Canberra- Australia's Capital

Inside The Houses of Parliament

Houses of Parliament

Aoife, Amanda and Dave

Whilst living in Sydney I decided I would like to see Australia's capital. Let's face it Australia is a huge country and seeing that Canberra was only a three hour drive from Sydney I was as well to go. Back in June, myself, Aoife, Amanda and our English pal Dave Bushrod from our hostel left on the 8am bus from Central Station. The bus was 70 aud return. As Australia's towns and cities are so spread out you will literally drive for miles and miles and not see anything. I could be wrong but I actually don't even think we passed a shop on that three hour bus journey.
We arrived in Canberra at 11am and our evening bus was leaving at 6pm. We had a quick discussion over breakfast as to what we wanted to do and see in Australia's capital. We decided to go the Houses of Parliament and the War Memorial Museum. This is where we made a bit of a mistake. The layout of Canberra is very deceiving, as in it looks like you are a lot closer to the buildings than you actually are. We ended up walking well over an hour to The Houses of Parliament. Just get a taxi!! There were a lot of tours taking place in this building but we just walked around ourselves. We walked into one of the rooms which looked similiar to The Dail in Dublin, well from what I can see from RTE news. There was another tour going on in this room and we were taking pictures. A place where you really should be quiet. This is where Amanda decided to start singing 'Take a dirty picture' to which posh English Dave responded in horror 'AMANDA'. We had a good LOL at that.

View from War Memorial Museum to Houses of Parliament

View from Houses of Parliament to The War Memorial Museum

Canberra at dusk

Grave of an unknown soldier killed at war

Aoife's cousin Jonathan was in training for the Australian army and he was based in Canberra. We met him at The War Memorial Museum. I found this place interesting as there was a special section about Australia's role in the Vietnam war, which the guys from the easy riders tour taught us back in Vietnam earlier in the year. I would recommend it to anyone visiting Canberra.
After this Jonathan drove us to Canberra shopping centre, where we dined out in some sort of oriental restaurant, followed by a coffee shop where we stuffed ourselves with cake and tea. A pleasant ending to a lovely, leisurely day out.

xoxo

Australia- Sydney- The Stratton's Hotel Experience!!

On the 24th March 2014 myself and Tisha landed in Sydney. I got that rush of excitement flying in when I saw the Sydney Opera House from the plane for the first time. We got a taxi to the address Aoife had given me. 249, Castlereagh Street, Sydney 2000, NSW. I pulled up at the hotel around 9pm and Aoifs was there to greet me with a bottle of champers. Little did I know that these 10 dollar bottles of champagne would be a regular indulgence of mine. It's defo an acquired taste.
Stratton's Hotel is a long term hostel which is part of World Square Hostel (located on Liverpool Street). Rent is paid down here as well as wifi access, washing machine and dryer. I moved into room 305 on the very night that I arrived. It was a six bedded dorm and I was sharing with Aoifs, Gerry, a Glaswegian desperately seeking his Scottish FREEDOM, a law graduate Mark from Peterborough in England and Becky a real sweetheart from BEDFORDSHIRE.

Room 305 crew, Becky, Gerry, Aoife, Myself and Mark.

At first I was a little apprehensive about staying here. I mean there was no amenities in the actual hostel itself. Well, apart from the bar downstairs and we definitely made the most of that.
There was no sign of my nursing registration coming through and I eventually was forced to take a job as a kitchen hand in a tapas bar called Barrafina Tapa's Sydney. This was one busy restaurant. It was constant and the dishes just kept piling up on top of each other. It was very rare there was a lull period. This job paid 15 dollars an hour. The people were lovely to me but I couldn't survive on that rate. I saw an add for a waitress in a Travel Lodge Bistro. I called in for a quick interview and started the following week. This job paid 17 dollars an hour but at least I was getting more hours. My boss was a woman called Lee. She was an Australian lady with Vietnamese parents. She was a good person but my God could she snap! Not one to let people walk all over me I confronted her on it one day. As it transpired she didn't realise she was snapping and our relationship improved after that. It just goes to show if you are having a problem with someone you may as well say it straight out. It will make you and them feel much better. Whilst working here I made great friends with a 33 year old Thai man named Bun. I brought him out drinking with the gang back in Stratton's and they loved him. He was a character!!

