Vietnam part 1- The South

So there I was, leaving behind Melbourne and on to the next adventure. I thought the moment would be a poignant one, that I would shed a single tear as I looked out of the window as the plane took off. As it were, my head was face down in a sick bag, while I tried my best not to vom on a long haul flight. I didn't really know what was going on. A hangover too long? That sushi I ate the day before? Too much coffee? I suspect it was all of those things, plus the fact I was tired from a month of non stop doing stuff. Before we took off, the flight attendent gave me two options: get off the plane or, endure the flight but I'd have to quaratine in Vietnam if I threw up. I had visions of 8 hours of hell, but took the risk and stayed where I was. Luckily, I was sat next to a Doctor who had some drugs. So 8 hours and 30 crosswords furiously completed to distract myself later, I landed, chunder free.

Ho Chi Mih was manic. My taxi driver couldn't drop me outside my hostel as it was near a walking street, so there I was, bedraggled and exhausted, navigating the pavementless streets. The road outside my hostel was temporarily flooded too (burst water pipe perhaps?) so I needed to use bricks stepping stones to get in. It wasn't exactly clean either, but I needed to sleep. By 5am (I was on Melbourne time), I'd booked myself into a hotel round the corner and by 8am, I had packed up and checked out early. Serves me right for paying £1.50 a night for my accommodation. In my defence, it had near perfect reviews and I didn't really know the relative price of things yet. Plus I thought it would be good to make friends as I was flying solo. My own hotel room was exactly what I needed to recoup. And at about £10 a night was still a bargain. I also learnt it was better to pay after you've looked at somewhere in Vietnam. Though the hostel did insist in refunding me which was nice.

After some planning in the morning (no one ever talks about the amount of admin you have to take care of when solo travelling!) I headed out to explore. I didn't get very far due to the monsoon like rain, the subsequent flooded streets and the absolute nightmare it is to cross the road. Eventually I made it to a Bhan Mi cafe my cousin Jo had recommended. Bhan Mis are basically a load of Asian goodness (veg, meat/tofu, pate and a whole bunch of spices and sauces) in a baguette, thanks to the long French occupation. Once the rain had slowed down, I went to a couple of museums. One was the war museum. It was a "must do" in Ho Chi Minh/Sigon, but I actually found it a bit too harrowing for my delicate sensitivities, so walked round most of it trying to avoid looking at photos of dead children.

The next day, I went on an organised day trip to the war tunnels and mykon delta. The war tunnels were quite interesting, from what I understand, they were dug by those in the communist north in order to hide/transport goods to the American occupied South. I realised that I actually knew nothing about this war, apart from moments in American films (The flashback in Airplane! didn't tell me much) and, somewhat embarrassingly, I asked the tour guide who won the war. I hadn't even realised Vietnam was a communist country haha. There was a moment where you could go through a 20 metre tunnel, but the idea of near crawling through  a dark, 32c tiny tunnel with 20 other tourists didn't appeal to me. 

Next up was a boat trip on the mykon delta. There are thousands of islands and floating markets along the river (which goes through 5 countries) so we visited a coconut sweet factory, that also made snake wine with an actual snake fermenting in a jar of wine. I declined. We then went on a pretty cool raft ride through the forest, powered by a woman in her 80s rowing.

The next day, I was making a swift exit from the madness of Ho Chi Minh to Dalat, a chilled out mountain town. The bus said it would take 6 hours, but it took more like 10. It was quite fun to experience a Vietnamese long distance bus. For starters you are sat practically lying horizontal with not loads of headspace to sit up. Great if you want to nap. Not so much for staying awake or post lunch. I'd made friends with a Czech couple in the bus station, so we grabbed the seats at the back which was like one giant sofa. The other random thing is that the buses also deliver packages, so you are forever stopping like some sort of long distance deliveroo.

I'd had a tip off that generally speaking homestays were better than hostels/hotels. I'm not entirely sure what the difference is, other than homestays being a bit more like bnbs- family run and smaller. I'd opted to stay at one up in the Dalat mountains where you stayed in "Teepee" huts and people walked around barefoot meditating or painting. It was an influencers dream with fairlights everywhere and campfires. I got upgraded too to my own personal hut which is good. I'd only scheduled in two nights, which was a bit of a mistake as it was such a faff to get to. After seeing that the bus to my next place was 14hours, I opted to cut my losses and fly out.

