2016 In A Pretty Large Nutshell.

This is where i'd usually put a lovely header with '2016' on with some nice pictures from this year, however I found it impossible to choose 4 or 5 of my favourites so I gave up.

I'm just going to start this one off by saying WHERE THE HECK HAS THIS YEAR GONE?!

I think we can all agree that for the world, this year was an absolute disaster. Whilst some people argue that bad things happen every year and there's worse things happening around the world than a few celebrities dying, i'd just like to politely shut you down by saying they weren't "just celebrities". Many of them were role models, icons that many people looked up to. Alan Rickman was a phenomenal actor, and I was genuinely upset when he left us. Victoria Wood, a comedian showing us that girls can be hilarious too. Prince and Bowie, 2 artists proving that being quirky and different isn't something you should shy away from. Gene Wilder! I must have watched Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory a billion times when I was younger. And of course, champ himself, Muhammed Ali, one of the most celebrated sports figures of the 20th Century. Then, when all things seemed calm, the past week seemed like the grand finale after we lost even more legends; Rick Parfitt, George Michael, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds all left us within a few days. For some reason, I think Harambe's death will be the most remembered. Don't even get me started on the politics. Brexit and Trump? I'm just going to leave it at that or i'll be here for hours. So yeah, that sucked big time.
This year has also brought us the Mannequin Challenge, the Rio Olympics, another wonderful series of Sir David Attenborough's Planet Earth and the short-lived craze that was Pokemon Go. 2016 for the world has just been the most bizarre year yet.

But selfishly, for me, this has been one of the most exciting years yet.

It was the year that I finally moved out of my family home...to Australia. It was there that I met the most amazing people from all around the world and will hopefully have a bond with them for a long long time. I cuddled koalas, swam in the Great Barrier Reef, I got drunk (a lot), fed kangaroos, held a snake, climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, gained an appreciation for Crocodiles, learnt to surf, went to the Grand Prix..blah blah blah.  I wouldn't change anything about my 5 months in that wonderful country. I miss it every single day, but I know i'll be back at some point in the future.

Australia.

Come home was honestly amazing. I was so excited to see my family and friends I nearly knocked a kid out with my suitcase pulling it off the conveyor belt. My sister, Emma had been telling me that she wouldn't be at the airport to pick me up as she'd be doing some sort of Duke of Edinburgh thing in Scotland, and that she'd be home that night. So coming out of departures, I saw Mum and Dad and got the biggest hugs, feeling emotional but holding it together. That was when Emma stepped out from behind some strangers, and I wasn't holding it together anymore. I burst into tears at the sight of my best friend whom i'd missed a hell of a lot. So yeah, thanks for making me cry you little shit.
I got home and had a bath (sitting in a seat for 24 hours makes you v v stinky), and I just remember sitting there thinking, 'what do I do now?' it was such a weird feeling and to be honest, I felt a little lost for a few days.
A week later we had a BBQ at the house and invited everyone round. It was so great to see everyone again and everyone kept asking me how it was, but how do you put something like that into words?
About a month later, I went to Spain with my family, where I actually got a proper tan for the first time in my life. After settling back into work and having a busy few weeks seeing everyone, it was nice to have a week of just relaxing, however I did get to knock another thing of my bucket list that i've been wanting to do for years; parasailing!

Back with all my friends & fam.

Is it me or did the second half of this year just slip by us? I'm honestly finding this part difficult to write because it all just feels like some big massive blur.
September saw me move up to University and experience real student living for the first time (in the UK). My housemates, Sian, Ellie, Erin and Sophie are luckily very easy to live with (i've heard a lot of horror stories about housemates from hell, and these girls are nothing like it). Most night's we'll get snug in the living room and watch a good film or TV Show. But we also have our nights out, where some overdo it more than others!
I also ventured to London with Viv to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It was amazing. Watch it now. We also made some good use of our free Merlin Passes and went on the London Eye (another ticked off my list), Sealife Centre and London Dungeons.
For Halloween my Dad (a zombie), Emma (a mash up of the characters from Stranger things) and I (Harry Potter post-war of Hogwarts), went to my cousins for a mini-party.
Then in November I finally got to take Emma to her 16th birthday present (almost a year later). The Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour. A few days earlier we'd been to see the midnight showing of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, so when we walked in and saw they had props and costumes from those films too, we were in our element. Of course, every student gets a wand, so as a "little" extra, she picked out Newt Scamanders wand for me to buy her.

