Tuesday, April 27, 2004
The journey can be summed up in one phrase - waiting for trains to arrive. Sleeping barely 2 hours the night before, i woke up later than i was supposed to. What the hell, CY woke up even later. Our grand plan of reaching central station by 630am was lost in our dreams. We spent the night before searching for the place to go, what to do and how not to get lost.
Let me start from the beginning. Depression knocked on my door last week as all my assignments were due and life was not as exciting as i thought it should be. It is the depression without reason, thinking without thoughts, crying without tears kind of depression. It sucks like an Osim mermaid vacuum cleaner - real well. As the weekend approached, i had a sudden urge to run away. It was like old times. The need for me to find the real me. Is there such a thing? Why do i keep searching for the answer to this question without getting it? i messaged CY and good o' her understood the meaning of "a friend in need is a friend indeed" and agreed to my impromptu weekend backpacking. On friday night, we searched the net on where to go and what to do and how to go about doing it. In the end, all we came up with was "Go to Newcastle by coach, find the i centre and decide from there".
We were late for the coach. i pressed my snooze button 2x. CY didn't pressed hers, she simply switched it off. Oh yea, we were off to a fantastic start. Upon reaching central station, i told her we should check out the trains and voila! it took the same time, was 1/3 the price and left frequently. It was 7.15am when we bought the tickets and the next train left at 7.21am. We bought 2 veggie rolls, went to the toilet and went though the gates and guess what? (1) The bloody train was gone and it was 7.22am. i asked the train master where the train was and he said it was gone and that the next one came in an hours' time. i bet he was laughing at us. We sat on the bench, ate our veggie roll and felt stupidly excited.
The journey took close to 3 hours. It was pleasant. It is hard for me to say that travelling on a moving vehicle is pleasant so if i say it is pleasant, it is pleasant. Newcastle adopted its name from a city in England. The sight was beautiful when we got off the train. It is not the breath-taking kind of beauty but the i-see-something-different kind of beauty. The city centre is separated from a suburb called Stockton by a river. From the city, you can see sunshine reflected on the glistering river and the island across the river seems to float on the water, in an isolated peaceful way.
The first thing we did was to find the i centre. Yes we were following our plan. We did and we spent sometime deciding on what to do not because there were too many activities to choose from but because there weren't much to choose from. The downfall of impromptu weekend backpacking - fully booked activites. We wanted to ride the quad bike and explore the sand dunes but the only timing they had left was 7am which was close to impossible to get to cause we didn't have transport. We wanted to handglide but the person said that they had to make sure the weather was ok and told us to call them back on sunday. Hell, didn't they think of us weekend backpackers and the trials we have to go through? We left the place not knowing what to do and in search of accomodation.
The streets of Newcastle city centre are empty on a saturday afternoon. Who can believe it? Ghost town we were mumbling to ourselves. Peaceful town we comforted ourselves. We walked the entire Hunter street (main street) with a map on our hands in search of backpackers' inn or people, i can't remember. We found one we liked which cost 22 bucks per night per person. They gave us new bedsheets and pillow cases. i liked that. We put down our bags and headed out in good will.
We had pies from Harry de wheels under a tree, on the grass and facing the glistering river cum floating island view. It was lovely. We chatted with the winds blowing and yummilicious pies filling our stomachs. It's the kind of feeling you get when it is raining and you are warmly tucked underneath your blanket enjoying the pitterpattering of raindrops and a sense of contentment fills your heart. Cosy. i love her company.
We took a ferry across the river and reached Stockton. It looks like the town in Pleasantville. Exactly like it. The houses were neatly arranged and each had their own uniqueness to it. The place was peaceful. Hardly anyone around but people existed and did their own things. Some fished, some chatted, some were just there. CY and i just walked and walked and walked. We went to the beach which is actually a formation of a spit and how can i even start to describe the feeling of it. There were lots of seashells on the shore and they made clinkiering musical sounds as the waves swashed and backwashed. It was beauty to the sight and music to the ears. We slow walked on the sand and enjoyed every moment of it. How often can you find such natural phenomenon?