The next day I went to a cafe that roasted and made it's own coffee. I had my first and last Vietnamese coffee. It was nice, with condensed milk, but absolutely blew my socks off caffeine wise and led to an almighty crash and feeling sick all day. I headed to a waterfall that had it's own Alpine toboggan coaster which was fun and a much better way of travelling back up. They should definitely install these in Bristol.

I then met my Czech pals and we headed to the most beautiful temple. It was a bit like the Sagrada Familia, covered in mosaic tiles and hidden turrets.

A nice cuppa with a view later, I went back to the hostel and questioned my life choices with the coffee.

If I'd realised the travel time, I would've probably skipped out Dalat for somewhere on the coast that was easier to get to.

Then it was on to central Vietnam.

The flood

Oh it's October

October was busy! (Hence the gap with catching up on all this!)

As well as all the normal stuff, it was fringe festival, so I excitedly (and perhaps stupidly) went to a few late night shows. 

I also crammed every second of free time into hanging out with friends and doing fun stuff.

One highlight was meeting up with my friend Riki from school, who I hadn't seen in about 10 years (he'd lived in Vancouver). It was like no time had passed and we had a top laugh. He also reminded me that when we were 15 we said that we'd marry each other if we weren't married by 30! We've decided to postpone the wedding for another decade haha.

Another great day was mine and my friend Rose's day out in the Yarra Valley. Back in August, Rose had kindly offered to show me around (you need a car really) so we had planned an epic day out. The Yarra Valley is an area near Melbourne famous for its wine and countrysideness. It actually was remarkably like the UK, but perhaps that's because it was drizzling. First up, we hiked up the 1000 steps, which is a big hill that the army use for training and relates to something to do with the Vietnam war. Then we went to a view point that looks out over Melbourne. Then a tulip festival, followed by a vineyard. For the grand finale, we visited a chocolaterie and ate our weight in DELICIOUS chocolaty desserts.

Thus I had my last week at work. We had a nice lunch and after work drinks out with the team and I received a lovely gift which included a Christmas tree decoration with a Koala. I was really sad to leave my team, I honestly loved my work and of all the places it really felt like "home" there. But knew it was the right decision so I could go and do the travelling I had planned to do 6 months earlier!

My last Saturday was a good one. Football in the morning, followed by my leaving BBQ. They have public BBQs everywhere in Australia, so it was easy enough to find one centralish and by the river. It was a great turn out, with people from Improv, football, work and some of my expat pals coming. I felt very blessed to have met so many lovely people since I arrived in Melbourne and was so glad I stuck it out when times were tough earlier on in the year.

Sunday was spent hecticly making sure everything was packed up or taken to a charity shop. Although I was quite conservative, it was amazing how much stuff you accumulate. This included lugging a 10kg box to the post office to be sent home. Moving house is so boring and even harder when you are by yourself and leaving the country.

I probably didn't give myself enough time, but some how I was on a plane to Cairns by the late afternoon having moved out.

Cairns was the one place I hadn't made it to on this trip. A 3hour flight and so much to do there would mean a minimum of four days inc travel. It proved to be a good decision as it was a great finale to my time in Aus. It might be my fave place in Aus!

After a day chilling out, I had my great barrier reef snorkling tour. Last time I had attempted this in 2014, there had been a cyclone that cut the trip short, and so I was keen to do it. It did not disappoint! It was like swimming in an aquarium, surrounded by beautiful fish and coral. Most people scuba dived, but I opted to just snorkel (my ears can't handle it). This was a good choice as you were only a few metres away from a lot of the reef anyway, plus more time in the water and less faffing.

The following day I went on a trip to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation, which was awesome. Lots of viewpoints, Rainforest walks and swimming in a croc free water hole. It's also the only place in the world where two UNESCO sites meet- the great barrier reef and the Daintree Rainforest. There was heaps of interesting wildlife too- a golden orb spider, some red crabs in the mangroves, a few Roos. We went on a crocodile boat in the afternoon too, but only saw a baby one. The area has lots of dangerous animals- spiders, snakes, jellyfish, sharks, crocs, cassorwarries, stingrays, plus poisonous coral. Which I actually found quite exciting.

