Sydney, Australia--Dubbo, Australia--Day 63

Today I got up and after getting directions from Emma as to how to get back to the airport, I got on the bus and then the train. I only had one mishap (getting off at the wrong train stop) but made it to the domestic terminal with plenty of time to board my flight to Dubbo. The plane was this tiny turbo propjet, which I would have been terribly nervous to be in before this trip, but since I now feel like this flying pro, I was not bothered by the fact that we had to rely on propellers to get us to Dubbo!

The flight was just fine and was short and sweet. Literally, we were served lunch along with chocolates and mints! I arrived in Dubbo and had a taxi called for me by the flight attendant (I was impressed!) and we headed straight to the zoo. Since I was only staying for the night I just had my small backpack and camera with me so I could do all of my photo transferring when I got back to Sydney. My taxi driver dropped me off at the Western Plains Zoo and I got my ticket and then rented a bike to ride over to the hippos. After quite a bit of huffing and puffing uphill, I made it to Hippo Beach to find six hippos all about in three different separate areas. They were all basking in the sun and I checked my brochure only to find that hippo feedings happen daily at 10:30 am and since it was now 1:30pm at this point, there was little chance that the hippos would be swimming around waiting to be fed. I decided that it would probably be best if I came back in the morning to talk with the keeper and see them in feeding action. At least I knew where they were and how many there were.

I headed back to the main gate and dropped off my bike and then stopped in at the gift shop where I found the most amazing hippo hat ever and then went back to the main gate, double checking with the woman working there that there were in fact just six hippos and I ordered a taxi back into town. The same taxi driver that dropped me off picked me up and he was surprised that I had only been at the zoo for such a short time. Luckily my ticket for the zoo was good for two days so it wasn’t going to be a problem for me to come back in the morning, I just had to go back and change my Quantas ticket (again!). So the taxi driver dropped me off at the Quantas travel center.

I was told there that I had to call the international Quantas number rather than change the ticket there and so I headed back towards my hotel, stopping off to see a movie on the way. My taxi driver warned me of walking around by myself and was very concerned that I did not go anywhere by myself, which seemed like kind of a problem since I was by myself! After the movie I found my hotel and checked in and called Quantas, then spent the night in my hotel room, grabbing dinner at the oh so exciting Subway and McDonalds for dessert.




(c) 2004 Sarah Galbraith. All Rights Reserved.