GoT Season 6.

*Spoiler alert*
Well. If you've seen the finale, then i'm pretty sure you're feeling the same emotions as me; shocked, confused, happy, lost, sad, angry... It certainly was the most rollercoaster-ish episode.
A season that started off pretty slow and had a very gradual build up through 8 episodes ended with 2 epic installments.

First was Battle of the Bastards. Finally seeing justice come to Ramsey through no other than Sansa Stark was exactly what we all needed. But the question still remains - does Sansa have his bun in the oven? There have been plenty of theories to suggest this, however it looks like season 7 (April 2017) will either confirm or dispute this one. Upon finishing this episode, i'm sure a lot of us were left thinking "how on earth can they top that next week?".

"You're going to die tomorrow, Lord Bolton. Sleep well."

Well, they did. They absolutely did.

The Winds of Winter, ie, best episode ever. It answered a lot of our questions, but also left a few out to keep us guessing for next season (this is brilliant yet also extremely infuriating). The many theories about Jon Snow's true parentage finally came to light, thanks to Bran Stark, and looks like the theories were true. Although we don't hear the name 'Rhaegar Targaeryen', we didn't really need to. So what does this mean if Jon is a Targaeryen? Danaerys is his Aunt? So much for that romance we were all hoping for. There's also the theory that Tyrion is also Targaeryen, which i'm not going into detail about because we could be here forever, here's a link to the theory of the '3 heads of the dragon'.

Let's not forget possibly Cersei's bitchiest moment in GoT history; blowing up the Sept with the High Sparrow, Queen Margaery and Loras inside. I think we were all glad to be shot of the High Sparrow, but slightly gutted the Tyrell siblings are gone. Everyone loves to hate Cersei. And the smirk on her face as she watches the Sept burn says it all; she is pure evil. Especially after what she did next. Poor King Tommen, upon witnessing the death of his wife, decides to take his life. After learning about her son's death, I felt Cersei didn't look too upset to see her last child die. Maybe she's just used to it now, we all know she doesn't have a heart anyway. But then she takes the throne. And is crowned Queen. As Jaime watches looking pretty disgusted with his sister/lover's actions. Finally he sees the light.

Now the real MVP of this episode has to go to Arya Stark getting her revenge on Walder Frey for the Red Wedding. I don't think i've ever cheered so loud at my TV before. She completely owned that scene. Plus, if she's at The Twins, then she isn't too far from Winterfell and being re-united with her brother and sister.

Speaking of Winterfell, Jon Snow being declared King in the North was finally a good turn for him, but what happens if everyone finds out who his parents are? He's still Stark blood, but sadly isn't Ned's.
Finally, like a lot of finales, we end with Danaerys looking boss as hell. FINALLY making her way to Westeros in a fleet of ships with her dragons by her side (I mean it's only taken her 6 seasons?!). This perfectly sets up season 7 for Dany's long anticipated take over.
Down point of the episode: does Varys have a teleporter that no one knows about?

All in all it took a while for this season to get going, but the final 2 episodes definitely did not disappoint. With everything set to kick off in season 7, i'm just gutted we have to wait 10 months. However i'm sure it will be worth the wait.

ᗩᑎᑎᗩᗷEᒪ♥

What i'll miss & what i'm looking forward to: Part 2.

A while ago I did a post like this before I came to Australia which you can read here, so I thought I would do another one about when I go back home to Leeds, which sadly now isn't far away!

What I will miss
1. My friends: I've met so many wonderful people from all around the world during my time here and I really don't know how i'm going to say goodbye to them all. Hopefully most of them will be 'see you later' rather than 'goodbye'!
2. Tim Tams: If you ever come to Australia, just try a Tim Tam. That's all.
3. The weather: I use this one lightly as it's bloody freezing here now, but in the summer it reached 40*. This was just a little over the line of what I can handle and was like walking around an oven, but i'm going to miss wandering about in a vest and shorts in March.
4. Hearing the Aussie accent: Even before I came this was one of my favourite accents and i'm definitely going to miss hearing it all the time, however my sister and I try to imitate it quite a lot.
5. My flat: When I eventually moved into my second room, I fell in love with it. I liked to be around a lot of people which is why I hung out at my friend's building quite a lot as it was always busy, but it was always nice to come back to my own little space for some peace and quiet!
6. Having a balcony: I didn't even use it much, I just loved having one and admiring the view.
7. The city: Back home I live in Leeds, which is considered a big city in England. After living in Melbourne, Leeds seems tiny to me. It's so busy here but everyone is so chilled out at the same time.
8. Going out every week: Until I came here I probably went on a night out maybe once every couple of months, I just didn't enjoy it that much. But for some reason when I moved here I was averaging 2/3 nights a week here. This did calm down after the first couple of months though - my bank account and liver needed it!

