London Girl Travelling

Thursday, 1 February 2018

Summer hols down under

Apparently one summer holiday isn't enough for me! I was lucky enough to get to Aus in time to work the last term of the year then get another 6 weeks off. Mwahahah. Teacher life 😉.

The 2 main reasons I decided to move to Australia were to live in another country and to travel this side of the world, so this summer I went to New Zealand, Sydney & Indonesia and I had the best time.

New Zealand

Places visited:
Auckland/Waiheke
Taupo
Rotorua/Putaruru
Wellington
Marlborough region (WINE!)
Christchurch
Queenstown

I booked my trip to NZ before I decided I might move there when my Aussie visa expires, but having made that decision meant that when I was over there I could check out what a couple of places might be like to live. (Wellington will be where I call home if I get to go to NZ). I was in NZ for 19 days overall and I really enjoyed myself. I got to catch up with a few friends I knew from home, which was lovely, and I also met lots of new people. The rain seemed to follow me around a fair bit but it didn't spoil it. Taupo was beautiful (Huka Falls and free hot springs nearby too!), Wellington was cool, the ferry crossing to the south island was stunning, the wine in Marlborough was delicious & cycling through vineyards was so lovely and Queenstown's lake was mesmerising. Everywhere in New Zealand was beautiful: lakes, mountains, ocean.

View of Auckland from the ferry to wonderful Waiheke

Beautiful Lake Taupo

Powerful Huka Falls - totally worth the hour and a half walk at sunrise

Oriental Bay, Wellington

View overlooking Wellington from Mount Victoria - another sunrise walk for the non-morning person

Marlborough Wine Region 😊

Christchurch

Beautiful Queenstown

Sydney

I flew down to Sydney for a few days including New Year's Eve, because you know, "when in Rome" (or Australia). It was a crazy experience but I'm glad I did it. I got to see a couple of friends, welcome in the new year with some lovely fireworks (and learnt that you don't need to go super early as there are so many spots to watch from) & got to explore some areas that I didn't make it to in 2011.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Bondi Beach

Sydney Opera House

Street art in Newtown

Indonesia

Places visited:
Seminyak, Bali
Yogyakarta, Java
Kuta, Lombok
Sengiggi, Lombok
Gili Trawangan
Gili Air
Lovina, Bali
Ubud, Bali

I very nearly thought I wasn't going to make it to Indonesia! First of all there were cancelled flights left, right & centre the month before I was due to leave because of a volcano. Once that calmed down and I knew I could go I checked the weather forecast and very briefly considered not going because it was due to be rainy and stormy every single day in every location. Luckily the rain wasn't as terrible/frequent as was forecast so I still managed to get sunburnt, of course, and I was able to enjoy exploring new places without getting soaked. (This also meant my phone didn't die from taking photos in the rain - throwback to South America 2016). I was in Indonesia for about 16 days I think. Seminyak is the Aussies' cheap foreign beach holiday location so I wouldn't go back in a hurry. Yogyakarta was amazing! Crazy busy city and white tourists (bule = "boolay") are way less common over there so there were lots of looks and a gazillion people wanting to take photos with you, but it was one of my favourite places. Yogyakarta and it's nearby areas are also home to two of the most beautiful temples I've ever been lucky enough to visit. Lombok's Kuta was beautiful and full of friendly people. I befriended a lovely lady who now lives in Aus but is from the local Sasak village and she and her daughter absolutely made my time in Lombok. With her I learnt how to ride a scooter, met her family, went to the traditional village at night when no tourists go as it's pretty closed down & helped her plan her wedding that was going to be the following week! Haha. I also got interviewed for Indonesian TV on Kuta beach! Hilarious. The Gili islands were totally worth the trip over and they live up to their reputations. Beautiful islands, stunning water & great atmospheres. I snorkled off the beach on Gili T and a guy showed me where I could see turtles and I saw 5 giant turtles. It was truly incredible (and the best $2.50) I've ever spent. I'm pleased I went to the north of Bali as I got to see some fab sights, but Ubud was definitely one of my favourite parts of this trip. It probably helped that I was hanging out with some amazing people the entire time there. These couple of people absolutely made my time in Ubud what it was! I was so sad the day I left 😢.