Bun, from my bistro job

Stratton's Hotel

Cock n' Bull

Scruffy's Sunday Session

The Tea Gardens with Anne

Randwick Races for Amanda's birthday

Irish band Kodaline

Coogee Beach

The Blue Mountains

Darkness into Light in Bondi

Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon

I registered with a nursing ageny called Network Nursing Agency based in Crows Nest. As my registration wasn't through I could work as a healthcare assistant. These rates were much better with us getting paid 28 aud an hour for a day shift, 29 aud an hour for a night shift and 32 aud an hour for a Saturday. The only thing with this is that the work is unreliable and there were times that I was ready to get in to bed and got a call for a shift. I had to take it though because I didn't know when I'd get offered the next one. If you refused a shift they sometimes were reluctant to give you another one. It was a hard game to play. Nevertheless I was making enough money to cover my rent and social life. I was never going to come back from Oz with thousands saved. For anyone going to Oz and having an airy fairy attitude towards it, having that image of hot weather and nice beaches just remember you do have to work. It's not as easy out there as is often portrayed from the #itsahardlife photographs we are all exposed to. It's very easy to put up a few pics of beaches and barbeques on facebook. From my perspective I landed there with very little funds. I had been travelling for 11 weeks and hadn't worked a day since the 22nd of December. Having said that I loved my Oz experience! Why? Australia is a nice country but by no means did it blow me away. I loved it because I was lucky enough to meet some of the most amazing people I have ever met. People from all walks of life and all over the globe. Especially those from Scotland (Gezza and the lonely hearts gang), Wales (my hubby Patchy and the crew), England, Italy, Denmark and Canada.
Sydney is a beautiful city with lots to do. Everyone who steps foot in Sydney is brought to see the Opera House. There's the Coogee to Bondi coastal walk, Mrs. Macquarie's Chair (where you can get a fantastic view of both the opera house and the harbour bridge) and the pylon tower, a welcome alternative to the bridge climb which is very expensive for anyone on a tight budget. Many people also like to go to the Blue Mountains for a day trip which you can travel to by train from the city.  If beaches are more your thing why not venture out to Palm beach via the L90 bus, the home of Home and Away. ( I wrote about this day out in another post on my blog). You might even get to meet some of the cast like I did.
As we stayed on Castlereagh Street in inner Sydney we didn't really tend to venture that far on nights out and being typically Irish used nearly always stick to the Irish pubs, O'Malley's in Kings Cross, Maloney's and the famous Sunday spot Scruffy Murphy's. The Cock'n Bull in Bondi Junction was also hit a few times. You're a dead cert to meet someone from home in here.
Whilst in Sydney I was delighted to get to see Kodaline live in The Metro on George Street. Kodaline were like the sound track to our travel experience so it seemed fitting that we got to see them live before we headed home. I also got to run the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon, a tough course with lots of hills and the Darkness to Light 5k run in Bondi beach in aid of Pieta House. Both events superbly organised.

Last night in Sydney

We were all gearing up to do the east coast trip on the 8th of August, for me however this was not to be. I was not due to to return to Ireland until October 1st however someone very special to me wasn't well in England so I decided it would be best for me to return and spend the rest of the time he had left with him and the family there. The east coast would always be there. I made the decision on the Monday and I booked a flight to Perth for Thursday morning to see some of my friends before jetting back to the northern hemisphere. On the Wednesday night we had drinks downstairs in Stratton's. This was one emotional night for me. I cried and cried and to be fair it takes a lot to make me cry. These people obviously were and still are very important to me. I was leaving my oz family. People who had been so good to me for the four months I was there and made me feel so welcome. People I had never met before and some whom I had shared a room with for four months. They will always have a special place in my heart. There are too many of them to name but you all know who you are and thank you so much for everything. I am looking forward to seeing most of you in Ireland in December. Bring on the sesh!!
With an extremely heavy heart I said goodbye to my Sydney family, life long friends who I am so grateful I had the chance to meet. Suzanne and Amanda walked me to the train station. Through big, sore, watery eyes I waved back at them and made my way to Sydney airport. I was off to see a few old faces in Perth. Bye bye Sydney thanks for the memories.

xoxo

Pescatarian / Vegetarian lifestyle.

Three years ago I made the decision to remove all meat from my diet. One of the most common questions I'm asked by horrified friends when they find out is 'do ya not miss it?' The answer is always a firm NO! Not even slightly. I'm often asked by people with baffled faces 'so what do you eat?' There is so many tasty and nutritious vegetarian and pescetarian meals out there that this omission really hasn't been a big issue in my life.
Another common question I get is 'so why did you give up meat?' This story is not very exciting either. In September 2011 I was given a lamb dinner by my mother. In the middle of eating it I got this awful feeling of Oh My God, I'm eating a little lamb. Then it dawned on me. It's the same whether it be a beef burger, a slice of ham, a leg of chicken. That was it. There and then I gave it up and haven't looked back.
I do eat fish though. It's very good for you plus the texture is different and that's probably why i can eat it. I have a bit of a rep with my friends as being a bad cook. I can cook but I'm not one of those natural cooks that can just throw things together. I need a recipe and that's what I'm hoping to share with you guys here. By all means if any of you have a vegetarian or pescatarian recipe drop me a line. I would be more than happy to try it out and review it (giving you the credit of course).

