We woke at 6am to go skydiving today! I started feeling a little nervous but that got over taken by excitement. We crossed the road to the Skydive Cairns office and it was scary how much we had to sign our lives away.......'the company takes no responsibility for death or serious injury'etc etc.
No one back home expected me to jump out of a plane as im a nervous flyer and i've always been a chicken and wont even go on rollercoasters...but i feel like once i do this i'll be invincible and able to conquer anything :D
It was sooo fast how everything happened...i paid my $480 for the jump photos and dvd and was assigned my jumping partner Coops. Another typical hot aussie so that calmed any nerves i may have had. If i die jumping out of a plane at least my last dying moments i will be attached to a hot man hahhaaa! We got on the little rickety plane and started rising pretty quickly. Coops was interviewing me for the dvd and taking photos while on the plane and showing me on his wrist watch thing how far up we were.....1000 ft looked really high then he told me we were going another 13,000 higher! 14,000ft is legally the highest you can jump before the lack of oxygen becomes an issue. Next thing i knew the plane door was open and the first girl was dangling her legs over the side! We jumped really quickly go, go, go, go, go then it was me! As i dangled my legs out the plane i didnt really have time to think then i jumped! For some reason i though fallnig would be really serene and calm. However you fall faster than anythnig you can imagine! The first 20 seconds i could not get my breath at all and puffed away as hard as i could then eventually i caught it and was fine! We were still free falling at this point and it was amazing.......i kept smilnig for the camera and admiring the clouds getting closer and closer to me! It literally felt like we were flying especially once you open you arms out after the jump out the plane. I dont remember doing thsi but apparently i dug my nails into coops really hard when he started flippnig and spinning me right as i jumped out the plane.....i think it was too much too soon but once i got into the swing of it i got him to spin me again it was awesome! 60seconds went by pretty fast and next thing i know the parachute opens. It was amazing because i could fully appreciate the views from up there of cairns.....it was a lush sunny day aswell so it was perfect! Coops handed me the parachute ropes and i was in the driving seat....he told me to pull down on my right one really hard and we started circling over cairns. It was actually one of the best experiences of my life. It took about 5/10 minutes alltogether but was the best $500 i've spent ever! We came into land and everyone was sooo chuffed! Coops finished interviewing me for the dvd and i was soooo chuffed about what i'd just done!
One girl Ashley felt abit nauseous after the jump but everyone else was fine! We got back on the bus and back to the skydive place in cairns...the group of ISV after us were at the point of signing their lives away so we were just reassuring them that they'd be fine and how amazing it was!
We went for a celebratory breakfast in cairns city centre and i had my usual raisen toast mmmmmm :) then we went to the nearby mall and me and lou got manicures and pedicures! It was sooo relaxing, especially after what we'd just done :) We went back to the hostel and sunbathed by the pool and had a few sneaky 1pm vodkas to congratulate ourselves on our achievements of not dying hahaaa!Then me, Briana, Bridget and Lou went for a meal in P.J O'briens bar for lunch thne went back to the hostel to prepare for our night out woohoooo! We had a load of free drinks vouchers and free entrance vouchers from the party bus night so i litereally didnt buy a drink all night :) I had quite a bit to drink and was suffering the next day before we went white water rafting uh ohhh......
Monday, 16 August 2010
Sunday 8th August.......Great Barrier Reef
Woke at 7am today......biggest lie in i've had in like 2/3 weeks. Our itinery out here is crazy its like 6am wake ups every morning...out partying everynight and doing a million and one amazing experiences in the days.
We had been warned that the Reef would be choppy but no-one was expecting it to be as bad as it was! I've never seen soooo many chinese people throw up in one place before! They were all hurling into sick bags or over the side of the boat! To be fair i dont get motion sickness and that boat was really bad.......that everyone started feeling a bit sick towards the end of the hour ride out to the reef. Mainly because there was sooo many people making disgusting sick noises. You literally could stand up on the boat and if you tried walking around you got thrown into other people.
But the ride was worth it......we got out to the reef, past idyllic paradise islands and dove into the sea. It was AMAZING!!! We saw sea turtles, little nemo fish, a massive wally fish which was literally the same size as me, but completely harmless and loads of schools of bright coloured angel fish, stripey zebra fish and parrot fish.
We stayed out on a platoon for about 4 hours and they gave us lunch which was a chinese kibnd of meal of rice,noodles etc whichw as nice. After lunch me and Lou went on a glass bottom boat trip around the reef, but to be honest we saw more in the water rather than on a boat but it was still good.
I took loads of photos with my underwater camera and bought a few the professional photographer took aswell.
We were knackered on the ride back so sat below deck and fell asleep......i think we run on adrenaline out here of all the fab activities we're doing coz we go out everynight drinking and get like 2/3 hours sleep until we have to wake up for the next activity the next day! Its amazing though!
Im skydiving tomorrow at 7am...and i am surprising calm about doing it! If its my time to go its my time......at least i'll die flying hahaaa! Im more excited than nervous and cant wait to actually say i've jumped 14,000ft out of a plane in australia :D
We had been warned that the Reef would be choppy but no-one was expecting it to be as bad as it was! I've never seen soooo many chinese people throw up in one place before! They were all hurling into sick bags or over the side of the boat! To be fair i dont get motion sickness and that boat was really bad.......that everyone started feeling a bit sick towards the end of the hour ride out to the reef. Mainly because there was sooo many people making disgusting sick noises. You literally could stand up on the boat and if you tried walking around you got thrown into other people.
But the ride was worth it......we got out to the reef, past idyllic paradise islands and dove into the sea. It was AMAZING!!! We saw sea turtles, little nemo fish, a massive wally fish which was literally the same size as me, but completely harmless and loads of schools of bright coloured angel fish, stripey zebra fish and parrot fish.
We stayed out on a platoon for about 4 hours and they gave us lunch which was a chinese kibnd of meal of rice,noodles etc whichw as nice. After lunch me and Lou went on a glass bottom boat trip around the reef, but to be honest we saw more in the water rather than on a boat but it was still good.
I took loads of photos with my underwater camera and bought a few the professional photographer took aswell.
We were knackered on the ride back so sat below deck and fell asleep......i think we run on adrenaline out here of all the fab activities we're doing coz we go out everynight drinking and get like 2/3 hours sleep until we have to wake up for the next activity the next day! Its amazing though!
Im skydiving tomorrow at 7am...and i am surprising calm about doing it! If its my time to go its my time......at least i'll die flying hahaaa! Im more excited than nervous and cant wait to actually say i've jumped 14,000ft out of a plane in australia :D
Sat 7th August......I LOVE cairns : )
Cairns is AMAZINGGGGG!!!!
Ouyr hotel is like a party hotel in Ibiza and it has its own bar where all the locals and backpackers all come for cheap drinks so its THE place to be for a night out! Its got a pool, spa and restaurant...happy days!
Me and the girls were all dancing on tables in The Woolshed bar last night which was sooo much fun, however felt pretty rough waking up at like 6.30am this mornnig for breakfast and our orientation meeting! I loved my volunteer project group but its soooo nice being with loads of other ISV people now....should be a fun trip!
Our adventure tour leader is called Trys and he is a typical aussie....dark skin, shaved head, really good looking and cool! Im pretty sure all the girls are in love with him already!
We played a couple of introducing ourselves games and had to reinact a freeze frame of the funniest thing that happened to us on project. My group renacted us playing 'bouncing and dancing' around the fire on our last night in Calga and the Wildlife Park.
We then boarded the bus and went to Tujupaki Aboriginal Park. The park was run by generation os the aboriginal tribe and try to educate people about aboriginal life, it was really interesting and they showed us a few documentary films, painted our faces, learnt to dance and sing their songs.It was really good, but i was abit hungover from last night so was nearly falling asleep n the films. After the aborignal park we went to a reef teach because we are snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow. They taught us all about the fish and coral we will see out on the reef so was interesting.
We all bought tickets for a party bus/bar crawl around cairns tonight which should be fun!
It was a red london bus with music blasting and stripper poles on it to dance around.we went to 5/6 bars around cairns and in every bar we had to play drinking games, my game was a dance of and had to do a micheal jackson dance for a minute.....was kind of embarressing at first but id had a few drinks by then so enjoyed it! The photographer that night was from south wales (cwmbran) so was funny meeting him, he's the first welsh person i've met out here so far!
Was such a fun night, and free drinks are sooooo easy to come by here :)
Ouyr hotel is like a party hotel in Ibiza and it has its own bar where all the locals and backpackers all come for cheap drinks so its THE place to be for a night out! Its got a pool, spa and restaurant...happy days!
Me and the girls were all dancing on tables in The Woolshed bar last night which was sooo much fun, however felt pretty rough waking up at like 6.30am this mornnig for breakfast and our orientation meeting! I loved my volunteer project group but its soooo nice being with loads of other ISV people now....should be a fun trip!
Our adventure tour leader is called Trys and he is a typical aussie....dark skin, shaved head, really good looking and cool! Im pretty sure all the girls are in love with him already!
We played a couple of introducing ourselves games and had to reinact a freeze frame of the funniest thing that happened to us on project. My group renacted us playing 'bouncing and dancing' around the fire on our last night in Calga and the Wildlife Park.
We then boarded the bus and went to Tujupaki Aboriginal Park. The park was run by generation os the aboriginal tribe and try to educate people about aboriginal life, it was really interesting and they showed us a few documentary films, painted our faces, learnt to dance and sing their songs.It was really good, but i was abit hungover from last night so was nearly falling asleep n the films. After the aborignal park we went to a reef teach because we are snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow. They taught us all about the fish and coral we will see out on the reef so was interesting.
