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  • Charlotte Ellery

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Sunrises make getting up early better

    August 27, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    So many pictures of sunrises on my phone this week! Everyday when I step out the door at 6:40am the beautiful sky has just blown me away this week. It's such a beautiful bonus to waking up early when you get to experience such a view as you walk to work. Nick had a nice surprise at the start of the week because on my day off I borrowed the Challenger, the farm car, to visit Timaru and he came home from work to a bag of presents and a homemade lasange. I'd made lasange for Candy and Bruce and I could tell how jealous he was so I decided he deserved a treat. It was amazing, I've so missed home cooked dishes such as this so it was great being able to have a taster of home. Eliza is developing so quickly and this week she has started pulling herself up on furniture. In a matter of 3 weeks she has learnt to sit up, crawl and now pulling herself to standing. I don't think it'll be long until I'm calling Candy insisting she comes home to see her walking. I've spent time with Cassidy doing activities such as collecting leaves, pine cones and stones to paint with and on. We have also visited the playground which had a swing that could support Eliza and she loved it. I was able to send such a cute video to Candy of her enjoying the swing which helped brighten up her day. I'm learning to balance activities and playing with housework and making dinner. It's always hard to know if everything you are doing is okay and enough but I did get the best praise off Cassidy this week. She was sat with her dad at the table and said "Daddy, Charlotte's good" out of the blue. It was such amazing cute feedback and really boosted me to thinking I'm doing a good job. Nick used his days off to go and relax at the swimming pool which involved driving on his own for the first time since we got here. He found it daunting but he managed to do it which means he isn't so restricted on days off. We treated ourselves to a Chinese takeaway that night. The idea of it was definitely better than the food but it was nice having a treat. The chips were amazing so I'm sure we'd be going there again just for the chips , if nothing else. We got paid this week and cannot believe how much we have both earnt, I got the most out of all the workers! It's really the cherry on top of the cake that this job should set us up financially for our time travelling in New Zealand which is amazing. Although it's tiring we both are loving our jobs and time here and I'm so pleased we managed to get these positions. It couldn't be working out better really.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Getting children to nap is so satisfying

    August 20, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Even blogging once a week is proving a challenge. The days and weeks are flying by and I can't believe another week has ended. Our 6 on 2 days off rota also provides constant confusion when trying to work out what day of the week it is and when I need to blog. This week has been a good week for us and we are settling more and more into the roles. Although I'm working 11-12 hours a day it completely flies by and doesn't feel that long at all. I've spent a lot of time outside this week working on weeding the vegetable patch ready for Candy to lay carpet over the soil and plant new veggies throughout. It's been back breaking work and hard on my knees but 4 wheelbarrow loads of weeds later and it's finished. I think Tikka the dog approves and Lucy the cat is certainly enjoying leaving nice dead presents for us on the freshly weeded soil! This week I baked cookies for the workers, baking is always to very appreciated on the farm. Cassidy wanted to help so later in the week we also made gingerbread biscuits together for everyone which only took us about 5 hours due to her wanting to eat and "help" with everything. It's amazing the amount she wants to help you but sometimes you know a job could be done so much quicker if you could do it alone. She has been a bit violent at preschool this week and it's really dawned on me how I am now another parent to her which means learning how her parents want her to be brought up. I had two days with her not at preschool this week and one of those days Nick was off work so he came with me on a trip to Timaru to take the girls swimming. Thank goodness he was there as I'm not sure how I would of done it without him. There's a strap on the baby changing table for holding Eliza down but even still I would of been panicking she could wiggle out if I was getting Cassidy or myself ready. Him being there allowed me to change one while the other one was held or kept entertained. Eliza didn't like the pool much today because I think it was rather cold but towards the end she started to enjoy being jumped up and down in the water. We enjoyed a packed lunch together before heading home. It was hard work but so rewarding for the girls and nice to spend time with Nick as well. This week has also been great for Cassidy napping. Everyday she has fallen asleep on the way home from preschool or gone down for a nap with no issue. She is a joy after she's napped so it's always an achievement when she naps easily. There's been a large number of calves this week so Nick has been working hard and then helping with milking after if they have finished in time. He's lost so much weight from the hard work and now most of his home clothes from the UK are massive on him. I'm slightly jealous but will have to plan more active activities with the girls to try and catch up! Hopefully moving forward we continue to become even more part of the family and farm.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Our first week is complete

    August 13, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    We made it through our first week and to our first days off! Nick worked 6 days and I worked 8 so that our roster works out. To be honest the days really do fly by. I had two days this week with Cassidy at home and then 4 days with her a daycare. Daycare days allow you to get so much more done quicker because she likes to help with every task I have to do which is lovely and so sweet but it does take so much longer. I've spent time taking the girls out to the playground and running errands as well as my first time baking a cake for the family and cupcakes for the staff. Tikka the dog has also accepted me because I'm the one who let's her inside to the fire in the mornings. We don't get much time together becuase in the evenings we're so tired and our housemate is around but in a way it's nice after so long with just the two of us. On Nick's first day off I had to head to Geraldine to get nappies and Candy suggested I take Nick so that we get some time together so that was so lovely of her. Things are really going well with the children and on the second day of collecting Cassidy from nursery she said "there's my Charlotte" which melted my heart. It took me 4 days to become a "my" it took Nick a 20 minute car journey for her to say when I picked her up "where's my Nick?", how is that fair! Eliza is such an easy baby and since I've been there she is now sitting up without propping herself up with her hands and she's started crawling. She's spending more time on the floor so I think that's helping her. The drive back from nursery everyday gives me the most spectacular views of the mountains and each time it looks so different. We've had a couple of trips to the supermarket and even managed to borrow Candy's car to go out for a meal last night which was so awesome to do something just the two of us. The days off are quite boring because you're contained to the house and it's started really raining on my first day off so it's even more restrictive. I've started working on their vegetable patch weeding away while Eliza was on a playmat and Candy and Cassidy are playing in the sand pit and looking around at the situation I'm in I just feel so content and happy to be welcomed into this family. I had the best feedback that Bruce had said to Candy he wished they could keep me forever because of all I do. I feel like I'm becoming part of something which is what I wanted from this and care so much from their children. Nick's found the week hard work and tiring but he's settling into the role and feels he's thriving. The calves are quite mischievous and teaching them to feed isn't always the easiest but he's enjoying the task. He less prefers the afternoons spent milking especially when he came home tonight with what we hope is just mud on his face, even in his ears, but we're pretty sure it's more than mud! Overall it's going well for both of us and I'm looking forward to getting even more involved with the family and seeing more changes and developments within the children.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Time to blog weekly

