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Australian moments.
  • Angharad Dowse
Feb 2018 – Sep 2025

Australian moments.

An open-ended adventure by Angharad Read more
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  • Trip start
    February 22, 2018
    Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    NYE

    January 31, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Started the celebrations at Wills where the boys played beer pong.

    Got a taxi to the city and went to the NYE in the park (Victoria Park) festival -My first festival 🤗

    Packed with people
    Terrible music but great atmosphere
    We were VIP so we got seats and a semi private toilet which was worth every cent.

    I had a terrific night - I deank 2+ bottles of wine soooo 🍷 🍷 🍷 i was bouncing hahaha
    Had a little (big) dance by myself.

    The fireworks weren’t the best but still pleased to see some.
    Got me my New Years kiss 💋

    We walked to the star and had a little gamble.
    Reached 9000+ of my 10000 steps for the day already by 2am.

    Caught a taxi home - so many of the drivers were being wankers asking for ridiculous amounts of money to get to West Ryde $150 - Will kept telling them to piss off.
    Taxi number 4 put the meter on for us - it cost $50 to get Home - we tipped him $20 just for being honest.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Jessicas confirmation

    June 15, 2018 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    FRIDAY

    Started work at 7:30 this morning so I'm buggered.
    Currently in the preschool room which I hate. I like the age group I just don't agree with the centre policy/philosophy and dislike a bunch of the current kids.

    Anywho, got through work, packed then headed to the airport. There was an AFL and NRL game on at Moore park so traffic was horrid.

    I just yapped to dad the whole drive, I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm ridiculous and spend 99% of my time whinging (he's not wrong 😅) but I like our forced time together when he can't walk away lol.

    Off to Brisbane for Jessica's confirmation. I don't really know what that means because I thought that was catholic thing, which she isn't, so I guess I'll see on Sunday what the go is.

    Had already checked in so walked straight in except for the random drug test I often get picked for - my lady was super happy and chatty though which was nice and different.

    Ate the entire food court then went to gate.

    Ran into Kate who I use to look after at Beecroft (the kid that ate poo) - she is huge now! So cool to see her.

    I hate flying.
    Uneventful flight other than being stressed about crashing.
    Guy next to me (a manly man) was reading some self love and forgiveness rubbish novel thing haha

    It off plane and found the fam.
    Jessica still annoying. A Typical teen.
    Egocentric AF.

    When we got home she made me look at photos of her friends.

    She also need to learn not to interrupt conversations.
    Still. Excited to be here and she is happy I'm here :)

    SATURDAY

    Got up and went to Jessica's ice skating practice. 3.5 hours later.....
    bloody hell what a waste of my time.
    I spent the time freezing my tits off, talked to Barry and watched Jessica fake and illness that Barry said she would cause she does every lesson - she had supposed cramps and then they had an awkward discussion about how she was on her period.
    Obviously faking so I told her to get in with it lol.
    When Barry went to get neurofen she was dancing...
    learn to act better.
    She then had her syncro class. Boringggg lol
    Terrible music and not overly talented classmates.
    I think my dance training made it all the more frustrating to watch them not grasp the most basic of choreography.
    They did off ice practice too which was essentially just time mucking around.

    Jessica wanted to stay back and do a free skate session but I was having non of it - off home we went.
    Solid 20 mins drive

    Watched a bunch of a show called riverdale. Freaking loved it.
    8 episodes in a row 🙊🙊🙊
    Had red rooster for tea.

    Then went to bed cause the day was gone hahaha

    SUNDAY

    Watched more riverdale in the morning and played rummi with Noeline and Jessica. I was the overall winner.
    💪🏻

    Wasted time until it was time to get ready to go to Jessica's school church.
    My sweater wasn't flattering but oh well. 25 and still can't dress myself. I'm sure I'll read this age 50 and still be the same.

    Jessica is obsessed with Cheryl blossom from
    Riverdale so her hair was styled like hers..

    When we got there jessica showed me a few parts of her school, now much really and got a few snaps before it got dark (5pm at present)
    They had freaking golf putting holes to practice with.
    I'm never seen anything more 'private school'ish.

    Eventually went in for the ceremony. 5 girls were getting confirmed

    Jessica forgot to mention I had a role to play 😖😖

    I giggled as the bishop dude put on his hat with a cane.
    Sermon wasn't the best, bit wishy washy for my liking. I'm writing this weeks after cause I'm lazy and i can't remember it so I can't have been very impactuous. Nothing like the royal wedding dude.

    Jessica did a reading.
    Me and Annette had to present her to the church then when it was her turn (she was 4th so we had tome to watch others) we had to go up the front and place a hand on her shoulder while she confirmed her beliefs to the church. I was actually felt very proud of her.
    She got a candle and a prayer book as a gift.
    We all did communion (not Noeline and Barry) and quite frankly the wine was delicious! Like genuinely enjoyable alcohol.
    Danger danger.

    After the proceedings were done we all went and had a dinner.
    Deliciousssss. They have boarders so there are chefs on hand and oh my. 🤤🤤🤤

    Went home and watched another Riverdale before jessica went to bed.
    I stayed up chatting to Annette and Barry. Annette's fidget is so distracting.
    I learnt that jessica got diagnosed with asperges last year which explains EVERYTHING like why is genuinely the most socially useless person who does not understand social cues.
    Annette asked if I was too bahhahaahhha
    I said very possible.
    I'm very pleased because it means she isn't a terrible person but someone who just doesn't understand and needs more time to develop the social skills others have.

    Bowline whipped out the family bible I didn't know existed and we flipped through it.
    When Mitch and Des where up Mitch pointed out the words in big bold letters "property of ***** do not remove from church" Hahahahahah trust the family heirloom to be stolen HAHAA
    Annette goes "I always stand back when mum touches it in case it bursts into flames"
    Hahahaha
    Nana dowse wrote all the names out of past people in the fam.
    I think it dated back to early/mid 1800's.
    Pretty cool.
    It's meant to go to eldest daughter so technically Phyllis should have got it not nana but oh well.

    The bed is so deliciously comfortable.

    MONDAY

    jessica went to school so I took my time getting out of bed.
    I noticed Katy perry tickets on the table and long story short is
    Annette went to sell them - I mentioned I was interested - I booked flights back up in July and am now taking jessica to Katy perry woohoo!
    They drove me to the airport and I fart assess around until my flight.
    Made it home safe and sound.

    Good weekend. Love seeing family, especially those ones.
    ❤️    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Parents 30th wedding anniversary

    July 5, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Mum, dad, Will and I went to the barvarian bier cafe In parramatta.
    Just a casual night out but wonderful achievement ❤️

    Mum wore a beautiful hair clip and I was their chauffeur for the evening. 🙊🤗

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Kiama

    October 20, 2018 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    19.10.18

    Finished work then got on our way. It took about 3 hours to get to Kiama. We check in and we’re lucky to find a park cause there was a wedding.
    Checked in and I liked our room but Will was a bit annoyed cause he thought he booked a hearbour view.
    I was happy regardless.
    We were tired so we watched some telly then went to bed

    20.10.18

    6 years together today. #dreamteam.

    Was up and ready to go by 10:30.
    We decided to walk towards the blow hole and get brekkie on the way.
    Found a place with pancakes - winners!
    Will ordered a coffee and I impulsively did too then quickly regretted it lol.

    Walked up the hill to the blow hole and unfortunately the waves/wind was going the wrong way so it wasn’t really working. Hope to visit before we leave tomorrow.

    Because of this Will suggested we visit the little blow hole instead.
    So we began walking - we walked for ages and eventually had to start climbing over rocks.
    I love looking in rockpools but they were empty.
    Along the way we found a dog. He had run down the hill to say hi and his mum said around 40 times.
    “MAX, COME!”

    ... max was never gonna come. He jumped in the water pool before I lead him back up hahaha

    The views were beautiful.
    My knee gave way at one point but on i trouped.

    So glad Will was there cause he had to guide me up and down some rocks and help me find grooves for my hands etc.

    Long story short:
    Beautiful fun walk but we actually couldn’t reach the blow hole so we turned back. (Well maybe could have but we walked for 2 hours and got like 1/3 of the way haha

    Back was quicker cause we climbed up the hill I send max the dog up then walked back via roads.

    We were super thirsty and sweaty so we walked to woolies to buy water and deodorant (we smelly) then went back to the hotel.

