Ok so last Wednesday (2nd June) I was forced to take an entire day off work to attend a 5-min consultation at the hospital to see about my wisdom teeth… ultimately resulting in me finding out I will be getting the remaining 3 teeth cut out in late July.  After hearing all the gory details from the Consultant about how my face and tongue could go numb, I took advantage of the sunshine (and the fact that it wasn’t even 11am and I had the rest of the day spread out in front of me with nowhere I had to be!) and went on a tiki-tour round Newcastle with my camera in hand… BRILLIANT!

First stop was this crematorium I had seen on the way to the hospital, but when I pulled in there seemed to be a funeral in progress in the area that had the nice archways… and I just felt a tad weird about taking photos with a full hearse behind me so I flagged the archways for now and ventured into the cemetery area. Which is where I found this memorial to the soldiers who were cremated in the line of duty during the war… it was quite surreal being there surrounded by gravestones in the first place and to then find this memorial was really nice.

So then I took a drive and decided to go back to Ponteland, where I’d been the last time Mum and John etc were here from NZ, and take some more photos of the church where Mum and Dad got married! I already took some last year on my old little camera but wanted some half-decent ones on my new camera – was really awesome to think of them getting married there and the next weekend I was actually driving through Ponteland on another tiki-tour and saw a wedding there!

Hmmmmm now what did I do after that? Ummmm c’mon memory don’t fail me now…. Shit.

Oh that’s right I went to my Grandad’s house (the one who’s in the home for the demented) to check on it and see if there was any mail… which there wasn’t. Which means my Mum’s evil Stepsisters have been there and cleaned it out as per usual… anyway that’s another story and Mum would kill me if I went into detail haha.

After that I think I came home and lazed in the sun on the swing-seat for the rest of the arvo and drank alcohol of some description… yip that sounds like me!

Well today when I woke up I didn’t think I’d be resigning from my job… but that’s what happened!

Yip, I finally had enough and after a couple of months of grinning and bearing it I just bit the bullet today and handed in my notice.   Which works out perfectly because my Mum, Dad and brother John are flying in from New Zealand next Tuesday for a month, so now I get to spend a solid month with them all! (well, except my pilot brother who’s only here for 2 weeks cos he’s got important exams back home to take so he can be a Captain in the cockpit!!)

All in all it was totally an impulsive decision that I handed in my notice today in particular but it had been building for a while.  I just suddenly realised that Life is too short to spend 8hrs a day in an environment that was so repressive and negative that I dreaded it every day and felt like I had to be someone I wasn’t while I was there…. and I wasn’t prepared to do that anymore.

So… my plan at this stage is to enjoy the time with my family over the next month… and then once they’re gone I’ll focus on scoring myself a fab job that pays millions and is in an office full of tall, dark and handsome tattooed men! (well…. a girl can dream?)

Well I’ve totally been inspired about giving Italy a proper look-see before heading back to the Land of the Long White Cloud and this has been mostly in part to this awesome blog I found while randomly ’stumblin’ round on Stumbleupon so check it out!!

My Melange

Love love love… xx

Ok so the post title on this one was a spur of the moment one that just popped into my head as soon as I clicked ‘New Post…’  mainly because this is what my thoughts have consisted of today. Well more like this week….

Life…. it’s a funny thing that can change on a dime and move in directions you never thought possible… or planned for!  I reminisced with my best friend tonight on our meeting for the first time over 10 years ago and it got me to thinking about what has happened to not just me, but both of us during that time!  Growing from 18 to 28 we have shared a vital growing up stage where you go from being in education mode to ‘Ok I’m An Adult now… WTF Do I Do Next’ mode haha. Both of us are now living and working in the UK which isn’t espeically exceptional in itself but one of us has gotten herself married to a fab NZ chap, which completely blows my mind!