Sydney- A day in Summer Bay (Palm Beach)

Tuesday 20th of May 2014 was a day that I will never forget. This is the day I got to meet a legend in his own right Ray Meagher, better known to most of us as Home and Away's Alf Stewart. Ray has played the role of Alf Stewart since 1988 (the year I was born) and is the only original character left in Australia's longest running soap. A trip to Palm beach again better known to most of us as Summer Bay has been on my to do list since moving to Sydney in March of this year.

Last Tuesday I got to put a great big tick beside this. After working a 12 hour night shift it was home, shower and out the door. I threw a few lattes into me to psych myself up for the day and keep those stinging tired eyes at bay. Accompanied by my good friends Amanda Fahey (Robeen, Hollymount) and Suzanne McNeela (Newport) I made the trip from inner Sydney to the beautiful Palm Beach which lies 46km North East of Sydney.

On the bus the three of us discussed our expectations for the day. Who will we see? Will we even get to meet anyone at all. How disappointing will it be if we don't get to see anyone. One thing the three of us agreed on is that if we met Alf or Brax (Steve Peacocke) we would be very happy.

At 11am we hopped off the bus and it was the most surreal feeling. Actually looking up turning my head to the left and to my right and seeing that long beach I have seen on television since as long ago as I can remember. Ever since mother dearest would gather the four of us (my siblings Tommy, Gerard and Fiona) in the playroom give us a glass of 7up and a packet of tayto which kept us quiet for a half an hour and gave her some well needed peace. 

The show has seen me through thick and thin. Through all my secondary school days in Mount St. Michael Claremorris and later in my college years in Sligo. I know a lot of my buddies will agree that the majority of our lunchtimes in Sligo were spent watching Home and Away with a roll from the regional, a can a coke and a packet of crisps.

To me this programme represents a break, a precious half an hour to relax and do nothing and the minute I got off that bus in Palm beach I felt completely at ease. I definitely was in my happy place.

We strolled leisurely up the famous beach taking it all in. It was beautiful. The first jolt of excitement was when we saw a sign saying ''filming in progress''. Brilliant I thought. There must be someone here. We ventured up to the surf club and low and behold who was on set but our beloved Alf, Brax and an added bonus Leah (Ada Nicodemeu). What amazed me was the laid back atmosphere of the place. The whole crew were so friendly and welcoming and after they finished filming the scene Brax and Nate (Kyle Pryor) came out and asked if anyone would like photos. The security guard took each persons camera and the two lads were very happy to take a photo with anyone who wished for one. Steve told us he was coming to Ireland in July. So all you folks at home should go along and see him if he's in your hometowns cause' he's a real nice guy!!

After lunch we came back to see if there was any hope of meeting Alf. We waited and waited and at 5pm as he passed us by he said he could see we were waiting for a long time and he'd come back once he had a break in his next scene. True to his word he returned and was more than happy to pose for photos. Again an unbelievably nice, normal down to earth guy who funnily enough is actually quite small in real life. With that, followed by a quick picture with the lovely Leah we left Palm beach with beaming smiles and caught the L90 bus back to the bright lights of Sydney. A magical day with lovely memories we will hold dear forever. My favourite day in Oz thus far! Needless to say I slept well that night.....

New Zealand- The Kiwi Experience- The South Island

The south island Kiwi Experience crew

With the North island completed we boarded the ferry in Windy Wellington and sailed on towards the south island. It was here we met our new travel pal Elliott. I am a huge fan of reality tv. The Only Way is Essex, The Hills, Geordie Shore, Made in Chelsea. You name it. I love them. This young English chap was the image of Made in Chelsea's Spencer Mathews. Of course we thought this was great and the jokes began. He became a bit of a mini celeb around the place.
I felt there was quite a difference between the north and south island. The north island was beautiful with much of its scenery similiar to Ireland. Only, it had better weather! The south island on the other hand had images almost like they were paintings, but they were real. The natural beauty of the south island is just phenomenal.
When in New Zealand you kind of get that feeling of, where is everybody? It's very relaxed. In actual fact they're are only 800,000 people on the entire south island. The Kiwi's are very protective of their environment. I can honestly say that throughout the four weeks I was travelling NZ I did not enter one dirty bathroom, never seen any toilet without toilet roll nor any rubbish on the ground. Anywhere! A lot of people could take a leaf out of the kiwi's lifestyle book and it definitely reflects in their positive outlook.

