I spent the 6th getting stuff done and doing a little more planning for the rest of the trip. I met up with Rita for dinner, someone I'd met at church while in Wellington, New Zealand about a month before.
I would have continued north on the 5th or 6th but with my birthday being on the 7th and Sydney being the place where i knew the most people over this entire 3.5 month trip, I decided to stay and celebrate there.
On the 7th Sonia picked me up and we drove to Sydney. I wasn't sure where she was taking me. It was a surprise. Turns out she took me to lunch in the Sydney Tower which overlooked the city. The view from this revolving restaurant was amazing.
She drove me back to the house. We couldn’t reach the owner of the house, so she said I could come with her to run errands, but I said that since the owner was likely coming home shortly I could wait. Plus, I had a bunch I wanted to get done, so should be there when she arrived. It was around 3:45 PM that she dropped me off. She thought the owner, her family friend, got off at 4:00 PM. We’d sent texts to her but didn’t get a response. After an hour it started to get cold as the sun was going down. I did some squats and push-ups as I’d just been sitting on the front porch the whole time and at one point even going to stand in the waning sun. It was warm but then there was wind there. Around 5 she sent me a message saying she’d be home around 6:30. I replied back asking if she’d be the first one home. No response till about 6:00 PM. She said she was still waiting to see the doctor. So maybe she did get off at 4:00 but had an appointment this time. Just my luck. Sonia felt bad that I was waiting and said she’d head straight there to meet me. At this point, with my phone battery dying and not being able to do anything on the phone in hopes of saving the battery for more important things, and with it being cold, I figured her coming by would be good.
The owner asked if Sonia was there yet and said to have her call her when she got there, but then asked if I was at the house. When I said I was, she directed me to where a spare key was. When I originally mentioned to Sonia that she may have a spare around, she said probably not. So now that the owner was directing me to a spare, I wished I’d had this info hours ago, but was glad I was getting it, especially as we were approaching the time we needed to get ready to head to dinner. We’d told everyone to meet us for dinner in Newtown at Mad Pizza e Bar at 7:00 PM. Sonia said we’d need to leave at 6:30 to make it in time. I still needed to change and wanted to take a quick shower.
With my phone somewhere under 10% battery I looked with the phone flashlight for the key in the dark garage where she said it would be. She wasn’t a fast texter so as I waited for info from her I wondered if the phone would drop before I got the necessary info. I looked where she said, but it wasn’t there. She said to check around that area, but I checked the whole area three times finding nothing. Around 6:25 she said she was on her way. I started to reply to her when the phone cut out. I figured Sonia would be along shortly anyway. Sonia showed up around 6:50, and the owner about 7:00 PM. While we waited for the owner I plugged in the phone to Sonia’s car and as soon as I got enough power for it to turn on I sent Rita an email letting her know of the delay. She’d just arrived at the restaurant. I hadn't even gotten in to the house yet, let alone showered or changed. Late to my own party. Very late.
The owner arrived and let us into the house. She thought someone had the key but hadn’t returned it. By the end of it I had been outside for about 3 hours : \ I rushed in to my room around 7:10, took my shower, changed, and we headed out. On the way I told Rita to go ahead and order without us so that people didn’t have to wait. We arrived around 8! Rita and her sons came, as well as several of Sonia's cousins, her brother and sister-in-law, Jason who is the son of the people I’m staying with and Sonia. I felt bad showing up so late, especially as Rita had kids that needed to get back home, and others had work in the morning. But it was fun having everyone there to celebrate with. The food was good, and Sonia had brought a Tres Leches cake that the restaurant brought out to me. The group sang and did the 3 “hip hip hooray’s”. Great evening.
I would have continued north on the 5th or 6th but with my birthday being on the 7th and Sydney being the place where i knew the most people over this entire 3.5 month trip, I decided to stay and celebrate there.
On the 7th Sonia picked me up and we drove to Sydney. I wasn't sure where she was taking me. It was a surprise. Turns out she took me to lunch in the Sydney Tower which overlooked the city. The view from this revolving restaurant was amazing.
She drove me back to the house. We couldn’t reach the owner of the house, so she said I could come with her to run errands, but I said that since the owner was likely coming home shortly I could wait. Plus, I had a bunch I wanted to get done, so should be there when she arrived. It was around 3:45 PM that she dropped me off. She thought the owner, her family friend, got off at 4:00 PM. We’d sent texts to her but didn’t get a response. After an hour it started to get cold as the sun was going down. I did some squats and push-ups as I’d just been sitting on the front porch the whole time and at one point even going to stand in the waning sun. It was warm but then there was wind there. Around 5 she sent me a message saying she’d be home around 6:30. I replied back asking if she’d be the first one home. No response till about 6:00 PM. She said she was still waiting to see the doctor. So maybe she did get off at 4:00 but had an appointment this time. Just my luck. Sonia felt bad that I was waiting and said she’d head straight there to meet me. At this point, with my phone battery dying and not being able to do anything on the phone in hopes of saving the battery for more important things, and with it being cold, I figured her coming by would be good.
The owner asked if Sonia was there yet and said to have her call her when she got there, but then asked if I was at the house. When I said I was, she directed me to where a spare key was. When I originally mentioned to Sonia that she may have a spare around, she said probably not. So now that the owner was directing me to a spare, I wished I’d had this info hours ago, but was glad I was getting it, especially as we were approaching the time we needed to get ready to head to dinner. We’d told everyone to meet us for dinner in Newtown at Mad Pizza e Bar at 7:00 PM. Sonia said we’d need to leave at 6:30 to make it in time. I still needed to change and wanted to take a quick shower.
With my phone somewhere under 10% battery I looked with the phone flashlight for the key in the dark garage where she said it would be. She wasn’t a fast texter so as I waited for info from her I wondered if the phone would drop before I got the necessary info. I looked where she said, but it wasn’t there. She said to check around that area, but I checked the whole area three times finding nothing. Around 6:25 she said she was on her way. I started to reply to her when the phone cut out. I figured Sonia would be along shortly anyway. Sonia showed up around 6:50, and the owner about 7:00 PM. While we waited for the owner I plugged in the phone to Sonia’s car and as soon as I got enough power for it to turn on I sent Rita an email letting her know of the delay. She’d just arrived at the restaurant. I hadn't even gotten in to the house yet, let alone showered or changed. Late to my own party. Very late.
The owner arrived and let us into the house. She thought someone had the key but hadn’t returned it. By the end of it I had been outside for about 3 hours : \ I rushed in to my room around 7:10, took my shower, changed, and we headed out. On the way I told Rita to go ahead and order without us so that people didn’t have to wait. We arrived around 8! Rita and her sons came, as well as several of Sonia's cousins, her brother and sister-in-law, Jason who is the son of the people I’m staying with and Sonia. I felt bad showing up so late, especially as Rita had kids that needed to get back home, and others had work in the morning. But it was fun having everyone there to celebrate with. The food was good, and Sonia had brought a Tres Leches cake that the restaurant brought out to me. The group sang and did the 3 “hip hip hooray’s”. Great evening.