The sky turned dark and we headed back to the city centre. We had dinner at 6pm and didnt know what to do so we just walked and walked and walked. i probably know Newcastle's city centre better than Sydney's. We headed back to the BP inn and asked the guy what activities could be done now (7pm). He said that we could catch a show or wait till night comes and the city awakes. Bullshit! i thought to myself. So we walked and walked and walked and came to the cinema and sat in the cafe next to it and waited till the show started. We watched Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. Trust me, watch the show. It blew my mind away, it did.
It was 12am. When we came out of the cinema, our minds were blown away again. The city DID come alive. People were on the streets, buses had people, the trains were full, shops opened and cars were zooming by. We were just dumbstuck. Cultural shock. The city lives at night and sleeps in the day. We went back to the BP inn but felt damn LLL and came out again for god knows what reason but we had to. In the end, we walked to 7-11, felt shocked all the way and headed back to the inn and felt shocked all the way.
Sunday morning. CY spent half an hour in the bathroom bathing. Yea i know, she has long hair ladidah... It was Anzac Day (National Day of Australia) and celebrations were going on in the city centre. It wasn't grand, just lots of people following behind a group of people playing instruments aka band. We had breaky and decided to go to The Wetland @ Sandgate by train. From the booklet, The Wetland is like a nature reserve where you get to see trees , ducks and birds. Interesting.
We got on the train and CY took a nap. After 3 stops, i saw the sign Sandgate and frantically tapped on CY's shoulder and told her we have reached. (2) She, as usual, very blur, took 10000 years to go to the cabin door and by the time we reached the main door, the train has left. Yes, i was mad. Mad. MAD. This is not like Spore's MRT. This is railway train, those that run on real tracks, those that travel damn long distance before reaching the next stop, those that leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere. A guy (i suspect he is abit low on IQ, from the way he speaks. i m serious, not being condescending) came and told me i could walk from the next station to Sandgate station in 15 minutes. Yah right! Anyway, we got off at the next station and as expected, the next train back comes in an hours' time. Call me impulsive or crazy, i told CY that since we have to wait at least an hour, we might as well walk back. i m sure it takes less than that.
And so we did. You cannot imagine where we were. The surrounding was just the tracks, barren land, a bridge and the highway linked via the bridge. We crossed the bridge and started our journey. Armed with my travel backpack, CY with her small backpack and with lots of spirit, we walked on the small pavement beside the highway. CY did an amazing thing. She tried to hitch us a ride. Oh man was i shocked. i had such a good time laughing at us and our antics. Cars horned, people whistled but no one stopped. Bloody hell. Wasn't 2 ladies enough to make their engines stall? What do they want? Striptease? The distance on the map was deceiving. We walked for 40 minutes and we were not even half way through. The good thing was, there was a river beside us and people were there fishing so we did not seem so isolated and lost although i m sure we did look incredulous. We took pictures of us by the river, by the highway and basically we had a happy sad time! It was just this great adventure which would not have been possible if not for my dear friend. I felt like an adventurer as last! After 55 minutes of getting my feet all dirty coz of the road and what shit, we stopped at a shelter and wondered who would come and save us. Alas, a fat lady stopped right in front of us and drove us all the way to The Wetland. Talk about saviour!
We then proceeded to canoe, yes we still had the strength, on a stream surrounded by shrubs and trees. It was scary for me. I kept thinking about the show Anaconda all the time and wondered if anything lied beneath the murky waters. There weren't any guides or anything. They just chuck us with life vests, canoe and 2 sticks and told us to follow the map. Seriously, what is we fell into the water and couldnt get back up? What if we got eaten? What if we didn't even know how to use the bloody stick? Pushing back the negative thoughts, the canoe trip was quite ok. It was relaxing (not really actually) and pushed my courage meter another mile. Come on give it to me!
It was time to go back. Train again! We had to change trains at Hamilton. Guess what. (3) When we reached Hamilton, the train to Sydney was already there and by the time we figured out where to buy the tickets, the train was gone. YES fking hell 3 times! 3 times! We missed the trains 3 times in our 2 day trip. That is how lucky i can't imagine. We had dinner at Hamilton and took the 910pm train back to Sydney.