I couldn’t be further from getting married (as no matter which country you are in this ceremony requires two people and I have yet to find the second person to complete this picture!) but as I’m only 28 years of age this isn’t making me reach for the singles ads in the local paper yet… because I have plans. My newest plan is to experience a proper African Safari before I head home to the gorgeous New Zealand.  I’ve always had a fascination with lions and tigers and elephants but for some stupid reason I never actually planned to do anything about making anything happen where I could see them outside of a Zoo… but I’ve decided to make it a part of my plans!  Now this is just a new thing, as when I set off on this epic UK journey back in 2009, Africa was never really on the agenda.  But now it is as I’ve decided that before I settle back in NZ I want to do an African safari… a Mediteranean cruise and a USA road trip (incl a bus tour).  The USA thing will be on my way home so not for at least a year, but the African safari and cruise will be on the agenda for 2011 so if anybody’s got any ideas or tips on the safari or cruise please post a comment below!  Equally so on the USA road trip cos I’m keen for Do’s and Dont’s… and a travel partner of course – because it’s a different experience doing it with a like-minded-travelling-person and I’d love to share the experience with someone! (just email me if you’re interested in becoming part of my journey…)

Until next time… xxx

“Not one day that you are here has been promised to you”

“Dogs are not our whole life but they make our lives whole”

“To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are”

“The only person that can change you is you”

“Live… Laugh… Love”

“Live the life you imagined”

“The most important things in life aren’t things”

“Just remember, when you should grab something – grab it; when you should let go – let go”

“Be who you are and say what you feel”

“One of the hardest things in life is watching the person you love, love someone else”

“Laugh as much as you breath, and love as long as you live”

Right so first of all I have totally been neglecting my blog-update-duties of late but that’s gonna change from now!! I’ve decided I’m not just gonna update with my travel adventures… I’m gonna post cool websites I find and things I notice etc etc. Hopefully it won’t be as boring as it sounds haha.

What’s new with me? Well my family is coming over in June (eta 14th June) so I’m driving down to London-town to collect them from Heathrow and will combine that with having the weekend in Oxford with my mate Amelia!  Then it’s back to work for the rest of that week (boooooo!) but on Sat 19th June we’re all jet-setting off to Spain for a week! It’ll be a joint birthday celebration for my Dad and I (his on 22nd and mine on 25th!).  My Auntie Marcia will be coming with us as well as Mum, brother John and hopefully our family friend Vicky… I haven’t been to my Auntie’s apartment in Spain yet and I can’t wait!  I’ve been looking online at places I want to see and Gibraltar is definitely at the top of the list – the main road into it crosses over an airport runway for gods sake! How cool is that haha. Also we’re gonna go King-spotting in the affluent Puerto Banus where the pleasure boats are more like floating cities apparently!  Relaxing by the pool will figure in there somehow too and it’ll be a lovely break from work – also a chance to really test out my new camera and get some memorable shots of everyone (that I hope to get printed onto canvas once home!)

Ummmm…. work’s work – pays the bills etc but kinda uninspiring at the moment.  I’m currently on a new weightloss mission and so far have lost 3.5kg in the last week or so and am focused on losing more before Spain (so I will actually want to be in front of the camera some of the time!)

Apart from that life is going on as it does and I’m just trying to focus on the bigger picture while not missing out on the small things that make me smile every day…

Til we meet again… “Live the life you’ve imagined…”

xxx

Top ‘o the Mornin to ya!

Yay I’ve finally explored a wee bit of Ireland!  I went to Dublin for 5 nights starting from Wed 31st March – basically I took advantage of the long Easter holiday weekend and tagged on a couple holiday-days and got meself a decent break away!  I didn’t come back until Monday 5th April which was a perfect amount of time – apart from the fact that I was a bit sick of hostel-living by then but cheap’s cheap and needs must!

I booked through RyanAir (the budget-est of budget airlines it has to be said) but they were totally fine (apart from the 3hr delay leaving Newcastle which resulted in me losing an arvo of sightseeing but WHATEVER haha)

So I gets to Dublin airport and picks up my Dublin Pass from the Tourist Office (pre-ordered of course) and got on the Airport bus to the town centre (free with the Dublin Pass) & my hostel – Jacobs Inn.

