And then there was the Australian Grand Prix!  Held in Albert Park (out towards St Kilda Beach) you could hear the cars all the way in the CBD...sooooo loud! It was a great atmosphere when we got there and so much to see...but the most important thing is to get a good spot to see the race!  And what a spot we got!! The boys won us all tickets to go up to the top level of the XXXX bar, which was right between the start line and the first corner.  Covered from the weather, right by the track and with a free beer...what more could you want!! It was a great day :-)

And then it was time to start packing up and getting ready for regional work.  Catching up with all the amazing friends I have made in Melbourne and having one last night out to celebrate how awesome we all are :D  We got dressed up and went to the Crown Casino for champagne and music and dancing...such a fun night - thank you to everyone who has made my time in Melbourne so fantastic!  But now it is on to the next adventure.... Lots of Love and I will be back and blogging as soon as I can xxx

And then before too long, it was my birthday! I have to admit, I got a little sad a few days before as none of my UK family and friends would be around to help me celebrate...but then I was surprised with a party on the beach with all my Melbourne friends!  It was such a great day with people arriving all day long and into the night...thank you so much to everyone that made it so special :D

And so another month comes to an end....stay tuned for the February and March episodes..! Lots of Love to you all :D xxx

We had the hostel gang over for Christmas dinner and had a wonderful three course dinner together....was soooo full afterwards!! Yummy! And what better way to recover from all that food than to hit the beach on Boxing Day - I could definitely get used to this life :D

And a big thank you to everyone for all of my presents!!

All moved in and happy happy happy, it was time to see a bit more of Melbourne.....we went to see the War Memorial and the Botanic Gardens, where we saw a turtle in the lake(!) and I saw my first black swan.  The gardens are very beautiful and definitely a great place to go for a picnic...

And of course, you can't explore Melbourne without checking out its bars and cafes - which is very fun!  One place we found down a little laneway is called Chuckle Park and the lights haning in jamjars above you are interestingly reflected in the way your drinks are served...

There are also lots of great rooftop bars in Melbourne, all with great views...unfortunately I just forgot to keep taking pictures!!  But you can just believe me (or come and see for yourself!)....they are all fab :)

So apart from busking, waitressing and soaking up the city, not much more to report until....... (see next post!)

Then realising we were starting a 4 day jungle trek the next day we got a good nights rest, ready for an early start!  Day one with our guide Sunny was pretty easy going....visiting the famous Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep temple and going to local factories to see where and how local silk, umbrellas, jewellery etc is made....even got my phone and Maria's wallet pimped!

Then the next day it was off into the jungle for real, for 3 days of trekking.  I have decided that instead of giving you a day-by-day account of the trek, I will leave most of it up to the pictures!  But I will tell you that it was an incredible experience and we did a fair bit of walking, saw amazing scenery, stayed with the hilltribe people (where the toilet is a hole in the ground and the shower is a hosepipe!) and rode on an elephant (they are actually MASSIVE).  We didn't realise that the elephant ride would be down the river so I was slightly nervous when we headed off towards the water but once I realised this was the plan all along it was very fun to watch him pull all the branches from the trees and carry them along with us.....very sweet in a 'wow how strong is your trunk?!' kind of way :)

We also went on a bamboo raft ride, which was very very fun - definitely a good way to travel!  And every night we had a delicious dinner cooked for us by Sunny.... yum!  I have to admit though.....when we got back to the hotel I don't think a real bed has ever felt so good!! Our last evening in Chiang Mai was spent at the Night Market buying souvenirs and soaking up the atmosphere before it was time to head for a well-earned rest on the beaches of Koh Samet!

Koh Samet is an island not too far from Bangkok, a short ferry ride from Ban Phe.  It was very beautiful and about as far as I could go with my little remaining time in Thailand.  We found a 'rustic' hut to stay in, which had all the essentials of a bed, mosquito net and fan :)  and proceeded to spend every day on the beach and the evenings trying the different local cocktails and attempting to win connect4 against the barman...  And then all of a sudden it was time to leave Maria to continue her travels through Asia while I headed back to Melbourne!  An amazing 3 week adventure, with so many great memories...

And off we went! The first day we eventually (after taking a wrong turn pretty much immediately haha) managed to get to the beautiful Cottisloe Beach, via Freemantle Harbour (anyone who knows the area....just don't ask!) Cottisloe is stunning....and an incredible place to watch the sunset whilst eating your dinner!  And then you wake up in the morning and get this view whilst taking a shower...!

After breakfast overlooking the beach we took Chubs and headed South to visit our friend Jimmy in Rockingham.  Going via Freemantle (again!) and South Beach, we got to Rockingham and went to another (can you guess?) yup....amazing beach!! WA definitely knows how to do a good beach!  The fab weather helps too :) So that evening we were totally spoiled with a great BBQ from Jimmy and his housemates and then a real bed and a real shower!! Luxury!

