Canada.

1st August: The Journey
So the first flight was supposed to be a 7 hour flight from Manchester to Toronto, with a 6 hour layover until my 5 hour flight to Vancouver. However, due to some crazy storms in Toronto we were circling the area for around 40 minutes until the Captain announced that we needed to stop somewhere for fuel, and the closest airport available was in Buffalo, NY. This was my first visit to the USA and I didn't even leave the plane, (they opened the doors for air so i'm still going to count it). After waiting 2 hours (yes, still sat on the plane), we set off again to Toronto. I had around 2 hours to check in my suitcase again, go through security and find my gate. Really it was just a blessing in disguise as I really wasn't looking forward to sitting around for 6 hours. I eventually landed in Vancouver after sleeping for most of the second journey, and as I rounded the corner into baggage claim, I heard a scream, and Priya was running straight towards me with a bunch of balloons. We got some funny looks and we hugged around 10 times but it was so good to see her again after over a year! We waiting for my suitcase, got in her car, and drove to her parents' house where we crashed pretty much straight away.

Day 1: Priya and her friend Aisha took me to Cultus Lake, which has a waterpark right next to it. After we spent a few hours on the waterslides, we grabbed something to eat and then made our way down to the lake, where we went for a swim. That night we watched a movie and ordered pizza, however I crashed early as the jet lag was setting in.

Trees for days.

Day 2: The three of us went out for the day again, this time to Golden Ears National Park where we rented a canoe for an hour, and luckily, didn't tip it. We rowed out to a little beach where we went for a quick swim, then hopped back in the canoe back to the main beach. After heading home, we changed and went for dinner, before going to see Spiderman Homecoming (finally!).

Priya & I rowing back to the main beach.

Day 3: Priya drove me to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, where we walked across this (really high!) bridge, just like the ones on I'm A Celebrity. I was so focused on admiring the view and taking pictures and videos that I didn't really get that scared, despite heights being up there with one of my number 1 fears. Everything was just so green. We then went on treetop and clifftop walks which were breathtaking.

So high up!

Day 4: We packed up our stuff and left Priya's parents' house, and made our way to Priya's apartment in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island. First we waited for the ferry (for 3 hours), then once we were on it we grabbed some food then went back to the car for a nap. On our way to Priya's we stopped by the liquor store to get some alcohol for that night. That night we went out with a few of Priya's friends for my birthday, where I got some free shots!

Day 5: Finally my birthday! We were really tired from the night before so we had a little lie in and then me, Priya and her friends from the night before all met up at Nanaimo River for a few hours. Then we all went home, got ready and went out again. More free birthday shots were had.

Great views for my birthday!

Day 6: The weekend finally caught up with me, and my head was feeling very sore. Priya and I went for a wander in a shopping mall then went to a different spot by Nanaimo River for a few hours.

Me, Priya & pizza.

Luckily I haven't burnt yet, there's a load of forest fires in British Columbia right now and the smoke is blocking out the majority of the sun. Looking forward to next weeks adventures!

Day 7: Drive to Tofino
Priya drove us a few hours up Vancouver Island to go stay in Tofino for a couple of days. We stayed at a really nice resort on the riverfront and booked a boat trip for the next day to visit a small island with hot springs - something I have always wanted to do.

Day 8: Tofino, Ellis River
During the boat trip we saw Grey Whales, Otters, Bears and Eagles

Day 9: Not the most exciting day, we pretty much just hung out at the apartment all day then went on another night out.

Day 10: Hungover once again, and my new favourite thing to do in this case is to go visit the river, so we went back down to Nanaimo River for the afternoon.

Day 11: Ziplining
As stated previously, i'm terrified of heights, but i've always wanted to go ziplining, and it didn't disappoint. We flew over rivers, trees and waterfalls and the view was amazing. I tried to take pictures and film it but my GoPro decided to start playing up.

Day 12:

Annabel

Sydney!

It's Spring Break, we're in Australia and we've all got the travel bug. So myself, Val, Louisa and Priya booked a trip to Sydney.

