A Solo Travellers Mind

Getting a call from Laura to tell me she was either going to miss her connecting flight or have to leave her bag in Kaula Lumpur is exactly how I imagined our grand adventure to start. If your not familiar with how our last holiday went I’ll fill you in quickly. Our last night in Lisbon, we go out on the piss, walking home from the club, Laura’s phone is nicked, her new iPhone, which she had owned for a total of 10 days was stolen. We spent the rest of the night at the police station. I expect nothing less. And now all we could do was hope that somehow her bag (with some of my stuff and all of her stuff) would rock up.
Our first day in Melbourne involved wandering the streets of Fitzroy, a very cool and quirky place with more edgy shops than you’d care to see. A spot of shopping, treating myself at last to some cargo pants. And witnessing some very cool street art.
Our second day involved the walking tours of the arcades of Melbourne, with centreway arcade being the spot to grab coffee and watch the world go by, seeing a combination of free spirited students and those that have given their soul to the corporate world. Walking the streets and seeing the street art on show around the city, with a final stop off at the night markets, giving me throwback memories of being in Asia again.
Our third day involved being ambushed by a man in a thermal top and cowboy boots, potentially the strangest traveller I’ve met so far, and not in a good way. Witnessing the colourful huts along Brighton beach, testing pea milk in the local supermarket. Finishing our day with facemasks and tea with our roommate.
The charity shops were a target of ours, purchasing some new items to add to my ever growing rucksack, and having to sacrifice the items that simply will not fit. And finishing the night with Laura’s friend at a “techno” event, an interesting vibe, both due to the music and the locals in their natural habitat.
Saturday was a very chill day, with Laura heading out in the evening to meet her pal, I opted for an early night (old age well and truly kicking in). Our Sunday was spent in a hire car, on an adventure to Mornington Peninsula, hiking up to Arthur’s Seat Lookout and the surrounding area, before heading home for a very make shift dinner of tuna, rice and zucchini…
Our final day was spent on the beach, before heading out for our last supper with friends, an Italian with pasta portion sizes to fill our bellies long enough to survive the 12hr bus journey from Melbourne to Sydney. Leaving behind Lauras rucksack, that still was yet to show up!

Our bus to Sydney was a 13 hour overnight journey, which made for incredibly poor sleep, however with the weather looking good on our arrival we seized the day with a 10km walk from Spit Bridge to Manly, one of my favourite walks in Sydney. From here, the typical tourist attractions were on the hitlist, the Opera House, and sunset by the sea. Laura headed to Sydney Airport to collect her bag at last, which had finally arrived from Kuala Lumpur (8 days after her arrival). Of course, it arrived the say we left Melbourne. However, luckily for us, they fast tracked it across to Sydney! An incredibly early night was had, with me working a night shift the next day. I seriously needed to catch up on some kip. Our second day in Sydney involved a tour around the Jewish Meusum before I headed to work, to endure 13 hours of hell… working on without a doubt the worst ward I’d been on since my time in Australia began. However, sometimes you have to grin and bear this in life. Our 3rd day in Sydney involved a lot of admin, with me running off no sleep, it was a difficult task, and moving hostels absolutely wiped me out and meant I was in bed, tucked up and passed out by 9pm (I’m seriously an old woman now). Our final day in Sydney started at sunrise, with some pilates on the beach before I headed in for an early morning dip. A surprisingly nice experience as the water was actually warmer than outside. The day continued with the Bondi to Coogee walk and a picnic on the beach. I also got myself a new book from the hostel bookshelf and got my head stuck into the diary of an Israeli diplomat, while Laura took a snooze in the sun. The evening was then spent out for drinks with some friends. Once again, showing my elderly instincts, I was tucked up by 11pm, ready for our early rise the following day to head to the Blue Mountains.