Time is up!

That’s right, my time is up. Tomorrow night I’ll be heading home, on a 26 hour journey back to sunny England.

Hervey Bay and Fraser Island was the perfect way to end what has been an epic journey. Our hotel at Hervey overlooked the Marina and sat beside one of the best restaurants I’ve ever eaten at. I tried Kangaroo for the first time since I’ve been here, and I was very impressed! Shame I didn’t have more of that, don’t think they sell it back home.

Our tour at Fraser Island was amazing. We had a busy group of around 40 people, young and old. Our tour guide Billy loved Mackenzie because they are both aussies, so we were in with the boss. We stopped at places like Lake Mckenzie (typical), Eli Creek, Central Station, Lake Wobbee and Indian Heads. Jelly fish, sharks and much more roamed the sea so that was a no go. Instead we swam in fresh water lakes, even better. Eurong Resort definitely gave us our moneys worth in terms of food, the scales proved that when we got back to the Gold Coast.  It’s impossible to really describe how beautiful the island is. You won’t know until you see it with your own eyes.

 

One week to go

That's right. I have one week left in the great land of Australia. How? I don't know.

I cannot believe how fast the past 5 months have gone. One minute I am in my uni bedroom, skyping my family and thinking how far I have to go until I see them again. Now my mum is sending me messages saying '9 days to go'.

Siobhan flew back to Brisbane with me from Melbourne after booking a spontaneous flight after a drunken night out. She wanted to surprise Spencer, and I was going to deny a flying buddy. So, me being sober and her being drunk, I gave her a nudge in the right direction. We had our long goodbye at the airport on Thursday night. I'm already missing my partner in crime, but constantly remind myself I'm lucky she only lives round the corner at home!

My last week will plan out like so:

Tonight- Tommy's birthday celebrations. Macca, Zoe, Ben, Tom and myself have a room booked at the casino, and a night out in Broadbeach planned. Macca and I are currently baking Tom an amazing chocolate cake. Macca is a domestic goddess when it comes to making cakes, takes after his mum.

Sunday- Probably hungover. But will still try and make it to the gym.

Monday- Macca and I will set off for Hervey Bay, where we are staying at the Mantra Hotel overlooking the Marine.

Tuesday- Our ferry departs for Fraser Island! Tuesday night will be spent at a motel on the 75 mile beach. Magic.

Wednesday- Another day on Fraser Island, returning to Hervey Bay in the evening and spending another night at the Mantra Hotel.

Thursday- The drive back to Gold Coast will begin, stopping off at Noosa on the way home. Noosa was too hard to try and find a hotel because of 'Schoolies'; a two week bender for the 17 and 18 year olds who have finished our version of sixth form.  Strange, because Noosa is known as a very expensive and posh area, so I have no idea how it will be invaded by squealing teenagers.

Friday- CHRISTMAS TREE TIME! Mackenzie will turn into a wood chopper as he goes to find the family's very own natural tree and cuts it down all by himself. Decorating will then commence, just in time for December 1st.

Saturday- Back to England I go...

The Great Ocean Road

ROAD TRIP!

The Great Ocean Road is a magnificent road trip stretching across Melbourne. Being a group of 10, we hired two five man 'wicked' camper vans, including a tent on top of the roof which folded out. We swopped between the two vans at each stop we took, picking names out of a hat to choose who goes where.

Lucky for us, we stayed over night at camp sites which had hot showers and surprisingly clean toilets. Not quite the dirty camping trip we expected. A few different stops we made were the 12 Apostles, Bells beach, London Bridge, and a road which was overwhelmed by koalas. Zoos are now out of the window for me after seeing the real thing up close, in the wild. We saw a female koala bear climbing a branch which made her look like she was tight rope walking, with her baby on her back. It was truly spectacular. Take a look:

WHAT A SHOW!

It was all a bit of 'shits and giggles' as Anna frequently said. This photo sums it up:

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.