This is my wonderful trip up north. i m an adventurer yes i m. No one can deny me. If you have attempted to hitch a ride without much success, you are an adventurer :) Thanx CY for the great adventure you gave me. Without you, it wouldn't have been the same. Hahahahahha...... she is laughing her head off now i can hear.
Let me start from the beginning. Depression knocked on my door last week as all my assignments were due and life was not as exciting as i thought it should be. It is the depression without reason, thinking without thoughts, crying without tears kind of depression. It sucks like an Osim mermaid vacuum cleaner - real well. As the weekend approached, i had a sudden urge to run away. It was like old times. The need for me to find the real me. Is there such a thing? Why do i keep searching for the answer to this question without getting it? i messaged CY and good o' her understood the meaning of "a friend in need is a friend indeed" and agreed to my impromptu weekend backpacking. On friday night, we searched the net on where to go and what to do and how to go about doing it. In the end, all we came up with was "Go to Newcastle by coach, find the i centre and decide from there".
We were late for the coach. i pressed my snooze button 2x. CY didn't pressed hers, she simply switched it off. Oh yea, we were off to a fantastic start. Upon reaching central station, i told her we should check out the trains and voila! it took the same time, was 1/3 the price and left frequently. It was 7.15am when we bought the tickets and the next train left at 7.21am. We bought 2 veggie rolls, went to the toilet and went though the gates and guess what? (1) The bloody train was gone and it was 7.22am. i asked the train master where the train was and he said it was gone and that the next one came in an hours' time. i bet he was laughing at us. We sat on the bench, ate our veggie roll and felt stupidly excited.
The journey took close to 3 hours. It was pleasant. It is hard for me to say that travelling on a moving vehicle is pleasant so if i say it is pleasant, it is pleasant. Newcastle adopted its name from a city in England. The sight was beautiful when we got off the train. It is not the breath-taking kind of beauty but the i-see-something-different kind of beauty. The city centre is separated from a suburb called Stockton by a river. From the city, you can see sunshine reflected on the glistering river and the island across the river seems to float on the water, in an isolated peaceful way.
The first thing we did was to find the i centre. Yes we were following our plan. We did and we spent sometime deciding on what to do not because there were too many activities to choose from but because there weren't much to choose from. The downfall of impromptu weekend backpacking - fully booked activites. We wanted to ride the quad bike and explore the sand dunes but the only timing they had left was 7am which was close to impossible to get to cause we didn't have transport. We wanted to handglide but the person said that they had to make sure the weather was ok and told us to call them back on sunday. Hell, didn't they think of us weekend backpackers and the trials we have to go through? We left the place not knowing what to do and in search of accomodation.
The streets of Newcastle city centre are empty on a saturday afternoon. Who can believe it? Ghost town we were mumbling to ourselves. Peaceful town we comforted ourselves. We walked the entire Hunter street (main street) with a map on our hands in search of backpackers' inn or people, i can't remember. We found one we liked which cost 22 bucks per night per person. They gave us new bedsheets and pillow cases. i liked that. We put down our bags and headed out in good will.
We had pies from Harry de wheels under a tree, on the grass and facing the glistering river cum floating island view. It was lovely. We chatted with the winds blowing and yummilicious pies filling our stomachs. It's the kind of feeling you get when it is raining and you are warmly tucked underneath your blanket enjoying the pitterpattering of raindrops and a sense of contentment fills your heart. Cosy. i love her company.
We took a ferry across the river and reached Stockton. It looks like the town in Pleasantville. Exactly like it. The houses were neatly arranged and each had their own uniqueness to it. The place was peaceful. Hardly anyone around but people existed and did their own things. Some fished, some chatted, some were just there. CY and i just walked and walked and walked. We went to the beach which is actually a formation of a spit and how can i even start to describe the feeling of it. There were lots of seashells on the shore and they made clinkiering musical sounds as the waves swashed and backwashed. It was beauty to the sight and music to the ears. We slow walked on the sand and enjoyed every moment of it. How often can you find such natural phenomenon?
The sky turned dark and we headed back to the city centre. We had dinner at 6pm and didnt know what to do so we just walked and walked and walked. i probably know Newcastle's city centre better than Sydney's. We headed back to the BP inn and asked the guy what activities could be done now (7pm). He said that we could catch a show or wait till night comes and the city awakes. Bullshit! i thought to myself. So we walked and walked and walked and came to the cinema and sat in the cafe next to it and waited till the show started. We watched Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. Trust me, watch the show. It blew my mind away, it did.