Such Potterness.

Then came the panics of Uni assignments and present buying for Christmas which took up a lot of time. Then finally, myself, Jagger, Danny and Em went to Disneyland on the 18th December. And guess what? I ticked another off my list. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and I absolutely shit myself. The 3 days following we spent in the parks going to the parades and on the rides. We've been on Space Mountain 6 times now, and every time we've either been right at the front, or right at the back. Em had a massive birthday badge on the whole time and was wished Happy Birthday by Ariel, Eric, the Soldiers from Toy Story, Peter Pan, the Fairies from Sleeping Beauty (who argued about whether they should make her a green or pink dress) and Jessie - who got a queue of strangers to sing her Happy Birthday. My only claim to fame was a snog from Tigger. All in all we had a brilliant time and didn't seem to stop laughing for the entire 4 days. It was a great ending to the year.

I miss it already!

Throughout the year I got to knock 13 things off my Bucket List in total. I conquered fears, travelled to 3 different countries, met new lifelong friends of many nationalities, learnt a lot about myself and gained so much independence.
So just like Kylie Jenner, this year I realised a lot of things.

If you're feeling bored and want more reading, here's what i've been up to all year in more detail;
January/February/March/April/May/June/July&August/September/October/November

2016, you've been an absolute rollercoaster ride. Here's to a more positive year for the world and to seeing what 2017 will bring.

Annabel

October.

So for the majority of October i've been doing Uni work (yes, i've only been back 3 weeks and have shed loads to do) and organising for my dance show.

As i'm in 3rd year, this was my last Varsity (as a student), and unfortunately, Leeds Beckett lost the rugby final for the first time in 12 years. It was a little annoying, the Leeds Uni students got a bit cocky but i'll let them enjoy this one. Despite our defeat, we all went out and got smashed anyway. On the way out, our Uber driver, Ali, was telling us his life story and our drunken selves were giving him some advice (oh dear).

Yeah, we also got a selfie.

October half term. Every year since I was 5 years old, this has meant it's time for the annual Showgroup show. 17 years and still going strong. It stresses me out to the max but I just love teaching the kids and bringing together a show with the teachers, trying out different things every year. Every weekend of October is pretty much taken up with rehearsals and I honestly wouldn't have it any other way.

Us Showgroup teachers! Harriet, Me, Emma, Sarah and Jess.

The show went amazingly and we all recieved such good feedback. It really does make all the stress worth it in the end to see the kids enjoying themselves.

A quick snapshot from our backstage video which will be going up next month!

I also finally uploaded my video from my Aussie adventures to YouTube! It was difficult squeezing 5 months of my life into 15 minutes, which is probably why it's taken me over 4 months to finish it. But here it is if you want to give it a watch!

Annabel

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♥

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♥

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♥

Living in Leeds//Melbourne

I've been living in Melbourne for over 2 months now, and during my time here so far, i've noticed quite a few cultural differences between some things here compared to back home.

The Melbourne city skyline from Albert Park.

People here are so lovely! The lady serving me in K-Mart (my new favourite shop) greeted me with a "Hi, how are you? How is your day going?". As I recall I was once in Wilko's in Leeds and all the sales assistant said to me was "Bag?". I know it's different in different stores but just the people in general are so friendly. You could be sat on a tram next to a stranger and the next thing you know you're having a little chat. It's made me start to feel a bit like my Mum because she talks to blooming everyone.

Aussie's are extremely laid back. They're just so chilled about everything. When i'm walking around town no one is really rushing to get anywhere. Usually this would bug me with people walking slow but it's nice to be in a big city where everyone is so chilled out. There was one exception when I was getting off a tram a couple of weeks ago and a man pushed me out of the way to get on and I retaliated by going "oh well excuse you" and everyone just stopped and looked at me. Maybe that's not the way they deal with situations here or maybe everyone just wanted a bit of drama to watch.

