Back to the grind

I'm afraid this might be my shortest blog post to date, as all I have to report is that after spending a few days searching for a job, am now working in a coffee shop. It's good fun but very tiring. And because i'm starting at the bottom of the ladder i'm not even allowed to make coffee yet! Apparently there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. It's all about the texture of the grind, the heat of the milk and even what direction the wind is blowing. I kid you not! It's a far cry from teaching, but my plan is to get my head down and spend as much time as I can working and as little time as possible spending, and then get my teaching qualification when I get back to the UK. Australia is very expensive for us Brits at the moment and the price of groceries is astronomical.

I'll write again soon but i'm afraid I won't have much to report...unless of course I get a go on the coffee machine!

Happy 2010!

Since writing my last blog entry we have entered a new year. I can only hope that the next one is as amazing as the last; for me it will be a very hard one to top. My time in Africa was the most liberating, interesting, educational, challenging and humbling experience of my life. I have done things that I never dreamed I would be doing (speaking Swahili, driving to remote villages in a Beetle, singing ‘I’m a little teapot’ in front of 100 5 yr olds), meeting some real characters (the drunk Maasai Lemenguay who guided me and friend Becc up Mount Longido, my good friend Selina who spoke about as much English as I spoke Swahili but with whom I forged a good friendship, and of course the amazing kids at the school, not forgetting my adopted son Issiah who I miss every day) and achieving amazing feats that really pushed me to the edge of my comfort zone (climbing Mount Kilimajaro and learning to get used to the cockroaches in the long drop toilet)! I fell in love with the people of Longido and can’t wait to go back – either as volunteer or friend. Sorry if it sounds like I’m showing off but I’m assuming that if you’re reading this you are a friend of mine and know that I am just proud of myself and amazed that I finally found the courage, money and kick up the bum I needed to take the plunge into the unknown!

Ok, sentimentality over and done with… let me tell you what I have been up to. New Year’s Eve was the best one I’ve ever spent (although I have had some good ones, most notably enjoying Louise’s singstar efforts last year). I was in Sydney - Henderson people, you’ll be pleased to hear that Coxy and I have been reunited and are causing trouble as usual! We stayed with Kamani, a friend of mine from the Africa overland trip, along with a few others who are now travelling in Australia, so it was a bit of a mini-reunion. We packed up a pic-nic and got up at 5am to be at our chosen spot as early as possible. The crack of dawn start paid off, as we secured an amazing view of the Harbour Bridge and were under a rotunda to protect us from the grey clouds that were hovering overhead and threatening rain all day. The channel 7 news crew came round and interviewed us, I was eating a fruit salad at the time and said something stupid about getting some vitamins (yes Dave, in an English accent so the aussies probably wouldn’t have understood me). Luckily my clip didn’t make the news, but Gemma’s did! It was classic, they asked her how she was going to spend her day and they cut it down to show her saying ‘I’m just going to get drunk’! I’d like to say that we were civilised and had our pic-nic accompanied by a glass of champagne as the clock struck midnight. Unfortunately I think we all know that’s not how things really went. My mum’s reading this so can’t be too explicit…but let’s just say a good time was had by all, and the fireworks were amazing (or so I was told…)

On 2^nd January it was my 26^th birthday, so we re-donned our gladrags and hit the town. Mark and Nathan, friends of mine from home had flown in that morning and it was great to see them. I was very lucky and lots of people came to help me celebrate. We had a great time, finishing up in a club at around 4am.

The next day Gemma, Mark, Nathan and I took a day trip into the Blue Mountains, a range just west of the city which are said to appear blue due to the moisture given off by the eucalyptus plants when seen through the haze. I had hoped to do some hiking while I was there but time and weather didn’t allow. We stopped at a wildlife park where there were loads of koalas which we had our picture taken with.