My final night was a fun one, my pal Hannah from Bristol was up in Cairns too with her partner, so we went to a bar that was laundry themed that you enter through a slide. As you do. Needless to say I was feeling pretty rough the next day. 

And with that, I flew back to Melbourne for my last night in Australia! To get to Vietnam, you had to fly from Melbourne or Sydney anyway, which was annoying as I was halfway there. But it gave me a window to have a couple of drinks with my impro pals, plus my room hadn't been filled yet so I was able to sleep in my own bed. A quick breakfast with my housemate Daniel in the morning, then on to Vietnam...

Before an improv show

Spot Melbourne! Day out with my pal Rose

Tulips!

chocoholics dream

Last football sesh

With some expat mates- Anna, Jimmy and Tom

Demonstrating bad flipper technique 

Reef meets Rainforest

September Sun

September sun

The start of September meant only one thing, a trip to Bali for my cousin Sarah and her partner Lochie's wedding! 

This date was something I had been looking forward to all year as I knew I'd be able to make it no matter my travel plans. Originally, it was going to mark the end of my South East Asia travels, then the start, then it just became a holiday. 

I managed to get an absolute steal of a flight out in the Jetstar sale (about £110) for a 5 hour flight. And after the typical airport chaos after landing trying to find my taxi driver with little internet, I was on my way. Nothing was more exciting then pulling up to the hotel and seeing mum and dad in the southern hemisphere! Later on that night David arrived, followed by Rich the next afternoon. 

Our hotel was pretty idyllic. Quiet, with a nice pool, restaurant and spa. It was on a quiet road in Canggu, with hotels literally being built around us. Some people would hate that, but we found it exciting to see the wall grow every day.

The beach nearby was black volcanic sand and very wavy sea. Canggu itself was full of bars, shops and restaurants and quite busy. The main issue with Bali in general was that there aren't really any pavements or wide roads, so it makes it difficult to walk places, and taking a taxi can take a while due to the traffic. It's grown in popularity with tourists (particularly Aussies) but the roads can't cope.

The following day, while David braved the sea for a surf and Rich chilled, me, mum and dad went on our "big day out". Bali is incredibly cheap, so for about £30 or so you can hire a driver for the day, so off we went with Dee. We visited an area called Ubud (if you've ever seen Eat, Pray, Love, this is where Julia Roberts goes), which was lovely and jungley. We visited the monkey sanctuary, which was several abandoned temples in the jungle, with hundreds of small monkeys jumping around. Thankfully we avoided them jumping on us! After lunch we visted a nearby water temple, where we had to put on a particular sarong, shirt and head dress to go in. Dee then took us on a walk around the area which was pretty nice, before heading back.

The rest of the week was filled with fun activities! I went to Sarah's hen do, which was a pool party, followed by some beach front drinks and then a really fun mexican restaurant come nightclub which encouraged dancing on the tables. It was a great night! A random moment that I'll never forget is walking across a suddenly sandy car park in heels with Emma, Shirley and baby Ava (Ava had sensibly left her heels at home) while carrying baby stuff, when a loose cow appeared. Luckily, my time with Countryfile had taught me how to handle myself around cows, and it soon moooved. 

We also had a great family brunch the following morning and a beach party the one after.

The wedding of course was lovely and in the middle of the Bali jungle. A random moment was an apparent (south?) Aussie tradition of the men dropping trousers during the song "Eagle Rock"...

The day after the wedding, we had a pool party at the venue, with lots of games, swimming and chilling out.

The final full day in Bali saw me attempt to swim in the sea and generally chilling out.

In a blink of an eye it was time to go back to Melbourne. Mum and dad's flight was around the same time. Waiting in airports by yourself is pretty boring, so it was nice to have company.

Then it was back for my Melbourne finale of 6 weeks. 

