(Regular readers of this blog will possibly have been waiting with baited breath for these following posts, and once again I apologise profusely for waiting this long to have done them. I had decided it was easier to wait until getting back to my loveable broadband connection, rather than waiting for a truckload of photos to upload to photobucket via dial-up hell. I tried convincing my mum to get broadband, but no, she decided to stick with dialup. No matter, now I'm in the mood to get stuck into chronicling the rest of my trip.)
So, after much preparation and eager waiting for train tickets and such, and much deliberation over "what the hell do I pack?", I set off on the first part of my train journey. This was the 15 hour trip to Sydney aboard the Countrylink XPT.
I woke up at some godawful time, 3:30am or so. Just my luck to wake up earlier than prescribed. Also, I felt the beginnings of a cold coming on, which was something I definitely did not need. Anyhoo, I wad thankful for the fact that for my trip down to Sydney I had packed some panadol and a couple of strepsils. Oh, and an entire packet of No-Doz. I got ready, and then downed about 6 of them with a mug of coffee. This was just to stay awake, mind you, not so much to perk myself up.
After leaving my housemates the charming message of "Don't drink the water, FISH FUCK IN IT!" on MSN, I turned all the electrics in my room off, and then lugged my rather heavy luggage out to the door to wait for my pre-ordered cab. My house is a bit tricky, there's only one number on the letterbox. We keep drawing the other number on, but it keeps fading. I had ordered the cab for 5am, and it turned up early. Lugging my luggage downstairs wasn't exactly the most fun thing I've ever done, and I was just praying I wouldn't put my back out, because that would be no fun at all.
Anyhoo, I had arrived at the train station half an hour early. So, I caught the train half an hour early. And arrived at Roma Street Station...half an hour early. Thank god I had packed my iPod and my journal.
So I waited... and waited...annnnnd waited. It was chilly, but I'd dressed accordingly, even though I was wearing shorts. I checked my baggage in when the baggage counter opened, and it actually weighed less than I thought it would, which was good. And finally, the train arrived...
And then we were allowed to board...
Mmmm... crampy seated goodness.
And finally we were on our merry way... Goodbye Brisbane, and (for this day) hello out-of-mobile-range countryside!
I got to sit next to an ex-army guy, who had been in Brisbane to visit family and attend an ANZAC Day service (which was the day before). He wasn't that talkative for most of the trip, and was very particular about his personal space, which meant I was sitting on the seat adjustment lever for most of the trip (VERY uncomfortable after a few hours, trust me).
Anyway, here's some random pics I took... It wasn't that easy to take pictures on the train, I had to turn off the flash on my camera because of the windows (double windows that you can't open...all part of being in the air conditioned comfort of a passenger train!)
(See, taking pics with flash was a bitch!)
Some low mountainy things...
Plainy bits...
Probably the only river I saw on the whole trip...
Mostly what was viewed was a lot of grass, trees, and the occasional rusting farm equipment. When we got to Coffs Harbour, we could see the ocean. But, I didn't get the camera out in time to take a picture. (Damn!) The funniest part about the trip was when we would get to a place that had mobile service.. all you would hear is SMS tones going off... mine included. What was even funnier, was that by the time I had typed out a reply SMS, we'd run back into mobile service obscurity, and I had to wait another hour before I could send it.
The food on the XPT was outrageously expensive, and every couple of hours or so, my head seemed to start swimming again, so I went to the buffet car for a Coke, with which I consumed No-Doz and panadol. I started conversing with my seat-mate to pass the time, and put my iPod on for a while, as well as scribbling in my journal. Apparently we were lucky to have air-conditioning... as the car past the buffet car didn't have any. I tried taking a picture of the sunset, but had no luck.
When we finally got to Sydney, I had no idea that Sydney Central train station was that big. 25 or so platforms. Way bigger than Brisbane or Roma Street. I asked one of the Countrylink staff where I could catch a train to King's Cross (which is where my hotel was), and he said to follow him, as he was going to the same platform. None of the ticket machines were accessible, so I decided that if I was going to get asked for a ticket on the train, I would just flash my Countrylink ticket and say that they had told us we could use this to get to our destination. I was only going 3 stations in the end, and even though I hate travelling without a valid ticket, I had no choice.
Well. I didn't get asked for a ticket, but my entry into King's Cross was interesting. After getting off the train and walking through the station, the first thing I saw was a drunken bum lying on the floor near the station exit, being treated by a paramedic. WELCOME TO SYDNEY! After exiting the station, I found myself on what is the main street in King's Cross. Picture your local red light district. THAT'S where I was. I had a strip club to the left of me, and a strip club to the right, and another couple across the road. This was at about 10:30 at night, so there was loud music and a very seedy air about things. So what did Frosty do? The first logical thing... GET INTO THE FIRST CAB YOU SEE! I got into the cab, and told him where I wanted to go.
Which was down the road and around the corner from where I was standing. But, at that time of night, after spending 15 hours on a train, I flat out didn't fucking CARE. I was, you might say, a tad freaked out by my entrance into King's Cross. Anyway, 3 minutes and $4.50 later, I was dropped at the door of the hotel I was staying at. I then discovered that the actual entrance to the hotel was up the steep hill and around the corner. It had been raining, so the ground was wet, but I managed to lug my luggage (and now I know why it's called LUGgage) up the hill and enter the hotel.
After rather un-glamorously sweating all over the hotel reception desk (humidity is a bitch) and paying for my room, I lugged my shit to the lift and found my room.
The room was actually quite big for just one person. There was a very comfortable double bed, a corner that had a bench set into it, a chair, and a bathroom. My only complaint about the bathroom is that if you wanted to have a shower, you ended up flooding the entire bathroom (well, almost... the toilet gets drenched) but... the water was nice and hot and for basic accomodation at $79 a night, who could complain?
The bed (with all my stuff on it)
The soap, which came with 2 towels.
The shower...
The sink...
And...the toilet. I hate shower curtains. They always stick to me, and I find it irritating having to wrestle with plastic while I'm trying to get clean.
Anyway, I had a shower, and then trekked downstairs, barefoot, to call my mum and tell her I'd got there ok, and "oh by the way, were you aware that King's Cross is the red light district?" ...yeah. She knew. Said it was a good spot, because it was central to everything and if I got into trouble there would be lots of Police types around... She told me to get a good night's sleep and enjoy my days in Sydney.
Well, I didn't sleep for another 2 hours, so I was watching the newly started season of Big Brother on TV, and sort of semi-organising my shit, setting up my laptop and downloading pics from the camera.
Coming soon... My days in Sydney!
