Hello Sydney, Farewell Friends - 23/10/2010

Sydney, was the mark to an end of an experience and a beginning to a new adventure. Watching the sunrise as we sailed into Sydney harbor could not have been a better way to end a cruise. Thirty days had passed and my dream of living in Australia was becoming a reality. It was those last moments where I could not believe my eyes what was in front of me, Australia.

I can still remember as a kid of how much I wanted to visit Australia. A dream I had that one day I would set foot on the continent, to surf the crazy waves, to see a kangaroo and a koala, to camp in the outback, to experience the Great Barrier Reef, and to have that Aussie accent.

As we sailed into Sydney, not even me being sick could keep me from seeing the beauty of the Sydney Opera House, Harbor Bridge, and skyline. It was a beautiful sight to see and to stand next to close friends, Vincent, Monika, Sarah, Chani & MJ - I also felt a little bit of sadness knowing that this is where we begin to say our goodbyes.

My post: 30 Days, A Small Novel through the South Pacific, explained the experience I had on the cruise ship with these remarkable people but it did not explain how much I truly felt a friendship. And there's no way to capture in words the bond we had created. The only thing we could do was have one last adventure in Sydney together.

Disembarkation....should really be nicknamed, "chaos." Trying to pack all of your things back in to your bag where you thought you left enough space for souvenirs and then realize that you brought and bought way more stuff than you could ever need, you just begin to de-junk right then and there. In many instances, I'm sure the crew is thankful to be receiving a few items but really, you're only leaving it behind because you can't find a spot to fit it in your bag. With that said, the adventure continues.

Steph, Colleen, Sarah and I was supposed to use the thirty day cruise to plan our Australian adventure. Did you catch that, "supposed to?" Yeah....of course we disembarked with no plan and no place to stay. Luckily, Monika and Vincent said we could follow them to their hotel. Lets put it this way....we rented two taxis, one for luggage, and the other for the rest of the luggage and then of course the 6 of us. I wish I took a picture, no, I wish I took a video of us trying to get all of our bags in the vans. Quite comical until we get to their hotel/hostel and we have to lug everyone's bags up three flights of stairs into a room smaller than our cabin to sleep 8. Yea...the laughs on that one. What was worse was that I had no energy at all. I was getting sick and its not like I could have stayed on the ship any longer. Well two twin beds surrounded by luggage was not going to sleep 8 people. While Jordon, Cheryl (mum), Vincent, and Monika went to the zoo, the rest of us went to go look for a place to stay. Good thing we found something quick cuz I used the rest of the afternoon to sleep and get a little rest.

The evening comes and our group had one last night together. Off to the Shangri-La we, Vincent, Monika, Jordon, Sarah and I went to meet up with Lindsey and Carissa. We went to their room to have some champagne and watch the ship sail away. It was sad to see what I had called my home for the past thirty days sail away with the memories we had made and watching my cruise romance depart Sydney. We all had a moment where we turned off the lights, played some music and for some, had tears come down our face. Yes I had a couple of tears....my home was sailing away!

Tears aside, we took off to King's Cross where our taxi ride was quite the adventure. Needless to say we made it safely but I think our taxi driver was happy to get rid of us. We settled for some Mexican, at a place called Tomatillo. Every other restaurant was crazy expensive as we will come to find out that Sydney in itself is expensive. For goodness sake, I think we all spent quite a bit of money on our taxi everywhere than we did for a tour in Bora Bora! No matter, the food was decent and off to the club we went.

Now...I have to explain a little bit. We were going to this particular club because the DJ on the ship invited us but it never occurred to me that the club we'd be going to would be a gay club. I never put two and two together. Some of you know that I'm not always fond of gay clubs...too many gays running around and well all of us, of course not me, were straight. Anyways, we arrived at "LIVE" and immediately the bouncer says to all of us, "You don't belong here." So after explaining to the bouncer that we in fact were supposed to be at this club since we were invited by the DJ, we then get to the ticket counter where they guy says, "So you're all straight....we just ask that you act a little gay." I guess no one read the gaydar outta me....then again I was sick and I probably looked like crap but hey I was here and I wanted to hang out with everyone even if I could barely keep my eyes open and I felt a fever brewing up inside.

The night went pretty quickly after that. It wasn't the best gay club I've ever been to but I will say it was probably good it wasn't that bad since it was Jordon's first gay club. I'm sure the experience for him was new and seeing other guys take more and more of their clothes off....it probably was good we didn't stay long. I really didn't have the energy so I was on the couch most of the time anyways drinking tons of water to keep me cool and hydrated. Yet, it was nice for all of us to be together one last time. Carissa and Lindsey were the first to go and after dancing awhile, the rest of us said our goodbyes to Kane and JT before we said goodbye to each other. I will say that it wasn't goodbye forever, it was a farewell celebration to the ship. I was just glad to get back to the hostel and sleep. I was for sure sick and I wasn't happy starting off my Aussie adventure this way.