The rest of September was relatively normal, with a cycle of work, improv and football. I'd been getting into reformer pilates at lunchtime in a bid to help my various injuries (bad back and knee) and perhaps try to get back to normal fitness (too much eating out and a less active lifestyle had started to take it's toll!). 

I did go to Sydney at the end of the month for a weekend. It would've been my friend Katie's birthday that weekend and her family and friends organise a picnic once a year. The picnic was lovely. I was staying with my friend Abbie and managed to see a couple of mates too while I was down there. All in all it was a nice "last" visit to Sydney to mark the end of my time in Australia.

End of September also meant a very important occasion in Melbourne's calendar, grand final weekend. The Grand Final is the culmination of of the AFL season. Instead of the team with the most points winning the league, the top 8 battle it out in a knock out style competition, all leading to one big game at the MCG in Melbourne. What's even better, everyone in Victoria gets a day off on the Friday. I'm definitely living in the right state, imagine getting a day off for FA Cup Final weekend. On the Thursday evening, myself, Rose and Sam from work went to see "Hot Dub Time Machine" a DJ that plays a medly of hits from each decade. It was great fun! Then on Saturday, I watched the game with Sam and some of his mates so had a true Aussie experience followed by a BBQ with some of my expat mates.

And with that, I had my last 3 weeks in Melbourne!

One of many monkeys

Quite possibly the weirdest photo of me with mum and dad

Wedding time!

Katie's birthday picnic

August already?

August started with a weekend trip to Townsville to see my pal Rebecca again. It was great to see her again and amazing to see how much her daughter Eleni had changed in just a few months. On the Friday we ate Kangaroo burgers (you can just buy them from the supermarket!).

On Saturday afternoon, we headed to Magnetic Island again and hung out at the beach. Being true to our nationalities, I swam in what I considered to be a warmish sea (in the stinger nets of course) while Rebecca, a true north Queenslander (where the temp doesn't dip below 16c), watched in a thick jumper. We then had a few margaritas, before heading home for many bedtime stories with Eleni. To mix it up, and because we find this type of thing funny, Rebecca was calling out Harry Potter characters for me to impersonate while reading. Not sure if Eleni appriciated The Hungry Caterpillar read by Voldermort, but we were having a great time...

Sunday was a stroll along the strand, looking at the sand sculptures and hanging out at the sea pool lagoon.

It was still very much world cup season in Australia. Naturally I had planned my life around the England games, as we were definitely getting into the final, right? 

The following Saturday was an absolute corker. I played football in the morning, then headed to the pub for 7 hours of watching football. First up was Australia vs France, climaxing in the longest penalty shoot out in world cup history (both women's and men's). I was watching with my football friends, who were mainly south American (more on that later) but very much supporting Australia. The atmosphere was electric, and, without seeming condecending, I was warmed to see a pub full of Aussies experience their country in a world cup penalty shoot out for the first time. Next up was England vs Columbia, where I was very outnumbered! After all the adrenalin of the last game, this one was practically a sedative, with England sailing through. Finally, it was the opening game of the Premier League, so myself and my mate Shali (also a Gooner!) went upstairs to join the official Arsenal supporters club of Australia to watch Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest. And yes, there were more than 2 of us (I'd say 100 people or so). It was about 1am by the time it wrapped up and I was well and truly footballed out.

Later that week, it was England vs Australia for the semi final! Myself and the head of Arsenal Australia, Tony, had made a pact to get a little corner of the pub and make it the England bit, in a non threatening way. I was a bit worried about there being some aminosity, but Aussies are so chilled out, it was ok, even when England won.

The following morning, I walked into the office at work and my manager Veronica asked me where I was watching the final, and if I could get myself to Sydney for Sunday, then there was a ticket for me! So 48hours later I found myself on my way to a world cup final! It was also great as I was able to squeeze in a brunch with my pal Hannah on the Sat and Abbie on the Sunday. 

