Aussie Roadtrip
I arrived in Australia two weeks ago and have spent time with friends in Brisbane and my boyfriend’s family on the Gold Coast and in Bundaberg. But now I have got a job and it is in Cairns, so we are off on a roadtrip. How Big is Australia? When you get out a map and look to see where Bundaberg and Cairns are you’ll probably think I misled you with the phrase ‘roadtrip’ as it implies weeks on the road, covering huge distances. Well look again and this time, check the scale. It took just over four hours to drive from Northern Brisbane to Bundaberg last week. It would…
ANZAC Day…Lest we forget
ANZAC day falls on the 25th of April each year and is a National day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand. There is a tradition of memorial services being held on the 25th of April and today I attended my first ANZAC day service. What is ANZAC? ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. The day is the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in Australia and New Zealand, attracting more attention than international Remembrance days. It is held traditionally at dawn, because the Gallipoli campaign (Gallipoli was an eight month long military campaign by the allied forces, to capture Istanbul and provide a seaway…
Viva Las Vegas
Las Vegas is something else. It is an incredible place but I don’t wholly mean that in a good way. Most towns and settlements are near water, water being essential for human life and all. Las Vegas, however, is a town built inexplicably in the middle of the Nevada desert. There is not a drop of water in sight. Each day brings blazing desert temperatures. I burned myself badly on a seatbelt buckle the first time I went to Vegas. Nowhere else in the world have I seen pierced hosepipes elevated above pavements spraying a cool mist over pedestrians. It is very, very hot. The heat is only one reason…
Jetlag swine!
I have never suffered badly with jetlag (or been badly ‘lagged’ as my brother used to say). In all my travels I think I’ve fallen asleep in my dinner once or twice around the world, but I have always got at least as far as dinner before collapsing with exhaustion. The trip from the UK to Australia is something else though. It really is the other side of the world you are travelling to. Calculating the time ‘over there’ (whichever way you’re working it out) is confusing enough; trying to get your body to adjust is truly difficult. I have long been teased about my ability to fall asleep almost…
Singapore Airport I love you
What a joy it was to arrive at Singapore’s Changi airport. Of all the airports that I have had the pleasure (or displeasure) to have passed through over the years, Singapore beats them all hands down.As if the 14 hour flight hadn’t been bad enough, it was with Qantas, who lived up to their dreadful reputation with regards to the rude check-in lady at Heathrow and charging me £240 for being 6 kg over my baggage allowance. Yes, you read that right – £240! They topped this off with foul inflight food and an inflight entertainment system that didn’t work. Consider me to have learned my lesson. I am never…
The Hardest Goodbye
I have said a lot of goodbyes this week. Some people are very casual about it and in this day and age with the internet, email and the genius that is skype, that is understandable. Some people are very emotional. But one of the hardest goodbyes I have had to say so far was to my girls. My girls are my two cats Sultan and Saba. They have been a daily part of my life for years and already, I miss them. Sultan is seven and a half and has lived with me for seven of those years. She was a street cat in Turkey and I fell in love…
Strolling on the Via Dell Amore in Cinque Terre
Walks along stunning and rugged coastline are a popular activity in Cinque Terre. Walking, along with atmospheric olive groves and beautiful countryside attract endless visitors to the Italian Riviera. No walk is more famous than the Via Dell Amore and unlike some other local walks, and unless this is your first foray off the sofa for a while, it is easy peasey, so nobody should miss out. So, where is it? There are walks connecting each of the five villages in the area and some of them are more challenging than others, so it is important to make sure you get the right one. The Via Dell Amore is the…
The Chaos of finishing a chapter of your life
My life has had many chapters so I am excited about starting a new one, but at the same time my current chapter is racing along at full speed. Rather than imagine I am keeping up, I feel like I am being hurled along with it. Deciding to let my property while I’m overseas was a good decision, but it has created SO much to do ahead of my departure. I am filtering through cupboards and trying to throw out as much as possible, taking down shelves, painting walls and fixing things I didn’t even know were broken. I have also had to talk to my mortgage provider, pick through…
