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@natasha-hall88
The progression of the Aussie tan! From where I started in Sydney to the last photo of me In Bowen about a month ago. The 4th from last photo is probably the darkest I have become since living here, Byron Bay 38degree heat 🙌🙏 The 5th photo is me at Christmas on,y being here 3months sat next to my friend jeni who has lived here almost 4years🙊
Top 10 thoughts when farming
So I have been farming since late January 2015 (6months) and sometimes it amazes me that I haven't run out of things to think about. So of your thinking about starting your farm work or in need of some thoughts motivation here's a few things. 1. What am i going to have for tea (dinner) 2. When was the last/next time I'll get laid 3. Dreaming of future travel plans 4. What i would do with a Aussie credit card 5. What the fuck happened last night? 6. Did that person really shit themselves? 7. When will I go home 8. Never wanting to work in retail again 9. How much I hate Hasan (previous boss) 10. I want an early finish but need the money struggle These are just the first 10 thingsI have thought over and over
The backpackers
So this is going to feel a bit like a Mean Girls post, like when they're naming top he different kinds of social groups in high school. This also applies to the different kind of backpackers you meet along the way. The trust fund kids- the backpackers that have come out on daddy's money, to get a gap year experience to see a bit of the world before going to work at their fathers company, these people are not interested in farm work, and if they are they tend to buy the farmer out. Most tend to call home daily, and have everything already bored in adv, they know exactly where they'll be and when. They'll regularly call home when they are broke (broke being $100) quote one girl I met in airlie beach 'it's been my birthday whilst being out here, my mum best throw me a surprise party for when I get home and a belated birthday party, I should have loads of presents to go home to, it's going to suck going back if not' The extended lads lads holiday guys(and girls) - standard Ibiza types, usually English, in big groups that have known each other from school or home and don't tend to mix with different people (unless they're English) they live in girls vests, white socks, some kind of sports shoe and short shorts, and a lot of bright colours, usually not open to explore new music, films, tv shows or experiences, they know what they like and that's final. The non English speakers here to improve their English- I have a lot of respect for these people, usually European, they are here mostly to improve their English. I think it's incredible if you know more then one language and I cam imagine how scary it must be to come to a country where the citizens have no real need to learn another language. Most of these people will encourage each other to speak English, usually when all hanging out together they'll constantly say 'only English, only speak in English' and when drinking - if you don't speak English you gave to drink. Most people I have met have said they prefer meeting people not from their home country so they have to speak English. Learn and improve. Although every person struggles with the vase amounts of different English accents, if I can't understand a scouser how on earth do they? The I am English but i hate English people - ok this is probably just one person in particular I have met and lived with but I have also met Italians that hate Italians, French who hate French etc. I have to be honest since travelling at first all I wanted was English people however over the past 8months the most interesting people I have met have been from all other the world, I feel I can learn so much more from these people, however two English people I have met who are just like my friends back home who I clicked with instantly are Fiona and Charlotte and then there's Amy who I have only just met but I feel there is so much we can teach each other on our travelling paths. Then you get the people who being around their own kind actually repulses them, they'll talk shit about them - before they've even met them. From experience I have found these people end up being the loneliest. The I am here to discover myself people - sometimes I feel I may fall into this group, although on a non extreme hippie level. I did come out here because I knew there was more to my life then the life I was leading back home, I don't think I have found all the answers and I don't think I will in Australia but being out here with all the time in the world to think has helped a lot, the people I have met have had a huge part to play also. But you do get the people who claim to be a spiritual hippy with all the answers and poetic sentences. The Tommy Toppers - we all know these people, not just with travelling, these people are the ones where you find $5 they find $10, you've done the east coast they've done the whole of Australia, you do the Whitsunday sailing trip they see the islands by helicopter. You get the idea .... Finally there are also the people who weren't happy with the situation they were in at home, or they were bored, or they fancied a change, or they just really wanted to spread a year in Australia travelling, everyone is out here for their own reasons and that's what's important, these are just silly groups my mind has made which you can't help but make, of course you get the rude people and there's people you clash with, we are only humans. However the majority of people you meet are just like you... There might just be a language barrier
