Back to the norm...

Well I've been home from Australia for about 3 or 4 weeks now and it is just the same as when I left. Why do you always think you are missing out on something when clearly you are not?!

Well the plan is to get rich and go back in Jan but i'm working mega hard and don't seem to be earning much!! lol. I knew $'s look more but man they go loads further too!!

The weekend before I flew home I finished my backpacking in Sydney. I jumped on a bus from the Gold Coast in Queensland and did 16 hours overnight on the bus....it wasn't half as bad as I thought. I meet my friends Naomi and Dave in Sydney and we did the tourist thing as the other two times I went I just didn't have enough time to do everything! I spilt an ice cream down my t-shirt about 10 mins after I left the hotel so I just bought a cheap t-shirt which says 'I Love Sydney!' how embarrassing!! However i was not walking a million miles to find a different shop! Also my house mate Ben text me and randomly he was in Sydney too which was ace as Ben is the bee's knees! So had a great time with my mates! :)

My main dream while I was in Sydney was to Climb the Harbour Bridge. I was going to do this no matter what and I did! It was AWESOME!!!!!!! Myself, Naomi and Ben all climbed together. Dave was too scared but too be fair Naomi did cry for a big part of the climb. It takes ages about 3.5 hours all in all to get to the top and back. The views are just stunning, I still can't believe I've not only been to Australia but that I've travelled a little and seen some much stuff! I have sooooo many stories to tell....it's just finding someone who wants to listen to them!!! lol.

Hopefully i'll be able to get myself back out there in Jan and maybe even bungee jump this time? Who knows!!!

Travels

Well I quit my job about 4 weeks ago....great feeling!! So off I went traveling!!! I flew to Brisbane which is a lovely city, but still a city, and too be fair they mainly look the same whatever country you are in. Spent four days in a Caravan in Brisbane...def an experience. There is a 'fake' beach in Brisbane at south bank pretty random, sand and water in the middle of the city...but plenty of hot guy!! :)

From Brisbane I jumped on a bus to Noosa which is stunning! Some beautiful views but so very very hot. There was a bush fire while i was there which was a bit scary. Stayed there for 5 days, hired a car and went exploring.

From Noosa I went on the bus back to Brisbane then train to Robina Coast. I'm currently on the Gold Coast at Burliegh Heads. Now this is stunning!! I think even better than Noosa but thats just opinion. I went to Byron Bay yesterday and its pretty cool, plenty of hippies around! I also visited the most eastern point in Australia.

Today I have been on a right trek up in the country side...I went through some places which were like rain forest and the noises from the wildlife were just amazing. I saw water falls and went to the best look out point in Australia. You stand in Queensland and can see right into New South Wales. It was stunning.

I've had a great time traveling around soooo pleased I have grasped this experience. Be back in the 'sunny' UK soon though as money starting to run out :( Catching the bus from here to Sydney on Friday which takes just over 16 hours!!!!! oh the joy of backpacking and being on a tight budget. Traveling overnight so saved on the cost of a nights accomodation!! hehe!! Then back to Canberra on Sunday. Then we'll see where from there! :)

Sky tower pics

The pic isn't amazing as i've just taken a picture of it as no scanner out here! But wow it was so much fun do to this. It only cost like £38 to do a 30min walk outside on the rim up 192meters! Bargain!! Hopefully i'll climb Sydney harbor bridge before i come back too and have a pic of that! Thinking about going to the aboriginal art gallary today sounds pretty cool.

Last night I cooked tea for the boys as they are useless....not that i'm much better but hey! They had never heard of chocolate cornflake cakes before so I made some and they were amazed!! Having a few friends over for tea tonight and they want me to make them something British....bangers and mash?? But they said no something different? I couldn't think of anything but then i mentioned yorkshire puds and they were like what? Ok so one is from China and another from Elsalavdor but come on never heard of yorkshire puds!! So i'm cooking my fav, mince, potatoes peas and yorkshire puddings!! yummy! But what dessert?? Trifle? yuk!! Maybe chocolate rice crispies!!!! The cornflakes went down sooooo well!! he he he!

New Zealand

It was FAB!! I went to New Zealand and stayed with my A Level Media studies Tutor Rachael. She has been living in NZ for a year with her boyfriend so i spent a week with them. Rachael and I went to auckland for the day and did the Skywalk round the tower. It was amazing check it out on http://www.skywalk.co.nz/ that'll show you what we did. I've got a pic of me leaning out over the edge so i'll get it on here when i get round to it.

I hired a car and drove to Rotura for the day, it was lovely. A great drive too, it was three hours but the scenery was great. You drive past some of the places where Lord Of the Rings were filmed. It is sooooooooooo green, not like Australia and we've just had the winter so its only going to get browner!!

I've been offered my own store to run if i return after Christmas but not sure I want to come back and leave all my family and friends just to work for McDoanld's!! It's exactly same, the bosses, the rude customers and the idiot staff no matter what country you are in so i think i'm going to persue something else. Although this has been an amazing experience! :)

I've just moved house, i've been living with Simon the store manager his wife Lynn and their kids Sandy and Ru. I've really enjoyed living there. For the rest of the time I will be living in the city with 3 guys. They are all dead nice but haven't got a clue...plus the house smells of boys!!!!!