Day 1
The flight there was pretty late in the afternoon, so once we had checked into our hostel, we hopped on a train into the centre of Sydney. We walked around the harbour for a bit (not the section that the Harbour Bridge or Opera House was on) and looked for a restaurant to eat dinner. We all had a hankering for some oriental food so as soon as we spotted a Thai restaurant we got excited. However it wasn't until after sitting down that we realised we had gone into the wrong restaurant. We were now in fact in an Indian restaurant, which was fine, but we laughed a bit about how useless we were.

The beautiful Darling Harbour.

Day 2
After waking up bright and early myself, Priya and Val went for a walk through the Botanical Gardens, which is celebrating its 200th birthday this year. It was beautiful. At the end of the Gardens though, was our first view of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
After stopping and taking plenty of Snapchats, Instagram pics and videos, we carried on walking to get a ferry into Darling Harbour where the Sealife Centre and Wildlife Centre were waiting for us.

Sailing past the Opera House & under the Harbour Bridge on the ferry.

First it was the Sealife Centre, where we saw Jellyfish, Sharks, Turtles, Clownfish, Stingrays and Penguins.

Pingu, some Jellies and Nemo.

For lunch we went to Sydney's Hard Rock Cafe and the food was amazing. Obviously we then ventured to the Rock Shop. After lunch it was time for the Wildlife Zoo, where we saw a Tasmanian Devil that kept chasing its tail, multiple Koalas and Kangaroos, and our favourite, Rex the Crocodile.

Rexy.

In the evening we went on a Ghost Tour through Sydney. Our guide took us to multiple venues in the city and told us interesting stories about murders, suicides and hauntings. Some sent a shiver up your spine but they were very interesting to listen to!

Day 3
We started the third day off with a stroll through Madame Tussauds. We stopped to pose alongside the likes of Leonardo Dicaprio, Iron Man, Audrey Hepburn, Oprah, Ryan Gosling, Brangelina, ET, Jackie Chan, Wolverine, The Queen of England and Marilyn Monroe.

Sitting in my rightful place with the Royal Family, doing some hurdling, striking a pose with MJ, hanging out as a T-Bird, chilling with Steve Irwin, breakfast with Audrey, being a drag queen and feeling Ryan Gosling's abs.

Our Merlin passes included some pretty cool discounts, including getting up, close & personal with some koalas for $5, including a free printed picture, and we were allowed to take as many pictures and selfies as we wanted. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to touch them, which was difficult as they just look so cute and cuddly!

Me & Samara, the cutest little thing i've ever met.

Next was the Sydney Eye Tower, the tallest structure in Sydney's skyline, standing at 309 meters.. The view was spectacular and you could see all around Sydney. Afterwards we made our way back to the hostel to prepare for the activity that we'd all been waiting for...

So high up!

The Harbour Bridge Climb. The absolute tip top highlight of the whole trip. I honestly don't know how to put it into words and do it justice, but i'll give it a go. I'm not brilliant with heights, and the first part of the climb was on a mesh kind of metal, where you could see the ground below you (we were already 50 meters high) and that bit was absolutely bloody terrifying. Once we were up on the top arch of the bridge it was solid metal and even stuck out a bit at the sides so it didn't feel as bad. If i'm honest I was completely fine once we reached this part. When we had reached the top of the arch we felt like we were on top of the world. We were now standing 150 meters high and the view of the city at night was the most amazing thing any of us had seen. It's something I won't forget for a very long time.

Squad.

Day 4
After 3 very long days of doing nothing but walking we decided to spend our final day before our flight relaxing by the beach, Bondi Beach to be exact. It was beautiful and the weather was gorgeous. We went for a swim and the waves were huge (one took my sunglasses with it). It was great to have a lazy day and to top up the tan. There's no way I can face going home to the UK just as white as I left. And for the first time in my life I spent the day at the beach and didn't burn.

Bondi Beach.

The next trip some of us are hoping to go on is a few days in Tasmania. Fingers crossed!𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