Day 294! Well, after 6 weeks in Melbourne it’s time to move on to the next adventure! I have a multi day journey as I make my way up to Yamba, starting with an 11 hour train ride to Sydney! Here’s how it went…

I woke up nice and early at 6:45am. I had already showered so I just needed to roll out of bed, throw some clothes on, and head downstairs.

I saved myself enough time for breakfast, but before I did, I set my stuff down in the lobby and set out my work boots for someone to take.

Hopefully someone will make good use of them!

I then made a quick breakfast of the rest of my toast and yogurt. The granola had gone soggy in the yogurt which was a bit unpleasant, but I stole some of Immy’s honey which made it taste better (thanks Immy).

I had a nearby tram to catch at 7:45am. So it was time to head out!

It’s been awhile since I’ve had to travel with all my stuff packed up. I did a much better job packing this time too!

There were a bunch of trams bunched together when I arrived at the nearby tram stop. Luckily, the one I got on was fairly empty and I was able to relax with my bags the whole ride.

It was a bit sad leaving the hostel I’ve called home over the past month. But I was definitely ready to move on and escape the city. I’ve made a ton of great friends that I’ll hopefully see along the road again too!

The tram took me all the way to Southern Cross Station, where my train was departing from.

I arrived to the platform at 8am and the train was there waiting for me! A friendly staff member directed me to the right train car but… I couldn’t board yet. So I waited 15 more minutes and then it was time to start the journey.

The train left promptly at 8:30am and it wasn’t very full to start out. I had an aisle seat in train car D and no seat mate next to me yet. I knew this was a full train though, so I was sure I was going to have one eventually.

I cracked open the book I’m currently reading Dune as the train made its way out of the cities and into the suburbs.

The sprawling suburbs quickly turned into grassy fields and farmlands. I couldn’t get a great picture since I wasn’t next to the window… also the window was fairly dirty. But it was beautiful scenery!

The flat fields morphed into rolling hills of farms, filled with cattle grazing and sheep running about. The sheep farms on the rolling hills gave me a glimpse as to what it must be like to travel New Zealand (on a much less grandiose scale of course).

Eventually my seat mate boarded the train. Her name was Krishell and she was from Sri Lanka. She had a very bright and bubbly personality and was very chatty. At first I assumed she was in Australia on her work holiday coming from a farm, she hopped onto the train in a very remote area.

But it turned out, she was actually a doctor in the small town and had been living in Australia for the past 17 years. She’s also 26 so we reminisced about Covid affecting college for us.

We chatted about everything from travel to random life subjects, but eventually I could feel the conversation dwindling and I wanted to get back to reading. So I did just that…

Read…

…And read…

…And read!

There was no wifi on the train and really bad cell service, so that’s all I had to do!

I think I read almost 300 pages while we were on the train ride.

Throughout the ride, I snacked on the snacks I got the other day and made sure I had enough for tomorrow’s train ride as well.

We passed through some funny town names, my favorite being Wagga Wagga. But seeing the rolling hills of farms got me a little excited to potentially work on one at some point.

There were also big white rocks in the farms that gave a bit of a mysterious edge to the fields.

My butt was aching from so much sitting and I was getting very tired from the travel day. But as the sun set and over 11 hours of travel had commenced, we arrived in Sydney.

Crazily enough, as I departed the train, one of my French friends from Melbourne was waiting to get on an overnight train from Sydney back to Melbourne!

Laz had been in Sydney for the past week, so we quickly caught up before parting ways. It was really nice showing up to a new city with a familiar face.

But after our quick reconnect, it was time for me to walk to my hostel. I conveniently was able to book one nearby the train station. So I took a 5 minute walk to my home for the night, Big Backpackers Hostel.

I was greeted by a very friendly hostel worker who got me quickly checked in and up to my room. Interestingly enough, at this hostel, you have to make your bed yourself, it’s been awhile, but I still remembered how to.

In the 8 person dorm I was in… there were no curtains, no outlets near the bed, and no individual lights either! It was quite unfortunate because the pillows were really nice and the beds were too. Same with the lobby, I could tell it was a nice and social hostel.

I wasn’t too upset since I was just going to be here for overnight.

After getting setup, I went back downstairs to chat with the hostel employee about cheap food nearby. He directed me towards a dumpling restaurant that had 15 chicken dumplings for $5! I said “sign me up!”

I guess I got lucky, because after I got my food, someone else ordered the chicken dumplings and they were all out.

I think this would’ve been enough if I had had proper meals all day today… but I was still hungry. So I went wandering back towards the hostel and near another area where I was told was cheap food. I found a cheap Banh Mi restaurant and got myself a tofu Banh Mi for $8.

This was still way more expensive than in Vietnam… but it was better priced than my last one in Melbourne.

I was exhausted and knew I had to wake up early tomorrow. So I went back to my hostel, which was bustling with people eating dinner and hanging out. Instead of trying to make new friends, I went to get ready for bed.

Tomorrow I’ll be waking up and heading to the train station bright and early! I’ll be leaving Sydney at 7:15am and arriving in Yamba about 11-12 hours later!! I’m so stoked to be in Yamba and see what happens once I arrive…

I guess we’ll see tomorrow!

– Elie