March this year, I was ready to set off for another adventure. This time, it was to meet up with Tom and Shang in Sydney to spend the weekend together before we embarked on our road trip up to Brisbane.
Pam, the drama queen goes travelling
How could I leave Singapore without starring in
Drama #1
When I arrived at the airport, I used the self-check-in machine to print my boarding pass. The machine ejected the first ticket, I hurriedly took it and walked to the counter to get my backpack checked in for the flight.
I handed over my passport and the ticket to the lady at the counter. She looked at it for 30 seconds and asked for my boarding pass.
"Isn't this my boarding pass?" I replied, pointing to the ticket she was holding in her hand.
She revealed to me it was just a ticket with the flight information, not a boarding pass. Slapping myself on my forehead, I sprinted towards the machine. True enough, my boarding pass was sitting on the holder.
I headed back to the counter to hand the lady my boarding pass. I even asked if anyone else made the same oversight as I do.
Perhaps she could feel my face red with embarrassment that she was sweet enough to assure me I was not the only one who made the rookie mistake.
Drama #2
This time, I blamed my lack and eye and brain coordination.
Passing through immigration custom, I peeped at my boarding pass; my brain registered the boarding gate as C15.
I had my eyes glued on my phone as I made my way towards gate C15. There was a line forming before the security check to the waiting area.
I was still fixing my eyes to my phone as I joined the queue without verifying on the airline and final destination on the screen.
Upon handing over my passport and boarding pass to the lady who ran a pre-security check, she scanned my face with her eyes ensuring that I was the same person as my passport photo before proceeding with the person behind me.
Right before the security check, another woman was checking the passports and boarding passes again. Naturally, I gave it to her as I prepped myself to put my bag through the x-ray machine.
"Mdm, what's your flight number?" She asked.
"QF82" I replied confidently. It must be some standard questions they would randomly ask passengers I reasoned to myself.
"Are you sure? Do you know where is your boarding gate?"
"Not QF82
"Mdm, this is gate C15. Your boarding gate is C13 over there." Pointing to the direction towards the C13 gate as though I am illiterate.
"OH!!!" I exclaimed loudly as my eyes caught sight of the C13 printed on my boarding pass.
A Singaporean lady who queued next to my lane overheard my whole exchange with the airport security and chucked aloud! I swear I almost died of embarrassment! At that instant, I wished the floor could swallow me up!
Before I could go to my correct boarding gate, I had to explain the whole situation to the airport security in-charge as she saw me back off from the queue about my oversight. Then, she signalled the first security check lady who let me passed to come over, letting her know that she had allowed me to slip through their security check.
Perhaps I was unintentionally trying to put our security at the airport to test. Or I was hoping to fly to London instead of Sydney.
Sydney
Shang, Tom and I finally reunited in Sydney! The last time we hung out together was in Cusco, Peru having KFC as our last meal together. This time, I insisted that we NEED to eat KFC again to celebrate the unification. I will make sure
While Shang was at work, Tom and I explored the city centre. I wish we had more time to explore because half a day is not enough. Not that it matters because the primary purpose of meeting up in Sydney was to spend quality time together as we checked off a few things on the list.
We spent a day tasting wine in Hunter Valley and we're eager to get wasted. Fine, maybe it was just me. We also had some flavoured schnapps and
It was so different from my first wine-tasting experience in Perth. I remembered how I would I tip the wines because I was afraid I would get tipsy. Looking back, I was approaching life with such cautious!
Time has changed. So, the question was, was I drunk by the end of the wine-tasting tour? Nope, not really.
We chanced upon the second largest
Blue Mountains
We spent a night at Katoomba where we went hiking in the Blue Mountains. What is a trip without getting into some adventures with the boys? We went for a day hike at the Grand Canyon Track with only a bottle of 500ml water and some melted chocolate bars to share between the three of us. Thankfully, we were hiking with a few other hikers; they generously shared their water and food with us. Not just that, somehow we ended up stranded on the street miles away with no public transport that would bring us back to Katoomba. We hitchhiked twice with the kindred Australians to get back to Katoomba. With that, we could catch our train back to Sydney right on time for dinner! Never a dull moment with these boys for sure!
Road Trip (Sydney to Brisbane)
After bidding goodbye to Shang, Tom and I picked up our camper van and hit the road. I was super stoked about my first camper van experience because it was a new travelling style for me. Also, knowing that I am travelling with someone who had prior experiences made me feel more comfortable that at least one of us know what he is doing. LOL
We were off to a rocky start. Although we had travelled together for a fair bit and we got along most of the time, this, however, was our first self-drive adventure together. We had to adjust, accommodate and adapt to each other's behavioural quirks in the car. Fortunately, we sorted it out quicker than we thought.
GPS was arguably the best investment for the road trip as it was worth every penny. The biggest takeaway from our previous self-drive day trip in Melbourne was that one should always invest in a GPS because we ended up getting so frustrated with each other!
Do not underestimate my role as a
We made our way up north with no concrete plan, stopping at random places along the way. We pulled over at towns with names that caught our eyes such as Toronto, Newcastle, Casino and Miami for the cheap thrills and coffee breaks. For the entire week, the only "important" decisions we needed to make were what's for dinner and whether we can find a decent campsite to stay overnight.
We arrived in Brisbane just right on time to enjoy a meal at my cousin's. I also revisited some places in Brisbane before it was time for me to return home.
Statistics:
Travelling Date: 1 March - 11 March 2019
Where I travelled:
Country: Australia
Cities/Towns: Sydney, Katoomba, Watagan National Park, Kendall, Lawerence, Byron Bay, Austinville and Brisbane
Expenses
Transportation: S$1,250.64
Insurance: S$47.60
Accommodation: S$55.11
Communication: S$19.80
Food: S$355.26
Personal/ Miscellaneous: S$35.21
Tours/ Activities: S$128.93
Transportation took up the main bulk of my expenses because our camper van was our mode of transport
Crashed at Shang's place helped to save a few nights of accommodations. I only paid for one night of hostel and
With that, I made it under S$1,900.
Highlight
We stood outside a French restaurant named The Rooster at the outskirt Katoomba's town centre. We were starring at the menu debating for about 10 to 15 minutes if we should part with AUD50 each to indulge in French cuisine.
There were a pair of mother and daughter diners who saw our hesitant that they gave us their instant food review which helped to inch us closer to the door.
The thing with Shang is that he has the natural charm
I joked that he would foot the bill if we dislike the food.
Lucky for us, the food was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! The seafood was fresh and tasty; it was the best meal I had eaten the entire holiday. We each paired our food with a glass of wine. And damn, we were leading the baller life.
Lowlight
We were camping at a free campsite in a national park on our first night with no cell reception. When the night came rolling in and playing
We kept our doors shut to prevent mosquitos, snakes, spiders or God knows any other wildlife in Australia from getting in.
I woke up in the middle of the night sweating because I felt stuff with little ventilation. Tried my best not to move around too much because I knew any movement means creating more heat in the environment. The thought of meditation flashed across my mind, but my brain was acting like a rebellious child who refused to take any order. I was slowly dying inside - by the seconds.
Through the darkness, my sense of hearing became sharper. I could hear the occasional rustling of leaves and dried leaves on the ground.
Starred into the complete darkness, I saw the occasional stars (when the clouds were not blocking them) through the canopy trees and tried to fall asleep. I stayed on the chair until daybreak and met with a mama and kiddo wallabies who came visiting.
Conclusion
It was one of the most epic adventures of my life. Now, I can finally say that I have checked off going on a road trip on a camper van.
It was not an easy task for the 3 of us to get together.
Here is a little video I made for the trip. Enjoy!