New South Wales, Australia

As the train prepares to leave the city behind I look out at the platform and smile. I think of those days that seem so long ago now, all of us smiling and laughing as the last packs were tied down, the final stoves prepped and long and quick hugs exchanged. I remember the pine needles on the ground and the crowds waving as I swung myself onto that bus the first time.

The train growling beneath me is like that bus as it ground its way down Spring Hill and away, all of us expectant and eager. Now I have no crew, no class, no year. I am alone in this empty carriage, looking at a strange city, a strange country, a strange continent on the other side of the world.

I am on my way to the Blue Mountains without the usually constant presence of Simon, traveling on dilapidated public transport as I leave on a self-planned expedition. The objective is for me to develop organizational skills and learn to be independent. Unfortunately I am still not as organized as I would like and sense I may have forgotten some items that I will probably regret later.

I used to have a grudge against Shackleton after I was forced to leave but now things are different. I have realized that most of my problems at school stemmed from how I treated my friends and teachers alike. I thought nothing of making others do things for me and never really valued anything or anyone as much as I should have. I am now living my mistakes but I do not find that a bad thing. Sitting here on a train bound for the mountains I am now filled with resolve to fix my problems and return to Shackleton. Of course I have worries: I worry I may have out grown the school, or that things will be different, or that I will not be accepted, but I have decided on a course and am following it. What would have happened if Shackleton himself had decided to change course in the James Caird and missed South Georgia. He would have perished and the school I am trying so hard to get back into would have had to been called something else.

As the train leaves Sydney far behind, all memories of school flutter in its wake and are gone as they have to, leaving me to continue my journey in the present.