    August 6, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Blogging daily when working all the time just isn't going to be possible so I've taken the decision to blog every Sunday about our week. This week it's just about the 3 days since we arrived here on the farm. On Friday we have a brilliant lie in and woke up feeling refreshed and ready to read our contracts. We set up on the sofa and began reading the 75 pages. It was intense and hard work getting through it all. Eventually I had a call from Bruce asking if I could come with him to collect Cassidy from nursery so I could be introduced to the staff and talked through the process. It was a bit daunting to realise I am actually going to be responsible for 2 children most of the week but the nursery staff are very supportive and welcoming. Cassidy was also super happy to see her dad and myself collect her which was exciting. I feel she's warming to me which is comforting. Later that evening we headed over to sign the contracts and had a chat through the all the health and safety which was mainly aimed at Nick. We took reading home and Nick got equipped with his warm protective gear to wear. The next day we woke up at 5:30am to be ready to start work at 7. I usually will start at 6:45am but for the first day we agreed to come at 7. The house has a dog which I'm a little annoyed about because we weren't told that and I'm bad with dogs but it seems to be okay with me. The first day was exhausting for both of us. It's so tiring playing all day and trying to get housework done at the same time that I think it'll take a few days if not weeks to get use to a routine that let's me manage both well. Nick found his role very physically demanding but both of us felt the day flew by so at least our shifts don't drag by. It'll take a while to get use to suddenly working so hard and long days. We've earnt such a good amount of money from just 3 days and Nick was cheeky enough at our contract meeting to secure another dollar an hour pay by flipping a coin with Bruce over the price. Cassidy is off preschool for both Saturday and Sunday so these past couple of days have been a good chance to bond with her. The second day went so much better and I began to settle into the position more. Nappies and nap time are a battle with her but I think they are with most 2 and a half year olds. The views from he farm of the mountains are incredible. Everyday at sunrise and sunset it blows you away how different and beautiful the view is. We do feel very tired already and most nights go to bed between 8:30pm and 9pm so we have enough rest and sleep to be up early the next day. We are also ensuring we eat a good breakfast everyday to help power us through until the end of the shift. Overall we both feel very overwhelmed by the sudden change of lifestyle but we are positive that it'll get better and that this will be a great time for us to earn back some money and to be part of a family and community.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Hello to our new home

    August 3, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    Don't you just love an early morning flight when you're in a hostel that puts a communal area outside the rooms and the noise continues until the early hours?! That was this morning. We woke up at 2:30am after around 3 hours broken sleep to get ready and packed up for the flight to Auckland. Luckily our hostel did have a 24 hour kitchen so we were able to make our eggs for breakfast before heading out. After wondering around following a pretty poor leaflet map we finally found the stop we need to be on to catch the skybus to the airport. We gave ourselves enough time to work out where it is and if it wasn't a speedy process we had a back up bus time to get. We arrived at the airport just before check in would begin so we did feel we didn't need to be there that early but it's better to be there then to be rushing around. We got a coffee to help get us through the task of rearranging our things across our bags to meet the weight limits. Check in was easy and we had an hour until boarding so just chilled out on comfy chairs wishing we were in bed. Our flight left at 6am which meant as we headed over the South Island the sun was rising. The view over the snow covered mountains with the sunrise glow was incredible. It was hard to determine which areas were clouds or mountain tops. I was sat next to a man we got talking to who actually ended up taking Nick's email address with the potential of work if he wanted more work after our farm roles. We finally touched down on the South Island and caught the bus from the airport to the centre of Christchurch. We were dropped at the coach station and had a few hours to kill before our bus. We spent time walking around the city centre and soon realised there is nothing around here, it may be from the earthquake last year but the centre has basically no shops. We asked a passer-by who advised we head a few blocks south to a shopping centre that has a supermarket. We spent time buying essential bits for our stay including toiletries and some food. We plan to do a food shop once we have arrived but got some bits in case we aren't able to go to the shop straight away. We had the most amazing curry for lunch at the centres' food court. We shared a portion but do wish we had our own when we tasted it. After a while we headed back to the bus station and had a coffee while we waited the last hour until our bus arrived. By this point we were really feeling the lack of sleep. The bus arriving was a relief and we both had a little nap on the journey. Finally we arrived and within 5 minutes Bruce picked us up from the bus stop. We had a tour of the farm before meeting Candy and the children. They helped us move into our new house and meet our housemate. It was quite overwhelming really with so much going on but we got settled in. Originally the contracts hadn't arrived so we had tomorrow off waiting for them so we decided to head to the supermarket to do a big shop. This meant I drove my first automatic jeep for the first time and it was daunting but super easy compared to a manual so I'm quite pleased it's automatic with 5 months not driving. We were so happy about not starting tomorrow but then Bruce text us saying the contracts had come through so we could start tomorrow. We were rather gutted but after showering we headed over once the children were in bed to discuss it. We sat down and talked it through while Bruce filled in all the bits. With a 75 page contract and lack of sleep we said we couldn't sign it tonight and needed tomorrow to read it. He was disappointed but he legally has to give us up to 3 days to read it. I think the main disappointment was that Cassidy the oldest daughter is at preschool tomorrow and then isn't again until Tuesday so I think they wanted to show me her routine with heading there tomorrow. We are glad we told them we needed that day though because as much as you want to trust the contract and people you never know what you're agreeing to and especially in a country where you don't know what the employment law is. We didn't get back until gone 11 and just headed straight to bed. We've set no alarms so we have a good sleep before our day of contract reading tomorrow, yay!Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Such a productive but annoying day

    August 2, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Today was our last day to get things sorted before we head down south tomorrow. We set out early to catch the bus for our bank appointment this morning. Luckily a bus goes directly from the centre of Auckland to the area it was situated in. On the bus we got talking to a man behind us who hasn't been back to New Zealand, his home, for 7 years. It's always welcoming and reassuring when someone engages in conversation with you and I feel this trip has made us both more confident to strike up conversation with people regardless if we know them or not. We made it to our appointment early so we grabbed ourselves a coffee and headed to the bank. Our appointment lasted an hour and we had a lovely woman who set everything up for us in no time at all. We walked away feeling so relieved to have our bank accounts ready to go. We bumped into the man from the bus as we left the bank and he invited us to a free dinner tonight. As lovely as the gesture is we do still feel a little worried about it and with our early flight tomorrow we decided not to go. The next job for today was to buy a mobile phone that's on a New Zealand network. I will need to be contactable by the parents so we went and bought the cheapest phone that has Internet for $39 or about £24. Nick has been advised to have some warm hoodies so we next hopped back on a bus to head to an op shop. My converse have also reached the point where they are so worn there's holes in the bottom so really they aren't practical to use in rainy New Zealand so we were looking for shoes too. I managed to find Nick a black hoodie in the women's section of the store and we also got him some super thick socks to wear for early starts on the farm. We didn't find any shoes and there aren't many op shops here in Auckland so we headed back on a bus to a K-Mart and mall that we hoped would have something. On the way to the bus we passed an unusual graveyard that had been set up in a small valley but the surreal part was a bridge had been built in the last 50 years over the area. We did wonder if some graves had had to be built on top of which was quite disturbing if it is the case. We made it to the mall after running for the bus and got a few more bits in K-Mart including my farmer checked shirt I'd been after. Unfortunately no shoes though and after visiting all the stores we realised shoes are so overpriced for the rubbish quality they are. We also visited a huge shoe store which had a sale on but again there wasn't anything. I started to want to buy boots but in the long run they aren't that practical for travelling. It was quite frustrating that we didn't find any shoes but we tried not to let it get us down and focus on what we need to do today. We headed back to town and went back to set up our IRD applications, while Nick was doing the forms I set up the new phone. Everything was coming together now. The last job was to get Nick a much needed haircut. Unfortunately we went to an expensive barbers with good reviews online but he hated his haircut completely. The guy wasn't understanding what he wanted changing and he walked away putting a hat on immediately. It's not at all bad but when it's your hair it's hard to see it in a positive way if you don't like it. Hopefully it'll grow a bit and he'll be happier with it. We spent the rest of the night packing and making some dinner. We also had to say goodbye to my lovely converse but by a stroke of luck our hostel has a "help yourself" box where guests can leave unwanted items and you can take whatever for free and inside the box was a pair of black daps in my size so I'm taking those. After our farm time I'll look at investing in new nicer shoes. Tomorrow is the day we fly to our new life for 3 months on the farm, how exciting!Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    We got the jobs!

