this year.

Less then 24 hours after departing Pearson International Airport in Toronto we touched down in Sydney Australia. On a calendar the trip took the better part of two days thanks to our friend the International Date Line, which is of no consequence to my body that knew only one thing — it’s a long trip. 13.5h on a plane is actually quite manageable when you fly with the wonderful people of Qantas airlines. The service was excellent, the meal choices fantastic and the chairs comfortable. Sadly, like many others on this flight, my in-seat entertainment system refused to play any of the many movie and TV show choices and I was left to find a away to fill 13h of my life. Luckily after some snooping through the entertainment systems menus I discovered they had a collection of audiobooks that did play for me after a few attempts with the play button. This was essentially a more ideal solution than watching a film as I was able to queue up a book and close my eyes — ready to slip in and out of sleep at my leisure. I think the art of the audio book or radio show is lost in this day and age — it harkens back to a time when one was required to use their imagination to create vivid scenes of entertainment and intrigue.

But I digress.

Upon landing in Sydney we cleared customs without any trouble and were able to locate the chariot that would whisk us to our new home — Wollongong. I should mention that when I refer to ‘we’ I am currently referring to the other 14 or so people on my flight that are also attending teachers college at Wollongong. The weather in Sydney on arrival was some 28 degrees Celsius and clear skies. Our chariot was a lovely air conditioned bus that when loaded with the estimated 1500 pounds of luggage between us had a few troubles making it up any slight grade in the road — which was actually ideal because as we drove south to Wollongong we were treated with some prolonged exciting views. Bob, our driver, was nice enough to pull over to ‘make a phone call’ in a convenient location that provided us our first view of Wollongong from above. It’s a strict penalty in New South Wales if you are caught talking on your mobile while driving. We were dropped at our temporary home of Warrara Residence, which are some of the plainest residents I have ever laid eyes on (Village One, eat your heart out). But alas, it’s a bed to sleep in and a washroom to wash in while we venture out into the city to find places to live and generally explore.

After dropping our bags and refreshing ourselves with warm showers we mozied to find food and the Pacific Ocean — luckily they are in the same general direction. I’m reluctant to share this, but yes, my fist meal in Australia was at a food court in the mall. In my defense it was Sunday and we had already skipped 2 Subway’s in search of a pub. Again in my defense I avoided the ‘fast food’ and enjoyed a crape, garden salad, and fresh juice blend. We were hungry — really, really, hungry.

Once lunch was completed we continued our quest to find the Pacific and were pleased to find it right where we remembered it from maps in school. The beach was comfortably busy and the water was acceptably wavy.

The fact of the matter is we haven’t really seen anything yet. Welcome to Australia.