So I have arrived in Orange.  First impression… you know what, this place looks more than a little like Vernon in ways.  Dan and I are on the prowl for an Orchard worthy of our presence.  Should be good, it appears that we may already have leads.

I have met up with Dan and spent the last week or so in a comfy little hostel in Katoomba named The Flying Fox.  The atmosphere was wonderful, the people quite friendly and everyone was very welcoming.  From hiking to themed dinner nights… we had it all. (I’d go into more detail here but there were for the most part genuine and wonderful people and I only have limited computer access.)  I don’t know if I could have stayed any longer for fear of the “Curse of the Flying Fox”.  A strange malady where if one stays long enough… they may never leave!  Ross the owner even lent me a mat for camping as it was significantly better than my own.  The only requirement is that I return it when I am next through the Flying Fox… wait a sec now…

We attempted to hop on a train to take us to Orange but after an hour of waiting we discovered the only train to Orange is in the morning.  So we stuck out our thumbs.  We made it safely and I got to watch Dan, the master hitchhiker, in action.  Excluding a delay from some heavy mist that prevented vehicles from being able to see us we made it in okaytime.  I had an interesting time myself during this as one of our rides had me on top of a barrel in the back of a van surrounded by hoses and our travelbags while the driver tried to “take a piss out of me” by driving… interestingly.

I have been having issues adding photos recently and will have to attempt again at another time.  For now though I have ran out of time on the internet.

“Lee told me to let it go and save the story until we’re back out on the road”

After my 15 hour flight I landed at Sydney International.  Air Canada has done a lot of things to improve their planes for the Olympics.  Each seat appears to be equipped with a touch screen multimedia center in the headrest in front of you.  From these screens you can choose Television, Music and even Movies.  I listened to some Imogen Heap and watched Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince and a movie about highschoolers and a battle of the bands. (The name escapes me currently)  Going through customs was painless and in face a good chance to stretch my stiff legs.  I assembled my back and converted my travelbag from shoulder to backpack.  I decided as I had been up for over 24 hours that I would simply stand outside in the beautiful sun for a while and relax.  It did me well and it served to clear my head.  During that time I spoke with an elderly Australian man who regaled me about his troubles in visiting the U.S. and Cuba.  He was very friendly however and had a lot of  interesting information.  Mostly on what parts of Sydney to avoid for safety’s sake.  (I’ll probably visit said places later today, haha!)

I found my hostel with little trouble.  Though I took a very roundabout root locating it as my legs were still recovering from the travel.  It is a friendly hostel with an interesting dorm setup.  Converted tram cars to sleeping quarters.  My window even looks out onto Central Station!

The first thing I did was grab a shower and went for a walk.  Sydney is a very busy city.  There is quite a bit of traffic and some of the craziest pedestrians I’ve ever seen.  It seems that as long as the road is clear droves of people will cross even the most well used intersections.  The reason why I mention this is because in many places on the center divider they have included a button for the crosswalk… even though there is not really any significant place to stand there.

My walk took me through a sprawling “China Town”.  It took me nearly an hour to locate a coffee shop.  One of the nice things I’ve noticed is, unlike even smaller cities back home, I can’t throw a rock without hitting a Starbucks and I like it!  My coffee was surprisingly delicious.  An interesting Mocha that was the right combination of bitter and sweet.  I was very impressed… it helped clear my palette of the coffee I had on my flight which has now be dubbed “The Worst Coffee Ever!”

 Most of the rest of the day was filled with me trying to stay awake until a decent time for me to sleep.  At the end of the day I had been up for 35ish hours but I knew when I hit bed I wouldn’t be up until morning.  Thankfully with a morning coffee I am almost back to normal.

I don’t have any real plans for today, mostly some sightseeing and finding somewhere to buy a towel.  Tomorrow I head to Katoomba to meet up with Dan and begin our adventures.  For now though I’ma grab a coffee and plan my day.

Please note:  I have only chosen select pictures for the post, please visit Photo Gallery in the top lefthand corner of the page to view more. (Edited location ’cause my ‘cuz Krista is a smart aleck d: )

 ”In distance I found strength. Katoomba gave me peace of mind.”

Operation Vancouver: Success

Hanging out with awesome people, watching far too many movies and drinking a lot of coffee was a great time.

Though I was an hour late to meet up with my friend Steph.  I didn’t drive to Van so I was busing it.  Missed my stop at Cambie and ended up at UBC.  I had almost reached my destination and started to speaking with the bus driver.  His response to the situation was something along the lines of, “You’re an hour late to meet up with a girl‽  Are you nuts‽”  I then indicated that her and I are just friends currently and his reply was, “Still, a girl is a girl, it sucks about the bus mix up… I could write you a note if you would like.”  The thought of it is pretty entertaining to me…

Dear Steph,

This note is to excuse Drew for being an hour late for your rendezvous.  It was a simple mix up and I got him there as soon as transitly possible.  Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Signed,

The Bus Driver

Heh.

In travelbag news, even loaded with all the clothes I own, it was very comfortable and well balanced.  Knowing how travelbags of these sort work, I only used the shoulder straps when using the bag.  Even wearing it improperly my back and shoulders still liked the fit and the weight.  This means that with the decreased weight and the proper wearing of said pack I should be able to wear it for long periods of time with little to no issues.  This is a blessing as it will be very conducive for an extremely mobile lifestyle.

My current departure times are:

• 2 Days from my employment
• 5 Days from Victoria to the Okanagan
• 12 Days from the Okanagan to Australia

Stoked!

“These four wheels feel like home to me”

Everything appears to be falling into place.  It is a good feeling actually.  I’m not a person prone to much stress but I do feel more relaxed.  Soon I shall be leaping head first from my glass office into a world of kangaroos, gals with hot accents and spiders big enough to take on small birds.

Tonight I leave for Vancouver, only for the weekend though.  I am stoked to visit with a few of my Vancouver peoples, especially Nate, his Amanda and Steph!  They are some of my favourite people so a good time is bound to be had.

I’ve crammed the majority of my clothes into my travel bag to figure out where and how I am going to wear it.  I’m testing this out during my weekend.  The current weight of it is about three times what I expect to bring on my travels.  From my walk to work I don’t expect to experience and issue but you never know.

“I know the pieces fit.”

Today is so high paced.  Payed out the remnants of bills that needed finalising and disconnected various services.  Today at work it is quite the race.  Everything is happening at once and for some reason instead of my head exploding and leaving little Drew-Brain-Bits all over my glass office I am going into hyper-drive.  It has been a long time since I last multi-tasked like this.  I don’t even know how I’m doing it! (:
Picked up my travelbag as well.  I am pretty hyped on the bag actually.  It is a MEC 64 litre bag with detachable 18 litre daypack and it has a bunch of other features I’d rather not bore you with the details of.  I’m damn stoked on it though, so better believe those same features are exciting to me!  It looks pretty snazzy and has all the functionality that I require.  People will tell me, “Hey Drew~style, it’s just a bag!”  To which I shall reply, “For seriousness?  This isn’t just a bag!  It symbolizes freedom, adventure, personal growth and oh so much more!”  Granted like most things I get excited about they’ll probably just roll their eyes.

“Travelbag is love.”