We all bought tickets for a party bus/bar crawl around cairns tonight which should be fun!
It was a red london bus with music blasting and stripper poles on it to dance around.we went to 5/6 bars around cairns and in every bar we had to play drinking games, my game was a dance of and had to do a micheal jackson dance for a minute.....was kind of embarressing at first but id had a few drinks by then so enjoyed it! The photographer that night was from south wales (cwmbran) so was funny meeting him, he's the first welsh person i've met out here so far!
Was such a fun night, and free drinks are sooooo easy to come by here :)
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Friday 6th August....on to Cairns :D
We packed up our little home in Calga in the Wildlife Park, cleaned it all ready for the new ISV group who are arriving tomorrow! It was freezing cold living there (i've never drunk sooo much tea to keep warm in my life) and every morning was a 6.30am rise but its kind of sad to leave! Nick the park ranger came to say bye to us and thank us for our hard work and played us this classic Aussie song called True Blue whilst we all sang along waving Aussie flags, some people got quite emotional to leave! But off we did leave to the airport....we accidently arrived 3 hours early so had to wait around a while before we could check-in our bags but then we were into departures. We had a group hug with our leader Alicia and all promised to keep in touch....ahh the wonders of facebook!She got us to all sign an Aussie photo book for her about our memories of the trip whichw as sweet!I didnt realise you were allowed to bring water through customs on a domestic flight so was chucking my litre bottle with Briana like mad before i put it through the conveyor belt scanner thing. The security guard found it hilarious how much we panicked about ringing water through to the departure lounge,lol!
We flew from Sydney to cairns and got to the hostel just in time for a night out. The hostel is amazing its like an ibiza hotel with a pool, bar and pretty decent hotel looking rooms just with bunk beds. Im sharing with Lou, Briana and some cool american girls i havent met face to face yet but had spoken to on facebook before we came to oz. Me and the girls went to Gilliagns (our hostel) bar all night and met some pretty cool people, we got quite drunk too as they do a nightly 2 4 1 offer on drinks...uh oh lol! We met a cool group of people and went to another bar with them called the Woolshed where everyone dances on the bar and on tables...fun :) Cairns is like the miami of america and the ibiza of europe.....everyone goes there from australia! Free drinks were not a problem all night...even girls buy you drinks out here lol!got home pretty late and smashed!! Should be interesting waking up for out 6.30am breakfast tomorrow :s
We flew from Sydney to cairns and got to the hostel just in time for a night out. The hostel is amazing its like an ibiza hotel with a pool, bar and pretty decent hotel looking rooms just with bunk beds. Im sharing with Lou, Briana and some cool american girls i havent met face to face yet but had spoken to on facebook before we came to oz. Me and the girls went to Gilliagns (our hostel) bar all night and met some pretty cool people, we got quite drunk too as they do a nightly 2 4 1 offer on drinks...uh oh lol! We met a cool group of people and went to another bar with them called the Woolshed where everyone dances on the bar and on tables...fun :) Cairns is like the miami of america and the ibiza of europe.....everyone goes there from australia! Free drinks were not a problem all night...even girls buy you drinks out here lol!got home pretty late and smashed!! Should be interesting waking up for out 6.30am breakfast tomorrow :s
Sunday, 8 August 2010
Thursday 5th August.....last day at the wildlife park :(
We got to do more cool things today like feed the koalas, clean out Ali the Wombat and the bilbies enclosures. And we were all on ahigh today excited to fly to Cairns tomorrow....finally some hot tropical weather wooohooo :We did a few boring tasks like weeding and sweeping paths etc and we were going to plant grass seeds in a cordenned off area for it to grow to feed the knagaroos but it was sooomuch effort to bring the water to water it from the visitors center that we all formed a circle and as we only had 15mins left of our lst day of work we all swung our arms around and yelled 'fuck that' in unison...wooohoooo no more work, time to play in cairns :D
We had a good last night with a staff and ISV BBQ, i had a vege burger and a vegetable skewer which was nice....i've had some meat out here in oz but actually favour vege stuff just incase of food poisoning!
We had a few drinks, me and Lou shared a bottloe of red wine Briana had white wine and bridget had a bottle of vodka. I dont think she drinks that much because she got steaming off a couple of glasses and then got waaaaay too drunk after one of the park rangers Rodney bought us a bottle of Bundenburg....whisky to shot with him :s
Basically we ended up staying up with her all night whiloe she threw up in her bunk bed and we had to clean up....nice :s I was making her make herself sick over the toilet for about an hour tog et it all out her system! It was a fun night other than that though...we played taboo and 'never have i ever'....dangerous game hahaa especially when drunk!we all played Bouncing and Dancing the irish's made up game drunk which was fun and hilarious!
Good last night :)
We had a good last night with a staff and ISV BBQ, i had a vege burger and a vegetable skewer which was nice....i've had some meat out here in oz but actually favour vege stuff just incase of food poisoning!
We had a few drinks, me and Lou shared a bottloe of red wine Briana had white wine and bridget had a bottle of vodka. I dont think she drinks that much because she got steaming off a couple of glasses and then got waaaaay too drunk after one of the park rangers Rodney bought us a bottle of Bundenburg....whisky to shot with him :s
Basically we ended up staying up with her all night whiloe she threw up in her bunk bed and we had to clean up....nice :s I was making her make herself sick over the toilet for about an hour tog et it all out her system! It was a fun night other than that though...we played taboo and 'never have i ever'....dangerous game hahaa especially when drunk!we all played Bouncing and Dancing the irish's made up game drunk which was fun and hilarious!
Good last night :)
Weds 4th August....sun yaaay :)
Was a lush warm day today......we went on a permimeter hike aroyund the fence of the park having to dig holes to lay bait for the wild dog that got inot the wildlife park and is killnig all the small wallabies!
Our group have apparently worked alot harder than any other ISV group in the park so they are actually starting to run out of jobs for us to do.
We split into groups in the after noon. I went with Briana, Bridget and Sarah to feed the koala's, bilbys wombat and dingoes with Tom the park ranger. He's a laugh and alot more relaxed than the other wildlife park staff. We got to play wuith all the animals.....clean out their enclosures and intereact with them :) It was amazinggg!!
It was starve day for the dingoes to keep it as natural and wild as possible as not every day in of the week wild dingoes find food! However this ment they were going a little crazy and were wanting any food they could get their hands on. They are this gorgeous snowy white colour, kind of like huskys! They were pelting it round and round their enclosure and trynig to eat and dig up the trees we were planting for them! Tom locked us in while he went to give a reptile talk to park visitors so we were dodging out the way of diving dingoes everywhere,lol! We didnt finish planting the trees until 4.30pm which was 30mins after we usually finish work but it was fun anyway!
We finally got back to our hut and popped to Gosford to buy things for our final dinner tomorrow night....an aussie BBQ :) After dinner we watched a film called Samson and Delila about an aboriginal youngcouple...uits kind of depressing they get beaten, attacked and left homeless and get into drugs....apparently a typical aboriginal story since they have been removed from the desert and isolated from normal society in towns.
We went back to the hut and played taboo whichw as fun...however this one girl Zoe who is abit of a loner went and lit a campfire by herself.....then when none of uis realised she had been up there for 2 hours she made this big deal about us leaving her out or something! we just assumed she'd gone to bed up in the tents where she chose to sleep on her own! she likes to throw pity parties for herself and i actually saw her write down 'a massively depressive person' about her self in her journal the other day before she burst into tears for no reason :s keep her away from the knives maybe :s
Our leader and the 3 irish came home and had a go at us for leaving zoe on her own....but she'd kind of done it on purpose i think to cut her nose off to spite her face! Any way one of the irish boys Dave is superrrr aggressive and rough...he basially targetted me and had a rightgo at me for being such a selfish self-centred person and that everythings all me me meee....i argued back and told him to get the stick out of his arse and what the hell was his problem etc......and he said he was only having a go at me coz im the only person who actually bothered standing up to him!....after an awkwards 20min silence between us he apoligised for losing his temper for no reason...maybe keep the knives away from him too lol! Im not going to let it get to me thoguh as im having a great time and he's just a looney who probs need help for his temper problem! tomorrow is our last days work in the park...its gone sooo faast :( but im sooooo looknig forward to the next 2 weeks partying and doing cool adventure things like diving in the coral reef, and skydiving :D
Our group have apparently worked alot harder than any other ISV group in the park so they are actually starting to run out of jobs for us to do.
We split into groups in the after noon. I went with Briana, Bridget and Sarah to feed the koala's, bilbys wombat and dingoes with Tom the park ranger. He's a laugh and alot more relaxed than the other wildlife park staff. We got to play wuith all the animals.....clean out their enclosures and intereact with them :) It was amazinggg!!
It was starve day for the dingoes to keep it as natural and wild as possible as not every day in of the week wild dingoes find food! However this ment they were going a little crazy and were wanting any food they could get their hands on. They are this gorgeous snowy white colour, kind of like huskys! They were pelting it round and round their enclosure and trynig to eat and dig up the trees we were planting for them! Tom locked us in while he went to give a reptile talk to park visitors so we were dodging out the way of diving dingoes everywhere,lol! We didnt finish planting the trees until 4.30pm which was 30mins after we usually finish work but it was fun anyway!
We finally got back to our hut and popped to Gosford to buy things for our final dinner tomorrow night....an aussie BBQ :) After dinner we watched a film called Samson and Delila about an aboriginal youngcouple...uits kind of depressing they get beaten, attacked and left homeless and get into drugs....apparently a typical aboriginal story since they have been removed from the desert and isolated from normal society in towns.
