My Aussie Adventure

Finally I have made it to Thailand! But before that let me tell you about the past 12 months of my life which have been so wonderful! In May 2014 I decided that I needed a change from London and so one morning in my hungover state I booked a flight to Australia. Why? Because the thought of constant summer, beaches and Aussie men called to me! And within the next three months I quit my job, headed home to Quin to see the family and set off on my journey on the 26th July.

I arrived into the bustling world that is Sydney City two days later. My first week in Sydney was a blur of goon, sandboarding, boats, dolphins, Sydney Harbour, Shaol Bay, beach bonfires, kangaroo’s and basecamp. Here I met the 3 other B RUV’s Maisie Mitchell, Robert Mckinney, Marc Reece-Cook/Cook-Reece. The 4 B Ruv’s plus Nico and Levi set off on our roadtrip to Cairns in our beautiful Juicy Condo. One month later we arrived in Cairn’s broke, partied out and minus Levi and Nico. One last mad night out was had in the woolshed, Cairns. It will go down in history.

And so the search for farmwork began. To gain a second year visa for australia you must complete 88 days of regional work. But after travelling from Cairns to the middle of nowhere (Cunnamulla) and then on to Dingo (Bogan country) with no luck, Maisie and I left the boys to do the dirty work and hitchhiked outta there! Back in Sydney we worked in a bar and saved up enough money for our reunion with the boys at Stereosonic (a juicehead extravaganza) while our time in Sydney was short we made some really lovely friends from our kiwi ‘ciggibutt head’ to our gay ‘sweety darling doll’.

After both getting fired from our Jobs for attending the Stereosonic weekend festival we decided to move on and got a ride to Coffs Harbour, from here we were broke again and managed to scrape together enough money to buy bikes from BIG W. Off we set on a three day cycle to Byron Bay which surprisingly turned out to be really hard!

After a few storms, exploaded tyres and failed brakes we arrived back in Byron – my hippie haven – here we met up with Rob for christmas, however after a impromptu roadtrip to Nimbin we decided to join our Sweedish homeboy Eric and his kiteboard in the back of his ford fiesta on a roadtrip to Melbourne. We arrived in Melbourne on Chritmas eve and spent Christmas on St Kilda beach with the lovely Pedro (Ola Pollito!), Dave and Sonia. After Pedro flew home to Chile we soon moved to the city and got Jobs. I worked as a commission based hair stylist… probably one of the worst jobs I have ever done. Thank god for the Corioliss girls (Laura) who kept me sane!

Mid Feb I get a call from our aul mucker Marc, he was on the way to Melly B in the Irish bus! After a stressful day at work they arrived. Marc, the irish boys, one English and one welsh lad. We were so excited to be reunited!! The 4 B RUVS back together again! I let myself get persuaded by the boys to quit my job and jump on the Irish bus and so we made our way to Perth. The irish bus was super dirty as it was licensed to carry 2 and it was carrying 8! 6 of them boys so you can imagine the smell! I spent my birthday on the Irish bus travelling the Great Ocean Road and had a surprise birthday party on Murray River! Thank you again boys (and Maisie <3) really was a great birthday!

We finally made it to Perth (I have never been so excited to get off a bus in my life… we all stunk) This is where we all parted ways Danny and Marc Headed North to finish the farmwork, Maisie and Rob ran out of money and went to Thailand. I stayed in Perth with Andy, Alex, Nina and Jonny. We had some mental nights out in Perth and I funded my life by working on a waffle stall with some beautiful girls (love you Jaz, Lauren and Katie!!).

The day after the waffle stall closed I jumped on the Magic Bus. The magic bus was simply the best experience I had in Australia (maybe in my life) and I urge everyone I meet to do it! The month we spent together travelling the west coast, cooking together, eating together, drinking, swimming with dolphins, turtles, whalesharks, mantarays, playing drinking games and becoming a family was to date the best month of my life! I love every single person on that bus with all my heart. We really are a family! The day we got to Broome was a sad day… No one wanted to leave the bus! But as we all set off in different directions and on different adventures we knew we had a nomadic family for life and that one day we would all see each other again.

After a week of looking for work in Broome, one of my Magic bus besties called me and said ‘come to Alice Springs there is loads of work’. Not ones to be left out, Sandra and I set off hitchiking to Alice… we waited in Fitzroy Crossing for 7 hours until 'Kiwi' picked us up… the worst day of my life!! This turned out to be a tretcherous ride with a dangerous man. (Please everybody be careful when hitchhiking! Always take down the name, rego, where they will take you and send it to a friend) After 4 days hitchiking we made it to Alice Springs before the boys (who got stuck in Tennant creek for three days!). The first day here we all got jobs, Martin and Kish arrived and we set off on our Uluru roadtrip. We hired a brand new 4WD and took turns driving (I even drove on the 200km dirt road to Kings Canyon!) This roadtrip was amazing. Sandra, Martin and Kish really are beautiful people and I am so privileged to call them my best friends <3.

The last two months of my Australia trip were in Alice Springs were I worked in the Kitchen, lived in a tent and spent every night with my best friends by a campfire. I kept in contact with everyone from the magic bus especially my three favourite homeboys Mihkel, Theo and Joep who were working on a cattle ranch. One day with no word of warning they arrived at mine and Martin’s work to surprise us. Martin and I took a day off work and we had the best reunion playing wizards! All my faves were back together again, we went Mountain climbing, Built a funnel, played flunkyball and just enjoyed each other’s company. One by one we became smaller, Joep left for Cyprus then Theo went home to France and then finally me.

With tears streaming down my face I arrived back in Perth to collect my passport. I cannot explain the sadness I felt when leaving Sandra, Martin and Mihkel. My little Alice Springs family <3. Back in Perth I met up with my favourite Quin boys; Dan, Ryan, Bob and Pa! Met Martin’s brother and all the Estonian gang. Reunited with James and met the Lovely Eoin, Tom, Sally, Martin, Tony, Gemma, Molly, Graeme, Colin and Preston. Although our time was short, we really fell in love <3 We had a serious week long session to cure my blues and to send me off to Thailand…

And here I am.

XOXO