First day in Oz

Well my friends I have officially made it to the land down under, the home of some of the slowest computer terminals on Earth, or at least this one. Anyway after nearly 24 hours on planes and in airports between Denver and Sydney I have made it. Last night, which lasted about 18 hours and made me lose my March 30th forever, was possibly some of the worst sleep of my life. Initially I was pleased when we left over an hour late out of Denver because Matt had informed me that if this were to happen DirecTV would be on the house and by gosh he was correct. So I made it to LAX fine and then waited there after rechecking all my luggage for a couple hours before boarding the biggest plane I have ever seen. See, it was a 747, and for those who don't know planes I think it means that it actually holds 747 people. Anyway I ended up having 2 seats in which to try and situate myself to no avail. However I watched that movie where J Lo tries to teach that older guy how to dance - quite heartwarming. On the next flight from Nadi to Sydney I would see a new Hillary Duff movie where she is at a music camp and falls for this Brit and they make great music together. In Nadi I met Marie from Norway and she seemed pleasant enough but her English wasn't up to par and my Nordic tongue isn't either. Well she is going to work at a vineyard in South Australia and has been traveling for 4 months thus far. Europeans always have a lot of time to spare it seems. So, those two flights sucked but I made it and got 3 meals out of the deal (2 breakfasts - Hell Yes). I made it into Sydney and since I brought a tent I had to go through manual customs inspection since they suspected dirt on my tent stakes. Luckily I didn't have any since I had lost the originals at last year's Bonnaroo.

Outside the airport I try to find the KST shuttle to take me to the Wake Up Sydney hostel and found it but was scared when the driver and money collector started yelling quite a bit too much I thought. I met this dude Francis from Switzerland walking over to the van and we walked past and by the time we got back the whole thing was full so we had to sit in front with a bit of a shady driver. Gold chains, leather jacket type. Anyway he dropped me at the hostel and it was A$34 a night and the place where Francis was only a couple blocks away and $10 less. Needless to say I went there and I walk into my four person room to find it a complete mess. I throw my pack up there and head out to Bondi with me new mate. We maneuver the train and bus system of Sydney and leave a clouded downtown to find a bright sunny Bondi. This place is spectacular although slightly smaller than expected. We walk around to find a bite to eat, have a Victoria Bitter, and toast to our travels in Australia. There are about one hundred surfers in the water and I think that this might not be the place to show off my skills. I decide to stay and read awhile while Francis catches a ride back since he is leaving at 8 tonight for Byron Bay. He has been in Vancouver learning English for only 6 months and it is very good. He understood everything I said and shared in some of my humor that rarely amuses anyone. Needless to say they were pitty laughs.

I make it back downtown as lost as ever but finally find the Nomad hostel. I go upstairs to find my room open but some Brits playing pool right outside the door. I ask if they are my roomies and they respond by asking how much I drink. Not if, but how much. Should be a fun night.

BTW - They have like 3 Jackson 5 songs on repeat in here and I am about to go insane and they drive on the left. This is the worst because it means they walk on the left and ride the escalator on the left. Down with the British Empire.