Culture Day 25th May

You might ask what Culture Day is, we certainly did. We woke up and before we even got half way down the stairs we were greeted by the most excitable Deb in the world telling us that it was Culture Day and that we had to get ready quick. During breakfast we enquired as to what Culture Day was and the response was Culture Day. This could only be a secret day of doing stuff that Deb doesn't even know yet!

16th May - Skydive

About to Jump! (Well fall)

After a pants night sleep it was game day. Skydive today. After a slow start due to a cold start, we made a start to the day saying goodbye to Deb and we were playing the waiting game. Laura had to check in by 11 which meant we had to kill time until 10:30. This wasnt too hard with washing to do and the internet providing a good distraction for the morning. Laura went for a walk and the nerves started to kick in. She tried to keep what Ian had told her the day before in her mind and calmed down a bit.  Not long later we were on the road. An easy drive an we were there. We checked in and as we did I was set to be in the next plane. 

Reflection

Happy birthday to me. And why the heck not?

Looking around on Facebook I have seen how people have celebrated their 21^st birthdays and I realised Myles and me are some of the very few who haven’t spent theirs with their families. We spent our birthdays the other side of the world wit a family that isn't our own doing things we never dreamt we would be doing. 

This got me thinking about what else we have done differently. This year most people will be finishing their degrees and looking for their first full time employment in their chosen field after 3 or 4 years at uni. Well at the age of 21 we have had a full time jobs for 2 years after college and guess what we still have no idea of what we want to do! I have spent a year travelling, seeing the world and gaining life experience, but most of all I have found my confidence. I have realised that I have talents and that I have a voice and I can do whatever I put my mind to. I have cleaned boats, been a debt collector at an accounting firm, I have done data entry work and worked as housekeeping in a hostel. All of these things are totally different to anything I have done before and yet I have turned my hand to all of them. Granted it is not brain surgery but each one has taught me something whether it’s a skill or something about myself & for that I am glad I have done all of them. This month I am being a Web Designer. I have spent the last month teaching myself the basics and starting to build my first few websites. This is totally left field from what I have trained to do the past 2 years but I have support behind me & I’m enjoying it? I’m not getting paid to pull my hair out trying to read gobbledygook and yet I’m carrying on? After spending 5+ months with Deb and Ian I have learnt a lot but mainly that you can’t buy opportunity and experience. By sheer luck we found them on Gumtree and changed our whole experience in Australia. I don’t believe we were ready to travel Australia when we arrived and if we didn’t meet Deb & Ian we would be home by now. We had a great opportunity with Deb and Ian to learn about life and what’s important. Deb has a great outlook on life; I have only seen her unhappy once and that was when we lost Tara the dog. Her attitude is why bother being unhappy when you can do what you want to do? If she wants to go to Sydney to see a giant rubber duck then she does it. It’s this attitude that has rubbed off on us making us want to make the most of all of our experiences. Then Ian has this work ethic and eye for seeing talent in anyone and making use of every experience which has inspired us to push ourselves when we get home to use all of our experiences.

Where I’m going with all of this is that we haven't taken the “standard” or usual route that people take in life or whilst travelling; I am so glad of this, on a personal level I have become more confident and self assured of what I am doing and what I want. I am a healthier and happier person for coming away and what more can you ask for? 

We have had a ball being away and I am sad think about the end of this fantastic journey. I am excited to start thinking about when we will be coming home and seeing everyone again as well as planning our next adventure whilst seeing this one end feels impossible.

Ayers Rock

Day 1 - Arriving & The Olgas

Exciting times ahead the alarm set off at 6am

Well it's still dark. We rolled out of bed and finished putting the last few things in the suitcase we have borrowed. Laura was plagued with bad sleep due to thinking she had forgotten to pack something. This was with just cause, because the tripod hadn't been packed. Myles would have been grumpy indeed. We had a coffee packed the car and we were off. A speedy start to get to the train station in time was hampered by fog. This gave us some beautiful views of the sun rise on a positive note. 