Whitsunday Islands
I spent 3 days in airlie beach before setting off sailing around the Whitsunday Islands. Airlie beach is where all the boats depart from, it's a small little town, no bigger then any seaside town in the UK, full of tourist shops and average bars and night clubs, the lagoon was very beautiful and got a killer tan on the 3 days I spent there but I was very bored, for me not a lot of social life going on, everyone that was in the hostel was only there one or two days, either staying there the night before or after their sailing trip. I was really missing home whilst being here, I think since leaving Sydney it was the first time I was alone again, by the final day I was just at breaking point, I remember being sat in my room alone, and just crying uncontrollably, until jeni rang, her call couldn't have come at a better time. The night before I had met up with Joanna from magnetic island land we went out which was really nice. However airlie night life not the best, imagine having a night out in Skegness, minus the Skegness locals and replace with backpackers. Monday morning I left for the sailing trip, I had been so hopeful for this over the past 3 days, a lot of people from my hostel were going on the same boat as me, I just cried inside -'where have you people been hiding?!' Our boat was called the Apollo, it was a world winning sailing boat so we were told, when we arrived at the boat departure we presented our tickets and out if no where I heard a Yorkshire accent stood behind me, this was Fiona d she would make the next 3 days incredible, and would be around for the rest of my travels. She was doing everything I was however about a day or so behind. So we would pretty much always be in he same place at the same time, and getting the same 14hrs bus journey to Sydney, then on to Melbourne in December. She was only a few years under then me, done her farm work, been in Australia almost a year and was doing her east coast trip and was heading home in February back to her job. By this point i had felt very lucky I had met at least one good friend in every location I had been to (minus airlie) but Fiona really was the icing on the cake, I am so thankful we met. The trip consisted of a lot of snorkelling, swimming, eating, drinking and sunbathing. Even now I can not put to words how beautiful the Whitsunday Islands are, the water is so clear, you can see all sea life from the boat before getting in yourself, and where you're snorkelling e fish are coming so close to your face you can almost touch them (but they're far too quick for that) all of the amazing different colours and patterns on the sea life and reef, the Great Barrier Reef carries on to the Whitsunday's and in fact I thought what we saw was even better, probably because it hasn't been destroyed as much by tourists and boats. I did have one deep sea diving lesson however it was soon outlived, due to panic and well yes lots of fear I was going to drown, if it helped the situation Fiona was in my group and the same happened to her, so we went back to the boat to sunbathe. The evening consisted of eating and drinking lots and more drinking and drinking games. Circle of love was played a lot. The second day was mostly going to Whitehaven beach, it gets it's name from the sand, the sand is something like 97% pure, it's like glass, reflects everything, I got sun burn in places you shouldn't get burnt. The sand is so fine it's like flour and so white, it it's the 4th whitest beach in the world and is one of the top beaches in the world. It didn't disappoint. The junky advice I have given to my friends who have wanted to go is to go when the weather is perfect, it really makes all the difference. I want to spend longer here but from what I remember we only spent like 2hrs here. Not even time at all, by this time everyone on the boat had become a bit of a family, we all had so much fun on the beach and in the water, splashing around and playing games. We went snorkelling again at a different location after Whitehaven. Again beautiful sealife, I wish I had a underwater camera. Here we could jump off the boat and swim around without having to be so close to the shore, we still had to keep our stinger suits on as we were in peak seasons for stingers. That night I was introduced to a drinking game called the 'goon Olympics' to sum it up, a lot of sex position games, how quickly can you remove all your clothes and what you can use to cover yourself up with whilst drinking excessively (I went for the flipper to cover myself haha) whilst being intoxicated the boat was being targeted by sharks hitting the boat. The sharks were probably about 1meter long, wobbley drunk legs and sharks isn't the best combination. The final day was spent extremely hungover, I wish I wasn't so hungover as I had no energy to do