The Ultimate Bucket List.

Recently i've been thinking about all of the things I want to do and achieve before my time's up (I know that's a bit of a morbid thought). I realised that there's quite a lot of things that I want to do so I thought I would write them down. I'll probably end up putting these on a page so I can keep updating them as i hopefully progress through achieving them all!

I Googled different bucket lists and things a lot of other bloggers have on their lists and along with my own ideas I combined them all to make an 'Ultimate Bucket List' for me (and anyone else) to do, so here they are!

1. Go on a dogsled ✔︎
2. Ride a zipline
3. Swim in the Blue Lagoon, Iceland
4. Ride in a helicopter ✔︎

Me, Kiri & Louisa just before flying over the 12 Apostles, Australia [February 2016]

5. Swim with dolphins ✔︎

6. See Christ the Redeemer, Rio

7. Fly somewhere first class (Keep dreaming) 

8. See the Northern Lights ✔︎

9. Walk on hot coals

10. See the Colusseum, Rome ✔︎

Inside the Colusseum, Rome [November 2015]

11. Get a tattoo ✔︎

12. Hold a snake ✔︎

13. Experience zero gravity

14. Play paintball

15. Go go-karting ✔︎

16. Cuddle a tiger cub (They look so cute!)

17. Volunteer at an elephant sanctuary

18. Go on a crocodile river boat ✔︎

19. Work at Camp America (Planning to do this in 2018!)

20. Sail on a boat ✔︎

21. Ride in a hot air balloon

22. See a production on Broadway, New York

23. Relax in a natural hot spring

24. Float in the Dead Sea

25. Do a skydive

26. Get a piercing ✔︎ (I have 13)

This was taken just after I got my daith pierced (the heart one). I now have 6 piercings in this ear!

27. Publish a book

28. Get pelted with tomatoes at La Tomatina, Spain

29. See Ayers Rock, Australia

30. Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, Paris (We almost did this in 2015, but the top level was closed. We're going again in December so fingers crossed!)

31. See the Opera House, Sydney ✔︎

32. Go on a cruise

33. Win a hula competition ✔︎ (I did this in a theme park in Wales of all places when I was around 10 and was pretty much famous for a day)

34. Go snorkelling ✔︎

35. Meet someone famous ✔︎ (I also met James Bourne from Busted in a bar in Leeds)

Me & my best friend Mary with Dan Smith, Bastille. Apologies for the terrible quality photo [February 2011]

36. Go on a safari 

37. Ride on a Skidoo ✔︎

38. Take a mud bath

39. Go to Holi Festival, India

40. Visit Stonehenge, UK

41. Drink at an ice bar

42. Do a bungee jump

43. Sign up to be an organ donor ✔︎

44. Visit the Chichen Itza, Mexico

45. Climb the Harbour Bridge, Sydney ✔︎

Val, Me, Priya, Louisa and Michele half way up the Harbour Bridge, Sydney! [March 2016]

46. Go to a Traffic Light Party ✔︎

47. See Buckingham Palace ✔︎ 

48. Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

49. Visit the Grand Canyon, Arizona

50. Go skiing

51. Learn to surf ✔︎ (I tried, I was terrible. I'm still counting it)

52. See Niagra Falls, Canada

53. See the Hollywood Hills, LA

54. Go to the top of the Empire State, New York

55. Give blood ✔︎ (I fainted the first time)

56. Go to Disneyland Paris ✔︎ (Going again in December 2016!)

Disneyland Paris [August 2015]

57. Visit the Valley of the Kings, the Sphynx and the Pyramids, Egypt

58. Go to Disneyworld, Florida

59. Gamble in Las Vegas

60. See my favourite band play live ✔︎

Arctic Monkeys at Manchester Arena [October 2013]

61. Drive a jetski ✔︎ (I was also very very bad at this)

62. Wrestle in a sumo suit

63. Visit all 7 continents (So far 3/7)

64. Go on a tram ✔︎

65. Have my palm read

66. Go to Oktoberfest, Germany

67. Go on the London Eye, UK (I had a panic attack on the Yorkshire Eye which was a fraction of the size so wish me luck with this one)

68. Ride in a Gondola, Venice

69. Stand on the equator

70. Go to a book signing ✔︎

Me & Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, Paul) at his book signing [October 2015]

71. Learn to speak another language (hablo un poco de Español en el momento)

72. Have a white Christmas (fat chance)

73. Go skinny dipping

74. Get a degree (1 year to go!)

75. Raise money for a charity ✔︎

76. Swim in the Great Barrier Reef ✔︎

The Great Barrier Reef [May 2016]

77. See the Taj Mahal, India

78. Climb to the top of a ski slope (yes, climb) ✔︎

79. Scuba dive

80. Drive a segway (not a swegway)

81. Fly solo on a plane ✔︎

82. Go on a glass bottom boat (again)

83. Walk across Abbey Road, London

84. Do a mud run ✔︎

My Auntie Yats, Me and my cousin Harriet crossing the Pretty Muddy finish line! [June 2015]

85. Go to a Guinness Brewery, Ireland

86. Walk along the Great Wall of China

87. Visit Hobbiton, New Zealand

88. Ride a camel

89. Have a campfire on the beach

90. Swim in an infinity pool ✔︎

91. Make a wish in the Trevi Fountain, Rome ✔︎

The beautiful Trevi Fountain just after it was restored in 2015.

