clo_again

So I made it to Sydney without mishap or misadventure or misagetting-eaten-by-backpackers. I did end up pissed at Googlemaps for the first time ever though, because 477 Kent Street is most definitely not the same at 235 Sussex Street, yet that's where it directed me to head for and since the streets were adjoining I figured maybe the hostel had entrances on both and Googlemaps magically knew this.

There was actually a Base sign at 235 Sussex Street; however, it was a travel office. I was kindly directed to walk up the next crossroads and walk back down Kent Street, which was my original plan until I thought I'd Googlemap it to be sure and foolishly followed that instead of my own common sense. Usually I wouldn't care but my backpack is rather heavy and Sydney is rather warmer than Canberra for some unexplicable Australian reason and I was sagging somewhat by the time I stepped over a backpacker to get into reception. Fail Googlemaps. Not total fail because you did get me here but at least partway fail.

Then I paid for the seven days of unlimited wireless (I have a timer counting down in the taskbar from 6 days, 23 hours, 54 minutes... it's creepy) and after a second, unhelpful trip down to reception to try to work out just why the hell my laptop wasn't picking it up, I figured I'd try sitting in the lounge with it. What a surprise, the hostel wireless pops up on my list of networks. -_- So no in-room internet after all (it was too good to be true) but unlimited access in the lounge and not only have I already spied a guy with a cup of coffee but there's a plug point right next to where I'm sitting now so I could happily sit here for a couple of hours while stuff like Primeval downloads. Not that I've found the kettle in the kitchen yet, mostly because I've been in twice to refill my water bottle, couldn't spot a kettle on first glance and didn't want to hang around looking lost like a noob.

On the plus side? There're only four beds in my all-girls room and only one of them looks slept in. My cunning deduction is that it belongs to a Japanese girl (there's a guidebook to Oz in Japanese on the bed) and she's a longterm resident (there's posters on the wall beside her bed). These are all Good Signs because I've found Japanese to extremely polite, helpful and if she's longterm then she'll know where everything is. Like the kettle.

So so far I've found my hostel (eventually), worked out the internet, approved very much of my room, found the kitchen, been daunted by the kitchen, found the laundry mostly by accident (I got lost. There is a lot of hostel here) and decided that actually, this might not be as bad as my initial "the internet won't work. >:-/ Maybe I should leave and book into a hotel!" reaction.

Now I'm starving and want to go in search of food...

...except someone just handed me a glass of wine and some cheese cubes. Clearly sitting here for hours on my laptop is an excellent policy (it's actually wine I can drink too which is shocking. Possibly it's mostly water. But still free!) Hostelling is decidedly bizarre.