    Did a great poop then we decided to visit Carrington waterfall.
    It took us about 40 minutes and we saw a few dead wombats on the way.
    I started to STRESS cause my car. Alastair has no balls the whole journey was uphill and it wasn’t until it was struggling did I realise we had no petrol. Only 2 bars and it was NOT looking good.
    I suggested maybe to turn back but Will reckoned we would make it so we kept going.
    When we got to the water full we took our shoes off and had to walk through water to get to rocks on the other side.
    I giggle cause when we were traveling every second person was scared to go to Australia cause everything can kill you and there we were walking through the bush bare foot 😂😅😅
    We sat and looked at the top of the waterfall a while. Unfortunately the lookout was closed so we couldn’t get a better view.

    Water was so cold.
    Lucky it was shallow cause sections were super slippery. We left and my stress returned.
    It started to rain AT LEAST WE THOUGHT IT DID BUT IT WAS ACTUALLY 10000000 bugs.

    The scenery reminded us of Wales.
    Very lovely.

    On our way there we got overtaken by some dickhead going like 150km and Will made comment I hope they crash then 5 minutes later we come round a corner and the same car was stopped there in the moddle of the road and Will lets out this massive “ YES!!!” Hahahah
    They didn’t crash they were just checking their phones for directions I think but why a fantastical horrendous reaction 😂😂😂

    We made it to a petrol station, JUST.
    It was quite literally the SLOWEST pump ever. It took 5 minutes to reach $20 worth.
    So we put in that much then left - we will fill up somewhere else tomorrow.

    Went home and showered cause we still smelly. Heh.
    Got easy for dinner and I was outrageously overdressed, so awkward when we walked in.
    Resturant was called silica and I had the best lamb ive ever had. A coriander disaster though were I ate the entire plant and fished it back out of my mouth. Super classy harry.
    Brownie was great too.
    People outside on the beach were playing drunk frisbee. Bottle in hand. Bless haha
    Went home and chilled out in the air con.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Invictus games

    October 26, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Event 1: Swimming.

    Bought a hoodie cause I’m super pumped.
    It’s all held at Sydney Olympic Park.
    Jess got us free tickets through Legacy so cheering.
    It was open seating so first in, best dressed.
    We sat in front of the finish line, very happy with our spot.

    As we showed up I became quite emotional. I just felt so proud.
    Of everyone, not just the Australians.
    A man was being present a medal. He only has 1 arm. He had lost the 3 other limbs.
    I was so proud and honored.
    The music they played didn’t help the tear jerking.

    It was great to watch and a well run event.
    The dance and karaoke cams were cringe worthy but they had time to fill in..

    I think it’s 17 nations all up.
    A few what I consider randoms but I prefer odd places rather than the usual USA, UK, France etc.
    Estonia, Romania, Afghanistan, Jordon, Georgia, Iraq and the Ukraine were there too.

    I didn’t feel the needs to go for the Aussies. I went for everyone or the most handicapped.
    There were 4 classes - they could have done a better job explaining the differences cause I had to google it.
    It was groups A,B,C & D.
    A was for people will problems with 3 limbs and/or spine issues
    B was 2 affected limbs and/or spine issues
    C was 1 affected limb and/or visual impairment etc
    D was for minor physical injury or mental health disorders such as PTSD.

    We saw the freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. We left before the butterfly because as enjoyable as it was it became quite repetitive and the same athletes kept coming back.

    I felt like we could leave because the 1 limbed guy competed in the breaststroke - he was up against an Australian.
    I was super impressed when he opted to fling himself off the dive board rather than just start in the water.
    The crowd was obvs going for the Aussie but I wanted the other guy to win (from UK)
    The UK man was winning the whole time but it was a verrrrrryyyy close finish. It was within a seconds difference but my dude one. He pulled himself out of the pool rather than swimming to the edge. Dude got no time to treat himself as handicapped.
    I was so pleased for him.
    His team came over and he started to cry. I saw him mouth “I’m stoked”
    Then they hugged him.
    My eyes stung.
    He dragged himself away rather than use a wheelchair.

    Me and Will couldn’t help but giggle at the medal ceremonies - they had different people for present for each event.

    Who would you prefer?
    The CEO of Land Rover or Mark Donaldson - a victorian cross recipient.

    Like honestly 😂😂
    I’d feel ripped off .

    We left once the dude got his medal.

    I liked the atmosphere. Once finished the race the competitors would swim back down the pool to cheer home the other competitors in the next lane - no matter what county they were from.

    Event 2: Athletics.

    Not as good as the swimming. Not nearly as efficient - lotsss of time wasting.
    However they had the big screen explaining each races competitors disabilities.

    We basically only saw people do the 100m and a dew shot out throws.

    We did see 100m done by people without arms, people in the 3 wheeled race chairs and one girl had a a blade runner leg.

    There was heaps of false starts but no one ever got penalized.

    One race was super awkies cause they false started and so the alarm went off but one dude might have had a hearing problem so he just kept sprinting - it took people waving flags at him to run onto the track for him to stop. He ran about 80m before he realized 😅😅😅😅
    Awkward walk back to the line for him.
    David Beckham was somewhere there which is cool. Didn’t see him though - it was a good turn out.
    Will was cranky and had to work early the next day and as I was cold and had see what I came for me left.

    Event 3: Closing ceremony.

    So Jess had this ridiculous idea to bring Jaxon.
    Anyone who has met him knows that that is stupid but as it was a free ticket I kept my gob shut.
    We chased Jaxon everywhere around Olympic Park trying to find the legacy people - we found them eventually but not where they said they would be..

    Jax was screaming in the line ... alas.

    We did eventually make it to our seats.

    Long story short:
    - good turn out.
    - Prince Harry and Megan were there. So was the beckhams and the prime minister (Scott Morrison for the moment - might change next week 😅🙄😂)
    We all stood up and cheered as the athletes walked in - Jax like clapping at first but it was 8 and he was tired and got over it fast.
    The lady behind us was wonderful - she took him of us and danced with him for a bit.
    Jax threw a cup at a person, shook peoples seats, screamed etc etc.
    not his fault - he is 2 - shouldn’t have come..

    Anywho - Colin Hay performed “I come from a land down under” so I’m really pleased to have seen that.

    The premier - Gladys blah blah got up to do a speech and Jaxon was fucking screaming his lungs out. I have never heard such an echo - I was so embarrassed. Jess was just getting angry at him which wasn’t helpful and telling him to be quite. I gelt bad for everyone around us.
    I suggested we leave.
    She took her time accepting that Jaxon wouldn’t “behave”
    She kept saying he was naughty.
    Now, while a total pain in the ass and frequently naughty, screaming cause it’s past bed time, while your mother tried to muzzle you in a packed stadium with LOUD music is not being naughty. IMO.

    Drove home. Only saw 20 mins of a 1.5hr show.

    I watched Prince Harry’s speech on the Telly when home.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Christmas

    December 25, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Celebrated at Jess’.

    Had a wonderful feed and everyone played along and wore there stupid bon bon hats.

    We did secret Santa this year. I got Helen and gave bet matching pajamas for her and Harvey haha.
    Jess got me and she got me ‘cards against muggles’ and AWESOME Harry Potter pj pants from peter Alexander.
    Also a bootle and towel - SPOILT.
    Jaxon was wonderfully well behaved today - he got a big digger truck thing and spent a lot of time in it.

    Will stole the remote and kept trying to ram me with it - asshole. 😂

    During jaxons nap all the adults crashed out too.

    Enjoyed a swim with Jax, helen, jess and Will in the pool and used water guns to play.

    I decorated the pavlova and did a kickass job.

    Dad and Bill love having “men” time.

    Lovely day.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    NYE

    December 31, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Started celebrations at Wills where the boys played beer pong.

    Caught a taxi to Victoria Park where we went to my first festival - NYE in the Park.

    Packed with people.
    Terrible music but great atmosphere
    We got VIP tickets so we got our own section with seats and a semi probated bathroom which was worth every extra cent.
    I drank 2+ bottles of wine so I had a terrific night - I was bouncing.

    Had a boogie with myself 💃🏻

    Fireworks weren’t the best but still pleased I saw some.
    Got my New Years kiss 💋

    Walked to the star for a quick gamble.
    Got 9000+ of my 10000 steps for the day before 2am.
    Lost all our money as expected then went home.
    All the taxis were trying to rip everyone off - Sill kept telling them to fuck off when they said $150.
    Taxi attempt number 4 was successful.
    It cost us $50 to get home - we tipped him $20 just for being honest.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Harbour cruise high tea

    January 12, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Standard morning of the whole house being awake before me and me rushing last minute to organise myself.
    Didn’t have any shoes to wear so had to borrow Helens who is a size up from me but it worked out ok.
    We left around 10:15 and drove down to West Ryde station. I hadn’t had breakfast yet so I bought a cookie and nuts from the vending machine but there was also an unclaimed milky way in the bottom - winning.
    I was wearing a dress and was so uncomfortable. Ovaries have expanded to stomach walls and are trying to escape. Literally couldn’t even suck my tummy in a cm I was so ovary bloated.
    Anyway,
    We did some shopping first, I bought a nice jumpsuit form H&M. They don’t normally sit well but I was happy with this one. Thinking of wearing it to Jarrods wedding later in the year.