My ticket holder (boss's partner's friend's friend) had had some app trouble, and the tickets were app only, so it was a nervy wait to see if we could sort it out before the game at the stadium. Thankfully it worked and there I was, watching England, in person, at a world cup final. What an absolute dream come true. I was behind the  England goal in the first half, about 20 rows back and under a huge screen. The stadium was odd as it wasn't raked particularly steeply, and at my end, there was only about 40 rows. As it was mainly used for athletics, you were about 20m from the pitch, even on the front row. So the view wasn't amazing for football (not that I am complaining at all!!). In the crowd, I'd say it was about 30% English, 20% Spanish and 50 % Australians, so the atmosphere wasn't as crazy as you might imagine and far less singing Sweet Caroline than you'd imagine. It was a shame England lost, but Spain were the better team on the day. The second half was so stop start too, including a streaker on the pitch, and it stopped any momentum we might have had.

Once the game had finished, most the Aussies/neutrals left before the trophy had been lifted, which I found crazy. I made my way down to the pitch side barriers and screamed like a teenage fan girl when England did their lap of honour, I swear Lucy Bronze looked at me. What she might have thought of this strange 31 year old squealing and jumping up and down, even though we had lost. I hung around for ages afterwards, hoping they might come out and sign some autographs and got talking to some actual teenagers who were Australian and had all sat down and picked teams to support once they knew the wwc was coming to Australia. They'd started playing too as a result and I could've cried. It's so cool what hosting a competition can do to a country.

The next morning, I was on a flight back to Melbourne and at my desk by 10am.

August also bought with it a work trip to Bendigo, which I was quite excited about as I hadn't seen much of rural Victoria. As with any work trip, you don't really have time to see much of a place. It actually reminded me of a quiter version of Lancaster town centre... It also meant I got to get behind the wheel again in Aus, with the wise words of wisdom that if a Kangaroo was to jump out in front of me, I just needed to "cop it" and not swerve. This is not something covered in my UK driving test, so was glad to have a plan. Luckily, no roos were hurt under my watch.

Sand sculptures in Townsville 

With Rebecca in Townsville 

With Marissa from football and some of our team pre England vs Columbia!

AT THE WORLD CUP FINAL!!!

England receiving their medals

Guess where this is?

Me and my colleague Rose with our Matilda's shirts!

Oh my, it's July!

I entered July mid air on the way back to the UK. It felt weird to be finally coming home after so long away, but I was so excited! 

I'm going to tell a boring story about my flight, so feel free to skip to the end.

When I booked, it was really hard to guess which flight was best- what time of day vs price, vs stop over etc. The flight I had chosen  had a 7 hour stop over on Bangkok, which, after booking, I had started to regret. I thought I had time to go out and explore, but upon the advice of literally everyone I spoke to, it wasn't enough time. Plan B was to get a nearby hotel room for the time. But that still felt risky with shuttle buses and security. In the end, and after much research, I booked a lounge (Oman air) through sleepinginairports and was the best £20 I'd ever spent. They had a couple of recliner sofa's with curtains round them that I managed to bagsy (arriving at 5am helped too!), complete with fresh blankets and pillows. Plus a shower with all the amenities, and cruically, aircon. I liked it so much, I paid another £40 to stay for another 3 hours. Second best investment. I washed and then had a delightful 3hours sleep, followed by all the free buffet food and drinks, and generally feeling like a boujee Queen. I'm sure this is probably standard fare for some travellers, but I'm clearly just a simple girl, guv. Anyway, after 5 hours, I was spat back out back where I belonged. Good job too because (nerd fact), Bangkok Airport is the largest airport with only one terminal building, meaning you have to walk for literally miles. Particularly if you go to the wrong gate originally like I did. 

Anyway, I stepped onto my second flight, ready and refreshed. My aim was to stay awake the whole time, but they insisted in shutting all of the blinds (even though it was daytime!). That and the film selection is rubbish and I was bored rigid. I probably wouldn't fly with Thai again. Unless it was an absolute bargain. One thing I hadn't considered is stopping twice on my journey home. There was a family also heading to London on my first flight, but stopping off twice after Bangkok, but only arriving 90mins later. I suspect their flights were much cheaper and you get the bonus of breaking up a 13 hour flight, so I'd deffo consider it in the future. Anyway, enough plane talk.

It was great to be back in the warm UK. I was able to see lot's of family and friends. I had a packed schedule, but it was worth it. I couldn't see everyone I wanted to, but that was always going to be the catch coming home for such a short period. My cousin Emma and her partner Simon's wedding was so much fun in the beautiful Lake District. And I'll have memories  I'll treasure from that weekend.

