My last week was fully occupied with accompanying my friends who came visiting me in Sydney. They spent five days going around the city and surroundings and we also went to Canberra at the end of the trip. There were so much things happened but probably our journey to Oberon was the most memorable one.
It was on Wednesday, 19 July 2017, also was the day of my final exam result announced. I couldn't sleep to think about it while I had to drive to Oberon in 4 am. It was my very first experience to hire a car and I learnt a lot from it. I slept very early on the night before and woke up at 1 am. I saw a notification on my phone and told me that the exam result has been announced. I made it, I passed all the subject! It was such a miracle to me!
At 3 am I walked to the pod where the car I rent was parked. I rented a car from Goget. Goget is a car-sharing company, just like Airbnb or Uber. The fleets are available and parked everywhere in the city, and we can rent them at any time. That's why I chose Goget for its flexibility. The Goget car I chose was parked near Central Station because we planned to go to south coast by train after coming back from Oberon.
Exactly at 4 am, I tried to unlock the car by swiping my card on the sensor installed on the windshield, but the sensor didn't respond anything. I noticed that the lamp indicator on the sensor was off. I called the costumer care line but it was closed and would be open at 7 am. I needed the car at 4 am to chase the snow on Oberon, I couldn't postpone. So, at that time, I booked a new one parked nearby. We departed to Oberon 30 minutes late from the scheduled time.
It was actually my second time driving in Australia, but previously, I never drove on highway and never drove to a place further than one hour driving. What the most stressful thing in driving in Australia is the speed limit. People in Australia tend to drive at the maximum value of the speed limit. I felt like driving in a hurry and not relaxed at all. Probably because I used to drive in traffic jam in my hometown. The good thing of driving habit of Australians though, the flow of vehicles are smooth and and seamless since everyone moves at the same speed. But to me, driving at 110 km/h at highway is just too fast. I was so afraid if the car was slipped at that speed, physic law kicks and it must be very likely to be very fatal.
We arrived at Oberon at 8 am, or an hour late from our plan. It is because I was afraid to drive car very fast. The temperature was only 1 degree Celsius and it was foggy and rainy. We dropped by at a local restaurant and we ordered three portions of fish and chips and some hot drinks. It was the most delicious fish and chip I have ever tried in Australia so far. Then we saw from the restaurant window, snow sprinkled down from the sky. It was our very first time seeing snow. At 10 am we drove to Katoomba to see "the three sisters" and we drove back to the city at 12 pm to chase the train to south coast.
We arrived at the city at 2 pm while the train departs at 3:24 pm. We dropped by to my college to pick my fridge. I gave my fridge in my room to my friend since I didn't really use it. Then, we drove to my friend's house to drop the fridge to his room, and we drove to return the car to its pod.
It was a surprise that the pod was occupied by another Goget car. I was so angry how can someone else parked his Goget car in my Goget car's pod! I called the customer care line and the operator said if the person who parked on my pod also couldn't park at his pod since it was also occupied by another car. The operator suggested me to park the car on other Goget pod. We drove around the place for almost an hour but we couldn't find any spot available. It was really really stressful, and the city's traffic jam made it ever worse.
Then we saw a parking officer walked down the road. I got off the car and run into him. I told him the trouble we got and he told me that there was a vacant spot for Goget available on Valentine St, the only street we couldn't find. Driving a car in the Sydney CBD was indeed driving us mad. There were too many one way street, too many traffic lights, and too many closed road due to road work for light rail construction.
We were almost late to catch the South Coast Line train. We made it just in time. But bad luck was still with us. The train didn't stop at the station we planned to get off. I rechecked the train schedule and I just found that we were supposed to transfer to another train at the previous station. This train only stopped at some major stations. We decided to get off at the next station and detoured back by bus.
We arrived at the destination when the sky has been dark. We were late almost an hour from the plan. It was such a trouble terrible day. But at least, I learned a lot. Now I know how to rent a car by myself, how to buy gasoline, and how to park in the city.
At 3 am I walked to the pod where the car I rent was parked. I rented a car from Goget. Goget is a car-sharing company, just like Airbnb or Uber. The fleets are available and parked everywhere in the city, and we can rent them at any time. That's why I chose Goget for its flexibility. The Goget car I chose was parked near Central Station because we planned to go to south coast by train after coming back from Oberon.
Exactly at 4 am, I tried to unlock the car by swiping my card on the sensor installed on the windshield, but the sensor didn't respond anything. I noticed that the lamp indicator on the sensor was off. I called the costumer care line but it was closed and would be open at 7 am. I needed the car at 4 am to chase the snow on Oberon, I couldn't postpone. So, at that time, I booked a new one parked nearby. We departed to Oberon 30 minutes late from the scheduled time.
It was actually my second time driving in Australia, but previously, I never drove on highway and never drove to a place further than one hour driving. What the most stressful thing in driving in Australia is the speed limit. People in Australia tend to drive at the maximum value of the speed limit. I felt like driving in a hurry and not relaxed at all. Probably because I used to drive in traffic jam in my hometown. The good thing of driving habit of Australians though, the flow of vehicles are smooth and and seamless since everyone moves at the same speed. But to me, driving at 110 km/h at highway is just too fast. I was so afraid if the car was slipped at that speed, physic law kicks and it must be very likely to be very fatal.
Driving to Oberon
We arrived at Oberon at 8 am, or an hour late from our plan. It is because I was afraid to drive car very fast. The temperature was only 1 degree Celsius and it was foggy and rainy. We dropped by at a local restaurant and we ordered three portions of fish and chips and some hot drinks. It was the most delicious fish and chip I have ever tried in Australia so far. Then we saw from the restaurant window, snow sprinkled down from the sky. It was our very first time seeing snow. At 10 am we drove to Katoomba to see "the three sisters" and we drove back to the city at 12 pm to chase the train to south coast.
Snow dusting at Oberon
We arrived at the city at 2 pm while the train departs at 3:24 pm. We dropped by to my college to pick my fridge. I gave my fridge in my room to my friend since I didn't really use it. Then, we drove to my friend's house to drop the fridge to his room, and we drove to return the car to its pod.
It was a surprise that the pod was occupied by another Goget car. I was so angry how can someone else parked his Goget car in my Goget car's pod! I called the customer care line and the operator said if the person who parked on my pod also couldn't park at his pod since it was also occupied by another car. The operator suggested me to park the car on other Goget pod. We drove around the place for almost an hour but we couldn't find any spot available. It was really really stressful, and the city's traffic jam made it ever worse.
Then we saw a parking officer walked down the road. I got off the car and run into him. I told him the trouble we got and he told me that there was a vacant spot for Goget available on Valentine St, the only street we couldn't find. Driving a car in the Sydney CBD was indeed driving us mad. There were too many one way street, too many traffic lights, and too many closed road due to road work for light rail construction.
The pod at Valentine St
Parking spot specially designated for sharing car (Goget)
We were almost late to catch the South Coast Line train. We made it just in time. But bad luck was still with us. The train didn't stop at the station we planned to get off. I rechecked the train schedule and I just found that we were supposed to transfer to another train at the previous station. This train only stopped at some major stations. We decided to get off at the next station and detoured back by bus.
We arrived at the destination when the sky has been dark. We were late almost an hour from the plan. It was such a trouble terrible day. But at least, I learned a lot. Now I know how to rent a car by myself, how to buy gasoline, and how to park in the city.
At least we saw beautiful tranquil beaches in a small town from the bus
It was already dark :sad:
