Category Archives: Australia

End of the journey?

In the last month, as the trip nears the end, I have been thinking a lot about going back to the UK and about the future, thinking about what I want to do, and 1 thing is clear, I am not ready to go back! Not even slightly ready! I almost feel like I have just got started. The idea of going back to my old life is just not appealing at all! I’ve been reading a book recently which had some thoughts which I love. It talks about occasionally doing things that seem kinda outrageous to you and the people around you. Surprise yourself sometimes. Don’t let your life get boring and predictable. It made me laugh because that’s exactly how I had been living life until recently, boring and predictable! Playing it safe. And now I was discovering pretty much a new way of living. One filled with adventure and risk taking and unpredictability and fun and just doing what’s on my heart instead of what’s expected of me. It’s quite fitting really that this blog is titled ‘Life starts here’! I love the changes in me and I don’t want it to end here, I just want more of this!

So with a bit of money left over, I decided that I was going to extend the trip. I originally planned to just stay out here and maybe spend a few more months in Asia before coming to Australia, but I didn’t like the idea of being away from my family at Christmas so I decided to go home for Christmas, stay a few weeks and then leave again. I booked my flight back out to Thailand before I left Australia because I knew that once I got back, it would be so easy to just drift back into my old life just because it’s the easy option so I’m going back home, but not to stay.

Back in Sydney

By the time I got back to Sydney, I had just 1 week left before I had to fly back to London so I tried to fit in as much as I could. I spent 1 morning hanging out in the trendy Surry Hills area and then walked down to Darling Harbour which was beautiful!

I spend a day at Centennial park with my friend and that was also beautiful!

I walked across the Harbour bridge one day and went to the pylon lookout which has some pretty cool views:

I wanted to re-do some of the things I had loved here in my final few days so I did the walk from Bondi beach to Coogee again. It was a perfect day and was so so beautiful. I use that word a lot when talking about Sydney, but it is very fitting! Here are a few pictures:

I also took the ferry over to Manly again in my last few days and just spent a few hours relaxing on the beach there:

I definitely want to spend some more time here. I think moving over here for a year or 2 would be pretty sweet but we’ll see! Watch this space!

Last day in Byron Bay

I went to check out the farmer’s market here on my last day.

I then packed and got a shuttle to the airport to fly back to Sydney. Luckily there was no flight drama this time around, but the flight itself was definitely somewhat of an experience. Around 15 mins in, we hit some very bad turbulence, the worst I had ever experienced! The plane was being thrown around, and would then drop, then thrown around some more and then drop some more. Everyone started freaking out! Suddenly it was like the ice was broken and we all became friends united in trying to figure out what was happening and if we were going to survive! I wasn’t really too worried, this was the 20th flight I had taken in 6 months and although it was bad, I wasn’t as alarmed as some of the others. One lady started hyperventilating so badly! And because we all had to stay in our seats with our belts fastened, no one could go to check on her. It only lasted around 10 minutes and then the pilot apologised. He described it as clear turbulence and told us that he hadn’t received any warnings about it so couldn’t avoid it. The rest of the flight was uneventful, and I arrived in Sydney an hour later.

Byron Bay day 3

I decided to walk up to the lighthouse this morning. It was supposed to be an hour walk and I thought it would be good exercise. It was difficult though, walking uphill the whole way and I was breaking in some new flip flops so my feet were in pain by the time I got to the top. It felt good to get to the top though.

I walked back down and then spent a few hours at the beach before a thunderstorm hit and I was rushing back completely drenched! I headed out to the gig later that the guy I had met in the cafe had told me about. It was just at a bar nearby. At 1st I wasn’t so sure about going on my own. I would never go to a gig on my own back in London but I figured I would give it a try. I wasn’t actually on my own for too long, a guy came and sat with me and we got chatting. He was from Sydney but moved to Byron Bay for a job teaching and he loved it here. He liked how laid back it was compared to the city. I was quite amused about how normal it was to just chat to strangers here! 2 days in a row. He said he lived on a farm nearby and had come out because he had lost electricity during the storm. He was nice and was good company for a few hours but I drew the line when he offered to drive me to the airport the next day!

