Back to the UK!

Wow, haven't updated my blog for ages! Started writing a little something at Melbourne airport last week so I'll copy and paste that to begin with!


"So here I am once again waiting to begin a 25 hour flight, though this time in the opposite direction! Definitely doesn’t seem like close to a year since I was at the airport sat at the gate staring out the window at a HUGE Qantas plane.

So much has happened in the last few months. Well, not loads, but I made the big decision to use my second year visa straight away. So although it feels very strange to be going back to the UK, it’s nice to think that in 3 weeks time I’ll be back in my flat in Melbourne. Though I really can’t wait to see people back home!

I made the decision because I have loved all my time in Australia, especially Melbourne, and I feel so at home and settled here, and definitely not ready to leave. Even leaving for 3 weeks makes me feel like I’m going to miss out on something exciting in Melbourne, there’s always something cool going on like a random festival or even just a fun night out with my friends!

Luckily I’ve managed to secure my job at the cupcake shop and will be working there until the end of October, as you can work for the same company for another 6 months in your 2^nd year visa. So the plan is to save up as much as possible, then begin my travels once again and probably go over to Western Australia. That’s about as far as my plans go. I’m just going to see what happens!

There’s no free internet at Melbourne airport so I probably won’t actually post this til I get home!"

So that's what I wrote at the airport. I've been back in North Wales for about a week and a half now, but in just over a week I'll be heading back to Australia! Not really got much to say about my last few months in Melbourne. It's mainly just involved working and going out with friends! Doesn't really feel like I'm on holiday over there now, just feels like home! Actually felt like coming back to the UK was a holiday as it's three weeks off work!

I've managed to fit quite a lot in so far while I've been at home. In the first week I managed to go to the hairdressers, the doctors and the dentist. Went over to Yorkshire to see my Dad and his side of the family. It was nice to see them though I was still a bit jetlagged so was really tired after the drive! It was so weird though, on the way there I actually drove through some snow - something I wasn't expecting to see in April! I've also seen a lot of the family here in North Wales, and caught up with a few friends! 

Although it's nice to come back here and see people, it really has confirmed that I made the right decision to stay in Australia for another year. The thought of actually staying here and having to find a job etc is not something I want to do anytime soon, if ever!

Got a few more things planned while I'm home, going shopping to Chester with my mum tomorrow. Meeting up with a few friends and going on a night out with my sister at the weekend! So still got a few things to look forward to. Then it's back to Melbourne to start my 2nd year in Australia!! So hopefully lots more adventures for me! I'll try and keep my blog updated as much as I can!

Greetings from Sydney!

I am finally here in sunny Sydney!

The plane journey was LONG! I would definitely recommend stopping somewhere on the way as 26 hours is a long time to spend travelling! I set off from Manchester airport at 8:15, landing in Heathrow just after 9am. I boarded a Qantas A380 plane to Sydney via Singapore at 12:05, got to Singapore at 00:41, had an hour an a half to freshen up then got back on the plane and landed in Sydney at about 10:20 (19:20 Oz time!)

I was pretty impressed with the A380 plane. It was huge! Having only been on 747s for longhaul flights I think the A380 is better. The seats seem slightly bigger and recline quite far. There’s a decent amount of leg room (though I am short, so if you have long legs it might be a problem!). One of my favourite things about the plane was the self service snack bar. I only used it to top up my water bottle and got the occasional can of coke, but it meant that I could have a drink whenever I wanted without having to bother any of the flight attendants! The food was also pretty good, especially the beef in black pepper sauce with fried rice – yum! Another great thing was the entertainment screen, there was a massive choice of films, tv programmes, music, games, you could check the news and weather, watch destination guides, check where the flight was, and even view the take off and landing with the tail camera. I only actually watched one film, Due Date, it was pretty good. I was also pleased to see that there were 14 episodes of Mr Bean, so watched a few of those! But I mostly took advantage of the huuuge range of music albums and created a playlist which included: Avril Lavigne, Green Day, Savage Garden, Shania Twain, Nirvana, and the Wizard of Oz, Jungle Book, Phantom of the Opera and Cats soundtracks, and quite a lot more! So I listened to that for most of the journey. Only managed to sleep on the final part of the flight but at least I got a bit of sleep as I wasn’t expecting any!

Anyway, enough about the flight! I’m now sat in my dorm room typing this as a word document so I don’t use up internet time writing this, not sure what time I’ll actually post it. I’m staying in Sydney Central YHA which seems really nice so far. It’s clean which is the main thing!

I got up this morning at about 7am so after showering, breakfast etc was out in the city at 9am! I decided to head straight to The Rocks as I’d read about a really good market there, but as I was about to discover, very little is open on Good Friday in Sydney! Even the tourist information was closed and the only other day it closes is Christmas day! So I decided to have a look in the Museum of Modern Art which was quite good, there was a photography exhibition on which you had to pay for, so I didn’t bother with that, but I looked at the rest of the collection. Then I did the touristy thing and took a load of photos of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House! The weather was so warm and sunny so my photos all have a lovely blue sky! I then strolled through the Botanic Gardens where I saw lots of interesting plants and trees with bats in them!

My next plan was to go to the supermarket to get some food, as surely the supermarket would be open on Good Friday? Turns out it isn’t! So I had to go to 7-11 (kind of like Spar or Londis) to get some expensive orange juice, and didn’t bother with food! For lunch I went to a food court in the shopping centre above Paddy’s Market. It’s pretty reasonable, you can get a meal for between $6 and $15 (£4-£10). I then had a quiet walk through Chinatown then decided to come back to the hostel at about 3pm as I was tired!

Not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow, probably head to the supermarket first thing, then might go back up to The Rocks to see the markets!

First Post!

As I'm going to Australia for a year in April I've decided to make a blog to post about my adventures. I mainly want to do this to update family and friends with what I'm up to, without having to write out individual emails! Another reason I wanted to create this blog was so that other travellers can read it and it might help them with their planning, as I've read a lot of travel blogs while planning my trip and they were a massive help :)

Since going to Australia for 3 weeks as part of a round the world trip in Summer 2009, I've been desperate to go back and spend more time there!

I've got a few things booked now including:

FLIGHTS! I fly from Manchester to Heathrow on 20th April with British Airways, then board a Qantas A380 plane to Sydney with a short stopover in Singapore. I arrive in Sydney in the evening on 21st April! Despite the recent problems with the engine on the A380, I still booked with Qantas as most of my previous RTW flights in 2009 had been with them, and I was impressed so booked with them again. I'm pretty sure that because of what happened with the A380 last year, they will be extra careful so should be safer than before! That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

OZINTRO! This is a company who organise your first week in Sydney. They sort out accommodation, bank account, tax file number, Aussie sim card, medicare and all the other things I'd have had to sort out separately. They also help with finding a job. The main reason I've booked with them is because I'll be travelling alone, and they put you in a group who you do activities with for the whole week, including surfing, a trip to the Blue Mountains, jet boating, BBQs and various nights out! It's a relief to feel that I won't be on my own once I'm there, and if I have any problems during my year there then OzIntro can help me. 

VISA! I've got a working holiday visa which is valid for a year, and means I can work to fund my travels once I'm there. I'm hoping to be able to save enough money so I can travel round for a month or two without having to get a job!


I still need to book my first couple of nights accommodation as the OzIntro week doesn't start til 25th so I'll have a couple of nights in the centre of Sydney to try and get over the jet lag! 

So, in exactly 100 days (sounds like ages...) I'll be saying my goodbyes and preparing for a 26 hour journey to Australia!