As this journey is about "testing the limits" I ticked off another limit for me: public transportation. I come from an area where we all have cars and control over our own comings and goings. I do not use public transportation as a rule. Around the Washington DC area we have the Metro and after a couple or hundred uses, I am finally getting comfortable with Metro, but it took a lot of trips, always with other people who guided me through the system. I have never boarded a bus in DC. I wouldn't have a clue how to do that. I have ridden a few trains that carried me to destinations, straight to the destination, no changing trains, no deviations, just straight to where I wanted to go. That is the extent of my experiences with public transportation.
I am terrified of getting on a bus or train or rail system that moves people from Point A to Point B within a city, changing up and then having to get back to where I started. Today, I "bit the bullet" and used the public bus in Sydney. I was told of a free bus that traveled a route within the "CBD", the Central Business District of Sydney. I got directions and headed to the area in Sydney on foot that is the major hub for the ferries, trains and buses. It's called Circular Quay. The free bus is #555. I get there, wait a few minutes and here comes Bus #555. I get on the bus but I'm not certain where I should get off for the area I want to go. There are no announcements on the bus so I start asking fellow passengers and they are gracious enough to guide me through the process and tell me where to disembark. All good so far. I see what I came to see and leave the area and return to the stop that I got off on to catch the bus to return to Circular Quay. Now, keep in mind I'm like Gretel in Hansel and Gretel when I got off this bus at my destination. I was constantly looking backward, dropping bread crumbs so I can find my way back to my bus stop to get back to my hostel. I get back to where I originally got off Bus #555 and I wait. After about 30 minutes, I hear a young man ask a bus driver if he knows when Bus #555 will be arriving and the bus driver says he does not know. As the bus driver pulls away, I ask the young man about Bus #555 and he tells me he has been waiting for an hour for Bus #555 and none has arrived. I feel my panic level starting to rise a little. So, I wait a little bit more and still no bus and no fricking idea of how I'm going to get back to my hostel. I wait, more buses come and leave and still no Bus #555. Now I know I'm going to have to figure out the public bus system to get home. I know that you have to have a pass called a Opal Pass to ride the bus, the driver does not take cash. You can buy the Opal Pass card at any convenience store. I start looking around and find a convenience store not too far away and head over there. I go inside and ask the clerk about the card and also about Bus #555. He tells me Bus #555 quits running at 3:30 pm. Really???? Did not know that and apparently, neither did the young man waiting over an hour. I purchase the Opal Pass, return to the bus stop and share this information with the young man. I then start trying to figure out which of the 42 buses coming through my stop will be the one to take me back to Circular Quay. I tentatively decide that Bus #428 might do it, inquire of the driver just to be sure and he confirms his bus will take me to Circular Quay so I board. After several stops, he is kind enough to let me know the next stop is Circular Quay and I jump off and don't recognize any part of it. As I wander around, I finally figure out where I am, I am actually around the corner from Circular Quay! Once I get my bearings, I head back to my hostel and arrive safely. Did I mention that I know nothing about traveling on public transportation and I hate trying to figure them out!!! I'm a car girl, get into my car and go where I want to go. Buses and trains........not so much. Another new experience to add to my tool box and try to learn from. All good!
