May Bank Holiday Roadtrip

So I've always wanted to go to Devon and Cornwall, so I figured the perfect opportunity would be the 3 day bank holiday.

Saturday 23 May 2009

I set off in my car at 9.30am from Surrey and headed south on the motorway. There was a bit of traffic, but it gave me the perfect opportunity to take some pics of Stonehenge out the window. Boy am I glad I've never bothered to go there! It's very disappointing. Very small and unexciting! and why pay 20 quid or so to stand and stare from about 20 metres away, when you can see just as well from your car window driving along.

After about 5 hours I arrived in Exeter, Devon and had a short break. I've never driven that far before.

I head off again and arrived at my first stop - Boscastle, a cute little village in North Cornwall.

I didn't stay long cos you have to pay to park, what a ripoff.

I then drove onto Tintagel. I had planned to stay here, but it was very small and quiet and was still early in the afternoon and I had plenty more to see, so after taking a few snaps I set off for my next stop - Port Isaac.

Now, it was very interesting trying to drive into this tiny little fishing village, with steep and narrow streets, but I got in and found a place to park.

Port Isaac is the village seen in the English tv show Doc Martin. I was here on Saturday, but if I was there on Tuesday, I could have seen the show being filmed. Oh well. I stayed here for quite a while, wandering around town and taking lots of photos, it is a very cute town and well worth a visit.

Next stop, Rock. This village was a suggested visit by the woman I work for but not really worth it. Very quiet and the cafe's are very expensive, so I then headed for Padstow and to find Treyarnon, another place I was considering to stay the night.

The sun was starting to go down when I arrived and they had one bed left - for $50 in a share dorm, um, no thanks, that's a bit steep, so off I went again. I figured I would stay at a hostel I know of in Newquay, but when I arrived in town, it was dark and I didn't know what street it was on.

So now I was in a bit of a pickle. It was about 9pm and I had not yet found a place to spend the night. I decided to just start driving and stop off at a caravan park along the way and sleep in my tent. At 10pm, I finally found a campsite with room for me, only problem, I'd forgotten to pack sleeping gear, as I thought I would be staying in a hostel with a bed. Oops. So I decided to sleep in the car.

Wow! That was the most uncomfortable night of my life! Even more uncomfortable than the time I slept in a tent with just my sleeping bag and no mat on a rocky surface in the African bush! Oh and it was friggin freeeeeezing! I had on a jacket and covered myself with a towel, but nothing made me warm. I think I got about an hours worth of sleep.

I was so glad when I woke up and saw that it was 7am so I could head off for my second day of adventure...

Kuala Lumpur

I arrived at Kuala Lumpur airport at 9.30pm. I caught the express train into the city, then I was totally lost, stuck in the middle of the night, with a super heavy bag and no idea where to go. With the help of a friendly local, I managed to find the monorail station - a long and heavy walk from Sentral Station, then finally arrived at Bukit Bintang, the location of my hostel, the next step, actually find the hostel, that was interesting! My directions said under the Sony Ericksen sign (ok, where is that?) and next to McDonalds (found that, but where now). I eventually found the tiny door with the tiny sign for my hostel and then attempted the 2 storey climb with my 23kg suitcase, not fun when dripping with sweat...ewww!

The man at reception was really nice and said "Melea, why such a heavy bag?" and carried it up for me.

Finally, I was checked in. First stop now - a nice cold shower. Boy was that a good shower. I then hopped in my jamies and straight to bed. But wait, very noisy and only one blanket with no sheets, oh and a pillow as hard as a rock. What a fun sleep, I woke up at 5.30am absolutely freezing cos the air con was too cold, so put my towel over my blanket and savoured my 3 more hours of sleep.

Day one over!!!! what a mission!!!!!

Job Ideas

Well, I was going to continue what I've been doing for the past 6-8 odd years and get a job in an office. But then I had a thought - what about being a nanny. I posted my details on a website and within 24 hours, 2 families had contacted me saying they are interested in me being their new aupair. yay, how exciting. The pay isn't the best, but you get live in accommodation in the family's mansion, a car to use during the day when you don't have the kids and food provided, so I guess that all adds up when you consider that if you were earning more money, you would be forking out more on rent, food and transport and you may even end up with less money in the end.

Hopefully a job comes out of this!!!

Failed Party

Want to know a surefire way to find out who your real friends are? Host a party!

So I was going to have a farewell party and invite all my friends to say goodbye since I'm leaving the country for 2 years. I invited about 20 people. The final guestlist - 2 people. Yep, you heard right. And some of the excuses were classic - I can't come, my dog will bark and annoy the neighbours. I won't know anyone there. Seriously! These people call themselves my friends!

It's Really Happening!!!

Well, I'm really going!!!

I have booked and paid for my airfare and I fly out of Australia on April 8th.

I am spending Easter in Kuala Lumpur - getting massages, going shopping, seeing the sights and maybe even catching up with some friends that have been living in KL for a year.

I will be arriving in London to begin my new adventure on Easter Monday, April 13th. I will be staying at a backpackers for three nights and then.... who knows....

.....this is the beginning of the rest of my life.....

So Much To Do.....So Little Time!!!

I feel like there are so many things I need to do over the next 4 weeks before I leave the country.

I still need to sort out the following:

• overseas bank account
• a job
• get references and update my resume
• voting shit
• tax
• somewhere to live
• when and where to travel

ahhh, its all too much.

I can't believe my luck!!!

Well, it's now been 2 weeks since I finished up and work, and boy am I bored. Who knew not working would suck so much!!!