Yesterday i went shopping and didn't have anywhere to put put my chilled stuff so i was moving things round and oh my lord......i'm surprised they are alive with the amount of mould growing in there...i soon sorted that out. Next is to put the toilet seat down!!!!!!!!!!

Sydney

Just spent the weekend in Sydney and mot of it was fun! We were going to go to the Zoo but then i wanted to go up Sydney tower and go to the aquarium and everything else...like being a child all over again! Luckily we went on a good day its was warm and bright.

We went up Sydney tower and the views were amazing it is like 309m and we went to 250m but that was plenty. I am off to New Zealand in 2 weeks for a few days away and i'm meeting my tutor from last year there as she has been living there for a few months so should be fun!!

We saw Jimmy Choos and loads of posh shops....i felt to scruffy to even walk down that street never mind go in any shops!!

Chocolate sucks over here!!

I couldn't believe it, went to tuck into a twirl and it tasted horrible :( they make it different over here so it doesn't melt so fast but it is horrible and i'm gutted!!

Just a quick update, things are going well and making friends which is nice. Was taken out twice this week, once to Hog's Breathe and once to this amazing Turkish resturarnt. I had the biggest steak ever with pepercorn sauce at Hog's Breathe and then went to see mamamia and oh god it was so funny. I knew all the songs and some of the words yes i know i should be ashamed!! But they had only heard like one or two! I must say yes a cheesy film but def a must see its well funny and got some great people in.

I was also taken sight seeing in the dark which was interesting!! All is could see was headlights and street lights! The plan is to go and find a flat tomorrow and then sight see afterwards. So maybe some cool pics!

Here are a few pictures that Chris took.

G'day!

Well hello from down under! This is a very short and sweet blog just to let everyone know i arrived safely!!! However the flights were sooooooooo long but i got through them! The weather is cold but then again it is their winter so i can't really complian! I started work on thursday and it is so very different but i'm sure i'll get used to it!

Haven't really taken any pics yet as we've doing all the boring stuff like sorting out visa's bank accounts etc. Have had a few good nights thoughs, everyone drinks beer in like the middle of the day its weird ...but good!

Will get some pics up soon. I have a mobile number while i'm out here so just e-mail me if you want it! xxxx

Tuesdays!

I've been looking after Harriet for several weeks now on a Tuesday...we have great fun!! I love it! I try and make things fun and we try to learn something new, even if it is just a word!

She is defiantly a pain in the rear end but I love her for it! She bites me loads too and let me tell you she comes keen when she starts!Last week we went to White Post Farm and we had a great time, I think I enjoyed it more than her lol. She is talking a lot now and her words are getting really clear, she knows what she wants!! The turkey was following her around and it scared her a little. She ran up to me shouting "scare scare" patting her chest, obviously this means she is scared, how sweet!

We fed the goats and the sheep and she was really brave. We played on the trampoline and the 'lide as she calls it. I really enjoyed myself and think she did too. Plus we picked up a few new words, she can now say Ostrich, Peacock and goat.

Above are a few pictures from over the weeks of bits and bobs we have done. We've been shopping where she tried to steal a brolly which I ended up buying I was mortified, she has laid on the floor in marks and spencers for like 20minutes much to my embarrassment!! We been to kids play areas, we've painted, we've been on walks and many drives in the car as she won't sleep for me unless in the car!!

I will miss Harriet soooooooooooooo much while I'm away and I'm gutted I'm gonna miss out on her growing up...but hopefully she'll be over her bitting faze when i get back!!

V isa has been granted!!

OZ here I come!! A tense week waiting for my Visa is over and the excitement has now kicked in! Now the flight searching has commenced its amazing the amount of price difference I've found one flight for £750 and then another for £1974!!! how can that be?! So Chris and myself have spend hours searching the net for good deals. Anyone know of a good site?

I've got a rotten cold and feel poo so I'm still in bed and intend to stay here all day! I will catch up with you all soon!

Is OZ the place for me?!

Haven't updated this for a while, as I'm sure all you people who tell me you read this actually don't, as Louise is the only person who ever leaves comments! Thanks Louise!

Well my life has been slightly up and down recently! I decided after what can only be described as some miserable months at work to resign....great idea apart from the fact i don't have another job. Do you all remember the competition i entered to go and work in Beijing? Well when I went there I meet a nice man called Chris who work for macs in Forfar Scotland, we decided to keep in touch and the day I resigned he e-mail me to tell me he had too. This was very random as neither of us had mentioned this to each other. He however had a new job in line. His old store manager was working out in Canberra in Australia and was looking for managers to go out and work for him! I was dead jealous! Then he told me that he'd put my name across to Simon and Mark out there is OZ and my contact details. Next thing i know, e-mails are being sent back and forwards and on Tuesday night i applied for a working holiday Visa. I've been offered a 2 year contract but I'm slightly worried about that but have agreed to go for 6 months if my application is granted!!