    We took Helen to honey bardette ** and it was uncomfortable talking about how Bill would react. Hahahaha

    We dordled around a lot with no real aim but blah blah blah eventually it was time to get on the boat at 2:30.
    We had a designated table which was on the edge so we got a better view than most people did of the harbor. The windows were actually super scratched up though so it wasn’t clear through the glass.

    It was a combined tour boat thing so the other half of a boat had an audio guide as we went past things which played on our speakers as well. It pointed out things like Luna park, Kirribilli house, garden island, and lots of convict related locations, stories and facts.
    We got to pick a flavor of tea each. I went with peppermint because it’s suppose to help bloating. It was delicious. I’ve decided I’m getting a teapot. Angharad, if next time you read this you haven’t got a teapot - get a teapot.
    We got a moscato as we walked in too which was nice. Pleased it wasn’t shitty champagne.

    The tray thingy with food was nice enough. Solid high tea food. It doesn’t look like much but it’s very filling.
    Me Helen and Jess just chatted about crap and giggled when thinking about Bill alone with Jaxon all day.
    This morning Bill had this deluded idea he would take Jax out - Jax would have a babychino quietly while Bill read the paper. hahahahahaah An unlikely tale.
    Jax needs enclosed play areas and both eyes in him at all times.
    Gonna read the paper.... honestly 😂🤦🏼‍♀️

    The Harbour really is beautiful. I hope tourists utilize it cause it really is Sydney’s beast feature. I’m very Proud of it. Jess loved talking about the navy as we went past garden island. I was shattered by the end.
    We caught the train back home.
    Bill survived Jax. Jax is a bit sick which would have helped - far more docile haha    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Blue mountain hike

    January 15, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    So the day plans started out because I wanted to buy a tea pot from a place in the blue mountains and conned Sachin into driving me by saying we could go for a hike after.
    Well not really con because I’m happy to hike but yay.

    We/he 😏 drove the 1.5 hours to get there and I was so sad, my brain had made up the awesomeness. I had been there before for a high tea with Helen, Sue, Jess, Jax and mum and remembered wanting to buy all the teapots.
    Only....
    Once we asked for help the worker did point out some awesome ones though.
    I wanted a bright, colourful one but have gone for a white one with an octopus for a handle haha can’t wait to hear what Will thinks hahahah

    Drove to the start of the hike - had a little troubles finding the entrance but we got there.
    We walked one way and found the Katoomba Falls which were very nice. It had a lot of people just enjoying the water with there shoes off cause today was about 35° HOT HOT HOT. Lotssss of sweat.

    We enjoyed the lookouts then found a new route which took us down so many stairs. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds.
    This route was much cooler as the canopy protected us from the sun.
    We just kept going down never ending stairs.
    Eventually found another waterfall.
    The ground was kinda muddy and Sachin mentioned leeched so I was like a ninja through the wet sections

    HIGH KNEES 🏃🏻

    The next waterfall was much bigger. Sach is a bad bad man and ignored the sign and went over the barrier to take photos. To be fair, lovely photos haha

    And so began the walk back up 😪😪😪😪

    My legs were better than expected considering the shakes I had on the way down. No knee pain woohoo.
    It was just the heart rate an cardio aspect but I did well. good practice for me and Will for EBC I think.
    Sachin’s improvement is mind boggling. The thought of him going on a hike last time I seen him (62kg) ago was laughable.
    He kept up with me. Proud!
    Finally made it back up where we sat the. Headed to the car completely dripping. I was at least.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    First week of Tafe, casual & placement.

    February 9, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Big week this week!
    Literally spent the first month of 2019 wasting my life. I spent a lot of time sleeping when I shouldn’t and not sleeping when it was bed time.
    Apparently I need a routine to function.
    I wrote out of list I did throughout the month though which made me feel a little better. I did see some friends and set stuff up.
    I joined ANZUK and got my placement for tafe organised.

    Tafe:
    My first day of tafe was Feb 4th.
    There were 2 options for teachers.

    Lady 1.
    She has a masters in zoology and a science degree - works as a vet nurse and 20+ years experience.
    Lady 2.
    Is a dog groomer in her 20’s.

    ...... some people are getting ripped off.

    I got lady 1 who is the head teacher and even though she is a little cranky I’m happy.
    There is a girl with turrets in the class and thankfully she is in the other group cause i would have been so distracted. She kept dancing and saying ice cream over and over.

    The day was basically an orientation day where they went over parts of the course and showed us how to sign in and use the computers.
    FOUND OUT THERE IS AN EXCURSION TO TARONGA ZOO AND IM SO HAPPY.

    Nothing overly exciting happened - I did get my tafe card and the photo is awful!!
    We did a practice assignment which was basically learning how to upload a document.

    Will was working nearby so he picked me up. Wins.

    Casual childcare work:
    Apparently January is always slow so I didn’t get my first call into work until 5/2. I got called to “Colour my World” in Ermington which is only like 3km from his house. My shift was 8:30-4:30 so I could have another hour sleep before getting up.
    The centre was ok. The chef made me feel extremely welcome. I worked in the preschool room and met some cool kids.
    Supervision and ration wasn’t a major priority at this centre.
    It was nice enough but I was a little bored tbh. I think cause I didn’t know the routine so I couldn’t gage how long we had to go before the transition to the next thing.
    I liked their uniforms though - they had their name tags stitched in which was so helpful for me.

    They loved me hehe. I got put on their priority list. Yay me. So I got a call from anzuk before my shift even finished saying they wanted me back the next day. Chuffed with myself.
    I worked in the preschool room again and did a good job I rkn. I knew all the kids names and ran group times etc.
    I then worked on the Friday at “colour my world” again but at their West Ryde centre. I didn’t like it. Moreover, I didn’t like the staff. I started at 12:30 though so that was ideal hahaha.

    They had peppermint tea from T2 so I stole some hehe.
    It was delicious. Can’t wait to use my teapot.

    Work placement.
    Today, (8/2) I went to Pet Resorts Australia in Dural for my first day of prac. We have to go every week for the duration of my tafe course (18 weeks).
    My main jobs today were cleaning the kennels, hosing the yards, rotating dogs to where they need to go ie the groomers, new kennel or yard etc.
    I also weighed dogs and washed/dried 5 dogs. I also hand washed and cleaned up a gazillion dirty bowls which took foreverrrr.

    Dumb moment of the day was when I was using the blow dryer on a dog - it came out the plug so I went over to plug it back in - I never pressed the off button so when I replugged it came roaring back to life. Right next to the blow dryer was a massive barrel/bin of old hair which of course the dryer was facing and POOF - hair everywhere hahaha I had to rewash the dog.
    Over all it was a good day. :)
    I got an early mark too. I worked from 8-3 instead of 8-4.
    I was pleased by this. My legs were sore and feet drenched from bathing the dogs.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Birthday

    February 17, 2019 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    Ashley, Emily, Michelle and I went to TGIFridays at Macquarie for dinner and drinks.
    Emily organised with the staff for them to do an mortifyingly loud an embarrassing birthday performance for me in front of the whole resturant. Its just so awkward. Like where are you meant to look? But judging off conversations I’ve had with others - I don’t think anyone has figured out how to act or where to look 😅😅
    It was pulled off very well cause I saw them walk in with a cake but completely forgot about it until it got brought out.

    We went down to ice skating. Michelle and Ashley hadn’t never done it before so I was extra excited. Ashley got it quickly, Michelle stayed friends with the wall.

    I got a whopper of a blister but did well enough :)
    We had so much fun. Everyone enjoyed it not just me so that was extra special for me.
    We went back up for cocktails at TGIFridays. Michelle left and Em’s mum came to pick us up to take us back to her house.

    We got a lot of blankets and made a fort. Loved it. Didn’t look nearly as good as the ones from the movies though haha.

    They bought me a salt lamp for my present. LOVE IT.
    we watched silence of the lambs and then passed out.

    In the morning Em’s mum served us a feast - bloody Europeans!! 😂

    Mum is away because Nana is in the hospital so my bday dinner got cancelled. It’s fine though, I’m just glad someone is with Nana.