It was 12am. When we came out of the cinema, our minds were blown away again. The city DID come alive. People were on the streets, buses had people, the trains were full, shops opened and cars were zooming by. We were just dumbstuck. Cultural shock. The city lives at night and sleeps in the day. We went back to the BP inn but felt damn LLL and came out again for god knows what reason but we had to. In the end, we walked to 7-11, felt shocked all the way and headed back to the inn and felt shocked all the way.
Sunday morning. CY spent half an hour in the bathroom bathing. Yea i know, she has long hair ladidah... It was Anzac Day (National Day of Australia) and celebrations were going on in the city centre. It wasn't grand, just lots of people following behind a group of people playing instruments aka band. We had breaky and decided to go to The Wetland @ Sandgate by train. From the booklet, The Wetland is like a nature reserve where you get to see trees , ducks and birds. Interesting.
We got on the train and CY took a nap. After 3 stops, i saw the sign Sandgate and frantically tapped on CY's shoulder and told her we have reached. (2) She, as usual, very blur, took 10000 years to go to the cabin door and by the time we reached the main door, the train has left. Yes, i was mad. Mad. MAD. This is not like Spore's MRT. This is railway train, those that run on real tracks, those that travel damn long distance before reaching the next stop, those that leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere. A guy (i suspect he is abit low on IQ, from the way he speaks. i m serious, not being condescending) came and told me i could walk from the next station to Sandgate station in 15 minutes. Yah right! Anyway, we got off at the next station and as expected, the next train back comes in an hours' time. Call me impulsive or crazy, i told CY that since we have to wait at least an hour, we might as well walk back. i m sure it takes less than that.
And so we did. You cannot imagine where we were. The surrounding was just the tracks, barren land, a bridge and the highway linked via the bridge. We crossed the bridge and started our journey. Armed with my travel backpack, CY with her small backpack and with lots of spirit, we walked on the small pavement beside the highway. CY did an amazing thing. She tried to hitch us a ride. Oh man was i shocked. i had such a good time laughing at us and our antics. Cars horned, people whistled but no one stopped. Bloody hell. Wasn't 2 ladies enough to make their engines stall? What do they want? Striptease? The distance on the map was deceiving. We walked for 40 minutes and we were not even half way through. The good thing was, there was a river beside us and people were there fishing so we did not seem so isolated and lost although i m sure we did look incredulous. We took pictures of us by the river, by the highway and basically we had a happy sad time! It was just this great adventure which would not have been possible if not for my dear friend. I felt like an adventurer as last! After 55 minutes of getting my feet all dirty coz of the road and what shit, we stopped at a shelter and wondered who would come and save us. Alas, a fat lady stopped right in front of us and drove us all the way to The Wetland. Talk about saviour!
We then proceeded to canoe, yes we still had the strength, on a stream surrounded by shrubs and trees. It was scary for me. I kept thinking about the show Anaconda all the time and wondered if anything lied beneath the murky waters. There weren't any guides or anything. They just chuck us with life vests, canoe and 2 sticks and told us to follow the map. Seriously, what is we fell into the water and couldnt get back up? What if we got eaten? What if we didn't even know how to use the bloody stick? Pushing back the negative thoughts, the canoe trip was quite ok. It was relaxing (not really actually) and pushed my courage meter another mile. Come on give it to me!
It was time to go back. Train again! We had to change trains at Hamilton. Guess what. (3) When we reached Hamilton, the train to Sydney was already there and by the time we figured out where to buy the tickets, the train was gone. YES fking hell 3 times! 3 times! We missed the trains 3 times in our 2 day trip. That is how lucky i can't imagine. We had dinner at Hamilton and took the 910pm train back to Sydney.
This is my wonderful trip up north. i m an adventurer yes i m. No one can deny me. If you have attempted to hitch a ride without much success, you are an adventurer :) Thanx CY for the great adventure you gave me. Without you, it wouldn't have been the same. Hahahahahha...... she is laughing her head off now i can hear.
