Sydney to Melbourne

TRAVELLING HAS COMMENCED!

In fact, it commenced almost a week ago. Siobhan and I got the flight to Sydney (well done shiv) on Monday morning, heading to New South Whales University to stay with Shiv's friend Anna. The week consisted of sight seeing, drinking, a lot of fro yo and a lot of stealing flat mate's food.

Highlights include:

Mounting the DJ booth
Fro Yo
Ketch up explosion
Chewing gum assault
Chinese shouting
Salad stealing

None of that makes sense to anyone but Siobhan and I, but you can make your own story up.

Sydney reminded me a lot of London. We turned up to pouring rain and freezing winds. The city was constantly busy, and they even had a Zara and Topshop. Luckily the rain cleared up mid week and we returned to our newly found Australian selves; at the beach attempting to surf.

Last night we arrived in Melbourne at Monash University (the one I could have gone to), and headed straight out for our fourth night in a row. Most of our group were from Leeds University, because they are everywhere in Oz. Not a bad thing though, they're all great. I woke up to a chocolate bar wrapper beside me and some remains in my hair. I then saw Shiv on the floor and Amy next to me which was a relief seeing as I wasn't sure who actually made it back. I'm not sure of the plan today, I don't think anyone can see past their pounding head aches at the moment.

Goodbye Griffith!

In the blink of an eye, my semester at Griffith has finished. Tomorrow I move out of my flat and say goodbye to my lovely flat mates.

We've had a king's feast to finish off my time here. It all started at the Beach house bar & Grill, followed by Baskin & Robin's ice cream, topped off with chocolate and popcorn whilst watching 'The Heat'. I am now sitting at my desk feeling 9 months pregnant. Why is it that I just do not know when to stop eating? I might be able to get away with it whilst I have the campus gym next door to me, but what happens during the next couple of weeks when I am travelling? I'll pack the running shoes just in case hey…

I really did get lucky when I moved in to Griffith. The thing with campus accommodation is that you can be thrown in with any bunch of people. My bunch of people happened to be kind, welcoming, hilarious and a lot of fun. I'll always be grateful for that. We even got a new international student called Miki, who moved in around three weeks ago. In just three weeks a friendship has formed, I just wish I had more time to spend with her! Our flat must attract good people.

My bags are packed and I am ready for Sydney on Monday! I just hope me and Siobhan make it there in one piece. Preferably together. I know you're reading this Siobhan. Set your alarm please, we have a flight to catch.

Having a moment

I'm having a moment of reflection. A moment which is making me feel extremely grateful for everything I have experienced so far, but also reminding me that in just over five weeks I will be leaving what I have here, and returning to the UK.

Everyone knows that time goes fast, but I never would have thought it would go this quickly. How is it that I have such little time left here in Australia? I remember at the start of my journey it felt slow, nicely paced in fact. Then all of a sudden, I woke up and it was September. Now it's coming to the end of October. This Thursday is Musti's leaving party/ everyone's good bye party. People are starting to jet off travelling now and so we thought we would all go out together for one last night in 'The Valley'.

Of course I am excited to see my family and friends, and celebrate Christmas back home. But it hurts me so much to think that I have to leave behind all the brilliant people I have met here. When I left the fabulous people in my life back in England, I knew I would be returning. But I don't know when I'll see my Aussie friends and family again. I am dreading going to the airport with Macca and having to sit on a plane for almost 24 hours, alone.  Him and his family have done so much for me and given me a home here, something which I never would have guessed would happen. I feel guilty prancing off back to England, but I know they will always be here if I return.

This weekend we went to Coolangatta, where we first met. It's one of my favourite beaches I've been to in Australia, because of the memories I have there but also because of how chilled out and beautiful it is. Siobhan and I had the best weekend there back in August. I blogged about it previously so take a look, it was one of the funniest weekends I  have had.

Siobhan has played a big part in my Australia experience. I don't know what I would have done with out her really. She helped me settle in when I arrived, took me on many adventures, introduced me to wonderful people, understood me and most of all- entertained me. Thank god she only lives round the corner from me in London.

This week I will give in all my assignments and complete my semester at Griffith University. After that, I hope to go to Fraser Island (possibly on my own), just for a few days. Siobhan and I have a flight booked to Sydney on Monday 11th November and after that we are heading to Melbourne. In my last week, Macca and I are planning to travel to Noosa and a few other spots on the Sunshine Coast. He has taken time off work, because otherwise I would have a lonely last week!

I'm going to head off before this becomes a depressed blogging session. I don't want it to be depressing because I am reflecting on having the best time of my life. The best 5 months which have challenged and surprised me....

and I wouldn't change it for the world!

MID-SEMESTER BREAK!

A week full of beauty and wonders. That was mid semester break.

Siobhan, Amy and myself took a trip up north to the little city of Cairns, followed by a cruise around the Whitsunday Islands. Of course, it had to start with a little bit of drama...