    Side story: mum called me say Thursday night to tell me Nana was sick in the hospital with possible phnemonia. This is extra serious because of her leukemkia so I asked her if I should prep myself and She said yes.
    So the next day dad texts me and goes “you need to call mum”
    And I thought to myself
    This is it. She had died.
    So I removed myself from the lounge room and found a private room bracing for the news.
    ...Mum just wanted to tell me Nana was in the hospital and she was going to Port over the weekend.
    SHE FORTOT WE HAD THE CONVERSATION.
    I was like GODDAMMIT MUM I THOUGHT NANA DIED?!!

    Fuck me.

    It’s obvious to me now but may not be if I read this when 70... mum use to lose her memory once she had taken her sleeping pills. 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

    They bought me a camera for my birthday for me to take to Everest. blessed!! ❤️❤️

    Will took me out to dinner at hurricanes. ❤️    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Moving day!

    March 23, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Today involves so much driving and moving around.
    I went from Epping - West Ryde - Gladesville - Epping - Asquith - Epping - Gladesville- West Ryde - Gladesville - Asquith - West Ryde to Gladesville.
    We are bloody buggered.

    So we went in to sign the lease at 8:15 this morning. Pretty straight forward I think.
    We got given the keys - the garage door buzzer is the size of a brick. Very impractical. Lol
    We then drove to gladesville to have a look at the apartment - someone had left a wee in our toilet 😅- we drove back to get dad to then went on to pick up the moving truck from Asquith/Hornsby. Dad got in the truck with Will - I watched them drive home in my mirrors the whole way to make sure they were doing ok - they were really slow and we accidentally took the road trucks can’t go on but once your on you can’t get off... hehe oh well.
    Bit too windy for trucks haha.

    Once home the team plan was the men who actually have upper body strength were to bring the boxes out to the truck then I would maneuver them into position inside the truck.
    It took ages and every one was covered in sweat.
    It was exactly what you’d think - just moving boxes around.
    Once the truck was full we drove to gladesville - I was so excited to show mum and dad the apartment.
    such a TA DA moment. So pleased with ourselves hahah.
    We had some lunch before we unpacked the truck. The effort was real. 😂😂

    Once all the stuff was in mum and dad went home.
    Will went to his house to get the mattress but I got a call saying he had hurt his arm and needed help so I drove over to West Ryde. We packed up the tv and mattress and drove over to gladesville again.
    I was getting really over driving places haha

    Even though Will had a sore arm he got fed up with my uselessness at the halfway mark and carried the stuff himself hahaha.

    Right. Next up was returning the truck. Boooooo
    I was falling asleep. I wasn’t sleepy. I was TIRED. Most of the time I think I’m sleepy - this was felt in my bones lol.

    We drove back to Hornsby to drop off the truck then stopped in at Beecroft to order Chinese food on the way back to West Ryde to get the remaining stuff.

    Our final leg: back to gladesville.
    Fk me what a big day.

    Will was on furniture making.
    Harry was on unpacking boxes.

    We both called it a night around 10:30.
    Exhausted. Hardly made a dint 😂😭😅

    Love our new apartment though! 🤗
    More fun tomorrow!    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Easter

    April 20, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Will drove the jag up. Privately thrilled because he wont let me drive it so he drove the whole way. YIpyip.
    On the way Will pulled in to buy some choccy milk at a servo and mum suddenly became very frantic and explained that this is not the correct maccas so we shouldnt/couldn’t stop at this one.
    Can’t change routine... undiagnosed autistic.
    She chilled out once he explain he was only getting milk not McDonald’s. Lol
    I had a wee nap and holy hell i woke up from the most painful pins and needles. Always become so incapacitated by it. Would die first in a horror film.
    Had maccas in CORRECT maccas.
    Arrived in port and gave Nana a big kiss.
    We just sat around for ages. Just enjoyed being in her company.
    She cooked us hot cross buns. Even though I was full I forced myself to eat one to please her. These damn buns were the theme of the trip. She bought like 24.
    I love her. She is straight out ridiculous and just goes off on random tangents or just doesn’t understand but talks anyway.
    Classic example was I was talking about the bakery Andrea took us to in Norway and she was like oh yes i know the exact shop they sell the best pies...
    Once the story was cleared out she was terrible disappointed we didn’t buy any pies on the way up.

    Me and Will went over to Lynley’s for a nap - we left at 5 in the morning so we tired.
    4 hours later...
    Popped back over to Nana’s.
    I order red rooster and Will went to see Joey.
    Me mum and Nana watched some of her crappy soaps.
    Emmerdale was a double feature 😒
    Went back to Lynley’s to sleep in her MARVELOUS bed.
    Lynley’s artworks are fcuked. It was like devil people with black eyes. Not relaxing to sleep next to lol.

    In the morning we went for walk towards town but it started to rain so we ducked into the bowls club.
    Average food.
    On the way how we bought some cute fox towels from bed bath and table. Love it.

    Nana is on on crack. I bloody love her. She goes off on random tangents that no one can follow.
    2 topic were on repeat the whole weekend.
    Nana hoping and wondering if it was gonna rain on her plants and constantly Reminding people she bought hot cross buns.
    She has too lorikeets that she feeds honey bread to everyday which brings her joy.

    All my life Nana has gone on about dolphins in the canals but I had never seen any.
    LO AND BEHOLD 2 DOLPHINS APPEARED.
    I think it was a mum and it’s baby cause one was quite small. Very pleased to finally see

    Kevin visited. Kevin is the man that lived next to nana. He has recently gone to a home.
    It was hilarious watching them interact.
    Kevin is blind, deaf and has mild dementia.
    They just yelled at each other repeating the same things over and over.
    It really highlighted how many marbles nana still has left. She is very cognitively present.

    We all went out for lunch.
    we rode in the jag to Nana’s delight.
    Nana has been having issues with her chair stair lift thing.
    When we arrived nana noticed a car with relevant signage and before the people could get out of the car she was by their window harassing them for info.
    Bless.
    We went in the resturant. Nice spot by the water.
    The food was good but nothing to write home about.
    We all enjoyed giving out leftovers to the birds and a big water dragon near our table.

    We were talking about plans and nana made an awkward “I’ll be dead in August” comment.
    Nana stated she wanted a photo with me. The love in my heart 😍😍😍
    For them out the front of the resturant. LOVE the photo.
    On the drive home nana made comment I should look around the house for things I want.
    I said the house teapot - she said it was engagement present from aunty Katie - lylas sister.
    Love that it has sentimental value.
    And the brooch from pupas funeral that he bought her for her 18th.
    When we got home it took 15+ minutes to get Nana in the house cause the seat wouldn’t work. She eventually kicked and it worked again.
    Nana is our of breath a lot.

    Nana had a nap and we went to the beach.
    Couldn’t believe it it but IT WAS PIPPI SEASON.
    YAYAYAYAYAYAY.

    Pitty we didn’t bring a bucket. Still, I’m an expert catcher hehe.

    I Hope our future dog likes water like some of the dogs we saw on the beach.
    When I got home nana asked if I brought home and pippis - I said no and she said “ well I have a pippi for you” then handed me the broach.
    😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
    Mum is the one who told her I wanted it. Not me.
    Apparently she was impressed by my memory.

    She told a lot of story and repeated her desire for rain.

    Favourite stories are when she tried to sell the house without telling pupa.
    And her TERRIBLE negotiating skills over a wardrobe.
    Person: “its $1200”
    Nana: “I’ll give you $1500”
    😂😂😂

    We were talking about something - let’s say football - and nana pipes in
    “That’s what I was talking about hot cross buns”

    ... what.

    Totally irrelevant

    We had sandwiches for dinner.
    I Got sick at Lynley’s and was so uncomfortable cause Lynley would have been aware the amount of times and the time spent in the toilet lol.

    Sunday morning - easter.
    He is risen.

    We had Hot cross buns lol
    Said bye to Nana
    She must also think she won’t see me again

    She hugged Will and mum then me
    She didn’t let me go and before I said I love you sahe said it first which suprised me cause she didn’t say it to mum.
    I almost scream it at her every time I see her in case it’s the last time but the speech that followed caught me so off guard.

    She said.
    I love you.
    I’m proud of you.
    Of all my 6 your most like me
    Your sentimental
    You pull faces
    You’re kind
    You are like me.
    I love them all but you are most like me.

    She basically said I was her favourite grandchild.

    Fuck me.

    I gave her one last hug on the bridge and told her I better see her again.
    She said “you will”

    I pray it’s true.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Melbourne - Bronte fight night

    June 28, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    So the alarm first went off at 4am.
    But did I get up then?

    Of course not.
    4.50 came around really fast and so it was a quick dash to get dressed before meeting the Uber outside for 5:05 - I ordered it last night.

