Since my last posting so much more has changed, but one thing stays the same ... I just want to get on a plane and get away!
I've moved from Tonbridge, my house is sold and waiting to exchange, I have a new job and things should be great. But not everything is as rosy as it could be. My flat is great and I love Isobel my flatmate, but she is heading off to start a new life in Canada, so I have to move again. My job is working for the weirdest setup in the world with a bunch of freaks. Nils and I have managed to stay good friends, but it's hard still. And no new man on the horizon ...
Anything to keep me here ... friends and family of course, but they will be here when I get back.
So ... should I stay or should I go ...???
Monday, August 27, 2007
Thursday, February 08, 2007
So, what happened next ....
I've had a few complaints that I didn't finish writing about my travels and that the last posting was in December. So, here I am sitting on my sofa, back at home, watching the snow outside and now is the time to finsh off my story.
I was sad to leave Australia, mainly because I was saying goodbye to Karen and Helen who had been looking after me for the past month, but also ready to embark on the next adventure. ... Which turned out to be the most ridiculous journey known to man.
As you will remember (do keep up now) I had to cancel my trip to Fiji as the second and final military coup of my journey was taking place. Not a problem, I thought, I will simply reroute straight to LA and catch my connecting flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. But American Airlines had other ideas (they are, by the way, without a shadow of a doubt the most rude, inefficient, unhelpful airline in the world - never,ever fly with them, it's not worth the blood pressure). So I flew from Sydney to Los Angeles, had a 10 hour lay over in Los Angeles (don't ever check into a motel near LAX, they are minging, overpriced and clone your card to empty your bank account) and then took the flight to San Jose.
So only a short 46hours after I left Australia I finally arrived, fresh as a daisy, which had been buried in a coffin for a week.
My friend Steve met me at the airport and we started the final leg of my journey in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is an amazingly beautiful country on the verge of great things. The wild life here is stunning, and everywhere you go you stumble upon things that you have seen on wildlife programmes. Sloths, monkeys, hummingbirds, huge iguanas and so many more.
Steve's brother Dave was marrying the lovely Veronika in San Jose and so the whole Berridge clan were visiting the country. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about meeting them, having spent the past three months moving to my own beat, it was slightly strange to be back in the bosom of a family. Luckily the Berridges were lovely and I had a fab time with them.
We travelled all over Costa Rica in our hire car - not exactly the four wheel drive monster I had imagined, but our Terios got us safely around the roads for two weeks. When I say roads, it is a really a mixture of tarmac and gravel and pot holes. In fact in some places you will find a stretch of 100m of tarmac, followed by 100m of potholes and craters, followed by 100m of tarmac and so on. It's like some cruel joke on drivers.
We did every kind of adventure activity. My favourite was the ziplining (deathslides, or as the South Africans call them, foofy slides - hardly SAS language is it?) down 2km of lines. We reached speeds of 65km/h hanging over gorges and rainforest. AMAZING. I also nearly crapped myself climbing up a vertical wall, did more ziplining, rapelled, went tubing down white water rapids and rode horses for hours.
One of my other favourite activities was swimming in one of the many waterfalls we found. It was so much fun. We also went to some natural volcanic hotsprings, which meant an evening of sipping cocktails sitting in beautifully naturally hot water. It really was fab.
Another highlight has to be seeing Mum and Dad on Christmas Eve. We were lucky enough to visit them onboard their cruise (thanks Stuart!) and enjoy the lap of luxury for the day. It was fab to see them both after so long apart. I talso meant that we could eat our own body weights in buffet foods.
On Christmas Day the Berridges kindly let me join in their family celebrations and made me feel so welcome, of course ending with a game of peruda.
Unfortunately as we all know, reality bites and I had to come home early - I checked my bank balance, panicked and got myself straight home.
