an aussie christmas

This has been one bizarre Christmas. Not only is it my first Christmas away from family but I was spending it in 40 degrees. The day started early with a small champagne breakfast, then a trip to the beach. The beach was so much fun with reindeer antlers, Santa hats and Christmas songs on the beach radios. We only stayed at the beach for an hour or so because even though it was so early it was still so hot. We went back to our apartment to have a BBQ. We had sausages, chicken and steak with potato salad and a green salad. It was so nice but it doesn't beat a roast dinner.

After a big meal I needed to have the traditional Christmas Day nap, I felt exhausted. When I woke I spent a good few hours on Skype calling my parents, my brothers, grandad and gran and then again a few hours after so I could Skype my uncle and my nan.

I had a really fun day with my friend and her family but for me there is no place like home this time of year. I will admit that I did cry a little after skyping my mum and dad but I'm just grateful I got to speak to them and be part of their Christmas Day back in England.

 

As mentioned previously, I have now started my YouTube channel and I have loaded a video of my aussie christmas.

 

Christmas tee - Woolworths

Christmas shorts - Primark

Bikini top - Cotton On

Bikini bottoms - Asos

Dress - Dotti

 

para-para-paradise

This is what I wore today to Rottnest Island, which can only be described as paradise (travel blog post here).

I bought this dress after seeing it on Julie's blog. As a plain black dress I thought it could easily be dressed both down for the beach or up for a day/night out which is perfect when you're living out your suitcase.

 

Julie's blog post - here

Dress - Asos

Sunglasses - Ray Ban

Flip flops - Havaianas

 

jaws

I woke up this morning to a 'Shark Alarm' going off on the beach opposite. It sounds whenever a shark is spotted so surfers and swimmers know to leave the sea. I found out later in the day that 13 Tiger Sharks were spotted and had eaten a dolphins not far from the beach.

 

Today was a beautiful day to go to King's Park (see pictures of the stunning view here). It was 28 degrees which I think is the perfect temperature and it was lovely to sit on the perfectly kept grass and look at the city. I can't wait to go back with a picnic and some cold alcoholic beverages.

After we got too hot from sitting in the sun we went for lunch at The Lucky Shag which is right next to the bell tower. The pub looks over the river and I have been told you can some times see dolphins as you eat. The food was beautiful and it was an amazing location and I will most definitely be back there again.

 

This is what I wore for the day. My wardrobe has become incredibly casual and basic but it's just what you need in this sunshine.

Shorts - Cotton On

Tee - H&M

Sunglasses - Ray Ban

 

so much love in airports

Yesterday I wondered around Perth Museum (post here) whist waiting for my friend Becky to arrive back in Perth from Cairns. I finally met my beautiful friend Becky in the early afternoon (cheeky picture) who I'd not seen for 8 months. Becky literally ran at me, massive smile on her face, screaming. I dumped my bags on the floor, ran at her and had the best hug I've ever had, being picked up and spun around. I've missed her so very much.

 

I have been lucky enough to fly to many different countries and have been through many airports, but I have never gone to an airport and waited for someone in arrivals. Today we made our way to Perth airport to pick up Becky's mum, Maggie, who has flown from England via Singapore to spend Christmas and New Year here.

As we were in the International arrivals part of the airport, you know that some of the people who are being met may not have seen each other for months or even years. It was surprisingly emotional to see the smiles on everyone's faces as they catch the eye of the people they are meeting. Whilst waiting for Maggie we saw many tears, laughter and happy people being welcomed in to Perth. It reminded me of when I met my dad in Heathrow airport in 2010 after spending 3 months travelling around Australia and how happy I was to see his face light up when I walked through arrivals. This thought made me feel homesick for the first time. Mum, dad, Steve, Mark if you're reading this; I love you guys.

Maggie soon arrived and it was great to see how excited she was to be seeing Becky after 8 months and to be in Australia. We drove her back to our beautiful apartment (a review and peak inside here) and then walked along the beautiful Scarborough beach (pictures here).

 

feeling festive #10 - markets

I am staying at the Emperor's Crown hostel in Perth for 6 nights (review here). The family I was staying with have recently gone back to England for a holiday over Christmas and New Year, so I am staying at the hostel until Monday when I will be meeting up with my friend Becky. I have known Becky for absolutely ages and she come to Australia for a year in April so I've not seen her for 8 months. Excited is an understatement.

