On Moving to Australia

On Moving to Australia

Tuesday, 18 September 2018

Before heading to our new home in the Gold Coast, Jonny and I spent a couple days in Sydney with his brother, dad and two of his uncles. Exploring the city was loads of fun and averaging 18,000 steps per day meant I didn’t feel so guilty about all the junk we ate. Boys; we flew to another country and all they wanted was KFC. Having heard about Australia’s brunch culture however, I was on the hunt from the minute we arrived, and did manage to find an incredible smoothie bowl one afternoon when I went for a wander whilst they were at the pub. 

Our stay in Sydney was short but sweet and soon enough it was time to catch our flight to the Gold Coast. Jonnys best friends, Leon & Seamus (they're twins) have just bought an apartment at a holiday resort and we've moved in with them. Fully furnished (double bed, dining table - it even came with champange chutes so I have some to drink my prosecco out of), en suite, swimming pool and the beach down the road; it's perfect!

They're the first people my age I know that have managed to save up and buy a house for themselves and I think its pretty amazing; such an investment for their future. They even showed us this handy calculator from SunLife that shows how much house prices have risen in recent years, something they're excited about. 

Still, all their talk of mortgages goes right over my head, along with how to use the washing machine so even though I've been thinking about it, I still think I've got a little way to go.

I love waking up to, what I only know as holiday weather every morning and that there is always music playing when they're home. I love eating breakfast on the balcony overlooking the pool. I love that we finally have a real kitchen since we lived without one in Auckland and I love that one of the bathrooms has a huge corner bathtub.

We're within walking distance of a Ben and Jerry’s, Baskin Robin’s, Movenpick, Gelatissimo, Mcdonalds and my new favourite - Royal Copenhagen so thats where most of our money goes nowadays. Seriously, our cash got stolen over the first few days here and we decided to spend the last of it on ice cream. 

Having trialled all of the gyms in the area, I was going more or less 7 days a week for almost a month. I signed up for my first ever membership and promotly stopped going altogether as my Uber Eats application got accepted the next day. I now spend all my spare time cycling.

Talking of which, Jonny bought me the most beautiful mint green bicycle for my birthday! He also took me out for breakfast, ice cream and to a carabaret show where we both got very drunk and then had to cycle along the gold coast highway home.

We had our 6 month anniversary which we celebrated at the arcade. I might have lost at Guitar Hero but I did hit a 1000 ticket jackpot so who won really Bae?  

All three of the boys work the supermarket night shift and one of my two jobs is usually a10pm start so we spend most of our spare time messing around when we all get home at 4am. On top of that, theres uber which we all do very competatively; I worked 68 hours last week. So as you can see, it’s been all go since we got here sixe weeks ago. Sure it's been hard work but I'm loving it so far and am very excited to see what the rest of our time here brings! 

*Collaborative post

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Being an Uber eats bicycle delivery driver

Being an Uber eats bicycle delivery driver

Sunday, 9 September 2018

When I landed, alone in Kuala Lumpur with no idea what I was doing, an Uber driver got me safely to my hostel. When I wanted to see the sky tower in Ho Chi Minh City but didn't have much time an Uber motorbike zipped us through the traffic and when I was hungry on a cold, stormy night in Auckland, an Uber eats driver delivered steamy udon soup through a window, straight to my bed. I never used Uber much when I was at home but since I've been travelling, it's become one of my most important apps.

Whilst my little mint green bike (big up K-Mart) and I aren't quite like the large item courier you see rolling around Vietnam, (honestly, I've seen fridges, TV's and whole families on the back of a bike there,) I've spent the last two weeks delivering brown paper bags of happieness to people all around the Gold Coast. Becoming an Uber delivery driver has completely taken over my life. I cycled for hours in the rain by choice on Tuesday and last night, the four of us turned off the app and cycled home at 4.30am. Me, Jonny and both of our housemates are totally obsessed. 

