April.

To kick this month off, we went to a Traffic Light Party (if you've never been to one, essentially you wear green if you're single, yellow if "it's complicated" and red if you're in a relationship). Usually you wear coloured shirts but this one was dress in black and you get coloured glow sticks. We had a pretty good night but the venue wasn't that great so halfway through we bailed and left to go to our favourite nightclub.

Bre, Tarrena, Me, Priya and Lou ready for the Traffic Light Party.

Unfortunately April saw me settle down with a bit more Uni work that I had to do. I keep forgetting about the main reason I came here and that it can't always be parties every night and catching up on my sleep during the day (maybe). So the partying lifestyle took a bit of a backseat this month with me trying to save up money for a trip to Cairns (Queensland) at the end of the semester too.

My building sometimes has activities for the residents to go on for free, and the first one me, Priya & Tarrena decided to go on was Go Karting & Laser Quest. We were split into 2 groups for the Go Karting and I came 5th out of our 7 in the race... I blame it on the no power steering, that was bloody difficult! We then went for a game of Laser Quest where I came 2nd out of 15, hell yeah.

So a guy from our Uni here decided to throw a party where he lives on a farm. He hired a DJ, put on a bonfire (with marshmallows), there were lights everywhere and there were many games of beer pong. The whole night is just one big blur to me but what I do remember is a lot of drinking, a lot of dancing and a lot of roasted marshmallows. At around 5am I eventually managed to get a little bit of sleep - 1 hour curled up next to the bonfire on a pile of soot. The hosts parents then made us all bacon and egg sandwiches which was amazing. Soon after we all piled back onto the bus and made our way home. All in all it was a brilliant night.

Priya, Tarrena & I after waking up next to the campfire in a field at 6am.

So yet again, we decided to go to another international boat party. You were encouraged to come in your national dress/colours, so I went in my navy top and tied some red and white ribbon to my wrist, then tucked a Union Jack into the loop of my jeans. It was a good night and after a lot of dancing on the boat we then made our way to the party bus to be taken to our favourite club, Billboards.

Tarrena (Australian), Priya (Canadian) and Me ready for the Boat Party.

The morning after the boat party, Priya, Louisa and I needed to be at the Uni campus at 9am for a trip to Phillip Island (this is where the Hemsworth brothers grew up). However after a night out, this can be quite difficult. And after a phone call from Priya at 8:55 that woke me up, I was very surprised that I even made it.
Once we made it to Phillip Island we went for a coastal walk along the beach and then up along the cliffs. The views were gorgeous. On the way back however I managed to cut my foot on a rock (as we were walking along the beach we all decided not to wear our shoes). Typical me. So then I had to walk back a mile with sand getting into my cut. Not very pleasant. When I was patched up we walked to the sand dunes where some of the others slid down on boards into the sea. After that we made our way to the Penguin Parade, where every night penguins walk 4km back to their little homes. They were adorable!

Group photo with Woolamai Beach in the background.

So I obviously wanted a permanent reminder of my first big adventure, so I went to get my first tattoo. I had a bit of an entourage/support group that insisted on coming; Kiri, Nikole, Priya and Tarrena came to cheer me on/laugh at my pain. The joke was on them though, it didn't really hurt. I got the map of Australia not only as a reminder of this awesome opportunity that i've had, but because it's also a reminder that i'm stronger, braver and a lot more capable than I ever thought. I've already said if you went back in time and told younger me that I was living here I wouldn't believe you, and I think this has made me grow up so much as a person. Don't get me wrong, I still have the brain of a 5 year old sometimes, but living here has already taught me so much.

Goodbye tattoo virginity!

So that's April. I can't get over how incredibly fast this has all gone. Here's to my last 2 months Down Under!

𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

September.

Another month down. Only 3 to go and it's 2016! This year is completely flying by and it seriously needs to start slowing down!

So the beginnging of September wasn't actually that exciting. It started off with a lot of after holiday blues following a brilliant week in Mallorca. Mostly because I was poor, I didn't really do much for the first couple of weeks.

Then my best friend, Tom, at work had his leaving do. It's weird and sad that we'll never work together again (i'm pretty sure everyone else is glad that Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee have been separated), but he's moving to University so i'm also super happy for him.
So anyway, back to the leaving do. We went to Roxy Lanes in town and had 2 rounds of bowling. Never drink and bowl.
Ever.
Before you know it bowling balls were flying all over the place and people were racing to take each others goes. I'm pretty surprised no one broke their foot to be honest (Dayle was throwing them backwards). After that some of us moved on to Tom's house where more drinking and fun and games continued. I remember it took around 2 hours to order a pizza and have it delivered. I don't think i've ever been so angry at pizza before. The next morning was the typical walk (or taxi journey) of shame in last night's clothes. Classy.

