Australia

November - December 2016
A 43-day adventure by Georgia
  • 11footprints
  • 3countries
  • 43days
  • 44photos
  • 0videos
  • 12.8kmiles
  • 12.8kmiles
  • Day 1

    Heathrow

    November 15, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    OK guys, entry number one. Bear with me, I'm new at this.
    So far, limited drama. I've only had one meltdown, one little cry when I said goodbye to dad and managed to smack myself in the face with the strap from the suitcase scales (a very harsh way to tell me my bag was wildly overweight) which has left me looking like I'm fleeing a bad domestic relationship bit otherwise I am comfortably sat in my seat on a rather large plane, listening to vivaldi trying, and failing to convince me that I'm in anything other than a cramped economy seat.
    Thank you all for everything you've done. I will miss all of you very much.
    I have an 11hr flight to LA in front of me so I'm going to get some sleep (so probably watch 4 films and get no sleep) and update you when I arrive!
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  • Day 2

    LA

    November 16, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    I got through security! That's the biggest stress over so far. Unfortunately my luck did run out when I was so excited to get into my root beer that I spilt it all over my lap. And now I'm sat on the plane looking a bit special and we're running over an hour late because someone decided at the last minute to get off the plane because they were sick and now the winds changed to we have to change run ways. I've got about a 15 hour flight ahead and then 4 hour train journey to Newcastle so I'll be offline for a bit. Missing you guys already!Read more

  • Day 5

    Newcastle

    November 19, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    I'm here! Sorry it's taken a while guys bit I'm finally here! Newcastle is BEAUTIFUL. It's 33 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and just enough breeze that I don't want to melt. The train journey from Sydney was stunning, it's a long one but definitely has to be the best way to do that journey. The beaches here are proper beaches, lots of sand, sea and surf.
    I have yet to see a kangaroo or koala (sorry to disappoint) but it's impossible to miss the hundreds of parrots. It's too hot to do anything today so I'm trying to get a tan as everyone here looks like they've just walked off a Hollywood movie set and I've been cast as quosimodo.
    Everything here seems to be gluten, dairy, wheat, meat, fun and taste free so shouldn't be too long before I lose some weight!
    On the plus side, looking like the ugly step sister compared to these people means I've spent all day being completely ignored by men! Its like a dream come true 😍
    Missing you all loads already, hope you're all well.
    Will update when I get off my fat behind and do something worth blogging about xD
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  • Day 8

    Evening Strolls Along the Beach

    November 22, 2016 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    Decided to take a 'quick' walk along the beach this evening. 15 minutes from my cousin's place and just paste Mereweather beach there's a huge stretch of rocks that form hundreds of rock pools when the tide goes out. It got too dark for me to explore it properly but I got to see all sorts of amazing little critters (I've managed to snap the ones that don't move). I intend to explore further afield tomorrow if I can.
    On the way back I saw something a bit more creepy. Bats. Not just any bats. Bats the size of flipping terriers! They are huge and climb up and down the palm trees eating fruits with their massive claws! Tried to get some pictures but the neighbours were looking at me weird.
    I've relaxed enough now and want to do some more exploring so hopefully there will be more updates soon!
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  • Day 24

    Anzac Memorial Walk

    December 8, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Hello All. Sorry I've been a bit rubbish at updating this so you can all see what I've been up to. I've been pretty busy so I'm going to bombard you with it all now but I'll keep it short and sweet.
    This was a lovely long walk I did from Mereweather Beach to the top of the Anzac Memorial Walk and Bridge. It was quite a trek but the views make it totally worth it.
    Hope you are all doing well, I miss you all loads.
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  • Day 24

    Carly's Hen Do

    December 8, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    A lovely long weekend spent with some lovely family and friends. We stayed at Sanley Park Manor which was a beautiful old house, built in 1897 and right on the water. Lots of fun, games, crafts and dancing as well as sandboarding on the nearby dunes and a beautiful lunch under an amazing fig tree behind the house. The sand dunes are 32km long and 1/2km wide and by the time you've taken the bus or camel into the heart of them you feel like you're in the heart of the sahara desert. If the hen do was anything to go by, the wedding should be pretty amazing.Read more