We went back to the hut and played taboo whichw as fun...however this one girl Zoe who is abit of a loner went and lit a campfire by herself.....then when none of uis realised she had been up there for 2 hours she made this big deal about us leaving her out or something! we just assumed she'd gone to bed up in the tents where she chose to sleep on her own! she likes to throw pity parties for herself and i actually saw her write down 'a massively depressive person' about her self in her journal the other day before she burst into tears for no reason :s keep her away from the knives maybe :s
Our leader and the 3 irish came home and had a go at us for leaving zoe on her own....but she'd kind of done it on purpose i think to cut her nose off to spite her face! Any way one of the irish boys Dave is superrrr aggressive and rough...he basially targetted me and had a rightgo at me for being such a selfish self-centred person and that everythings all me me meee....i argued back and told him to get the stick out of his arse and what the hell was his problem etc......and he said he was only having a go at me coz im the only person who actually bothered standing up to him!....after an awkwards 20min silence between us he apoligised for losing his temper for no reason...maybe keep the knives away from him too lol! Im not going to let it get to me thoguh as im having a great time and he's just a looney who probs need help for his temper problem! tomorrow is our last days work in the park...its gone sooo faast :( but im sooooo looknig forward to the next 2 weeks partying and doing cool adventure things like diving in the coral reef, and skydiving :D
Tuesday 3rd August......raaaainnn :(
We woke up to it absolutely tipping down today.....last time it rained we were made to just work through it but even Alicia our leader who is usually super motivated to help the environment any way we can refused to work in it! One of the park rangers is a bit of a 'kitchen nazi' as the head of the park calls her and had a go at us for leaving it in a mess again.....last time she complained because thgere were 2 baked beans on plug hole.......today we apparently left a food stain on the stove! I personally cleaned that stove and scoured it and removed stains that weren't even made by us!
So anyway we played card games like Uno and 'who done it' murder games. I was thre murderer and was sooo bad at bluffing everyone suspected me straight away lol! This kind of reminds me of family camping holidays in france when you make the most of card games etc when its raining,lol!
Every now and then 3 people at a time whobe asked to do an easy job or do some cleaning etc. My job with Darragh, Dave and Danielle (the irish) was to sweep all the spiders and spoider eggs off the tent flaps in the camping part of the wildlife park. There were only 7 tents so it was too bad a job however we did come across some pretty nasty spiders. A wolf Spider, A huntsman, A black Widow and a red back one. Most of these are venemous or make you reallly sick if they bite you. One of them rots your flesh around where it has bitten :s
I made sure my gloves were done up reallllly tight! I cant beleive people actually sleep in these tents with these things crawling on the outside :s
The rain finally stopped by 11am so we were able to get to work properly. We split into groups and me and a couple of others went of with Tom one of the park rangers. He got us to feed the koala bears their eucalyptus leaves, few ali ther Wombat her vegetables, dug sand to put in the Bilby's enclosures and got to have a look at a nocturnal Bilby for the first time...they look like snuggled up cutre rabbits when they sleep then they lift their heads and they have these long ugly snouts and razor sharp teeth :s
We also got to hold the pythons while Rodney (another park ranger and general maintence man) fitted new heat lamps int heir enclosures.
It was a fun day and the first proper day we actually got to feed and play with the aussie wildlife. Quite a few people in the group are starting to get flu-y now from the hard work and cold weather but hopefully fingers crossed i'll be fine! I came over to oz with a mild case of tonsillitis and the doc gave me anti-biotics which i never took so i have them on standby if i need them!
I have loads of energy in the mornings but get knackered by 7pm at night....must be the jetlag! We rushed to the internet cafe after work but Alicia said we could only stay 30mins so i paid the $2 and started tryign to upload my photos...then just as they were about to load my 30mins was up grrr what a waste of time!
We got back to the park and it was me, briana, bridget and zoe cooking! we decided we needed some comfort food so between the 4 of us we cooked a big english/american breakfast! Bacon, eggs,sausage,beans, toast, mushrooms,grilled tomato, pancakes. The americans put weird sweet things with savoury things so they soaked the breakfast in maple syrup ewwww! They love peanut butter with everything in sandwiches....bananas, honey, jam :s
No wonder america has an obesity problem!
We sat down after dinner to watch an aussie sitcom called The Castle.....its kind of like The Royal Family....quite funny!
Todays was fun....me, Briana, Melissa, Bridget and Sarah played a prank on everyone else when we were working with Tom and persuaded them to eat termites becasue 'we just had'......we took fake photos of us eatting them and showed everyone! Alicia, Zoe and Danielle all took a couple to eat :s ewwwww! they are edible but i just didnt fancy that specific aussie delicacy!
So anyway we played card games like Uno and 'who done it' murder games. I was thre murderer and was sooo bad at bluffing everyone suspected me straight away lol! This kind of reminds me of family camping holidays in france when you make the most of card games etc when its raining,lol!
Every now and then 3 people at a time whobe asked to do an easy job or do some cleaning etc. My job with Darragh, Dave and Danielle (the irish) was to sweep all the spiders and spoider eggs off the tent flaps in the camping part of the wildlife park. There were only 7 tents so it was too bad a job however we did come across some pretty nasty spiders. A wolf Spider, A huntsman, A black Widow and a red back one. Most of these are venemous or make you reallly sick if they bite you. One of them rots your flesh around where it has bitten :s
I made sure my gloves were done up reallllly tight! I cant beleive people actually sleep in these tents with these things crawling on the outside :s
The rain finally stopped by 11am so we were able to get to work properly. We split into groups and me and a couple of others went of with Tom one of the park rangers. He got us to feed the koala bears their eucalyptus leaves, few ali ther Wombat her vegetables, dug sand to put in the Bilby's enclosures and got to have a look at a nocturnal Bilby for the first time...they look like snuggled up cutre rabbits when they sleep then they lift their heads and they have these long ugly snouts and razor sharp teeth :s
We also got to hold the pythons while Rodney (another park ranger and general maintence man) fitted new heat lamps int heir enclosures.
It was a fun day and the first proper day we actually got to feed and play with the aussie wildlife. Quite a few people in the group are starting to get flu-y now from the hard work and cold weather but hopefully fingers crossed i'll be fine! I came over to oz with a mild case of tonsillitis and the doc gave me anti-biotics which i never took so i have them on standby if i need them!
I have loads of energy in the mornings but get knackered by 7pm at night....must be the jetlag! We rushed to the internet cafe after work but Alicia said we could only stay 30mins so i paid the $2 and started tryign to upload my photos...then just as they were about to load my 30mins was up grrr what a waste of time!
We got back to the park and it was me, briana, bridget and zoe cooking! we decided we needed some comfort food so between the 4 of us we cooked a big english/american breakfast! Bacon, eggs,sausage,beans, toast, mushrooms,grilled tomato, pancakes. The americans put weird sweet things with savoury things so they soaked the breakfast in maple syrup ewwww! They love peanut butter with everything in sandwiches....bananas, honey, jam :s
No wonder america has an obesity problem!
We sat down after dinner to watch an aussie sitcom called The Castle.....its kind of like The Royal Family....quite funny!
Todays was fun....me, Briana, Melissa, Bridget and Sarah played a prank on everyone else when we were working with Tom and persuaded them to eat termites becasue 'we just had'......we took fake photos of us eatting them and showed everyone! Alicia, Zoe and Danielle all took a couple to eat :s ewwwww! they are edible but i just didnt fancy that specific aussie delicacy!
Monday 2nd August.....back to the Wildlife Park!
Woke up at 6.30am as per usual work day.....its soooo cold in Calga compared to Sydney! i cant wait to make it to Cairns and the tropical climate on Friday! Still i kept positive and did star jumps to keep warm....and try lose weight from all the alcohol i drank this weekend! After the morning coldness the sun came out and actually got quite warm while we were working! Today me, Louisa and one of the gay irish guys Darragh worked together sweeping leaves off a path and making it more suitable to visitors to the park to walk around! I made up a sweeping exercise routine for us called cardio-sweep....it actually worked quite good! Lunge....sweep sweep sweep...lunge sweep sweep sweep lol!
The detox is gonig well...i ate an apple and a tuna salad wrap for lunch! Us 3 swept the path all day and was actuyally a right laugh having a gossip between us three and swapping stories and drunken moments!
After work finished at 4pm me and my leader Alicia (who's only 23) went to the shops and bought all our grocery's for the week! we gety given $500 a week for food for all 12 of us...however for some reason after buying everything we needed for 3 meals a day we had $300 left over so we went round and bought loads of chocoaltes, sweets, popcorn, icecream, timtams (kind of like a penguin biscuit which every aussie loves), Anzac cookies and other treats :) So much for the diet,lol!
Tonight we had rice, vegetables and chicken teriyaki pieces, then we watched a film/documentary called Contact about the last ever Real Aboriginal tribe who were discovered living in the desert in 1967. It was really interesting but the weekend had knackered me so a few of us started falling asleep halfway through! Its been interesting learning about the aboriginees, their culture and way of life in the past and these days!
We get sooo kanckered by the physical work during our volunteering around the park that we all get to sleep before 10pm every night....bring on Cairns and the partying on Friday woohooo :D
The detox is gonig well...i ate an apple and a tuna salad wrap for lunch! Us 3 swept the path all day and was actuyally a right laugh having a gossip between us three and swapping stories and drunken moments!
After work finished at 4pm me and my leader Alicia (who's only 23) went to the shops and bought all our grocery's for the week! we gety given $500 a week for food for all 12 of us...however for some reason after buying everything we needed for 3 meals a day we had $300 left over so we went round and bought loads of chocoaltes, sweets, popcorn, icecream, timtams (kind of like a penguin biscuit which every aussie loves), Anzac cookies and other treats :) So much for the diet,lol!