Since I've been back it's been a bit of a rollercoaster. I'm still looking for a job and have turned the dreaded 30. But the biggest change has been Nils leaving. We realised that even though we deeply love each other, sometimes that really isn't enough and so this is our final goodbye. After spending nearly the whole of our 20's together we have millions of happy memories and I will choose to remember only those.
If someone had sat me down at the beginning of last year and told me that I would be in this position now , 30, unemployed and single, I would not have believed them in a million years. But you know what? I have a second chance. Once all the tears stop I can start afresh, the world may well be my oyster!
If any of you are thinking that maybe you would like to see the world, do it. I have had the most amazing four months, seen the most amazing sights, met some awesome people and I wouldn't change any of it for the world. Even if I am a bit sad at the moment, I am a lucky, lucky girl.
Thanks for reading ...
I was sad to leave Australia, mainly because I was saying goodbye to Karen and Helen who had been looking after me for the past month, but also ready to embark on the next adventure. ... Which turned out to be the most ridiculous journey known to man.
As you will remember (do keep up now) I had to cancel my trip to Fiji as the second and final military coup of my journey was taking place. Not a problem, I thought, I will simply reroute straight to LA and catch my connecting flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. But American Airlines had other ideas (they are, by the way, without a shadow of a doubt the most rude, inefficient, unhelpful airline in the world - never,ever fly with them, it's not worth the blood pressure). So I flew from Sydney to Los Angeles, had a 10 hour lay over in Los Angeles (don't ever check into a motel near LAX, they are minging, overpriced and clone your card to empty your bank account) and then took the flight to San Jose.
So only a short 46hours after I left Australia I finally arrived, fresh as a daisy, which had been buried in a coffin for a week.
My friend Steve met me at the airport and we started the final leg of my journey in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is an amazingly beautiful country on the verge of great things. The wild life here is stunning, and everywhere you go you stumble upon things that you have seen on wildlife programmes. Sloths, monkeys, hummingbirds, huge iguanas and so many more.Steve's brother Dave was marrying the lovely Veronika in San Jose and so the whole Berridge clan were visiting the country. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about meeting them, having spent the past three months moving to my own beat, it was slightly strange to be back in the bosom of a family. Luckily the Berridges were lovely and I had a fab time with them.
We travelled all over Costa Rica in our hire car - not exactly the four wheel drive monster I had imagined, but our Terios got us safely around the roads for two weeks. When I say roads, it is a really a mixture of tarmac and gravel and pot holes. In fact in some places you will find a stretch of 100m of tarmac, followed by 100m of potholes and craters, followed by 100m of tarmac and so on. It's like some cruel joke on drivers.
We did every kind of adventure activity. My favourite was the ziplining (deathslides, or as the South Africans call them, foofy slides - hardly SAS language is it?) down 2km of lines. We reached speeds of 65km/h hanging over gorges and rainforest. AMAZING. I also nearly crapped myself climbing up a vertical wall, did more ziplining, rapelled, went tubing down white water rapids and rode horses for hours.
One of my other favourite activities was swimming in one of the many waterfalls we found. It was so much fun. We also went to some natural volcanic hotsprings, which meant an evening of sipping cocktails sitting in beautifully naturally hot water. It really was fab.
Another highlight has to be seeing Mum and Dad on Christmas Eve. We were lucky enough to visit them onboard their cruise (thanks Stuart!) and enjoy the lap of luxury for the day. It was fab to see them both after so long apart. I talso meant that we could eat our own body weights in buffet foods.
On Christmas Day the Berridges kindly let me join in their family celebrations and made me feel so welcome, of course ending with a game of peruda.
Unfortunately as we all know, reality bites and I had to come home early - I checked my bank balance, panicked and got myself straight home.
Since I've been back it's been a bit of a rollercoaster. I'm still looking for a job and have turned the dreaded 30. But the biggest change has been Nils leaving. We realised that even though we deeply love each other, sometimes that really isn't enough and so this is our final goodbye. After spending nearly the whole of our 20's together we have millions of happy memories and I will choose to remember only those.
