The End of the Yellow-Brick Road

Oct 13, 2016
5 min read

Location:

Sydney, NSW, Australia

How did we get to this point? Over two years enjoying Aussie life and now we must say goodbye! We are travellers of the world and a new adventure awaits us, but for now though we have two days to enjoy Sydney one last time! For us to get to Sydney, we are going to need to take a through the night bus. For once, I slept on the bus, ok, I still woke up nearly every hour, but at least I got some sleep which will help me later.

After a long walk to our hostel, ‘Mad Monkey Backpackers Broadway,’ (Yes, we are staying on Broadway) we could not check in until 2PM, but we didn’t mind. We were happy to leave our luggage somewhere and avail of the free breakfast. Once we freshened up, we went off to meet Catharina at her hostel on Circular Quay. It was Catharina’s first time in Sydney and there is one thing that everyone wants to see when they visit? Any guesses? Your right, the Opera House! Let’s face it, you can’t come to Sydney, let alone Australia without seeing this world landmark. All three of us walked all around this iconic site. You see so many photographs of it, and to see it with your own eyes is very cool. Craving a coffee, we found a nearby coffee place that gave us uninterrupted views of the Opera House. Catharina thought it would have been bigger, but when you look at it properly, you can appreciate the sheer size of the sails. After our coffee, our other friend Evelyn joined us for a stroll through ‘The Royal Botanic Gardens’ followed by a walk through the CBD into Kings Cross for a rather authentic Thai lunch! As much as we would have liked to have spent the rest of the afternoon with our friends, the reality is that we are moving to a new country in less than two days and we still have things to sort out like health insurance! And with one place quoting the two of us a whopping AU$5,000 together, it is going to be a long afternoon!

On our final day in Australia, we are still sorting things out. This time, we have got to collect our bags in Tina’s house all the way over in South Wentworthville. Tina messaged us in advance to say she couldn’t be there as she was in her daughter’s house who lives around the corner. When it comes to fake people, she is most certainly at the top of the pile. She did organise for her partner John to be there. When we arrived, he was very welcoming. It felt very strange being back in the house that we spent so many months in. While it was nice having our own space, Tina and John were a bit too interfering. It became routine that Tina would moan about something or another, usually our cooking. On one occasion, we had a casserole in the oven and we asked Tina if she would like to taste it, and her response was ‘If I tried that, I would get sick!’ How rude can you get! It has been so nice being able to travel lightly over the last few weeks without our big heavy backpacks. To be fair, they’re not that bad. When we got back to Broadway, we emptied all our bags out so we could organise things properly and decide if there was anything we could dispose of. There is no point in holding on to things past there use by date. When you’re travelling, space in your backpack comes at a premium.

On what is our final night in Oz, it was only right that Australia throw a huge firework displays at Darling Harbour to celebrate our final hours. It was a fitting tribute to us! Thank you, Australia! What shocked me was our two German girls, Catharina and Evelyn being late! Imagine, a German being late! What has the world become. They were likewise surprised with us as we arrived before Lucas making us the first ones there. There is something seriously wrong about this scenario! I was happy that our friends got to enjoy the firework displays with us. Once the show ended, everyone wanted to go for a drink, but I didn’t know if I would get in anywhere as I had no ID and they are quite strict over here. Thankfully, we found a bar where we could enjoy one last drink together and a slice of pizza. The waitress wasn’t one bit amused when we asked if they could cut the pizza into five slices. There were five of us, so one slice each you would think would be a reasonable request. When the pizza arrived, there were exactly five slices! It took a bit of effort as we fought against all the cheese as we tried to get ourselves a slice as each time somebody went to take one, it would nearly take everything off the whole pizza. While the guys figured it out, I sat back and watched and when everyone took their slice, I come along and lifted mine up with little to no effort whatsoever. Our night finished saying goodbye to our friends. We walked Lucas back to his hostel (Ok, we got the train) who was ironically staying at ‘Bounce,’ the place where our Sydney adventure began. The place where the ‘Bounce Crew’ were born!

It is such a surreal feeling saying goodbye to a country that we have called home for the last two years. Life in Australia has been like a rollercoaster. When we first arrived, we had the dark clouds of ‘Farm Work’ to battle through for our ‘Second year visa.’ Those clouds remained for some time! Near the start of our farming experience, I was diagnosed with a blood clot in my leg! Surprisingly we got through all our farm work despite the odd set back, which is something I am very proud of. When we got back to Melbourne, I found it difficult to get work. I could only find either sales roles or bits of jobs. In our second year, my luck changed. I found it so much easier to find more suitable roles which meant, we could start enjoying Australia properly. Life was good and it was finally going our way! When we went home originally, I didn’t want to come back, but I knew if I didn’t, I would have regretted it, now that we are leaving for the final time, I don’t want to go! I wish I could stay, if only it was closer to home! Onwards and upwards! A whole new adventure awaits!