I have had a lot of luck since finishing up though!

My visa arrived back the day after I finished work, I sold my car 3 days after that, I have booked my flight for an unbelievable price and I have organised my Kuala Lumpur and London accommodation.

Also I have discovered www.ryanair.com and www.easyjet.co.uk they have unbelievably cheap airfares all around UK and Europe and I have discovered just how cheap it is going to be to visit my friends in Ireland and Norway. I mean, 2 pounds to fly to Dublin!!! That's just CRAZY!!!! But who cares, I'm the one who benefits from it!

MYKONOS - September 2005

6 days was plenty of time to relax and enjoy this beautiful Greek island. White washed buildings, crystal blue water, the famous windmills and don't forget the pelicans, this island was a wonderful holiday within a holiday. The days consisted of sleeping in, sunbaking, swimming, visiting Mykonos town, eating, sleeping, sunbaking, kayaking, sunbaking, sleeping again and clubbing at night. Good times!!!

CORFU - September 2005

I adored this island. Except for the fact that on arrival, I had to run the the hotel bathroom to throw up. I swear I wasn't drunk in Rome, just dizzy!! My favourite day of the whole Contiki tour was our trip to Dassia Beach on George's Boat. The water is amazingly blue. You cannot describe it. And George was pretty funny too..."hey you, over there, come over here, suck this, f*%k this, f#*k off, next one please!!!"

TURKEY - September 2005

Turkey - Istanbul, Gallipoli, Troy

I loved Turkey! Istanbul was one of the highlights of my trip. The Grand Bazaar was amazing. I loved shopping for bargains and bartering. The locals were really friendly, except at the country border crossings. Gallipoli was a very different experience, and Troy was hella boring, I guess cos I've never studied the history of it, oh yeah, and Brad Pitt wasn't there so that was a bit of a bummer!!!

BrItAiN - October 2005

London, Bath, Chester, Edinburgh, York, Oxford, Brighton

OH MY GAWD!!! How cool is England! I had sooo much fun here, i wish i had more time. London is great. i went shopping, saw Mamma Mia, went to the Tower of London, walked and walked, caught the tube, saw the changing of the guards, visited Notting Hill, went to Harrods and even saw platform 9 3/4 at kings cross station.I went on a 8 day tour around England and Scotland, Bath was cute, Chester was even cuter - good shopping at the Chester markets. Edinburgh was cool. Went on a ghost tour in the underground vaults. Didn't see any ghosts though. Made and heap of new Australian friends in York, and went to the carnival on the pier at Brighton.

SOUTH AFRICA

October 2 , 2008
Ok, so I was lucky and got to have a sleep in cos my flight didn't leave Sydney until 5.45pm.
I caught the train to the airport, left at 1pm and made good time. Had plenty of time to check in, etc.
I flew with Singapore Airlines. They were awesome! The flight departed on time, good seats, good food, good service, good entertainment - no complaints at all!!!
I had a short stopover in Singapore. Just hung around in Changi Airport.

October 3, 2008
Arrived in Cape Town at 7.30am. It was a small airport.
I got a transfer to my hotel with Randys Tours (www.randystours.com) they were awesome. Really friendly and a good price.
Arrived at my hotel, The Ritz, in SeaPoint. Had to wait a couple of hours before i could check in so i went for a wander into Cape Town, via the V&A waterfront. I was surprised at how freezing cold it was.

October 4, 2008
Tried to find my way to Table Mountain and failed miserably! Ended up just checking out Cape Town. I missed the last bus back to Seapoint and would have had to wait 2 hours in town if it wasn't for the friendly people that drive the local buses. They drove me back to Seapoint even though it wasn't on the usual route...Thanks guys!!!
Here's a shoutout.... www.gabs.co.za

October 5, 2008
The day of my tours departure. I travelled with Kumuka (www.kumuka.com) and had 11 fellow travellers for the first 3 weeks of the journey.
There was Laura, Troy, Phil, Wendy, Vince, Nadine, Parmesh, Kylie T., Kylie F., Ellie and Lawrence.
Our tour leader was Steffi and our driver was Craig.
Today we travelled north and had our first overnight stop, in the wine growing region of Stellenbosch.

October 6, 2008
Free morning in Stellenbosch, looked at markets and had lunch at a lovely little cafe in town. Travelled on to Citrasdal, in the Cedarberg Wilderness area.
Had a good night with good shots and good company!

October 7, 2008
Departed Citrusdal, and drove north, crossing the South Africa/Namibia border. It was a very quick crossing. I was surprised by the instant change in landscape as soon as we entered Namibia. SA was green and lushious. Within minutes of crossing the border, there was no grass to be seen. Suddenly we had arrived in the African desert, brown sand everywhere you look.... which brings us to the next section of blog.......

Still waiting

Well, it's been 3 weeks since I lodged by visa application and I'm still waiting for my passport to come back. Damn government offices, they sure like to take their time.
On the bright side I only have 2 weeks left at work, then I can really start getting things organinsed.

I can't wait!!!

I can't wait to leave the country!!! I am so over work right now. Only 3 more weeks...yaaaaya!!!!!
I only have about one or two weeks before I get my visa back then I can start looking at airfares.

Heading for the UK

Well, I've quit my job and I finish on 27/02/2009. That's only 3 weeks away now!!! I can't believe it! It still doesn't feel like I'm leaving yet. I guess because I've been working there for so long now. I guess this just feels like I'm going on another holiday and will be back at my desk after about 2 months... well...not this time.....!!!