Author: aandeadventures2018

New Zealand – South Island

I can not believe we’re saying this but our trip is over! I’m writing this while we are partway through our very long journey home and boy it feels surreal. We’ve been lazy with the blog in the South Island so will have to squeeze the last 3 weeks into one biiiig post.

Our first stop in the South Island was Kaiteriteri, a town near Abel Tasman National Park. The day after we arrived was Valentine’s (/Galentines) Day, so the three of us celebrated by taking the ferry into the national park and walking 19km back to the entrance – so romantic. The walk along the coastline was beautiful; the water was so blue and clear and we enjoyed lunch sat on a rock overlooking the ocean. We had a slightly hairy moment when Anna dropped her water bottle down the side of the hill and had to scramble after it, but she made it back in one piece (just!). We had dinner sat on the beach with bottles of wine as the sun went down which was a lovely way to end the day.

From Kaiteriteri we drove to Westport, stopping off midway at Nelson Lakes to complete a Kiwi Experience tradition of jumping off the jetty into the lake. Note Anna and my perfect synchronisation in the photo – that’s what happens when you spend 6 months tied at the hip. Ella still has a lil way to go to get in sync with us! There wasn’t a great deal to do in Westport but our driver, Cowboy, took us to the beach after dinner and we had a campfire where we roasted marshmallows and stargazed. Very gap year.

From Westport we drove to Lake Mahinapua, stopping off at Pancake Rocks on the way. Lake Mahinapua is another Kiwi Experience tradition; the bus stays at a hotel in the middle of nowhere, the staff cook a delicious roast dinner, and we have a party in the bar. Our theme was ABC (anything but clothes) so we created our costumes and had a fair few drinks with equally weirdly dressed backpackers. We were then treated to pancakes and bacon in the morning to soak up the alcohol before we hit the road again.

Our next stop was Franz Josef. We spent 3 nights here and had hoped to do some hikes near the glacier and surrounding mountains, but unfortunately the weather had other ideas. We managed to do a short walk to the glacier and another one through the forest but apart from that the constant rain and cold meant we had a couple of bed days (which wasn’t too bad really).

We left Franz Josef just as the weather was getting better – typical – and made our way to Wanaka. We stopped off at a couple of lakes, a gorgeous mirror lake overlooking Mount Cook and Lake Pawea. Wanaka itself was so beautiful and was our favourite stop of NZ. After checking into our hostel, we went to see the famous Wanaka Tree (which is just a tree growing in water but has its own instagram page) and explored the town. The next day, we rented bikes and spent a day cycling around the beautiful countryside. We stopped off at a winery where we were able to take part in a free wine tasting (amazing), and ended the day with a $5 dominos by the lake as the sun went down. Proper travelling on a budget!

We had to get an early night as we had somewhat stupidly decided to climb yet another mountain for sunrise – Roy’s Peak. The taxi picked us up at 3am and we started not long after. It was probably a good thing we couldn’t see how high the mountain was as the hike was a solid 2 hours uphill. However, speedy walkers that we are, we made it to the first viewpoint a whole 2 hours before sunrise and even with all our layers on it was FREEZING.

The summit was another 30 minute walk up the mountain and we didn’t want to be any colder than we already were, so we formed a penguin huddle and daydreamed of beaches to pass the time. We warmed up by running around, doing some star jumps and a bit of the can-can – getting some strange looks from other people arriving at the viewpoint – and made our way up to the summit. We arrived, sat down for breakfast, and waited for sunrise. The next 30 minutes were absolutely beautiful. As the sun came out, the sky literally turned into a rainbow, and the clouds turned into candy floss. Watching the sunlight hit the lake and surrounding mountains was a view we will forever remember. It was still cold, but we cracked out an emergency foil blanket I had in my first aid kit which, while it may have made us look slightly mad, helped heaps. We hitchhiked back to town (sorry Mum/Dad), cooked a brunch of eggs, beans and hash browns, and promptly fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon.

We left beautiful Wanaka the next morning and drove to Queenstown. We spent 5 nights here, exploring the town and generally chilling out a bit. We went to a pub quiz in an Irish bar that made us feel right at home, followed by a night out in some of the bars, had a famous Fergburger and climbed Queenstown Hill. Ella left us for 2 nights to go explore the south of the South Island but we reunited on our trip to Milford Sound. Milford Sound is a Fjord created by glaciers thousands and thousands of years ago and the boat trip through it was beautiful.