No one says 'thank you' to the bus driver. To get around on public transport in Melbourne, you need a 'MyKi' card which you can top up. It's similar to an M-Card in Leeds. This means that on trains, trams and buses you don't give cash to the driver or buy a ticket, you just make sure your card is topped up and swipe away. I'm assuming that people don't say 'thank you' to the bus driver here because there's no interaction with them when you get on. In 2 months i've only heard 2 people say it to the driver. Back home if you didn't thank the driver you'd get death stares from everyone, it's just not right.

The Drop Bears. I'm letting you in on Australia's biggest secret here. Every foreigner that comes to Aus, will undoubtedly hear about the Drop Bears from an Aussie resident. They're carnivorous bears that drop out of trees and pretty much maul your face off. Ways to avoid them are to smother your armpits with Vegemite, only speak English around them, and obviously, don't walk underneath trees. If you fell for that then you're as stupid as I was. Of course it's a hoax. Australians like to trick new travellers with this tall tale.

The Aussie's abandoned coppers. In 1991 Australia stopped using copper coins, which is great because I don't have a bunch of 1c or 2c coins jamming up my purse. However in stores products will still be on sale for prices like $12.99 etc, and it'll just be rounded up. I don't really know why they still do this as it doesn't make a lot of sense - surely it would just be easier to keep everything in multiples of 5c now?

No one replies to 'Y'alright?'. Back in Leeds this is just how we greet each other, but i've found that when you greet someone in that way here, they just look at you blankly. Maybe it's because they think i'm genuinely asking if they're okay and if it's just in passing to a stranger or someone I don't know well, it could seem quite strange. Instead, here they say "how're you going?". They also sometimes say "too easy" instead of "okay".

These are just little things i've noticed during my 2 months here, other people might think differently about these things but this is just what i've observed!

𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

March.

So now i'm all settled into my new home and absolutely love my little flat. I can't believe i've already been here for a month and a half, it's just flying by.

So one of the first events I went to in March was a toga party, which was also kind of a paint party with UV paint. We donned our best bedsheets and gold glitter was absolutely everywhere.

TOGA!

As another event for our intentional orientation, Victoria University threw a boat party/cruise for us one evening. We all got dressed up and enjoyed the beautiful views onboard the Victoria Star whilst drinking a lot of alcohol and eating free pizza.

The Victoria Star

Around the end of my third week here myself and a few friends went to the Moomba Festival in Melbourne City. We spent the afternoon wandering round the different food stalls, game stalls and even went on a couple of the rides. As it started to get dark we went to find a spot by the river to sit and watch some of the waterskiing competitions that were taking place on the lake. Soon after, the firework display started.

Fireworks at Moomba

Every month I try make it easier on myself and keep a draft of my monthly post updated each time I do something, but I can sometimes be a bit useless at that. I'm now struggling to remember what i've done in the past week.

The Grand Prix! I've never really been a massive fan of this on the tv despite a lot of family members loving it, I just couldn't get into it. Like a lot of things though, it's so much different when you're there for real and I actually got a little excited. Unfortunately though that night I came down with laryngitis and was knocked out for a few days! After being prescribed antibiotics I started to feel loads better, but it meant i'd have to take it easy with alcohol for a few days!

#AUSGP!

Here we go again with another night out. This wasn't for anything special, I just really like this picture!

I am a giant.

I'm not really a massive sports person, but when Uni offers you free tickets to an AFL game, you don't refuse. Our friend Tarrena supports one of the teams playing; the Freemantle Dockers, and as me Priya and Louisa aren't from Australia, we weren't really fussed with who we supported, so we chose to support Tarrena's. We all bought scarves and started to get a little excited. In the end we really enjoyed ourselves and I started to really get into the game. Unfortunately though, the Western Bulldogs won 103-38. But it was still a great day out doing something I wouldn't usually do.

Go Freo!

Everyone knows, Jurassic Park is my all time favourite film. I just loved dinosaurs when I was younger. Coincidentally, there was a Jurassic Park exhibition in Melbourne and of course I went. It was themed as if you were actually going to the island and all the little kids were getting so excited it was adorable. There were animatronics of all the popular dinosaurs and they looked so real!