Each Friday there are markets just round the corner from the hostel but as we are now in December there was a Christmassy theme. There was some beautiful home made crafts, delicious food and a small band singing festive songs. I had such a fun night and I finally started to feel a bit festive. You can see more pictures of the markets here on my travel blog.

This is what I wore to the markets. Please excuse my hair, this is what no conditioner, hot weather and a lack of hair dryer and hair straighteners looks like. You can see a better picture of my shorts here.

 

Tee - Dotti

Shorts - Cotton On

Bag - Zara

 

fruit loop

I hate having flat hair and so I had a go at using the BaByliss Pro conical wand. Once I got the hang of it I though it was quite easy to use despite a few burnt finger tips. I am still waiting for the day that I have the perfect sea matted, long, wavy surf hair.

As mentioned in this post, I have wanted lilac hair for a long time and I did some experimenting recently. I like the stripe of colour but I would ideally like a much lighter shade if I was going to do my whole head. I have no idea what the name of the colour is, but I am going to go with raspberry.

 

Tee - Topshop

 

walking on sunshine

Today I woke up full of cold and generally feeling crappy so I decided to make my nails more summery as it was officially summer on 1st December here in Australia. I decided to use the Ciate mini in Speed Dial from the ever so cool advent calendar. I can be quite picky with nail varnish and I think some of the more expensive nail varnishes can be a bit crap (OPI and Essie) but I really liked Ciate and thought it went on really well and looked good after only 2 coats.

I used to live in gold jewellery but recently I've found myself loving silver jewellery again. The absolutely lovely Faye from The Bohemian Collective gave me this above knuckle ring as a leaving present and I haven't taken it off since. I've teamed it with this beautifully simple ring that I have borrowed from the lovely Sian and Emma who I am staying with.

 

When I was packing for Australia I knew that I would want to paint my nails but I wanted to pack as little as possible. I got the Instant Nail Polish Remover from Savers for £1 which is an absolute bargain and it works so well. I also bought this nail file buffer block for a cheap way to keep my nails looking nice.

I'm now going to spend the rest of the day celebrating that I have finally got my iPhone to work and browsing Pinterest. I don't know why it's taken me so long to finally sign up for Pinterest but I'm so pleased I finally have.

 

Shop The Bohemian Collective | Tweet The Bohemian Collective | Facebook The Bohemian Collective

 

 

park life

 

The family I am staying with have dogs and today we went for a walk through the local park. It's been a bit stormy the last few days so it was nice to finally have some sunshine.

I'm still not 100% sure if I like the top I am wearing (similar top here). I like the loose fit but I'm not sure if I like the back of the top as it is so much longer then the front.

Top - Primark

Leggings - Topshop

Flip Flops - Havaianas

Sunglasses -Ray Bans

More pictures of the local park on my travel blog.

 

see you soon

 

champagne at the rubens . afternoon tea with my mum . christmassy lights in london . taking my family out for their christmas surprise . my families christmas surprise . me and my brothers on top of the O2 . the last "christmas" supper . fire lanterns . my family bought me fireworks and fire lanterns as a surprise . beautiful fireworks . bye house . my farewell pint at the airport

The past few weeks have been hectic. I've been trying to see all my friends and family whilst packing and organising my life. As per usual I left everything to the last minute but this is it... I am finally following my dreams and on my way to Australia for the next year or two. The past few weeks have confirmed that I have absolutely brilliant friends and family who I am going to miss so much. A special thank you to my mum, dad and brothers for making my last day in England so special. Lots of love, see you soon <3

beside the seaside

I think I am meant to live beside the seaside; it is definitely my happy place. I spent the weekend in Little Hampton, Sussex to see some family for the last time before I leave for Australia. I'm hoping the next time I have a picture on a beach it'll be in the sunshine instead of the rain. Saying goodbye to family has made my trip to Australia seem even more real. Although I'm sad I'm not going to see everyone for a while, I am getting even more excited to leave. In 4 weeks at this time I will be settling down to an in flight movie on my way to Hong Kong.

