CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

March 24, 2023 — I woke up a little later than I planned today but I still had enough time to take a shower, pack, take my stuff downstairs, gather my food, and check out before 10:00am.

I had breakfast after I checked out and left my stuff in luggage storage while I went to the Queen Street Mall (yes, again). I bought stamps (finally!) at the post office and bought twenty because I really didn’t want to have to worry about buying any for a while. I went shopping after that, in my final attempt to find a white outfit for the Whitsundays. I tried Valleygirl first and found a couple possibilities but I wasn’t stuck on them. I went to Cotton On next since it hadn’t been completely hopeless when I looked the other day and I struck gold. I found a pair of white shorts, a super-cool white short-sleeved button down, and a pair of denim shorts (I finally broke down). It’s crazy what clothes can do for you: I felt so much more like myself wearing a pair of denim shorts than I have in the entire last almost-two-months of travelling.

I had some downtime when I finished shopping so I finished reading the book I’d bought. I didn’t quite manage to at this point since I realized that I really had to get going, but I knew that I had the bus ride later.

I got back to the hostel and gathered my stuff, then headed to the bus stop to wait for the Greyhound. Thankfully, it wasn’t like Port Macquarie and it arrived right on time.

I watched out the window for a while as we started on our way out of the city. I haven’t felt it much because I’ve been focused on other things, but on this day I really realized how much I miss driving. I even miss driving in traffic. I was watching the bus driver and feeling nostalgic for the time I drove home from Ottawa and got into so much traffic. I remember having the window cracked (even though it was chilly out), music blaring, and screeching at the other drivers on the road every so often.

When we arrived in Noosa, I decided to walk to the hostel since it was only about twelve minutes away. That was a mistake. It was so hot and my bags were really heavy. It really sucks carrying around the extra bag for groceries, too — I’m looking forward to dumping it when I leave here since I won’t be doing much shopping in Indonesia.

When I finally arrived, I got checked in, sorted out some things, chatted with some of the girls in my room, and went down to the pool for a swim. After I dried off, I got changed again and went back down for BBQ night. I love it when hostels do activities like this — it’s so easy to meet people. One of the girls in my room was there too and had made friends with a couple of people travelling together who were from London. They were so nice and we chatted while we ate, then ended up playing a few hands of Cambio (throwback to the Great Ocean Road!) before they went for an evening out.

When we all dispersed, I headed to the kitchen and got my chips and sat and watched an episode of The Office that some people had on. It was at this time that I realized it’s on Prime Video down here (?!). I headed upstairs when it finished, said bye to the friends I made downstairs, and then sat and watched an episode of Modern Family with my chips. I called home before turning in, sent pictures of my new clothes, showered, organized my stuff for my tour the next morning, and then went to bed.

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