Tonight we had rice, vegetables and chicken teriyaki pieces, then we watched a film/documentary called Contact about the last ever Real Aboriginal tribe who were discovered living in the desert in 1967. It was really interesting but the weekend had knackered me so a few of us started falling asleep halfway through! Its been interesting learning about the aboriginees, their culture and way of life in the past and these days!
We get sooo kanckered by the physical work during our volunteering around the park that we all get to sleep before 10pm every night....bring on Cairns and the partying on Friday woohooo :D
Sunday 1st August....Sydney
Had a hell of a night out in Sydney last night with Pru and ther girls....we were a tad bit hungover when we had to checkout of Wake Up! hostel at 10am! I got my daily brekkie of Raisan Toast......my new addiction from australia, to start the day!
We met Brianna's guy friend from last night and all decided to go on a ferry trip to a place called Manly which has a spectacular beach and is a really cool place to just hang out!
It was pretty similar to the Ellis Island ferry in New york.....in the fact you get picturesque photos of the sydney harbour bridge and opera house from the boat! Me and the girls had a laugh reminising about our antics from last night in cluding the multiple tequila shots we had bought for us,lol!
Manly was amazing...it had lots of shops restaurants and cafes over looking the beach with skyrise apartments that propably cost a bomb! maybe i'll live in one oneday!
We stayed in Manly about 2 hours then got back on the ferry after a much deserved hangover subway mmmm :)
we had the funniest ferry ride....i kept popping out to take photos and totally got disorientated when i popped back to my seat and thought the girls had left me so i legged it down the other end of the boat to where i thought we were sitting to find the girls had gone......they were actually running behind me laughing their heads off at how id just sprinted past our seats to go to the wrong end of the boat ooops! Jack Brianna's friend did the same when he popped to the toilet, he thought we had quickly made a dash to get away from him......confusing looking boat!
Once we docked we took the free bus back to the hostel, got our bags and made our way to the train station....grabbing a few krispy kremem doughnuts each first yummmmmm :) we were all pretty knackered on the train and still slightly hungover but had THE best time in Sydney! I especially enjoyed meeting up with my family and have promised them i will be back VERY soon :)
We need to detox tomorrow after everythnig we drank last night.....
Some drunk guy 9from the nearby creepy town called Gosford) was on our train shouting racist slurs to these 2 asian girls which was abit awkward ....typical Gosford man!
When we got back to Gosford it was soooooo cold compared to Sydney :( Back to work tomorrow!!!
We met Brianna's guy friend from last night and all decided to go on a ferry trip to a place called Manly which has a spectacular beach and is a really cool place to just hang out!
It was pretty similar to the Ellis Island ferry in New york.....in the fact you get picturesque photos of the sydney harbour bridge and opera house from the boat! Me and the girls had a laugh reminising about our antics from last night in cluding the multiple tequila shots we had bought for us,lol!
Manly was amazing...it had lots of shops restaurants and cafes over looking the beach with skyrise apartments that propably cost a bomb! maybe i'll live in one oneday!
We stayed in Manly about 2 hours then got back on the ferry after a much deserved hangover subway mmmm :)
we had the funniest ferry ride....i kept popping out to take photos and totally got disorientated when i popped back to my seat and thought the girls had left me so i legged it down the other end of the boat to where i thought we were sitting to find the girls had gone......they were actually running behind me laughing their heads off at how id just sprinted past our seats to go to the wrong end of the boat ooops! Jack Brianna's friend did the same when he popped to the toilet, he thought we had quickly made a dash to get away from him......confusing looking boat!
Once we docked we took the free bus back to the hostel, got our bags and made our way to the train station....grabbing a few krispy kremem doughnuts each first yummmmmm :) we were all pretty knackered on the train and still slightly hungover but had THE best time in Sydney! I especially enjoyed meeting up with my family and have promised them i will be back VERY soon :)
We need to detox tomorrow after everythnig we drank last night.....
Some drunk guy 9from the nearby creepy town called Gosford) was on our train shouting racist slurs to these 2 asian girls which was abit awkward ....typical Gosford man!
When we got back to Gosford it was soooooo cold compared to Sydney :( Back to work tomorrow!!!
Saturday, 31 July 2010
Day 8....saturday 31st july!
Today we had an amzing day in sydney...woke up at like 9am and had THE best sleep ever in Pru's house! Met the girls at Wake Up Sydney hostel which is apprently the best hostel in the world at 10am and then went to breakfaSt....Malcom my mums cousin rang Pru and arranged to pick me and Pru up tot ake us for lunch which was lush! I cant believe i havent met Malcom or Pru in 21 years! He picked us up then took us to Watson Bay which is the richest area in Sydney.....its like Beverley Hills in Hollywood!the houses were worth like $16,000,000 houses! We then went for a drink in Watson Bay and saw Alex's private school and her friends houses and her grandparents houses etc! Malcom took me on a guyided tour around the sydney harbour and took us for Sushi on Bondi Beach which i reallllly small considering its sooo famous! I then went to Clovelly which is an area by Bondi Beach where my family live...there house is sooo nice! I met Lucy.....malcoms stepaughter and Tracey, Malcoms Wife! It was a brief 3 hours but soooo nice to finally meet my family! Pru is sooo cool and malcom is awesome!!!! We then were dropped by the Sydney Opera house and met the girls who had been shopping all day! they went ton the botanical gardens but me and pru didnt fancy it so we drank a few vodkas by the sydney opera house overlooking the harbour bridge....amazing! I still cant belive im here....it was amzing just having a relaxed drink over looking the opera house and harbour bridge today! Then the girls met us and we all had a drink in Opera Bar before heading to a pub for a big dinner of fish and chips....the best meal since iv been in oz!We then went back top the hostel and got ready and hen went to World Bar in Kings Cross to drink out of teapots...i had multiple vodkas...got me Lou and Pru into VIP and free drinks...then had cocktails wooohooooo!Then we went bck to the hostel and partied in Side Bar underneath the hostel all night...woohoooo was fab and verrrrry drunk now!!! i always seem to be drunk while typing these! time for bed ...hEllloo hangover!!!!!!!
Friday, 30 July 2010
Day 6.......friday 30th july
Today is Sydney day wooohoooooo......cant wait to experience a big city ...all the tourist attraction and the nigt life :D
Only me, briana, louisa and bridget are heading to sydney to stay all weekend...we are kind of the party animals and talkative ones of the whole 12 person group so we kind of stick together!
However we had a whole days volunteering work tog et through first....it was atually quite fun today! The sun was out and was really hot......we were all working in small tops and tshirts and sunglasses......a bit of heat makes soooo much difference :)
We were maintaining the tourist walkpath around the wildlife park today.........we actually came across a Death Adder (the 5th most dangerous snake in the world) and a Wolf Spider (another deadly bug)......it made me feel really wary picking up rocks and shovelling dirt and moulch (woodchippings) but it was interesting too......we also came across an Emu male who had been sitting on fertillised eggs for 12weeks.....they sit down and dont move until the eggs fertilise 6-12 weeks after the mother has planted them....they dont even move to go eat or drink so lose loads of weight!
Today was fun because me and the girls were just crazy excited for Sydneeeeeyyyy :)
We are catching the 5.06pm train after we finish work at 4pm and will be getting to Sydney at 6.30pm ish! I have arranged to meet my 2nd cousin Pru in the Wake Up Sydney Central Hostel bar for a few drinks then head to grab a bite to eat and got a bottle of wine to enjoy back at her flat! She's soooo nice......definately abit of a party animal like me :) \
Me and Lou are staying with her tonight then moving to Wake Up Sydney hostel tomorrow night fo our night on the town wooohooo :) We are having a touristy day of sightseeing and explorign around Sydney and may even go skydiving if we have enough time....maybe we'll save that for Cairns though!
I'm alittle bit drunk now so better go to bed as im hogging Pru's laptop in her flat at 1am and everyone has just toddled off to bed soooo good night :)
Only me, briana, louisa and bridget are heading to sydney to stay all weekend...we are kind of the party animals and talkative ones of the whole 12 person group so we kind of stick together!
However we had a whole days volunteering work tog et through first....it was atually quite fun today! The sun was out and was really hot......we were all working in small tops and tshirts and sunglasses......a bit of heat makes soooo much difference :)
We were maintaining the tourist walkpath around the wildlife park today.........we actually came across a Death Adder (the 5th most dangerous snake in the world) and a Wolf Spider (another deadly bug)......it made me feel really wary picking up rocks and shovelling dirt and moulch (woodchippings) but it was interesting too......we also came across an Emu male who had been sitting on fertillised eggs for 12weeks.....they sit down and dont move until the eggs fertilise 6-12 weeks after the mother has planted them....they dont even move to go eat or drink so lose loads of weight!
Today was fun because me and the girls were just crazy excited for Sydneeeeeyyyy :)
We are catching the 5.06pm train after we finish work at 4pm and will be getting to Sydney at 6.30pm ish! I have arranged to meet my 2nd cousin Pru in the Wake Up Sydney Central Hostel bar for a few drinks then head to grab a bite to eat and got a bottle of wine to enjoy back at her flat! She's soooo nice......definately abit of a party animal like me :) \
Me and Lou are staying with her tonight then moving to Wake Up Sydney hostel tomorrow night fo our night on the town wooohooo :) We are having a touristy day of sightseeing and explorign around Sydney and may even go skydiving if we have enough time....maybe we'll save that for Cairns though!
I'm alittle bit drunk now so better go to bed as im hogging Pru's laptop in her flat at 1am and everyone has just toddled off to bed soooo good night :)
Day 5......Thursday 29th July....
