Rambling Post #10: Australia In A Nutshell.

This is probably going to be my last (intentional) blog post about Australia, to avoid completely running it into the ground (if I haven't already).
Sometimes when it's late and I can't sleep it helps to write a blog post about whatever is on my mind, hence the Rambling Posts I sometimes have on here.
I really can't believe that my Aussie adventure has come to an end. It has been the best decision i've ever made and i've honestly enjoyed every single second of it.
I've made friends from so many different countries; Canada, Sri Lanka, Australia, France, Germany, USA, Malaysia, China...I could go on and on.
Fortunately i'm going to be living pretty close to one of my closest friends that I met in Aus, as we go to the same University in Leeds, so i'm very happy that i'll still be seeing her a lot. On the other hand, there are a lot of people that i'm going to miss like crazy, and even though we'll still Skype each other and write letters, it's never going to be the same.
I feel very lucky to have been able to have this experience. I got to see Melbourne, Sydney, Phillip Island, Lorne and Cairns. There's still more of Australia that i'd like to see, but for now, this was definitely good enough.
I strongly urge anyone debating doing a semester or a year abroad to just go for it. Think about the reasons that are making you think "hmm maybe it might not be a good idea". Then take those reasons and think of a solution. If it's money, get sponsors or work hard and save up, if it's worrying about not making friends; trust me, you will. Just take a leap and do it because it's been the best thing I have ever done (I mean I got to tick 13 things off my bucket list!).
Settling back at home has been strange, especially when no one here knows what it was like over there. When I first got to Aus I said I felt like Samwise Gamgee and Bilbo Baggins;

Now i'm feeling a little like Frodo.

How do I go back to how things were before after the most life changing months of my life? It's going to take some adjusting.
So for now I need to say goodbye to my home away from home and enjoy the summer before I start my final year of University.

All that keeps going through my head is,

"don't be sad it's over, just be glad it happened".

ᗩᑎᑎᗩᗷEᒪ♥

June.

Well. Here I am, back in England. After the craziest 5 months of my life. Now all the surprises have been done and dusted, I can post this about my last month in Australia.

June started with me coming home from 4 days away in Cairns (the highlight of my Aussie adventure, which you can read here), with exactly 4 weeks left.

Priya, Tarrena and I got free tickets to an event in the city; a Jungle party, where we got some free Leis. There was also a baby crocodile and a python for you to hold and get pictures with. The snake I had no problem with, it was so interesting, and they don't feel at all how you imagine they would. The baby croc on the other hand was a little different. Whilst I knew that if I didn't hold one, i'd regret it, I was still a little nervous! The scary thing was that they prefer to be held against your body where it's warm - which also means bringing it's jaws closer to your face! We were assured that she wouldn't bite but you never know.

Loving the snake - not so loving the crocodile!

One day I actually made it into the city for the first time in ages. I went to some souvenir shops and then met up with Priya and Dillon to go to the Immigration Museum. I'm not a massive museum person so this wasn't of massive interest to me, but it was free and it beats sitting in my flat all day. After that we went to Hosier Lane, where the walls and street floor are covered in graffiti. It looks awesome.

Hosier Lane (apologies for the terrible quality - I've had to cellotape my phone together...)

With it being the end of the semester, a lot of people started to leave after the second week of June, so there were many opportunities to get well and truly smashed. These were the last opportunities i'd have to finish off my liver here so I gave it a good go.

We also went for a day trip to the Grampians National Park. We got a bit lost as it's pretty big, but once we found a spot we went for a walk, took some pictures and then sat down for a barbie. It was absolutely freezing so after a few trips to sit in the car to warm up, the chicken was ready. After the feast we headed back to the car and drove back to Melbourne.

Me being a starfish with the amazing view of the Grampians.

Kiri and I went for a day out in the city. First we went for a wander round the winter market and I tried and failed with my haggling skills. After some food we then went to Hosier Lane (it was nice to see it in daylight this time) and got a lot of pictures of the street art. The next stop was St Paul's Cathedral where we lit some candles. It then started throwing it down outside so we called it a day and made our way home.

Hosier Lane street art.

On my last full day Tarrena and I went to the Melbourne Sea Life aquarium and I went into some souvenir shops to get the last of my gifts for people back home.

For my last meal before making my way to the airport, me and my friends all went to 8 Bit for a burger. Tarrena and Priya started to get a little upset but I didn't start to tear up until it was time to go to the airport.

After what is quite possibly the best 5 months of my life, I made my way to the airport to be reunited with everyone I left behind in February. I'm not going to go into some massive soppy paragraph about how much I will miss my Melbourne friends (1. because I could go on for hours and 2. because I will most likely start crying again and 3. because I already kind of went on a rant about it). All i'm going to say is I really really hope it isn't goodbye, and it's just see you later.

After a gruelling 24+ hours of travelling back to the other side of the world, I walked out of security and saw Mum and Dad waiting for me. After a few hugs, I turned around and saw my sister, who I wasn't supposed to see until that night. I'll just let you see for yourself in the video:

ᗩᑎᑎᗩᗷEᒪ♥