 

Then we went to a lookout but visibility was so poor that we couldn’t see past the end of our noses. Luckily, after lunch the weather cleared and we had some good views of the famous 3 Sisters rock formation. There is an aborigine legend that says something about girls getting turned into stone but obviously that’s a load of rubbish and all you need to know is that they are rocky outcrops formed by some sort of erosion (geography buffs, feel free to elaborate…). On the way back to the city we stopped off at the 2000 Olympic Stadium and then took a river cat back to the harbour. I was really nice to get another view of the opera house and bridge and a good way to top off a good week in Sydney. However, Gemma and I were haemorrhaging money so decided it was time to move on. We had an adventurous 20 hour journey up the coast to Brisbane in the most uncomfortable van in the world with 2 german guys. Not something I would usually do but we checked them out beforehand and as we were together felt safe. Don’t worry, it’s a backpacker thing…

I am now back at Yvonne’s house on the Gold Coast, and plan to be here for the next couple of months while I get a job and earn some money to enable me to carry on my travels.

Christmas and New Year

Phew...have finally found time to sit down and catch up my blog! The last week or so has been great, catching up with Yvonne (one of my best friends from High School who emigrated with her family 7yrs ago) for Christmas and then flying down to Sydney and meeting up with Coxy (friend from Henderson in London) and some friends from my Africa tour for New Years Eve. And to cap it all off it's my birthday tomorrow so my poor liver is not going to be happy with me!

After arriving at Yvonne's house we spent a lovely couple of days together; she showed me round the area - we went up Mount Tambourine where we went for a walk in the rainforest and stopped off at a crazy little distillery to do some last minute xmas shopping but ended up staying for nearly an hour and doing a tasting with the owner, a real character who originates from Ipswich. He's been here for 40 years but I could detect a twang - I guessed Norfolk so was pretty close!

Christmas was lovely but very different to what I'm used to back at home. We woke up and opened presents under the tree with Yvonne's housemate Anthony, and then went over to her parents' house and opened more presents. Mum, you'll be pleased to hear that Jenny bought me some socks and some posh lip balms so I still had traditional 'mum presents' to open! After a lovely brunch I spent the day lying by the pool in the 30 degree heat, then later we all went over to some friends' and had a traditional Christmas dinner. On boxing day we went to the mall (silly idea, it was of course very busy) and I bought some trainers and sports gear so that I can start to get fit. As I'm going to be in Oz for a few months I thought the investment was worth it. No more excuses!

That evening (after my first jog) we went into Surfers' Paradise and had a drink at the bar on the top floor of the Q1 tower (the world's tallest residential building for all you fact fans). There I met Kirsten, a girl I worked with in London. It was so nice to see her and catch up on all the goings on I've missed out on since leaving in June.

Then Yvonne and I drove down the coast and about 100kms inland to a place called Casino to stay with her boyfriend and his lovely big welcoming Italian family. They live on a beef farm, and I mentioned that I was maybe interested in working on a farm (as a jillaroo) so the next morning Yvonne and I got up at 6am and went to a neighbouring farm to see the cows being milked. It was very interesting but made me realise that the romantic notions I had of working on a farm were a far cry from reality - far too many flies, cow excrement, early mornings and of course, the smell!

I'm now back in Sydney and met up with Gemma, my partner in crime! We had the best New Year's Eve ever, went down to the Rocks (up at 5am to secure a good spot!) and spent all day drinking cheap wine to pass the time before the fireworks. We had a great groupf of people, consisting of friends I met in Africa, Gemma's friends from her travels in Asia and lots of assorted hangers-on. Fantastic atmosphere and quite possibly the best spot in the whole city from which to see the Harbour Bridge and fireworks! Today has been spent recovering and sleeping. Tomorrow it's my 26th birthday (I can't believe it - still not got as clue what i'm doing with my life, but loving trying to find out)! I'm going to meet up with some friends at the Opera Bar and then see where the wind carries us - can't wait!

Thanks for all the comments following my plea on the last blog, it's so lovely to hear from old friends. Happy 2010 everyone!

Eleanor