That's a Wrap! My Last Weekend in Oz!

You will have to excuse me if some of this entry and the next don't make sense. You see, for whatever reason I decided that I should write my blog at 4:15am while I couldn't sleep in JFK airport. My brain is a bit fuzzy and I am running on a lack of sleep. I will tell you all about my journey home, but first I will tell you about my last weekend in Oz.

My last weekend was pretty slow compared to some of the adventures I have had. I was basically tapped out, so that left little fundage for me to 'make big party' for my last weekend. The past couple weekend I had left in Oz were mostly spent with Sha

ne. Shane is the fellow I met on the bushwalk gone wrong and he has been a great friend to me ever since. So usually I go to Shane's house, as a weekend base camp away from Gosford, on Saturday and we do something and then I crash there for the night. Since this was my last weekend in Oz I decided I would head down Friday evening after work. I had worked out the train schedule so I caught the two fastest trains there, and it would take a mere 2 hours to get there compared to the regular 3. First train from Gosford was good, and I got to Central as planned. I got the train from Central that I had planned and it would only be another hour before I would meet Shane and we most were going out for drinks with friends. Well my express 3 hour travel turned into a 4 hour nightmare! About halfway thought the trip the conductor came on the speakers, and in the annoying voice said, "Attention passengers. I have just received notice that there is a freight train broken down on the track ahead and we will be waiting here unit it is clear." Her voice reminded me of the woman on Seinfeld that George dated, the daughter of the unemployment worker dealing with his case when Vandelay industries didn't pan out. If any of you watch Seinfeld you know now the sound of the woman's voice. Anyway, I digress. So abo

ut 10 minutes later she came on again, I thought to myself 'Oh that wasn't too long of a wait.' This time she said, " Attention passengers, we will not be going anywhere for a while, so if you would like to get off on the platform and stretch your legs we will make an announcement when it is time to re-board." Crap! Crap diddly ding dong Crap! So we sat and we waited and we waited and we sat. Eventually we got going again but it was slow going the rest of the way. I finally arrived to McArthur station at about 9 or 9:30ish. Needless to say I was looking forward to the drinks we set out to have. Not only that but they put the Habs

vs Fliers game on so like any good Canadian beer+hockey is bonafide to cheer you up!

Saturday and Sunday were pretty low key and we took our time going to different markets. Saturday was raining and cold so we didn't do much else and then Shane took me out for an awesome farewell dinner. We got a little dressed up and went down to the Wests Club for diner and drinks. It was a lovely meal and just a nice realizing way to say god bye to Oz. Shane ordered a steak on a stone grill. it was the first time I had seen this. The steak comes out raw

and you cook it yourself on a hot stone grill. It was pretty cool!

Sunday we spent in the city at markets as well and spent the evening drinking a few liters of beer at the Lowenbrau restaurant and watching the lights of the city before I had to head back to Gosford. I guess I didn't go out with a bang, but that just means I will have to come ;). I really enjoyed the pace of it and I got presents for everyone!