Ha, just when you thought this was all about my musings on Wellington and whatnot, I’ve gone and got a new passport and already a couple of stamps in it. Work was calling this time, not wanderlust but it was good. I had to go to Sydney for some training, but had enough free time to explore a little too – see old friends, eat Sichuan fish in Chinatown, wander round Northern Beaches, and all that. I started this little ol’ blog from Sydney (I spent six months there a few moons ago) and it was interesting to return. I thought I enjoyed my time there well enough at the time, but with the benefit of hindsight, don’t really think I did. And though the five days over there lately were all good, my impressions and distrust of that city were re-affirmed. I think the problem is that I don’t really like the beach that much, and without loving that, what else is there to love? Urban sprawl, less friends, and extra job opportunities? Meh. But I do get to go back for another look on another training next month for a third chance. And in a new example of the ongoing saga of my hypocrisy, I have gone so far from my plan early this year of not flying that I’ve just payed $50 to join AirNZ airpoints. And then they put me on Qantas anyway. Sigh.
Back in the real world, I’m rediscovering the joys of couchsurfing after a few months away. Just hosted the first guest since those heady days and crowded floors of Leytonstone, and been meeting a few other CS peoples at and about the endless summer festivals of Wellington. (If only the summer could be as endless.) Good times indeed. It is the cliché of couchsurfing hosting, but hanging around travellers really is the next best thing to being sur le route itself.
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