Now it was on this bus that I had one of my ‘OMG moments’ and realised Wow… I’m actually in Dublin!!!  I love these moments cos it’s when I’m finally doing something that I’ve been planning for ages and is the best feeling… This was truly realised when I saw the road signs – half Gaelic and half English which to be honest I didn’t expect (probably cos I’m a bit dense about Ireland haha)

After settling into the hostel…  actually instead of going into a boringly detailed assessment of the hostel I’m just gonna move along to the more interesting observations, but if you’re planning a trip to Dublin & really want to know about how I found the hostel (Jacobs Inn) then email me or leave a comment and I’ll fill ya in on the +/- of the place…

… so, after settling into the hostel I had originally planned to start my sightseeing but because I was now checking in at 4pm instead of 1pm I didn’t see the point in starting so I just took a walk up the street to the main street – O’Connell St.  Wow what an amazing street it is! Luckily the street I was heading up had a perfect view of the Spire – this incredibly tall monument that pretty much resembles, well, a spire! but without the church underneath it – really amazing monument but so hard to get a decent photo of because it was SO tall. I managed to get a few of it but obviously at a distance…

On the way up to O’Connell St I stopped in a shop called O’Carrolls… now this was an experience – talk about an Irish overload on your senses! Everywhere you looked there was green leprechauns, green sheep (they’re obsessed with sheep & the tourists love it!) green shamrocks, Dublin this and Dublin that – you name it and it was in that shop.  To be honest it was kind of a bit daunting walking in and thinking “Holy shit I’ll have to spend a week in here looking at everything before I decide what to get…”  Oh and the shops were everywhere! After I left that one I saw another one about 3 blocks up on O’Connell St, and then looked across the road and there was another flippin one!

O’Connell Street itself was incredibly impressive – it had really wide sidewalks and two lanes going in either direction for cars with another wide lane in the middle for pedestrians – with amazing statues dotted all along it. Again I tried to get some good pics but it was hard with my wee dinky camera L

Now being an over-planner I had researched and researched Dublin til the cows came home so I knew what I was in for and what I wanted to see but actually seeing these things in person was totally amazing. My next photo opportunity was just up O’Connell St and was called the General Post Office – AGAIN I’ve taken photos but if you Google it you’ll see how absolutely amazing and grand this building is – for a flippin post office! And inside it was just as grand but it was kinda impossible to take photos because I didn’t know if I was allowed to and there was this security-guard-looking guy who kept watching me so I took a couple furtive snaps and high-tailed it outta there! It was very much a post-office of olden times – very cool.

Next I headed up to the top of O’Connell Street and came to the River Liffey so followed that down to Halfpenny Bridge and took some pics then went down a side-street to Temple Bar – drinking capital of Dublin haha. Now this was an alcohol-free trip (except Guiness but that’s later) so I wasn’t interested in seeing it packed with drunken yobbos but wanted to see it in the daytime nonetheless.  This is where my day kinda took a weird turn…

I’d just finished taking a photo of some signs (I love taking photos of signs in other countries…) and this random African guy came up to and said ‘Hi’… I said Hi back but instincts told me to bolt (cos he was big and scary-thanks instincts for being on the ball haha) so I went into the nearest shop – thank god it was a tourist shop and not a brothel or something!  I mooched around inside and watched him outside on his mobile (probably to his boss – Mr People Smuggler/Pimp) until he eventually left… then I got some postcards and left. I saw him up the street so I quickly made for the nearest side-street to get me back to the River and was almost there when he was suddenly back next to me again… can we say HOLY SHIT CRAP BOLLOCKS! I was seriously actually panicking at this stage because holy hell who does that? We walked over the Halfpenny Bridge and he was asking me what my name was, where I was from, how long I was here for etc etc so I just told him a bunch of lies waiting for him to get the hint and piss off – I didn’t want to just plain tell him to F*** OFF in case I became the next headline in the paper “Kiwi Chick tells Big African Man to F*** Off & Is Found Strangled in the River Liffey”… so I politely chatted to him until he finally asked me if he could have my number so we could go out for ‘drinks and fun’ as he put it. I just told him I had a boyfriend back in Australia and he wouldn’t like that hehe and he said “This boyfriend was a lucky man” and then said “Dublin is a small city so I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon” – not if I can help it buddy! Then to my absolute relief he walked away…. Needless to say I never set foot near the Temple Bar area for the remainder of my time in Dublin just in case that was his regular stalking ground!

