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♥

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♥

G'Day Mate!

So i've been keeping this quiet on social media until now (i've pretty much told everyone I know in person though, I was too excited to keep it to myself).

I'M MOVING TO AUSTRALIA!

People i've told have been like, "erm what where the hell did this come from?"
But in February 2016 i'll be moving to Melbourne COMPLETELY BY MYSELF to study at Victoria University until June.

Honestly, i'm absolutely terrified. Australia has always been that one place that i've always said i'll never go on holiday (you know, spiders etc), but when I got nominated by my current University to go here, who the hell would say no?! I've never done anything this big before and it's probably the most terrifying and brave thing I will ever do, yet funnily enough, I can't wait!

I still can't believe that I will be calling this place home in 3 months.

If i'm completely honest, the thing i'm most excited for is decorating my new room.
I feel kind of ready for a fresh start. It's not that i'm upset with anything here in England, I'm perfectly happy, I've just never done anything as exciting as this and I can't wait to meet a bunch of new people.

But don't worry, i'll still be keeping you updated on all of my adventures whilst i'm over there! (That's if I have any). My course leader told me last week that whilst I usually take 3 modules and have 2 assignments per module at Leeds Beckett, at Victoria i'll be studying 4 modules with 4 assignments per module. Goodbye social life. The positive is that the grades I get whilst on Study Abroad don't count towards my degree, so all I have to do is pass. Brings a teensy bit of pressure to this semester though, now all my Semester 1 assignments count for my whole second year.

I'm hopefully signing on to this International Orientation trip before the semester starts in Melbourne, Basically all the international students go on a trip for 3 days and we learn to surf, visit a zoo and go on some sort of hike (ew).

My plan for the Easter Holidays (if I can afford it and if it can be done), is to go to Sydney for the first week and climb the Harbour Bridge and go see something at the Opera House, maybe try and find where Dance Academy was filmed. Then for the second week I want to fly over to New Zealand and go see where Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit was filmed. Then at some point in all of the madness, i'm going to grow a pair (i'm terrified of sharks) and go snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef (my GoPro will be perfect for this!).

So there you have it. Probably the biggest news I will ever have (until I eventually get to the proper adulty stuff like babies etc. But that is a loooong while off).