First few days in Sydney 13th - 18th of April

Hi,

When I first landed in Sydney I had organised to stay at a family friends flat in Bronte, which is near Bondi. So I took a taxi from the airport and headed to the beach. It took me about 10 minutes to find the key, I searched everywhere to find it practically right next to the door, and rapidly got changed before heading to the beach. However, I hadn't been down there long before the heavens opened and I had to run back. That evening after Jake had finished work and been to the gym we settled in to watch pretty much every episode of Idiot Abroad while having left overs from his weekend roast. It was nice to relax after being in hostels. Having access to a kettle was bliss and I massively indulged in peppermint tea. The next day my Aunt Debbie came to pick me up so that I could stay at her and Paul's Palm Beach house (North Sydney Beaches). Arriving was like stepping into heaven.

The house, beach and area were all beautiful beyond belief  - as was the food! I had my own room with a double bed and two lovely spaniels for company (Miss Spot and Miss Ink) - it was bliss. On our first dog walk we even saw my TV crush from Home & Away (Palm beach is where all the beach scenes are filmed)! I met their wonderful friends and they made me feel so at home. In the evenings I even managed to catch up on some TV and some reading! I saw an awful program called The Housewives of Melbourne, it was cringe worthy to the extreme.

Finally, the morning of the day I was heading back to the city, the Royals were coming to a North Sydney beach called Manly which is where my friend Izzie lives. We decided to head down to the beach and see if we could catch a glimpse. The sidewalks were congested and people had been waiting for hours - there was no way we were going to see them so we went down onto the beach to catch some rays and watch some of the Manly Beach lifesaving displays put on to entertain the crowds. A few hours later screams erupted from the crowds on the board walk and we stood up next to the fence on the beach to have a "nosey". The crowds were screaming "Kate, Kate! Over here!", it was mayhem. People were pushing up against the rails and it was hard not to get crushed! However, luckily for Debbie and I, plus Debbie's two friends, Will headed straight over to our group and we were the first people to shake his hand and receive a "It's lovely to meet you" and small talk about us being British. The whole experience was rather overwhelming, the crowds were crazy as if possessed but overall it was nice to see so much support for the Royals over here, although I must say I don't think I will do it again! Kate looked beautiful and they both chatted away to all the young life savers and started a few races with a gun, before receiving gifts of surfboards - all this was done my Kate in heels, very impressive!

 Here are some photos of my time there...!

Lots of Love,

Clementine x

 

Luxury Brekkie :)

 

 

Miss Spot

 

 

Me in the Sunshine

 

 

Miss Spot and Miss Ink

 

 

 

A piece of Sydney artwork

 

 

Mmm... fresh food!

 

 

South end of Palm Beach

 

 

View from the house

 

 

 

Good Morning!

 

 

 

Manly Beach and the Royals

 

Queue for the ferry to the city!

 

View from the Ferry dock

 

 

First view of the Harbour Bridge :)

Last Few Days in Melbourne - 10th to the 13th of April

Hi,

So in my last few days in Melbourne, I tried to cram in as much stuff as possible as I will not be returning here until late June (before Gee and I head to Vietnam).

I met up with my "Äunt" Debbie at her swanky hotel in the centre of Melbourne and she treated myself and Gee to a lovely Italian meal before showing us around the area that she stays in when visiting Melbourne. We also went to visit my "Uncle" Paul's high rise office which looks out over the centre of Melbourne with a 360 degree view.

Afterwards, Gee and I visited the famous graffiti'd street that I had stumbled upon before and I was amazing at how much the art work had already changed - so I have more photos!

That night I went to visit my friend Natalia from Glasgow in St Kilda (South Melbourne) whose brother had come to visit. I actually got separated and lost from them pretty early on but met some really fun people such as a girl called Ellie who I ended up hanging out with for the rest of the night.

The nest day (11th), Xin  (my roommate) and I went to look around the Brunswick and Smith Street area which is full of many different cultures creating a hub of foreign food restaurants, quirky shops and artwork. Later that night we went out to a popular club called Boney. It was a very weird experience, it was the most "indie" club I have ever been to. Everyone was very "hipster", we definitely didn't fit in but the bouncer took a liking to us and let us in for free which did make the experience worth it. Although I had been out all night, I did manage to make it to one of Georgie's hockey matches the next day which was really fun to watch. She was playing against a team which had an old member of our school playing for it (Lydia Short) which was very funny as it was Lydia who scored the winning goal for her team. I was out again that night with Natalie and Scott from Glasgow, they had moved hostels from St Kilda to the centre as their old one had bed bugs! ewww! Being so close to me and the city we decided to go out to a city club called "Sorry, Grandma", it's awful - don't go! However, at the end of the night I met up with Gee and she stayed at mine.

The 13th was my last full day in Melbourne, so I headed into Chinatown for some free WiFi, cheap food and designer shopping in an attempt to master my hangover and sore ankle but ended up in Thornbury in Gee's bed before long eating old soup and watching "The Book Thief" - not as good as the book. I caught the last bus home and managed to bag a lift with one of the hostel workers to the airport. I will not name which company I was flying with, but it was a joke - about four hours later than planned I landed in Sydney and headed for Bronte where my friend Jake lives. But... that's for next time. Here are my pictures from my last few days in Melbourne...sniff sniff.

Lots of Love,

Clementine x

 

Flowers for Gee's Room

 

 

 

So good - "little cupcakes"

 

 

 

Graffiti and Gee

 

Scott, Natalie and Me :)

 

 

 

Meet Ellie

 

 

 

Brunswick

 

 

 

Smith Street

 

 

Boney Club

 

 

Gee's Hockey Match

 

 

 

 

 

Classy Pictures

 

 

Sushi in China Town

 

 

I want trainers....!

Hello Australia

Hi,

Welcome to the Australia part of my blog.... dah da! I am here until July 1st if anyone would like to fly across the world to see me? no? Okay.

I haven't done that much so far surprise surprise because I can't really afford to do anything as it is sooo expensive here! I originally stayed in Base Hostel in St Kilda where I met some really fun and lovely people and now I am staying in Gee's room at her house. Although I do leave tomorrow.

So far, I have visited China Town where I had so many dumplings that I was almost sick, been to the aquarium with one of my said new friends (hostel friend, yay), had the most painful wax of my life, been to a few art galleries (so sophisticated), walked around most of Melbourne, taken a tram, train, bus and taxi, and finally been to three different hospitals when the Doctor thought I might be having a heart attack.

And also spent a lot of time with Gee, and cleaning Gee's house.

Here are some random photos...

Lots of Love,

Clementine x

Night out in Cushion

The Melbourne Aquarium

'You are my world, my light, my everything'

Graffiti off Flinder's Street

One of the beautiful houses in Brunswick

Gee and I learning to Hula