I have mixed feelings about this, as do many other people. All I can say is if I don't do it now, when will I? I have nobody relaying on me, i don't have a house or a bloke or children or a life to be fair. I go to work and come home miserable go to college once a week and that is it! So maybe this is a mega opportunity!

I should know by the end of next week whether I've been accepted or not so finger crossed hey!!

However all of you that know me , know I have no back bone so who knows I'll probably still be working for Ollerton McDonald's in 15 years time!!

Graduation!!

Last week I graduated from my HNC course. To be honest I didn't really think it was a massive thing but according to the tutors and some parents it was! we had the whole thing, cap and gown.....millions of pics..(which I hate!!) But lets not forget the white piece of pipe with a ribbon tied round it as our scroll! Classy hey!

I had a nice evening with my friends from the course, which I must say I have grown pretty close too over the past year and a half. Probably couldn't have done it without all the crazy cups of tea and the occasional dinner time trip to the pub!

I haven't written anything of here for ages as a) I'm rubbish and b) I'm mega busy, with work, college and looking after friends!! (which I enjoy of course!) So next week I am going to have a least one night to myself!

zeebrugge

I really enjoyed my few days away.....although we didn't go to Rotterdam...We went to check in at Hull to be told we were booked on the ferry to Zeebrugge and I had NO idea where this was! I talked to a dew people to try and get us moved onto the Rotterdam ferry but we had to pay extra money and be down graded into a worse cabin! So we decided we'd go to Zeebrugge even though we didn't know where it was.

It's quite lucky we went on that boat as i ended up winning £100 on the bingo!! woohoo! I wasn't going t play as bingo is for old people and then i ended up winning. I split the money with Toni so we both had a bit of extra spending money which was nice.

The sea was soooooooooooo rough. I didn't sleep a wink the first night as it was throwing us around so much. The second night was even worse but i was that tired i had no choice but to sleep a little. All day Saturday when i got back i felt as if i was still on the sea. It's a really weird feeling.

We spent the day in Brugge, which is a gorgeous place. It reminded my a little of York. All the streets are cobbled and there are loads on grand buildings. We went on a tour of the area on a horse and carriage and then walked around for what seemed like hours as it was pretty cold.

There was, no word of a lie, 30 chocolate shops! It was amazing, so many different types and in any shape you could ever want or need them in. I bought all the boys at work naked ladies. I bought gifts for people but I must say I don't have the taste for it I still prefer Dairy Milk!!

I am without a car today..... : ( it failed it's MOT on brakes so gone to have it sorted. So i couldn't get to college.....secretly i planned it like this! So i am meant to be writing my assignment but as you can tell I'm not getting very far with it!!

Catch up

What a mad few weeks it has been!! Firstly I'd like to say thanks for all my birthday wishes...i am now old and all people have been saying is it goes down hill from now!?! God I hope not. I received many gifts and money which I will be putting towards a holiday....which i really need right now!! Toni has paid for me and her to go on a small cruise to Rotterdam at the end of the month which I'm really looking forward too. You're only actually in Rotterdam for about 7 or 8 hours and spend the rest of the time at sea and sleeping between ports which to me sounds like something different to do. I am always going on about how I'm a little too grown up and won't let my hair down so this is something random which will hopefully be fun. So THANK YOU TONI!!! X

Apart from the madness of my birthday I have worked a million hours and also got lots and lots of college work to get to grips with. Plus I've been applying for any job I have the qualifications for so please keep your fingers crossed for me. As i am in two minds of whether or not to go back to uni as Swansea really shattered my dreams so maybe i will go in sept maybe i won't depends what comes up between now and then.

I bought my bestest mate Jason tickets to go and see High School Musical on ice for his Birthday as he likes the movies. I must say...it was FANTASTIC! Ok it was for children but i really enjoyed myself, the skating was great the acting and singing was good too.

I have lots more to say but I have soooooo much to do. I have had the same head ache for about 2 weeks now which is really starting to suck ass. I have even been wearing my glasses to work...thats how bad it is!! So i will catch up again with everyone is a few days.

Merry 2008!

Well Happy New year to anyone I haven't already wished it too. A very uneventful evening had by a very tired me. Worked lates new years eve, managed to have 3 malibu and orange before deciding i was too old for late nights early mornings as was back to work in the AM. Although the sight of 8 greeny off looking crew members reminded me why i went to bed without getting wasted!! hahaha.

Tomorrow is my first day off since Christmas but i decided that doesn't count as everyone had it off so today has been my 13th shift in a row and man my feet ache. I am contemplating whether to stay in bed ALL day and sleep, or go shopping and spend my hard earned cash?!

I'm 21 in less than a week now...WOOHOO so i need to find clothes to wear for the night on the town. Plus its Dad's birthday on Sunday so need to get him a present.

Harriet is a little monkey although a lovely little one, she had millions of presents so it is crazy working out what to play with. She had a little play kitchen with the pots and pans etc, a shopping trolley and till so she has taken over the real kitchen, bringing us cups of tea! She now knows how to say 'Yes please' and says it at the right time, with a big smile on her face...how sweet. I can't wait until she can really speak!!!