After the gig, I went to say hi to the guy playing who I had met the previous day. He introduced me to his singer and she was so excited to be chatting to a fellow Londoner! We were talking about our experiences in Australia and how different it was. She was encouraging me to move here for a while which I had already been thinking about! I can get a working holiday visa here as long as it is before I am 30 so I have less than 2 years to decide! It does seem like a cool idea…!

Byron Bay day 2

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We woke up early the next day and headed out for breakfast together. My friends had to drive back to Dalby after breakfast as some of them were working later that day.

It was sad saying bye to them! Especially because we weren’t sure how long it would be until we saw each other again. I was back to being a solo traveler. I spent a few hours at the beach and then went to check into my new accommodation. I had booked a room through Airbnb where people rent out spare rooms in their houses to visitors. It was my 1st time of using it but I had picked a place with very good reviews so I wasn’t too worried. I found the place and got into my room. It was actually a 4 bedroom self-contained apartment above the owner’s house. It was very nice, with a nice lounge and kitchen. There was just 1 other girl there, a doctor from Ireland and we chatted a bit. She seemed nice. I headed back to the beach, read for a while and went for a walk, and then stopped off at a cafe for a while.

Soon after I had ordered, a man and woman came and sat on the next table. They were both older, and they started chatting to me. They were quite intrigued about my traveling, where I had been and what I had been doing. The guy mentioned that he was playing a gig the following night and the girl singing with him was from London and we would get on so I should come along. Soon after, a couple they were friends with came to join them and the conversation changed dramatically! The guy was an organic farmer and definitely a hippie! Some of the things he was saying were quite funny to me. Talking about how Mother Earth is like a dog with fleas on it and it will only take them for so long before it shakes to get them all off and we are due a shake up soon! And about how the world is just full of greed and it will take another world war for us to start loving each other again! I certainly wasn’t hoping for that! He was talking about some of his ideas to make the organic food market more commercial and get rid of all these American franchises like McDonalds from the country. Because this is Australia and everything here should be Australian! And we don’t need to go to America anymore because America is here! His ideas were pretty extreme to me! One of the ladies there was clearly deep into astrology and was telling him that he was born between the years of the lion and the snake and what that means for his future. I politely excused myself from the conversation and left chuckling inside about how what I thought would be a quiet coffee ended up! I had definitely experienced the hippie side of Byron Bay though! I headed back to the apartment and chatted to my flat mate for a few hours before calling it a night.

Welcome to Byron Bay

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We left Dalby very early on the Monday morning so we could make the most of the day there. It was a 4 hour drive to Byron Bay. It’s funny how normal it is to drive long distances here. A 4 hour drive is considered pretty close! I don’t think I realised how big this country was until I got here! I had heard a lot about Byron Bay before I got here. Everyone had described it as hippie-town so I had my expectations but it was actually quite different to what I expected. It was very trendy with lots of cool shops, cafés and restaurants and very pretty. We headed up to the lighthouse which is one of the big attractions here and it was really cool. The views from up there were amazing! Here are a few pictures.

We then checked into the hostel where we were spending the night and then headed out. We wandered around some of the shops here and then headed to the beach where we spent the afternoon. The weather was perfect, sunny but not too hot. Later that evening, we went to a pub for dinner and they had a musical bingo competition so we joined in for a few rounds and I ended up winning one round! So I got a voucher for a free lunch at one of the places here. It was a really fun day.

Last day in Dalby!

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We woke up early to go to church in the morning. I was expecting the church here to be tiny but there were a few hundred people there! It was really nice! I met the pastor there who was Scottish, he had moved to Australia back in the 60s, but hadn’t lost his Scottish accent at all! Which was quite funny to me! After the service finished, we all headed back to Karmyn’s place for lunch and a movie with a few of their friends. We had planned to go kayaking in the creek later that afternoon so headed out to borrow some kayaks. Neither Jess or Karmyn had kayaks, but they had just called round a few of their neighbours and asked to borrow some! So we went round to their houses and they helped us to load the kayaks into the ute. So so different from London life. We headed down to the lake and headed in with our kayaks! It was a fun few hours! There were 3 of us in mine and I kept worrying that we would fall in as it was rocking a bit but we didn’t luckily! Jess’s mum walked past to say hi and helped us take some nice photos!