My to do list over the next few weeks is ridiculous. I need to re-write my CV, sell even more of my life on eBay and pack. I literally hate packing! Goodbye sleep, hello zombie eyes and getting shit done.

if you never try you'll never know

I feel like I haven't blogged or been on twitter properly in ages, when in reality it's only been a week. On Monday I handed in my months notice at work. It's official; I'm leaving a second job to go to Australia! It is finally starting to sink in that I don't have a lot of time at all before I leave.

I hate eBay with a passion. There's always someone who doesn't pay or asks to have their item shipped to a different country when you've specifically stated UK only. As my parents are planning on doing our house up whilst I'm gone, and I could do with some extra cash, I have been going through all my clothes to see what I can put on eBay. I don't think I've thrown anything away for at least 5 years so there was A LOT of clothes to go through. Secret hoarder much! Pretty much everything is going to start at 99p so if you fancy a bargain please have a look at my eBay page. There will be much more going on over the next few weeks so keep an eye out :)

As well as selling my life on eBay I've also got to fill my iPod with some epic tunes, learn how to blog and edit videos/photos from my iPad. It's going to be a busy few weeks so I apologise if I don't blog, comment or tweet much. I've also decided that I will be creating a YouTube account so I can vlog whilst I'm in Australia, so prepare to laugh at my first video in the next few weeks too. So much to look forward to ;)

Playsuit - Primark

Jumper - Zara

the secret of happiness is freedom, the secret of freedom is courage

It feels like forever since I last updated my blog, but a lot has been going on. I wrote a post a little while ago about how important I think it is to follow your dreams. My dream? To live in Australia. I have been saying for as long as I can remember that I will go back to Australia for at least a year but I didn't ever make any plans. That has all changed now. Since this post I have put my dream in to action and I will be leaving England on the 19th November this year.

 

At the beginning of August I literally thought 'fuck it'!! At 2am I applied for my working holiday visa and the very next day I received an email to say I had been accepted. I then made an appointment with STA Travel on 18th August to book my flights and insurance. It was only after I had been granted my visa, paid for insurance and my flight that I decided to tell my parents I was leaving. Note to self: don't fiddle with your top around your belly when you tell your parents you have something important to tell them!! My parents were shocked I am leaving so soon but happy for me, just as I knew they would be.

 

After making some life changing decisions the last few weeks I have found that I am more of a wimp then I first though. If I decided to do this all a few years ago I am sure I wouldn't have been as nervous about it as I am. It's quite scary to go to a country where you only know a handful of people, but I try not to think about all that. It was a long time ago now that I was talking to Lauren [blog & twitter] on twitter and she said something that has stuck with me ever since - "don't think, just do"! Obviously, I'm planning as much of my trip as possible but when it comes to thinking about how scary it might be and start worrying about it, I stop and push these thoughts out my head. After all, worrying wont change the outcome and I'll be able to deal with anything as and when it happens. 

 

So that's it, the count down has begun. 11 weeks and 2 days to complete my ever growing to do list. I've never felt so unorganised in my life! Please note: moany tweets and lack of posts will only be temporary. You can read about how to get a working holiday visa much cheaper and my experience of STA Travel on my other blog.

live your dreams

Top - Topshop

Once again, I have changed my mind about what I want to do with my life. Everything I said in this post can basically be ignored. I will be going to Australia and I will be going soon. I love to meet new people and explore new places and I think, momentarily, I forgot that and got too comfortable in my life as it is now. I have forgotten what it feels like to be out of my comfort zone and how much I enjoy not knowing what will happen next.

I am so excited about my plans, but at the moment I haven't told my parents about my change of heart. They want me to follow my dreams but at the same time they will think I am a massive idiot to leave another well paid job to travel. That may be true and may seem stupid to some people but I am a huge believer of following your dreams and I have wanted to live in Australia for as long as I can remember.

Before I leave I will be selling quite a bit on eBay and setting up a Big Cartel shop to sell some vintage clothes I have discovered, so keep an eye out. All money made will be going towards my travel fund. I will also be organising one last blogger meet before I go and I hope I'll get to see a lot of you there.

I really do love to travel and I have set up my own travel blog [the-travelchain] which I will be updating a lot more now my mind has been made up about leaving. I hope you'll enjoy reading about my journey along the way.