anything. This was the day I would finally see the sea turtles, by the way the cutest most rad sea animal going, they come so close to you, I remember talking some bullshit to everyone saying I wanted to hold onto their backs and surf with the turtles, definitely 100% still drunk at this point. This would be the last destination on the trip before heading back to mainland, i was absolutely gutted the trip was coming to an end, I had said this after every place but at the time this really was the best trip, not only because I had met Fiona but everyone on the boat was awesome, the people your with really make the experience so much better and this is something I have stuck by throughout all my travels so far in Australia. We got back to airlie about 4pm, I hung at the lagoon before getting my luggage, then I would enjoy a 13hrs bus journey to Rainbow beach for my Fraser Island trip. At this time I though nothing could beat what I had just experienced
December 1st 2014. More photos from my 3 day sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland Australia. Last photo is me and my fellow Sheffield buddie Fiona. I can not wait to see her again when I go home to the uk. Full Whitsunday post to follow
December 1st 2014; 3 day sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands Queensland Australia. Beaches include blue pearl bay and Whitehaven beach. The most stunning beaches I have ever seen
My beautifully crazy friend Lily May Thomas x
Home Hill and Bowen
So I’ve missed out everything in between magnetic island and Melbourne, which was my last destination before starting my farm work, which I’ll cover all at a later date, I just thought to skip to exactly what I’m doing now as a lot of people from home are confused as to my whereabouts
So I moved up to Bowen in Queensland at the beginning of May with work! I was hoping to go back to England in June! however amongst other things that have happened over here, another factor was my boss said he would on take 24 people, and numbers were limited and he promised good work, with possibility of earning up to $1500 a week, after much thought and like I said other personal things happened whilst farming I decided to stay which was completely heart breaking once I arrived in Bowen, as the moment we arrived at 5am in the morning, everything that I had loved about this farm life had completely gone down hill, everything was about to change and my only wish and still now I feel the same, I wish he person I had become to rely and depend on had pre-warned me before even leaving seaspray for what was to come.
I am not going to go into detail about everything that has happened for the past 7weeks, it has been the worse part of my Australian journey, I am beyond thankful for the 2 amazing life long friends I have made; Aino and Charlotte, without these girls I would have done anything possible to leave Bowen and probably Australia. They have been there when I’ve been a complete and utter misery and done there best to try and cheer me up. Sometimes i would question why I would be in a awful mood when I have two great people by my side.
So after only being in Bowen for 4/5 days we took ourselves away to Arlie beach, for some much needed girl time and to actually socialise, and get drunk and do all the normal things, shop, eat, tan etc (ok no tanning it rained the whole time) by this time I had already completed my 88days farming, and needed to meet new people and socialise and get in my classic tragic Tasha drunk state. Well on the first night that happened a little too quickly and was in bed by 11pm with sick in my hair. Yeah tragic drunk Tasha was back
The next day we took our hungover sorry selves around airlie, Charlotte hadn’t been before so we showed her the sights, ok there’s not a lot, but there were shops and bars, things we had been lacking since January. We had a dominos and that night we prepared to go out again, this time without necking a bottle of wine in 20mins before heading out. We played the funniest and probably the most annoying drinking game with one of our roommates at the hostel -21 where you replace the numbers for different rules, all I can remember is; 321 thunderbirds are go, me love you Tasha. I think that’s all anyone needs to know as well. This night was just as messy, we met some local Aussies who were over in airlie for a rugby match or something, they brought us drinks all night, awesome free night, can’t complain. These guys were slightly strange but they had good banter and were up for a good night. This was probably the closest to a good night out in Australia, Byron bay has held the best nights out I’ve had over here, nothing compared to back home, but this night in airlie would be one to remember.
The next day we had to get our shit together because we were about to go on a 3 day rainforest walk trip, which we would later discover would rain the whole time and after walking 16kms with our camping shit and rucksacks we le have to turn back due to everything getting soaked. So everything we did was completely pointless but I wouldn’t change it for the world, we would regret not doing it if we didn’t try. This night I met up with a fellow Lincolner - Sean Blakey!!! Completely random!!!