We headed out to the evening service at church later and then for some Indian food afterwards with some of their friends. The weekend went so quickly but it was so much fun! I loved every minute of it and was grateful for the way things had worked out! I had planned to spend a few days in Byron Bay which is not too far from here before heading back to Sydney and Jess and Karmyn were off work the next day along with their friend Christina so we decided to all drive there together and spend the day together there.

Dalby day 2

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I went back to Jess’s house and got showered and changed and then we headed to Christina’s house to find her and Karmyn barbecuing! They had eggs, bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes on there! It looked amazing! My 1st Aussie BBQ!

We hung out for a while, had breakfast, and then I headed to Karmyn’s house and we just hung out for a few hours. It was really nice. I kinda wished I had longer here! It’s just very charming and chilled out. I really like it. After a few hours, we headed out to the Bunya mountains. We walked through the rainforest there and I saw some wallabies there!

Later in the evening, we had tickets for a dance performance so headed there. It was at Jess’s old school and her and Karmyn knew a few of the children performing. I was impressed with how many people were there attending and the show was really good, just very long! There were something like 30 different performances! The end was exciting though as the boyfriend of one of the ladies who organised the event got up on stage and proposed to her! She was clearly very surprised and said yes! Would have been pretty awkward if she said no in front of all the people there though right?

Welcome to Dalby!

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The drive to Dalby was a few hours. We had stopped for breakfast in the morning and for me to buy some more clothes as I wasn’t really prepared for the sudden change of plans. On the way, we drove for hours through what I would describe as nothingness!! There was just nothing around! I was anxious to see what Dalby was like! What the way they had described it, I had kinda imagined there was nothing there! I had jokingly questioned them in the past about whether they even had electricity! We arrived there and I was very pleasantly surprised! It was a small country town, but very cute! Not really what I was expecting at all! I liked it instantly! Here are a few pictures.

We dropped Karmyn off at her work as she was due to start and then went to Jess’s mum’s work where I was introduced to her mum who was lovely! We went back to her house afterwards and started on some laundry. Jess and Karmyn had told me that we were going out shooting that night and I was a bit apprehensive! I had absolutely no idea what to expect! We would also be camping out overnight which sounded fun I thought, as long as we don’t get attacked by any wild animals! This is Australia after all! We headed out that evening in Jess’s dad’s ute. I didn’t understand the word ute before I came to Australia but had learned that it was short for utility truck. Similar to what us Brits would call a pickup truck but everyone has them over here! We had to stop at a neighbours house to borrow some swag, another word I was unfamiliar with! Jess explained that it’s what you sleep in when you go camping out here, but no it’s not a sleeping bag, it’s better! I was intrigued!

Once we had picked up the swag, we headed to meet up with Karmyn who was also coming with her dad’s ute and Christina – one of their friends, and then to meet the guys. There were 3 guys coming out with us, one of who was Dan who was a qualified shooter with a license to go out and shoot the kangaroos and hares around here as they are considered pests. That kinda surprised me! We think of kangaroos as the animal that represents Australia but they’re actually pests here! For some reason, I was expecting Dan to be an old guy, but he was just 23 and not at all what I expected! We drove up to the outback where the kangaroos hang out. The drive there was my 1st experience of driving on a dirt road! You could barely see in front of you as a result of all the dust in the air being thrown up by the car in front. We parked up together and then all got on the back of Dan’s ute. I was scared but excited at the same time. It was 11pm and was dark and cold. I wasn’t prepared for the cold so we all got layered up and then started the drive. I was briefed on how this was done. Dan had a big spotlight on the back of the ute which was moved around as he was driving. We were to keep an eye out for anything moving and if we see anything, we were to bang on the top of the ute. At that point, Dan would turn the car off, we were all to keep quiet, and then he would get his shotgun out and shoot it. Oh yeah and close your ears when he gets the gun out because the gunshot was really loud! It took around 20 minutes driving before we saw something moving and all banged on top of the ute. As described, he gone his shotgun out, aimed it, and fired! He got it! We all got out and went to take a look. It was a hare with all it’s guts hanging out from where it was shot. My friends asked if I wanted to pose with it for them to take a picture. Why not I thought? You only live once right? This was definitely one of the strangest but also coolest experiences I had ever had! I had gone from sitting at my desk at the bank in London to going out shooting in the Aussie outback! Definitely a ‘check me out’ moment!