My footprints in the sand in Seminyak

Prambanan Temple, Yogyakarta

Borobudur Temple, Yogyakarta

Misty morning at Borobudur

Here I go! Haha

Sunset in Sengiggi

Look at that view! Gili T

Love you all x

Git Git Waterfall, Lovina

Ulun Danu Beratan Temple

Monkeys just hanging out on the side of the road in Lovina

Hot springs

Moped life

Just a short stroll from the centre of Ubud

Thursday, 30 November 2017

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow, where does the time go?

It's been too long since I've written anything, but for good reason: I've been busy!

Work
I can't believe how lucky I've been. It's Term 4 here, which is the final term of the Australian school year, so typically supply (or relief as they call it here) work slows down, but I've been incredibly lucky and have had pretty much full time work since last writing. It's a good job really, because I won't get paid over the summer holidays. Even luckier, has been the fact that I've had the opportunity to get regular work at one local school in particular. Being a supply teacher and not knowing anyone each time you enter a new school isn't as nice as having work friends, however having a regular schools means I've met lots of lovely people and I'm not making small talk in the staff room - I've actually been able to get to know the staff. The nicest thing: I've been invited to their Christmas do! How lovely is that? As well as that, I've taught nearly all the classes so the kids and parents know me too. I feel part of the school and look forward to my days there. Having said that, the odd days I've not been booked to work there, I've worked at some other nice schools too!

Travel
I've not done too much travel lately, as I've wanted to save money for the summer holidays, but I did visit my friend in Melbourne. It was a lovely long weekend. 3 nights/3 days. The weather there, for once, was beautiful - nice and sunny! I enjoyed strolling around and spotting a couple of places I remembered from my first visit a few years ago as well as hanging out with my friend, who I met in South America last year. We went to a few really lovely bars, restaurants and cafes and also went to a Dirty Dancing film screening event, with a free watermelon margarita ("I carried a watermelon" - you have to have seen the film) and a Dirty Dancing themed DJ set afterwards. That same night we ended up walking into a random bar that I recognised instantly - my friend and I had gone there years ago for a couple of drinks. So random that in such a big city I ended up in the exact same bar! Absolutely love Melbourne and can't wait to head there again next year - hopefully for a bit longer next time. As for other travel, I have been exploring areas local to Brisbane, but the big trips will be over the summer hols. I'm off to New Zealand, Sydney and Indonesia (hopefully - the volcano might change that), but I'll write about those trips later.

Social
For those of you who know me well, I like being busy and having plans locked in. I've been making sure I've had things to look forward to whether it be socialising with friends or taking myself to the theatre, I've been keeping busy! I've continued going to Spanish/English conversation nights in the city, practising my Spanish but also meeting new people. Friendships with people from there are getting better and better and I'm so pleased I joined that specific meetup group when I first arrived in Brisbane. (Meetup is a website for people to start up/join social groups to "meet up" with people with similar interest). We've had a few catch ups over dinners and last weekend some of us went to King George Square in the city to see the Christmas tree lights get turned on which was nice. Strange that it was so hot but we were doing something Christmassy, and also that is was in November, but it was fun nonetheless! My salsa lessons have started to pay off - I now know a fair few turns and moves and have gone to some social salsa nights with a couple of people from the classes, which is nice. A couple of weeks ago I went to an event for British people in Brisbane and met a few nice people, one of whom I saw the Wizard of Oz musical with. It was nice to say "You alright?" as a greeting and not get misunderstood - here if you say "you alright?" it's like asking is someone is OK because it seems like something is wrong, not just hey. The Aussie equivalent is "how are you going?" or "how is it going?". When I first visited Aus a few years ago that really threw me - how am I going? Forwards? Backwards? Haha but now it's normal. As well as meeting new people I've been lucky enough to get to know my lovely housemate even better and we've done a fair few things together including going to the spring horse races and going to the Ashes last weekend.

I really can't complain about my time in Aus so far. I feel incredibly lucky that things seem to have just fallen into place and I'm making sure I enjoy every bit!