Ah!

As this post goes up i'll be spending my Spring Break in Sydney! Which will be in a new post very soon. I can't believe it's April already!!!
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

Great Ocean Road & Lorne orientation weekend.

So as an exclusive trip for study abroad/exchange students studying at Victoria University, we were whisked away the weekend before semester started to Lorne, which is a almost right at the bottom tip of Australia.

Day 1
Living near Uni definitely has its perks. We were picked up from campus at 9am and drove for about an hour to visit Bell's Beach where the final scene in Point Break is set (not actually filmed). After a Subway lunch we got back on the bus and headed to the next beach to start our surfing lesson!

Bell's Beach! 

Surfing is so much harder than it looks. Just trying to get out into the sea with your surfboard is a workout and a half. When the instructors gave me a push off I managed to get up onto the board on my knees (I managed to stand up once and fell off instantly). It was so much fun and i'd love to give it a go again.

In our wetsuits ready to surf!

Next stop was our accommodation; a cute hostel that was styled a bit like a treehouse. It even had a hammock. Needless to say I fell in love with this hammock. We then had a couple of hours to bagsy a bed and get ready for the evening meal and night out. After the food we went back to the hostel to pre drink and then we all wandered down together to the club. Obviously after a few drinks everyone became very sociable so it was great to get to talk to so many different nationalities and get to know other people going to our University.

Day 2
After a quick breakfast, we all got ready for the day and headed to a field where we learned to play Aussie Rules Football. Me and some of the other girls hadn't had a brilliant night's sleep so we were pretty exhausted, and after trying out a few different warm up drills with the footballs we decided to sit out and watch whilst the others played a friendly game.
After a pretty disappointing fish and chips for lunch, myself and another friend went back to the hostel for a nap (I had my beloved hammock) and almost ended up missing the afternoon hike through the Great Otway National Park & the Surf Coast Walk! Luckily we made it just in time. After seeing some incredible views and a Koala's butt...

...we made it back to the hostel and had a well earned rest before going back out again for dinner. This time we decided not to go out afterwards, we were all far too exhausted for another one! Most of the girls in my dorm stayed at the hostel and chilled out with snacks and card games.

Day 3
After packing up and getting on the bus, we went for a drive along the Great Ocean Road and the views were beautiful.

The beautiful views on the Great Ocean Road.

After a while we stopped for lunch and we had the opportunity to go in a helicopter for $95 to see the 12 Apostles. Going in a 'choppa' is on my bucket list so of course I decided to do it.

On the choppa!

It was then back on the bus and we made our way to Loch Ard Gorge. I went for a paddle in the sea just when a wave crashed in and wet my bum, oops. We got a big group picture then headed back up to the bus to go see London Bridge.

London Bridge.

Finally it was time to get on the bus one last time and make our way back home. It was such a good weekend where I met so many lovely people. At first the majority of us got onto the bus complete strangers but when we got back on the bus to come home, we had so many new friends from all over the world.
The next exchange students trip is a cruise party next week!
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

February.

I'm not gonna lie, this has probably been the most eventful and emotional month of my life. And for once i'm not being dramatic.

I now live in Australia.

I know, i'm still waiting for it to sink in too. I still kind of feel like i'm on an extended holiday.

But i'm getting ahead of myself, this didn't happen until the 17th, so let me take you back to the beginning.

So to commemorate my leaving the country and so I could see as many people as possible, I threw a fancy dress party at my house, with the theme being anything beginning with A (for Annabel and Australia). We had an Arab, Aurora, the Avengers, 2 Addams Families, 4 Amy Winehouse's, Adele, 4 Angels, 2 Alice Coopers, Ash Ketchum, an Alligator, Andy from Toy Story, Ally McCoist, an Aviator, ABBA, Andie Pandie, Arrow, an Apology and my Grandma dressed up as me. I had an absolutely brilliant (and emotional) night, it was the perfect way to say 'see you later' so all of my closest family and friends. I then had 3 of my best friends, Mary, Melissa and Josh to stay over afterwards which was great as we haven't been together (all 4 of us) in such a long time. We stayed up until 5am catching up.