    August 1, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    It's time to say goodbye to our time in Australia and head to Auckland to begin our time working. Our flight was at 6:30am to Auckland so we booked a taxi to pick us up from our Airbnb to take us to the airport. I was slightly worried based on reviews that the taxi wouldn't show up but as I was calling to check it was coming it showed up. The driver was from Northern India so we had a great chat with him on the way even though we were wishing we were still in bed. As always we were at the airport early but that's the way I like it. It also meant we had time to reorganise our bags because our new lovely suitcase was over it's weight limit; when you only have 7kg it's a bit annoying that it weighs 3kg on it's own. We checked in and had a much needed coffee before boarding our flight. Boarding was delayed but the wait wasn't too bad. The flight was amazing! It's always a mystery what you'd get on a flight when you have someone book the flights for you but for this one we flew with Emirates. Not only did we have great movies to watch we also had unlimited drinks and a tasty breakfast. I watched Beauty and the Beast which I've been dying to watch since we left home and Nick watched the Batman Lego movie. We had just enough time for a movie each on the 3 hour flight if you take out all the time it's interrupted when you're taking off and landing. I could tell Nick was loving his film by how much he kept laughing! We definitely will try and fly with Emirates on our way home because it was such a lovely airline to be with. We finally landed and caught the skybus to Auckland centre once we had passed through immigration. Walking to our hostel was a little daunting because although we are right in the centre of town we passed through quite a rough area with a lot of drunk and homeless people. The hostel itself however is super modern and we had been given a free room upgrade to a private room because we asked to shorten our trip in case we get the job we had an interview for. They could shorten the trip but we had to pay the Hostelworld fees which was understandable but they still offered the change from a dorm to a private room and after such an early morning it was an amazing gesture. We wasted no time in getting things sorted, we headed out to get our bank accounts set up. As we were walking I checked my emails and found out that we'd been offered the jobs! We feel so nervous but super excited to have landed work so quickly but also work that allows us to be together with accommodation sorted for us. Now we had even more need to get things sorted. We headed to the bank we wanted to use to then be told we can't set up an account with them until we have a job and income, but we can't work without a tax number which you can't get without a bank account! We swiftly headed to another bank and made it in line just before closing but were told there aren't any appointments for a week. We were so deflated and felt that it wasn't going to work out and we'd lose these jobs. I then had an idea to ring up and try and get an appointment anywhere and we'd travel there on bus or train tomorrow. After a 20 minute call we have an appointment for tomorrow at 10am, result! We spent time booking and planning how to get to the South Island and then to near the farm. We thought it was going wrong again when there were no buses to Geraldine, the closest town, but a quick look at Google maps we found a bus to a smaller town that is even closer than Geraldine so everything was falling into place. There was only one thing left to do today and that was to celebrate with a Nandos of course! It's been a long tiring day with so many ups and downs but overall we are so excited for the next chapter of our journey and for the chance to create roots somewhere and most importantly we are so looking forward to not having to repack our bags for 3 months!Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Last day in Australia!

    July 31, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    It's out last day in Melbourne and Australia so of course we spent it Op shopping (charity shopping). We need warmer clothes especially when it's likely we will be heading to the South Island in New Zealand to work on a farm. We both are still in desperate need of coats. We mapped out a route that had about 10 charity shops on it. We woke up early to be able to get as many done as possible before coming back to pack and eat before our interview tonight. Google Maps took us on a route which had a ten minute stretch through a mortuary which was unexpected and interesting at the same time. We eventually reached the first shop which was fantastic! I've never been to such a good shop. It was already cheap compared to the prices we had seen before but they also on Monday's have half price on one colour ticket and then another colour ticket is reduced to $2. They rotate which colours it applies to each week but it ended up meaning I got myself a coat for £1.20! We both got so much stuff including jeans, jumpers, tops and even a suitcase to put it all in for about £20. It was so great. We had success in other shops too and even visited shops that were so unbelievably big with about 50 long racks of clothing. I was in my element but I think Nick had had enough by the end though! It helped us be able to walk through some of the nicest areas of Melbourne as well. By the end of the afternoon we had most of what we wanted to get which was great. After all the walking we decided to get the tram back to where we are staying to save our feet. We had enough time to make pasta for tea, pack our bags and for Nick to shave before our interview. To say we were nervous is such an understatement. We set up on the bed with the phone propped up on the new suitcase and waited for the call to come. It was quite worrying but luckily we didn't have to wait too long for the call. We spoke to them for just over an hour and there were times when the connection was poor but we got most of what was being said and did really like them. It was mainly Nick being asked questions which I found strange when in a way I'd have more responsibility because their children would be in my care. We left the call feeling relieved it was over. The role isn't perfect, the main downside is that we won't have days off together and we'd be quite isolated even with a communal truck to use but for saving money it is ideal. We'd have little outgoings except the $100 a week rent, wifi bill and then food. It's a good opportunity to be part of a community as well and really settle down for a while. We'd have a two bedroom house which we didn't quite catch if that would be with someone else. We feel like it shouldn't be when we're both paying rent so are entitled to two bedrooms. We are hoping they offer it to us but are trying not to get our hopes up too much. Hopefully they get back to us tomorrow and we know either way but fingers crossed for now!Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    We love these walking tours!

    July 30, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    No pictures of us today just the pure beauty of Melbourne. Our walking tour in Sydney was brilliant because we learnt so much about buildings we would of just walked past and heard the un-sugarcoated history and stories of the city. We decided to do the same thing here in Melbourne. We were meeting at 10:30am by the central library, a half an hour walk away from our place. We decided to arrive half an hour early to go inside the library to see the beautiful dome interior from the 6th floor. The layout of the tables below made the floor look like a board game's board and the architecture was so impressive so we were glad we made time for this stop. The group was a lot larger than in Sydney and even divided in two groups there were still about 25 of us. Our tour guide was good at projecting his voice though and was very witty and full of knowledge. Victoria had a huge gold rush, luckily a month after it was formed having spit states from Sydney and New South Wales which meant all gold found went into Melbourne itself. Billions of pounds worth of gold was uncovered and this caused an influx of grand town buildings and houses to spring up. The settlement grew in 30 years by the level of growth that usually takes cities hundreds of years to achieve. The city is now so picturesque to walk around with many winding alleyways and ornate building details. There's also a big street art culture here so we visited some of the famous streets that showcase this. I asked the guide if Banksy had done any work here and he said he had two pieces; one was painted over by a council worker who didn't realise it was banksy and the other they put clear plastic over to preserve it which the community felt ruined the point of street art to the point where another artist poured white paint between the plastic and the wall and then wrote "Banksy was here" over the plastic cover. Melbourne had a decade called the marvellous Melbourne when many parties and celebrations took place during the gold rush. At this time they hosted a world invited party that attracted more than the whole population of Australia at the time in 6 months. For this event they built the most stunning white building with a dome roof and beautiful gardens that has since hosted Olympic and Commonwealth game events inside. Melbourne has a wonderful variety of things to see that if we had worked in Australia this would be the city I'd want to settle in. After the tour we went back to the library to apply for two more au pair and farm work roles. As a result we had a response within 20 minutes offering a Skype interview tonight but by the time we saw the email we'd decided to go to the cinema and had bought the tickets already! We plan to Skype tomorrow night which is exciting but nerve-wracking at the same time. We had to power walk back to the house to cook dinner and make it back in time to watch the film. We watched Dunkirk, a film I'd highly recommend because it was so powerful and emotional but also eye opening to what happened and what people experienced. It was so nice to end our evening with a treat like this and on a bit of a high knowing we have an interview tomorrow.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Let's add some wind to that coldness