Today i woke at 6.30am to shower as usual....i like to take my time in the much sought after only decent shower so i wake an hour earlier than everyone else just so i can chill and take my time! We were working on the fence again tday and making little rubber spaces to stop the electric fence from short circuting!abit monotmous but was a fun task getting to know the irish guys better and we all shared funny drunk stories and dirty jokes to pass the time!Dave the irish boyfriend of irish danielle opened up alot more and is actually quite funny!
It rained alittle bit today but it was still hot work......
Tongith it was my turn to make dinner for everyone......our leader Alicia is vegetable mad and makes us cook about a million vegetables in every meal....so i made pasta...bolognese with tomato sauce and cooked vegetables.......she puts garlic and onions in everything which i cant really eat so i made a separate little bowl of plain pasta...tuna and raw vegetables for myself (because the cooked ones had garlic and onion al over them).
Im eatting sooooo much chocolate out here...literally like 2 bars a day on average....im going to come home like 4 stone heavier i think hahahaaa! plaus i drunk like 3 times in one week this week ooooops!
I cant get over what a great experience this is already....iv met some amazing friends in the last 5 days.....lived out the 'woopwoop' (back of beond)....and worked my socks off for the benefit of the nature park and wildlife yet am still enjoying every second!
Tonight we just sat round the fire indoors and chatted about aboriginal culture and our experiences of australai so far and what we've learnt....what we want to get out of our trip and what we hope to learn.
Went to bed ast 9ish to get a good night sleep before sydney tomorrow woohoooo :)
It rained alittle bit today but it was still hot work......
Tongith it was my turn to make dinner for everyone......our leader Alicia is vegetable mad and makes us cook about a million vegetables in every meal....so i made pasta...bolognese with tomato sauce and cooked vegetables.......she puts garlic and onions in everything which i cant really eat so i made a separate little bowl of plain pasta...tuna and raw vegetables for myself (because the cooked ones had garlic and onion al over them).
Im eatting sooooo much chocolate out here...literally like 2 bars a day on average....im going to come home like 4 stone heavier i think hahahaaa! plaus i drunk like 3 times in one week this week ooooops!
I cant get over what a great experience this is already....iv met some amazing friends in the last 5 days.....lived out the 'woopwoop' (back of beond)....and worked my socks off for the benefit of the nature park and wildlife yet am still enjoying every second!
Tonight we just sat round the fire indoors and chatted about aboriginal culture and our experiences of australai so far and what we've learnt....what we want to get out of our trip and what we hope to learn.
Went to bed ast 9ish to get a good night sleep before sydney tomorrow woohoooo :)
Day 4....wednesday 28th July!
Today we continued working on the electric fence around the boundary of the park.....we were working on erosion control by the perimeter because apparently some wild dingos (dogs) and foxes have been getting inot the park and killing some of the wallabies and baby kangaroos!
Some of the jobs can be pretty monotomous especially when it is pissing it down raining all day which is what it did allllllll day today! we still managed to keep our spiris up though and even took like a 2 hour lunch break to be spoken to be some other park volunteers about other voluntary projects they do with Gibbon monkeys in Borneo which was interesting!
Me and Lou are getting on realllly well with a coupe of the americans Briana and Bridget and we are all going to Sydney together this weekend to party....be tourists and generally have a laugh woohooooo! I'm arranging to meet my 2nd cousin who i have never met and she has offered us a bed to sleep in for free which will be sooo handy for 1 night at least :) She's called Pru and 23 and i have never met her before because she has lived in Oz all her life! Its crazy that i have relatives in Oz that i have never met!
Tonight we had chicken fajitas for dinner after we had dried off and warmed up and then we headed to the nearby town of Gosford for kareoke! So it turned out we actually frequnted the dogiest bar in town but enjoyed a few vodkas and even had some ex-convicts who had served 7 months in jail hitting on us....hmmmmmm no thanks! I sang Robbie Williams Angels with one of the irish guys and we all took on different identities.....i was Tallulah.......Darragh was Bunty.....Louisa was Jezebel....Bridget was Betty and Briana was Penelope hahaaaaa! I won the raffle too and won a few free beers for the group :) Me louisa bridget and briana did beyonce bootylicious aswell and then realised we actually didn't no much past 'kelly can you handle this...michelle can you handle this....beyonce can you handle this....i dont think you can handle this wooooo'
it was soooo fun though....funny night!
Some of the jobs can be pretty monotomous especially when it is pissing it down raining all day which is what it did allllllll day today! we still managed to keep our spiris up though and even took like a 2 hour lunch break to be spoken to be some other park volunteers about other voluntary projects they do with Gibbon monkeys in Borneo which was interesting!
Me and Lou are getting on realllly well with a coupe of the americans Briana and Bridget and we are all going to Sydney together this weekend to party....be tourists and generally have a laugh woohooooo! I'm arranging to meet my 2nd cousin who i have never met and she has offered us a bed to sleep in for free which will be sooo handy for 1 night at least :) She's called Pru and 23 and i have never met her before because she has lived in Oz all her life! Its crazy that i have relatives in Oz that i have never met!
Tonight we had chicken fajitas for dinner after we had dried off and warmed up and then we headed to the nearby town of Gosford for kareoke! So it turned out we actually frequnted the dogiest bar in town but enjoyed a few vodkas and even had some ex-convicts who had served 7 months in jail hitting on us....hmmmmmm no thanks! I sang Robbie Williams Angels with one of the irish guys and we all took on different identities.....i was Tallulah.......Darragh was Bunty.....Louisa was Jezebel....Bridget was Betty and Briana was Penelope hahaaaaa! I won the raffle too and won a few free beers for the group :) Me louisa bridget and briana did beyonce bootylicious aswell and then realised we actually didn't no much past 'kelly can you handle this...michelle can you handle this....beyonce can you handle this....i dont think you can handle this wooooo'
it was soooo fun though....funny night!
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Day 3.......Tuesday 27th July
Woke ast 6.30 again to shower before work! Iv been eatting porridge with dried blueberries, honeyand sultanas i bought for myself as a home comfort every morning...which tastes LUSH ......especially in the cold morning mist.
Today we were working on the fence and clearing more of the trees we cut down yesterday from the fency path.
Again it was pretty strenuous work but hopefully i'll come home skinny or at least pretty toned!
We are going out for dinner tonight with the park rangers to a nearby restaurant so we get to know the staff better but us ISV people are firm friends now....only 3 days in :)
Wea re all arranging to saty in Sydney this weekend to explore the city and be typical tourist as we get the weekends off voluneering :) Im going to meet up with my relatives who live there who i've never actaully met so that should be amazing :)
And of course have a fair bit to drink as ISV are pretty strict about not drinking during the week while volunteering!
We are all keeping pretty amused by the slang words each person from each country uses...of course i have introduced LUSH and Cwtch.....which they had never heard of!
Im still loving being here and taking every moment as it comes...im not missing home at all (sorry!) as im loving the oz experience sooo much :)
speak soon xxxxxxx
Today we were working on the fence and clearing more of the trees we cut down yesterday from the fency path.
Again it was pretty strenuous work but hopefully i'll come home skinny or at least pretty toned!
We are going out for dinner tonight with the park rangers to a nearby restaurant so we get to know the staff better but us ISV people are firm friends now....only 3 days in :)
Wea re all arranging to saty in Sydney this weekend to explore the city and be typical tourist as we get the weekends off voluneering :) Im going to meet up with my relatives who live there who i've never actaully met so that should be amazing :)
And of course have a fair bit to drink as ISV are pretty strict about not drinking during the week while volunteering!
We are all keeping pretty amused by the slang words each person from each country uses...of course i have introduced LUSH and Cwtch.....which they had never heard of!
Im still loving being here and taking every moment as it comes...im not missing home at all (sorry!) as im loving the oz experience sooo much :)
speak soon xxxxxxx
Day 2.......volunteering
Woke at 6.30am today to be first in the shower.......im still waking once or twice throughout the night with my jetlag but its not too bad now.
We were clearing and cutting down treees all day today to maintain the path around the electric fence...its made that while we work kangaroos are just hoppnig around us!
It was quite hard work during the morning but then in the afternoon we just went on a bush hike all the way around the park with the animals for company all the way round.
We are all getting closer to eachother now as we spend 24/7 together and i've finally learnt everyones names after all the name games which made me look like a typically dull welsh blonde hahaaa!my memory is shocking!
We make our own lunch from our food supplies that ISV paid for i've been making sandwiches for lunch everyday and bought some chocolate for myself as i cannot live without my daily dose of chocolate.
We were all pretty knackered fromt he mornings activities so we collected loadds of fire wood and planned a campfire for that eveniong to chill, share more about ourselves and generally chill out!
The camp fire was amazing....the irish had cooked us sausages mash and baked beans for tea so we were all full and happy! we stayed out for about 2/3 hours while the fire was literally the best heater ever out in the bush. I'm still pretty jetlagged so me and louisa went to bed about 9ish slightly before everyone else but they followed soon after.
The volunteering work can be abit hard or tedious but im just sooo positive at the moment that even the most boring task i grasp byt he balls and enjoy it.....hahaaa maybe i am an outdoorsy person after all! All though everyone wasn't surprised at all by my bright pink flowery jacket i wore today! I even painted my nails pink during the break!
Until tomorrow :)
We were clearing and cutting down treees all day today to maintain the path around the electric fence...its made that while we work kangaroos are just hoppnig around us!
It was quite hard work during the morning but then in the afternoon we just went on a bush hike all the way around the park with the animals for company all the way round.
We are all getting closer to eachother now as we spend 24/7 together and i've finally learnt everyones names after all the name games which made me look like a typically dull welsh blonde hahaaa!my memory is shocking!
We make our own lunch from our food supplies that ISV paid for i've been making sandwiches for lunch everyday and bought some chocolate for myself as i cannot live without my daily dose of chocolate.
