23.09.2018

23.09.2018 days 21 in Australia

                          Townsville

I got up extra early to finish packing and head to the airport. I was pretty tired but didn't want to take any chances of missing the plane. When I arrived at the airport, I couldn't find my flight or airline at all. After searching around for a bit, I asked one of the information guides who told me that I was at the gates for international flights and inland flights were at a different part of the airport. 

So I had to catch the shuttle bus that travels between the different parts. When I arrived there, I still couldn't find my flight or airline. Asking around again, they informed me that the check-in opened at 10:20, which was in an hour....

So I waited in suspense until I could finally check in. However, I didn't check in at a desk but just had this machine that printed out my boarding pass and a ticket for my luggage. Wish it was that easy with everything else.

At the control check, I, of course, got picked out and my backpack and I got scanned for bombs and/or explosives. The security guard seemed very bored and waved around his scan stick for a bit and then let me go.

I managed to find the gate and started passing the time with watching some videos. Some people started getting up and waited for the boarding, while I kept sitting. Then suddenly everyone got up and started walking. But not towards the boarding, just in a completely different direction. I looked around and asked an old couple walking past what the hell's happening. With a very used voice and a difficult to understand accent, he told me, 'the airline messed up, the gates changed, man, it's 28!'

Arriving at 28, we also got the information that the flight has been delayed and we should wait for further information. After an almost 3-hour delay, we were finally able to board the plane, although it wasn't directly attached so we had to walk across the airplane parking spaces to get to our plane. Just like when the president boards a plane, that was kind of cool.

I put my headphones in and fell asleep after a short time. I was still pretty tired and the stress at the airport didn't make it better. I got woken up by one of the flight attendants. She said something to me which my brain was not able to comprehend, so I just nodded. I noticed that my right headphone had fallen out and my mouth was pretty cold and dry, which could only mean that I slept with an open mouth. Still half asleep, I put the headphone between my teeth and grabbed my water bottle. I WAS THIS 👌CLOSE to just pouring water into my ear and trying to drink the headphone. But I was able to stop myself and asked the simple question: 'what the fuck are you doing?'

We landed in Townsville and, after I grabbed my luggage, I made my way to the bus stop. However, I had to realize that the buses didn't drive on Sundays. So I walked all the way back to the airport and requested a shuttle, which was able to bring me to my hostel for $10.

Here, I could check in and found myself in not the prettiest, cleanest, or newest but definitely cheap hostel. I unpacked my stuff and went outside to do some groceries. Most shops were already closed, even though it was only 6.30pm. I was able to find one store and just bought the most necessary things. I hadn't eaten anything since the morning because of the delay and the way too expensive airport food.

After bringing my stuff back and eating some unfrozen lasagna that I just bought, I went out again to find out where I needed to go tomorrow. Because then my first day of diving would start, where we'd go over the basics and train diving in a pool. It's gonna be exciting. On the way back, I passed an ice cream store who had really good-looking ice creams and a lot of happy folks sitting in front of it. 

You have to understand that I hadn't bought a single snack or treat yet since I came to Australia. No sweets or chips, nothing. I wanted to spend my money only on the things I needed. But this store, just this one, single time, I got a crack in my armor. The ice cream managed to pass my defense after I walked back and forth in front of the store for about 5 minutes. So I thought when I am gonna do this, then I will do it right. So I got a sprinkled ice cream cone with velvet cherry filled with gummy sweets with an extra scoop of cookie and cream added to it. It was amazing. But it also costed $8. That's more than I paid for the lasagna😅.

Now I am gonna take a shower and go to bed. I gotta get up early tomorrow.