    July 29, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    My goodness it is windy! We got up this morning freezing and I sat for a good ten minutes warming my hands and feet on the small heater we have. I don't think the room is helped by the fact it's been empty for a week. Today's plan after feeling rubbish last night was to head to use computers and apply for some jobs. I was delighted by the fact our Airbnb has a microwave so I could heat up my Portuguese style custard tart for breakfast. It was heavenly! We headed out later than we wanted because we were so reluctant to get out of bed when it was so cold and because we spent half an hour talking to one of the girls who lives in the house. When we left it was even colder outside because of the wind. It was crazy! My hair was flying everywhere as were leaves, branches and rubbish. I've never seen wind like it so Melbourne weather is turning out to be great! The first computer place we walked to was rather annoying because after 20 minutes my computer froze, as did another so we decided to try another shop. Their computers weren't working but she suggested the library. The library let's you access them for an hour so we both did this and I managed to apply for one job and Nick for three and these were just aimed at us individually. It was then after leaving the library and after a coffee and a little cry that we realised we'd enjoy it more if we were working together. I'd seen couple of farms offering au pair positions and farm work for your partner. We decided this would suit us better as we can live together and work at the same time. We headed back to the first shop where one computer works and together completed our application but it took right up until the shop closed. Nick planned a sneaky surprise treat for afterwards and we walked for half an hour to a gelato shop on a street full of Italian resturants. The owner actually went to study at university in Italy gelato making and it was the best ice cream I have ever had. We went for salted caramel and white chocolate with mint and got two huge spoon fulls for under £4! It was such a lovely treat. The place was so popular, people came in ordering litre tubs of their ice cream! The rest of the evening included food shopping and cooking dinner. Hopefully tonight won't be as cold!Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Melbourne is freezing!

    July 28, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Waking up at 3:15am is just such a joy, especially when it's to then sit on a bus for 13 hours. That was our day today on our final bus journey in Australia from Sydney to Melbourne. To say getting up at that time was hard would be a huge understatement but we made it to the bus stop with ten minutes to spare. We only had a 3 and a half hour drive to begin with and then a change of bus in Canberra before continuing. So technically we have been to the capital of Australia although based on its bus station you would never of guessed it. I managed to sleep on and off for this first part so it went pretty quickly. Nick researched into campervans some more as we drove because luckily the wifi worked. Canberra was freezing at 8am so we sat for 45 minutes trying to warm up over a shared latte. Soon enough it was back onto the bus to continue. This is the only time they've assigned seats and Nick was supposed to sit behind mevbut the driver just said to sit together. It made no sense why we were separated because the whole journey no one was meant to sit in either of seats next to our designated ones. Maybe they thought we'd want two seats to ourselves which we have been doing as long as they are opposite each other. I got into my new book, almost 200 pages into it, while Nick continued, dictionary in hand, to read Return of the King. We were able to watch youtube because we again had wifi and even though neither of us slept the journey seemed to fly by. Clearly leaving at 4:30am is the way forward. We arrived in Melbourne at 5pm and found a tram information point. We knew the route on the trams but needed what they call Myki cards to use it, basically an oyster card like they had in Sydney. Annoyingly we had to pay $6 each for this and then put money on it although we can get the extra money back off it this time. It was then we found out there's a free tram zone here and the place we are staying is only two stops outside this zone. So we bought these cards and paid $4 for a journey of two stops. Also discovered most people don't tap on once we pass the free zone to get a free ride. And then to top it all off our host provides you with cards to use so we didn't even need to pay for them... It was all a little bit annoying but we eventually made it on the most crowded of trams wearing ridicously large bags. We're staying in a lovely old Victorian style house but it's single glazed so is freezing! Luckily we have a heater and hot water bottles but it's so cold you barely want to even move from under the duvet. We were going to cook but it was so late we went for a meal at the nearest pub and paid a lot more than we'd want to but we needed food. Even the pub was freezing, Nick braved taking his jacket off but I sat in my cardigan, hoodie and fleece shivering. We then hit a massive downer as we realised Auckland is in line with Melbourne so New Zealand is going to be this cold and colder as you head south. This really made us realise we can't survive in a campervan in these temperatures so we then had a dilemma about what we are doing. I always need to have a plan and the fact that we don't really scares me. We spend so much time planning and thinking and days researching that we are missing the places we are visiting to try and work out what we are doing. We have 4 nights accommodation booked and then that's it, no plan. We really hit a low tonight and I did confess this to my family as we have been feeling down about travelling for a while but they helped pick us back up and realise tomorrow is another day and maybe it'll be the day we find work or fall back in love with travelling. Here's hoping.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Broadening our knowledge even further

    July 27, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    After all we learned yesterday on our tour we wanted to expand that knowledge further today. Of course this wasn't our original plan as always with our days. We had planned to get a bus over the Harbour Bridge and walk a 10km coastal walk to Manly and then get a ferry back to the harbour from Manly. This was the plan but unfortunately you have to travel on these vehicles with an Opal card which you top money up on. Our bus and ferry cost $10.50 but you have to put money on in $10 notes so we'd have to top up $20 each and then to make it worse you can't get any money left over back. It's a ridiculous scheme and it made us change our plan to not be out of pocket by the system. After spending a good hour and half hunting tourist information desks and weighing up our options we decided to head to The Rocks Discovery museum. The Rocks was an area near the harbour which use to be aboriginal but became an area of high poverty and primarily occupied by Irish settlers. We stopped for a quick coffee at the top of the art museum which gives you good views of the opera house but as you can see from my photograph the beautiful building was blocked by a huge cruise ship! The Rocks museum afterwards had 4 small rooms over 2 floors but even still we spent 3 hours up until closing time in there. It was full of interesting information and artifacts and we were shocked to see many couples come in and walk through the whole exhibition within 2 minutes and then leave. You wonder why they even bother to come and look at it. The museum gave us such an insight into the early settlement days and how the convicts who were sent there and built the city lived. The city was at one point funded by alcohol when money had no value which resulted in pubs popping up everywhere in Sydney's early days. It also meant things like the hospital were built by convicts in exchange for licenses to import a certain volume of gin or rum. After being kicked out of the museum we headed back to the hostel to ensure we were there for the free food being put on. We did stop do I could have a cheeky Krispy Kreme on the way back though. The food tonight was spicy tomato chicken and rice. It was rather nice and made even more enjoyable by the fact it is free. We will miss these free meals here when we leave.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Walking and touring

