Arrival and Couchsurfing

I arrived in Sydney around 7am, collected my luggage, went through customs, and found the bus to my hosts house in a suburb called Burwood. The next few days were devoted to familiarizing myself with the country and getting somewhat settled.
For those of you that are not familiar with CSing (couch surfing), it’s an online community of travelers who wish to meet, help, and explore with others. My first hosts in Burwood, Sue and Bill, were incredible and let me stay in their spare room for a week and shared their knowledge and stories of traveling; in return, I provided wine, desserts, my own stories, and other goodies throughout my stay to show my appreciation. In addition to hosting/being hosted, CSing provides forums for people for upcoming events, travel, transportation, local information, advice, etc. So, the second evening in Australia, I went to the CSing monthly event. I met some great people, including locals, Brazilians, Germans, Russians, British, Americans, and so on. A local, Mark, told me he may have an extra ticket to a festival the next day. Having no plans and up for anything, I accepted and ended up going to the biggest electro music fest in the country! I never had a fondness for electro music…but it was definitely a cultural experience to say the least. There were about 20 tents, all with some DJ spinning what sounded to me like the same thing in every one. The day was definitely fun, but I spent most of it being reminded of Jesse and wishing he was there, he would have loved it.

The next few days I attended more CSing events, met more people, and moved from my Burwood hosts to an American host who was living in Manly. I decided to stay in Manly and set out looking for apartments. A CSing trip to Port Stephens popped up and I went. It included a night of bushwalking to a deserted mile long beach where you could see every star in the sky accompanied by a full moon, my introduction to goon (Aussie slang for boxed wine coolers), and good times with eight other CSers. We also went to the sand dunes for sand boarding (which I was terrified of from my fall down the snowy mountain), playing baseball/cricket, camels, body surfing, finding a sharks tooth, playing ultimate Frisbee, hiking, and finding Port Stephens a beautiful spot I will return to.

The trip was so much fun, but as with Future, I wasn’t having as much fun as I thought I would be having. In my three years of planning for this trip to Australia, I planned to not have anyone to miss back home and live a carefree lifestyle, just rolling with the punches (many of my past travels are inhibited when I miss someone back home and just want to go home to be with them again). Jesse changed my plan the day he came down to the Keys for my birthday, I just didn’t realize it yet. As the first two weeks went, I was doing amazing things and trying to enjoy every ounce of it, but I came up short every time. I concluded it was because I was in a relationship. I made the hardest and worst decision, and asked Jesse for a break. It tore him up and inevitably tore me up as well. I was lost, confused, and had even more of a terrible time than before.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2998039&id=2034929&l=8e9887b8e8

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3005929&id=2034929&l=d72f64a462