Our penultimate stop was Lake Tekapo, a stunning lake that is bright turquoise as a result of the melting glaciers. While Anna and Ella hiked up another small mountain to get views of the mountains, I had had enough of these walks, and so sunbathed by the lake feeling very lazy. Lake Tekapo is in the middle of a dark sky reserve and so is a prime spot for stargazing, so after it got dark that evening we went out to the lake armed with blankets and stargazed. The sky was so clear that we could see the Milky Way – it was stunning.

We left the next morning for Christchurch, our final stop of the trip. We ended up having 4 nights here which is more than most, but it was nice to relax for a few days before coming home. Christchurch is still recovering from the earthquake in 2011, meaning that the buildings are either brand new or half demolished, but we really liked the city. We visited the earthquake museum, walked along the River Avon (making Ella and I feel right at home), went to an outdoor cinema showing of A Star is Born with some girls we met on the bus, and had a beach day.

For our final day of travelling, Anna, Ella, Laura (another KiwiEx friend) and I rented a car and drove to Akaroa. Akaroa is a beautiful French town a couple of hours outside Christchurch. We wandered the town for a few hours then took the scenic route back to the city. It was pancake day that day so we kept to tradition and ate our body weight in crepes! Then it was time to say some goodbyes; to Ella as she flew to Auckland, and to New Zealand, the most beautiful country we have been to.

So here we are. We can’t believe our 6 month trip has come to an end! It’s simultaneously sad and exciting, we can’t wait to see family and friends and have all the home comforts we’ve been missing, but it also means we have to face the real world pretty soon. We have made some amazing friends and done a countless number of incredible things; everyone says this but we really have had the best time. And yet – our beds, proper tea and coffee, clean clothes and home-cooked lasagnes are waiting for us at home. We cannot wait!!

For the last time,

Love,

A&E x

Kia Ora, New Zealand!

We’ve been in New Zealand for over 2 weeks now, and have done so much already! We arrived in Auckland in the middle of the night, and had a couple of days to explore the city before boarding our first Kiwi Experience bus. We wandered round the harbour eyeing up the fancy boats, did a bit of shopping, and spent an afternoon at a lovely little beach nearby where Anna enjoyed an ice cream that was almost as big as her head.

We boarded our first big green bus on Friday 1st February. Having been on them for a while now, it’s been so nice to just get on a bus and know that we’re going to get to the right place without having to worry about anything! Our first driver (or professional backpacker as he preferred to be called) was Guy, who gave us an introduction to New Zealand with some great useless facts. For example, did you know there are 6 sheep for every 1 person in NZ?

Our first stop was Hot Water Beach. We were here for just 24 hours where we did a lovely walk to Cathedral Cove and then enjoyed dinner and a cider in the sun. The weather is like a British summer here and it doesn’t get dark until 9pm which is a real treat. After one night there, we drove to Waitomo, which is famous for its glow worm caves. We did a walking tour of the caves which was a bit of a disappointment, not least because we found out glow worms are not worms at all, but maggots. Glow maggots doesn’t have quite the same charm to it really.

Then, for only the 4th or 5th time in our entire trip, Anna and I spent some time apart. Anna’s bus went straight to Rotorua, while my bus took a detour to Hobbiton, the film set where Lord of the Rings was filmed. I’m not a die hard fan of LOTR but it was still so much fun to see the hobbit holes and find out about how they made the films. Plus, having a drink in the Green Dragon was pretty cool.

We reunited that afternoon in the hostel and explored the town. One thing about Rotorua – it stinks. Absolutely stinks. It’s a huge geothermal area and the sulphur from the geysers makes the whole town smell like rotten eggs. We spent a couple of days there and spent one evening at the Tamaki Maori Village. We spent the evening learning about Maori culture, having a go at some Maori games and feasting on Maori food. Put a buffet in front of two girls who have been backpacking for 6 months and, trust me, we will go to town.

From Rotorua we went to Taupo, stopping off for a quick look at Huka Falls where 200,000 litres of water pass through every second. We met up with Ella at the hostel, a girl from the bus who is now travelling with us (A&E becomes A&E&E), but had an early night in preparation for the next day: the Tongariro Crossing. The Tongariro Crossing is a 19.4km trek through volcanoes and forest south of Taupo, which took us 7 hours to complete. We walked up a volcano and past Mount Doom but unfortunately for us, our view when we got to the top were clouds, clouds and more clouds. We waited for a while but they did not budge, so walked back down the volcano past emerald and blue lakes that we couldn’t really see. It eventually cleared on the walk down so we did get some beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. We treated ourselves to a well earned Dominos that evening!

Our view from the top…

The next day, Anna did another New Zealand bucket list item – skydiving. I waved her off as she got picked up in a limo (oh so classy), and she threw herself out of a plane at 15,000ft. As you can see by the photos, she genuinely had the time of her life while she plummeted towards the earth and she’s already planning where else in the world she could skydive to top it.

As a post skydive treat, we met Anna at McDonalds which, rather fittingly, is actually in a plane (see photo below). She was dropped off in her limo and we ran into each other’s arms to celebrate the fact that she was still alive. We then had a relaxing afternoon taking a trip to the natural geothermal spa pools. Our muscles were still aching from the hike the day prior so it was exactly what we needed.

We left Taupo the next day and drove to River Valley, which is a hostel in the middle of nowhere, by a river and in a valley. We just spent one night here relaxing by the river and having some drinks with people from the bus. Our final stop in the North Island was Wellington. We spent a day topping up our tan at the local beach, which every capital city should have in our opinion (looking at you, London), and went out for a classy cocktail at a bar nearby.

The next morning, we headed to Te Papa museum for a little bit of culture where we saw an amazing exhibition about New Zealand soldiers fighting in WWI in Turkey. Afterwards, we explored the city for a bit, and Anna took a trip to the library to update her CV as we’ve realised that we’re actually going to have to face the real world in 3 weeks which is slightly terrifying. We then met up with James, a friend of mine who moved out to NZ last year, to climb Mount Victoria for sunset. Unfortunately we couldn’t actually see the sunset because of the clouds, but it was a beautiful view and it was nice to catch up with an old friend.

We got the ferry to the South Island the next morning, and are now working our way down the west coast. T minus 15 days till we fly home!

Love,

A&E&E x

See ya later, Australia

Sorry for the radio silence on the blog recently! We’ve been so non-stop working our way through the North Island of New Zealand that we forgot to update on our final week in Australia. Last time we wrote we were about to board a 14 hour night bus to Airlie Beach, ready to start a 2 night boat trip in the Whitsundays (otherwise known as paradise).

We survived our final night bus of the entire trip (thank god – they never get any easier) to Airlie Beach and, after a day of napping and exploring, we packed a bag and walked to the harbour to board our boat. Our boat was called Spank Me, which contrary to its name suggests, is not a party boat. Spank me is actually an official sailing term we’ll have you know; the boat used to race around the world! We had a very serious skipper named Neil whose non-stop sarcasm wasn’t understood/appreciated by all. Also aboard were two deckhands, Fabian and Luke, who were pretty much our Mum and Dad while we were aboard the boat.

As soon as we departed the harbour it was a pinch me moment, sailing through the stunning Whitsunday Islands in the glorious sunshine. After sailing for a couple of hours, we had our first chance to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef (another bucket list tick). We snorkelled 4 times over the trip, each time through stunning coral reefs. There were points where fish were swimming all around you, and others where the coral were such bright colours it seemed fake. Sadly a lot of the coral has died in the area but, rather than being due to humans, this is as a result of the cyclone they experienced last year which destroyed the sea bed.

On the first evening we docked just in time for sunset. With gin & tonics in hand we decided life doesn’t get much better than this. Well, apart from the fact we were parked up in a bull shark nursery which was interesting. One of the crew threw leftovers overboard after dinner and almost instantly there were sharks thrashing at the surface, so no nighttime swimming for us!

After the first night, the crew got us up at the crack of dawn and we sailed to Whitehaven beach. The big selling point of Spank Me for us was that we were told we’d be the first boat to dock at Whitehaven Beach and they did not disappoint. At 8am in the morning we had the entire beach to ourselves. It was so beautiful, the colours of the water were incredible and well worth the 6am wake up call. Easily one of the best views of our entire trip. We were given 3 hours to explore the island and chill on the beach and by the time we left it was jam packed! The tide had also completely changed so the world famous Whitehaven Beach was barely still there.

Our second night aboard the boat was far more chilled than the first (Anna learnt that morning that hangovers and seasickness did not mix). However, we more than made up for it when we were back on dry land at the ‘after party’ the next evening, where we had dinner and drinks with the crew and our shipmates. Let’s just say getting up for a 9.30am bus the next morning was a struggle…

From Airlie we went to Magnetic Island, our penultimate stop in Australia. Here we stayed in a kind of jungle paradise, where our room in the hostel was a big tent that had a double bed in it. We had a very chilled day there (which was exactly what we needed after Fraser and the Whitsundays) before waking up the next morning to partake in a backpacker tradition on the island: topless barbie cars.

We rented a little pink car for the day, picked up Stella (a girl we met on Fraser Island) and set off. The car was more like a gokart, with a steering wheel and gear stick and very little else (seriously, it didn’t have a roof), but it was so much fun to drive. We walked up to a viewpoint and spotted a koala hanging out in a tree, and drove the length of the island stopping off at various spots and beaches. We also saw rock wallabies which hang out in rocks on the coast, and even saw a little joey still in its mother’s pouch which was adorable.

Finally it was time for our last stop of Australia – Cairns. We had three days there and for the first two it literally did not stop raining. Not exactly what we had planned for our last few days in Aus but we had a bed day and watched the entire Killing Eve series, so not a day wasted! We managed to get some sun on our last day and caught up with Stella again around the pool. That evening we had a little Fraser Island reunion in the hostel bar, with around 10 of us being there at the same time by coincidence which was nice. A particular highlight of the evening was the talent competition, where our gal Stella won by a mile with a Whitney rendition. It was a perfect way to end our time in Australia, spent with some of the fab friends we’d made along the way.

We had the most incredible 6 weeks in Australia, loving every minute of our East Coast adventure. We got to catch up with old friends, made great new friends and saw what all the fuss was about when it comes to life down under. So for now it’s farewell Australia and hello New Zealand!

Love,

A&E x

Brisbane to Fraser Island

After a chilled few days in Byron we arrived in Brisbane on a Sunday afternoon. That same evening we ventured out to the city to meet yet another familiar face from back home – Jack, who went to UoB with us. He now works for Hawkeye, setting up the equipment for cricket and tennis. He gets to travel the world and actually gets paid for it, which we were very jealous about.

Monday was Anna’s birthday! Kate and Joe met us at our hostel and we travelled to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary just outside the city. It was an amazing day, we got to hold koalas, feed kangaroos and we even saw a platypus. We came back to the city for lunch, browsed the shops a bit then had an Aussie special for dinner: a BBQ in the park overlooking the beautiful Brisbane skyline. Australia has public barbecues in almost every park or beach, which is such a great idea but we decided they would get destroyed/graffitied/weed on within days if the UK tried it. Probably best to not suggest it to Teresa, she’s got enough on her plate at the moment.

Kate and Joe left Brisbane to go and do their Fraser Island experience the next day, while we had a very lazy day in bed thanks to all the wine we drank at the park. We left the hostel only to go to the cinema where we saw the new Mary Poppins film (which was so amazingly British) and to get food, which we think is absolutely fine for the day after a 24th birthday, right?

We had planned to get up the following day and head to North Stradbroke Island. However our plans were put on hold when a) Anna left her water bottle on the bus and b) she discovered some very suspicious looking bites on her legs. So, we gave up on the island and went back to the hostel, where we instead spent the day washing absolutely all of our belongings. Bedbugs are such a common thing to happen to backpackers and we were surprised we’d made it this long without some kind of outbreak!

Later that day, we went into the city so I could *finally* submit my application for funding for my PhD. After that stressful experience and frankly a stressful day, we went out for dinner which was my present to Anna for her birthday. I’d found a restaurant that served steak and chips, but the chips were bottomless. It was soooooo good and a necessary treat to end the day.

North Stradbroke Island (or Straddie as the locals call it) trip attempt 2.0 the next day went more to plan and we arrived without a hitch. We spent the day doing coastal walks and must have spent a good 2 hours watching dolphins in the sea. The views were incredible and we had the beaches all to ourselves – Straddie gets a 10/10 from us.

The next day Anna and I took a trip to Mount Coot-Tha where we saw Brisbane from a distance, then met up with Kate and Joe in the evening for street food and to hear all about their Fraser Island trip. We met up with them again the next morning to wander round the Gallery of Modern Art, have the classic shot in front of the Brisbane sign, and say a final farewell before their flight home later that day.

We got a bus to Noosa that afternoon where we stayed for a couple of nights, relaxing on the beach and walking along the beautiful coast. Noosa was a beautiful seaside town but did not suit backpacker budgets, and it was torture to walk past the boutique shops and restaurants for our hostel kitchen.

Then it was time to head to Rainbow Beach, where our Fraser Island trip started! Fraser Island tag-along trips have become sort of a backpacker rite of passage, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. The island itself is the largest sand island in the world, and is famous for beautiful beaches that you can drive along in 4x4s. So, our group of 34 got up at 6am and drove off in 4 4WDs, with the lead car being driven by our tour guide, Stumpy. Stumpy was around 60 years old and the most stereotypical Aussie you could imagine, with weathered skin and a hobby of making surf boards in his spare time.

The man himself

On our 3 day trip, we visited Lake Mackenzie which had crystal clear blue water, Lake Wabby which had emerald green water and little guppies that nibbled the dead skin off your body, Eli Creek where we floated down the river in a rubber ring, Champagne Pools where the ocean pours into rock pools like champagne, and Indian Head which had spectacular views of the surrounding beaches; all the while driving huge cars along sand and through dirt tracks. The driving part was so much fun, though we did have a couple of hairy moments where we thought we might turn the car over!

In the evenings, we cooked dinner in camp, drank goon and chatted to our fellow backpackers. There was even a dedicated party area (or rave cave as Stumpy called it) for us to party in after hours. Everyone we had spoken to before going to Fraser said it was their favourite part of Australia, and we would have to agree. It was such an incredible experience and we had to pinch ourselves a couple of times to make sure we weren’t dreaming. We met some amazing people and like so many other parts of our trip, we won’t forget it in a hurry.

We’ve only got a few more days in Australia before we make our way to New Zealand. We can’t believe how much fun we’ve had here and how much we’ve been able to do! Stay tuned for the final instalment of A&E in Aus, including an unbelievable 2 day trip through the Whitsundays.

Love,

A&E x

Sydney and Byron Bay (happy new year 🎉)

Sydney feels like a lifetime ago now but we will do our best to remember. Our hostel was in Woolloomooloo (that’s not a typo I swear) and we loved it as we actually had single beds instead of bunks. Backpacker luxuries… On our first day, we went and got our bearings, saw the harbour bridge and opera house (Anna was disappointed by the size of it and thought it would be 2x as big), and walked through the botanical gardens. We googled how much it would be to go there on NYE, and it was $340 (just under £200) for a spot on the grass! We researched a bit and found that most places near the bridge were similar prices if not more, or were alcohol free (booooo) which kinda put a spanner in our let’s-just-figure-something-out-when-we-get-there plan.

Next morning, we went to Bondi beach. It was full of tourists in town for the fireworks and locals because it’s effectively their summer holidays, but it was a nice day out on the beach! That evening we went to Opera Bar on the harbour for a drink with some of Anna’s friends from secondary school. They had a good catch up and gossip about everyone from their school after not seeing each other for 5 years, while we drank wine and watched the world go by in front of the opera house. It was an amazing spot.

The next day, we walked around the city some more, visited an art gallery (so cultured) and went to a weekend market where we both had some amazing street food. We also met up with Lorna who studied Psychology with us at UoB. Lorna has been in Aus for about a year, working and doing her farmwork. It was lovely to catch up with her and we walked across the bridge to see the city from the other side.

On New Year’s Eve’s Eve (not a thing but we’ll go with it) we took a trip to the Blue Mountains. It took us 4 hours to get there because of train times and replacement buses, but when we finally arrived we saw the famous Three Sisters, along with what felt like half of Sydney. It was soooo busy, but we managed to lose most people after we started a trek through the jungle. The Blue Mountains are named so because of the blueish tinge from the leaves of the eucalyptus trees, and it was beautiful. It looked like the Grand Canyon if it was covered in trees. We hiked for a couple of hours, stopping at a few viewpoints and waterfalls, before making our way back to the city.

Anna’s sister Kate and her boyfriend Joe arrived in Sydney that evening, but we let them get some sleep and went to see them the next morning in Manly. We caught up on the beach for a couple of hours, planning the evenings activities. After a lot of researching, we had decided to spend NYE in a park quite far from the fireworks but with a clear view of the bridge. It was the only place we could find that was free entry, BYOB, and that you could arrive at a reasonable time (we knew people who started queueing at 6am in the city centre, just to get a spot!). We bought a $50 sushi platter for dinner and some goon to drink (being the classy ladies we are), but literally 5 minutes before we ordered an Uber to leave, the heavens opened. The rain continued for ages and we weren’t prepared to sit out in it so we came up with plan B. We got a bus back to where Kate and Joe were staying in Manly (getting drenched in the process) and settled in for a night watching the fireworks on TV. It was actually a really fun evening drinking, eating and playing games, and as luck would have it we could just about see the fireworks in the distance from the balcony!

New Year’s Day was a write off; we spent the morning in bed (and thoroughly enjoyed FaceTiming family when we were hungover but they were all drunk) then ventured out to join the other hungover tourists relaxing in the botanical gardens. We had two takeaways that day, starting 2019 how we mean to go on…

We met up with Kate on the 2nd to go back to Bondi beach. On arrival, we saw a pod of dolphins in the bay! Dolphins were my favourite animal growing up but I’d never seen them in the wild, so this was a childhood dream come true for me. After watching them for a while, Kate and Anna went and swam in the picturesque and very insta worthy iceberg pool while I went and sat in the shade because after 4 months travelling I still can’t handle heat. We then did the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk, which was stunning. It already felt like we had met up with loads of people from back home in Sydney (the place to be apparently) but here’s another – Anna and Kate’s neighbours back in Bromley were in Australia for a holiday and we managed to meet them for a quick catch up on the way!