We were all pretty knackered fromt he mornings activities so we collected loadds of fire wood and planned a campfire for that eveniong to chill, share more about ourselves and generally chill out!
The camp fire was amazing....the irish had cooked us sausages mash and baked beans for tea so we were all full and happy! we stayed out for about 2/3 hours while the fire was literally the best heater ever out in the bush. I'm still pretty jetlagged so me and louisa went to bed about 9ish slightly before everyone else but they followed soon after.
The volunteering work can be abit hard or tedious but im just sooo positive at the moment that even the most boring task i grasp byt he balls and enjoy it.....hahaaa maybe i am an outdoorsy person after all! All though everyone wasn't surprised at all by my bright pink flowery jacket i wore today! I even painted my nails pink during the break!
Until tomorrow :)
Day 1.....Sunday 25th July
Day 1......
I woke about 4/5 times during the night every 3 hours or so......technically our night time is british day time so i just wasnt tired during the night!
We had an orientation into the park day today. 9am we met Nick the ranger to have a safety talk above some aboriginal cave paintings overlooking the entire 100acre park. We were taught what to do if we get bitten by anythnig poisonous and other saftey advice...we then played a few name games to learn everyones names. The people im with seem sooo nice, i'm getting on especially well with the americans which will be good for future holidays hahaaa!
We spent the whole day learning about aboriginal history, feeding and touching the kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, billabies and other park animals and being general tourist amongst our own park which was fun.
We take it in turns to cook for everyone in 3s every night...i cooked last night pasta bolognese with vegetables and tomato-y sauce but didnt actually eat much myself....i'm either going to come home tiny or massive from eatting crap or not hardly eatting at all hahaaa!
Tonight the cooking team made rice with chicken teriyaki sauce with was nice...i only had a little bit though.
Iv been gonig through my chamomile tea like theres no tomorrow as the mornings and evenings are really cold here but it gets really sunny and warm during the mid part of the day!
Tomorrow we start volunteering 8am-4pm monday-friday.....the work seems quite structures and involves alot of manual labour to help preserve and protect the animals within the park and maintin the electric fence to keep out unwanted dangerous animals from the park.
Night Night :)
I woke about 4/5 times during the night every 3 hours or so......technically our night time is british day time so i just wasnt tired during the night!
We had an orientation into the park day today. 9am we met Nick the ranger to have a safety talk above some aboriginal cave paintings overlooking the entire 100acre park. We were taught what to do if we get bitten by anythnig poisonous and other saftey advice...we then played a few name games to learn everyones names. The people im with seem sooo nice, i'm getting on especially well with the americans which will be good for future holidays hahaaa!
We spent the whole day learning about aboriginal history, feeding and touching the kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, billabies and other park animals and being general tourist amongst our own park which was fun.
We take it in turns to cook for everyone in 3s every night...i cooked last night pasta bolognese with vegetables and tomato-y sauce but didnt actually eat much myself....i'm either going to come home tiny or massive from eatting crap or not hardly eatting at all hahaaa!
Tonight the cooking team made rice with chicken teriyaki sauce with was nice...i only had a little bit though.
Iv been gonig through my chamomile tea like theres no tomorrow as the mornings and evenings are really cold here but it gets really sunny and warm during the mid part of the day!
Tomorrow we start volunteering 8am-4pm monday-friday.....the work seems quite structures and involves alot of manual labour to help preserve and protect the animals within the park and maintin the electric fence to keep out unwanted dangerous animals from the park.
Night Night :)
G'day Australia
Well I'm here :D
The 21 hour flight wasnt quite as horrendous as i expected......it was long but i just slept alot (as best as i could being sat in the middle of 2 strangers) and woke up just to eat and obviously dismount in Bankok when we re-fuelled.
ISV for some reason had sat us all separately around the plane so i basically flew on my own for 21 hours but it was fine i watched a couple of films and read my magazines so was happy!
When we arrived in sydney airport we were greeted by our leader Alicia and waited for the LAX flight to land 30mins later until we all went off in our volunteer project groups.
I'm with 12 people all together, 3 irish, 4 americans, me,louisa and 2 english and the leader.
Our leader accidently drove us the worng way over sydney bridge but luckily it was being constructed on so we werent killed by on-coming traffic......hahaa that would have been a good start to the trip!we saw the opera house from the bridge then drove off into the hills to Walkabout Wildlife Park in Calga.
When we arrived at the park we were greeted by Nick, one of the park rangers and given muffins and a cuppa tea. Its pretty cold up here in the hills at the moment but it is warming up gradually each day.
We were greeted by free ranging kangaroos, wallabies and wallaroos straight away...it was crazy that within an hour of landing in Oz we were patting and mixing with these amazing creatures! Nick brought the koala out for us to have photos with and pat aswell....they are soooo cute!
We were then shown to our living quarters which isnt tooooo bad....its basically a concrete building with bunk beds and basic kitchen and a bathroom with 1 shower.....then 4 porta-showers outside!i'm gonig to try my best to avoid the porta-showers while staying here its waaay too cold to run half naked to theme from the room!
All 9 girls shared the big bedroom the 1st night and the 2 boys had 2 bunk beds in the kitchen because an emu chick, some snakes and some endangered mice things were being kept warm in the other smaller bedroom.
We all were pretty jetlagged so were in bed by 6.30pm the first night.
Its amazing here....i'm in awe of all the wildlife just hopping around by our feet and have been reassured that because its winter here at the moment most dangerous snakes and insects will stay out of the cold and out of our way....hopefully!
The 21 hour flight wasnt quite as horrendous as i expected......it was long but i just slept alot (as best as i could being sat in the middle of 2 strangers) and woke up just to eat and obviously dismount in Bankok when we re-fuelled.
ISV for some reason had sat us all separately around the plane so i basically flew on my own for 21 hours but it was fine i watched a couple of films and read my magazines so was happy!
When we arrived in sydney airport we were greeted by our leader Alicia and waited for the LAX flight to land 30mins later until we all went off in our volunteer project groups.
I'm with 12 people all together, 3 irish, 4 americans, me,louisa and 2 english and the leader.
Our leader accidently drove us the worng way over sydney bridge but luckily it was being constructed on so we werent killed by on-coming traffic......hahaa that would have been a good start to the trip!we saw the opera house from the bridge then drove off into the hills to Walkabout Wildlife Park in Calga.
When we arrived at the park we were greeted by Nick, one of the park rangers and given muffins and a cuppa tea. Its pretty cold up here in the hills at the moment but it is warming up gradually each day.
We were greeted by free ranging kangaroos, wallabies and wallaroos straight away...it was crazy that within an hour of landing in Oz we were patting and mixing with these amazing creatures! Nick brought the koala out for us to have photos with and pat aswell....they are soooo cute!
We were then shown to our living quarters which isnt tooooo bad....its basically a concrete building with bunk beds and basic kitchen and a bathroom with 1 shower.....then 4 porta-showers outside!i'm gonig to try my best to avoid the porta-showers while staying here its waaay too cold to run half naked to theme from the room!
All 9 girls shared the big bedroom the 1st night and the 2 boys had 2 bunk beds in the kitchen because an emu chick, some snakes and some endangered mice things were being kept warm in the other smaller bedroom.
We all were pretty jetlagged so were in bed by 6.30pm the first night.
Its amazing here....i'm in awe of all the wildlife just hopping around by our feet and have been reassured that because its winter here at the moment most dangerous snakes and insects will stay out of the cold and out of our way....hopefully!
Friday, 16 July 2010
1 week to go....
Ok....so one week today and I will be mid flight to Oz!!
I am scarily prepared luggage wise.....i'm just waiting for my last minute panick to set in (hopefully it wont).
I have packed all my clothes and my rucksack doesn't even seem too heavy which is a bonus :)
I just have a few last minute chores to do before thursday regarding photocopying documents and buying a few last minute bits and bobs.
But other than that I'll probably update you next once I land in Oz!
Speak soon xxx
I am scarily prepared luggage wise.....i'm just waiting for my last minute panick to set in (hopefully it wont).
I have packed all my clothes and my rucksack doesn't even seem too heavy which is a bonus :)
I just have a few last minute chores to do before thursday regarding photocopying documents and buying a few last minute bits and bobs.
But other than that I'll probably update you next once I land in Oz!
Speak soon xxx
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
2 weeks to go.....
Ok, so this week i've been pretty busy on ebay at least hahahaa!
I have managed to purchase, a new sleeping bag suitable for conditions down to -10degrees, a litre water bottle, a trespass pink flowery waterproof jacket, 5 pairs of work gloves (to hopefully keep out any funnell-web spider bites :s) alltogether only costing £25. How good is that!!
I also tried a practice run at packing my rucksack the other day....throwing in every item of clothing imaginable...i have now come to realise this is not going to be able to happen...boohoo i will have to be unfashionable for the 4/5 weeks travelling.....i think plenty of vest tops, 1 or 2 day dresses, leggings and the odd abercrombie hoody will have to do me! And only 2 different dresses for special nights out on the town.
I did buy these AMAZING-LY comfortable hareem pants from New Look for £12 the other day...these will be what i travel in i think :)
I had my flight information through today! my e-ticket and flight details.
These involve catching my plane at 10.15pm on July 22nd from London Heathrow and arriving in Sydney Australia 5.30am on July 24th....YIKES!
After my voluntary project near sydney we fly 3 hours north to Cairns and travel southbound (not northbound like previously expected).
Anyway, not much news other than that!
Speak soon xxx
I have managed to purchase, a new sleeping bag suitable for conditions down to -10degrees, a litre water bottle, a trespass pink flowery waterproof jacket, 5 pairs of work gloves (to hopefully keep out any funnell-web spider bites :s) alltogether only costing £25. How good is that!!
