"All By Myself"

After a 24 hour flight, not including the 12 hour delay due to a missed connection from Manchester to Heathrow resulting me staying at a hotel overnight, i finally arrived into Sydney on Wednesday 11th November at 8.30pm.

So this is it, I've actually do it-still cant believe it-everything seems surreal. I get a cab to the hostel, before you say it i had to cos i had 2 suitcases & a handbag...not the lightest of travelers! Anyway the taxi pulls up on a busy road i see lots of people roaming the street and in front of me was my home for the next four days. My first impression of the hostel was that it reminded me of the TV series Heartbreak High, like the youth club they used to show. It was quite a buzzing atmosphere,and i eventually got to my room, though i got a lot of stares on the way with 2 suitcases!

I was sharing with three other girls none of them where in so i settled in and called it a day.

Thursday morning was bright & noisy, got woken up by the building work outside. However I was eager to explore the city so had a early start.

I roamed aimlessly on the streets just taking in the hustle & bustle of this new city and then for the 1st time in my life my face brightened as i saw a yellow & red sign...guess what?? Yep McDonald's or should I say "Maccas" as Aussies call it!! Never before have a appreciated this place as i did today (and i'm sure plenty of you can vouch for that)...went straight in for some brekkie!

Fully fueled i headed towards the harbour. I finally saw it, the infamous Sydney Opera House and just a little further was the Harbour bridge. After wondering for a few hours I went back to the hostel for an afternoon nap-i was really jet lagged (11hours difference!). Later just chilled in the evening.

Friday the dreadful morning! I coughed all night,woke up with a headache, sore throat, fluish symptoms, & overall was feeling terrible! As i was so run down i decided to leave the hostel early and went to stay at my jija's friend's place.

Warwick Farm is a suburb which is approx an hour from the city, and I was based there for the next few weeks. Nileshbhai & Zakhanaben made me feel very welcome and took good care of me, so i recovered in a couple of days.

Being ill really knocked me back as that's when you most need your mum/family & for the first time in my life i had none of them there. Guess that's when it hit me as to how far away i have come from home!:( But then i knew they were only a phone call away so it was great speaking to my sisters as they always say the right things and make me feel better, love you.

On Sunday I saw a classic episode of "Neighbours". A new family moved into the apartment block next to us on the 1st floor. Now the challenge was to get the American style Fridge-freezer into their apartment, which wouldn't even fit through the main doors. So with the help of 6 guys & 4 ladies we roped the fridge and pulled it from the balcony! It was a great scene to see and it was a perfect example of "love thy neighbour"!

Now the plan was to find a job so the hunting starts. Two weeks of applications but i heard nothing it seems like the rest of the travelers beat me to it...hardly any temp jobs! These 2wks were the hardest for me as i felt like a bummer not doing anything-no routine, thus started to get really homesick...no family no friends! :(

Then Dillan got in touch with me (my brother's mate) who is also doing the same thing as me but was in Perth at his Mama's place. His cousin was getting married on 6th Dec & told me to come along so i did.