And then it was time to leave Sydney. Our next stop was Byron Bay, so the four of us rented a car and took a roadtrip up the country. It wasn’t quite as pretty as the Great Ocean Road but we made sure the singalongs happened again (much to Joe’s dismay). We also drove on Bald Knob Road which we found very amusing.

We had 3 days in Byron, most of which we spent on the beach. We watched a beautiful sunset from the lighthouse at the top of a cliff, ate takeaway pizza on the beach, and generally just lazed around, which seems to be the vibe in Byron. Anna and Kate did a surf class with a very questionable teacher, Terry. Terry was about 70 years young and his surf boards seemed to be of a similar age. Nonetheless, they enjoyed the experience and managed to catch a few waves – despite Teacher Terry repeatedly telling Anna that she was doing something “seriously wrong” which did not please her to say the least.

For our final evening in Byron we got dressed up and went into town for a few Aperol Spritz. Byron was actually much busier and livelier than we were expecting, jam packed with bars and groups of tourists strolling the streets. It was a great couple of days and really we could’ve stayed even longer.

Next up on our Aussie adventures was Brisbane. We’ve spent the past week there celebrating Anna’s 24th birthday and exploring the city so watch this space for another blog coming soon!

Love,

A&E x

G’day mate

We touched down in Melbourne after an 8 hour flight with barely any sleep and an extra hour spent on the plane with quarantine paying a visit to another passenger! Once we were all finally let off the plane and made it through the endless security checks, we made our way into the city. Our hostel was in Fitzroy, a lovely area with heaps of independent bars and restaurants. Our first afternoon was mostly spent catching up on sleep but day 2 we got up and went on a street art walking tour around Fitzroy. We immediately fell in love with the area and spent a good few hours browsing the shops. We even found Emma St and Sutton Gallery, which I of course had to get a picture under. We came back to the hostel and actually cooked dinner for ourselves for the first time in 4 months!! We adored being in Asia but there was something lovely about being back in a western style city and doing ‘normal’ things like making dinner (fajitas, obvs) and going to the cinema (the Nightmare Before Christmas, to get us feelin festive).

The next day we got the train to Brighton Beach to see the famous beach boxes. We sat and ate a picnic and listened to Christmas songs, in 30 degree heat – a far cry from the Christmas festivities we are used to back home. We then went to St Kilda beach where we saw a penguin (!!!) but there will more penguin talk later on. That evening, we enjoyed a bottle of wine on Southbank, overlooking the Melbourne skyline, making us love the city even more.

The next day was a very exciting day for us. Bronagh, one of the girls we met in Cambodia, and her friend Emily flew in from Perth for Christmas. We didn’t think we’d see Bronagh again on our trip after leaving the school so naturally we had a very excitable reunion in the hostel. After letting them nap for a few hours we walked to Queen Victoria Market. It was street food heaven – we spent a good 30 minutes looking at all the options, before sitting down to lasagne, paella and vegetable tagine. We then got very festive while we watched a choir singing Christmas carols which was extremely cute. However, the most exciting part of our day was yet to come. On our way home, we found an Aldi! Anyone who knows Anna and I will know we love a good Aldi shop so we felt right at home. The only other thing we needed was a ticket to Fab, and we could have been back at uni again.

We had a pretty chilled day on Thursday, doing a bit of Christmas shopping and getting on an old style tram that took us round the city. That evening was the hostels weekly bar crawl, so we straightened our hair for the first time in 4 months (you have no idea how exciting this was for us) and grabbed a bottle of wine. The bar crawl was really fun, though we spent most of the time gossiping with the girls in the corner. The night ended with a delicious falafel wrap from a kebab shop and singing and dancing to Christmas songs as we walked home.

Anna woke up ‘ill’ the next day (a code for hangover if I’ve ever heard one)… (just kidding she was actually quite ill) so stayed in bed most of the day, while Bronagh, Emily and I watched some films and then went to an Irish pub in the centre of town. I’d felt more at home in Melbourne than anywhere else we’d been to, but this took me right back to being at home, going to the pub with friends (they even had cider on tap). We then went to a Wetherspoons-type bar to meet some of their friends from Perth. We were only supposed to stay for a drink or two but ended up in another Irish bar until 3am before stumbling back to the hostel.

