a nice 'lil day trip to sydney...or so we thought! dun DUN dUN!

i've been having a great time this week exploring wollongong and moving in. but it's the weekend and my friends, dan and sarah, and i decided to take a day trip to sydney. we hop of the train and take a nice little ride to sydney. we got there about 2:30 pm and explored downtown. it is huge and has a very fun, busy, big city feel! (FYI i hear sydney has 4 million people)

we made our way to the harbor and i caught my first glimpse of the sydney opera house. i had just been thinking how i didn't understand why the opera house was such a big deal. well, let me tell you....everyone has to come here and see it for themselves. it is huge...and as i found out contradictory to my initial beliefs - very impressive and cool! the harbor bridge was awesome as well. we walked across it and watched the opera house at dusk with the colors going from orange to pink to purple to blue...priceless!

we ate great thai food on the harbor. what a view! and then hit a couple of pubs - everything pretty laid back. we saunter back to the train station and everything looks good - we'll catch our train in an half-hour. we hop of the train and i wake up about an hour later watching the stops and seeing if we're getting close. well, another hour goes by and then another one...soon we've been on the train for three hours and nothing looks familiar! at the last stop (where the train is done with that track and turns around to go back) we hop off to find we're in lithgow. we are the only ones on the train and we talk to the "conductor". he bursts out laughing as he points out we have traveled 109 km west instead of south and are in the blue mountains!!! aahh!!! (everyone who knows me...totally a typical emily thing to do, eh?) anywho, i had given the disclaimer about maps and directions and me not mixing before i headed out with these people, but they seemed to know what they were doing...

so we get back on the train and start heading back when we're like...well, we're here anyways, lets just hang out at the blue mountains for the day! so we get off at katoomba and it is freezing and 4:00 in the morning. i'm wearing a jacket and flip flops with socks 'cause sarah had brought extra socks. (thank goodness!)

so we start wandering around katoomba...nothing is open and we are cold. we keep telling ourselves it will be so cool to see the sunrise at the blue mountains as we brace ourselves against the icy wind. soon we see a bread shop that smells incredible and the door is cracked open. we slip in to find they open at 7:00 am. so we keep walking when we discover we really, really, really want bread. it was only $1.20 for a loaf so dan sneaks in, grabs a loaf, and puts $1.20 on the counter. we tear off as we hear sirens in the background...so deviant we are (we're thinking to ourselves) when we are really not.

then i see an answered prayer - a public restroom in the middle of town. (stop laughing everyone who knows about me and my continous need for bathrooms - ok, everyone who doesn't know that little emily fact, don't be concerned or terrified, i just drink a lot of water. i'll let you do the math. ;) anywho, they have warm water and a hand dryer...it was heaven! so the three of us are hanging out in a little bathroom (hey, it's shelter), eating a "stolen" loaf of bread, and couldn't be happier at that moment...except for the nagging feeling that we are officially homeless for the time being. all the hotels are closed, etc. i defintely have a new....respect for the homeless.

so we walk around a 'lil more and then decide it was a nice try, but the cold train is sounding very inviting right now and if we catch the next one at 5:30 am we'll be home in are warm beds by 9:00 am. how's that for comforting? ;)

so we catch the train back to sydney, double and triple check the train we need to wolly, and then crash on the train. everything went pretty smoothly after that. got home in time for breakfast, showered, and then slept the early afternoon away.

ahh...live and learn. i sure do love public transportation. i'll get used to it. and now i can say i've been to katoomba and have a good story for maybe 2-3 days...nahh...i'll milk it for the whole semester. ;)

sorry this is so long, but it is quite the story! toodaloo!