Luckily we left super early and got to the train station with 10 minutes to spare. After a long fight with the ticket machine which wouldn't take a debit card we eventually scraped together enough money because it then wouldn't take a $50 note.. Nevertheless we arrived at the airport nice and early like we planned. Our check in was done on iPads which was easy. After this we skipped through security not even getting the little bags for liquids. Domestic flights are easy at no point were our passports checked! We had a mooch around the shops and got a breakfast subway and Krispy Kreme doughnut each which made a very satisfying breakfast/lunch. After this all the normal waiting things occurred. We saw the winner of Eurovision and Laura was gutted to have missed it as the beard lady seemed pretty cool! After this we had our tickets checked and found our seats on the plane. Bonus we had 3 seats between the two of us! This was very lucky we were thinking. Karma had other ideas because just after saying that a family sat behind us with a screaming 2 year old.. Oh joy. After 10 painful minutes and Laura starting to lose her patience it stopped. That's when it got worse. Laura's spine was forcefully relocated from the seat many times throughout the flight. The very soft no don't do that did nothing as you would expect. Lauras tolerance levels were at 0 and decided to sleep laying across 2 seats using Myles' head as a pillow. We have never had a bad flight and this was what most would call a bad flight. Well we did fly the easyjet equivalent. What can you expect I suppose?

May 4th - SNAKE

For those with a weak constitution we recommend that this blog not be read!

 Well today was meant to be a relaxing day after Melbourne before we started working again on Monday. This was not the case after lunch. 

We were tidying up the garden after some hefty winds whilst we were away, just little bits, for example a chair had been blown in the pool! Myles collected some logs from the top of the garden and chopped them ready for the chilly nights ahead. Laura noticed a small mound of soil by the poolside, we investigated and think that they might be termites so they will have to be eradicated soon! It was whilst we were looking Myles heard a small splash and looked around, it was a snake and it had got itself in the pool!

Myles is terrified of snakes, but even so got closer to see what it was, this would determine weather it would be rescued or not. 

2nd May Melbourne City

After an exhausting day on the great ocean road yesterday we had a well deserved lie in after a few early starts and late nights! We had breakfast and had a slow walk to the train station where we would get the train into Melbourne. Yes you read that right we got public transport! After the faff we had with the car yesterday and already having a 'Myki' (same as an oyster card) that we got given by backpackers previously we felt we should put them to good use. We wondered on the platform and checked the balance to see if it was negative. Bonus, $14 on each! Well that was us sorted for the day and we happily hopped on 3 minutes later. It took around 40 mins until we got to flinders street station where we would get off. We got to the top of the station to see a information center right I front of us. Easy we popped in there to get a few maps an directions and we were off. Being Melbourne and already knowing it's little England it was drizzling so we chose an indoor activity first. We went to the dreamworks expo at the acmi center in federation square.

The Great Ocean Road 1st May

So the day I had been waiting for. 

When most people our age go on holiday or backpacking it is a fun pastime to hire a 50cc moped and ride around a city as fast as possible. I thought I would give this a try but on something a little more... Adult..

I had booked to hire a Suzuki Vstorm for a day however when I arrived they asked about my age and licence and said I couldn't have it (this was fair enough as it was double the power I am allowed on my licence.) so they gave me its little brother. Same size engine just less power. we left our couch surf promptly at 7:30 for a 38minute trip across Melbourne. Long story short we arrived at the hire shop at 9:20... We drove around madly to find somewhere to park the car and eventually did.

It was then a 5 minute walk back to the bike shop to collect our machine and helmets etc. After all the bits had been done to ensure that I not steal the bike I hopped on to acclimatise myself to the bike before a big load of Laura go on the back. First impressions were good it was new so very smooth and being a 650cc single cylinder it had bucket loads of torque. Anyway Laura jumped on the back and we headed out to this amazing road we have heard so much about.