After sleeping for 24 hours, Anna woke up feeling much better the next day so we got up and went into town to buy each other’s stocking presents. It was then time to do some serious Christmas Day planning. Bronagh and Emily had organised to cat-sit in a stranger’s house over the holidays, and had very kindly offered to host us on Christmas Day (thanks stranger – your house is beaut xo). So, we met up with them and some of the boys from the night before to plan food, drinks and games. We did our Christmas food shop in Aldi (where else) and managed to get most of the ingredients for a roast dinner. Anna and I left them and went back to St Kilda beach to watch an incredible sunset on the pier. We then waited in the increasing cold for the nightly appearance of the famous ‘little penguins’. Around 1500 penguins come to nest on the pier each night, and at an average of 30cm tall, they were absolutely adorable.

We had a busy day on Christmas Eve Eve, conquering the Great Ocean Road roadtrip with Bronagh and Emily. We left the hostel at 7.30am and didn’t get back until gone 10pm, but it was one of our highlights of the trip so far! We rented a car and spent the day belting out Natasha Bedingfield, the Spice Girls and of course some xmas Michael Bublé. Between Anna and I we drove 300 miles across the day, stopping off at some incredible views along the way including Torquay, Bells Beach, Teddy’s Lookout, Kennett River, Apollo bay, Gibson Steps, the famous Twelve Apostles, London Bridge, and the Grotto (see pics below for jealousy inducing views). A particular highlight was seeing a koala and her cub in the wild. We saw a couple from a distance earlier in the day but these two were at eye level, right on the side of the road. It was sooooo cute. We drove back with one of the prettiest pastel sunsets ever, which was the perfect end to a top notch day.

The next day was Christmas Eve, and what better way to spend it than having a picnic in the 34 degree sun. Anna, Bronagh, Emily and I sat in a park all afternoon drinking prosecco, eating a ton of hummus, and finalising plans for the next day. Anna and I then ended Christmas Eve drinking prosecco on a rooftop bar in Fitzroy which felt very strange but very fancy.

And then all of a sudden it was Christmas. It really did feel weird waking up in the sun, and it was even weirder facetiming family while it was still Christmas Eve for them! Anna and I kept to our family traditions by having smoked salmon and cream cheese for breakfast, before heading to the park to open each other’s presents. We then went over to the girls’ house to start festivities with them, Hugh, Freddie and Jack.

My family has a (slightly morbid) tradition of naming our turkey after someone famous that’s died that year. We didn’t find a turkey in Aldi and bought 2 small chickens instead, who we named Aretha Franklin and Avicii. So those music legends got eaten alongside Stan Lee (a joint of ham) and all the trimmings (no parsnips and sprouts tho 😔). We drank prosecco, then wine, then goon, and played Christmas games such as articulate and charades until past 2am. As cliche as it sounds, we really couldn’t have imagined a better group of people to spend Christmas away from the family with. It was obviously very strange to be away from home but these guys made it so much fun and it was a day we will never forget.

We had to check out of our lovely quirky hostel on Boxing Day morning, and then went over to the girls’ for a late brunch and to watch the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special. We had a night bus booked to Sydney that evening and so had to say our final farewells. It was sad saying goodbye to the girls, we’d got so close to them over such a short amount of time (spending Christmas Day with someone does that to people) but we’ll definitely be seeing them again at some point. It was also sad to say goodbye to Melbourne – anyone who’s been will know it has a certain charm and Anna and I have both said it has been one of our favourite cities on our trip (and maybe even favourite ever).

We’re now in Sydney, but more of that in our next post. We’ll be here for New Year’s Eve (something to tick off the bucket list) and have lots of friends here which we are very excited to see. Kate, Anna’s sister, and her boyfriend have even flown out today and we can’t wait to see them tomorrow!

Love,

A&E x

Our 48 Hour Singapore Fling 🍹

Hello! Anna here. Emma is getting a bit big for her boots and asked me to be a guest writer on her blog. Next she’ll be looking for sponsors!

This blog post is a bit of a special one for me as it’s to summarise our crazy 48 hours in Singapore with my Mum and Dad – the one and only Janey and Marky P! Never ones to miss out on a holiday, Mum and Dad decided a few weeks ago that it wasn’t fair I was going to all these amazing places without them and they wanted in on some of the action. With Emma and I being in Singapore for just 48 hours it was a total whirlwind from start to finish. Looking back on it from our hostel in Australia, it really does feel like it was all just a dream!

Our flights were set to land in Singapore just 15 minutes apart. Annoyingly Mum and Dad were slightly delayed so Emma and I had an hour or so to kill in the airport. We decided to grab some food and the time had come to break our 4 months of being veggies! And where else to do so than McDonalds of course – roasted chicken bites with a jus’ de tomato. In other words, chicken nuggets and a tonne of ketchup. Yum.

When we eventually found Mum and Dad in the big airport, we all had a big hug and set off to Singapore city. No time to waste! Anyone that knows me knows I love to plan and needless to say I had an hour by hour itinerary in place for the next 48 hours.

