GOSFORD, AUSTRALIA

I got off the train in Gosford to find a very nice little town. Since it was Sunday I figured the chances of finding an apartment to rent were slim so I checked into a cheap room at the historic Hotel Gosford. I walked around and found one real estate agency that was open and someone there told me Gosford is more of a business town and I would have more luck in Terrigal, a resort town about 8 miles away at the beach. I took a local bus to Terrigal and was horrified that it cost $AU4 each way. I discovered the rest of Gosford is a typical suburban town that reminded me of Orange County. I got to Terrigal and noticed it looked a lot like Bondi Beach. I had a few places to check, but nothing panned out in my price range. The town was nice enough, but the main killer was the fact that the internet options in town consisted of exactly two terminals, both coin-operated, one at a bakery and the other inside a hostel. I didn’t believe it at first, but I kept asking locals and they all said the same thing. Since I needed to use the internet a lot that week it meant that Terrigal wouldn’t have worked no matter what. I took the bus back to Gosford and decided the next day I would take the train 90 minutes farther out to Newcastle.

I got back to the hotel in Gosford and decided to go for a run for the first time in months. All the walking while traveling makes running tough, but I knew it was time to get some cardio. I was actually very scared that my endurance had atrophied after those months of not doing cardio. I changed into shorts and my hiking shoes and went outside and only then did I realize how incredibly hilly downtown Gosford is. The area behind my hotel was like San Francisco with virtually no flat spaces. I figured this would be a good challenge so off I went. The hills took their toll and I only ran for about 20 minutes, but I was thrilled to discover that I didn’t get out of breath like I used to before I started jogging 10 years ago. That fact put me in a very good mood even though I knew I had a lot of training to do to get back into decent shape.

I had planned to go to the hotel bar that night as it seemed so nice when I went through it earlier in the day, but it turned out to be closed on Sunday evenings. I walked around town for a bit, but the only place open sounded like it was karaoke night from outside. After another lap around town I realized that it was the karaoke place or nothing so I went in. It turned out to be a live band doing their “Jam night” and most of the other singers were quite good. I had a steak dinner and a pint of beer for a super cheap price on a promotional special and then went back to my room.

The next morning I checked out and walked down the street to the train station and was soon aboard a train towards Newcastle, which is a much larger city with about 250,000 residents.