Making $$ and getting healthy whilst you do it. Here's how I've found the whole thing:

Signing Up

Signing up is a pretty simple process. There are the usual questions; plus they want copies of important documents and such. The only issue I had was how long it took. For me, it took almost 2 weeks just to get approved because the criminal check just took forever; although uber were really good with keeping me updated on progress via text and email. Also, the help centers here in Oz were some of the most efficient and helpful call center staff I've ever come across, they actually fixed my problem every time I called.

The Bag 

If you see someone with this huge bag of their back, you know they are a fellow Uber driver. Theygs cost $35 which automatically comes out of your first payout and Uber are also happy to swap them for free when they get tired. We take ours everywhere with us now and switch the app on an any opportunity; obsessed like I said.

The bag has been mostly good except for when it comes to pizzas; they just don't fit. On a busy Wednesday night, as I opened my bag to get a pizza out, it became apparent that the whole thing had slid out of the side of the box and was sitting on the bottom of my bag, prawns and all.

Using the app 

Probably now my most used app and really simple to use. You can start and stop whenever you like. Just go online and wait for the magical notification noise, it's addictive. When you get a delivery, your phone buzzes and gives you a few seconds to accept; too slow and it goes to someone else. The app then give you an order number and directs you to the resturant. Swipe 'start delivery' and the map routes you straight to the customer. Once the delivery is over, it tells you how much you made on it and adds it to the days total at the top of the screen.

Getting Paid 

Any money you've earn't from the last week goes straight into your account on Monday night and thats that. Simple.

Cancelled Orders

A cancelled order sounds like it could potentially be a bad thing, but trust me it's not. In 6 days of Ubering, I had 2 cancelled deliveries meaning I've finished up with over $60 worth of food to do what I want with and gotten paid for deliveries that I didn't have to make.

I picked up a Mcdonalds order and by the time I got back to my bike, Uber had already called me to let me know that my order was cancelled. They told me I'd still get paid for the delivery and to dispose of the food however I wanted.  Did I eat it? I wanted to but honestly I was so busy that day that I didn't have time. As soon as I hung up another order came through. 

Having not ridden a bike for years, on my first day out, I spent almost 5 hours cycling and since then, it's all I want to do. I don't have time to go food shopping, Jonny and I take our bags out on date nights and my gym membership has gone straight down the drain.

Yes, it can be pretty exhausting but what other job allows your to add an extra $400 to your income by spending a few hours cycling along the beach. Throw in a bag of snacks, a portable charger (very important) and an awesome Spotify playlist and I'm can go for hours.

Thank you Uber, you've changed my life.

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A week in my life in Auckland, New Zealand

A week in my life in Auckland, New Zealand

Monday, 13 August 2018

I say this all the time, but I cannot believe how long I've been away from home; it's been almost eight months since I left the UK on New Years Eve. Having spent a couple of months in Southeast Asia and five more in New Zealand, Jonny and I have just arrived at our new home in Australia. 

My time in New Zealand was completely unscheduled but I soon got into a routine. With the job hunt starting all over again here in Oz, it got me reminiscing about months past in Auckland.

So what did I get up to in an average week?

Wednesday

It's a super miserable morning but I'm not too worried because it's National Pineapple Day and I somehow got myself invited to a cocktail party with Dole, the pineapple suppliers here. I met up with my English friend, Emily and we spend the evening drinking pineapple cocktails with the Dole team at Talulahs, a tiki bar by the harbour. 

Thursday

I woke up with a hangover so Thursday was a little bit slow as you can imagine. Jonny is working night shifts this week so after work, I turn the heated blanket on and get straight into bed. Made myself dinner, called my mum and spent the rest of the evening scrolling through Instagram.

Friday

It was my last day at the insurance office I work at and it was a little bit bittersweet. I was only meant to be temping for four weeks but I'm finishing my placement 3 months later with an annoying 10 day gap before we leave. I guess it's a good excuse to just chill out for a bit before the travelling starts again though.

Since Jonny is at work again, I got myself dinner from Jar Story near where I work; beef and quinoa salad, chocolate chia pudding and an almond milk and date shake. It was still sunny when I got some so I ate it out in the garden. 