Emma and I were staying in a hostel just a short walk from Mum and Dad. We checked ourselves into our private cabin room which we were very content with and then headed to The Fullerton Hotel where Mum and Dad were staying. Concierge called up to tell them their daughters had arrived and our tiny 3 x 2 metre room suddenly became pale in comparison to their stunning room, overlooking the Marina Bay Sands. Ah well, each to their own. We had towels provided at ours, plus biscuits, slippers and a water machine – all luxurious items in our eyes!

For night one we headed across the marina to see the beautiful Gardens by the Bay at night. Christmas was in full swing here and we enjoyed a light display of the trees synchronised to every Christmas song under the sun and complete with fake snow. We then went up the tallest tree and had a fantastic meal looking down on the other beautifully lit up trees. After being reunited with my parents, being reunited with prosecco came a close second. It was emotional for both Emma and I and we never want to be apart from it for so long ever again. After dinner we strolled back to our hotels and took in the incredible nighttime skyline of Singapore. We all fell a little in love with the city at this point, loving the peacefulness of such a awesome city.

Day 2 we had lots to fit in! We met Mum and Dad at a cute little cafe for breakfast and had a couple of lattes to fuel us all for the day ahead. We then jumped on one of the spotlessly clean and bizarrely deserted tubes to visit the Singapore Botanical Gardens. These are definitely worth a visit if you are ever in Singapore and we could have strolled around them for hours. The Orchid Garden was particularly pretty with golden archways and lovely pathways lined with flowers.

For lunch that day Dad had booked a table at Marina Bay Sand’s 57th floor restaurant Ce La Vie. With a bramble cocktail in our hands and panoramic views of Singapore it was certainly a lunch to remember. We enjoyed a walk around after, taking a sneaky peak at the rooftop infinity pool which is sadly only open to guests. We also explored the shopping mall on the ground floor of Marina Bay Sands which was huge and contained every ridiculously expensive designer brand you can imagine. And if, say for example, you wanted to go to Gucci, but then also YSL which is on the other end of the mall – DO NOT FEAR – there’s the option of hopping on a gondola and riding down the river inside the shopping mall to get between the two.

Next on the list was Chinatown. We only spent an hour or so here, wandering the streets and popping into some of the temples. We also browsed the rows and rows of markets, all selling exactly what we’ve seen in every other country for the past four months but at five times the price. All starting to feel a little tired after the 20,000 plus steps we’d walked, I decided to allow a spontaneous nap break (yeh that’s right, I went off schedule). We went back to our hotels and reenergised for the evening ahead.

An absolute must when you’re in Singapore is a Singapore Sling at the world famous Raffles Long Bar. We’d thought it was closed while Raffles Hotel was under renovation but luckily the Long Bar has just been reopened so we were able to tick it off the list. However, taking the girl with a nut allergy to a bar with peanuts on every table and nut shells all over the floor probably wasn’t the smartest idea. That said, Emma survived it and Mum, Dad and I regularly checked in with her to ensure her throat wasn’t starting to itch. The epipen was also ready and waiting.

After the cocktails we wandered to the harbour which appears to be the place to be on a Friday night. Every restaurant was packed and the atmosphere was great. We enjoyed a meal at a street food type place where we ordered a selection of Singapore/SE Asian dishes. Yet again Mum and Dad let us do the ordering so we could introduce them to our favourite dishes from the last couple of months. We finished the evening at their hotel rooftop bar playing a board game. What a day!

The next morning Mum and Dad treated themselves to a lie in, not waking up until almost midday! Like teenagers eh?! We got a taxi to their hotel with our rucksacks and had a few strange looks. The taxi driver seemed to think we’d asked him to take us to the wrong place, and the hotels Bell Boys had to double take at the two backpackers rocking up! We unpacked and repacked all our stuff in Mum and Dad’s room, sending a few unwanted bits back home and adding in some Christmas presents. Then we had a delicious brunch and quickly popped across town to Little India to explore the vibrant food markets and endless sari shops.

With everything ticked off my to do list, there was only one thing left on the schedule – time to go to the airport. Although 48 hours seems like no time at all, we squeezed so much into it and were so lucky to have Mum and Dad there with us to do Singapore in style. They walked us to the station and we said our final goodbyes. It only seems like yesterday that we were in Heathrow airport doing the same thing. And, if Australia flies by as quickly as SE Asia did, we’ll be reunited with both them and Judy and Mark before we know it.

It was hard to say goodbye after such a special time, but knowing we were heading down under to a whole new set of adventures and experiences made it that little bit easier.

Love,

A&E x