CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

March 6, 2023 — I had an early morning as I woke up just before 8:00am to pack my stuff, strip my sheets, and hand in my room key. I walked down the road ten minutes to Newcastle Interchange and got on the trail to Maitland Station.

This was a short leg — only thirty minutes down the line from Newcastle. Once there, I had to get on another train to Wauchope Station. This train was operated by the New South Wales TrainLink network, which means that my Opal card didn’t cover the trip. I had to purchase a ticket on board ($35.71), but it was a pretty sweet train! They had food and drink available for purchase in a dining car, plus a hot meal service. I had PB&J’s packed, so I was set, but the options were pretty nice!

I spent a lot of the trip reading and listening to music on my phone. When we finally arrived at Wauchope Station, it was about two in the afternoon. I got off the train here and had to get a bus in to Port Macquarie. The timing on this trip was really essential because I could not miss this bus: another wasn’t coming until later that evening. Thankfully, I arrived in plenty of time and when the two thirty bus rolled in to the station, I got on. It was only $4.00 in to Port Macquarie, which was awesome.

I had a bit of a hike after the bus dropped me off where Google Maps told me to get off. The Port Macquarie YHA (aka Ozzie Pozzie Backpackers) was about twenty minutes from the bus stop, around a corner and up a hill. The hill was not as big as The Hill in Newcastle, thankfully. It was really close to the water and not far to walk into town, so that was great.

After I checked in and dropped my stuff, I decided to treat myself and went out to Blue Cow Gelato in town. I got myself a cone with Snickers and cookies and cream and sat down at the wharf to enjoy it. I headed back toward the hostel, but sidetracked and went to the IGA first as I planned to have grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner that night. Incredibly, they had Campbells tomato soup! I picked that up and got myself a Lipton iced tea since I’d been craving iced tea for a long time. (And Nestea is nowhere in sight.)

I headed back to the hostel, finally, and went out to the pool area and curled up with my phone and earbuds and iced tea to work on my binge of Outer Banks. The third season came out in February, but I had to get through the rest of my second season rewatch before I saw it.

Awkward hostel moments story: I was watching my show and minding my own business and a guy walked up to me and introduced himself and offered up a fist bump. I fist bumped him and went back to my show. He was talking to another guy sitting across from where I was and after another few minutes, he came back over and wanted me to come sit with them. He asked where I was from and I told him. He gave me a very stumbly side bro-hug and motioned me over to where he was sitting with the other guy. At this point it was clear to me that Fist Bump Dude was blitzed out of his mind on something. He told me that the other guy he was sitting with was from Germany. Germany Guy told Fist Bump Dude that he was busy and had to finish what he was doing. And that gave me my opening to say I had to go anyway and make dinner and that I’d be back later.

Spoiler alert: I did not end up heading back later.

I went back to the dorm and showered, then curled up on fresh sheets and continued my show. A few of the girls I was sharing the dorm with came in and we got talking for a little while. One of them asked what I was up to tomorrow and I had no plans. We decided to get together and do the Port Macquarie Coastal Walk at ten the following morning.

Eventually, I did get up and make dinner but it was just pasta in butter and spices because it was much too hot to try and make tomato soup and grilled cheese and because I didn’t have anything else to make — all my vegetables got used up in Newcastle.

After dinner, I went back to the room and got ready for bed. I fell into a really nice sleep that night, which surprised me considering I figured the bed wasn’t going to be supportive enough to give me a good night’s sleep. I’m always happy to be proved wrong in that respect!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to leave a like, comment, and share with your friends and family! If you’re looking for more frequent updates, follow me on Instagram @cait_around_the_world.