    First Uber ride ever. Well first ride I’ve organised and used my account for.
    My driver was nice and efficient and I was at the airport by 550 for my 7am flight.
    A standard McDonald’s breakfast was had and the usual waiting for boarding.
    On the plane was next to this big Mauri bloke who was squashed in. He was half in my seat. Sigh.

    Didn’t crash. Always a positive.

    I accidentally bought flights to the wrong airport so I had pre purchased a shuttle bus ticket for $25 each way. Which I thought was great cause it’s an hour drive away.
    Shuttle bus was non eventful except for when I made a dick of myself trying to figure out how to work the charge points. They were rectangle and so I actually though to myself “that’s weird they have European charge points on an Australian bus” - and then I made the realization (after I had tried to maneuver my charge point 6 different angles that it was cause it was for the USB part. WOW ANGHARAD.
    Melbourne looked very scenic as we drove in.
    Once I got dropped off I walked to the travel lodge where Bronte’s parents are staying - they weren’t there at the time but it was easy for both of us to get to.
    We had brunch along the water.
    We have very different political views. I was so aware i was in Melbourne.
    I Kept my mouth shut !! Hahahaha
    The pancakes I had were delicious and very hipster in presentation lol.
    I paid for her meal as she paid for my fight night ticket.

    Background info.
    Bronte’s dad has cancer from asbestos poisoning and was given 9-12 months to live in January.
    Her dad loves boxing so she has been training for weeks for this fight night. I think you do 2-3hrs a day, 6 days a week for 8-12 weeks.
    A fuck no from me.
    She is giving the $3000 from tickets to cancer research.

    Walked around the city before meeting up with her parents at some cafe thing where they were with another couple. The man was the most inappropriate man I have interacted with in a looooooong time.
    Legit 5 seconds after I met him he put his arm around me asked if I liked older men and if I wanted a lollie *winks*
    Gross.
    He essentially made me request a drink for him to buy. I said no about 7 times before I said hot chocolate.

    Kept leaning in to talk to me making sex jokes.
    Ew.
    Bronte did warn me but I was still shocked. People don’t normal meet up to expectations but he surpassed it. It was no snowflake getting offended. He was baaaaaad.
    Granted he was like 80 but a still a big NOPE.

    I borrowed Bea’s myki card so I could catch the tram - Bronte wanted to get braids for her fight. We ducked in to the markets real quick while we were waiting for her appointment. I was buggered by this stage so I didn’t stay for the hair appointment, instead I jumped back on the tram and rode it to close to my hotel.
    Check in was easy - I then had a 2 hour power nap.
    I love hotels. I think it’s the fresh linen.

    Delightful nap.
    Aren’t they always?

    Did not want to get up.
    Extreeeeeeme motivation was needed to get dressed. I had organised to meet Bronte’s family back at the travel lodge - about 2km away.

    Melbourne is much nicer this time around. I think it’s because I’m not lost. Hahaha

    I like the art shit around the place.

    Anyway met Bea, John and Ryan - Ryan drove us to the venue - John had to wear a mask cause his immune system is so shitty - he had to spend yesterday in the hospital too - wasn’t sure if he was gonna make It but he did which I’m THRILLED about.
    Him watching her is the most important thing I think. We had a backup plan of video calling during the fight If need be.
    We randomly got ringside seats. Well it’s not random for them as her parents but random for me. I was ok haha sure why not.
    She was the 3rd fight. It’s 3 rounds of 2 mins.
    First fight I was so embarrassed by the first girl she was okay acting like the people do on the Telly. It was like ok calm down love. So cringe - BUT THEN BLOODY BRONTE CAME OUT AND DID THE SAME THING

    Dead.

    Long story short - she bloody smashed it. The clear winner.
    I had a giggle to myself cause her fight face is EXACTY the same as when she use to hit me in the car or when I would hit her.
    I was like “I know this face” hahaha
    Her opponent was her training buddy which she was pleased about - she only found out who she was fighting yesterday.

    I am so bloody happy she won.
    And when she dedicated the fight to her dad I teared up.
    Bea and John also has to wipe their eyes. Bronte goy emotional but held it together til she came around and hugged her dad. He held her so tight. It was a very special moment.

    We watched a few more fights. The men were disgusting and I got hit with so much sweat. Unimpressed hahah.

    I made the call to go home early with B’a fam rather than go to the after party cause I don’t want her to feel like she has to baby sit me. The night is for her. I dont know anyone else. I don’t know the city or have a plan to get home. Melbourne is dangerous at night at the moment and frankly I’ll save money.
    Ryan dropped me off at my hotel and I’ve been in bed ever since.
    Sydney is colder than Melbourne at the moment but my room isn’t particularly warm. In fact the bed sheets are still tucked in - gotta be some sort of record for me.

    Oh awkwarddddddddd moment with the last fight.

    They announced the winner as the red corner so the dude put up his hand but the umpire raised the other guys hand so both men celebrated before the blue corner guy finally realised. AWKWARD.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Tasmania - Launceston

    July 5, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Day 1.
    So I had planned to leave the house at 5.
    At 4:50 Will is like “hmm, I better pack”
    Sometimes I could kill him.

    Will drove, bless him. I had pre arranged for us to park In the blue emu carpark. It was cheaper than getting an Uber there and back.
    They sent me a bar code. The idea was to have an easy morning but naturally our bar code wouldn’t scan.. Will was not in the mood and yelling at the machine. I told him to press the help button a solid 5 times before he did. Bloody men.
    Found a good car spot and only had to wait maybe 5 minutes for the shuttle bus to take us to the airport.
    Airport was randomly busy for 6am.
    Had a fun time at airport security. I borrowed dads bag and there was a hidden deodorant can in it.
    I just had to wait a while but poor dude next me was done with the workers. They were like slugs. No rush and no communication as to why your luggage isn’t being returned.
    Dude next me had the most random assortment of items - books, lights, mini art easels.
    They wanted him to open his box of books and he was like I can if you give me a key or knife. So he asked another security dude do you have a key or knife - the man nodded - the dude was like ok well can I borrow it? The the security guy said “we aren’t allowed to carry those things”
    Dude was like THEN WHY DID YOU NOD.

    “You need to calm down sir”
    Enjoyed watching this spectical.

    We got breakfast then headed to our gate.
    They weighed our bags. We were 0.5kg over but lovely lady let us in.

    Got the window seat and Will was stuck in the middle.
    We both slept.
    Flying is better when not alone.

    Landed. Airport security is POOR HAHA. Port Macquarie has better security lol.

    Literally enclosed by 1 climbable fence.

    We had a giggle as when you enter the exit hall you have to go through some high tech tunnel thing.
    Blew the budget on them 😂 haha.

    I had organised a hire car. We decided to up the insurance to the middle level.
    Car is fine. Small little blue thing but does it’s job.
    We drove to Launceston city centre. More like town centre.
    It was like a combo of Tamworth, Townsville and Eastern Europe. 80% of shops were shut for no reason. Very odd.

    We walked to the city park. We entered through the “Frank Dowse” entrance. Exciting cause Dowse is so uncommon.

    The park was lovely. It did have the most random
    Monkey exhibit though. The Japanese ones that cope with cold.
    Apparently there has been animals on displays for eons and they did pick an animal suited to the climate but unless it’s conservation related I don’t really like animals as show ponies. Totally unnecessary.

    There was also a cute little conservatory/greenhouse thing which was nice. Also a chess set, duck pond and a kids train tooting about.
    Also noteworthy were the clean public toilets. My one even had a sharps disposal bin.
    We kept strolling around the streets. It’s really nice.
    Popped into have a quick feed at this health food store and a hot choccy next door cause it’s pretty bloody cold. We were expecting worse but still crisp.

    Will wanted his bloody coffee milk so we found a Woolworths and had to buy him a razor too.
    Walked back to the car and headed to Cataract Gorge reserve.
    Glad we drove cause it was up the mountain.
    We decided to get the chairlift across - why not? It’s a holiday :)
    We got a return ticket but only ended up using it one way.
    It had a sign saying
    “Worlds longest single chairlift span”
    The lift was slow but had a good view.
    There were a lot of random trails to take - we first walked up to the Alexandra lookout. It said it was 15 mins away and steep.
    It might take 15 for people with one leg but it took us 2.
    Lovely view over the gorge.
    Walked back down and crossed over the bridge. Lovely view up the gorge/canyon - don’t know technical term - the water between the mountains lol.
    We chose to do another walk to the sentinel lookout. An estimated 50 minute return trip. This estimate was much more accurate. Ha.

    Lovely walk. I find uneven walkways more fun although you do miss some of the scenery cause you are busy watching your step.
    It was just very peaceful and a nice temperature for excersise. The last part was very steep but we got there and the lookout was lovely.

    Walk walk back.

