sunlight & water @sunlightandwater-blog - Tumblr Blog

Winter's walk in Regents Park, London - 8/1/2014

#Regents Park #london #england #uk #travel #panorama #photography #trees #winter #park #sky #path #wanderlust #royal #royal parks #tree #naked #morning walk #freezing #abstract #point of view

Bruntsfield Links, Edinburgh - 11/01/14

#edinburgh #snow #scotland #winter #travel #uk #europe #wanderlust #photography #snowing #frozen #winterwonderland #park #georgian

Hogmanay, Edinburgh - 30/12/14

#hogmanay #edinburgh #torch light procession #wanderlust #fire works #fireworks #night #photography #festival #gif #travel #europe #scotland #NYE #new years

And onto the next year

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! Its another year gone! Another year well lived. To be honest it was mental!

Onto the next year, starting with the Cliche new year resolutions. I normal judge people who do these, why do you have to wait until the next year to take the stairs, or eat one less burger a week, or chat to that long lost friend. But hey, some goals to work towards never hurt anyone so here goes. I've given you four of the list, keeping it simple.

1. Frequently update this blog! I have hundreds of photos and stories that never leave my memory card. Time to share them round

2. Stop being a stranger... I'm sorry everyone x

3. Bake me some cakes! New passion of mine I'm going to pursue for wee while

4. Finish the projects I start

So here goes, updating my blog, got to start somewhere! So where in the world am I at the moment.

In June last year I set off to backpack Europe with a crazy group of Aussies, starting in Croatia and just seeing where it takes us. In July I fell in love with a strange city called Edinburgh (Thats in Scotland just incase) and I'm still here, slowly freezing to death. After a few hit and miss jobs I found one working in a cafe making cakes and coffee, then fell in love with baking. Edinburgh is so liveable. Its beautiful for starters with volcanoes and castles towering over the the cobbled streets and closes below. You can walk anywhere in half an hour, but its still a thriving city with loads to do every week. And still a short flight to anywhere in Europe, so I've decided to set up camp for a year.

So to 2015, its going to be a good one. A year off discovering more on planet Earth, and a year to sticking to resolutions! Chur chur :)

I got to see my first snow fall, was stunning!

#wanderlust #scotland #edinburgh #travel #photography #snow #newyears #new year resolutions #backpacking #europe

London Pub Life

This is a post mainly for the the curious family and friends at home as to what I was doing with myself in London. After leaving the village in Essex I moved into a pub called 'The Three Tuns' in central London. Im so blessed by the location as it was a street of Oxford Street, a 5 minute walk to Hyde Park; Selfridges, Top Shop, Zara stores at the end of my street. If I was to walk half an hour in a direction I could reach Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Westminster, Trafalgar square, Notting Hill and Kensington and further.

The top right window is where I spent my year sharing with other crazy travelers.

It was a year of working hard and partying even harder. A year of discovering this massive city, a year of crazy stories and adventures. These girls that I lived with have become mates for life, and current travel buddies.

The Tuns Family portrait 01/14

December last year I headed down to Brighton with some friends from Contiki. Spent the day eating fish and chips on the beach, afternoon pints watching the sunset and ice skating in front of the Grand Pavilion. Above all this was the highlight of the trip.

#brighton #iceskating #fallover #trip #faceplant #grandpavillion #england #travel #wonderlust #epicfail #europe2013 #december #winter #ice #icerink #skate #skating

Grand Pavilion ice rink, Brighton, 11/12/13

#brighton #winter #iceskating #icerink #grandpavillion #snow #ice #december #england #travel #wanderlust #europe #oe #holiday #daytrip

24 hours in Brighton, 11/12/13

#brighton #england #sunset #beach #travel #wanderlust #brightonpeir #peir #daydrinking #photogrpahy #winter #fresh #cool #ocean #englishchannel #europe #britishcoast #morninglight #morning #decemeber

The only way is not Essex

I grew up in a city, I lived in the same house with in this city my whole life. This nieve city girl thought that moving to a tiny village in the middle of Essex was a good idea. A village where the only late night bar/club was in the basement of an old mans house on the high street. A high street that was no more than half a mile long. This all could of been great if the people around me were friendly, down to earth...normal? No I had moved to Essex. Ever heard of the show 'The only way is Essex'? It was like living on the set of that. But I decided to give it a go, maybe I'm judging this book by its cover?

I was doing a live-in pub job at the building you can see on your right. Great Dunmow is a beautiful village with Heritage buildings all up the high street, bunting over the street and a tea room across from the pub. The pub I was working in was nearly 700 years old and was built as an Inn for merchants passing through back in the middle ages (defiantly haunted).

I knew the exact time all the regulars would come into the pub and their order. I've forgotten all their names so for the sake of a story I'll make them up. There was Barry, I nicknamed him the rabbit man. He came in ever hour or so from 10:30am and would have a pint of fosters, tell me a story about his rabbits then leave. Stewart came to read the paper at 11 over two pints of Scrumpy Jacks. This took him all of 10 min. The sweatiest old man came in at 1 for half a pint of ale, would ask every day what I was doing with my life, forget and ask it all the next day. Then from 4 the wanabee cast of 'The only was is Essex' started rolling in for their 'Gins and Slims' (I'd often give them full fat tonic cause I'm evil and dreamed of the extra calories sitting on their hips). Then just before close an old couple would come in; Peter had a pint of Stella but in a Peroni glass, and Marge a pint of Strongbow. They would then sit on the same two chairs, she would do a cross word and he would read on his kindle. They had done this for nearly 30 years.

I stumble across this poster one day, and in need of some excitement in my life I wandered down to check it out. I love carnivals!

I did not love this carnival. The only good ride I was willing to pay for was the merry go round...but they wouldn't let me on with out a child. I was the minority there not having a kid by 20, so they were probably shocked when I arrived without one. After realising I was upset over a merry go round I decided to move to London and left within the week. On my last shift at work Peter (pint of Stella in a Peroni glass man) gave me a fortune cookie out of the blue as I'm closing up and I knew I'd made the right decision.

An Autumn day in Paris

#paris #france #eiffeltower #thelouve #monalisa #arcedetromphe #europe #travel #wanderlust

November last year I worked out the cost of an All Blacks ticket in London was the same price as a ticket in Paris...and a weekend exploring the city as well. So Krista (an Aussie girl I turned kiwi for a weekend) and I headed over, saw the game, climbed the tower, snapped a selfie with the Mona Lisa, partied on a cannel boat down the river and ate one to many french pastries.

#paris #france #allblacks #rugby #notredame #eiffeltower #travel #wanderlust