Anyways… after my heart-rate got back to normal I walked back towards the hostel and stopped in Tesco’s on the way to get some food (and watched in case Scary Man walked past following me – ready to alert the security guard looking bored as hell near the door) and then headed back to the hostel for the night.

Check out some photos HERE…

… continued in next post…

Day 2…

Thursday saw me getting up and out the door for 9.30am and my first full day of sightseeing! I walked back up to O’Connell St and hopped on the Dublin Sightseeing Live Tour and was giggling all the way round it – the drivers were hilarious with their commentary! WAY better than the multi-lingual buses with a pre-recorded commentary… All along the way I was trying to take photos but anybody who’s ever been on those open-top tour buses will know that sometimes it’s impossible to get the photo you want. I got a few but ended up going back around the circuit the next day to get the ones I wanted haha.  First stop was the Guiness Storehouse!I stopped at Wellington Monument in Phoenix Park and that was pretty impressive – then walked up the road to Dublin Zoo! I love zoo’s and ALWAYS go to one if there’s one where I’m travelling – and it was worth it cos the Siamang monkeys were going ape shit (haha ape) and making a ton of noise… it was lunchtime!

So after taking a heap of photos myself I got back on the sightseeing bus and continued on – glad to give my legs a rest from walking all morning.

Day 3…

Friday I was up and out the door for 9am to head back up to O’Connell Street and get on the North Coast Tour I had booked myself on – on the way I stopped at Kylemore for breakfast. Definitely recommend this place – so nice inside and you can sit next to the window and people-watch!  Of course my luck ran out momentarily and it was pissing with rain so I had zero chance of actually taking any photos from the bus but had a delightful driver/commentator called Damien… ahhhh Damien. I couldn’t have wished for a better Irish tour guide and he more than made up for the fact that the weather was shite.  The highlight of this tour was the Malahide Castle which we got to by going inland up North.  It would’ve been lovely if it hadn’t been so wet but we got taken on a tour inside (which was kinda boring – I would’ve preferred it if we could’ve looked around on our own) and by the time it was over we had to get back on the bus! The castle from the outside looked great though – not that I got a photo L

Then we headed back down to Dublin via the coast and all in all it was a good morning out but I wish I hadn’t pre-booked it as the weather ruined it.  One of the randomest things was on the way back down the coast we went through a village called Howth and as we sped by this house I saw it had a sign above the door that said “Kia Ora”! Too fast for me to take a photo tho L

After hopping off the bus back at O’Connell St I took a stroll round in the rain and much to my budget’s horror I went into a jewellery store and bought a charm bracelet! It is totally gorgeous and I got a shamrock charm and an Eiffel Tower charm with it… my hope is to get a charm from every place I travel to so I can wear it when I eventually go home!

So after blowing the budget I just headed straight back to the hostel before I could get myself in any more trouble haha (plus the rain was getting heavier and I was knackered!)

After a random convo with 3 new Spanish girls in my dorm room (a comedy of mis-communication) I had myself an early night…. for it was a big day tomorrow – Rail tour to Limerick!

Check out some photos HERE…

… continued in next post..

Day 4…

After I good nights sleep I headed to the main Heuston Station on the tram and got there right on time – 6.20am… far too early for my liking but I was psyched for this rail tour!

Got myself a window seat and met the guide for the day – a man called Pat who was dodging his grave in a big way (but oh so lovely!)

And then just before we left a lovely German girl called Sophie sat opposite me and we soon became buddy’s for the journey – it was so refreshing to have a like-minded person to discuss travelling with and at 19 she was very ambitious in her travel plans!