What i'm looking forward to
1. The first one is definitely my sister: Yes we're siblings and there are times when I want to kill her but she is literally my favourite person in the world and i've missed her the most.
2. And my parents: That moment in the airport where I walk out of the arrivals lounge and they run up and give me a big hug just like they do in the films. I can't wait for that.
3. Aaaand everyone else in my family: My extended family of Aunts, Uncles and Cousins is pretty large so I can't wait for all of the mini reunions!
3. My friends: Even though we've been Skyping and writing letters to each other i've missed them all like crazy and can't wait to see them.
4. My cat: I've missed this guy so fricking much. I can't wait to give him a cuddle!
5. My car: I've liked being healthier here and walking places, my pedometer app is going strong, but i've definitely missed having my car and just being able to jump in and drive anywhere. I'm not even sure i'll be insured on it for the summer but i'm looking forward to just having it there (and maybe going on a sneaky drive around the block).
6. Moving into my 3rd year house: I'm so so so excited to do this and i'm moving in with the loveliest bunch of girls that i've missed loads so this is v v exciting.
7. A BATH: Sometimes I love nothing more than a good bubble bath and I just love how relaxing they are, sometimes i'm in there for hours! I only have a shower in my room in Aus so i'm very excited for this.
8. My bed: At home I have a double bed with a lovely thick duvet, here it's too hot for a duvet so I have a sheet and a blanket, and it's a single bed.

In my first few weeks here I was feeling a tiny bit homesick still because there was a lot of people that I missed. I was enjoying myself here but just kind of saw it as a way of getting through the next 5 months to see all my family and friends again. But then I started to make friends from all around the world and started to realise that when I leave here, it's going to be so so sad. Going from living with all these lovely exciting people every day and learning so much about them to leaving and maybe never seeing them again isn't a nice thought. Hopefully we will all eventually meet up again.
But at the same time I am so so excited to see everyone back home.

ᗩᑎᑎᗩᗷEᒪ♥

Rambling Post #9: The part of study abroad that sucks.

Doing study abroad has without a doubt been the best thing that I have ever done, and i've loved every second of it. But then there's the one part of it that absolutely sucks, and no matter how much you prepare yourself for it, it's still pretty shit.

After spending the past 5 months with the same people and becoming such good friends with them all, it's now time to start saying goodbye as everyone leaves to go back home. I've always had this in the back of my head, I knew everything was temporary and we would all eventually go our separate ways, but it doesn't make it any easier.
I'm lucky that i've met a few friends who also go to Leeds Beckett back home and i'll still hopefully see them when I get back, but there's a few that i'll be leaving here and in other countries around the world.

It's just all started to dawn on me recently and I kind of needed to vent this somewhere!
I guess the excitement of seeing all of my friends back home made me forget how sad it's going to be leaving all of my new friends here.

ᗩᑎᑎᗩᗷEᒪ♥

The Ultimate Bucket List.

Recently i've been thinking about all of the things I want to do and achieve before my time's up (I know that's a bit of a morbid thought). I realised that there's quite a lot of things that I want to do so I thought I would write them down. I'll probably end up putting these on a page so I can keep updating them as i hopefully progress through achieving them all!

I Googled different bucket lists and things a lot of other bloggers have on their lists and along with my own ideas I combined them all to make an 'Ultimate Bucket List' for me (and anyone else) to do, so here they are!