    We could check in til 2 but it was now 1 so we headed over. It was about a 20 minute drive.
    We were still early so we passed time by checking out the Swiss village next door which was cute and had cool kids stuff I entertained myself with like a big pirate ship and big bouncing pillow.

    We checked in and crashed out for 3 hours. We like our hut thing but it has no internet.

    Relaxed for ages cause we actually did a shit tonne of walking today.

    Eventually went and got dinner from the bistro next door. Expensive but good food.

    We booked a wine tour for tomorrow :)

    Will just farted in his hand and threw it in my face.

    This took me so long to write - writing it during the adds to Mr & Mrs Smith.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Tasmania - Wine tour

    July 6, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We amused the idea that we might go to the wetlands for a walk but we be tired haha.
    We got up at 9:30 - the bistro buffet was $26 each so we have that a miss and drove down to a cafe a short drive away. Average food but we couldn’t venture too far cause we were getting picked up at 10:40 for our wine tour.
    Got collected. Our driver was Terry. We were the second pair collected and had to go get 2 other groups before we drove out to the first vineyard - pipers brook. The other 2 groups were 4 drunk girls from Launceston and 2 old couples from Melbourne.
    It was about a 45 minute drive.
    Tasmania country side reminds us of wales.
    - we got a quick history lesson on the drive - Launceston is the 3rd oldest Australian city.

    When there we were given 6 different wine samples. The lady serving us was grossly passionate. She taught us a lot and frankly I understood maybe 6%.
    All I got is wine making is complicated.
    I liked 3/6 but didn’t like any enough that I had to buy.
    I felt tipsy by drink 4. Not a good start hahah
    We then had lunch (included in your package) - I got a nibbles board and will got duck spring rolls. Good food but I was still a little hungry. Got another whole free glass of wine too.
    Buzzing.
    I learnt this cool cork trick where you swap the corks - can’t explain and will forget buy it entertained me on the bus.
    The group was awkward with each other at first but the wine really helped us bond lol.
    Next stop was the jansz vineyard which was literally next door.
    Disliked all the wine. We had 4 samples and then got a free glass. I had to return my glass I just couldn’t drink it - it was all bubble shit.

    Next was Delamere vineyard which was my favourite. Not as pretty as the first 2 because it didn’t have vines after vines but the 6 wines we got were smooth. Granted I was loosing my taste but I know 100% it was better than the last place.
    Final place was clover hill and had the best views. Got a cheese platter and everyone was very chatty by this point.

    Bartender said to one chick
    “I assume by this time you know what transfer method is?”
    And she replied
    “No but I know why menopause is”
    ... what??? Hahahah his face was brilliant.

    The drunk girls were off to a 21st and talking about getting passion pop and a goon bag. Glad to hear this mainland culture extends to our island hahah
    One of the old bird was called Karen and she was brilliant. A walking stereotype of her name and had the best smokers laugh.

    Got dropped off last around 6. We mentioned to Terry, our driver we were gonna get an Uber from our hotel to Bronte’s parents house for dinner but he informed us Uber’s didn’t reach that far and offered to drive us for free. Bless his socks. Saved us $30.
    So basically he dropped us of at the hotel - went somewhere for 20 minutes then came back and got us.
    5/5 stars of TripAdvisor.

    Dropped of at Bea’s and John’s. There house was up to their regular standard 😅
    Bronte’s boyfee cooked ya this delicious lamb pie thing.
    When we had finished eating we went out for a drink - Bea drove us.
    It is weird knowing I won’t see John again.
    He is a lovely, genuine man.
    Bea was so touching and loving with me we had a snuggle on the couch. Don’t even do that with my real mum haha

    Had a few cocktails with Chris and Bronte chatting about different stuff. We are politically polar opposites so I tried to avoid it but classic Will likes to push buttons.

    We caught an Uber back to the hotel ( Uber from city not a problem)
    I felt sick so I watched Wimbledon til I fell asleep.

    Great day!    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Tasmania - Cradle Mountain

    July 7, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    It is such an effort to write this. We have had a MAMMOTH day.

    So first up, we obviously got up. 😅
    We packed and left about 8:20 deciding to find food on the way.
    It’s about a 2.5 hour drive to cradle mountain.
    Man oh man was it foggy this morning!
    There was an astonishing amount of roadkill. The majority were wallabies - ever 50m or so. The crows LOVED IT. Lol.
    Stopped in some random town which probs has a population of 200. For a pre made bacon and egg roll. Nothing to brag about but It did it’s job.

    Eventually got to the visitors center. Had a bit more food, bought our entry ticket to the park $16 each (includes parking and bus ride)

    We caught the bus to the last stop which took 20 minutes and began our walk.
    Right so. Fuck me 😂😂😂
    IT WAS STEEEEEEP.
    We were going to walk around dove lake but then Will decided we would climb to Marion’s lookout which was of course the only hike that had been allocated the “difficult” rating.
    Literally 60000 stairs. I had to have a break and rip of my jacket. I will avoid wearing skin tight clothes at ALL COST and I only had a unbelievable tight and UNFLATTERING thermal on underneath but I still took my coat off. #dead
    The view from halfway was beautiful. The lake was magnificent from all angles- low and high.
    And so began the chains...
    this was some heavy duty Norwegian shit.
    This was a natural rock formation path not some boardwalk crap - granted there was the occasional boardwalk but man oh man.

    This was the only part of the day I had to have breaks.

    Once we got to the top - or at least what I though was the top we took some great pictures. We then kept walking and originally reached Marion’s lookout. Stunning 😭😭
    Will took over backpack duty to my delight.
    Had a view of crater lake too.
    Picked out another random route from our map and off me went. We didn’t have time to do the summit - it looked exactly how I imagine Mount Everest. Literally vertical.
    We walked over the Face track which was the easier part and reminded me of when we drove through Norway.
    There was some ice and snow patches. I got will with a snow ball heh.

    What else can I say? It was pretty. Very pretty. There was cool orange moss patches and beautiful creeks and streams. We then got to the Lake Wilks track and this was a total cunt. But I will highlight the best thing ever - as I was walking along I came across a wombat. I have never seen a wild wombat before!!
    I was so excited but it was blocking our path for like 10 minutes and we were stressed cause we had a bus to catch and we were rapidly running out of time.
    we snuck past it. It was so unconcerned by our presence. Just eating and scratching. So freaking cute. And fat. 😍
    We originally didn’t just walk straight pass cause they can be aggressive.
    This walk back down was ridiculous. No safety feature. Could have died multiple times and it was even more stressful cause we had to do it fast. There was no more buses after 4.
    I slipped on my ass a few times and our feet kept getting stuck in tree roots. Basically we went rockclimbing not hiking haha

    Walking through the ballroom section (it was called something ballroom) was beautiful, very mossy, with fallen trees. Damp rainforests vibes.

    Walking and running praying to make the bus.

    And then we got a text saying our flight had been cancelled....
    just get to the bus and then sort it....

    So many stairs 😂😭

    MADE THE FREAKING BUS 🎉
    Saw 3 more wombats on the drive back to the visitors centre. We were SORE. and smelly. Verrryyyy smelly. I told Will to put his arms down hahaha

    Had to return to Launceston Airport to return car and organise a new flight.

    I CANNOT HIGHLIGHT THIS ENOUGH.
    The drive back was FUCKED. I have never, NEVER seen such fog. It’s like we were in a literal cloud. Visibility was like when you fly threw cloud on a airplane. We had high beams on and could see 10m infront MAX.
    So stressful. The potential for jumping wildlife added to the danger.
    We did make it after 2.5hours. Shattered.

    Right so went to organise a new flight first - next flight from Launceston was 2 days away..... Will was so unimpressed and being a prick to the jetstar guy. Wasn’t his fault so I told him to shut it lol. He was stressed cause he had work stuff.
    All flights from the airport were cancelled cause of the fog. Frankly it was fair enough. But because so many flights had been cancelled all the next ones were already booked out.
    It’s a very long and complicated story but we decided to fly out of Hobart tomorrow instead.
    We made the decision to drive down tonight. Or I more encouraged this decision.
    We booked the hire car for another day and off we went.
    THE FOG OMG.
    Genuine miracle we made it alive.
    It took nearly 3 hours to get to our hotel which I booked on the way which was super dodgy on the outside (apart of a pub) but inside was great. Small but comfortable and clean.
    Lucky the owners were still there cause we got there at 11pm and office hours close at 8.
    We would have been stranded on a regular night.

    We both crashed!    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Hobart

    July 8, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Up by 8:30 left by 9.
    Will was receiving 1000000 work calls and texts.