Getting a bit side tracked now, so we spent some time in airlie before going back to Bowen. We lived in a nightmare of a hostel, ok, looking back it wasn’t the worse but was a lot of get used to. I didn’t like the person I was becoming, I was moaning and complaining about everything and living in that place for me was just utter hell. I hated every moment being there, when we would eventually work I would hope we would work as long as possible just to avoid being in that place. Which couldn’t have been more opposite to the life we had in seaspray of hoping the days would be cut short so we could go home and socialise. I think after about 3 weeks of living there since getting back from airlie the opportunity came about that we could move out into our own house, just me Aino and Charlotte, this made us unbelievably happy, at the time work was going well again, Things were looking up. After moving house and feeling a little back to my normal self, the same day we moved in I received some truly devastating news from back home, which obviously would just change my mood and go back to my misery self, my good life long friend Lily Thomas died whilst living her new life In Amsterdam. The black cloud that left me as soon as we moved into this house had returned only hours later. There was no amount of distractions that could shift my mood. All I kept thinking and getting more upset about was I meant to be home now, the reasons why I’m not I won’t go into, but I was meant to be home, and I wasn’t, I couldn’t grieve for my friend whilst working on a bloody tomato farm. This is the first time I’ve even spoken out loud about this apart from to close ones back home. I shut everyone away, I was fighting my own war and realised that what I had been upset about before this happened was over taking the grief I had for my friend and I had to cut the one person who once made me the happiest but now the saddest out of my life. I was getting angry at everyone and loosing my temper and came to the decision to cut all contact with someone I had come to love and hate, as before what happened with back home, hew as the route of all this sadness and heartache. The week after we got two new housemates; Turkish mum and dad. This was a new experience, Hasan- the boss had people over from turkey for work as well so two had to live with us, this was very difficult as they spoke no English and at the time it was also Ramadan, and with one of us having to sleep on the sofa to make room for them I was again loosing my temper quickly. - something which looking back, I used to be so calm when I was back home, I know my attitude towards the general human race has changed a lot since farming, and I am hoping that’ll change by time I go home . It was only a matter of time before we started to realise that the work here in Bowen was coming to an end, Hasan had promised us a 10hr a day 6days a week packing job, which fell through after weeks of saying ‘any day now’ before he came to us and told us it wasn’t happening we had made plans to leave Bowen and move to homehill, with a little help from someone I didn’t want the help from, but this wasn’t all about me, all three of us wanted to leave and getting help was the best thing. Within 2 days we were packed up and ready to go and leave this life we had tried to make in Bowen behind us.
Looking back, during our time in Bowen it had it’s ups but unfortunately had more negative times, I am only sad now when I look back at the negativity I may have infected upon Aino and Charlotte, what was going on was my own war, not there’s and sometimes I would be selfish and shut myself away and be alone because I thought I was he only one feeling miserable but I know they were too. There were a couple of highs from Bowen- on our days off we would go to the beach, the beaches her were incredible, the water was so clear, I actually think apart from Whitehaven beach at the Whitsunday Islands, bowen beaches are the most stunning ones I’ve been to in Australia.
So as I said we packed up and move to homehill on June 20th. we are now living in a working hostel with about 100 people, it’s chaos, it’s absolutely crazy. I love the social side of living here, we have been around japanese and Taiwanese for so long, which there is not much to talk about, it’s so nice to meet Europeans and even English (something I didn’t think I would say) even amongst all these people you can still feel lonely. Work is better here though then with Hasan, we get paid higher hourly and we are actually treated like human beings and not being shouted at every 5 minutes, I feel so free I no longer have to be in contact with Hasan ever again, we put up with a lot of shit from that job, and at he time I didn’t see it as much but now I do. At the time of working for Hasan I started to think he was an ok guy, hard to understand and get to know but to when you do you see a different side to him. Wrong! He is a greedy little Turkish man, who rests backpackers like absolute shit, slave labour, dogs get treated better. I can’t carry on farming much longer though, I have now done it for over 5months, it is good money and these little towns make it so easy to save, but physically and emotionally I am becoming drained and done with this life style. Whatever happens with work or money I am leaving homehill on August 27th (exactly 7months since I started farming) whether I leave for Asia or back to the uk, it’ll depend on how much I am able to save. Living in this hostel is sometimes hard, and days off are so boring if you’re not drunk (something I’m trying to cut down on, as again being drunk 5 days a week like I was in seaspray turned me into horrible Tasha) Our job involves sitting behind a tractor all day planting watermelons and capsicums, it is the easiest and probably the most random job I have ever had, we are still working together which is great. I Will be staying here (unless there is no work again) until the end if August, until then I will be saving everything and will use it to take me as far as possible. I am so done with farming, it’s physically and emotionally exhausting I deserve endless amounts of Australian visas for the