I also tried a practice run at packing my rucksack the other day....throwing in every item of clothing imaginable...i have now come to realise this is not going to be able to happen...boohoo i will have to be unfashionable for the 4/5 weeks travelling.....i think plenty of vest tops, 1 or 2 day dresses, leggings and the odd abercrombie hoody will have to do me! And only 2 different dresses for special nights out on the town.
I did buy these AMAZING-LY comfortable hareem pants from New Look for £12 the other day...these will be what i travel in i think :)
I had my flight information through today! my e-ticket and flight details.
These involve catching my plane at 10.15pm on July 22nd from London Heathrow and arriving in Sydney Australia 5.30am on July 24th....YIKES!
After my voluntary project near sydney we fly 3 hours north to Cairns and travel southbound (not northbound like previously expected).
Anyway, not much news other than that!
Speak soon xxx
Friday, 25 June 2010
And my volunteer project and itinery is......
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY :)
I got my first choice volunteer project.....two weeks in Walkabout Wildlife Park :D
We'll be working with the animals that reside there...which include Koala's, Kangaroos, wombats, Dingos, Bandicoots, wallabies and other native endangered species. Admittedly, I've never heard of some of these animals but i bet they are sooo cute (as long as they're not poisonous :s)
Tasks sound pretty strenuous but being able to experience the animals will be soooo much fun!
We will be working between 8am amd 4 pm monday-friday, and we are warned to wear 'work gloves' just incase we uncover any funnel-web spider nests....eeeeek!
Tasks involve......
-Maintain the integrity of the fox-proof electric fence. This is essential to protect the many animals residing in the Park. Therefore, one of the main tasks to be completed by ISV this year will be maintenance of the fence, which is now over ten years old. The bulk of the upgrading work was completed in the last three years, so the work in 2010 will be maintenance and upkeep. However, the specific tasks will be to remove overgrown vegetation and replace the apron of mesh that prevents foxes and rabbits from digging under the fence.
-Maintain the Eucalyptus plantation established by ISV in 2007. This will ensure the food supply for the Parks koalas.Plant more shrubs and add soil in the koala breeding facility.Connect irrigation pipes to water the koala food trees.Plant more grass for native animals such as kangaroos and wallabies to feed on, and weed the existing kangaroo grazing area.
-Maintain existing public walking tracks, and the construction of new walking tracks. The maintenance of these tracks is essential to visitor enjoyment and safety, and the number of visitors coming through the Park directly relates to the success of our conservation Programs and employment of staff. We also hope to establish a new sensory track for guests in wheelchairsand a new track accessing the Wollemi Pinecolony.
-Protect Aboriginal art sites. Several Aboriginal sites were discovered last year with the help of ISV. Volunteers this year will have the chance to work with local Aboriginal people to protect these sites for future generations. Add new interpretive signage. The tracks have recently been given Aboriginal names, and signs need to beerected detailing track distances for visitor safety.
So looks like we'll be kept pretty busy...we are given 2-3 days off during that 2 weeks and sydney is only an hour away by train so maybe a few nights out in Sydney could be on the agenda :) there is also nearby beaches in Calga to explore and a little town of Gosford is a 15minute drive away and has internet cafes, pubs,shops etc.
Winter in Calga can reach 'freezing' in the nights but the days are expected to be sunny...so the freckles may even make an appearance :)
My group of volunteers involves 12 of us mainly girls but 1 or 2 boys and involves us living and sleeping in the Wildlife Park dormitories...with onsight bathrooms,bedrooms and kitchen facilities....there is also a laundry room which im sure will come in verrry handy!
wow this is the most i've blogged so far...but as you can tell im pretttty excited :)
After the 2 weeks in the wildlife park, we travel back to Sydney Airport and get a domestic flight straight to Cairns.....woohoo hot weather :) Then for the next 2 weeks we make our way southbound.
Day 1:We stay in Gilligan's Backpackers Hostel http://www.gilligansbackpackers.com.au/ which look soooo cool!We get a night out where we can explore the city of Cains nightlife. Cairns is also the adrenaline capital of Australia so skydiving and bungee jumping is on the cards eeeeek!
Day 2: We will visit Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park to learn about the history and cultures of the aboriginal people and australia. Then we experience a Reef Teach all about the Great Barrier Reef to prepare us for our snorkling the following day.
Day 3: Spend the day of the Great Barrioer Reef snorkling, scuba diving and generally experiencing the marine life there.
Day 4: Today is a free day to explore Cairns...options include skydiving,bunjee jumping and more.
Day 5: We depart Cairns to the Tully River for a day of white water rafting through the rainforest!
Day 6: We move to Airlie Beach and stay at the Airlie Cove Resort http://www.airliecove.com.au/. Here we can soak up the sun in the hot tropical weather...yaaay and go ocean rafting through the Whitsunday Islands :) We get to snorkel on the Barrier Reef again and get lunch on Whiteheaven beach! Then we travel overnight by bus to meet the ferry for Fraser Island.
Day 7: We then set up shop in Frazer Island and The Eurong Beach Resort http://www.eurong.com/.
Day 8: We get to explore the largest sand island in the world then we trek to the emerald Green Lake Wabby in the afternoon to swim in the lake.
Day 9: Today we 4-wheel drive along the 75mile coast of Frazer Island, swim in the freshwater Eli Creek, see the famous Maheno Shirwreck and climb to the top of Indian Head....we may even see migrating whales and dolphins :)
Day 10: today we travel to Byron Bay from Frazer Island. And lodge in Aquarius Backpacker Motel. http://www.byron-bay.com/aquarius/ We get a night out in Byron Bay to enjoy the atmosphere and chill out :)
Day 11: (recover from the hangover hahaa) Today we learn to surf on Byron Bay Beach and swim amongst the dolphins (and hopefully NO sharks)
Day 12: We get a free day to enjoy Byron Bay and venture to Cape Byron....australias most eastern point! Here we can take part in activites like skydiving and kayaking! Then we take an over night bus to Sydney from Byron Bay.
Day 13: After arriving from our overnight trip we get a free day to explore Sydney. We set up home in Wake up! Sydney Central. http://www.wakeup.com.au/ Visit the sydney harbour bridge, sydney aquarium and sydney tower...then we get a sunset cocktail harbour cruise around sydney harbour :)
Day 14: Today we drive 40 miles west of Sydney to The Blue Mountains. We stop at Featherdale Wildlife Park to experience more wildlife. Then in the Blue Mountains we will see 'the three sisters' rock formation then rappell down the mountains in the afternoon. Then we return to Sydney for our final dinner and another night out :)
Day 15: Depart Sydney Airport for London Heathrow :(
I'm not boasting or anything but how amazing does this trip sound!!!
Trip of a lifetime...definately!
Im soooooooo excitttedddddd!can you tell???
Speak soon xxx
I got my first choice volunteer project.....two weeks in Walkabout Wildlife Park :D
We'll be working with the animals that reside there...which include Koala's, Kangaroos, wombats, Dingos, Bandicoots, wallabies and other native endangered species. Admittedly, I've never heard of some of these animals but i bet they are sooo cute (as long as they're not poisonous :s)
Tasks sound pretty strenuous but being able to experience the animals will be soooo much fun!
We will be working between 8am amd 4 pm monday-friday, and we are warned to wear 'work gloves' just incase we uncover any funnel-web spider nests....eeeeek!
Tasks involve......
-Maintain the integrity of the fox-proof electric fence. This is essential to protect the many animals residing in the Park. Therefore, one of the main tasks to be completed by ISV this year will be maintenance of the fence, which is now over ten years old. The bulk of the upgrading work was completed in the last three years, so the work in 2010 will be maintenance and upkeep. However, the specific tasks will be to remove overgrown vegetation and replace the apron of mesh that prevents foxes and rabbits from digging under the fence.
-Maintain the Eucalyptus plantation established by ISV in 2007. This will ensure the food supply for the Parks koalas.Plant more shrubs and add soil in the koala breeding facility.Connect irrigation pipes to water the koala food trees.Plant more grass for native animals such as kangaroos and wallabies to feed on, and weed the existing kangaroo grazing area.
-Maintain existing public walking tracks, and the construction of new walking tracks. The maintenance of these tracks is essential to visitor enjoyment and safety, and the number of visitors coming through the Park directly relates to the success of our conservation Programs and employment of staff. We also hope to establish a new sensory track for guests in wheelchairsand a new track accessing the Wollemi Pinecolony.
-Protect Aboriginal art sites. Several Aboriginal sites were discovered last year with the help of ISV. Volunteers this year will have the chance to work with local Aboriginal people to protect these sites for future generations. Add new interpretive signage. The tracks have recently been given Aboriginal names, and signs need to beerected detailing track distances for visitor safety.
So looks like we'll be kept pretty busy...we are given 2-3 days off during that 2 weeks and sydney is only an hour away by train so maybe a few nights out in Sydney could be on the agenda :) there is also nearby beaches in Calga to explore and a little town of Gosford is a 15minute drive away and has internet cafes, pubs,shops etc.
Winter in Calga can reach 'freezing' in the nights but the days are expected to be sunny...so the freckles may even make an appearance :)
My group of volunteers involves 12 of us mainly girls but 1 or 2 boys and involves us living and sleeping in the Wildlife Park dormitories...with onsight bathrooms,bedrooms and kitchen facilities....there is also a laundry room which im sure will come in verrry handy!
wow this is the most i've blogged so far...but as you can tell im pretttty excited :)
After the 2 weeks in the wildlife park, we travel back to Sydney Airport and get a domestic flight straight to Cairns.....woohoo hot weather :) Then for the next 2 weeks we make our way southbound.
