Geelong

Last Thursday, I received an SMS from my younger sister in Geelong, telling me that my package from Malaysia has arrived. Finally, after a month going about bookless, I finally have the books I needed for my studies.

I decided to go to Geelong on the following Saturday. Come Saturday, it was the first day of Ramadhan. To go to Geelong by train, I have to catch the V/Line train. This train stops at either Melbourne Southern Cross Station, Footscray Station, Newport Station, and Werribee Station. The closest from Westona Station was of course either Newport or Werribee.

I chose to go to Werribee because I won't have to double back on the same route just to switch trains. The only disadvantage was that Werribee lies on Zone 2, whereas my monthly travelcard covers only Zone 1. So, I bought a Zone 2 Daily Travelcard.

Furthermore, the fare from Werribee is half the price of the fare from Melbourne CBD, not to mention it's the weekend, so there's an off-peak price, half the normal price.

The average temperature was around 7 Celcius and very windy throughout that day, somewhat unusually cold. So, I brought my jumper along just in case the weather drops further. The problem with Melbourne, is that the weather tends to change every 10 - 30 minutes.

I caught the V/Line train from Werribee at 12.26 pm, and arrived safely at Geelong Station at around 1 pm. From there, my sister met and took me to her house in Preston Street. Atiqah was busy with her submissions, so I prayed Zuhr, and went out to venture Geelong CBD. Atiqah told me to be back in time for Iftar (breaking fast).

I first went to the waterfront. Masya-Allah, it's so beautiful. The blue sea stretching out as far as the eye can see. Then, as I was walking along the Deakin University building, I came across a museum; Ford Discovery Centre.

Hey, nonny nonny, a museum! In it I must go. I got a concession's price since I was an enrolling student...though I was hoping that I'd get free admission. The museum was filled with arrays of Ford vehicle models, beginning from the infamous Model T, up to Australia's renowned Falcon.

The exhibition on the upper level was my favourite; the processes of designing and manufacturing a certain model of a car. I was more attracted to the instrumentation equipments which were on display.

After that, I went for a walk around Geelong, until I realised that I've not prayed 'Asr, and that Maghrib was closing in. So, I rushed back to Preston Street just in time to pray, an wait another half-an-hour before we broke fast.

After having eaten and prayed, I rested in my sister's room while waiting for 'Isya at 7.15 pm. The V/Line runs every hour or so. I decided to catch the 8.26 back to Melbourne. After having prayed and passing goodbyes, I headed for the station.

Chill winds passed by me as I headed down the lamp-lit street towards the station. The last time I walked in the dark, cold night was about a month ago. On the train, I gazed out into the dark valley. Though there was nothing visible, it sure was a peaceful view as dark outlines of the hills emerged every now and then.

As I reached Werribee station, a Melbourne metropolitan train was waiting across the platform. One thing I liked about travelling public was that everything was on time and that they are properly synchronised to meet connecting services. By the time I reached home, it was 9.40 pm. I had a quick hot shower, prepared my sahur meal, and flunked right onto the bed.