Our trip started with a train from Dublin to Limerick Junction (2hrs) then a quick change of trains and a 20min journey into Limerick where the coach met us. THEN the randomest of random things happened – I was getting on the coach and settling into my seat and the couple in front must have heard me talking to Sophie cos they turned around and said “So which part of NZ are you from?” and they were a couple from Christchurch!! It was so nice to hear from people from home haha they were originally from Christchurch but now lived in Brisbane – small world!  So we set off through Limerick and had a glimpse of King Johns Castle (wow!) then stopped at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park for 1.5hrs. We got a guided tour of the castle by a lady who was dressed in full medieval wear really added to the whole experience! We learnt about the ‘murder hole’ and the ‘ladies window’ and then got to explore the castle on our own so Sophie and I headed straight for the turrets which were up the spiral & narrow staircases. It was hard enough to walk up them so it was amazing to think of them fighting up and down them. Hint: it was better to be a left-handed swordsman when fighting up the straircases!

The folk park was a re-creation of a proper medieval village and it was so impressive.  Then we got some souveniors at the gift shop (so hard to choose!) and got back on the coach – next stop was Doolin for a proper pub lunch!

1.5hrs later we arrived in Doolin and to be honest this was probably the least exciting stretch of the whole trip and we were all well ready for a nice lunch… and the pub didn’t disappoint!  Gus O’Conners was by far the fastest service I’ve ever experienced in my life – I had barely sat down from ordering my fish & chips (along with the rest of the tour) when it was in front of me! And god it was good haha went down a treat with my JD & coke I tell ya.

After our time was up we loaded back into the coach for the short journey to the Cliffs of Moher – the highlight of the trip!  The entrance was a few hundred metres from the carpark  (which cost EUR8.00!!) and then we were there – OMG SO AMAZINGLY BREATHTAKING!  Sophie and I both had quiet moments of reflection and took heaps of photos.  One thing I was a bit miffed about was the scale of the touristy feel there – it had become so commercialised which kind of ruined it a bit.  If I had been there on my own I would have totally put my headphones in and tuned everyone out. We were so lucky with the weather as it just started to rain as we left and got back on the coach.  Next stop was Galway and our train back to Dublin… a non-event really so I snoozed most of the way.  Once back in Dubliln for 9pm Sophie and I said our goodbyes (after exchanging details and promising to keep in touch! I even gave her Mum and Dad’s details back home if she ever needed a place to stay…)

Check out my photos HERE!

…continued in next post…

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Day 5…

Sunday was the South Coast tour and after a bit of a delay we got on the road and AHOY! The drive was Damien again! Hooray!  SO we headed off and down the coast towards the Powerscourt Gardens – amazing coastal views and we made an unscheduled stop in Bray (Damien thought we should – such a rebel!) and it was definitely somewhere I’d like to stay for a night on my next Irish adventure.

The rest of the drive was hilarious as Damien was in top form! He saw some kids giving away crème eggs on the side of the road to promote a new pub and picked them up so they could give us all one! Haha legend – then he dropped them off further up the road.

The Powerscourt Gardens/House were amazing – very grand and (once again) it would’ve been an amazingly tranquil place were it not for the masses of stupid foreigners!

The pet cemetery was really special – one gravestone especially rang true to me-  “Faithful beyond human fidelity”.  After taking in the gardens I got myself a well-deserved icecream and got back on the bus for the un-eventful journey back up to Dublin.

Once back at O’Connell Street I headed to Kylemore Café again to write in my travel diary and do some people –watching… There was this statue outside the Café that was quite fascinating to watch.  It was a statue of James Joyce, the famous Irish writer and poet, and while the tourists were trying to get their photo taken with it there were others who were using it as a seat! These people were obviously locals and it was interesting to me to see how the locals live with these historic statues surrounding them but have just become blasé about them…

Day 6…

Homeward bound!!!

So that was my trip! I had an absolutely fab time and will definitely be heading back at some stage in the future but I want to take my car and do a tour round the whole of Ireland!

Check out my photos HERE…

Thanks for reading!! xx