So I wake up on Friday at 4am, ready to leave the flat to catch our 6am flight. The moment I wake up I text Shiv and Amy 'WAKE UP!'. Amy responds, Shiv doesn't. I have this very strange instinctive feeling that something will go wrong. Usually I ignore my instinct, this time I couldn't. When Amy and I are outside the uni ringing Siobhan and she doesn't pick up, we realise that she has indeed slept in and won't be waking up anytime soon. The worst part is, she was in charge of our lift to the airport.

After minutes of 'This can't be happening', 'no she is coming', 'I can hear her coming now...oh wait, it was just a bird', we ring a taxi. Luckily, because of the time, it came straight away and the traffic was clear. We caught out flight to Cairns, but I couldn't help wishing the seat next to me was filled too.

Not to worry though, Siobhan caught a flight the next day and all was merry in the land of Oz. So lets get to the fun part.

Diving in the Great Barrier Reef is not just a highlight of the week, but a highlight of my life. I could not feel any more grateful to have that experience. The reef is mind blowing and the water is unbelievable. Everything looks like it has been photoshopped or taken off of Google. The fish looked as if they were glowing as they swam around us. We even saw this good looking fella;

I have to say, I did feel pretty cool all suited up. My Lara Croft persona came back. We were the three musketeers on a mission to, eeermmm, do something. Haven't figured that out yet. I had a bit of a problem with my first mask. It was too big and wouldn't stop filling up with water, no matter how many times I used the de-filling, waste of time technique! So, when we came up on board and everyone is excited about seeing Nemo the fish, I am puzzled. Amy tells me i had a picture with it, so I must have seen it. When the photos came back to us and I looked like that >>>>>>
everything became clear.

MY MASK is the reason why I didn't find Nemo. The evidence is in my photo. I look like I'm passing out when really all I'm doing is praying my mask behaves itself.

After leaving Cairns on Monday night we took a 12 hour greyhound coach to Airlie Beach, where our boat departs. We were on the Condor, previously the WORLD'S FASTEST SAILING SHIP. Yep, thats right. We were on it. As we sailed round the magical islands, all that surrounded us was the ocean. Me and Shiv even slept on top deck, underneath the stars, listening to the waves. I have never in my life seen so many bright stars. Food was great, people were great, life was fabulous. It IS fabulous.

One of the beaches we stopped off at was Whitehaven Beach, ranked the third best beach on earth. The picture on the left shows the lookout point. Need I say anymore?

The sand is so pure you can polish your jewellery with it, and it looks brand new. Stingrays were swimming to the shore, following us as we walked along the beach. I wish I got a picture of us wearing stinger suits. We looked beautiful as you can imagine.

After two day and nights on the boat, I was ready to head back to land. We spent a night at Airlie beach, where we met up with the boys from uni and ended our trip. Airlie beach is somewhere I can picture living and working for 6-12 months. It's super chilled out and full of people who just want to enjoy life. It seems a lot of us Pommies have headed up to North Australia to settle and escape from English weather.

Don't worry mum, I'm still coming home. Can't miss a traditional English christmas!


All in all, it was a great week. I have only really told you a quarter, if that, of our experiences. But if I told you everything, we would be hear a long time. My advice to you is....

Come to Australia and experience it yourself.

Check In

Hey,

Haven't checked in properly for a while now, spare time doesn't seem to come around often anymore! I worked every day last week as well as going to uni and everything else. But it feels good to be working and earning money, it'll make travelling feel well deserved.

It's week 10 at uni now, which means I have been in Oz for 11 weeks. Mum was definitely right when she said that time would start off slow and then suddenly speed up. This is the last week of uni before mid semester break. Siobhan, Amy and myself fly to Cairns on Friday morning! I can't wait. I can't believe I'll be diving in the Great Barrier Reef and cruising round the Whitsunday Islands in a boat; way too dreamy to be real life.

Everyone is beginning to book flights for when they travel after uni finishes and it's FREAKING ME OUT! First of all, my flight home is way too early. When I booked it I was told it would be cheap to change my flight, now they're telling me it'll be 250/350 quid! It is peak season though so I understand. Currently my flight is booked for 30th November, arriving in England on 1st December to kick start another month. I am starting to think I need more time though, so might be changing it to the 16th instead. I guess with a job now and my student loan coming through I can afford to do it.

At the moment all I have planned, in my head only, is to visit Fraser Island at the start of November, move onto Sydney and then Melbourne. By the time I'm back it'll be 30th November and time to go home. However if I stay longer, I would love to see Bali! Thailand and New Zealand popped into my head as well but I can't do everything.

I just can't quite keep up with life. I don't understand how it goes so fast. It's ridiculous! I just got here and I am filling out forms to terminate my residency in my college halls. I really do feel settled here now and have made a good group of friends, got myself a job and the latest news is... I've gone and got myself an Aussie boyfriend. It's a bit silly really, seeing as we both know I'm leaving soon, but you can't plan everything. He's the guy I mentioned in previous posts by the way; Mackenzie.

This weekend he took me on a surprise adventure to a beautiful National Park near Springbrooke. There's a spot called Natural Bridge which has amazing waterfalls like this:

I sort of felt like I was in Batman's cave. There really were Bats though.

Anyway it was such a nice surprise. Theres also a point called 'world's best look out', and it goes a little something like this:

    The view is unreal! So peaceful too. 