Day 1:We stay in Gilligan's Backpackers Hostel http://www.gilligansbackpackers.com.au/ which look soooo cool!We get a night out where we can explore the city of Cains nightlife. Cairns is also the adrenaline capital of Australia so skydiving and bungee jumping is on the cards eeeeek!
Day 2: We will visit Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park to learn about the history and cultures of the aboriginal people and australia. Then we experience a Reef Teach all about the Great Barrier Reef to prepare us for our snorkling the following day.
Day 3: Spend the day of the Great Barrioer Reef snorkling, scuba diving and generally experiencing the marine life there.
Day 4: Today is a free day to explore Cairns...options include skydiving,bunjee jumping and more.
Day 5: We depart Cairns to the Tully River for a day of white water rafting through the rainforest!
Day 6: We move to Airlie Beach and stay at the Airlie Cove Resort http://www.airliecove.com.au/. Here we can soak up the sun in the hot tropical weather...yaaay and go ocean rafting through the Whitsunday Islands :) We get to snorkel on the Barrier Reef again and get lunch on Whiteheaven beach! Then we travel overnight by bus to meet the ferry for Fraser Island.
Day 7: We then set up shop in Frazer Island and The Eurong Beach Resort http://www.eurong.com/.
Day 8: We get to explore the largest sand island in the world then we trek to the emerald Green Lake Wabby in the afternoon to swim in the lake.
Day 9: Today we 4-wheel drive along the 75mile coast of Frazer Island, swim in the freshwater Eli Creek, see the famous Maheno Shirwreck and climb to the top of Indian Head....we may even see migrating whales and dolphins :)
Day 10: today we travel to Byron Bay from Frazer Island. And lodge in Aquarius Backpacker Motel. http://www.byron-bay.com/aquarius/ We get a night out in Byron Bay to enjoy the atmosphere and chill out :)
Day 11: (recover from the hangover hahaa) Today we learn to surf on Byron Bay Beach and swim amongst the dolphins (and hopefully NO sharks)
Day 12: We get a free day to enjoy Byron Bay and venture to Cape Byron....australias most eastern point! Here we can take part in activites like skydiving and kayaking! Then we take an over night bus to Sydney from Byron Bay.
Day 13: After arriving from our overnight trip we get a free day to explore Sydney. We set up home in Wake up! Sydney Central. http://www.wakeup.com.au/ Visit the sydney harbour bridge, sydney aquarium and sydney tower...then we get a sunset cocktail harbour cruise around sydney harbour :)
Day 14: Today we drive 40 miles west of Sydney to The Blue Mountains. We stop at Featherdale Wildlife Park to experience more wildlife. Then in the Blue Mountains we will see 'the three sisters' rock formation then rappell down the mountains in the afternoon. Then we return to Sydney for our final dinner and another night out :)
Day 15: Depart Sydney Airport for London Heathrow :(
I'm not boasting or anything but how amazing does this trip sound!!!
Trip of a lifetime...definately!
Im soooooooo excitttedddddd!can you tell???
Speak soon xxx
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
4 weeks to goo....
Ok...so if International Student Volunteers are correct in their estimations i SHOULD be receiving my full itinery, e-ticket and project placement through the post any.day.soon!
However, me and my friend Louisa (due to pre-travel excitement) just HAD to go shopping this weekend gone. However, that's easier said than done when we haven't actually received our comprehensive packing list or project placement.....so we wandered round town, grabbed a starbucks (naturally) and bought lots of plain vest tops......i do believe you can never have too many....so far my travelling fashion will be vest-tops galore! i also managed to buy a pair of light cottom pjs H&M bargain £3 :)
I am getting slightly worried about packing now...as from my estimation i will be taking 5 pairs of shoes let alone everything else....flipflops,sandels,hiking boots,uggs and heels.... i may have to forget about the uggs as i have been reassured that 'even though its winter' it'll still be warm during July/August!
Me and Lousia have decided to share toiletries and electrical equiptment e.g. hairdrier and straightners so that should hopefully lighten the load a bit!
I shall update next when i have received my full info through the post and let you lovely people following me no of my itinery and destination and information about my voluntary project.....hopefully this will be sometime this week!
xxx
However, me and my friend Louisa (due to pre-travel excitement) just HAD to go shopping this weekend gone. However, that's easier said than done when we haven't actually received our comprehensive packing list or project placement.....so we wandered round town, grabbed a starbucks (naturally) and bought lots of plain vest tops......i do believe you can never have too many....so far my travelling fashion will be vest-tops galore! i also managed to buy a pair of light cottom pjs H&M bargain £3 :)
I am getting slightly worried about packing now...as from my estimation i will be taking 5 pairs of shoes let alone everything else....flipflops,sandels,hiking boots,uggs and heels.... i may have to forget about the uggs as i have been reassured that 'even though its winter' it'll still be warm during July/August!
Me and Lousia have decided to share toiletries and electrical equiptment e.g. hairdrier and straightners so that should hopefully lighten the load a bit!
I shall update next when i have received my full info through the post and let you lovely people following me no of my itinery and destination and information about my voluntary project.....hopefully this will be sometime this week!
xxx
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
5 weeks to gooooo.....
Well...now there is only 5 weeks to go and i STILL have alot of things to do to prepare for australia!
Although thanks to mama evans i do have some stylish new clothes to take with me after our succesful 'bridesmaid dress shopping' on sunday in Cardiff! She kindly bought me 3 new bikinis....some flowery denim shorts....a flowery light jacket....2 casual dresses.....and some other bits and bobs!
I think i own enough clothes to dress a 3rd world country now...so i really need to get cracking buying the outdoor-sy bits and bobs like...waterproofs....first aid kits....and more practical things like these! Luckily, I already own hiking boots from my bronze,silver and (yet to complete :s) gold Duke of Edinburgh days so that'll save me £50!
In the next week or two i expect to receive my project placement and a more detailed itinery through the post about the area and project i will be volunteering on. This will help in deciding what type of clothing and equiptment i need to take with me.
My sister kindly is lending me her travelling rucksack she took with her around the world for 9months....however packing light is sooo not my speciality and i think i'll struggle to fit everything in!
Anyway....i shall update you once i have received my volunteer project placement through the post....and hopefully started getting my act together packing-wise.
Until next time.....xxx
Although thanks to mama evans i do have some stylish new clothes to take with me after our succesful 'bridesmaid dress shopping' on sunday in Cardiff! She kindly bought me 3 new bikinis....some flowery denim shorts....a flowery light jacket....2 casual dresses.....and some other bits and bobs!
I think i own enough clothes to dress a 3rd world country now...so i really need to get cracking buying the outdoor-sy bits and bobs like...waterproofs....first aid kits....and more practical things like these! Luckily, I already own hiking boots from my bronze,silver and (yet to complete :s) gold Duke of Edinburgh days so that'll save me £50!
In the next week or two i expect to receive my project placement and a more detailed itinery through the post about the area and project i will be volunteering on. This will help in deciding what type of clothing and equiptment i need to take with me.
My sister kindly is lending me her travelling rucksack she took with her around the world for 9months....however packing light is sooo not my speciality and i think i'll struggle to fit everything in!
Anyway....i shall update you once i have received my volunteer project placement through the post....and hopefully started getting my act together packing-wise.
Until next time.....xxx
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Hellooo and welcome :)
Helloo and welcome to my first ever blog.
I decided to set one of these up to keep all you lovely people informed of my adventures travelling. I hope to travel as much as possible over the next few years so can hopefully keep you all informed via this blog. So far in my 21 years of life i have been to France (on many a family camping trip and skiing), Spain (Menorca,Ibiza twice,Santander,Marbella), Italy (Riva, Lake Garda), America (Florida 4/5 times, New York), United Arab Emirates (Dubai), Carribean (Jamaica) and Bulgaria skiing.
My next destination on the cards is Australia.
I am taking part in an organised trip to Australia in July 2010 for approximately 4 weeks. I am taking part with my friend Louisa who is in Swansea University with me....volunteering with wildlife and environmental conservation aswell as travelling to all the major hotspots in Australia to visit and take part in some extreme sports :)
I'm very excited as I have never been to Australia before, nor been away from home for longer than 2 weeks so this should definately be a big adventure.
So basically, you lucky people can follow my life in the lead up to Australia, and whilst over there i shall try update my blog as often as i possibly can. There is only 6weeks to go, so i should really get cracking buying all my travelling gear, and mentally and physically preparing myself for the adventure of a lifetime :)
speak soon xxx
I decided to set one of these up to keep all you lovely people informed of my adventures travelling. I hope to travel as much as possible over the next few years so can hopefully keep you all informed via this blog. So far in my 21 years of life i have been to France (on many a family camping trip and skiing), Spain (Menorca,Ibiza twice,Santander,Marbella), Italy (Riva, Lake Garda), America (Florida 4/5 times, New York), United Arab Emirates (Dubai), Carribean (Jamaica) and Bulgaria skiing.
My next destination on the cards is Australia.
I am taking part in an organised trip to Australia in July 2010 for approximately 4 weeks. I am taking part with my friend Louisa who is in Swansea University with me....volunteering with wildlife and environmental conservation aswell as travelling to all the major hotspots in Australia to visit and take part in some extreme sports :)
I'm very excited as I have never been to Australia before, nor been away from home for longer than 2 weeks so this should definately be a big adventure.
So basically, you lucky people can follow my life in the lead up to Australia, and whilst over there i shall try update my blog as often as i possibly can. There is only 6weeks to go, so i should really get cracking buying all my travelling gear, and mentally and physically preparing myself for the adventure of a lifetime :)
speak soon xxx
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