Next day and its South again to Margaret River, where we had a campsite booked for the night.  We went via Bunbury, which had a stunning look-out point, Busselton with its famous super long jetty/pier and Cow City!!! It actually wasn't called Cow City but Cowaranup, but it was full of fake cows everywhere!! We actually turned Chubs around and went back for a proper look and take lots of photos! Finally we got to Big Valley Campsite - a beautiful farm campsite which was really friendly and also, had power!! We even managed to get some potatoes and brussel sprouts from our neighbours (Maria was so happy!!) And the next morning they had some milk so I could have a cup of tea (and then I was so happy!)

With only two days left until we had to return Chubs, we headed inland towards Balingup (via a cheese factory and a chocolate factory!!) where we had lunch with a friend of Maria's.  The drive was incredible, I just couldn't believe how many different landscapes you were able to see in just a few hours!! Western Australia is definitely very beautiful and we were so lucky to go at the right time of year when everything is still lush and green!  After a delicious (seriously!) lunch off we went again, this time to find somewhere to stay for the last night of the trip.  We drove, and drove but didnt quite make it to Freemantle, which we had hoped for.  But we did see a Kangaroo (at last!) and eventualy ended up in Madurah, another beautiful town.  We ended up parked up behind some guys from the Moscow Circus, who had just come into town which was very random, but very fun!

And so the last day of our roadtrip came and after a quick coffe and cake stop in Freemantle we had to give Chubs back :( A very sad day for us....what a great home for five days!!  But off to the next adventure and the last in Perth - Couchsurfing!  We were so lucky to couchsurf with Josh, who runs a radio station called The Backyard Project, a very fun electronic online radio station featuring predominantly DJs and artists from Perth and the surrounding area.  I would seriously recommend you check it out if you like electronic music - a great station and wicked people - also running events and opened my eyes to the fact that Perth really does have a pretty sweet music scene!  Anyway Josh was a great host and it was a great way to spend the last few days in Perth.

And then it was off to Thailand for Maria and Helen's adventure number two!  Stay tuned..... xxx

After a week of 5am starts I took a few days of rest (read partying) and then got a job at the Royal Melbourne Show as an Airbrush Tattoo Artist! It's like colouring in on people, you even get to use glitter - amazing :)  It was a great team and a lot of fun, and a great way to see the Melbourne Show for free...even went on a big scary ride that went all upside down and round about - very cool, even if I did have my eyes shut for most of it! 

Here are some photos of the show...

Apart from work, I have just been having fun exploring and getting to know Melbourne and all the people around me.  So, instead of telling you every single thing I have done, I will just say that there has been a lot of dancing, laughing, trivia, karaoke, trips to free restaurants, finding hidden gems down the little lanes and alleyways, parties in warehouses and quite a lot of goon. 

Oh and I nearly forgot! The street art is amazing too....went on a little walking tour of some of it but it's just as good to look around you whilst out and about, especially when looking for bars and cafes as you often find cool art down the same alleyways and lanes...

And now I have just 2 weeks left in Melbourne until I head to Perth and then Thailand with Maria before coming back to Melbourne for a little while (may have possibly fallen for this crazy town already!) So I hope all is well with everyone and I will try and write sooner next time, promise ;)

xxx

Right! Here it is....the practise blog to get it all started.  24hrs to go and still finding a way to procrastinate ;)

So last weekend I headed off to Amsterdam to visit the lovely Mr Dan van Dahl.  I haven't been to Amsterdam before and I have to say...there wasn't anything I didn't like about the city (although cars, buses, trams, bikes AND mopeds coming from the wrong direction is a little daunting)!  The few days were mostly spent walking around and soaking up the atmosphere - eating, drinking and dancing.  I can't really think of a nicer way to have spent my time!  In fact I was having so much fun I didn't take any pictures at all - sorry!

But a massive thank you to Dan and also the Amsterdo boys for so much fun and entertainment - Mason I will never forget your face when you realised you had called Cafe Batavia, Jakarta by mistake! 

If you are headed for Amsterdam look out for Amsterdo - its a great English publication about what's going on around the city - news, events, discounts etc etc.  And its FREE! You can read some back issues here...

And then it was back to reality...a few last days in Devon to pack, sort and generally try to not panic about moving to the other side of the world! A miscommunication between my sister and parents meant I was surprised by not one but TWO leaving cakes..... (this is always fine by me!)

...And we enjoyed a final family outing down the River Dart from Totnes to Dartmouth.  The sun shone and the wine flowed - a really good evening ending with fireworks at Dartmouth which were spectacular!  And I took my first ever photo of a firework!!! I managed to miss getting a picture of Agatha Christie's house sorry but here is a few other pictures of the trip...

And now I really better go pack, I actually don't think there is anything else to do, so I will see you all on the other side... X