Now We Part Ways

The point in the trip where Don and I go our separate ways arrived. Andrew dropped us off at Brisbane's international terminal. Don flew home to New Jersey. I took a shuttle to the domestic terminal and flew to Sydney. Though we left Andrew and Jo early, they made sure we had some "brekky" first. I feel a blogpost translating Australian English into American English coming as soon as I finish writing about my adventures in Sydney.

I wanted to be at the airport for when Don's flight left in case there were any issues, not that I could handle them from the other side of security. Unlike a few days earlier when Andrew met us at the gate when we flew in from Cairns, I could not wait at the gate with Don on the international side. Instead, I found an outlet and blogged about some adventures. 

Frustratingly I had to pay a $65AUS ($45 USD) fee because my carryon was over 7kg (15 pounds) and JetStar was diligently weighing everyone's bags. I knew the rules, and tried hard to give Don enough extra so I could make the cut, but did not. I swore never to fly JetStar again (an easy statement since they do not fly in the States), but also realized I would have paid $105 US to fly from Brisbane to Sydney, and we had been lucky not getting caught up until that point. Still, I won't fly them if we return to Australia someday.

Prior to going to Sydney I read their mass transit works on a "Tap and Go" system, similar to Brisbane where we could use our credit card to pay for each ride. I don't know how they check to make sure we paid since at no point was I "audited," but for the few days I was there, I just paid the fee. Not including the airport train, mass transit caps at $16.80 AUS a day ($12 USD). 

I made the mistake of walking from the Central Train Station to the AirBNB (a 25 minute walk) rather than spending more time figuring out mass transit. If that 25 minute walk had not been so hilly I would have been fine. Later I was grateful Google Maps did not guide me to the giant staircase I used most other days.

Check-in was easy. The host sent me what I refer to as breadcrumbs to lead me the the right place. The address. The code for the front door. Which floor to go to. The cubby with a door on it hiding a lockbox. The code for the lockbox. It was worth it.

The room was the stunning Art Deco room I expected. In a quiet neighborhood. The only downside was the nearest mass transit was a 10-minute walk away. I had to add in 30-minutes between where I was and whatever I wanted to do that day.