Tuesday 30 January 2018

New Zealand - Auckland

Well it was finally time to leave Australia and head to New Zealand. I made my way to the airport and said my goodbyes to Joaquín...I was leaving him behind in Sydney. The wait for the plane was so boring and felt very long but my flight was called and I was seated and ready to go. Once I had arrived in Auckland I made my way to my hostel for the week and then went on the search for some food. 


I got chatting to some others in the hostel, including Mike and Deepu I was in a room with 7 others which had no windows, so who knew what time of day it was. 

My first day was spent researching about what bank account to open and which phone networks were good. On deciding to go with 2degrees, I took a stroll into the city and got a SIM card...guess what??? It doesn't work in my phone as it's locked. GREAT! I even checked my phone would work in NZ first! So I spent the rest of the day trying to get my phone unlocked. Luckily for me Joaquín was able to help and go into the shop in Australia and got them to sort it all out. Some good news for the day was that I managed to speak with a lady, Melisa, about a job down in the South Island and I was offered the position. This was advertised as an au pair/retail assistent/farm worker. I was looking forward to seeing what this job entailed. It was time to book a flight to Blenheim.

As my job was now sorted I had the rest of the week to enjoy and explore Auckland. First it was time to open a bank account which was very easy but I had to travel to a branch out of the city as the ones in the city were fully booked for the week. It costed me $5.50 for a single fair so I decided to walk back to the city viva the shopping centre. Found a lovely walk through the trees. I was walking for a total of 3 hours and was quite tired once I had reached the hostel. 


One day, Mike and I went for a "half an hour" walk to Mission Bay - after an hour and a half we finally reached our destination. It was a lovely walk round the cost seeing the views of the city and chatting about life. We were hungry and thirsty when we arrived to Mission Bay so Mike treated me to pizza at Sal's. This was a great place for pizza so if you get a chance to go, go! Well it was definitely a bus journey back to the city. 


The international buskers festival was in town so one afternoon a few of us from the hostel took a wonder around the city finding a few performers on the street we grabbed some food and drinks and made our way back to the hostel. We happened to bump into the night market on the way back which really wasn't great but there were lots of food stalls.
 

The next day Michelle and I headed back into the city, sorted something out with her bank account and then went on the search for more street performers and ice cream. Once back at the hostel it was time for me to pack my things ready for my flight in the morning. 

 

Tuesday 23 January 2018

Last days in Sydney

It was time to catch a flight from Adelaide to Sydney...the flight was the worst one I have even taken for travel sickness, I've never experienced travel sickness on a plane before!

After a night in Sydney it was time for Coty and Jorge to make their way back to Chile. The month had gone by so quickly and we managed to squeezed in so much. We all went over to the airport and this is where the problems started! We went to the airline to check in and they couldn't find the flight so we had to go to another airline desk and waited in the queue...it was getting later and later and I needed to make my way back so Joaquín and I could check out of the hostel. I wished them a safe flight and all the best. I heard from Joaquín that they couldn't find them on the flight but eventually someone solved the problem and they were checked in and making their way back home.

I spent some time sorting out somethings in Australia...closed my bank account, cancel my phone number and tried to find my visa for New Zealand as on the immigration website my visa was no where to be found. I had to ring immigration and they said that my visa document was was blank! Finally someone managed to email it over to me, phew!


It was off to Bundanoon on the Friday to visit Virginia and Pete and the animals. It was lovely to see them again and to see what work had been done on the property since I had left. As we got to the driveway we were greated with new gates. 


There was a new covered arena and the new stables were underway. It was nice for them to meet Joaquín. I went to say hello to the horses; Dez, Fiorella and Dan. 




We had a lovely lunch and a great time catching up. The time few so quickly and it was already time to leave. I wished them all the best with everything and waved goodbye.

My last day in Australia was spent looking for jobs again...the lady that had offered me the nannying post emailed me 2 days before I was due to start to say that she had employed someone else...thought once you had filled a position and agreed on a start date (she was even picking me up from the airport the next day) that the job would be yours! After a day of searching, applying and packing Joaquín and I went out for dinner.

Saturday 20 January 2018

Adelaide - January 2018

We had arrived in Adelaide...first night was spent chilling out.

We were all exhausted from the road trip but we did make it out to the South Australian Museum.

