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This side of things

September 2022 - October 2023
Here till I'm not Read more
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  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 8

    Beach vibes

    October 2, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Got my first proper look at the ocean today. Although this was at Mt. Martha, which is still in Port Phillip but same same.

    We spent an hour or so down on the beach in the sun shine, watching the waves and rock pooling. Well, I rock pooled everyone else said it hurt their feet. The sea was crystal clear and the sand was so brittle but that didn't ruin the dream of an Aussie beach day.

    Saw a couple starfish in the pools. They were a lot smaller than I was expecting and apparently usually blue, but we saw read one.

    It was a long drive outside of Melbourne but worth it.    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 8

    Views and wine

    October 2, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Went up the mountain to Aurthurs seat lookout for lunch. The sun was shining beautifully making it clear enough to see Melbourne across the giant bay. Tiny little skyscrapers, marking the spot amongst the rolling hills.

    A short drive later and we arrived at the Brewery door winery for some wine tasting. 8 small glasses later and a few people were feeling the buzz! Other than the two reds, they were lovely. My favourite was the Pinot Gris, dry and fruity. But the apple prosecco and fruity rose were close senconds.

    The views from this location were insane. Between the trees, phillip island and the sea could be seen. Beautiful sun, blue sea and deep green hills, picture perfect. The location had a large event room with 3 walls of glass, I could definitely see why it was popular.

    From there, we made the 1.5hrs around the coast to phillip island. Had a nap, watched the scenery through the window, listened to the interesting mix of music from everyone. A lot of rap which was not my tastes but dont mind.

    Saw a different beach and the surfers riding huge waves. Definitely not an expert in comparison to those guys. Well, not an expert at all really!    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 8

    Penguin parade

    October 2, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Little penguins are the cutest! One of the coolest things to do ever.

    It's so rare to see wild animals in their natural habitat, we are so lucky to see it. The foundation that run the site were really good as well. Lots of educational boards and the guides everywhere, telling everyone off. To be honest though, it was so annoying how many people went listening. What part of sit, dont move, dont take photos, do people not get? But, I had a great time feeling people off aswell. Livving the dream when you can be rude without backlash, and see the cutest penguins ever at the same time.

    It was insanely cold though, glad we all layered up. Had a look through the gift shop, typical exit via the gift shop. Lots of cool local stuff and toy penguins! Got myself a hot chocolate to round off the evening before heading back to our rooms for an quick sleep before getting up again for surfing!!!    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 9

    Surfing!

    October 3, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Ok, I officially suck at surfing!

    I hoped second time lucky I'd be a bit better, but nope. The first first couple times I managed to get into kneeling on the board but then I'd fall. And then I got hit in the head by the board and lost all my confidence. Very much enjoyed the cobra position on the board, riding the slow waves into the shallows!

    Despite the early hour (8am), it was super nice out. A bit chilly, like 15° but the sun came out and made it much warmer.

    Also had a great breakfast, lovely sausage and bacon roll and almond latte. Loving the early morning sunrise vibes.    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 9

    Kangaroos

    October 3, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Kangaroo's are now my favourite animal.

    When we entered, koala's and wombat's were the first we saw. Adorable and super calm around us, some of the wombats were practically begging for us to come over with our food.

    The Emu was scary, there is something so Jurassic about them that is intense. Dingo's are also super cute. They were bathing out in the sun behind their home. Saw the tail of a Tazmania Devil. They seemed to be hiding from the sun, snuggled in the shade.

    And finally the Kangaroo's. They were so soft and laid back! Some of them didn't even bother moving to eat the food. It reminded me of johnny when he's too tired to lift his head for the biscuit!

    Then, just as I was about to go back to the adorable wombats, a little Joey took shelter against me in the shade I was providing. An hour I spent with that little Joey. At first they were just resting on my shirt, but then they laid down on my arm. I have never been so uncomfortable and thrilled at the same time! After a half hour or so, I laid down as well and had a little paw resting on my arm. Genuinely the best moment so far, hands down.    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 10

    The city from above

    October 4, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Today has been such a chill day, I've loved it.

    Started off with a job and flat search talk. Giving advice on how to find jobs, what's the best places for different things, how to find accommodation, the works. Very informative, but also quite overwhelming. Its daunting begging the job search when you know the area, but when you've never been it's quite intense.

    Then we switched to a much more fun travel plans talk. Got loads of tips for where to stay and what to do. They really fueled my excitement for doing the east coast and thanks to the talk I am booked onto the Great Ocean Road trip. RIP to my money, but as I can never do it again I figured why not. Also who doesn't want to spend 5 days riding shotgun down a beautiful coast line, high on life and not having to worry about anything.

    After the talks we hopped on the tram down to the beachside suburb of St Kilda. Very residential but with a cute high street and beach, a draw for visitors and locals alike. We went for lunch and I had the most disappointing cake in the history of ever. I managed 3 bites before giving up, it was inedible and very expensive. But, that's the joy of travelling, there are highs and very much lows!