    July 26, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    The plan for today was to wake up early and go on a free walking tour of the city at 10am and then visit the museum afterwards. We did wake you early with our alarms and then proceeded to both fall back asleep for over another hour so the morning tour was out the window. I remembered however seeing a tour advertised on our map and this started at 2pm so that was the new aim. We had our usual poached eggs on toast and got ready to face the world. It's about a 30 minute walk to the harbour from our hostel so we headed off taking in the sights of the cities architecture on this route as we went. We popped into H&M in search of winter coats. No winter style coats existed and the thin jacket they had they wanted £50 for! H&M is definitely not as cheap as the UK. We were lucky though and got thermal gloves reduced to £1.80 a pair and a hat for me reduced to £3 so that was a happy coincidence. We finally reached the harbour and were greated by the most impressive view of the opera house, harbour bridge and banking district. We sat down to have some food and by the time we'd done that we realised we didn't really have to to visit the museum before the tour started. Instead we sat on the banks looking out at the view while a musician played beautiful instrumental pieces on his guitar. We met with the tour leader Gino at 2pm and initially we were the only ones there but thankfully within a few minutes we became a group 9. Our tour guide was full of so much knowledge of the city and didn't shy away from its dark history. We realised we barely know anything about this country or city and how it was formed. The English chose to build Sydney to house it's prisoners but this basically meant taking the land and resources from the aboriginal people who already lived there. Within 6 months the water supply was undrinkable and half the population of the native people had died from the introduction of disease. We were shocked to learn that it was only in the 70's that aboriginal people were granted the same rights as settling Australians. We were even more shocked to learn that not so long ago children were being captured from the native families and forced to learn English ways and customs and then have children with white people to essentially breed the native people out of existence. It's horrific to hear about but we were so pleased he told it how it was and not a glossed over happier story. How they viewed aboriginal people is shown clearly in a statue we saw. It shows the first goveneror of the settlement high up on the statue and beneath him are 4 gods and then at the very bottom of the monuments unnamed and in saddening poses are the aboriginals. It hammered home how they viewed these people. The tour ended in the harbour again as the sun was setting so we got lovely views of the opera house and once we had tipped Gino and parted ways we walked around to view the Harbour Bridge in the sunset light too. After exploring the area more and walking around we stopped at the Guylian resturant for a hot chocolate and a cake. I've never seen a resturant before and they are my favourite chocolates so we just had to stop by. Our day was completed with Nick cooking tea while I showered, loving the fact that this hostel loans our hair dryers. Not the day we planned, as usual in our case, but a great day exploring the history of Sydney.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    After 5 months we have jeans to wear!

    July 25, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Australia is cold and New Zealand will be even colder especially if we plan to stay in a campervan so today was a day of clothes shopping, much to Nick's joy. It was also something nice to do to treat ourselves after a bit of a downer day yesterday. I mapped out the Op shops (opportunity shops) aka charity shops within walking distance and we set off after breakfast on a hunt. We visited 6 in total and only one salvation army was reasonably priced. It was quite a shock to see random expensive prices on all items regardless of condition, brand or quality. For example a plain white vest was marked as the equivalent of £6 the same price as a Hollister t-shirt. Nick did get a hat though for £1.20 and I ended up with jeans and a scarf for £6 collectively. The salvation army store was our salvation! Although all clothing was the same price at £4.80 it meant you could get good items like jeans really cheap in comparison to new. We had a good time regardless laughing at the prices and looking at such random rubbish people donate. The walk was also lovely to explore and get fresh air at the same time. We decided we needed to visit K Mart, the Australian equivalent of a slightly pricier Primark. From our location there was a bus that would take 25 minutes and arrived almost instantly. It's so handy having my phone on the Internet now for moments like this. We had asked a shop assistant if we could pay on cash on the bus but unfortunately the driver said it's only on an Opal card, like an Oyster card only. We were getting off the bus after apologising and he told us to get on and not worry about it but to get a card next time. Result! We made it to the store and were in our element. We spent a good hour looking at bargains, trying things on and loving life. Nick got new jeans, thick socks and a belt because he's dropped at least one trouser size so all his trousers are too big and he's been using karabiners to hold them up! I got a couple of reduced tops, a hoodie, fleecy pj bottoms, a vest and the same thick socks. We have new clothes and it feels great! We spent about £30 each today so we're super chuffed with our new wardrobes. We visited Peter Pans again after to email a few people about campervans and unfortunately a homeless man came in who instantly started being aggressive about using the computer. It's free to use if you have a gold card from the store and if not it's 2 dollars a day. He got very vocal and argumentative and when asked to leave we thought he was about to punch the staff, all this happening whilst he was sat next to Nick so we were on edge. They let him stay to send a message but half an hour later when we left he was still there so we're not sure how they got him to leave. We came back to the hostel and enjoyed their free burger night they put on. It was so good! Nick enjoyed double the amount of burgers as me (how has he lost so much weight?) and the vibe around the dining hall was pretty nice as well. Nick had an incident with his coco powder going everywhere on his trousers so we've ended up doing washing tonight which does mean I've been able to wash my jeans so I can wear them tomorrow. I think he's pretending he did it on purpose so that they'd get washed but I'm not so sure!Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    At least there was Nandos

    July 24, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Today has been a bit rubbish. We had a much needed lie in after the bus yesterday although my headache had kept me up most of the morning and was quite bad. We showered and got ready to face the day. Having not planned anything in Sydney we decided to head to the Peter Pan shop to use the free computers to do some research and maybe look into New Zealand too. We spent time cooking lunch and going to get some food shopping before heading to the shop. When we sat on the computers we realised how not bothered we are by things now. It might just be today but we were looking at things to do knowing that if we don't do them we don't really care. This led us down a spiral path of wondering why we're doing this and if it's even worth it anymore. We have a week until we're arriving in Auckland so we decided to move away from Sydney planning and look at accommodation. Turns out it's super expensive but we went for a really nice looking hostel that we both feel we will be happy in. We've booked 4 nights initially to give us time to set up bank accounts and apply for an IRA number which you need to work there. At the moment though we are very much of the mind set of why bother working in New Zealand when we could work at home. I'm sure this will pass but it's so hard when so many things are happening at home with friends and family and you're missing out. I know they'd say they're missing out on what we're doing but most days aren't that exciting and you do reach a point of craving home. With this in mind we have come to the conclusion that we need to get a campervan/sleeper car when we arrive in New Zealand. After much research and consideration we have also decided to buy one from another backpacker instead of hire one. There are many sites available and because it's currently winter the prices are being dropped often so I think we could get a real bargain off someone desperate to sell. Our main reason for deciding this is that with transport we can go anywhere to any job but also we have a way to see and do cool things even if we are working and a bed for the nights if needed. Also, we plan to hopefully sell it in their summertime so hopefully we'll make all of our money back as the demand will be higher for one. It's been a bit of a downer day sitting and thinking about all this stuff and that's what we're sick of really, the constant planning, considering and always budgeting. We're seeing New Zealand as a new start so hopefully things will go smoothly there and we'll be happier. For now though it was a trip to Nandos to try and cheer ourselves up.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    We hate buses

