Australia

Two Weeks Left in Australia

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Well, two weeks after today.

It is really, really nice being unemployed again. I’d anticipated last Saturday as my final shift of the year, but have since worked two and have one more to go – just a bit of extra money which should cover my living costs until I go.

For now, I’m on track to having my shit together: everything I own doesn’t even fill up a backpack, flights are booked and seats are booked tactically so hopefully no one will sit next to me, vaccinations are sorted – three boxes of malaria tablets are more expensive than my laptop, my Japan Rail pass is somewhere in my room and I have accommodation booked up until halfway through August. With that said, I have a fair bit still to do, mainly with sorting out money and creating some kind of budget for myself; with the amount that I have saved in Australia, it would be nice to stretch this beyond Asia and be able to go to Iceland when I’m back in Europe.

A couple of weeks ago I said that I was going to go to the Grampians for some hiking, but as usual, I have another injury: this time it’s my ankle. I haven’t been pissed since April so don’t know what’s caused it, so just taking the opportunity to rest. With that said, my back is heaps better and almost back to normal.

Next time I update, I will probably be in either Melbourne Tullamarine or Perth International Airport, probably trying to sum up the past two years, and to start the next chapter in my life – travelling the world a bit further.

One Month Left Until Africa

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I haven’t really done that much over the past few weeks since I last updated. My back is still a hot mess, though heaps better than what it was, which means that if I’m not working then I’m usually laying down with a hot water bottle somewhere.

Despite the shitty back, I’ve still made it out to go for dinner near enough weekly. One restaurant we couldn’t decide what to eat so went for their option called ‘The Feast.’ The restaurant is a five minute walk from the flat and I felt as though I needed to order an Uber to get home. Also spent at least $250 on gin a day in Healesville to visit the Four Pillars Gin Distillery, and had a lot of cheese in addition to the volume of wine and gin that was drank. No regrets.

Next Saturday is my last day at my job; I was going to spend a week or so longer but I just can’t be arsed. I may have a few shifts in between then and leaving the country at another job. I’m now having to be a grown up, so today I’ve repaired a balls up on a flight I booked a few months back. Tomorrow I’m off to apply for a visa to get into China, with accommodation booked in Beijing and a flight going from Shanghai to Seoul.

I was intending to travel with hand luggage like I did for five months in Europe, but this isn’t really logical. It’s not really that interesting but I have to stock up a bit better with stuff like first aid (I didn’t even take plasters on my Europe trip), I’ll be carrying Malaria tablets, insect repellent, a copious amount of suncream, now have a laptop, chargers, clothes for different weathers etc., it’s just going to make my life a lot easier to have more space.

Between now and leaving the country I was planning to go up to the Northern Territory to escape the cold for a few days but it’s upwards of £400 for a return. Was thinking about Tassie but it’s going to be cold. If my back feels up to it I may hire a car in a couple of weeks time, go to the Grampians for a day of hiking and come back the following day.

Getting Old…

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It’s been a while since I updated last. Not really been up to much besides the usual – working, going out for drinks, dinners, wine and cheese and chilling. The weather now is not so great, so between now and when I get to China I’ll be refraining from sending snapchats with the temperature on.

I injured my back and had to have it x-rayed around a month ago which I’m having treatment on still, so I have to try and be sensible. With that said, I did go to the x-ray place a little worse for wear, so thankfully it was just my back and hips that they were looking at.

This week I may make it out to do something but I have two days off together and am off to a distillery at the weekend, so will be taking it easy up until then.

Another Week in Melbourne

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For the first time in a couple of weeks it’s not been that much of a big one.

Was supposed to go out during the week, but instead I to cover a shift at work, however, I made up for it by going out last night for a wine and cheese night and turning up to work surprisingly ok on a red wine and gin hangover.

One thing that I did outside of work that was slightly productive was sort out my visa for China, so now all I need to do is go to the Chinese Consulate in Melbourne and hope they approve it. I’ve been looking at the big trip coming up in a couple of months time now – I think it’ll take six or seven months, and am looking at going to Jordan, Egypt and Turkey in addition to the twelve or so other countries.

As for the opposite of slightly productive, I watched 42 episodes of Designated Survivor on Netflix over four sittings.

For this week I don’t really have a lot planned. Maybe going for a drink or two a couple of times but have 8 shifts this week and don’t really fancy writing myself off before I know when my next day off is.

Phillip Island

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On Monday I hired a car and drove to Phillip Island. I visited in my first week in Australia with a friend from back home, but it’s quite close and the weather is still pretty decent. I caught the train to Frankston instead of driving through the city as I wanted to miss rush hour traffic and there’s a lot of dickheads on the road in the city.

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I’m (apparently) a grown up now

Once I’d gotten into the car, I’d already established my first world problems:

  • The WiFi in my flat is pretty bad and didn’t download the Spotify playlist properly
  • I was probably going to run out of battery on my phone, for which I was relying on the GPS, and my portable charger wasn’t fully charged
  • The indicators and windscreen wipers are controlled on the different sides of the wheel than in the UK, and I have to overthink which side they are on. This was the first time I’ve driven a car in Australia and not used the wipers instead of indicating. Go me.