Jonny ended up home by 10pm so we decided to make the most of our Friday night and headed back into the city to hit up the Casino. 

Saturday

We got up early and drive to our favourite cafe, Little Sister for breakfast and as usual I was very excited, just look at the first page of the menu and you'll understand. Last week I went for the oats and I spent the whole week thinking about what I was going to order when we got back. This time I ordered the chocolate hot cakes. Yum.

Since we seemed to be on a winning streak after last night, we went back to the casino this afternoon, stopping off at the gym, and then GIAPO on the way. It will always be my favourite place for extravagant ice cream so I am trying to squeeze in as many visits as I can before we leave. The shop was full as usual but we managed to grab seats inside so this time I could sit and watch the magic happen in the kitchen.

Everyone seemed to be loving the new New Zealand sheeps milk and banana flavour, I watched one hand crafted cone, dipped in chocolate and topped with peanut and banana go out after another; I admit, I was very tempted - they looked incredible but I'm not huge on peanut butter so I went for my usual Hokey Pokey - plus an extra scoop of caramel & hazelnut praline underneath. Coated with thick milk chocolate and honeycomb pieces I was in heaven.

After another suspiciously good run at the casino, we headed home, via the supermarket (for chocolate raisins and dried apricots) and then to HELLS pizza. We watched Game of Thrones in bed until the early hours of the morning.

Sunday

You would have thought we'd be sick of eating by now but oh no, not when there is brunch to be had! We found a paleo café just across the road from the gym. I ordered my avotoast minus the toast on a sweet potato rosti with a date and cacao smoothie and it was delicious!

Next; we head to the gym. again. I've never been to the gym so much in my entire life but with Jonny going every day, its super easy for me to just go with him and strangely enough, I am actually really enjoying it. Sometimes I really push myself but sometimes, I just go for a walk on the treadmill and just look at it as getting a little bit of movement into my day. Sunday morning is Yoga!

It was such nice weather when we left that we decided to go on a bit of an adventure, it was going to be our penultimate weekend in Auckland after all. But first; more food. Jonny picked up a Lamington since I'd not had one and then we went out in search of a waterfall. After getting a bit lost, we ended up at the beach which was just as good a place as any to settle down and fight over who got the biggest half of cake. lol

After a few more episodes of GoT, somehow it was 11pm. Since we had been in bed for a few hours so I thought I could safety assume that I was done eating for the day but apparently not; I can never assume when it comes to Jonny and McDonalds. After spending the journey deliberating about whether I really needed to eat any more, when I saw an advert for the new mint chocolate shake, there was no stopping me. With no whipped cream left, they suggested topping it with soft serve instead and it is the only way I'm ever going to order my milkshakes again. SO GOOD.

Monday 

My first day off started with 4am alarm because a week of late shifts is always followed by a week of early shifts. After Jonny turned all the lights on, made a big mess and left for work, I fell back to sleep until 10. Finally with some time to myself, I made a start of my inbox which I had been severely neglecting over the past few weeks and started thinking about what blog posts I wanted to get done with my time off before all the madness started again. Then I get a call from a recruiter offering me work for the next day. 

Tuesday 

It was another early start today but this time I actually had to get out of bed. I was just covering a receptionist who was off sick for a few days but it was in a part of town that I hadn't been to before so I had fun trying to navigate my way there. I don't know why but I have always wanted to do a receptionist job; well, now I can tick that off of my list!

It's been a simple life over the past few months; lots of eating (because it's one of my favourite things to do) and a little bit of exploring too. New Zealand has been cold and we both had full time job but it's still been a lot of fun!

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Some of the most memorable places I've ever slept

Some of the most memorable places I've ever slept

Monday, 23 July 2018

Travelling hasn't just all been a big adventure (well it has, but), it's actually helped open my eyes to other ways of doing things; hence today's blog post. I realise that whilst a few of my most memorable experiences have indeed been at a luxury hotel, you don't need to spend thousands on accommodation to have great trip. If you're clever about it, you can do even the most expensive destinations on a budget and still have a blast. Whether its a cheap or expensive destination, there are always ways around it! ​Check out this useful tool to help you experience a Dubai holiday on any budget shoestring to splurge!