Myself and 'Spencer' lookalike Elliott

The first night we stayed in a place called Ki teriteri. This is located on a beach and there is a nice little walk to do here. There was a pub beside our hostel and we went in there for a few drinks. To our disappointment the bar closed at 11 so we had to prematurely head to bed that night. The following day we drove on to our next destination, funnily enough called Westport. That night we had a BBQ cooked by Cam our bus driver and some of the other guys from the bus. We had a few drinks and then relaxed in the sitting room. For some reason everyone went to bed really early that night so we had the sitting room to ourselves. Myself, Ann and Tisha found some old VIDEOS ( I haven't used that word in quite some time) and we stuck on Ali G. I had forgotten how funny he was. We laughed and laughed. What a show!!
On to Franz Josef. It was the 17th of March. This meant one thing. Paddy's day! We stopped off on the way and we got our green tshirts, flags etc. After a quick shower in our hostel we headed over to the hostels bar. In fairness they had gone all out!! The whole place was covered in green. Even the pints were green. Irish tunes were being blasted out all night. The atmosphere was electric and other people from the Kiwi Experience bus from all over the globe, no matter what nationality they were, were keen to get in on the celebrations. We had people dressed in green from Canada, California, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, ENGLAND, Wales, France, Denmark etc. It was probably the best Paddy's Day I've ever had. It's certainly one I will never forget. It's amazing to think that our country is so widely celebrated all over the world. Awh, it's good to be Irish!!
Franz Josef hosts a 12km long glacier. This is one of the biggest tourist attractions on the west coast of New Zealand's south island. We were due to be brought by helicopter to this glacier the day after Paddy's day however due to weather conditions, we did not get to do it. We were a little disappointed however, I suppose google images is a great thing! :) The five girls from our original group (who were travelling a few days behind us) were lucky that the weather was on their side and they got to climb the glacier.

Paddy's Day in Franz Josef

Susan, Graham (Congrats on your engagement guys x) and Ann

Franz Josef Helicopter

After a brilliant time in Franz Josef we were off again to Wanaka. We spent one night here in base hostel and we had a really fun evening. They had a bar downstairs. The drink was fairly cheap and they had competitions throughout the night. The first competition we had was musical chairs and everyone was going hell for leather at this, the next one was the lads having to imitate the "Call on Me" video and the third was a challenge to see who could get the most items of clothes on them at once. The three winners then went on stage in a final decider. The decider being the person who could make the best orgasm noise would win a bunji jump in Queenstown. My God! Lets just say I was glad I was eliminated in the early stages of musical chairs!!!
We arrived in Queenstown, New Zealand's adventure capital the following day. New Zealand is home of the world's first commercial bungee jump, created by A.J. Hackett. One of the talking points of Queenstown amongst backpackers is the Nevis Bungee Jump. This bungee jump is 134m and is not for the faint hearted. I didn't do it, because I am faint hearted :) . It is the third highest bungee platform in the world. A trip to Fergburger is a must whilst staying in Queenstown. The queues are out the door and up the street with backpackers eagerly awaiting the famous burger.

Us three with Oliver, Michael and Gareth

Shots with Mr. San Fran Michael

Gareth, Harry, Ed and Ann

Harry and Graham in  our Queenstown hostel

Photo bombing Mel!!

Queenstown is easily the nicest town I have ever been in. It's scenery is so beautiful that you would actually think you were looking at a painting. It's just surreal. The night life is brilliant and there is a great buzz about the place. It's a hard place to leave. But for us three, time was pushing on. Our flight was leaving New Zealand on the 24th of March. We only had two nights there but one could easily stay in Queenstown for two weeks. There's just so much to do.
We got back on the Kiwi Experience bus and headed north to an isolated place called Lake Tekapo. Here, myself and Tisha left our hostel at 11pm and joined the local Earth and Sky Night-time observatory tour group. I have loved gazing at the stars from a young age. Ever since Daddy taught me how to recognise the plough and how to find the North Star. I was delighted to get this opportunity. We were brought out to a field in the middle of nowhere by bus. I have to say our tour guide was excellent. It was so refreshing to see someone so passionate about their job. He had two huge telescopes and it was amazing to see Mars and Saturn through these. Even though it was FREEZING out there, it was well worth it and I loved it.

Getting a lift with a local cop in Christchurch

Randomly meeting David in Christchurch

Mirror lakes

Final night in Christchurch in The Bog Bar

Our last NZ destination was Christchurch. This place was in bits. The three of us had friends from home working in Christchurch. As we only had one night there, we asked anyone we knew to come in to meet us in The Bog Bar. (An Irish bar of course). It was great to see them all there and everyone doing so well, so far away from home. We had to be up early to catch a domestic flight back to Auckland. Our Kiwi Experience had come to an end. What a wonderful experience it was. I made brilliant friends who still entertain me with their regular snapchats and I'm sure I will see them again. I would recommend The Kiwi Experience to anyone thinking about travelling New Zealand. Their website is www.kiwiexperience.com .
The New Zealand chapter had now closed. It was time to open the next one. One of my besties from home, Aoife Campbell had been living in Sydney since November 2013. I was only delighted to have her with me as I entered my Australian experience. Queue Stratton's Hotel. Little did I know what lied ahead. Stay tuned folks.

xoxo