  • Day 30

    Nelson Bay

    December 14, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    AKA "God's Waiting Place" and I can totally see why. It's full of ancient people in a place that looks like paradise. The photos don't do it justice. It's one of those places where you have to just put the camera down and take it all in, which is why there aren't any pictures of the huge pods of dolphins that came right into the marina at sunset.Read more

  • Day 35

    The Jack: Day 1

    December 19, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    So for those of you who don't know I'll give you a quick idea of what 'The Jack' is.
    My Uncle Jack is an ex pro golfer who was doing really well until he had a little accident with a plane propeller and lost his right arm and eye and other major damage was done to the rest of his body. In 1978 he set up The Jack Newton Celebrity Classic Pro Am which has now been bringing together pros, amateurs and celebrities for 38 years for 3 days of golf, fun and fundraising for junior golf in Australia and Diabetes. The whole family is involved in the organisation and presentation of the event and I was lucky enough to go to my first one while I'm here this year. It was just the most amazing experience, I've had to spread it out over 3 posts to get some of the best pictures in but it'll never really do it justice.
    So Day 1 was just a bit of a welcome day. Players are registered and introduced to their partners for the tournament. Groups are made up of 1 celebrity, 1 amateur, 1 sponsor and 1 pro, with the pros changing teams on the second day of play depending on how they are doing. A BBQ is held in the evening with fireworks by the Foti brothers who do the Sydney Harbour NYE fireworks every year and a great flyover show by a red bull trick pilot. The evening has a rugby league or "football" theme so everyone has to wear a jersey, I bent the rules slightly and wore my American football jersey in support of my beloved Eagles.
    Most of the pictures I've attached for this day are of my family, I'm hoping to get a bunch more up on Facebook soon and of course, the professional snaps will be out soon so I'll post them when I see them.
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  • Day 36

    The Jack: Day 2

    December 20, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    So 6am the morning of day 2 and I'm hard at work serving champagne (it is Australia after all) on the 10th hole. On the same hole is a $15,000 massage bed that's yours if you can get a hole in one. So what do you get when you mix celebrities, champagne and a bed? A lot of unrepeatable jokes and pictures... but I've put the clean ones on here. Its a fancy dress golf day so I was visited in the next 8 hours by Donald Trump (Frankie Barratt), The Mad Hatter (James Tobin), Side-Show Bob (Richard Champion), Superman, Batman, Batgirl, Wonder Woman, a few Santas and a few questionable looking women. It was a great opportunity for me to get to know everyone and get over the star struck feeling when I met a few of the tv stars, home & away actors, comedians and big time sports people.
    That evening was a formal cabaret dinner including speeches from my Uncle Jack, some charities supported by the event and of course the charity auction. The stand out speech came from ex Prime Minister Bob Hawke who is about 1,000 years old but still managed to play a whole day of golf and get up on stage and get the whole room singing Walzing Matilda.
    There was also a visit from some of the Olympic Gold Winning Rugby 7's Girls (complete with Rio Gold Medals) and a shirt signed by the whole team for auction. Music from The Voice runner up Joe Moore rounded up the formal part of the evening before everyone moved onto the bar and got so blindingly drunk I was walking past some of them coming home on my way out to the course the next morning.
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  • Day 37

    The Jack: Day 3

    December 21, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Most of this day was a blur of exhaustion, a slight hangover and goodbyes for me but I'll do my best to describe it.
    On the hole again, serving champagne to a very delicate looking bunch. Uncle Jack put everyone to shame with his one-armed game. Matt Stieger (pictured below with Jack) won the tournament with Jake Higginbottom (great name) coming in second. We had some great entertainment from comedian Tahir Bilgic, musicians Kram, Angry Anderson and Rowland Salley and there was more dancing and drinking into the wee hours of the morning.
    I'm pretty proud of my family for organising such a massive event and raising so much money for such a good cause. I'm just bummed it's over already!
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