If someone had sat me down at the beginning of last year and told me that I would be in this position now , 30, unemployed and single, I would not have believed them in a million years. But you know what? I have a second chance. Once all the tears stop I can start afresh, the world may well be my oyster!
If any of you are thinking that maybe you would like to see the world, do it. I have had the most amazing four months, seen the most amazing sights, met some awesome people and I wouldn't change any of it for the world. Even if I am a bit sad at the moment, I am a lucky, lucky girl.
Thanks for reading ...
Friday, December 08, 2006
Diving on the Great Barrier Reef
DMBC - 0
Daily ant bite count - 8 - another form of insect has been taken with my sweet blood
First of all, I just have to get it out of the way. WHAT THE F**K HAPPENED IN THE CRICKET?? For two, nearly three, days I could hold my head up high in Australia as an English woman and not fear the comments from the victorious Aussies. Oh my god this defeat has made it 100 times worse. Everytime an Aussie hears an English accent they start laughing and just saying "How on earth did you guys manage to lose it?" Not even a bloody draw. It's definitely time for me to leave the country!
Anyway my bad luck with travelling continued as I came up to the Great Barrier Reef to go diving. Last time I was in Oz and came to Airlie Beach the place was crawling with diving opportunities - not so this time!! It took me four days just to get onto a trip that had enough people to go diving.
All of the dive operations have closed down and you can only go with massive boats with about 400 Japanese tourists on there to the reef where the divers are taken off to scuba away from the snorkelers in their life jackets. What this means is that the snorkelers get a fab boat to relax on and fab reef to look at with amazing fish and coral - a 2.5m grouper included! We divers were loaded onto a pontoon with a hairdryer attached to take us to the dive site - in 20knot winds.
Because the sea was so choppy the visibility wasn't great and the reefs we were taken to were mostly dead. We all came up disappointed as you would expect the Great Barrier Reef to be the most beautiful dive in the world - but to be honest I was more impressed with Phi Phi!!
Now as my family will vouch I don't get sea sick. As a child we regularly jumped on the ferry to France at the weekend - Nicola and Mum would be green for a lot of the journey while Dad and I would sit happily eating crisps and sandwiches. But the journey had even me feeling green around the gills and I can confirm that you can indeed be sick into your regulator (breathing equipment) underwater and not drown. You do, however, get a lot of fish coming over to feed!!
Anyway I've met a great crowd of people here now so I have enjoyed my time.
I'm off back to Sydney tomorrow to see Catherine and Stuart Allison again and then back to see Karen and Helen before going to Costa Rica on Wednesday ...
Daily ant bite count - 8 - another form of insect has been taken with my sweet blood
First of all, I just have to get it out of the way. WHAT THE F**K HAPPENED IN THE CRICKET?? For two, nearly three, days I could hold my head up high in Australia as an English woman and not fear the comments from the victorious Aussies. Oh my god this defeat has made it 100 times worse. Everytime an Aussie hears an English accent they start laughing and just saying "How on earth did you guys manage to lose it?" Not even a bloody draw. It's definitely time for me to leave the country!
Anyway my bad luck with travelling continued as I came up to the Great Barrier Reef to go diving. Last time I was in Oz and came to Airlie Beach the place was crawling with diving opportunities - not so this time!! It took me four days just to get onto a trip that had enough people to go diving.
All of the dive operations have closed down and you can only go with massive boats with about 400 Japanese tourists on there to the reef where the divers are taken off to scuba away from the snorkelers in their life jackets. What this means is that the snorkelers get a fab boat to relax on and fab reef to look at with amazing fish and coral - a 2.5m grouper included! We divers were loaded onto a pontoon with a hairdryer attached to take us to the dive site - in 20knot winds.