    We drove straight to the Mona museum.
    It only opened at 10 though. So we waited in our heated car for 20.
    I really liked the outside. Funny signs and beautiful views over the water. I really like the houses, they are all slightly different colours including roof colours. Adds to the view.

    View art pieces outside which were nice.
    I liked that they had a bin for worm food.
    We are at the museum cafe - total extortion. $15 for 1 bacon and egg roll.

    So Bea recommended the museum cause it had a wall of vaginas which obviously piped my interest.

    So our overall assessment is the museum is total shit.
    If entry was free and the fee wasn’t $28 it would receive a 3/5 star rating if I was generous.
    As it happened it cost us $60 and so rating is a solid -10
    And the vagina exhibit wasn’t there..... Devastated.
    It was modern art.
    One was a white bowl on a brown chair with a butchers knife in the bowl of water. In the water was 2 goldfish.
    Ok.
    Another was a stick.
    A literal stick from a tree leaned up against a wall.

    I could do this.

    Some artworks were nice but it was all much smaller than I expected.
    At least it’s done and I don’t have to wonder.
    No needs to go back.

    We drove to the airport and are waiting for our flight which is naturally delayed hahah.

    Nothing exciting to report. Made it home alive... evntually.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Nanas 90th

    October 5, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Thrilled to see the little lady again.
    I gave her here present - Yak wool socks and Nepalese tea bags.
    We went to little fish for her party - she wanted to be late so she could make an entrance 😂 she didn say it outright but she made this desire clear.
    She bloody loved walking in lol.
    I gave everyone an awkward hug - Micah got a big genuine one.
    Will didn’t come because - originally he was coming but then in Feb we got the whole “she has 3 months to live” notice meaning there wasn’t going to be a party so he made other plans.
    It was Toms bucks party so a bloody good reason.
    It was good food and good company.
    Elise has photographer friend she organized to tak picture which was lovely.
    We all got some wonderful pics with Nan.
    I’m sure she felt famous and was soaking in the attention haha.
    Beyond pleased with the photo of me and Nana together. I love it.
    Afterwards we went to Lynley’s got dips and breads etc.
    One by one people left until it was just Micah, John, Lynley and I. We chatted for hours. When I got home Nana was asleep. She had a terrific day. Se said she felt so happy and full which was lovely to hear. She said she was responsible for all these people and thought it was wonderful.
    Thanks for having sex nan?

    We didn’t do a sappy goodbye when we parted this time. I didn’t need her too. We know we love each other.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Jess' 30th

    November 9, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Drove up yesterday and had a night of chatting.

    Currently waiting for our bus to take us to our HORSE AND CARRIAGE.
    There are only 4 of us because 2 people dropped out.

    I stepped onto the carriage and to my utter DELIGHT there was a dog on board.
    My gasp would have been audible 100m away.
    Our horses name was Bonnie and the dogs was Heidi, who was a chihuahua. I love her 😭😭😭
    clip clip clip clip off we went to the first place - the McGuigan winery.
    I am in disbelief. I liked 80% of the wines. And I mean actually enjoyed not just class them as drinkable.
    Our server lady was called Margot and I think she had just the right level of passion. It wasn’t too much passion that it became unrelatable but she still definitely knew her shit.
    We were there for ages and because he were such a small group we tried like 10 wines. I have learnt today I like dessert wines.
    I ended up buying 3 different bottles of things - as did Jess.
    Clip clip to the next winery we went through the back roads of the vineyards which was pretty.
    The Tamburlaine winery is all organic and next door.
    We had our own private seating area. Our host lady was lovely but the wines were bloody shit except for the dessert wines again. Loving the muscrat dessert wines at both places.
    I’m very glad for the tin we could put what we didn’t want to drink into.
    I hate the dry ones.
    No one bought anything here - we then went
    went to lunch - on the way Cass, Jess and I all had a turn driving the carriage (let’s be honest the horse did everything itself) but still was super responsive - I clicked my tounge as a joke and it started to trot. Oops haha. Jess wasn’t wearing a bra. Bad planning Jessica .😂
    Wonderful little Heidi just sat in her box. The greatest dog.
    We ate at a Thai/Japanese place. Very good food actually.
    We then went to a cheese tasting place. Some truly delicious cheeses but I didn’t buy any cause I just felt if I was honest with myself I wouldn’t use them. We tried about 5. Helen and Jess bought the cow feta with garlic and sun dried tomatoes - my favourite one we tried so I’m hoping they use it for a family dinner one night haha.
    The shop had lots of sauces and jams etc which all look terrific and some were super random flavours like passion fruit butter. You could spend a fortune in there.
    Next door was a chocolate shop we also went into and all came out with something lol.
    I got peanut butter rocky road and PB fudge.
    We did also get like a little sampler thing there too.
    We then popped back to the Roche Estate which is where we had lunch and went to the Tempus two cellar. This one had the worst atmosphere of the lot. The other places hosts all had opinions and could say I like this one or I personally don’t lik this one. The vibe I got from this place was that if our lady said she didn’t like a wine she would get the can. Very business, very fake feeling. In saying that I liked their dessert wine here - everything was starting to taste the same though lolz.
    Next our final wine tasting - a place within the hunter valley gardens. Name to come.
    Wines were a no but we did chocolate sampling with them that when combined was bloody delicous. I ended up buying the lime chocolate. So randomly YUM.
    We also tried caramel vodka, mango and butterscotch liquor and their version of baileys all really good - I wanted to buy the mango and caramel but again couldn’t justify it. I did buy the lime chocolate though.
    These place suck you in cause they don’t sell the stuff they give you in store so it’s a now or never situation.
    You can order but it’s a 6 bottle minimum I believe.
    Everywhere we stopped everyone was so excited about Bonnie the horse.
    I think Jess had a great time and that’s the main thing.
    I had a bloody terrific day too!
    We got dropped back at the hotel (crowne plaza) at 4:45ish and went to our VILLA. For a while we all just chilled out on our phones having down time. It’s a big bloody day.

    I made up a cheese/meats/biscuit plates which we chomped down.

    We played board games all night. We played articulate, spot it, pictionary, the chocolate game and X rated charades.

    Had a fabulous time. So many laughs.
    Articulate is definitely one of my favourites if not favourite game.
    Pictionary wasn’t thaaaaat fun cause it was too easy.
    Spot it was great - definitely going to buy - it fucks with your brain. Great way to keep it sharp I reckon. Hard to explain. It’s kinda like snap but with pictures?

    The chocolate game was fucked - at first we were all trying to be as quick as possible to get the chocolate. By the end we were all being purposely slow cause we felt sick and didn’t want to eat anymore. We ended up with 3 squares left. We just couldn’t eat anymore.

    Charades wasn’t as good as expected. Would be hilarious if drunk and people didn’t give a fuck and just acted it full out.
    Helen acted out multiple orgasms though and I can’t unsee it OR unhear it.
    Jess got it on film too. Just wow.

    Just lots of laughs and comfort - me and cass set up our doonas and blankets on the floor.

    Will is currently looking after Jaxon and is done.
    “It feels like I have been working”
    I am sympathetic but at the same time I’m like well yeah? That’s what every house wife in the history of the universe has said. Raising kids isn’t a paid job but it’s a bloody job. Exhausting little things, children. Also why childcare is a hard industry even if not academic.
    Anyway;
    Just got back from doing a mad vom. Ate too much cheese I reckon hahaha.

    I have had a truly terrific day!    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Christmas eve/day - Boxing day

    December 27, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Chrissy Evez
    Spent day predominately at M&D’s.
    Did presents, had a nap then read the cat book before me and mum walked to church. Wasn’t on... lol walked back home.

    Got up at stupid o’clock to be at Jess’ by 6:45 to watch Jax open his presents.
    He wasn’t as excited as I expected. Still happy but not in awe.
    Jess is rocking this mum thing though.
    Left and I had a nap back at home.
    Will refused to open his pressies so they remained in under the tree as we headed to Moss street.
    My gifts from him are a pussy cat dolls ticket and shoes but nothing physical to open today.

    Went to Lunch - we were on nibbles. Did secret Santa - Helen got me and oodie which is great And I’ll use in winter - I got Jess a therapy blanket cause I looooovvveeeeee mine.

    Mum and dad rocked up and we spent the day eating.
    And trying to avoid politics but Bill simply cannot help himself.

    26th -
    Drove to port.

    Nana told me to buy her 4 pasties on the way. She is so excited haha.
    Hung with nana had nap
    Met Micah and John
    Took dogs to settlement point saw pod of stingrays
    Throw ball to honey and bear (Micah’s dogs)

    Watched some aboriginal video Lynley made with Richard’s cousin from England who is a bee pollen dude. She showed her extensive collection of art too.