Although it seems pretty obvious, this really was a bit of a discovery for me. To put it into perspective, the first time I visited Bali, I blew so much money I don't know what I was thinking. I'm glad I did it back then because I don't think I could justify spending £300 a night on a holiday right now. When I went back to Bali last year, my accommodation cost £7 a night; that's almost 50 times less omg.

I've slept in some very expensive rooms and now, I've slept on the airport floor to save paying for a bed. Here are some of my most memorable nights:

Purple Monkey Hostel, Pai 

I had never heard of Pai but when I arrived in Thailand the whole backpacking community were talking about how amazing it was so I decided to book a couple of days and give it a go.

My trip turned into a week long visit and it became my favorite part of Thailand; it definitely had some of the coolest hostels but all of the good ones were out in the middle of nowhere and I didn't want to hire a motorbike so I had to compromise.

 After a few nights in a shared dorm at Purple Monkey, I couldn't take any more, it was just too basic and with Electric Valley festival coming up, I decided to book myself into one of the private rooms because I knew that I'd want to get a proper sleep the day afterwards.

Turned out that the private rooms were actually tiny little huts, just big enough to fit the mattress on the floor. There were 5 of them, all lined up in different colours. Super cute and pretty hilarious (they looked like an oversized dog kennels to me) with a padlock to lock the front door; it was the perfect place to shut myself away from the world and get some much needed sleep. 

The Mondrian Hotel, London 

The Mondrian is my favourite hotel in London and I have mentioned our many stays there on the blog before; although somehow, I failed to mention the time/s we stayed in their river view balcony suite (which is going for £924 including breakfast for tonight).

I assumed it was going to be an once in a lifetime experience, seriously, not even I would spend that much on one night but somehow, it happened again and we got to stay in this incredible room on two different occasions. Interesting what a couple of 4am fire alarms and a good old complaint email can get you.

The room was 700 sqft with two bathrooms - one with a freestanding bath, a separate dining area and a huge balcony overlooking the Thames. We drank complimentary champagne in the room, had massages at the spa and dinner and cocktails at their Sea Containers restaurant downstairs. Along with crab scrambled eggs and avo toast in the morning; this will forever be one of my most memorable hotel visits ever. 

Tipsy Tiger Hostel, Penang 

Tipsy Tiger was the best party hostel that I stayed in during my stint in Southeast Asia plus it was super cheap for such a popular place. My £7 got me a bed, a 2 liter bottle of water, two very strong mixed drinks at the bar and as much nutella and toast (and well you know, fruit) as I could eat the next morning. It was big, spacious and super chilled out during the day which made sense because you don't really get much sleep sharing a bedroom with 19 other ridiculously drunk people.

Yep. The 20 bed at Tipsy Tiger was the biggest room I came across and stayed in on my trip and yes, there were multiple couples having sex every. single. night. That was the tame stuff; all sorts of things went down in that room and as you can imagine, it was just madness.

Like all of my favourite hostels, I extended my stay here and did 6 nights on the trot. I left at 7am on the last day, completley broken and had to take a week off to recover, vowing I'd never go back. oops.

ME Hotel, Majorca 

It's not often I go back to the same place again and again, but this is one exception; I went back one year after another and was still desperate for more.

I've been to a few ME hotels but the one in Majorca is very arty, very lifestyle based and it is such a vibe. Honestly, that is the perfect the word for it; they even have a room called VIBE - although I've always stayed in sea view PASSION room because it has bathtub looking over the beach. Priorities.

Along with the bath tub, the rooms are minimalist, fresh, white and crisp with an open plan bathroom so you better be comfortable with whoever you are sharing with. With an adult only pool, an on site beach restaurant and music pumping all day from Nikki Beach next door, I didn't want to leave the hotel all too often; but of course we did (a couple of times at least.)

