Today was pretty action-packed! Steve dropped me off at the train station, and I took a long journey north to Sydney. The trip took about an hour and a half, and so I spent the time enjoying the beautiful scenery going by.
The terrain was pretty mountainous, right up to the edge of the ocean. The train tracks run right alongside the ocean, and occasionally there are steep cliffs that drop off into the water from high above. The trees are so green and vibrant, and every once in a while there are small towns squeezed in between the trees with beautiful ocean views.
Once I arrived at the airport, I found out the Mr. Hayashi and the students were delayed, so I followed plan B and went over to the domestic terminal to meet Miss Kageyama when she came in.
Her plane from Brisbane was delayed about 10 minutes, and so I just settled in to wait. Finally the plane arrived, and I greeted her at the gate – it was great to see her! She told me all about her stay in Brisbane as we waited for her suitcase to show up. Once we had collected everything, we went out to a taxicab and got a pretty scary ride to Mr. Hayashi’s hotel. Mr. Hayashi hadn’t checked in yet, but we dropped off Miss Kageyama’s luggage so that she could move around the city a little better.
Since we weren’t due to meet Mr. Hayashi until 5 o’clock, we decided to go explore Darling Harbor, a tourist-centered harbor area to the west of the hotel. It was a very short walk through Chinatown, and then we were walking along the water. The sun was shining brightly, and I got some great pictures of the harbor area. We walked around aimlessly for a while, and then I finally gave in to hunger and had a Caesar salad and a beer at a bar next to the Sydney Aquarium.
After eating, we decided to go into the Aquarium and look around, and we were both very impressed. The layout was nicely done, and the exhibits were pretty comprehensive. We finished up and walked slowly back to the hotel, having killed just about all the time until we were supposed to meet Mr. Hayashi.
As it turned out, he was running late, so we went for coffees, and then we sat around the lobby. The hotel is popular with Japanese tourists, and so I spent much of the time practicing my Japanese listening skills and trying to keep them sharp. Miss Kageyama helped me out when there was something I didn’t catch, and between the two of us we successfully overheard several conversations. Nothing too juicy, though.
Mr. Hayashi finally showed, and so we went across the street to a pub for steaks. Mr. Hayashi had ordered everything, but suddenly disappeared to use the restroom – I don’t think he realized that we had to pay first. I ended up picking up the tab, and afterwards he apologized profusely and said that he’d treat me next time. We had more beers (some good Australian beers that I had never heard of) and talked about our gameplan for the next day.
Miss Kageyama and Mr. Hayashi walked me back to the train station, and then I was on my way back. I finally pulled into Wollongong around 10:15, where Steve was kindly waiting to pick me up. Tomorrow is another full day – and a harbor cruise!