1. Go on a dogsled ✔︎
2. Ride a zipline
3. Swim in the Blue Lagoon, Iceland
4. Ride in a helicopter ✔︎

Me, Kiri & Louisa just before flying over the 12 Apostles, Australia [February 2016]

5. Swim with dolphins ✔︎

6. See Christ the Redeemer, Rio

7. Fly somewhere first class (Keep dreaming) 

8. See the Northern Lights ✔︎

9. Walk on hot coals

10. See the Colusseum, Rome ✔︎

Inside the Colusseum, Rome [November 2015]

11. Get a tattoo ✔︎

12. Hold a snake ✔︎

13. Experience zero gravity

14. Play paintball

15. Go go-karting ✔︎

16. Cuddle a tiger cub (They look so cute!)

17. Volunteer at an elephant sanctuary

18. Go on a crocodile river boat ✔︎

19. Work at Camp America (Planning to do this in 2018!)

20. Sail on a boat ✔︎

21. Ride in a hot air balloon

22. See a production on Broadway, New York

23. Relax in a natural hot spring

24. Float in the Dead Sea

25. Do a skydive

26. Get a piercing ✔︎ (I have 13)

This was taken just after I got my daith pierced (the heart one). I now have 6 piercings in this ear!

27. Publish a book

28. Get pelted with tomatoes at La Tomatina, Spain

29. See Ayers Rock, Australia

30. Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, Paris (We almost did this in 2015, but the top level was closed. We're going again in December so fingers crossed!)

31. See the Opera House, Sydney ✔︎

32. Go on a cruise

33. Win a hula competition ✔︎ (I did this in a theme park in Wales of all places when I was around 10 and was pretty much famous for a day)

34. Go snorkelling ✔︎

35. Meet someone famous ✔︎ (I also met James Bourne from Busted in a bar in Leeds)

Me & my best friend Mary with Dan Smith, Bastille. Apologies for the terrible quality photo [February 2011]

36. Go on a safari 

37. Ride on a Skidoo ✔︎

38. Take a mud bath

39. Go to Holi Festival, India

40. Visit Stonehenge, UK

41. Drink at an ice bar

42. Do a bungee jump

43. Sign up to be an organ donor ✔︎

44. Visit the Chichen Itza, Mexico

45. Climb the Harbour Bridge, Sydney ✔︎

Val, Me, Priya, Louisa and Michele half way up the Harbour Bridge, Sydney! [March 2016]

46. Go to a Traffic Light Party ✔︎

47. See Buckingham Palace ✔︎ 

48. Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

49. Visit the Grand Canyon, Arizona

50. Go skiing

51. Learn to surf ✔︎ (I tried, I was terrible. I'm still counting it)

52. See Niagra Falls, Canada

53. See the Hollywood Hills, LA

54. Go to the top of the Empire State, New York

55. Give blood ✔︎ (I fainted the first time)

56. Go to Disneyland Paris ✔︎ (Going again in December 2016!)

Disneyland Paris [August 2015]

57. Visit the Valley of the Kings, the Sphynx and the Pyramids, Egypt

58. Go to Disneyworld, Florida

59. Gamble in Las Vegas

60. See my favourite band play live ✔︎

Arctic Monkeys at Manchester Arena [October 2013]

61. Drive a jetski ✔︎ (I was also very very bad at this)

62. Wrestle in a sumo suit

63. Visit all 7 continents (So far 3/7)

64. Go on a tram ✔︎

65. Have my palm read

66. Go to Oktoberfest, Germany

67. Go on the London Eye, UK (I had a panic attack on the Yorkshire Eye which was a fraction of the size so wish me luck with this one)

68. Ride in a Gondola, Venice

69. Stand on the equator

70. Go to a book signing ✔︎

Me & Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, Paul) at his book signing [October 2015]

71. Learn to speak another language (hablo un poco de Español en el momento)

72. Have a white Christmas (fat chance)

73. Go skinny dipping

74. Get a degree (1 year to go!)

75. Raise money for a charity ✔︎

76. Swim in the Great Barrier Reef ✔︎

The Great Barrier Reef [May 2016]

77. See the Taj Mahal, India

78. Climb to the top of a ski slope (yes, climb) ✔︎

79. Scuba dive

80. Drive a segway (not a swegway)

81. Fly solo on a plane ✔︎

82. Go on a glass bottom boat (again)

83. Walk across Abbey Road, London

84. Do a mud run ✔︎

My Auntie Yats, Me and my cousin Harriet crossing the Pretty Muddy finish line! [June 2015]

85. Go to a Guinness Brewery, Ireland

86. Walk along the Great Wall of China

87. Visit Hobbiton, New Zealand

88. Ride a camel

89. Have a campfire on the beach

90. Swim in an infinity pool ✔︎

91. Make a wish in the Trevi Fountain, Rome ✔︎

The beautiful Trevi Fountain just after it was restored in 2015.