    July 23, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    What a rubbish day. 13 hours of boring bumpy uncomfiness but we've arrived in Sydney finally! We checked out earlier than planned mainly because our room mates came back at 4:30am and 5:30am and they made barely any noise so we didn't want to make too much either. Instead we took all our belongings outside the room and sorted them all out there. Leaving early did mean time for our morning latte, we've become a bit obsessed with lattes at the moment and today is a day when you definitely need it! The bus came early so we were able to get on and wait on board. We didn't have a stop until about 5 hours in so that was a bit annoying and even though we were told we were allowed to bring cold drinks back on my milkshake wasn't allowed by the new driver we now had so I had to drink it all in about a minute. One great blessing was the wifi for once worked on the bus. This meant we were able to kill time watching episodes of a programme on YouTube and listening to music, talking to people or general web surfing. I had a headache the whole way so I didn't feel up to starting my new book but Nick read for quite a bit of the journey while I tried to sleep. We had another break at about 8pm to have some food except most of what the cafe cooked we weren't able to have as it took too long to make. This was quite annoying when the driver knew this and had rung ahead to order a nice casserole to be made for him. We had some food and continued on our super long excursion. Finally we made it! It felt like a lifetime but we arrived in Sydney at 11:30pm having left at 10:30am. Our hostel wasn't too far away luckily so we walked there. We saw many homeless people camping in a park and an ambulance treating a man who had been assaulted so it was a little bit of a nervous walk. When we arrived at the hostel they had about 10 police officers in there as it turns out the guy who was assaulted was attacked by someone staying at our hostel, yay. Luckily there's 24 hour security and you need a key card to get in. For now we've checked in to our room, got straight in our pj's and are ready for bed. We're so glad to be in a private room even if it does have bunk beds. I'm dreading our bus to Melbourne that is also 13 hours long but for now we will enjoy our time here in Sydney.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Dolphin and whale spotting

    July 22, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    It was time to move on already and head from Brisbane down to Byron Bay. We only have one afternoon at Byron Bay so we planned to make the most of it. We set off early to the bus station so that we could sit back and relax with a coffee before the bus came. It was 20 minutes late so our relaxing time was a little longer than planned but the coffee was amazing. It only took us a few hours to arrive in Byron and luckily we were able to check into our hostel straight away. Unfortunately there's a festival happening at the moment so pretty much everyone at the hostel is going to that so we are a little concerned to how noisy it will be tonight and also the fact we haven't seen our room mates so we are pretty sure they are attending. As we only have an afternoon here we wasted no time in dumping our bags and heading to the beach. The town has a lovely vibe about it with many independent shops and cafes lining the streets as well as lots of cool street art and graffiti. We planned in advance what we wanted to do here based on the recommendation of a previous airbnb host. We headed to the beach and walked along the shore line right to the end of the bay. Here we climbed to a small lookout where we spent time watching the many surfers try and catch waves back into the shore. It seems a difficult skill to master and to get the timings right. From here we headed along a coastal walk, our destination was the lighthouse at the top of the hill. This is also the most eastern point of Australia. Along the way we saw beautiful scenery and beaches and spent time watching many whales swim past. We were even lucky enough to see a small pod of dolphins working together to hunt fish being swept in by the huge waves. It did mean they didn't jump often but it was so interesting to see them circling and darting around trapping the fish in an area that made it easier to finish the job. We eventually made it to the lighthouse which had an interesting small museum inside. It was closing when we arrived so luckily we made it inside but only had 10 minutes there before having to leave. This happened a second time with the gift shop as well. If we'd made it earlier we would of been able to climb up to the top of the lighthouse but sadly our bus meant we came just that couple of hours too late. We decided to walk another way back which was a track through the forest. It was a welcomed change from the coastal path and was made even more beautiful with the setting golden sun shining through the trees. Once we made it back down to the bay we stayed on the beach front watching the sun disappear leaving a golden glow to the west and a pink haze around the lighthouse to the east. Our evening was spent making curry and preparing for our 13 hours bus ride tomorrow. There's still no sign of our room mates so who knows when they'll be back but hopefully they are respectful when they come in. For now it's time for bed wishing we had longer here but knowing we need to get this long bus ride out of the way asap.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Mountain "climbing"

    July 21, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Today we climbed a mountain... well we climbed it while inside a bus. Mount Coot-tha lies a 30 minutes bus ride from the centre of Brisbane and provides great views over the city. We planned to catch the bus at 9:35am and we almost didn't make it. When we were having breakfast our room mates came to say goodbye so we talked to them for a while and suddenly after that the time was 9:10. It was a mad rush to try and get to the stop and even finding road names proved tricky. We ran down the road as the bus was coming up and only because it was 1 minute late did we make it. The ride takes you all the way up to the summit where there is a restuarant, shop and cafe overlooking the view. It was impressive to see just how far this city spans and running right through the centre is the river. After enjoying the view and reading all the information we began a trail walk down the mountain that takes you to a botanical garden and planetarium. The walk goes through dense forest for almost 3km and we thoroughly enjoyed walking down the hill when people were walking up, singing most of the way. The trail ended and we did have to use Google maps to find the exact location of the centre, they really should put in signs when they claim the trail leads straight to it but doesn't. Eventually we found it and after some lunch we began a stroll through the botanical gardens. It was very extensive and beautifully organised. We saw so many weird and wonderful plants as well as a huge variety of birds and even an eel and lizard in the water. Nick attracted birds while eating lunch, as always! They seem to follow him everywhere and we're flying super close hoping to get a nibble of his sandwich. They had a small tropical dome, a kitchen garden and a cool bonsai tree exhibit. We planned to get the 3:20pm bus but after waiting 30 minutes we came to the conclusion it was early but didn't wait seeing as we were at the bus stop at 3:15pm. This meant we had to wait another 30 minutes for the next bus. We didn't have a chance to visit the planetarium unfortunately but plan to see one soon. Finally the bus came and rather annoyingly we saw a woman who had spoken to us earlier get on and off without paying. We got back to town pretty quickly and got off where we ran to get on this morning. We then headed to the nearest ferry point and caught the free city hopper boat along the river to the last stop at Sydney Street. Our plan for this evening was to head to the Powerhouse which is a disused power station converted into a theatre to watch a free comedy show they put on every Friday night. It was a long walk from the ferry but we made it and thoroughly enjoyed the show. One guy used a machine to record his own voice making different sounds and words to be played over each other as a backing tracks for the comical songs he then sung. It was so impressive and we did have lots of laughs. We rushed back to the ferry after it finished because it leaves every half an hour and when we arrived at the dock we were greeted by a beautiful night scene of the city. As we got off the ferry on the way we had the same view with sunset and now we were seeing it at night time. We had planned to visit a night market but at this point we were so hungry that we decided to give it and miss and go back and make beans on toast instead. It's nice being in a country where you feel safer to be out after dark so you get to see and experience so much more, especially when the event and boats were free which is even better!Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Another day, another location

    July 20, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We've arrived in Brisbane! It's a bit surreal being in a big city again and it has a London feel about it because there's a winding river that runs through the centre. We said our goodbyes to our host and walked the 20 minutes to the bus stop. It was so bitterly cold this morning and sitting on a shaded bus stop didn't help at all. The coach came on time and soon we were on our way to Brisbane. The journey didn't take too long but it is tiring just sitting on a bus so when we arrived at the transit centre in the city we stopped for some lunch and a coffee to perk ourselves up. The hostel is about 10 minutes from where we were dropped so it's not too far to walk but it is at the top of a hill. We arrived and checked into our 4 bed dorm and had a great chat with the receptionist about where to go and what to see. We did a little research into what to do tomorrow and decided to spend the rest of the day exploring the river and the area called South Bank. We had to stop soon at a bench so I could strap up my toe again before we carried on walking. The city is very picturesque; sat on the river with interesting buildings, bridges and lots of trees and greenery. We didn't make it too far on South Bank because we passed a modern art gallery, something Nick said he hadn't visited before, so of course this meant a visit. Some of the pieces you could really connect with but some are almost so personal to the artist that you don't know what to make of it. Nick was making his own interpretations of each piece so he seemed to really connecting with the work. After exploring the exhibits we had a quick tea break at the gallery next door then had a wonder through it until it closed. They had a mixture of old and new art and I saw the work of an artist I studied at GSCE level which was quite exciting. We both liked one artist who had turned everyday objects into beautiful ceramic pieces with the traditional Chinese white and blue china pattern. As we headed back the sun was setting and the sky from the west side was the most beautiful rainbow of colours. Every sunset in Australia seems to be amazing and we sat on the bridge just admiring the view for a while. Back at the hostel after a food shop we made curry for tea which was delicious. They have a movie room here at over 150 films so we looked through the list and set upon watching Slumdog Millionaire. We've wanted to watch it since we left India and Nick hasn't seen it so it made sense. Unfortunately the film was controlled at reception so when we both really needed the loo we had to hold it and wait until the end because we couldn't pause it. Afterwards we met our room mates, two Belgium girls, before showering and getting ready for bed. We managed to fit in doing quite a bit of stuff even with only arriving today which was good and hopefully tomorrow we are able to see even more of this city.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    We're going to the zoo!