Macca also showed me a place called Sovereign Island. It is insane. I have NEVER seen houses so big and so over the top. Clive Palmer lives there and instead of a car parked next to his home, he has a bloody big boat. Every single property is worth over 1 million and every single car parked outside looks it too. I literally can't imagine how much money the people who live there have. I would love to know what they do for a living. 

So although I might not be able to live there, we could afford to have lunch on the water. Australian's are so lucky they can do simple things like that whenever they want! It was so luxurious to look at a view of water and boats whilst eating rather than a motorway or whatever else you might see. I really did eat too much this weekend. How will I live without Tim Tams in the UK? They are these yummy Australian chocolate biscuits which come in about 5 flavours. I haven't met a single person who doesn't like them. 

The ice cream places here are amazing too. There is a new place in Southbank called Nitrogenee which we went to and you watch them make the ice cream from scratch. Just picture blow torches, steam and white dungarees. Then theres Cold Rock which I still need to try. Baskin and Robins is another place which is insane. See why I'm concerned about the amount of food i've consumed? Thank god I'm a gym and chicken freak during the week. I don't know how I'm going to work around that when I leave campus though.

This post was a bit of a long one which I apologise for, but now you are all up to date with my Australian Adventure.

G'day!

Taking chilled out to a new level

Alrighty, it's time to address the difference between education in England and education in Australia. I'm not really talking about the curricula, more the attitude.

The thing that confuses me the most are tutorials. As I do drama, my tutorials are actually called workshops, minus one. Understandably, workshops are more relaxed and focused on interaction with the lecturer. They involve a lot of talking and sometimes moving about. However, this to me does not mean make yourself at home, lye on the floor, pop in your headphones if you feel like it and perhaps even have a doze.

I'm serious. I had a tutorial earlier today on Australian Theatre and actually began to laugh because all around me were people lying on the floor as our lecturer was trying to teach. Its more than just getting comfortable, they actually look like they are sleeping. I just don't get it. This is happens every week in every tutorial and is clearly something which has always happened here.

Every time I notice these kind of things, I try and imagine what would happen if I did the same in Exeter. To be honest, I can't imagine anyone doing it. Our lecturers want us to look alive and as if we are participating. Sure you get the odd day where your lacking energy and feel a bit sluggish, but you cover it up!

Attendance at Exeter is monitored like a hawk. Turning up half an hour late is not an option. Walking in and out whenever you want to does not exist. Guess what? All of this is acceptable at Griffith. Students have honestly walked in 45 minutes late to a lecture or 'tute' and no one has flickered an eye lid. It's a free for all.

I'm trying my best not to sound like a snob or teacher's pet because I know that to many it will read that way. It's really just me analysing and trying to comprehend student life over here compared to back home. I can't say that I'm not judging though. I don't think its good how all of this is allowed to happen so casually. It just makes university feel a bit immature and sometimes pointless. I guess it's a positive that the students here feel as if they can 100% relax around their lecturers, and will perhaps then allow them to be more honest and open. It definitely breaks the barrier between teacher and student.


I'm not going to let myself fully adapt to such a relaxed environment at uni because otherwise I'll get a shock when I head back to Exeter.

I hope I don't sound like too much of a twat during this post, sorry if you feel that I do. (Sorry not sorry).

A weekend on the water

Another great weekend has been and gone. This time I was lucky enough to visit the beauty that is Stradbrooke Island, our transport being a jet ski.

So my friend Tom lives on the water. Literally, his house is basically on the water. Of course that means you have to own a jet ski as well as boat, or like some of the residents there, five boats. A few of us went out on the jet ski and travelled across to South Stradbrooke. Words can't describe how amazing it is! It is un touched, un polluted, perfect stretches of sand.

The picture doesn't even do it justice because it was taken on a blackberry (shitberry).

I've never seen sand so white in my life, it almost looked fake. The sea wrapped around the island and greenery filled up the edges of the land. In the distance you could see the built up Gold Coast, but apart from that I felt as if I was part of the film Castaway or The Island. I didn't think the locations you see in films could ever compare to real life but this topped it. I found this little guy wondering around in the sand too:

After that I ventured out to Surfer's Paradise and experienced my first night out there. I've been warned many times about this place and so was fully prepared for the seediness of the club strip. It didn't bother me at all though. Anywhere where there is a strip of cheap clubs you're going to find cheap things and people. But, to be honest, I thought there were a good crowd of people and didn't find any trouble. It was a good night out which ended with me being piggy backed home and having a domestic with a man from Bali who got too big for his boots. Standard.

I'm back at Griffith now and of course I walked into a flat which hasn't been cleaned one tiny bit since I left. It's gross. No one wants to take responsibility and empty the bins or do their washing up. I'm certainly not doing it again that's for sure.

I'm into the second week of my job now and already I'm feeling the 'I don't want a job attitude'. It's stupid because it's so convenient and the hours are perfect but it's always a drag to work. But it'll be worth it when I'm diving in Cairns in 3 weeks! So I've got to suck it up and get on with it. 

Got to go treat this bugger of a mozzie bite, it's killing!