92. Sleep under the stars ✔︎ (I did this from 5am-6am in a field next to a campfire on a pile of soot)

93. Hand decorate a wall in my house with paint

94. Drive a convertible

95. Have a Harry Potter marathon in one day

96. Have international friends ✔︎

97. Send a message in a bottle

98. Go on a random midnight drive ✔︎

99. Celebrate a birthday on a different continent

100. Go to a boat party ✔︎

I'm going to tag my bud Thomas to do this post and tick off what he has done so far. Along with this i'm also interested to know what anyone else has done so if you are reading this, either copy and paste the list and tick which ones you have achieved or just type them out in a comment!

ᗩᑎᑎᗩᗷEᒪ♥

Trip to Cairns!

Before coming to Australia, there were 2 things that I wanted to do. Number 1 was to climb the Harbour Bridge, which if you read my Sydney blog post, you'll see that I did. The second was to swim in the Great Barrier Reef. Already after just being in Australia for 4 months i've ticked so much off my bucket list. But it doesn't stop there. After waiting through my entire trip here, I finally got to see this natural beauty.

We found this hanging on a beach in Cape Tribulation.

Sunday

After being out all night and coming home at 2am, I stayed up until I had to go meet everyone at 4am to make our way to the airport for our 6am flight. Living in tiny England, i've never flown domestic before (except Sydney). So the fact that we just needed to walk straight through security and to our gate was very strange. We didn't even need our passports.

Once we were in Cairns we had a couple of hours to kill until we checked in, so we left our bags behind reception and went to chill by the pool. Me, Priya and Nikole had a quick swim and then went to sunbathe, where I fell asleep. At 2pm it was time to check in and once we were all in our rooms, we fell asleep once again. When we finally had some energy, we made our way into the city of Cairns for dinner where I finally tried the Aussie famous 'chicken parma''. At 9pm we were all in bed fast asleep after an exhausting 24 hours to prepare for our 6am start the following day.

Monday

Waking up at 6am after a month of going to sleep at 4am and waking up at 2pm was weird, but a lot less painful than I was anticipating, thanks to a sleepless night on saturday I slept like a baby. At 7am we were picked up by a minibus: we were going to Daintree Rainforest.

Our first stop was Mossman Gorge, which is sacred Aboriginal ground. This meant we needed to be 'welcomed' by the Aboriginal ancestors. The welcoming ceremony was interesting. We walked around a fire that was billowing smoke to be covered in the smoke. As long as we respected the land we would be protected by the ancestors. We then had some fun with Aboriginal face paint: Priya and I gave each other some army stripes. Next we hopped on the shuttle bus up to the Gorge where me and Priya went for a swim. Cairns is rife with Crocodiles, so swimming in rivers and at the beaches is a very bad idea, but the Gorge was high up, covered in rocks and the fresh water was cold, so Crocodiles don't swim there.

Mossman Gorge.

After the Gorge we hopped on the bus once again, now we were on our way to a Crocodile cruise on Daintree River. On our way there, our guide told us of a woman who was unfortunately killed by a crocodile on a beach that we drove past the night before. As we passed the media and police were still there. After this and all of the information that the cruise guide told us, I have a new appreciation for these fascinating and terrifying creatures.

Crikey!

Next stop was Cape Tribulation where we stopped for lunch. I tried a Kangaroo burger! (Pause for all the vegetarians that are gonna be hating on me now). It was pretty tasty, it made me think of a mix between chicken and beef.

Kangaroo burger!

We then spent the rest of the day stopping at various locations in the Daintree Rainforest, including an ice cream shop and a boardwalk through some of the forest. Daintree is also the only rainforest in the world where it reaches the sea.

Daintree Rainforest looking very Jurassic Park-esque!

Tuesday

Here we go again with another 6am wake up call. This time, I wasn't bothered one bit. I was going to do what I had wanted to do ever since I knew I was coming to Australia. It was Great Barrier Reef day.

We made our way to the docks and waited for our friends Val and Julian to meet us, then walked to the boat that we would be spending the day on. The weather was pretty grim. The first 2 days greeted us with 30 degree heat and sunshine, but the weather was now letting us down.

