when remembering the details becomes very important

my day yesterday was exactly one day - or maybe a little over - through no one's fault but my own.

i went to the australia zoo - owned and operated by one famous crocodile hunter steve irwin (read about it in another post). it is north of brisbane but accessible by public transit. i talked to the train people, got to central, got on the right rain going north and off i went. then i noticed that none of the cities corresponded with what was on my timetable... so i got off. but i was on the right train, so then i had to wait twenty min for the next one. once the train gets to cabooolture then you get on the bus (bc they are still upgrading the line) and the bus takes you to the zoo.

it must have slipped my mind to double check what time i needed to be at the stop to leave the zoo. however i would have made it on time if i hadn't been infatuated with the wallabies. so i missed my bus. the zoo offers a courtesy shuttle to the the next bus stop in an hour and a half. so i wait. i have no choice. while i am waiting i figure out what time i will get into central, what time i will then get into cleveland (the end of my connecting line), wonder about the bus connection there, and what time i will make it to the ferry. obviously i am going to be late. the people at the zoo were very friendly and helped me figure out what to do and even offered to let me use their phone to call gregg and debbie - only then i discovered i had lost the bit of paper with their numbers written on it. what to do?

so i made all my connections, but didn't have time for dinner, and didn't want to get a snack bc i wanted to make sure i had enough money for the ferry. waited 20 min here for a bus, 20 min there for a train. i get to cleveland it's only 8ish, not too bad. the bus to take me to ferry is late and i miss the 9:10 ferry by 2 minutes. so i had to wait for the 10:10 ferry.

this whole time i had been stressing and trying to figure out what to do. upset that i was making gregg and debbie worry - bc i was supposed to have been back by 6. it was awful.

so i get across the ferry and i start walking, hoping that i can figure out where they heck to go. a nice man offers me a ride and i explain my predicament - i know what the house looks like and i know it is 3-4 miles away but not what street it is on, no idea what gregg's last name is, totally useless i am. he drives me around a bit asking me if things look familiar... some do some don't. he lets me out and i thank him and i walk. i walked for a couple hours. i found a couple of roads that felt right, ventured down them, but didn't find the next turn or the house. so i walked back to the ferry terminal. it poured so i got pretty wet (thank you pretty green raincoat for keeping the top half dry). i arrived back at the train station around 1am. and i waited.

russell island is pretty small and pretty boring. there isn't much on it, no beaches, no public transport, a few shops, and a ferry terminal. no freaking coke machines or snack machines. mosquitoes (mozzies) are a HUGE problem here apparently. so i thought about sleeping on the bench, but the threat of getting sucked dry was too much. so i paced. it kept the mozzies at bay and kept me awake. my goal was 3 - bc gregg had made some comment about waking up at 3 am for work. then it became 3:30, 4, 4:30. the first ferry came, filled up with people going to work, and left. i told a guy that his reverse light was out and he asked if i was having a good morning. i tried not to cry as i explained my predicament and he offered to drive me wherever - but again no good if i don't know where it is.

gregg did come within the next five min. he was relieved to see me, and i him. i really wanted to give him a big bear hug. he called debbie who came early to pick me up, drop me off at the house, and then rush back to make her ferry. she did make it. they have both called to check on me. this is what i felt the most guilty about - is that they would be worried about me (so i worried about them) and since i had lost their numbers there was nothing i could do about it.

turns out that when debbie took me home, they live off hume - i suspected this one strongly - only i didnt walk far along down it (it was dark). i ate some toast, drank some tea, took a shower, put on the warmest clothes i have packed - underarmour, a sweater, and pink fuzzy socks, and took a nap.

i still haven't found the bit of paper. but from now on - i am making sure i have those numbers when i leave home, that i know what people's last names are, and what the street address of where they live is. bc i can't call mom and ask her or call mom/karrie and ask her to look it up online for me.