Ok where to begin... I will start from the rest of my journey over here I guess. So I got off the train at Reading and dragged my ridiculously heavy suitcase around the station and up and down two lots of lifts- I then waited whilst some young yet harmless looking chav devoured a subway sandwich in front of me and was left with a large glob of mayonaisse on the side of his lip. As a rule I am not a fan of people and did not wish to get into converstion with this tracksuit clad teenager so I left him to it and did my best not to make eye contact through fear of laughing or gagging. Next was a pleasant train journey to Gatwick, I spent most of that trip worrying about my suitcase taking up too much of the aisle (there were no racks) and hoping nobody would put drugs in there- perhaps an irrational fear but a fear none the less.
Gatwick was relatively pain free- I navigated my way to the north terminal- found Cafe Nero after I checked in and sat there eating my tomato and mozerella panini and making my final telephone calls to home and my best friend- for the puropse of this blog we shall call her Miss Marple as oddly enough that is her fashion icon. We both sounded miraclously calm on the phone and we taked about her first day in her new funky job and my imminent departure. Just as that call was wrapping up the announcement came on informing me that I was ready to board.
The first flight to Dubai was realatively smooth running- I had a plan that I would stay awake for this leg of the journey in order to me to be able to sleep through the entirety of the next flight and arrive in Sydney at 6am fresh faced and ready to rock. This in retrospect was a bad plan. I did inded stay awake- I watched the entire first series of the IT Crowd and a really depressing film containing Natalie Portman- the name of the film and rather large sections of it are beyond my knowledge as I kept getting in to conversation with a nice Jamacian man called Alexander who was sat beside me. Conversations with him were varied from the current state of Britian to the comic book he would like to write, about the customers he meets when he delivers the Tesco food vans. My chats with Alexander became more and more frequent as the flight went on as he downed mini bottle after mini bottle of London Gin, it was only when we were flighing over Iraq and he was saying he can see rockets flying past did I put my headphones firmly in and played the sleep card.
After what seemed like an eternity we arrive in Dubai- it is around 7am their time yet as soon as the doors of the plane opened I was hit by the intense heat and humidity of the country. We all crammed on to a shuttle bus which just circled for about 20 mins until we got eventually got off what must hae been 50 meters from the plane. I was too tired and by that point too hot and sweaty to care so I just followed the masses and hoping they were also catching a connecting flight. I must have done something right as I found myself my second departure lounge with people spraying me with duty free perfume as I wander aimlessly waiting for time to pass. I wasn't sure if they were spraying me because they wanted me to buy the stuff or because I was beginning to smell like milk left in the heat... It really could have been either.
Ok great- soon enought the second flight was boarding I shuffled on like the zombie I was and found my seat, I was sandwiched between a sweet Scottish lady and an Australian girl who honest to god, to my amusement, spoke just like Jai'me of Summer Heights High. I immediately reclined my seat- threw a blanket over my face and fell asleep for what it felt like a good hour. I woke up and looked out the window, and saw that the plane was just beginning to taxi its way to the runway. When that realisation hit me I realised that either time has lost all meaning or I am going insane. That was a close call at this point. Hours turned into seconds and I never thought I would feel land under my feet again. I would like to write more about how I felt and what I did on the final leg of this journey but it all seems really hazy now- If someone told me I was on the plane for a whole week I would have believed them.
Right so the stressful, soul detroying part of the journey was coming to an end as we reached Sydney airport with relatively little turbulance. Now the excitement and nerves were kicking in. Holy crap I have just flew to the other side of the world where I know nobody, I dont know where anything is, I dont know what my jobs going to be like or if people are going to like me. I clung on to my new Australian friend as she showed me where to go, what to say and she was going to meet me at the carosel to pick up the luggage. I had been telling her for a good hour before about my fear of not getting let in to the country and the embarrasment of having to turn around and get a flight straight back home again and I would see the confused and sympathetic looks of friends and family when I get back to the village. She had calmed me down relatively well and I got through passport control, security checks, luggage retrieval and through to the exit with ease.
It took two shuttle buses to get me to Westend Backpackers in central Sydney- I was feeling a lot calmer at this point so just chilled and observed Australia pass me by. Before I knew it I was having a battle with my suitcase and being pointed towards the entrance of the hostel. I turned around and thanked the bus driver, he smiled, winked, said god save the queen in the strongest Aussie accent I have ever heard and then drove off, I like this place already.
I was given my keys and shown to the lift to take me to my 4 share dorm. It was just gone 10 in the morning in Sydney so I quickly went on facebook, told my friends and worriers that I arrived safe and passed out and slept for a few hours. When I woke up I was alone in my room and decided I should probably go and do something fun or productive. I got speaking to a couple of backpackers on the now famous Westend Step and they told me the way to get to the shops and the Opera House and gave me a map so I wouldn't get lost. So off I went on my merry way taking in my surroundings with a newly formed spring in my step. Thinking it was fate when I saw a busker playing The Beatles "Here Comes the Sun" as I looked up and saw nothing but deep blue sky. About 20 mins later I came to the end of the main highstreet and low and behold in front of me was the Sydney Opera House. It is by no means overrated and I really think it was only then that I realised where I was. The excitement went to my head and I tricked myself into thinking I was a strong independant woman and decided to go to the nearest resturant, order some fancy food and a glass of wine- sit by myself and enjoy it. In retrospect this would have been fine if there is nobody else around and I was left to eat my pizza (Ok not that fancy and there was bacon in the sauce but don't judge me) and drink my wine in complete solitude, the thing that made me feel awkward was the looks that strangers give you, it is a stange mixture of sympathy, pity and smugness. You may call me paranoid and self concious but I know what I saw.
I picked myself back up and sauntered back to the Hostel where I was told that the best way to get over jetlag is to go out drinking til the early hours- tonight happened to be the Party Bus night where for $30 you get a live DJ on the bus, 5 clubs with 5 free drinks. Just the thought of this made me want to die inside, I was feeling rough from a combination of tiredness and rank plane food and all I wanted to do is curl up in bed and fall in and out of conciousness. However, this girl was being nice to me and I saw her as definate friend material and as a single girl on her own in Australia I was in no position to turn down a friend. So 7pm came round- met the crew on the step and off I went to experience my first night out in Sydney....
Ok I know that only takes me up until 7pm on Thursday night, and I know its the following Thursday now but I need to go to work in a bit so Il post this now and catch you up with the rest later.... I will I promise.
Much love x