Just a few of the fantastic costumes everyone pulled together!

If you haven't been to see Deadpool yet, stop what you are doing right now and go see it (finish reading this first obviously). I went with my school pals to go see it 2 days before I left for Aus. We basically just reminisced about all the bad decisions I made and stupid stuff I did in high school which is always a good way to have a laugh. It was nice to have a separate goodbye from the madness that was saturday. But the film was hilarious, and I can't wait so see it again (unfortunately it will have to wait until i'm back in England).

So, on the 19th of February, the day had arrived for me to leave everyone and everything I knew, and move to not only a different city or country, a different continent all together. It was bye bye hats and scarves and hello to shrimps on the barbie. Saying goodbye to my family for 5 months was without a doubt the hardest thing i've ever had to do. I've now got to wait a long time before I can have a bear hug with my dad, the weird fist bump thing Baymax does with my sister or just sit and chat for hours about everything with my Mum like we do most evenings.  I've already written about the plane journey, which you can read here. And my not so great first day here. And my slightly better second day here. I think i'd just been so excited about the whole thing that before I came I didn't consider the bad parts. 

During my first week there were a few things I needed to sort out in my flat such as bedding, towels, WIFI, my phone contract, food, washing supplies, toiletries etc. Along with this I also went to the White Night festival in Melbourne with 2 girls I met here that also go to Leeds Beckett back home. We sort of felt like we missed the main event as we didn't understand all the hype behind it. There was a fire eater/sword swallower, projections on buildings and different works of art out on the streets. It was interesting but for what we heard was Melbourne's most popular event, we just didn't get it. We also visited St. Kilda beach the day after. I slapped on the factor 50, however the parts that I forgot to apply cream to burnt like a crisp. At least I know the sun cream works. We also went on our first night out in Melbourne.

St. Kilda beach at 27°

As an orientation trip specifically for the study abroad and exchange students at Victoria University, we went to Lorne, which is a little more south of Melbourne. It was such an amazing weekend and a brilliant start (after my slightly shittier first day) to my adventure in Australia. I'll write about it in more detail in the next week.

My time here is already going so fast. Before I know it i'll be back in England in the pouring rain!
To go from never living out of my family home to moving to the other side of the world was pretty risky leap, but i'm so glad i've done it.
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

Onwards & upwards.

I'm not going to be blogging here every single day, but a lot of people have asked me to keep them updated with what i'm getting up to and this is probably the easiest (and cheapest) way to do that.
After my mini meltdown yesterday, there wasn't really a way for anything to get worse.
(I lie, I could've lost my luggage and money and basically had nothing). So when I woke up on my second day I had a bit of a more positive outlook on my time here. I'm missing my family a hell of a lot, and after a few phone calls with each of them this morning (last night for them), I got myself up and dressed and went outside. It was a bit overcast yesterday, so when I went out on today to see blue sky and sunshine, it automatically made me feel a lot better. It still feels bizarre than i'm wandering around in shorts and sunglasses in February, however.
I've still to visit the Vodafone shop again as my mobile data isn't working, which is why I need to keep going to University to use their WIFI. I still need to buy a WIFI router for my room, and pillows. Last night I used a pillowcase stuffed with my clothes. I also need to figure out how to work the air con in my room. Last night it came on at 3am and as I only have a bedsheets (they don't really have duvet's here) I was bloody freezing, so I need a blanket. I also need to call Halifax to transfer my money here which is a complete and total pain in the arse. You know the FRIENDS episode where Chandler listens to a tape during the night to help him stop smoking? "You are a strong independent woman...", I keep replaying that to myself in my head.

My new University!

Tonight i'm meeting up with a couple of girls from my University back in Leeds, and I can't wait to have a real conversation with someone and have someone to socialise with.
Tomorrow a girl i've been chatting with on Facebook from France is moving into my building, so that's another opportunity to meet someone else. Then on Tuesday I have my orientation.
I just feel like after a rather depressing post yesterday, I needed to let everyone know back home that i'm doing okay now. The homesickness is still here, but I suppose that will fade with time.
I'm starting to feel like i'm a mix between Samwise Gamgee and Bilbo Baggins.

