Australia & New Zealand trip

Well, we leave Sydney and head to Cairns tomorrow and I'm hoping that it will be a smooth trip.

As we have found, it's not all rainbows and butterflies.

Here's a good example, just from today.

We wandered around our local area as we were trying to find some stamps for Brenda to put on postcards. Got those no problem, but also noticed that there was a sign selling tickets for an airport shuttle for $14 each ticket. Pretty good price, and hey, we're going to the airport tomorrow, so we inquired. They are an easy enough ticket to get, then you just call the number and they will let you know where you can be picked up, or you give them your address and they will come get you (if it's not too far from one of their stops).

Super, let's get that!

So, we did. After getting back to our house, we decide to call and get that set up. The number is local, so that's good. Except . . . we don't really have a phone. So, that's not so good.

After trying a few things, I opted to go out and see if I could get some help from the guy that sold the tickets. He's at what might as well be a 7-11 type store.

The guy didn't speak a lot of English, or even Aussie for that matter. He said the bus comes every 30 minutes, so you don't need to call.

Fine . . . I'll hang out for 30 minutes and just make sure the bus goes by.

30 minutes passes, and nothing.

OK, maybe I check with the other nice people around. I know, the information booth on the corner.

I talk with her and she doesn't speak very much English either, and . . . she has no idea how to help me.

No worries, there is the "Happy Travel" place, so I'll go there, get some answers and be happy.

Well . . . the guy there does speak Aussie and still had no idea what I was talking about. Mind you, I'm showing him the ticket that says "Sydney Shuttle" and explaining that all I want to know, is that the pickup spot is across the street and that they do indeed stop by every 30 minutes or so.

This futility goes on for a while and I finally arrive at an executive decision. We're just going to go with Uber. Neither one of us needs this kind of stress while on vacation, so there!

Here's some other interesting hiccups we have had.

Our ferry yesterday was delayed by about 15 minutes because one of the tour busses broke down and they had to wait for them to arrive before they could leave.

That same ferry has two stops that it makes. It had to go to the second stop (not ours) first because a cruise ship was in the process of leaving. So our ride got extended by another 15 minutes or so.

When we did arrive at our area, the cruise ship was pulling away, just in time to 100% block the view of the Sydney Opera house. Felt really bad for a lot of the people that were trying to get pictures. It did mean that we had to wait another 10 minutes or so while all the dock traffic was sorted out.

We had comfy seats and were not in a hurry so we didn't mind the extra time on the boat.

Hopefully everything goes smooth tomorrow for our trip to the tropics. At the moment, the majority of the time we are there it is slated to rain, with thunderstorms happening ALL DAY / ALL EVENING tomorrow. Yikes!!

The only day that it really looks good is Monday, so of course that will be the day we get wet anyway by going snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef.

Regardless, this has been an amazing trip and I am trying to enjoy every moment as I know it's all so fleeting.

~ DaveLeia mais