Once we were all checked into the boat and had been given our equipment for the day (wetsuit, snorkel, mask & flippers), we went to sit on the top deck for the 1 and a half hour journey out so sea. The sea was extremely choppy so we were being splashed and thrown about everywhere, which at first was hilarious. But after a while, one by one people were dropping like flies to seasickness. About half an hour before we reached the reef, there was just me and Dillon left that hadn't turned a nasty shade of green. My Dad gets seasick so I can thank my Mum for that one.

The staff member that gave our safety briefing assured us that the typical Great White and Bull Sharks don't typically come into the reef as it's hard for them to move around. Which was a huge relief to hear. As soon as we got the OK I threw on my wetsuit and jumped in.

I can't even think of the words to describe what I saw. It's something you'll have to go do yourself, because it was phenomenal. The reef was beautiful with shades of all different colours. There were so many different fish in different shades and sizes.

The first location we were at had cloudy water as the weather was a little miserable. Once we had lunch and moved to the second location, the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day, which also meant we could see a lot clearer underwater. I made a lot of use of my GoPro and I can't wait to edit all the videos together.

The Great Barrier Reef.

Wednesday

Finally! A sleep in! It was only 8am, but that sounds so much nicer than 6. We checked out and left our bags behind reception again as we went into the city to get breakfast. After we had eaten we went to the Cairns Esplanade where there was a gorgeous community pool called the Lagoon. I made the most of my last few hours in the sun (there was no way I could face going home being as white as when I left). After a couple of hours we caught the last bus of the afternoon (at only 3pm?!) back to the hotel where I sunbathed for another hour.

A quick Instagram-worthy picture in the Lagoon!

Then it was time to return to cold and rainy Melbourne. There wasn't a lot of people on our flight so we all pretty much had 3 seats to ourselves.

When we were home Priya, Dillon and I dumped our bags and went to the common room to watch the new Game of Thrones episode that we had missed 2 days earlier. We didn't want to risk seeing any spoilers!

It probably goes without saying but this has been the absolute cherry on top of a fantastic adventure in Australia. It's a matter of weeks until I go home now and I can't wait to see everyone again, but at the same time, there's a lot of people here that are going to be missed.

ᗩᑎᑎᗩᗷEᒪ♥

May.

The penultimate month of my Australian adventure is finally here. This unfortunately means that funds are growing slim and the workload has caught up to me after 3 months of partying, so i'm afraid this wasn't the most exciting of months.

To start May off Priya, Tarrena and I went on a bar crawl in the city of Melbourne. In total we went to 3 bars and 1 nightclub. Somehow I acquired a sombrero that I was very protective over for the rest of the night.

Quick selfie before the bar crawl!

This month we had quite a few nights in (our livers seriously needed a bit of a break). So we had a pamper party, and on another occasion we had a taco night.

I look about 12 in this photo...

As part of one of my modules this semester, we needed to put on a live music event. We threw a Beatles inspired afternoon at a retirement village and even hired a Beatles tribute band to play. The music was brilliant and before the end of the event people were up dancing. When it had finished, people came up to us and thanked us for a great event and said they loved it.

Everyone dancing to Twist & Shout!

So one of mine and Priya's guilty pleasures is to visit Max Brenner, a chocolate bar. Unfortunately this is located right next to our gym (and a Nandos), so walking to the bus stop after a good gym sesh takes enormous self control on our part, and isn't always successful, hence how I got this picture. What you're looking at is 2 double chocolate cookies wth vanilla ice cream sandwiched between them, then on the side is melted chocolate and a little pot of sprinkles. It was amazing, but I made the schoolboy error of pouring the chocolate on the ice cream, not realising that the chocolate would go cold. Classic Annabel.

During the last weekend in May, I went to another AFL game, then straight after went to an indoor music festival in the city. It was okay, to be honest it was just like any old night out. After getting home at 2am I had 2 hours to make sure all my packing was done before I needed to leave for the airport to go to Cairns with Priya, Dillon and Nikole for 4 days.

So when this post goes up i'll have just got back from Cairns. I'll be writing an individual post of my adventures up north in a few days. Here's to my last month in Aussie land!

ᗩᑎᑎᗩᗷEᒪ♥