I arrived back to Melbourne feeling energised and ready for another stint.

I'd used an app (timeshifter) to reduce the effects of jetlag- it told me when to sleep in the lead up to and after flying. I would definitely recommend it and will be using that, or at least one of many websites I discovered, for advice on the future. I still felt quite tired for a week or so afterwards (probs because I didn't stick to it 100%) , but it's nice to have a plan regardless!

I hit the ground running and straight back to work the following morning after landing. Work is going well- my team are lovely and I get to spend most my time editing, designing and motion graphics-ing.

My team have also been great at coming to the pub with me to watch England games. It's the women's world cup here in Australia (and NZ) and I couldn't be more excited. It's also crucially on at the right time of day too. Annoyingly, England won't play in Melbourne. I considered going to Sydney for a game, but that would mean flights plus hostel, and I don't really know anyone from England who would be up for going too. Much better to enjoy it in the pub with pals. 

I did however, go to see Germany vs Morocco in Melbourne, which was so good! Tickets were $20, Germany absolutely thumped Morocco, and we were practically pitch side. I even got on the screen just before the Indigenous blessing.

 Speaking of getting on the screen, this month marked my first ever AFL game. Melbourne is "footy" mad and everyone is absolutely obssessed. The majority of the AFL teams are here in Melbourne, so there is nearly always a game on the weekend. I decided to go for Melbourne Demons earlier on in the season, as that's who some of Lochie's family (my cousin Sarah's partner) supports, so it seemed as good a choice as any. That and my nearest team, Collingwood, play in black and white stripes, and I'll be having none of that.

Melbourne were playing Brisbane, in a top four tussle. A win for Melbourne would mean overtaking Brisbane for third place. Not that it really means anything because at the end of the season, the top 8 teams go into a knock out style competition and whoever wins that, wins the league. In Victoria, where I live (both physically and metaphorically speaking) everyone gets a day off for the grand final.

Anyway, back to the game. The pitch is huge, there are a million refs and there are 4x 30min quarters. The crowd don't really sing songs, apart from the clubs offiical one for which the lyrics appear on the screen karaoke style. Demons is partially to the tune of Auld Lang Syne- "for the team in the red and the blue". 

In one of the breaks, they had a dance cam, and I was bemused to see it pointing at me a couple of times, so I danced politely. What I didn't realise was that it was to win $1k, otherwise I would've absolutely gone for it!

The last 5mins was very exciting, Demons were clawing their way back from a loss abd somehow managed to win the game with 20 seconds to go.

I'll definitely go again if I get the chance!

Another cool thing that happened in July was that my football "team" held a tournament to celebrate the start of the world cup. There were 35 players from all over the world! The competition was very tight, and my team won 3-0 (VC with 3 out 3 assists), then lost our next two matches 1-0, only conceding in the remaining moments. Classic tournament "heartbreak".

I then took to conjoling everyone I know to go to the pub with me for games!

Airport bliss

Weddingness

Go Demons!

The other international football tournament happening in Melbourne!

At Germany Vs Morrocco!

Go England!!

June ka-boom!

 

June marked the end of my current run performing Maestro shows with impro Melbourne, which means I had some time for some adventures!

Australians get a public holiday for the King’s Birthday in June (why don’t Brits get this?), so I fully took advantage of  headed off to warmer climates in Queensland for the long weekend. Originally, myself and Kate (who has been on the road since Sara arrived in April) hatched cunning plan to meet in Brisbane for dinner on the Friday before she left Australia for SE Asia. But in the end, our flights didn't quite line up, so a solo adventure for us both.

It’s funny, back in the UK I would totally be a bit cba to hop on a plane for a couple of hours for just a weekend, but clearly I’ve adjusted to an Australian way of thinking, that distances I used to think were mammoth are small. Anyway, I arrived to a gloriously warm Brisbane and stayed in the nicest inner city hostel I’ve stayed at in Australia (well done YHA Brisbane). One thing I have started to notice is how mixed ages are at hostels- frequently I meet cool, kick ass women in their 50’s and 60’s, just living their best lives. The future is hopeful. I decided to go and check out Brisbane’s supposedly buzzing Southbank in the evening. Although it was busy, I definitely would not describe it as buzzing. I've seen more action in Enfield on a Friday night!