    July 19, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    When I came to Australia as a child one of my best most vivid memories was walking through the wallaby enclosure at a zoo with them all jumping around and being able to feed them. I want Nick to experience it as well so visiting a zoo has always been on our list to do and it made sense that if you're going to go anywhere it has to be the zoo which is involved with Steve Irwin's family. We chose to stay in Mooloolaba because it's the closest town but even then it's about a 45 minute bus ride away. Annoyingly as well the last bus leaves the zoo at 3:50pm so we have to be ready to leave by then. After some breakfast we were on our way to the bus stop. I've strapped up my toe so it wasn't hurting too much so far on this walk. After spending most of the time on the bus reading we made it and instantly you are hit with Australia enthusiasm. Everything's so over the top and "exciting" but the kids seemed to be loving it. Our first taste of Australia's own animals were the crocodiles. Steve had a passion for the crocodiles here and would "rescue" any that were causing a problem somewhere. He also tried an experiment once to see if you can move a crocodile to another area but 3 months and 15000km later the crocodile was back where it was taken from. I guess putting them in the zoo would be better than being killed by the public. You did get this sad sense that people believe it's their right to be able to swim in all manner of seas and lakes and that crocodiles and sharks are invading what belongs to them, when it's the other way around. We also saw dingos which are just wild dogs but usually have the most gorgeous ginger fur. They have wild ones on Fraser Island that we visited but we weren't lucky enough to spot one. Feeding the kangaroos and wallabies was a little bit sad to start with because two boys were being allowed by their parents to run around chasing them all like crazy. Luckily they left so the animals could have some peace and we approached ones that looked like they needed food after that. The wallaby I fed could of eaten forever! In the end I gave some of our food to a couple who were watching so they could take over. Nick seemed to really enjoy the experience. The zoo has a whole host of other animals you'd expect such as tigers, zebras, giraffes and rhinos and we were able to walk around it all even with our time limit. One of the main highlights was a baby koala had emerged from the pouch of it's mum recently and after looking and waiting to see which koala had the baby he suddenly popped out, this cute little face with a big black nose and such fluffy ears. He was adorable. A family approached with young girls looking for the babies so we pointed it out to them. It was sweet really because the mum then said "isn't he delicious" to which one of the girls replied "no mum, you can't eat him". It was super cute and said in such strong Australian accents. We also stopped at the animal hospital where they had many patients in but mainly koalas hit by cars. It's so sad that as a result of humans building roads through their habitat they are now suffering the consequences so badly. Our bus driver on the way back happened to be from Dursley so knew all about Bristol and the south west which was a bit surreal. It was pasta again tonight to end a great day out. The only downside to the zoo is they offer experiences such as walking a leopard or tiger which doesn't fit into their conservation message but apart from that it seems to be helping a lot of species and animals thrive.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Hey Mooloolaba!

    July 18, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Last night we stayed up late hanging out with our room mates at the hostel's karaoke night. It was nice to be social and we're getting on really well with them already do it's such a shame that today we leave. They live in Glasgow so I've taken there names for Facebook so if we ever go up to Scotland we said we'd be in touch. They were super keen to try the free pancakes so I woke up early with them to do that leaving a lazy Nick in bed. They were just as good as the other day and I'm definitely going to miss having them in the morning. Once Nick was up we spent the morning getting our stuff ready which included taking our bedding to laundry before finally checking out. We said our goodbyes and went to the bus stop to wait for our next coach. Soon we were underway. After an hour we had a 45 minute stop at a services that had a giant statue of a kangaroo outside with a lake behind. It was a nice place to sit with a coffee and wake up a bit. The rest of the journey didn't take too long and we read for most of it which always passes the time quickly. We arrived at Mooloolaba, a place we only chose to stay in as it's close to Australia Zoo. We had a 20 minute walk to our Airbnb and during the walk I think I broke my toe so that's not too fantastic. It's so tender and hard to walk on but hopefully it sorts itself out without any need to visit a doctor. Our host had to stay away for the night so we have the place to ourselves for the first night. He lives alone and isn't very clean so it's not fantastic but it'll do for a cheap stay. On our walk to the accommodation we saw 3 charity shops, our first ones since we left the UK. I love charity shops so of course we had to go! We headed and visit them all and they were so cheap that I wished we were back home so I buy so many lovely things! We didn't get the items we were looking for but it was still nice having a rummage. After some food shopping we headed to the beach where we watched the sunset sky over the ocean which was pretty beautiful. Tonight it's just pasta for tea and chilling out. Not the most exciting day but travelling days never are.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Riding the waves and the dunes

    July 17, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    5:30am is not a fun time to wake up to. We headed off on an early morning sea kayak to try and see dolphins, whales and other marine life. We have to be at the operator's shop for 6:45am which is a shame when the hostel offers free amazing vegan American style cinnamon pancakes between 7 and 7:30am. We met a Swedish couple in the kitchen while making breakfast who happened to be doing the same thing as us so we got pretty friendly throughout the cold early morning. We arrived at the shop and signed our life away on forms before beginning our drive down the beach. We headed to the furthest point of the beach which has some of the best surf waves in Australia. After getting suited in life jackets we were ready to hit the water. The waves were super high and you see why people come here from all over to surf. In a kayak though this was hard to get through and Nick and I struggled the most to get off the shore. Eventually we went for it but our kayak was flooded by waves instantly and we sat in cold water the whole trip which wasn't ideal! Also I hadn't properly secured my phone in its waterproof pouch so that was a worry but it was fine despite the sudden flood. The kayak out of the bay was hard work and it felt like we were going for hours. Eventually we stopped as the sea really opens up and started looking for whales. We saw a few very far away but nothing that close. Eventually a group decided to swim into the bay rather that straight across it. This is usually if the baby is premature and needs the protection of the shore line more. The whales surfaced about 100m from us which was pretty cool to see. Other than the whales we only saw a turtle briefly and no dolphins at all. I don't think they should call it a "dolphin kayak" as they do. Getting back in to shore was hard as well especially trying to avoid surfers and in the end our kayak was swept away and we were wiped out by the high wave. It was a pretty smooth quick way back to shore though. Although we didn't see much we had a good time and still enjoyed it. The rest of the day was filled with fun things like laundry and food shopping. We also have a new couple in our room for our last night. We went for a nice lunch and then at 4pm joined the guided tour with the hostel up to a sunset point. The area is at the top of a sand dune and you can see the sunset over the town. There's also a slope that has been flattened through people using it to body board down the hill. We borrowed the hostels boards and had a great time flying down with our new room mates. We watched the sunset from the top of the dune behind a cloud of smoke that had turned red by the sun. It was a shame that the council picked sunset to start a controlled bush fire but it did make for a pretty cool photo!Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Biggest sand island in the world

