So, I can see that you guys have been just dying to find out what happened to me (108 page views on the 26th – damn , I feel almost famous :). And with my usual careless negligence I completely failed to satisfy your curiosity, so I figure it’s about time I remedy that.
Well, as planned I had lunch with Fel and wandered around the neighborhoods Ultimo and Pyrmont with her (the peninsula between Glebe and the CBD). It was really nice seeing her again – but I think I surprised myself by how quickly I had transitioned into the ‘just friends’ role, and was actually feeling comfortable with that. Maybe I am getting more mature after all…
In the evening I went and saw the new Batman movie with the gang from the house, to see what all the talk about posthumous Academy Awards for Heath edger was all about. In short: I liked it! :)
During the next couple days, apart from hanging out with my house mates, I also met up with Line, my friend from the dorm in Denmark whom I had hooked up with Fel, so they would be living together. My only negative experience here in Oz was the month or so of house hunting with the constant uncertainty about where I’d will live hovering in the back of my mind all the time. Worrying about something as fundamental as where your home will be – even if it’s just for half a year – is quite stressful, as you may have been able to tell from the tone of my blog at the time. So, if I’ve been able to spare Line from that, I think that’s about as good a hello/goodbye present I could possibly give her :)
So, as I said, I met up with Line who flew in on the evening of the 21st and would be staying in Sydney for a year, writing her bachelor project at the University of Sydney. USYD both has a more beautiful campus (with old buildings in a park-like environment) and a more active social life than UTS, so in many ways I envy her. Still, I have met so many great friends, many in other ways than uni, that I can’t really complain. Anyways, it was really nice seeing her, even if it was only for a few days before I would be heading out myself.
I also shipped some excess luggage to Denmark – I ended up shipping 14 kilos which sounds like a hell of a lot, but as it turns out that was the perfect amount, as I just barely avoided paying overweight on my flight back. Obviously someone has been throwing heavy junk into my backpack when I’m not looking… I ended up opting for using a courier, as it was only slightly more expensive – $190 vs. $180 for air freight – and it takes an estimated 9 days in stead of 4 weeks. Hmm, should be showing up pretty soon now, actually…
I also had a big going away party on the 23rd, inviting a bunch of people over for tortillas and drinks. Apart from current and former housemates, Fel, Line and Henry & Belinda also showed up. I also got a parting present from Henry and Bel – a “Space Pen” which can write underwater, upside down or in zero g – neato! Anyways, it was great to see everyone again, and we had fun eating, talking and doing group sing-alongs with me playing guitar. Friends and music – what more could you ask for? :)
The next day – my last day in Sydney – I’d planned to do the Coogee to Bondi walk with Line, but since it was quite rainy, we decided against it. Plan B was going to the Taronga Zoo with Amy, but we ended up leaving the house so late, that 45 dollars for 1½ hours in a zoo sounded like a bad deal (it’s on the north shore, so it taxes time and money to sail back and forth). No worries – inspired by a Jack Johnson song which we’d been humming, we just headed home and made banana pancakes instead :)
After that came a period of protracted goodbyes, some in the evening and some the following morning, where I got up at 5 to get ready for my taxi to the airport. It was really weird saying goodbye; as Line had warned me it is harder to say goodbye when you are going home than when you start your journey, because this time you don’t know when or if you’ll ever see people again. Still, I wasn’t really prepared for how tearful it all became – maybe I’m a big softy after all… These people have meant the world for me, they have defined my stay in Oz and I will be eternally thankful for their friendship!
And thus, finally, came the moment of parting where I caught a cab and headed to the airport. It felt surreal, driving to the airport in the gloom of early morning, chatting with a cab driver from ex-Yugoslavia. Sigh…
In the airport I got in the queue behind a massive body of people, who turned out to be young Catholics from Germany, who were on their way back from World Youth Day. I hope I don’t sound ominous (ok, so maybe I do) or resentful (ok, so maybe I am) when I say that these people would become the bane of my existence for the next day or so. Any time there was a queue of some sort, they would be there, the whole bunch of them, ahead of me, patiently blocking up a system that is not intended to have that many people go through it at once. If ever there was a need for some cosmic plumber to save the day, now was the time – Mario, where are you in my time of need? :)
Ok, so maybe it wasn’t that bad, and I wasn’t really in any hurry, seeing as how a had about 7 hours of lay-over in both Hong Kong and London, but it still made the hassle of being herded through gates and security checkpoints that much less pleasant. And frankly, my ideal seat partner on the six hour flight to Hong Kong wasn’t a German, Catholic teenager complete with stubble, vacant eyes and a cold – to judge from his coughing and wheezing, he was intent on sharing THAT joyous message as well…
Anyways, Hong Kong was actually relatively nice – the sun was setting in a most pretty manner as the evening wore on, and there was free wireless internet as well (Heathrow and Kastrup, are you taking notes?). You could almost believe that you were actually in the real world, and not in limbo on some imaginary interdimensional plane of non-existance outside of time and space – but of course you obviously are. So I whiled away the time, surfing the net, eating ramen, and trying to come to terms with the surreal change of scenery.
The next flight was the long one, almost 13 hourse, from Hong Kong to London, but thankfully I spent most of that sleeping. And my waking hourse were spent chatting to a friendly British couple next to me, and watching a travel documentary with Michael Palin (my favourite Python) about the Himalayas, which served to fuel my wanderlust all over again. The good thing about going home, is it’s also the first step towards your next adventure, whatever it will be.
I arrived at Heathrow airport early in the morning (local time) and after waiting behind the fundies to get my boarding pass, I spent the rest of the time reading and playing games on my laptop. Eventually, at half past noon I boarded the flight to Copenhagen. Since I was a member of the British Airways frequent flyer club and they apparently had vacant seats, they gave me a last second upgrade, which meant I got the fancy meal for lunch – nice.
Finally, we landed, finally, I got my bags, and finally, finally, finally, I met my parents, who were there to pick me up. My trip had ended. After 6½ months and countless experiences, I had finished this, the biggest journey, and also the best decision of my life. I feel like I should somehow sum things up here at the end, but I can’t – it’s too much, it’s too big and it wouldn’t do it justice anyway. But that’s fine, really – that’s how it’s meant to be, and I feel content to let it be like that :)
So, I guess this is a time of parting for us as well, my faithful readers. After having written about my everyday life for half a year I need a break. I might make another blog some day, and write about other things that are on my mind, less mundane, perhaps, but no less personal. I’ll definitely keep shooting photos – I’ve gotten hooked now :) And I might even revive this blog when next I go travelling. Still, I hope it’s been as enjoyable to read my ramblings as it has been to write them – it certainly makes a better, more personal and more lasting souvenir than all the didgeridoos, boomerangs and bush hats in Australia combined. So until next time – I’ll see you on the other side! And good on ya, mates! ;)