    Went to dinner with Micah John and Brielle.
    Brielle is the first young right winged person I’ve met.
    My Steak sandwich was fab.
    Will and John Hated their steaks.

    Lynley didn’t know we were staying with her. awkward.
    Elise, Jeremy and kids are staying at Nana’s FOR A MONTH. Stay with your parents for fucks sake.
    Watching nana handle the kids destroy her house is comical but also ridiculous. Dick move.

    27.12
    Holy cow Nana can crap on.
    Took her shopping to the grocers and IGA.

    She made me a mango smoothie and went to out a egg in it. No Thankyou..

    We popped over to the koala hospital. They didn’t had the horrendous burn victims from the recent fires on display. Mainly already fixed ones. Nana gave me 50$ to give them. They have done such wonderful work this bushfire season.

    Went to dinner with Joey Hamerton* at an Indian place then gelato. 🤤🤤

    I love this woman. Her imagination is wild.

    Today’s ridiculous stories are that she is so sentimental she had a cup sent back to England and my personal favourite - she once threw a 100th birthday party for a cup she named Ruby. She told the neighbors she was throwing the party for Ruby and invited them.
    When she walked out holding a cup Kevin (man who use to live next door) said “stupid woman! I missed the news for this” 😂😂😂
    I can just imagine Pupa sitting their in total infatuation. His love for her despite her ridiculous was beautiful.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Aus open

    January 24, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    24.1.20

    Mum and dad picked us up at 8:45.
    We were meant to fly out at 11 but our plane got delayed because of a late arrival and weather.
    We were in the Qantas terminal which had a crappy food court in comparison but I still found hungry jacks so I was happy haha. 🙃
    Psycho lady infront of me complained about her $1 slushee being melted and got 2 free drinks about it but continued making such a fuss that she set up and online hungry jack account just to make a formal complaint.
    Like get a bloody life. It’s a $1 slushie.
    Some people 🙄🙄.

    We all sat separately on the plane - it had screens though so I watched some family guy and had a nap.

    Dad had preorganied a shuttle. Total hassle to find. For starters, dad is 86% dead and missed half the instructions given to him but main problem was we were looking for conXion. As it would happen we needed to find a star bus with a teeny tiny sticker that said conXion.

    Hotel is nice. We got a 2 bedroom apartment. You need an actual key rather than swipe card to open the door which is a little old school haha.

    We all had a 2 hour nap, had TGIFridays for dinner then walked to the tennis. While we were eating we had a scare. Some dudes gas bottle was leaking and he was running with it and put it in the most isolated spot he could find (right near u) and ran away. People scattered. I was waiting for it to blow. Everyone was sort of leaning away and standing back.
    Some dude used a fire extinguisher which was pointless but it was a big fantastic scene taking place lol.

    Definitely in Melbourne. Had to walk through a climate change protest to get to the stadium and the stadium has “all gender” toilets.
    The Tennis ticket lady was a lune just yelling at everyone. Taking her job waaayyyyy too seriously.

    Match one was Osaka Vs Gauff.
    I was going for Gauff. Osaka won last year and Gauff is only 15 so good bloody on her.
    Delighted to say Gauff won. I think most of the crowd was going for her - everyone likes the underdog.
    I left half way through to get a drink and wasn’t allowed back in cause I left my ticket inside.
    I had to do a sneaky past the luney ticket lady - badass haha.

    Dude behind us was so annoying he said WOW legit every point.

    There was a thing Emirates set up - you put your seat number into the website and the camera would find you and take your photo. Will reckons it looks like he has a hernia hahah.

    Next match was Federer vs Millman. Originally didn’t know who to go for. The GOAT or fellow countryman?
    I ended up going for Millman. He should have won but didn’t. It was a wicked 5 setter though and the first game I’ve seen that did the 10 point tiebreak for the 5th set. The crowd was having some seriously loyalty dilemmas. Match didn’t finish until 1:30. Exhausted. Such a big day.

    25.1.2

    Super tired but agreed to meet Bronte and Bea for brekkie. We walked there. Nice foods. So good to see them. Bronte hd to go but we walked with Bea to the market. She is so touchy but I love it. It moves you feel really Loved. She bought me some donuts 🥰

    Walked home and we all went back to bed.
    Very relaxing day just watching the tennis on the tv and dozing on the lounge.
    For dinner we went to the meat and wine Co. the. Over to the crown casino to lose some money :) played some pokies - more chili, got 2 free features but no chili 😟😟 haha
    As we were leaving I called out to dad and some old bag lost her shit at me. I told her to calm down and she told me to fuck off, me and my dirty legs 😂 gave her the finger and walked off. She was still bad mouthing me as I walked away. Wish I was in more confrontational sometimes.
    Back home now watching more tennis.

    26.1.20

    Bourke street found an alley way with some cafes for breakfast. We were basically sitting in the kitchen and the Chef was a machine! just bang bang bang.

    Walked to the closest cinema and bought tickets.
    Had 1.5 hours to kill so me and Will browsed the shops.
    We saw 1917 which was good. I liked it more for his filmography or whatever you call it - basically it’s one continuous shot. Dad kept up a running commentary though. Such a pest 😂😂
    On our walk back we walked past a bazillion twits protesting Australia Day with signs like “abolish Australia” ?? Like what’s the plan after that darl? Protest cause you are passionate not a puppet or cause it’s the in thing to do.
    Melbourne is seriously a wonderland. The percentage of weird fucks is like about 50%. Already feeling dumber and kinda disgusted. Dad ad Will agree. All for inderviduality but what the actual fuck Melbourne.

    We then went back to the hotel, got the tickets (ive learnt this trip dad has troubles making decisions for himself. Happened several times with different things but one example was he had a jumper in his hand, noticed Will didn’t so said he wasn’t gonna bring one either. I then said I was gonna bring one and he was then so on the fence it was unbelievable. How can a 58 year old man be so unable to make a decision for himself about this 😂 like he must normally just follow but because we picked different he didn’t know which was right. )
    Anyway off to the tennis via maccas. To my HORROR dad had shitty toilet paper on his back. No idea how he managed that but I didn’t want to embarrass him to I just ripped it off and put it In the bin. Never have I wanted hand sanitizer so bad.
    Got to the tennis early - bought a magnet at the gift shop 🙃 then passed times watching some mixed doubles. So boring. I just thought it was very amateur. The real highlight for me was participating in a Mexican wave that disrupted the game and a child - is guess 8 or nine screaming Aussie Aussie Aussie and the crowd responding with such enthusiasm and then once realizing it was a child come real patriotism happened and everyone applauded her. ❤️❤️❤️💕💕💕

    Apersol spritz was the drink of the tournament so i got one and it was gross. Note to self: do not buy.

    First match was Ash Barty Vs A. Riske. Crowd was much better this.
    Lots of funny guys making songs about “everybarty” in lots of different ways but my favourite was I’m a “barty girl” plays a point then some lone “you can brush my hair.. undress me everywhere.. “ all about the timing 👌🏻👌🏻
    Dad is deaf and I had to repeat most of the crowd comments for him.
    Barty won yewwww.
    Up next was Federer again. I went and bought a towel cause my magnet is off the 2020 towel design but it’s not obvious and I was worried I’d forget so if I bought a towel too then I’d remember😅😂😂
    We only watched the first 2 set. I think everyone was pretty out tennised and wary of an early morning. We walked home and watched the end on the tv.

    27.1.20

    Nothing exciting today except an Uber to the airport cause the shuttle service dad organized is a joke. Wanted to pick us up hours earlier than necessary because they had others to pick up. I don’t want to spend 3 hours on a bus when it’s a 20 minute drive. Fk em.
    Plane didn’t crash - always a bonus.

    Home 🎉 has a great trip!    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Bnb getaway

    August 8, 2020 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    Wonderful weekend away.
    We snuggled by the fire, ate bad food, walked around the property looking for wild flowers, watched movies, played Yahtzee and drank wine.

    I did step on a frog though which was pretty upsetting lol.
    It definitely has a terminal headache- I had gelatin on my foot afterward. BIG YUCK.

    It POURED as well. I loved listening to it. The whole south coast flooded.    Read more

  • Angharad DowseAustralian moments.Traveler

    Drinks

    September 26, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Girls night started with $30 margarita sliders. Amazingggg.

    Went to scary canary where Will joined us.
    Drank lots.
    Em the drunk bitch vomited over our table then got naked in the bathroom as she dried her shirt wtb the hand dryer.
    To nobodies suprise we got kicked out lol.
    We then went to bungalow 8 having a few “shots to go” the way at clubs that were already at capacity.

    I had a fantastic night. Just happiness and silliness with good friends.    Read more

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