MY FAVOURITE TRAVEL MOMENTS OF 2015

2015 has been a great year full of memories I’ll treasure for the rest of my life. There’s nothing I enjoy more than flicking through old photos and remembering exactly how I felt at that very moment. The moment might have been and gone, but the memory will always be there to make you smile. Making memories that you can cherish forever is what life’s all about.

With that being said, here are my best travel moments of 2015 :)

1. PARTYING IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

2015 got off to a bang when I flew to Sydney on New Year's Day for a Contiki tour along the East Coast of Australia. We were staying in a hotel in Kings Cross so headed out to a local bar where things got crazy pretty quickly. Lets just say it involved a lot of alcohol, pole dancing and making lots of new friends! I can remember thinking 'oh my frigging god I'm partying in a bar in Sydney 9000 miles from home' and I literally felt like I was living my dream.

2. STROLLING THROUGH THE OLD MARKET SQUARE AS THE SUN SETS
IN LEUVEN, BELGIUM

This photo doesn't really do the moment justice, but you can get a feel of how beautiful the Old Market Square in Leuven is in my vlog here (skip to 8:30) The sun was setting, it was lovely and warm and the streets were filled with people eating, drinking and enjoying themselves. It was such a lovely atmosphere - a combination of the buzz of a city with the architecture and beauty of a small Belgian town.

3. BATHING IN THE BLUE LAGOON IN GRINDAVIK, ICELAND

An obvious choice! What's not to like about chilling in 38 degree water sipping rosé whilst the sun sets behind you?

4. DRINKING GOON ON THE BEACH AT SURF CAMP IN COFFS HARBOUR, AUSTRALIA

You've probably seen this photo 100 times before but it's honestly one of my favourite photos ever! It sums up exactly how perfect that evening was... sat on the beach with new friends, watching the sun set, drinking goon and just feeling completely content. We then got extremely drunk whilst playing drinking games and spent the night partying on the beach. Absolute heaven!

5. TOASTING MARSHMALLOWS & DRINKING WINE IN OUR DRESSING GOWNS

IN CHESHIRE, UK

As much as I love going abroad, I've had some equally amazing moments throughout 2015 at home in the UK! Me and my uni gals try and meet up as often as we can, so in the summer we all went to Emily's house for a BBQ and spent the evening sat around her outdoor fireplace (which is the most amazing thing I've ever seen!) toasting marshmallows and drinking wine. It was honestly one of the loveliest evenings I've ever had!

6. HAVING A BBQ AFTER SWIMMING IN LAKE MCKENZIE ON

FRASER ISLAND, AUSTRALIA

After a relaxing afternoon swimming in Lake McKenzie on the stunning Fraser Island, my Contiki tour group were led to a private area for a BBQ lunch. For some reason, I always remember this moment as being an absolutely perfect way to end a very special day. I love crystal clear water, I love 30 degree weather and I love BBQ's, so I was completely in my element!

7. WHITE WATER RAFTING DOWN THE TULLY RIVER IN CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA

I think this photo pretty much sums up why white water rafting down the Tully River in Cairns is one of my favourite travel moments of 2015! I loved the adrenaline of feeling like you were going to fall out of the dingy on the grade 4 rapids, but equally loved floating around in the tranquil water surrounded by some of the most stunning scenery I've ever seen in my life.

8. RIDING AROUND LANGMORN STATION ON A TRAILER
IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

I'm sure you're beginning to notice that the majority of my favourite travel moments of 2015 are from my trip to Australia! I was there for 2 weeks and, as it was a holiday of a lifetime, I did pretty much every activity there was to do! So it's not surprising that I made a lot of amazing travel memories :) One of my favourites is riding on the back of a tractor around Langmorn Station wearing cowboy hats and drinking vodka in true outback Aussie style!

9. CLIMBING THE SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE

Please excuse my Rudolf nose... the sun did not like my pale English skin haha! Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge was the one thing I always wanted to do, so I was a bit lost for words when it actually happened! I'm so glad we ended up doing a night climb as we got to see the sun set over Sydney half way up the bridge and the Sydney Opera House all lit up against the black sky at the top of the bridge - the best of both worlds!

10. SKYDIVING IN SURFERS PARADISE, AUSTRALIA

You might think that jumping out of a plane at 12,000ft having only had 3 hours sleep (oh and did I forget to mention I was still drunk as it was my birthday the night before?) sounds like hell, but trust me... DO IT.

What are your favourite travel moments of 2015?
xxx

CONTIKI BEACHES & REEFS / AUSTRALIA DAY 7

After an action packed day on my birthday and a heavy night of drinking, you'd think I'd wanna spend all day in bed right? Wrong. I dragged my hangover arse out of bed at 6am to do something only dare devils, adrenaline junkies and borderline psychopaths do... I was going to jump out of a plane.

Since being back in England, I've seen hundreds of my Facebook friends skydive in Australia and it actually made me giggle because it's something I don't think anyone would ever do in the UK. But there's something about Oz that makes people spontaneous and daring and think "why the hell not!" Plus, if you're gonna jump out of a plane, you might as well do it in 30 degree weather with views over Australia's Gold Coast!

The mini bus picked us up really early because it was a 2 hour drive to the skydiving centre, but at this point I was surprisingly calm considering what I was about to do. In some ways, I'm kinda glad I was hungover (by hungover I mean still drunk) because I wasn't really with it so I wasn't as nervous as I normally would have been. You can watch my skydive video below if anyone is interested. FYI, our answers to his questions were awkward because we'd had about 3 hours sleep, were still drunk and hadn't mentally prepared ourselves to answer questions before chucking ourselves out of a plane.