Why be in piss-wet through freezing Leeds when you can be in sunny, beautiful Melbourne?
I'm starting to get excited again about all of the opportunities I will have here. Once i'm in my new room next week and i've unpacked properly I feel like everything will start to fall into place.
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

Rambling Post #8: Australia, initial thoughts.

Well, it happened. Here I am. Land of the man eating spiders and chlamydia-ridden Koalas.
(If parts of this post don't make sense, then it's because i'm writing it at 6:30pm that should be 7:30am and I am in fact extremely jet lagged)
There are a few reasons why I write a blog. One of them being I like having a space where I can rant about things and just be as honest as I want to be. Well this is going to be one of those posts.
If people read this they'd probably think i'm spoiled and ungrateful and taking this opportunity for granted, which I 100% am not, it's just moving to a different continent has completely drained me, physically and emotionally.
It all started with my transfer from the airport. I thought I had it all booked and sorted (the University i'm studying at here offers free transfers to accommodation), but when I turned up to tell the guy I was here, he told me he expected me yesterday and didn't have enough room on the bus. I completely forgot to take into account the time difference like an absolute pleb. I then had to get a $60 taxi to my accommodation, and as this was the first task of my adventure, I started to feel like a complete failure.
When I eventually got to my apartment, I was taken to my room which was around the back and in a separate building to most of the other apartments. I was doing study abroad so I could meet lots more people not so I could be out of the way. Admittedly this upset me, and the homesickness began to kick in, and kick some more. For the first time in my life I felt completely alone. My phone wasn't yet set up for the country I was in so that was out of use and I had no wifi and most of all I didn't know anyone. I let myself have a little cry then decided I needed to do something about it. I hopped on the bus into Melbourne City (I haven't got a picture of it yet but it looks AMAZING), to try and sort out my bank and phone contract. But yet again, Annabel did a boo boo. I forgot my passport (UK driving licenses aren't valid here). So I decided to kill time and walk rather than bus to my accommodation. On the way I went into my University;s cafeteria to use the WIFI, which made me break down with emotion yet again. After some very encouraging words from a very good pal of mine, I got up and went to speak to my landlord about swapping rooms so I could be in the main building. He said 'yep, not a problem' (if you've seen H20: Just Add Water, he totally reminds me of Cleo's Dad). So next week i'll be switching rooms.
1 problem fixed.
I picked up my passport and went down to the bank to open up a bank account.
2 problems fixed.
I also nipped into the Vodafone shop to get a contract for my phone.
3 problems fixed.
The only problems remaining are that I don't really know anyone yet, and i'm struggling to transfer my Halifax money into my Aussie bank account.
I appreciate that this is a long and whiney post about something so exciting, but there are good and bad parts to everything and I feel like if I don't write about the bad parts, then I won't get the most our of the good parts.
The way I look at it at the moment is; it's only day 1, and I knew it wasn't going to be the happiest of days. Things can only look up from now on.
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝
ps. I also don't have pillows on my bed.

On my way.

So here I go. Off on an adventure, completely by myself. I'm like Bilbo Baggins. If you went back 5 years and told 16 year old me that i'd be doing this, there's absolutely no way i'd believe you. I'm currently sat on my Emirates flight on the way to Dubai. Looking at the map, i'm just flying out of Europe as I write this.
Without a doubt the most difficult part of this whole thing was saying goodbye to my family. It's the first and only time I kind of wished we weren't so close, then it would have been so much easier. But we're so incredibly close knit and i'm going to miss them all so so much, especially my sister, Emma (sorry Mum & Dad).
As soon as I stepped onto the plane, I wasn't upset anymore, I was just flabbergasted at how swish the plane was! Friends and family had told me about the A380's but they didn't do them justice. There's little twinkly lights on the ceiling like stars and when I sat down the air hostess (pause for Busted outburst) was handing out warm lemon-scented flannels on a silver tray using silver tongs. I can't cope with the poshness! And don't get me started on the TV. I've already watched 2 Star Wars films, i'll probably start a 3rd soon.
For once, the plane food was LOVELY. Chicken, cheesey mash, gravy and vegetables. With a tuna salad starter, a chocolate pudding dessert and a baby pack of Tic Tac's for afterwards.
Next to the TV there are multiple types of plug sockets and USB ports to charge phones and things with. Then there's the whole reason i'm able to write this blog post - free wifi! It feels so strange to be messaging my family and browsing Facebook whilst up in the air.
I'd love to go upstairs and see what the business class looks like but i'll like a bit of a peasant up there.
I also got a free pillow and blanket. So I am nice and cosy.
If the woman in front of me would stop kicking up a fuss and the man next to me would stop snoring then I am in for a very pleasant flight.
The next time I write i'll hopefully be in my new home.
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