92. Sleep under the stars ✔︎ (I did this from 5am-6am in a field next to a campfire on a pile of soot)

93. Hand decorate a wall in my house with paint

94. Drive a convertible

95. Have a Harry Potter marathon in one day

96. Have international friends ✔︎

97. Send a message in a bottle

98. Go on a random midnight drive ✔︎

99. Celebrate a birthday on a different continent

100. Go to a boat party ✔︎

I'm going to tag my bud Thomas to do this post and tick off what he has done so far. Along with this i'm also interested to know what anyone else has done so if you are reading this, either copy and paste the list and tick which ones you have achieved or just type them out in a comment!

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♥

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♥

Aussie Room Tour.

So until now I moved here i've never lived on my own, which was a big leap when I decided that the first time I would move out would be to the other side of the world. My friends and family have been nagging me for pictures of my room and I suppose doing this post would be a good way to remember it after i've left as well.

Little panorama shot of the main part of my room. Behind me is the kitchen and bathroom.

So i'm in a little studio apartment near to my University campus, which is a bonus when I have to be up for a 9am lecture (which still rarely happens but don't tell Mum). I love having my own little kitchen. I'm no where near Jamie Oliver but i'm trying to start to learn how to cook more things. 2 months in and i'm still a bit rubbish (I set fire to spaghetti last month) but i'll get there eventually!

Smallest chopping board ever.

Definitely my favourite thing about my room is having a balcony. I don't really spend a lot of time on it, I just love the fact that I have one. When it gets to around 3/4pm the sun is in the right position for me to do a bit of sunbathing!

The view from my balcony.

My second favourite feature in my room is my tapestry. One of my friends from back home (Tom, who's blog you can read here) has one and I loved it so much I decided to copy him like I always do. And I also have a slight obsession with elephants at the moment.

Probably the only time my bed has been made all semester.

And of course, here's the must-have photo wall filled with all of my favourite people. There are a few photos that have been added after living here such as the Harbour Bridge group photo and me chilling with a Koala.

My collection of photos - most of them of friends and family back home with some additions from Australia!

Next to my photo mirror I have my mini scratch maps stuck up. These came in a Travel Journal that I bought from Waterstones in the UK. I have a full scratch map at home but these mini ones are perfect to take with you and i'll probably stick them up in my student house when I get back to Leeds too.

Also with my Harbour Bridge certificate!

The bathroom is pretty standard with a small shower, loo and basin. It was a bit dull when I first moved in so I brightened it up a bit with a nice shade of bright pink. I also have a washer/dryer, but I don't use the dryer part as i'm terrified i'll accidentally shrink my clothes. Hanging my clothes on the balcony dries fast enough anyway.

My exciting bathroom!

My desk has the usual stuff, TV, DVD Player, notebooks, reading books, pens, DVD's etc.

My desk: mostly used for procrastination.

So there's my lovely first little flat! Unfortunately I don't have long left in it now. Soon it will be time to start packing it all away and giving some of the things I can't take home to my friends that are staying.
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

Weird Questions Tag.

One thing I like to do when i've run out of ideas for my blog is to look for a questions tag to answer. And here's the latest one i've found!

1. What's a nickname only your family calls you? My Mum calls me Kevin, after the Kevin and Perry sketch when he turns into a teenager...apparently that's what I was like...
2. What's a weird habit of yours? I can't watch the TV unless the volume is on a multiple of 5...
3. Do you have any weird phobias? It's not really a phobia but bananas freak me out. I just can't trust them.
4. What's a song you secretly love to blast out and belt out when you're alone? A lot of the time when i'm in the car I love to belt out any Bruno Mars songs.
5. What's one of your biggest pet peeves? I have to choose one? I have a lot. I think my top one would be loud eaters, whether it's chewing with your mouth open, talking with your mouthful or just generally being a loud eater. It makes my blood boil.
6. What's one of your nervous habits? When i'm reaaaally nervous my legs tend to shake a lot. I did the Harbour Bridge Climb in Sydney a few weeks ago and my legs were going nuts (i'm scared of heights).
7. What side of the bed do you sleep on? All of it.
8. What was your first stuffed animal and what was it called? I had a clown called Mister Clown. I know, very imaginative. My sister has him now.
9. What's your usual drink order at Starbucks? If it's warm out i'll get a Caramel Frappucino, but if it's cold i'll get a Caramel Latte. Yum.
10. What's your guilty pleasure TV show? Either Jeremy Kyle or one of the Real Housewives TV shows.
11. Which way do you face in the shower? I'm a claustrophobe so I always face out of the shower.
12. Do you have any weird body 'skills'? I can squint my eyes?
13. What's your favourite comfort food? Biscuits & cookies. Yes, there is a difference.
14. What's a phrase or exclamation that you always say? "Fantastic" (in a sarcastic way).
15. Time to sleep, what are you actually wearing? So I guess this is the way the world finds out I sleep naked.

I now tag my main man Thomas to complete these questions.

𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

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

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