    July 16, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We left the UK exactly 5 months or 150 days ago today! We celebrated with a trip to Fraser Island, the biggest sand island in the world. Most people do spend a night on the island but for over double the price we couldn't justify more than one day. This meant the tour was jam packed but we saw so much for our money which was good. We were picked up early before driving to the small ferry that only takes 15 minutes to cross to the island. We spent a long time driving on the sand up the beach up the island and we spent time spotting whales on the way, even seeing a baby humpback jump out the sea about 7 times. It's the migrating season this month and about 30,000 pass through Fraser Island and the East Coast. The island also hosts every type of dangerous shark as well as stingrays and jellyfish so swimming in the sea is a big no go. We stopped at a shipwreck of a hospital ship used in WW1. It had its engine removed and then was being towed and the tow line broke and it washed up onto the beach where it remains today. It was pretty impressive to see and it has even been blown in half when the air force use to practise their bomb targeting on it. We spent time at one of the islands many creeks that leads to the sea called Eli creek as well as visiting the amazing Pinnacles that are huge sand formations that look like rock and are made of 34 different coloured sands. Before lunch we had a pilot come on our bus and offer plane rides over the island. The ride was 15 minutes and you take off and land on the sand and seeing as it's our 5 months today of travelling we decided to go for it and we are so glad we did. It was incredible! It was a 6 seater plane and we flew high over the island getting a perspective of the coastline that you can't even imagine when on the beach. We saw a lake shaped as a butterfly that is totally inaccessible on foot or by car so that was pretty special. The best part by far was seeing the humpback whales from the air. You could see them so clearly and we even saw a baby riding on its mum's back. It's honestly one of the coolest experiences we have had and we are so glad we did it. Lunch was extensive and a buffet so of course we ate too much. They had this amazing soup that was sweet potato and coconut that definitely had some spices in too. After making the most of the food we drove through the forest to Lake McKenzie. The forest is incredible when you consider it has grown on sand. Years of rotting plants has provided the huge trees and various plants with enough nutrients to sustain the ever-expanding wilderness. Lake McKenzie was spectaluar; crystal clear blue and turquoise water with the same silica sand that we found on Whitehaven Beach. The water was freezing but it felt so refreshing and liberating to swim there. The water is slightly acidic so no algae or plants grow in the lake meaning it stays a beautiful untouched blue colour. After a swim we headed to our last stop of the day; a walk through the rainforest at a previous logging station. Before the island became listed as a national park the pine trees were used in the timber trade, some timber even made its way to England after the war to help rebuild London. After our walk it was time to head back to the mainland. We've had such an incredible day and to make it even better it looks like no one new has moved into our room either. This makes it so much easier when we are getting up at 5:30am for our kayak! What a great 5 months we have had and here's hoping the next 5 are just as awesome.Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Give us coffee!

    July 15, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    We made it, we survived the 15 hour journey! Sleeping was hard especially when you are woken every couple of hours by the bus driver announcing a stop or by sudden movements or bumps being hit. Every time I woke up and looked at Nick he was sleeping or trying to sleep in a different seat to the last. I think he probably sat in 6 different ones at least. At one point we think our driver hit something, either a kangaroo or koala or a similar animal as there was a massive thump and then it was very bumpy before he swerved all over the road to recover it. What happened next was strange. He didn't stop to check but instead pulled in 5 minutes down the road and made a call I assumed to report it in case it had been anything other than an animal. However when we arrived at the next stop to change drivers I heard him, as I went to get off the bus, talking about seeing a car broken down and calling it in and describing where it was. If that was the case I would be significantly more worried about what I had hit. We both had very broken sleep but we did manage to get some at least. Finally at 10am we arrived in Rainbow Beach and the bus stop was conveniently opposite the hostel we were staying in. We were not able to check in until 11:30am but we put our big bags in the storage room while we waited. During this time we went to a cafe to get us a much needed coffee each. After we'd perked up a bit we went to the travel shop attached to our hostel to dicuss Fraser Island tours, the main thing we want to do in this area. After an hour we'd booked a one day tour of the island for tomorrow and a sea kayaking trip to hopefully see dolphins and humpback whales for the day after. Since we found out humpback whales are currently migrating south this month after having their calves up north we really want to spot them and this trip offered the opportunity to hopefully see them. We checked in and we're in a four bed dorm but it's actually worked out pretty well because the room use to be an eight bed with 4 bunk beds but all top mattresses have been removed. This means we have so much more space and an extra bunk for our stuff each. We're sharing with a couple who met while working in Melbourne. They're both lovely and we've had some great chats with them throughout today. It's a shame they leave tomorrow and we may get new people in but hopefully they will be just as lovely if we do. We filled most of the rest of the day applying for jobs on the computers in the travel shop. I spent a good amount of time getting my cover letter spot on for the screen printing job I'd seen and in the meantime Nick had found many to apply for. I'm so set on wanting this job that I was reluctant to apply for anything else so have decided to leave it a few days and see if anything happens with it. Nick however applied for 5 in the end. We wrapped up the day by seeing the sun disappear from the beach and heading to the supermarket. Just beans on toast tonight as neither of us had the energy to make anything more. Now it's time to get an early night to be up at 6:30am to get ready for our trip tomorrow, yay!Read more

  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureTraveler

    Why didn't we write CVs before we came?!

    July 14, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    It's night bus day! Tonight we caught the 7pm night bus to take us from Airlie Beach to Rainbow Beach, a journey of 15 hours. We had to check out at 11am and we hadn't packed anything so we didn't really get a lie in today to recover from yesterday's action packed fun. Having said that I fell asleep last night at 8:30pm so you know waking up at 7:30am wasn't so bad! I didn't want to wake Nick so left a note and sat downstairs in the wifi area surrounded by about 10 Australian turkeys that were roaming around. Once he was awake we packed up all our things, had some breakfast and went to check out. Luckily the hostel has luggage storage so we put our luggage in there knowing we'd be able to access it later at 6pm before our coach. Seeing as we had so much time on our hands we decided today is the day we write our CVs. We were pretty much starting from scratch with it. There is a travel shop near our hostel that has computers that you can pay $2 or 1.20 in pounds to rent to use for the whole day. How cheap is that! It's a pretty cool place and we sat on wooden swings with ivy climbing up them writing and swinging away. It took longer than we excepted; it's hard writing about yourself sometimes. We were determined to finish though becuase we have two weeks left until we arrive in New Zealand so now is the time to start applying for jobs. I've also seen a screen printing assistant job advertised on a backpackers website so I wanted to get my application in as soon as possible. After about 4.5 hours we had finished and were ready to treat ourselves for our achievement. We've been eyeing up the cooked chickens you buy in supermarkets for a while now and decided today was the day we finally gave in. It was great but so much chicken! We also had salad and strawberries to finish. Once we'd collected our bags it was time to go and catch the night bus. We arrived over half and hour early and sat with other passengers waiting. We struck up conversation with a lone traveller who had been living in Thailand for 4 months helping teach scuba diving, and she's only just graduated. The bus was an hour late arriving and leaving so it was a painful time but finally we're on board. It's a bit too early to attempt sleep yet we feel so we're sat reading and luckily not many people are on the bus so we have double seats to ourselves. How much sleep we actually get will be interesting to find out.Read more

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