Here was saw a display of boomerangs, a giant squid, live bugs and gems. This took it out of us so we spent the evening playing a game of ludo, it was a long game and I didn't win!
Coty and Jorge said "no more walking today", so we took the free bus to the Botanical Gardens and then took a long walk around them! We stumbled upon the Santos Museum of Economic Botany...it was very fascinating with all the information about plants, seeds, wood, fruit and vegetables.




A picnic in the park for lunch but the day would not be complete without some more walking around the shops. Before Coty and Jorge left Australia we had to let them try kangaroo meat, so it was kangaroo burgers for dinner.
That afternoon I also had a job interview for a job in New Zealand...work as a nanny it went well and I expected the job the very next morning. That was a weight off my mind that I wouldn't need to search for a job once I had arrived.

Tuesday 16 January 2018

Road trip Melbourne to Adelaide - Jan 2018

Day 1
Collected the car and we got an upgrade...it was full of the latest mod cons, so much so that I couldn't work out how to adjust the seat! Finally worked it out, we also had cruise control!


We had one quick stop before we headed out of Melbourne.

Bubble cup!

Off on the Great Ocean Road...first stop is Torquay for fish and chips for lunch. It was then a twisty drive all the way to Kennet River where we stopped to see the birds and spot some koalas.




 Next it was Joaquín's time to take the wheel and it was more twists and turns to Apollo Bay. When we arrived there we had dinner and then took a walk along the beach.
 

Day 2
This was the day we drove to Warrnambool but we had many stops on the way first stopping at the 12 Apostles. This was the second time for Joaquín and I...but it was still an amazing sight. We took the Gibson Steps down to the beach and this time the tide was out so we got to walk around the beach and get closer to the Apostles. 



We enjoyed an ice-cream while seeing more Apostles then off to stop at;


Loch Ard Gorge,

London Bridge 

 
and the Grotto. 

Some wonderful natural wonders made from erosion. On the way to Warrnambool I drove throught Peterborough again.


Day 3

This morning was a long journey all the way to the Grampians. It is a huge national park with a lot of tracks and hikes. As we arrived it started to rain but we still ventured around seeing some parts of the park.
 Reed lookout


Mackenzie Falls
Silverband Falls
 
As the waterfall and river was pretty dried up Joaquín and I walked back to the car via the riverbed. In the evening we relaxed, had dinner and played carioca. 

Day 4
We had the morning to explore more of the Grampians. When we woke up it was very cloudy and took a walk along to the Venus Baths. I enjoyed running around with no shoes on! 

The next was a 4km hike up to the Pinnacle as we were walking the heavens opened and upon reaching the top the wind was strong. It was a beautiful hike but the views were nonexistent just stuck up in the clouds.




After a victory photo it was back down to the car and started our drive to Mount Gambier. This day we crossed the border from Victoria to South Australia. 

When arriving there we visited the blue lake...it is a volcanic crater formed by an eruption around 5,000 years ago.

We stayed at the Old Mount Gambier Goal...we checked into our cells for the night. This was a functioning prison until 1995. There were a lot of information around about the goal and some stories of the inmates. It was a great experience, my cell opened right onto the woman's exercise yard. For the evening we went out for a meal.





Day 5
Today was the longest of all the drives all the way to Adelaide but before we set off we stopped to take a look at the Umpherston Sinkhole. 


Then on the way we also stopped off at the Tantanoola Caves,  these were magnificent. 


After another 5 hour drive we finally reached Adelaide.

Thursday 11 January 2018

Melbourne - January 2018

Next we spent a few days in Melbourne before starting our 5 day road trip.

I really missed bubble cup so that was the first thing I did when I arrived, then we took Joaquín's parents to Gaylords Indian restaurant...this was the restaurant Joaquín and I had our first date and where he ate his first Indian meal. Coty and Jorge had also never eaten Indian and they enjoyed their meals. We took a walk to Federation Square then walked back to the hostel along the river and pasted the casino.


The next day Joaquín was off to show his parents the city he lived in for many months in Australia. I just spent the day sorting out my photos. In the evening I met up with Ashleigh for some drinks...she finally got to met Joaquín for a drink too. We also went to see some friends of Joaquín's - Seba and Noe - that evening. 




Coty and Jorge the next day decided to venture into the city and do yet some more shopping...a lot of time had passed and they still weren't back. Eventually they turned up, they said they had got lost in the city for 2 hours! As the sun was setting we headed down to St Kilda we walked along the beach front and down the peir. We took Coty and Jorge to see the penguins but they had no idea that's what we were doing. We waited and waited on the peir with many other people and they thought their surprise was a boat ride and that it was running late. Finally the penguins started to come in.