The whole thing is such a blur now, but you get such a sense of accomplishment once you've done it and I would honestly recommend it to anyone! I love facing my fears and this was definitely one of them - number 2 on my bucket list was well and truly ticked off!

I slept the entire journey home and jumped straight into bed as soon as we got back to the hotel. I think everyone spent the day chilling by the pool but I was so sleep deprived, I didn't wake up until 5pm that evening! Contiki can really take it out of you, especially with the early mornings, the long coach journeys, the activities and the late nights partying! This was our one and only activity free day (apart from the skydive) where we could choose to spend it how we liked, and I know it seems a shame to spend it in bed but it needed to happen. I didn't want to be tired and exhausted the rest of the trip, so I tried to take advantage of sleeping whenever I could.

That evening a few of us decided to go to a Thai restaurant to say goodbye to a few of the girls who were finishing their tour in Surfer's Paradise. We were joined by 4 new arrivals the previous night who were continuing on with us to Cairns, but a few people dropped off at different destinations along the way. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and chilled in the guys room for a bit but that was about it!

Next stop, Noosa!

xxx

CONTIKI BEACHES & REEFS / AUSTRALIA DAY 6

 (All photos are my own except the first two. Source: link)


I don't know about you, but I was feeling 22 this morning.

I woke up on 8th January 2015 in a hostel in Byron Bay & had finally hit the grand old age of 22. Not the worst place to spend your birthday if I do say so myself! Apart from the fact that it was pissing it down with rain!! Bloody typical, doesn't rain the entire time we were in Oz but it happens to rain on my birthday :( Which also meant that my bikini/towel that were hanging out to dry on the balcony were soaking wet, just as I was about to pack them in my case. What a nightmare! But hey hoe, I was off to the beach to go Sea Kayaking!

Thankfully the rain stopped when the kayaking guy picked us up in the worlds smallest 4x4 (see 3rd photo) to take us to the beach. We got into pairs, I was with my friend Polly, but by complete coincidence we were asked to split up so we could both go with instructors. I definitely wasn't complaining, as not only did I not have to work as hard because the instructor was doing most of the work, but the guy I was put with was SO fit. I never got bored of seeing tanned guys with blonde curly hair that's for sure! I told him it was my birthday, and because he was an instructor & could basically do what he liked, he steered us away from the group & went searching for some waves for us to ride. When he saw a big wave coming, he would build up some speed & the wave would come right behind us and push us forward at what felt like 20mph! It was such an adrenaline rush & so much fun compared to the rest of the group who were peacefully rowing in the calm waters! I thought to myself, "How bloody lucky am I to get put with the adrenaline junkie instructor (when I'm a massive adrenaline junkie myself) on my birthday?!" It really was the most perfect way to start the day!

When we got back to the shore, we all sat on the beach & had hot chocolate & Tim Tams with the instructors which I didn't know was included so that was really cute! Just as we were about to leave it started chucking it down with rain so we spent the entire journey home absolutely drenched looking like drowned rats, much to the amusement of the group back at the hostel! This afternoon we continued our journey & crossed the border from New South Wales into Queensland for our next stop, Currumbin! One of the Aussie guys I had gotten quite close to on the tour was sat with me on the coach & out of nowhere handed me two paper bags full of birthday presents! They were just silly things that he picked up locally but it's the thought that counts & it really was such a sweet gesture! One bag contained typical Aussie food like Vegemite & Arnotts Butternut Cookies, the other contained general things like Pringles & a jar of Nutella. A girl's gotta have her snacks!

We spent a few hours at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary feeding Kangeroo's & having photos with Koala's before heading North again to the Miami of Australia, Surfer's Paradise! Surfer's was the first place since Sydney where we were staying for more than one night, which was a relief as we were all getting pretty bored of packing & re-packing our suitcases every. single. day. The hotel we were staying at was unbelievable! 4 of us had a huge family room to ourselves (not a bunk bed in sight!) with a kitchen, 2 single beds, 1 double sofa bed & a separate bedroom with a double bed, sliding wardrobes & its own private balcony! Because it was my birthday the girls let me have the separate room with the double bed, so I definitely felt very spoilt!! That evening the whole group decided to pay extra to have a 3 course meal at Dracula's Cabaret Restaurant, one of the most famous cabaret shows in Australia. It was so lovely having the whole group together for once as it was rare to have everyone paying for the same optional activity (usually everyone would be off doing different activities!) As regular guests, Contiki are always reserved the best tables right in front of the stage & are always given a special shout out which was really nice! The show was SO funny, especially when they were taking the piss out of my friends English accent! The drinks were really expensive though... well, all drinks in Australia are ridiculously expensive to be honest! $20 for a double vodka and coke, what the hell?

After the show, the coach took us to a club where we had VIP entry included (again, complete coincidence that it happened to be my birthday!) For anyone who's been on a Contiki before, you'll know that every group has a 'day song' that is played every morning & evening to get us pumped up & to remind us of tour when we get home. Ours was Uptown Funk, and even to this day I can't listen to it without wanting to cry happy tears because it brings back such amazing memories! When Uptown Funk came on in the club, we all went CRAZY. It really was the best night! Everyone kept buying me so many drinks that at one point I was holding & attempting to drink 3 drinks at the same time (see last photo)! My Aussie friend walked me home at the end of the night & bought me Krispy Kreme doughnuts - can life get any better than that? I seriously doubt it!

Check out tomorrow's blog about my post-birthday hangover...

Or should I say my 6am wake up call to do a skydive!!!

xxx