Because the sea was so choppy the visibility wasn't great and the reefs we were taken to were mostly dead. We all came up disappointed as you would expect the Great Barrier Reef to be the most beautiful dive in the world - but to be honest I was more impressed with Phi Phi!!
Now as my family will vouch I don't get sea sick. As a child we regularly jumped on the ferry to France at the weekend - Nicola and Mum would be green for a lot of the journey while Dad and I would sit happily eating crisps and sandwiches. But the journey had even me feeling green around the gills and I can confirm that you can indeed be sick into your regulator (breathing equipment) underwater and not drown. You do, however, get a lot of fish coming over to feed!!
Anyway I've met a great crowd of people here now so I have enjoyed my time.
I'm off back to Sydney tomorrow to see Catherine and Stuart Allison again and then back to see Karen and Helen before going to Costa Rica on Wednesday ...
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Fiji detour
I mentioned in an earlier posting that I might not be able to go to Fiji. Having watched the situation quite carefully and heeding the FCO advice for all non-essential travel to be cancelled to the whole of Fiji, I decided not to go. Most of you will know that I am quite accident prone and even a little bit unlucky sometimes, so it may well have been just tempting fate going there.
So I missed meeting my sister Nicola and her boyfriend Paul - they transited through this morning and are now in New Zealand. But I have also missed the part of my trip that I was really looking forward to. And it's not exactly the easiest of places to get back to either!! I know this sounds really mean, but I hope that they do have a coup now (bloodless obviously) to justify me missing out on that trip.
My quick visit to Oz has now become a full month here, so I am now in airlie Beach waiting to go diving on the Great Barrier Reef, so it's not all bad! I am staying in the same backpackers that I stayed in 8 years ago, Backpackers By the Bay. It is also the place that Becki Barnett (Thomas) worked in when she was travelling here, and I'm sure she'll be happy to note that there is still a somewhat faded picture of her and Wendy up on the wall.
Off to catch some rays ...
So I missed meeting my sister Nicola and her boyfriend Paul - they transited through this morning and are now in New Zealand. But I have also missed the part of my trip that I was really looking forward to. And it's not exactly the easiest of places to get back to either!! I know this sounds really mean, but I hope that they do have a coup now (bloodless obviously) to justify me missing out on that trip.
My quick visit to Oz has now become a full month here, so I am now in airlie Beach waiting to go diving on the Great Barrier Reef, so it's not all bad! I am staying in the same backpackers that I stayed in 8 years ago, Backpackers By the Bay. It is also the place that Becki Barnett (Thomas) worked in when she was travelling here, and I'm sure she'll be happy to note that there is still a somewhat faded picture of her and Wendy up on the wall.
Off to catch some rays ...
RIP fluffy
DMBC - 0 see there is an upside to Australia ...
Daily mullet count - a classic family combination of matching mullets for the father and son, and matching rats tails for the mother and daughter. You can't help but be proud. It's enough to bring a tear to the eye.
So while I was staying with Karen and Helen, we had daily visits from a female Mallard and her duckings. They were really cute and got used to us. They would come up every morning and afternoon to get food and would run all over our feet. We even got to the stage of picking them up.
Now I have painted this Disney-esque scene let me tell you what happens in real life. You get attached to them and then some bigger bird eats them all. As I have said previously I made the stupid mistake of naming them, with my favourite being the runt, Fluffy. Muffy, Huffy, Tuffy and Guffy were the other four.
So RIP Fluffy and co. I will be back in Terrigal with an AK47 hunting down those big birds for you!
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Another military coup??!
Can it really be true? Can anyone really be that unlucky?
I have only been on the road for a few months and it looks like I am going to encounter my second military coup next week in Fiji!
At the moment it looks like I might have to delay my visit to Fiji ... bugger.
Not a happy bunny tonight ....
I have only been on the road for a few months and it looks like I am going to encounter my second military coup next week in Fiji!
At the moment it looks like I might have to delay my visit to Fiji ... bugger.
Not a happy bunny tonight ....
