So in between all the Christmas and new years eve celebrations I kind of just walked about Sydney and relaxed in the parks or on the beach. I didn't want to do too many sights as my friends from home are coming over soon so wanted to wait to do stuff with them. I saw Valerie a few times. One day we headed over to Bondi beach. It's the famous beach to go to on Christmas day and is where all the brits hang out. It was even packed when we went and that was nearly a week after Christmas. We even had to queue to get on the bus. But like a 30 minute wait in queues. Ok ok so i'm not moaning. I do realise that i'm complaining about a mere queue to get on a bus to go to a beautiful beach whilst you're sitting with your vests and wooly socks on in minus freezing temperatures. Sorry i'll move on.
So something to make you not so jealous of my mooching and beach relaxing is the hostel I was unfortunate enough to stay in. Being the busiest time of year, it was hard to get something booked. I had to pay from 23rd December through to 4th January to secure my bed there. I was in a smaller dorm that the last time so was only sharing with 9 people as opposed to 11. Grreat. And i got myself a bed near the window and it was a bottom bunk which in my opinion is the better bunk to have seeing as most of them don't even have ladders. Anyway. All was going ok until I got up to the kitchen. Now i know I'm travelling and have to expect the worst, but I couldn't understand why the kitchen was just in such a mess. Not just messy, it was filthy. I didn't even want to eat cereal from any of the bowls. Everything was just caked in dirt and filth. So I went and complained. I hate to be the one to complain but i was paying too much money anyway for such a crappy place to live for a couple of weeks. They looked shocked at the fact the cleaners hadn't been in that day. I pointed out I thought it was maybe more than one days dirt filling the fridges. I even offered to do it myself for some cash but they said no. Dammit. Nice try though. And i obviously mentioned the cockroach i'd spotted in one of the draws. It was the start of a bit of a nightmare. A day or so later the kitchen still hadn't been cleaned so I complained again. Eventually it got done but it didn't stay too clean for too long. I bought myself a mug and a scourer so I could at least be in safe knowledge that I was drinking nice clean, bacteria/disease free tea. The day after that I was chatting to a couple of sisters in my dorm. They were from Holland. One of them asked if I had bed bugs, which I was not aware that I had if I did. She showed me her bites and was covered head to toe in bed bug bites. It was awful. So then I was paranoid. And quite rightly so because that night I got bitten as well and saw them marching all over my bed. It was not fun. For the bedbugs maybe. They were having some sort of party. but I hadn't invited them so it was back to reception in the morning. I requested our beds got steamed and he said he'd sort it. Later on they came up with cockroach and bug spray. They didn't have steamers. So they spent the afternoon stripping the beds and spraying. It's making me itch just thinking about it. So that night the bugs were gone but my exzema came right up from all the chemicals in the spray. So then it was off to the pharmacy in the morning to get some cream for that. The following evening I was up in the dirt caked kitchen tip toeing around so my flip flops (or as australian's call them 'thongs') weren't getting stuck to the floor, trying to get my salad fixed up without touching too much. I'd said hello to a guy standing in the kitchen as I entered it. He was from New Zealand and i'd had a chat with him a couple of days before. He was a little creepy and I noticed he stared at me a bit too hard when I came across him. I also figured that he was high on drugs alot of the time. So anyway when I said 'hello' to him he just stared at me with his wide drugged eyes and more than usual pale face. As i fixed my salad I felt him staring at me and was a bit creeped out but just carried on. Then just as I looked round I watched him flip right on his back and have a massive seizure. Eyes rolled to the back of his head, blood spewing out his mouth. Luckily a load of people came and rallied round him and did all that was needed (calling the ambulance). But then he stopped breathing. Someone managed to bring him back though. I suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore and thought it was inappropriate to continue fixing my salad and open up my can of tuna. I would have had to step over him a few times. So I put my stuff back in the slightly cleaner fridge and headed out for some fresh air. It was all a bit of a shock. By the time I got back they'd locked the kitchen. I sighed and went to the communal room to just sit and watch some tv but was put off by the sick that was absolutely everywhere. This point was the very first time in my travels so far that I just wanted to go home. I do miss home but in a healthy way, not a sad way. Except for this very moment. It was a build up of the week's events and I wanted to just go home.
But that's what friends are for and the next day Joanna cheered my up somewhat. Not sure how she did it as she firstly showed me Max's funeral (max from Hollyoaks died. I missed that. Tragic). So she showed me that, then showed me something so gross on youtube that I WILL NOT relay to you because it's just too disgusting to repeat, and then showed me some game that scared the living shits out of me. Thanks Joanna, you actually did somehow cheer me up. Somehow. Maybe next time just a nice movie and some chocolate will do though!
And then my last night came. And it was a Friday night too so Joanna said I absolutely HAD to go out. My flight to Perth was at 8am the next morning so I said I'd go out but maybe only til midnight. Valerie came as well and we all had a great night. I also ended up bumping in to a couple of the Preston girls that I met back in Thailand. We hung out with them at the 3rd moon party I went to. So great a night that I didn't end up hitting the sack until 4am. Oops. I got an hours sleep though, that's enough right? Wrong. The journey over to Perth was pretty tough. Didn't help I had a hot guy sitting next to me on the plane. Sod's bloody law. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep with my mouth open at one point. Score! I couldn't quite believe this part of the trip was already here though. It had always seemed so far away, and now suddenly it was January 2009 and I was about to see the first bit of family I'd seen in 6 months...
No comments:
Post a Comment