Another weekend I went to an 18th which resulted in a spontaneous trip to town. Which then resulted in another walk of shame the next morning after staying at my other bestie, Mary's house.

Then it came to starting University again. Here we go with second year. Before I know it i'll have no social life and will be permanently glued to textbooks and writing essays.

It's not been the most exciting of months, but with my dance show being next month, October should be more interesting!

July.

Where the hell did July go?! I can't believe it's August tomorrow already. This year is just flying by.

My best pal Thomas did a June round up last month, and I liked the idea so I decided to copy him like I always do.

The month started off brilliantly. In the first week, I got a new car, was voted Employee of the Quarter at work and I finished my placement year for University.

On July 4th I went to a leaving do for one of the guys at work. My memories are limited but from what I can remember, there were countless arguments about Ring of Fire, I fell asleep on a balcony which felt like it was going to fall off, Tom can laugh at himself in a mirror for a stupid amount of time and Sarah is incredibly light.



My sister left for Finland on the 11th to go represent Team GB at a worldwide gymnastics event called Gymnaestrada. Here she is with her GB squad and some of the German team (she's the one on the far right).

Needless to say i'm insanely proud of her for this. From what she's told me it sounded like an amazing experience and she met people from countries all around the world.









The biggest event in July for me was my 21st. My birthday is in August but a lot of people are usually on holiday around that time (I know, how inconsiderate). So we went the whole nine yards; booked a venue, DJ, Photo Booth, caterer and I even booked a minibus to take me and my friends to the party after we had some Prosecco at my house. In a nutshell I had an amazing night that I spent with the best people. It consisted of arguments about how many claps to do in the dance to 'Saturday Night', my Grandma prancing around in a silly hat introducing herself to literally everyone, being pushed down a slide and having Sambuca and Tequila being forced down my throat. Ugh. If you want to read more about it - here's my previous blog post!

Over the weekend of my party, one of my best friends, Mary just kind of temporarily moved into my house. I don't see her a lot so when I do she's not allowed to leave! We spent the day after my party with one of my other besties, Kelsey, cuddled up in duvets watching Disney movies and eating Dominoes. Very luckily work had given me the 3 days after my party off, so they were naturally all spent lounging around not doing much.

The month ahead is looking pretty jam-packed so I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Twenty One.

On Saturday I celebrated my 21st birthday. My real birthday is 6th August, but being an August baby comes at a terrible price...
NO ONE IS EVER HERE.
I've always had my parties in July or September because the majority of my friends and family are usually on holiday when my birthday comes around (I know, how inconsiderate of them).

The day started with meeting my best friend Mary, and going to get my hair and nails done. Before this, I wasn't feeling particularly excited. I always feel slightly anxious before putting on a party, and this was the biggest one I had ever thrown. However after visiting the hairdressers the excitement began to build and Mary and I went home to begin with the drinking and getting ready, which is when Charlotte, another bezzie of mine, joined us. 

Kelsey arrived shortly after (another bezzie) and not long after that we were all ready to go so we made our way downstairs for Prosecco and strawberries.

Quick pic before we all get on the minibus with Mary, Jagger, Jess, Emma, Charlotte, Rachel, Kelsey and Foxy. The minibus driver was a bit miserable, and every time we asked him to turn the music up he would, but then he would very slyly turn it down soon after. What a dick.

My mum had been at the venue earlier on to decorate, so this was the first time I saw it all decorated. There were black, silver and purple balloons and a big silver 21. Of course, there were baby pictures of me stuck everywhere.

Once we were there I also got to see my cake (which was insane), and not long after I was on the meet and greet. My shoes were absolutely killing me, and after i'd made sure they lasted as long as possible, I made the swift change to flip flops.

I had a Photo Booth! Many silly pictures were taken and everyone seemed to love it.

I had such an amazing night consisting of arguments with Tom about how many claps you do in the dance to Saturday Night, laughing at my Grandma introducing herself to literally everyone and then doing the Macarena to Cha Cha Slide, dancing to as many songs as possible and getting pushed down a slide. I'm grateful to everyone who came and wanted to celebrate with me. The only problem is it went way too fast!

And Nathan was there so that was great.