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Come on England!
DMBC - 0 again!
Daily mullet count - 2, a prime combination of father and young son both sporting short on top, long, long, curly hair at the back. A true beaut!
Having spent last summer enjoying the Ashes in the UK I am now suffering the misfortune of watching them in Australia. The reason I feel I am suffering is not because the Aussies are rubbing in the score (I haven't actually met any Aussies) it's the fact that last summer I actually learnt a little bit about the sport. This means that I now understand just how badly we are playing the first test. Please, please turn it around boys - I can't possibly meet any Aussies at the moment for the fear of the ribbing I'll get!!
I have spent most of the time since my last posting relaxing at Karen and Helen's place, going to the beach, cooking shrimps and kangaroo on the barbie, and having a fab night singing on Singstar. Vera, Helen's mum was a surprise winner at this having protested no talent and then blew us all away when she got on the mic.
I also had a really good night in Sydney with Stuart Allison and his fiancee Catherine. They have got a great place on Neutral Bay, just a few minutes from the Harbour Bridge. They have been here for three years now and seem to be really loving it. I reckon they could get even me to love Sydney! Hoping to see them again before I fly off to Fiji on Thursday.
Anyway Kazzy and I are off to hit the town of Terrigal tonight ...
Monday, November 20, 2006
It's just like Tooting ...
DMBC - 3 the little buggers are back.
I'm up in Terrigal with Karen and Helen staying in their beautiful house on a lagoon. We used to live together in Tooting with Lins, and it's just like being back there again.
Well without the break-ins ... Or the London traffic ... Oh, and with sunshine and beautiful beaches ... And slightly fewer curry houses.
They moved out here two years ago and chose a fab place just north of Sydney to live. You walk out of their backgarden and get into a kayak on the lagoon at the bottom of their garden, paddle to the other end of the lagoon and get out on a beautiful beach and the endless ocean.
We met up in Sydney, so I had one day of sunshine there before coming up the coast with the girls. I'm still not a big fan of Sydney, but I do love the Aussie directness. I was in a changing room and the girl next to me was asking for the assistant to get her a larger size and the assistant turned round and said,
"Was it too tight round your arse?"
Brilliant!
Karen has been showing off with her Poi skills so we will be lighting them tomorrow and really putting her to the test. Helen tried it with her bottom on show to detract from her lack of poi talent with the classic comedy genius mooney.
But it is like being back living with the girls, last night we watched Australian Idol, tonight Peter Kay and tomorrow off to the cinema. Oh, but we are going diving on the weekend, I suppose we could have done that in Tooting Lido if push came to shove! If only Lins was here it would be complete ...
I'm up in Terrigal with Karen and Helen staying in their beautiful house on a lagoon. We used to live together in Tooting with Lins, and it's just like being back there again.
Well without the break-ins ... Or the London traffic ... Oh, and with sunshine and beautiful beaches ... And slightly fewer curry houses.
They moved out here two years ago and chose a fab place just north of Sydney to live. You walk out of their backgarden and get into a kayak on the lagoon at the bottom of their garden, paddle to the other end of the lagoon and get out on a beautiful beach and the endless ocean.
We met up in Sydney, so I had one day of sunshine there before coming up the coast with the girls. I'm still not a big fan of Sydney, but I do love the Aussie directness. I was in a changing room and the girl next to me was asking for the assistant to get her a larger size and the assistant turned round and said,
"Was it too tight round your arse?"
Brilliant!
Karen has been showing off with her Poi skills so we will be lighting them tomorrow and really putting her to the test. Helen tried it with her bottom on show to detract from her lack of poi talent with the classic comedy genius mooney.
But it is like being back living with the girls, last night we watched Australian Idol, tonight Peter Kay and tomorrow off to the cinema. Oh, but we are going diving on the weekend, I suppose we could have done that in Tooting Lido if push came to shove! If only Lins was here it would be complete ...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