amount of time I have farmed for. Farming for me has completely lost my love for Australia, I have no motivation right now to discover more of Australia and if I’m honest I can’t wait to leave and explore other parts of the world. A lot of people have asked why I’m still farming and there’s a few reasons; 1) it is actually good money, back in seaspray I was earning nearly $200 a day 2) I spent everything I saved living in Bowen and owing Hasan rent, when you’re not working all money disappears 3) probably the most important reason Charlotte and Aino are still here with me, I have made two lifelong incredible friends, I will hold on to the memories and the times ahead until they go on their own paths at the end of August 4) working and saving in the city is impossible!!! During all this time I have had off work, I have come to a few positive decisions about my travelling future, what lever I have saved at the end of August will one way or another get me out of Aus, I am wanting to a see a little bit more then go nz and Asia before going home, but if I can only afford to go home that is what I’ll do. I have also decided to travel Europe next year by train, I am beyond excited about this, and focusing on find work and a life in Germany, moving to Berlin is all I can think about. I have been teaching myself German again, I’ve been learning for about 6weeks and I feel more confident in reading German and translating but not speaking, I am going to enrol at college when I get back to lincoln and tame evening classes in German. I am hoping to apply to university in Berlin and do my fine art research masters degree, but live in Germany for a couple of months before to improve my German. This is the goal anyway, however if my current experience with travelling goes, every day is unpredictable. If I don’t get into the university I will still move and work there. I guess that’s everything for now x
Magnetic Island
So this was the first destination on my east coast tour, I was travelling down the east coast by the greyhound bus, I think in total I was travelling about 2000kms. It was going to take about 6hrs to get from cairns to Townsville, I remember at the time thinking 6hrs on a bus is going to be hell, later in my trip I would survive a 14hr bus journey. 2hrs in we stop at Mission beach and this 6foot 3/4 girl with the longest legs I have ever seen in my life comes in and asks to sit next to me, her name was Joanna and she was from Austria, she was travelling alone also but had met two guys; Luke and David on her skydive and they were also going to magnetic island, so I told her I was tagging along because I didn't trust myself to get on the right ferry across..... There was only one ferry, and one destination. When I arrived at the hostel it started raining, one thing about Aussie rain compared to uk rain, when it rains it rains hard, like a tropical storm, the rain in Queensland is hot, just a hot steamy shower fully dressed with your suitcase. I checked in and went to my room, which was basically a. Tin shed with one plug socket and a bunk bed, there was no one in my room and everyone I had met on the bus had separated, I remember all of a sudden feeling very alone again, the thing about the hostel I think they made the rooms so shit and basic so you wouldn't stay in them and go socialise. Everything was outdoors, the kitchen, the bar, the lounge area, it was still raining but I took myself into the bar with my iPad and started reading my book, about 20minutes later a girl called vicky sat with me, about 10minutes later the jugs of beer started. That night consisted of drinking and regrouping with everyone I had met on the bus and a quiz night, safe to say we failed miserably, we also made plans for the next day and that was to hire a car and go explore the beautiful island. The next morning I sunbathed my hangover away by the pool, the view was incredible, sun lounger looking it at the ocean with Townsville in the distance, I felt hundreds of miles from home, which obviously I was but it was one of many moments I've had here where I've been like 'I'm actually in Australia' we followed brought with our plan and rented two cars out, there was 10 of us in total, we explored the island, went to several incredible beaches, clear waters, white sands, warm water, this was the first time I actually went in Aussie Ocean, (apart from the reef) as everywhere here in season has stingers (jellyfish) and usually you have to wear a stinger suit during season. The island was beautiful, it was only 14kms wide so was easy to get from one side to the other, we ended the day watching the sunset at West Point of the island, this was the first of many incredible sunsets I had seen in Australia, it was perfect and so clear, kind of like in the movies when you see the sun going down (that makes no sense but I know what I mean) we had lots of fun and took lots of silly photos, this day was perfect and we were even referring to each other as family I was so gutted I was leaving the next day, everyone was staying an extra night but I was heading to airlie, I wish I knew what I know now and that's how easy it is to reschedule bahhhhh. That night we all got messy drunk, it was ladies night $1 drinks for 2hrs, the guys dressed in drag to get the drinks as well, standard disguising cheap drinks that make your next morning hell, we played the goon box game as well - where you have to pick an empty goon box with your teeth and after each round the is is made smaller, oh and for anyone who doesn't know what goon is; a $11 box of your finest wine based product, for 4litres strong as hell and makes your hangover more regrettable then the fact you've put this shit in your mouth. Then it was acoustic night and the guy was bloody awesome, everyone was dancing on tables and generally loving the experience, at this moment I was really happy with the choice I had made to travel alone because I would never have met these people or had this experience, we ended the night drinking jack Daniels on the beach falling asleep under the stars and then waking up confused and cold. The 7hr trip to airlie beach the next day was going to be a delight.