Rambling Post #7: My brain is on overdrive.

It's exactly 2 weeks today that I pack up and leave everyone and everything to go live at the other side of the world and do what is probably the scariest and most daring thing I have ever done in my 21 years. In the past week, it has slowly started to dawn on me that this is actually happening. Before the new year it was just something that will eventually happen to me next year, and it felt like it was ages away. But 2016 is already flying by and in 14 days I will be calling another country home.

I used to hate going to town by myself or sitting alone in a public place (which incidentally is what i'm doing now). So to go from being such a socially awkward, shy and comfort-zone friendly teenager to an actual proper grown up adult moving to a different continent by herself I think shows how much i've changed in the past few years.

So as it crept into February, anxiety started to creep in. I don't really suffer from anxiety, don't get me wrong there are a lot of things that make me feel nervous and unsure but the only thing that really gives me panic attacks are confined spaces (yay for a 22 hour flight). As a result, a million questions keep whizzing through my mind.

What if I don't make friends? What if there's a spider in my loo and I don't know how to get rid of it? What if I get the wrong flight and end up in Zimbabwe? What if I miss everyone so much I don't enjoy myself? What if the Australians think my accent is weird? What if the Australians just think i'm weird? What if they don't let me in the country because there's a slight bit of mud on my shoes? What if I get eaten by a Kangaroo? What if I don't get the hang of cooking and die of starvation? What if the people that live in my building are weird?

And every time I just need to stop myself and think;

What if I meet the most amazing friends? What if I don't encounter any deadly creatures? (Unlikely) What if I come back with a tan? What if I have the most amazing time and absolutely love the whole thing?

I think the main thing I need to keep telling myself is yeah, it's probably going to be upsetting at first and you're going to miss everyone. But then you'll settle in and you'll make friends and you'll go on days to the beach and you'll experience new things and you'll be enjoying this new culture so much that before you know it June will be over and you'll be back in the miserable weather of Britain.

As usual with these rambling posts, there's not really anything people reading it can take from it, I just like to vent sometimes and this is the best way I know how!
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

Rambling Post #6: I'm actually terrified.

Recently whenever people have been asking me about moving to Australia they usually ask "how excited are you?!", and don't get me wrong, I really can't wait to go, but i'm also absolutely terrified.

I've never lived away from home before so going from my comfort zone in Leeds with all of my family and friends around me, to the other side of the world where I know absolutely no one makes me a little anxious. Knowing that I won't have my parents as a safety net whilst i'm out there is probably what scares me the most. But that's life. I've got to leave them at some point. I think i'm not that good at making friends, it always just happens by a happy accident. I'm not the kind of person to put myself out there in a new group of people and i'm actually pretty quiet when i'm getting to know people. It's only when i'm comfortable with someone that you start to realise i'm actually quite loud and never shut up.

Then there's the snakes. And spiders. And crocodiles. I've been watching I'm A Celebrity this year and every time I see one of the huge spiders it just reminds me that they're probably just a typical 'house spider' over there. I can deal with the usual British 50p sized spideys but hell naw to the spiders down under. I think the first things I will buy when I get there is a fly swat and a shit load of bug spray.

I feel like i've lived in my comfort zone for 21 years now and it's about time I did something that scares me, because staying in my comfort zone isn't going to get me anywhere.

But yeah, growing up and doing scary things sucks, but moving 10,053 miles away is also hella exciting.

𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

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).