An hour or so later I reached an animal sanctuary and petted some kangaroos.

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Half hour after leaving the kangaroos behind, I drove to the Nobbies Center, which is a boardwalk on the coast. Really nice views.

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The weather was still clearing up, but after reaching Cape Woolami the sky was blue. Bearing in mind that I work on my feet all day and had done around 15km of walking just a few days before, I opted for the shortest walk.

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Next week or the week after, depending on my shifts, I’m going to go to the Mornington Peninsular for a day. At the moment I’m working not a lot of hours with two jobs, this week it’ll be around 30 hours and am expecting the same next week.

Wilsons Prom

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Not really done anything that amazing this past week. Had my first day off in 15 days and think it was only one piss up.

As I’m quite conscious of the fact that I don’t have that long left in Australia, I’d quite like to explore more of the state that I have lived in for most of my time here. Wilsons Prom is a three hour drive away and I just don’t want to spend six hours driving, so again I used the tour operators Hike and Seek.

We did a couple of hikes, both with amazing views. The second one the view was just so worth walking uphill for around 40 minutes in the weather that we were lucky enough to get. The pictures don’t really do the view justice, but they’ll have to do.

This coming week I don’t have a lot of work, so tomorrow is my sort-my-shit-out day, depending on what time I wake up. Monday I’m thinking of hiring a car and going somewhere, but that is dependent on the weather and if I can find a really good playlist.

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First Official Firing

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I’m currently sat on 13 days of work consisting of 16 shifts in a row, very tired and a bit hungover.

Over the past week I’ve had a couple of evenings out which have been great – the first I went out to a nice restaurant with a couple of friends for dinner and cocktails. We must have eaten enough for probably six people between us three and the struggle was real getting up and walking to the station. The second night I went to a pub quiz with a group of people and came second; turns out that I’m shit at this kind of stuff in Australia because of being English.

The past weekend at work wasn’t so good and today I was just over being on my feet for so many days straight and not dealing too well on not a lot of sleep. I ended up asking if I was to serve some of the food that should not have been in the fridge which didn’t go down too well and I got told to get changed and go home. Having cleaned the deep fryer every day for a week prior, I was just happy to get a day off from cleaning it.

Over the next week I think I have a night out in the works and I’m going to see if I can do something that isn’t work.

Another Week of Work

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Once again, not been that much of a big week.

I had Monday and Friday off – Monday was a recovery day, as was Friday but for different reasons. Wednesday night I received a text asking if I could work on Thursday evening so I did a 6.45-3.30pm shift, then got a train into the city and worked 4-11pm. I was slightly losing the will to live at one point, though that day alone paid for half my months rent.

After work yesterday I went out with a friend for some beers and a catch up, but other than that I have’t really been social besides my flatmates.

I was actively trying to get a weekend job, though this week I’ve had three people ask me to do some casual shifts, alongside my full-time job. This means that this week coming is very work heavy, currently sitting at 9 shifts over 7 days, most days finishing by 3pm. It’s probably going to be a really shit week, but this shit week could perhaps be paying for one of the best weeks of my life in the months to come.

Properly Moved Back to Melbourne

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Yesterday I moved back into the previous place I lived in Melbourne and now I have a job. Now it’s time to try and act like an adult.

Not really done that much this week. Didn’t work that many hours and have been looking for evening jobs over the weekends – I think I may have a trial or two this week for them.

Me living in Melbourne is not quite complete without a couple of nights out drinking. I don’t think I’ll be doing it quite as much as before Christmas, just with 7am starts I really can’t get away with it. On Wednesday I met up with a couple of friends and went to the Queen Vic Market and a bar. Friday, I had some friends from Ayr in Melbourne so we hit up Chapel Street. I ended up spending most of Saturday in bed recovering/watching Netflix and yesterday I went for a few drinks round a friends house which turned into a bit of a movie marathon.

This coming week I’ll try to make it down to the museum as there’s a Viking exhibition which looks good. I have to be a grown up and sort quite a bit of stuff out after work, but may be renting a car and going around Victoria the week after.

Back in Melbourne (Again)

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Last Wednesday I arrived back in Melbourne. Technically, Thursday as my flight was delayed by three hours – one of the budget airlines that crack the shits when your bag is 150g over the weight limit, but it’s fine for them to be delayed most times I fly with them.

My last day in Perth I didn’t really do a lot – I was going to go to the Pinnacle Desert but they day would’ve cost me around the $300 mark and a five-hour round drive, which I didn’t think it’d be worth it. Instead, I chilled in the Botanical Gardens.

Around five hours after going to bed I had a job interview, and was requested back on the Saturday to do a trial and got the job. I just got in from a shift and it’s nice to finish when it’s light outside, but I think I need to try and find a part time/evening job to get my hours up so I can put off having proper adult responsibilities for that bit longer.

The flat that I’m going to move into isn’t ready as the person who’s moving out has extended their stay, so I’m in a hostel for a week and a half or so. Once I have my shit together I’m going to plan out what I want to get out of living in Victoria before I leave here (including a couple of road trips) and start getting myself ready for the next continent to travel through.