I am safe and sound in the land of OZ. I already like it more than NZ. The people are just way more friendly and cool. Sydney is alright for a big city. I am staying in the Kings Cross area, which is jammed with backpackers, and the area seems posh in spots and a slum around the corner from the posh spots. I spent my first day wandering the city via the botanical garden, which has some cool "bush" plants - I'll post some photos on FB when I get a faster internet connection (I'll also post one more NZ thingy). I also visited the opera house and the government house. Both were pretty cool. I didn't get to go inside the opera house, but it is pretty neat even if you don't. The government house is a lot cooler than it sounds. It is essentially a castle and it is still used by the Governor of New South Wales to entertain important people and foreign dignitaries. The tour is free and a sweet and funny old lady gave the info. I recommend it. I also really like the bay that snakes about Sydney. Oh, and I almost forgot that OZ has a ton of super dangerous animals. Thankfully, I was reminded by a spider the size of my hand; a common spider here. Apperently, he is safe, but he looks mean as shit.
I also got a library card so that I could use the free internet. What is funny about that is that I think you are supposed to be living here to get one. However, as long as you have ID (which he didn't check), you can work around that. How? Using the computer system against itself with Auto-Fill. BA BABA BA. Address info and phone info is stored in it so just type a number or two and boom. They don't verify any of the info, so I'm not sure why they even bother. They might as well just give you a card upon walking in.
On another note, things are expensive here (esp. alcohol). I am giving myself a weekly allowance to be spent on alcohol of $50 while in OZ. That may seem like a lot, but it's not. To put it in perspective, the cheap beer costs about $20 for a 12 pack, so you can imagine what it costs to go to a bar. Although, the hostels seem to have some relationship with the local bars and we get discounts. Last night (was daylight savings here - clocks went back), the bar had a deal going that if you bought a beer, you got a free dinner. The dinner wasn't anything to write about, but it was better than I expected. Then, after that we got two free beers. I went with a roommate, Zack (Korea), who doesn't speak much English. He eventually ditched out on me and left me with some people that we (mostly me cause of his English) started talking to.
Enough about that though, cause who really cares about going out anyway.
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I did something incredibly stupid. My mom may appreciate this move. To get into OZ, you "need" to have a plane ticket booked leaving the country. My flight to OZ was on April 1st, so, on the 28th of March I booked my ticket out of OZ for what I thought was the end of April. On my first night in OZ, I woke at 4AM, eyes wide. I knew at that moment, without looking at the itinerary, that I booked it for the end of March! I don't know why I do this shit. It's a damn good thing that I have a travel agent because I'm sure I'd have fucked up more along the way. I didn't have her book this one because she told me that I could get the same price for this one and she didn't think it was fair to charge me a commision for getting the same price. The ticket was $350. I am going to call the company and see if they can throw me a bone, but I'm not holding my breath.
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So, what are the concerns? Two things, Vietnam visa and a campervan.
Vietnam requires you to get a visa ahead of time - not upon arrival. The embassy turns out to be 3 hours away. I'll probably rent a car for a day or three because it may be cheaper than busing down. What particularly concerns me though is that it takes a few days to complete. I don't want to wait till Thursday to leave Sydney, but even more than that, it means not having identification for 3 days. I'm certain I'll need it for something since they always ask. I keep a copy of my passport in my wallet, but that doesn't suffice for the important things. Anyway, it is a bit of a concern.
The second tricky thing is going to be getting the campervan. According to the company, I should get half off the cost - at a minimum. They have a promotion going that if you rent for 25+ days in NZ or OZ, you get half off the daily cost for up to a year. Plus, other promotions like student discount and "gay" (I am borrowing a pink shirt again to get it) discount of 10% each. However, when I calculate the quote and when they calculate the quote the numbers are about $200 different or more and the quotes are all different. I am planning on going into the depot to deal with them because they seem to be cooler in person than over the phone. So, that concerns me as well.
I am just going to have faith that it will all work out for the best. Let go, and enjoy the ride.
Look for another book review, updates to the NZ Thick post, and the last video I made in NZ.
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