We were out there for a few hours. We didn’t see many kangaroos, and Dan explained that they mostly congregated in another area these days. We did see some though, although they were across the water so we couldn’t get to the one he shot. After a few hours, it was time for me to learn how to use the gun! We put a plastic bottle out as a target quite far away and then Dan taught me how to hold the gun, take aim, and shoot it. I took my 1st shot and it was really fun although I missed the target. On my 2nd shot though, he saw the bottle move and we put it down to beginners luck! We all took turns taking shots at it and then we headed to the area where we would be camping out. The boys were sleeping on the floor, but us girls were gonna sleep on the back of the ute. We put the trays of our 2 utes together to create a long area and set up the swags. Originally I had said I would just sleep inside the car. I thought it would be warmer and more comfortable but they actually had a pretty nice setup at the back so I decided I wanted to join them and get the full experience! Once inside the swag, it was actually pretty warm and comfy. I just hoped and prayed that I wouldn’t need to go to the toilet in the night as wandering around here in the dark wasn’t so appealing! I fell asleep pretty quickly. The next thing I remember was feeling like someone was shining a torch at my face! I opened my eyes to see it was the sun! Shining brightly over me! That was a pretty cool way to wake up! It was just after 6am and the others were all just about awake as well. We packed up and then drove out with plans to meet at Christina’s house for breakfast. Here are a few pictures from the night:

Melbourne day 4 – All’s well that ends well!

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This was my last day in Melbourne. Cath showed me around the St Kilda area in the morning. We walked down to the beach, and then drove down to Brighton beach houses, little wooden houses by the beach which people use to store their beach equipment and get changed. They sell for over $200,000! I couldn’t believe that! They look pretty cool though!

I then headed to the city to meet up with my friend Stacey who I volunteered with in India. We spent a few hours catching up and then I headed to get a bus to the airport to get my flight back to Sydney. I got to the airport in good time for my flight, but noticed that it had been delayed slightly. I checked in and then headed to the gate to wait only to hear an announcement 30 mins later saying that the flight had now been cancelled due to extreme weather conditions so we were to head back to the check in counters to find out our options. People were running out, clearly trying to get to the front of the queue to secure a seat on the next flight. As we were queuing, there was an announcement telling us that the last flight that evening was fully booked, and there were no flights the day after either! I checked with other airlines and their flights were all either fully booked or too expensive. I was stuck!

I sent a message to my friend Sabina to let her know that it looks like I won’t be able to get back to Sydney that night after all as well as to my friend Cath who I had been staying with. She called me straight away to say I’m more than welcome to come back and stay with her for a few more days if I need to which was really cool. I didn’t really want to spend another couple of days in Melbourne though as I had done all the things I really wanted to do there and with only a couple of weeks left in Australia, I wanted to make the most of it. I had been txting my friend Jess just a few hours prior, she lives in Dalby near Brisbane with my friend Karmyn. They had spent 2 years living in London and had gone back in Australia in June. For months, they had been asking when I would be coming to visit them. I was trying to arrange to go the following week. She had wanted me to come this weekend but I didn’t want to fly back to Sydney only to leave again the following day. But now the flight had been cancelled, it all seemed to be working out for this weekend. I sent her a message to let her know what was happening and got a reply straight away saying that it’s a sign that I’m supposed to come and she would drive the 3 hours to Brisbane airport to pick me up if I can get a flight. She was so excited for me to come and I loved it! I was really excited to see them as well after 6 months so I started looking at flights to Brisbane. I found one leaving late that night, it had also been delayed, but it was due to arrive in Brisbane at 1am. I sent her a message to ask if that was too late and got a reply to say no I was worth it and they would set off for the airport soon! So I booked the flight! I did kinda love the spontaneity of it all!
A few hours later, I arrived at Brisbane airport at 1am! And sure enough my friends were there to meet me! With a big sign with my name on it! It was very exciting to be reunited with them.

We drove to Toowomba, around an hour away where one of Karmyn’s relatives lived. He was away so was happy for us all to crash there for the night. We drove back to Dalby the following morning.