I had to fit 6 months of life into it. Let's see how that process works out.
Note: It is big enough to fit Trixie. No, she is not coming with me. I'll fill the Trixie space with great things though, I promise.
Trixie kisses!
Dreaming of running around with the Roos.
On Saturday I woke up and drove to good ole Madisonville, LA to visit the fam. I had a lovely brunch right off of the Tchefuncte River with three cousins, two maw maws, an aunt, and a friend. The highlight of the brunch was Taylor's unique travel gift to me. She gave me a tiny travel-size mouthwash (or so I thought). What she really gave me was a portable blue-dyed tequila container. Her creativity amazes me. Also included was the "Our Lips are Sealed -filmed in Sydney" Mary Kate & Ashley movie circa 2000.
Packing was NO BUENO
Big thank you to Mrs. Margaret and Lauren
for this dream of a travel wallet!
I spent my last day in the states having a couple of my favorite things...
I'll miss you PJ's. I really really really will.
I could eat Panera until my arms fell off.
So now it is time to me to FA REALS leave the country. I was a little weary as I had never even flown on my own before. Mom and Kay dropped me off at George Bush. Mom and Kay- Y'all made such a scene that two people in line asked where I was going and why y'all were so upset. much love. Anyways, I made made it to my gate with no problem at all! Brooke, you are such an adult. I even had time for a starbucks stop and I swear it was the best coffee I had ever tasted. This purchase also gave me enough stars on my gold member app so that my next one is free! I had a little worry of if Oz even had Sbucks so that I could redeem this. IT DOES I PASSED ONE TODAY. They have so many other coffee shops here though that I would feel "so totally american" if I walked into a Sbucks.
My trustee aircraft
My flight from Houston to LAX is where I had the world's most annoying flight attendant. I should've stocked up on chocolate before that one. Hindsight is 20/20. My next flight, from LAX to Kingsford, was much longer but less miserable. I successfully completed a 45 minute terminal change and even convinced the clerk guy to switch me from a middle seat to an aisle. BROOKE- THE AIRPORT MASTER.
I took this picture at hour nine. It was this moment when I thought my back was broken & my left leg had fallen asleep so it was all tickle-y.
Do I get to talk about Australia now?!?! YASSSS. This is what I believe my face was stuck like for the whole landing process. Looking left. Looking right. Looking left. Looking right.
I wish y'all could have seen this. On one side you could see the coast, gorgeous blue water and the waving line of lit up buildings along it. On the other side was just straight blue. The ocean and the sky went together so seamlessly that you couldn't tell where one ended and the other began. I left the airport and jumped on the AirportLink (a train). Buying the train ticket was the first place I used my Aussie dollars. **I thought the guy shorted me change for a moment because the ticket was $17 and he only gave me coins back. They have a coin worth $2 so we were in the clear!** The train had a stop about 500 feet from my hostel so it was uber convenient.
I rolled my suitcase to my hostel and stopped at the neighboring cafe for my first aussie coffee. I ordered a regular iced coffee. As you can tell from the picture, I did not receive a regular iced coffee. This thang was amazazazing.
I tried to go on an impromptu sydney walking tour. Well, I misjudged how far away Hyde park was. I power walked 25 minutes but was still too late. Good news was that I was in Hyde Park and it was beautiful. I walked around and learned many many things. 1) circular quay is pronounced "circular key" 2) they drive on the left side of the road which means 3) I was walking on the wrong side of the sidewalk for a good few miles. I even caught myself saying, "don't they know you are supposed to walk on the right side" as I was frustrated from walking against traffic **dumb tourist moment** 3) they call the sidewalk a foot-path 4) the amount of coffee shops here is really insane. To say that there is one on every corner would be grossly underestimating them. 5) everyone is really gorgeous. Like, I'm not kidding. This is the best place to people watch. There is no shortage of tall manly men walking around in suits. 6) they have really weird birds.
what even is this thing?
Here are some pictures from Hyde Park and my walk around town!
This might be the biggest smile I've ever mustered.
Phew! Okay that was a good bit of catching up. As of now, I am back in my hostel sitting next to some guy who was never taught how to eat soup without sounding like a motorboat. I also am starting to worry that this place doesn't have showers. My last one was with baby wipes in an airport bathroom so I was kind of looking forward to it. I mean, they have showers right? I just haven't found them? I even asked a worker if they had showers. She said yes and pointed down the hall. I went down the hall. There was nothing there. I feel really dumb and dirty.
7/14/15