The next morning a had a lazy start, then had about 4 hours to kill before my coach to Noosa heads beach. I’ve been to Brisbane before and remember it being pleasant, but a bit boring, and I wanted to see if this was still the case (spoilers, it was). I hopped on an e-scooter and wizzed around the city for a bit. I could write an entire essay on the pitfalls of e-scooters, but they are handy (and fun!) on a day like that. And at least they come with helmets here. The weather was mid twenties and the sun was out, so I spent some time at the street beach- a free public man made beach with huge lagoon swimming pools, by the side of the river. I thought at first there was something wrong with the pool as hardly anyone was using it, but quickly realised it was too cold for Queenslanders, but not for me as a Brit.

I then headed off to Noosa, about 2hrs away by coach. Noosa is a slightly bougie holiday destination and fairly popular among backpackers. Last time I was in Aus, I had to skip it out due to time, so was determined to make it. I stayed at the YHA, which was an old timber building a couple of mins from the beach and surrounded by rainforest. It was also formally called Hillcrest- the same name as my grandparents house. The next day, free pancakes for breakfast (my favourite!) before heading to the beach. Naturally the moment I finished head to toe factor 50 suncream,  the sun went in. Still, I enjoyed a swim, even in mid winter, the sea is 23c. In the afternoon, I went for a surf lesson. They gave us wetsuits, which I found kind of funny, but wasn’t complaining. Somehow, I get progressively worse with each surfing lesson (this must be about number 10), like the Benjamin Button of learning things, but it’s fun to splash about and drink sea water for 90mins. The rain poured and poured, very unusual for Noosa. The hostel was hosting a cultural evening though where a nearby First Nations Elder and some family members came to talk to us and show us some traditional dances. One particularly poignant moment was when he asked to describe what we could see all around us, then explained that even if we can't see them, our ancestors our always with us, much like stars above us*. 

The following day started off with free yoga (best hostel ever amiright?) then I went for a hike with a couple of people I had met in the hostel-TJ (Dutch) and Emma (French). It was still raining, but we ploughed on along the coast of the National Park. It was only my intention to do a quick there and back, but we decided tp gp back through the jungle/forest and I’m glad we did as there was some great nature and seeing the rain evaporate as steam off the trees was pretty cool. Naturally, I suncreamed upon on our return to the hostel to have a whole 5mins on the beach until the clouds came back.

Speaking of nature, I came face to face with my first big boy (or girl) spider in the bathroom. I would’ve been oblivious until someone pointed it out on the ceiling. It was about the size of my hand and definitely didn’t appreciate my screeching. I think it was a huntsman, so harmless, but terrifying. Me and my bathroom mate (also called Victoria haha) decided to call her Tiffany. I could spy her every time I went in and almost got used to her.

The following weekend, I booked a day trip to the Grampians, a national park named after the one in Scotland. It’s about a 3hour drive from Melbourne, so better to do over a weekend, but difficult to coordinate with anyone, so I bit the bullet and just paid for a tour. The views were great, but as often is the case with these things not enough time to really enjoy them. It was raining too. I did get to meet some wild kangaroos up close though.

I spent most of the rest of June being a bit ill, over doing it I think. We did have a one year birthday party at work which consisted of a ‘sausage sizzle’ aka a bbq but less fancy- literally sausages and sliced bread. End of June marks the end of the financial year in Aus, where a lot of the videos I've been editing were due. I also was keen to get them done because… I was heading back to the UK for a brief 12days for my cousin Emma’s wedding. Some may think that is a bit mad, but it’s actually one of the easiest decisions I’ve made all year and will be a nice refresh before the last bit of my year.  I would’ve done the same for my cousin Ben’s wedding in Feb, but the timing and finances just weren’t right.

 

I’m actually writing this on my second flight of the trip home and I so bored. Hats off to people who do this on the regular because I am so bored right now. How long is left? 5hours I hope, or less. Let me check….