Magnetic Island
Things I Miss
Vegetarian food! Being veggie in Australia is hard and expensive Cheap alcohol Decent night clubs, night clubs in general. Every club here plays the same trendy shit I have never heard of (maybe I should scrap the point in the previous post and listen to the radio) and if their not backpacker night clubs they are miles apart from each other and no one can decide where to go Being able to buy alcohol in supermarkets Helen, Katie, Chrissie and my family Cupcake Cold tap water that tastes pretty good Cubes My iTunes library Netflix Yorkshire tea
Things I do not miss
Okay. So everyone back home knows how much I am missing them, but there are some things I am not missing. Wearing shoes, heels, general footwear. Over here it's flip flops, runners or barefoot, barefoot is the best Wasting money buying new clothes that will only get ruined in cubes. General fashion, if I had any fashion sense before, it has all gone out the window now and I'm glad. Cycling to work in freezing temperatures (although I do miss cycling) Unexpected phone calls from work Dying my hair. In 7months I've only had to keep up the blonde twice, the sun is doing a pretty good job. Being pale Trendy Chart music (Australian music isn't much better but I have no access to the radio and my friends are as clueless as me when it comes to the latest chart topper) Wasps!!!
A few from cairns, the Great Barrier Reef and uncle Brian's
Cairns
Towards the end of my stay in Sydney the weather turned to typical British kind of weather, warm then windy and rain, a lot of rain, definitely not the New South Wales weather I had imagined. I arrived in cairns about 7am, stepping off the plane I couldn't believe the sauna I was walking into, I couldn't believe it was about 30degrees so early, it was stuffy and humid and was a little hard to breathe. It was so refreshing flying over cairns and seeing all the wonderful sights, I felt like I was actually now in Australia, mountains everywhere, a small town and then forest and waterfalls, this is why I came back over here after my first visit back in 2013 with Jeni. Cairns couldn't have been further away from my lonely experience in Sydney. I met a girl named Charlotte who was on my shuttle bus, she was staying at Gillian's hostel as well for a week like me, I was very grateful for meeting her, she told me all about her east coast trip, something I was completely clueless about, yes I had heard of the east coast before coming over here, but people don't believe me when I say when I came over here I really had no plan. My original intentions were just to find a jewellers job here and try live my lincoln life in Australia. Within an hour of meeting Charlotte we were in a travel agents booking my east coast trip. Suddenly I felt so overwhelmed and happy, I knew exactly where I would be and what I would be doing up to Christmas, the places I would see where Cairns, magnetic island, airlie beach, Whitsunday sailing trip, Fraser Island, Noosa, Brisbane, surfers paradise, byron bay then back to Sydney to catch a flight to Melbourne for Christmas. I also have a few things booked in cairns, I was going to the Great Barrier Reef to snorkel and uncle Brian's rainforest tour. After making a huge purchase I went back to the hostel and check in and met my roommates, again couldn't have been further from the experience I had in Sydney. 8 person female dorm and each and every girl was awesome, here I met Nikki would I would later go on to met again in Brisbane and live a short time again together in Byron bay! she is one of the most straight forward 19years I have ever met, i could never have got my shit together at 19 and moved to Australia, the only thing I was thinking when I was 19 was where in the next student £1 a pint night at. I also met Jordan and Becca who again I would meet up with in Brisbane. Cairns mostly consisted of sunbathing, hanging by the lagoon and drinking, Gilligans had a nightclub within the hostel so we mostly spent evenings there. One night we went on a tragic party bus tour, biggest waste of $35 it was just a bit embarrassing, for starters cairns is so small and warm you don't need to go anywhere by bus, it's not like in Lincoln where you would do anything for a ride from one bar to another in the freezing cold, it was certainly a experience into traveller nights out, which in my opinion are shit. The Great Barrier Reef was of course stunning. Absolutely incredible, I was so close to all the fish and the reef was beautiful, all the corals and the colours of the ocean were breath taking, I vow never ever to go to a sea parks or aquarium ever again, keep the fish where they belong, in their homes, they have too much fun, I also found Nemo :-) the yacht was stunning as well, so relaxing, it took 2hrs to get to the reef which consisted of sunbathing and drinking, earlier in the week I met German Sophia who was only 18 and we hung out for the day. By this time I was craving to meet some people my age a little. On mine and charlottes last full day together we both were on the same uncle Brian's rain forest tour, it was a bit pricey but it was totally worth it, all the national parks we went to were free but the entertainment they provided out weighed the cost, I would recommend this trip to anyone. One of the waterfalls we went to was the waterfall the Herbal Essence adverts are filmed at and the Peter Andre mysterious girl video, have to be honest it's a little disappointing and the water is freezing! Ladies take note, where a padded bikini! The next day I spent with my roommates as this would be our last day together, we hung by the pool and had dinner, Charlotte was also leaving that evening getting the over night bus to airlie beach so it felt like everyone was leaving me, I had become so attached to these girls and I was nervous about starting again in magnetic island, at the time I wanted Nikki to come travelling with me so badly. I can see after spending a week in cairns why a lot of travellers stay to find work there, it is beautiful but I knew each place I would go to next would out weigh the previous, so I was excited for magnetic island.