    Because it was super cold in the wind, we made our way back to the city proper for our surprise. We got to go up to the sky deck! The second tallest building in Melbourne, the highest observation deck and rather expensive experience. But honestly, so cool. The view was insane, the sun came out and light the city up and you could see for miles. My photos couldn't pick up the mountains in the distance or the edge of the bay unfortunately but it was insane. After a bit of vertigo and 36 second in the lift up 88 floors, we were greeted with an amazing view.    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 11

    Planning and drinking

    October 5, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Today has been lovely. Not the weather, its rained since 10am, what kind of Aussie weather is this! But the vibe of today, the feeling around the group.

    I started off bright and early, 7:30am. Honestly loving an early morning at the moment. The bathrooms aren't all being used, the kitchen is quiet and still almost clean, it's great.

    Woke up a little earlier than I have been though as I had my travel 1-1. Two hours later, my life is planned out until next September! Exceedingly daunting but also relaxing knowing it is all there if I want to. Will almost definitely alter the plan, but so far I'm happy with it.

    Ended up going for a bit of a wander around Flagstaff gardens and the library after my meeting. The Gardens were surprisingly nice for what was essentially just a block square of park with some trees on the edge of the CBD. There were some pretty trees that looked very spring like which I loved. The library was about 5x larger than I was expecting. It covers almost an entire block square as well. Inside is insanely spacious and spilt into loads of study sections. It is clearly a hot spot for uni study, which makes sense as it is practically encircled by the university campus. It is also the state library of Victoria which is why it is so large and intimidating.

    After, I popped back to the hostel for lunch because the rain was really annoying me. I found a panini machine in the corner, I have been raving about this little thing all day, but my sandwiches were so good toasted. And they tasted amazing and cost me nothing, a win win.

    Then I had a lovely midday nap. Nothing like an hour power nap to make you feel better and ready for a night out. We began our bar crawl with pizza and one of the best ciders I have tried. It somehow mixed sweetness with dryness perfectly. Then we headed to an arcade bar. I didn't end up playing anything as it was kind of expensive to play each game and spent the entire time chatting with one of the girls on my tour. We both agreed that though being out was fun, we would both rather have a book on the beach than be at a party! Guess that makes us sound old, but it's much nicer than the headache, bar 3 and 4 gave me.

    Bar 3 was actually a lot of fun. The DJ was a friend of the tour guide and played loads of singalong hits. Were talking ABBA, Dua Lipa, loads of hits from the last 20/30years. We were all up dancing and having a laugh, it was great. But then Bar 4 was not it. The music was more base and rap, not my style at all. A lot of the others were quite drunk at this point so were able to just dance to the beat, but I was definitely beginning to struggle.

    Around midnight I was saved from being the first to call it, when one of the others offered a trip to Macies. Four of us chose that opportunity to escape and walked through yet more rain in search of food.

    All in all it was a great day, got a lot done and had a nap. Tomorrow is the last day of the tour. We have a roof top BBQ at midday. It seems strange that we are at the end, I cant decide if it's gone past in a flash or if everything felt like it happened a month ago. Even now, as I'm writing this, it feels like my meeting this morning was a week ago!    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 12

    BBQ and endings

    October 6, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Final day of the tour.

    Can't believe it's already over! How fast a week can go by.

    Had a lovely lie in before gossiping with some of the girls over last nights events. Its fascinating how much drama can happen in a group of mostly 21+ year olds.

    Then had our BBQ on the terrace. It was a little windy but the sun came out nicely and the food was a perfect hangover cure. Nothing like a good burger to make you feel great.

    After the BBQ I did a bit of sun bathing and then ended up playing card games with a few of the girls from the tour.

    There was a huge mix up with a few peoples rooms, so 4 of the group had to move to another hostel with in warning. It was bad, but thankfully I was fine. Perks of checking the day before if I had to check out or not! They ended up in a huge argument and blame game with the hostel and Welcome To Travel. I'm not sure what happened as I decided to stay out of it.

    At around 6,30 I realised I had yet to leave the hostel today, so took myself on a walk around the city. I eneded up walking round the CBD clockwise, through Fitzroy gardens and down to the river via the cricket pitch. It took a lot longer than I was expecting. By the time I arrived at the river the sun had fully set and I caught the tram back up to the hostel.

    I definitely have a better understanding of the city now than I did before. If I were staying a few more weeks I'd definitely be ok getting around.    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 13

    Rainy days

    October 7, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Work up to it chucking it down outside again this morning. There goes all my plans for the day
    Ended up just relaxing for the first few hours until it lessened and decided to brave the weather.

    Did a little fit check, raining by 20° before heading out to the west of the CBD today to explore. Managed to find the bus depot I am leaving from next week and the location of firefly, the company I am going with. Makes me feel a lot more confident for next week.

    Then took the tram out to the docklands. Best part of Melbourne? Definitely the free tram.

    Wandered around the docks for a bit before I found a library. That made me very happy. Ended up sitting in there for around an hour doing my resume, job sites and reading. Was a very nice library with a pretty view of the docks and was so quiet.

    It is impressive how only 5mins outside of the CBD the noise drops. The docks were so quiet, the city barely a background noise in places.

    Headed back to the hostel via a wrong tram. I wasnt aware that some of them turn. I thought I hopped on one that would go straight across the city to my hostel, I was wrong. It took a left and 25mins later I ended up on the wrong side of the CBD and had to get back in the rain!

    All was worth it though with my pesto and cheese panini. Life is always better with a pesto and cheese panini.    Read more

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