Erghhh 5hours 40mins.

It’s also why this is so long. So sorry for novel, this is also my entertainment as the films are rubbish.

Onwards to July!

*I'm paraphrasing here, hopefully I've done the story justice!

Brisbane

Street beach, Brisbane 

Noosa beach

The Darling (harbour) buds of May

No, I didn't go to Sydney in May as the very niche (but hilarious) pun would suggest. I didn't even leave Melbourne, but, although it's not Spring here, those metaphorical seeds planted are a growing. Despite beginnings smeared in manure at times, the flowers have arrived. Ok, ok, enough of the weird horticultural metaphors, I'm sure you get it.

One of the reasons I haven't gone adventuring is because I am now officially in grown up land with a full time job.

But, also, I was invited to be part of an improv show that was running for a month or so on a Saturday night. Wahoo, back to my roots of making people's Saturday night a giggly one. For anyone interested, the format is called "Maestro" improvisers wear bibs with numbers which correspond to numbered pingpong balls. They are then called up and asked to do a short scene, often with complicated constraints e.g. two people on a train who must keep swapping characters. The audience then gives it a score out of 5. Players are slowly eliminated until a maestro crowned. It's not really about who wins, but about creating a good show overall. So naturally, I wanted to win. And gave the big boys (literally) a run for their money with near consistent top 5 finishes. But it's not about winning. I swear. 

I also had an opportunity to perform at the improv theatre's open stage night. I'm developing a comedy show about women's football (or soccer as it's called here) which was fun. My new housemate Hannah is an actor too so she helped me out. 

In relation to these shows, please do read my last blog post!

Plus it's 'term time' again at the theatre so I am doing a course once a week again and learning heaps.

I've also found a casual women's football meet up on a Saturday morning. Mainly south Americans and a few Europeans, tunes are blasted out of a huge speaker and I feel like I am playing fifa street. They are all absolutely lovely too. It's nice to be doing more exercise too, the lure of the nice quick train is hard to resist against the busy cycle lane along a noisy road as a commute.

Activities other than footie and comedy have mainly included chilling out and going to the pub after shows. A few people have visted Melbourne as well- Sara was back from hers and Kate's east coast trip, so we went out for margaritas, mexican food and to watch some shorts at the Melbourne International Animation Festival (!). One of my Bristol mates Hannah was in town so we brunched and charity shopped it up. And my pal Issy was back after her farm work, so we kareoke'd the night away along with her friend Fabian. Who was turning 19, but, like many German's I've met, inexplicably cool and grown up!

Just as May was drawing to a close, something random happened- there was an earthquake in Melbourne. I had just fallen asleep on Sunday evening, when I woke up to an almighty crash noise like thunder and the room was shaking. At first I thought maybe a car had driven into the house, and confused, I put my lamp on. I didn't have my glasses on but the whole room was moving. Then it stopped. My housemate Daniel was up too- "Did you just feel that? Did I just imagine that? It was almost like an... but no way" "yup, I think we just had an earthquake" Daniel replied. I then went back to my room and  scrabbled around for my glasses for about a million years, before heading to the lounge to google it and wait for an aftershock that never came. Our other housemate was out at work (uber eats bike delivery) but hadn't felt a thing. Turns out we were close to the epicentre and it was 3.8 on the richter scale. Melbourne doesn't often get earthquakes and it was the city's strongest in over 120 years*. Obviously this pales in comparison with other parts of the world. But I thought it might be interesting to write about anyway. It's funny, I was low key worried about earthquakes in New Zealand, but I don't think it ever crossed my mind it might happen in Australia. There's probably a life lesson in there somewhere...

June is promising more gigs and more football. Lovely stuff.

*being the good journo I am, I've fact checked this so I'm not misleading anyone. 

This was the largest to occur nearest the city centre in terms of distance- 3.8 and an epicentre within 40km of the city centre. In 2021 there was a 5.9 that was 130km away. I'm not sure what this means in real terms. Anyway, the fault line was only discovered this year interestingly.

Margaritas and Mexican food with Sara

Two people who have just had an excellent brunch

Football Queens 👌

Maestro poster!

End of one of the shows!