Photos from Sydney, Manly Beach and The Blue Mountains
Photos from Sydney, blue mountains and manly beach
Sydney
I arrived in Sydney on the 14th November 2014. After a very emotional goodbye to my family and friends in Lincoln and quite possibly the worse flight, etihad were great, just my state of mind wasn’t the best but with wifly and endless movies and red wine helped the flight. It was 32 degrees in Sydney and I remember it hitting me instantly when I left the airport. The airport was huge and so busy, I rang the hostel for a pick up shuttle bus and then made my way to the hostel. I think looking back I was expecting too much on my arrival in Australia, I knew I would be nervous about meeting new people and making friends but I don’t think I expected it to be as hard as soon as I arrived. I checked in and waited in the social room just waiting For people to talk to me, I phoned my dad for about an hour and he asked what I would do until if could go check in my room and I had absolutely no idea, my only thoughts were to go for a walk? About an hour later a group of guys started talking to me and we went for food and went to the beach, the one and only time I went to bondi beach, seriously I didn’t understand the big deal. Yes it beautiful compared to beaches in England, but it was just too crowded and I guess you couldn’t take in it’s beauty maybe? The guys I was hanging out with were not my usual cup of tea but I was in no position to pass up friends. That night I think I slept for about 15hrs, I was beyond tired from jet lag. The next day I remember waking up and not feeling the best and majorly homesick so I facetimed Sam and instantly put me in a better mood, I have a lot to thank that boy for, he was there so much in my early days if travelling and gave me the motivation to get up and explore Sydney. Most of my days in Sydney we spent alone, wondering the city, seeing the typical sightseeing things, the harbour bridge was amazing, and the Oprah house was ok, I’ve seen much more I recite building back home. I also got the ferry across to Manly Beach with some girls I met through a travelling forum which were great, by the end of the day I was resembling a lobster, this was the first of many times the Aussie sun got the better of me. Take note Aussie sun burns, burns through clouds, wind and water, Aussie sun also blisters your skin.. WEAR SUNCREAM, apply every 20minutes! After talking to Kylie that day about possible future travelling plans (which by this point I had none) I then booked a flight that evening to Cairns. I was so excited and hopeful meeting new people would be more successful there. My last day in Sydney was spent hiking the Blue Mountains. I recommend anyone going to Sydney to forget the sight seeing and go exploring true Australia, more so the Blue Mountains. I took myself on the train and then did a bus tour to which you could get off at various points, explore then get picked up again. It was wonderful, in that moment of looking out until the sky met the the forest I knew I was months magnificent and the undiscovered parts of Australia I hadn’t seen was waiting for me, I could have been more excited about leaving Sydney after spending the day here. I wish I could remember all the lookouts, it was just stunning. I had no signal and I remember thinking constantly that if I slipped, fell or got lost no one would have a clue where I was or what I was doing, but I honestly didn’t mind that. The next morning I had to get up at 3am for my flight, without going into too much detail, let’s say, thanks to a roommate ident get any sleep that night, so I took Classic Tasha revenge :-)