Chilled days would be spent drinking frozen cocktails by the pool and then heading out to Port Adriano for a seafood feast and more adventurous days would see us exploring Palma old town on an open top bus and making the most of Magaluf's infamous night life with super club, BCM just down the road - another Majorca holiday highlight for me, I've been going to that place since I was 17. 

Home, Auckland 

I wasn't sure if I should put this one in but I always think to myself how important part of my life story this little place is going to be. Not only was it my first home, the first place that I paid rent for but it's the first place I lived with a partner and the first time I've lived in another country, let alone one that is about as far away from home as I could get. It's funny where life takes you. 

Ubud Village Resort, Ubud 

I couldnt come in with an intro like that and then not mention the rooms. We actually stayed at The Elysian in Bali too but whilst I loved that place equally, it was much less authentic and I will always remember arriving at this hotel. It was our first time in Bali and I didn't realise that places like this existed. A completely open reception area meant we could see across the whole property while the sun set and we sipped on welcome drinks. As it got darker, candles lit every walkway in the resort; we hopped on a golf buggy to our villa. A big wooden gated entrance, a private pool, an outdoor bathtub and soft Balinese music playing in the background, made it (and Ubud in general) the most romantic place I've ever visited.

I wrote this paragraph and then realised that I have quite literally quoted this post word on word; very strong memories as you can see. 

Sukhuvati Retreat, Canggu 

For someone who had never done yoga before, it had always been a strange dream of mine to visit a yoga retreat and I finally made it happen last year.

What an experience; with daily treatments at the spa and in the villa, vegan food that I didn't know existed and a room to myself, even more extravagant than the one in Ubud, it was one of the most amazing things I've ever done.

Having taken up yoga since arriving in New Zealand, I would love to return to Sukhuvati one day.

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7 Awesome Things to fill in the gaps in your Auckland Itinerary

7 Awesome Things to fill in the gaps in your Auckland Itinerary

Wednesday, 27 June 2018

Life in Auckland is pretty similar to life in England. I mean it’s easy to just go about my day and forget that I am actually on the other side of the world. I got into a bit of a get up, go to work sort of routine but I’ve been trying my hardest to make some effort to go and do things because actually, I am on the other side of the world and it's an awesome opportunity! Obviously I have to fit this stuff in around work but whether that’s days out at the weekend or wandering around the city during my lunch break I'm making it happen. So here are a few things I've been squeezing around work and some ideas for anyone who has a few hours spare during a visit to Auckland!

Snow Planet

Just a half hour drive from the CBD, (Central Business District) Snow planet is an indoor ski centre and even though I was expectedly terrible, it's definitely a fun way to spend a few hours – we jumped in the car and hit up one of their night sessions after work. I've never been skiing before; indoor or outdoor but it’s fine, they were pretty prepared for my skillset with a little beginners slope and staff everywhere to help direct you. I did spend a lot of time falling on my butt but that’s all part of the fun right?

Beaches

I didn't realise just how many beaches there were to explore in Auckland but there are loads, especially ‘out west’ which is convenient because that’s where we live but it's really not that far from the city either. For the first few weeks after I arrived, every weekend we would get on the bike and go and visit a different one. There’s Muarai and Takapuna but Brown's Bay was my favourite. There was a live event on over the weekend and food stalls all along the front, so we grabbed some lunch (we were halfway through Narcos at the time so made a beeline for the Colombian stand) followed by an ice cream and spent the afternoon listening to the band play in the sunshine. 

Queen Street

This is where I spend most of my time because a. it’s outside my office and b.it reminds me most of home. I like to think of Queen Street as Aucklands answer to Oxford Street apart from that there are alot less people. Still, like when I was at home, I often spend my lunch hours wandering around the shops. There aren’t as many clothes stores here but what NZ lacks in clothes it definitely makes up for with food - Queen Street is full of places to eat! You’ll also find the IMAX cinema and the Sky Tower just a street behind.

Eat Dessert

Admittedly I do have a bit of an ice cream problem but Auckland is the best place for me because it's full of luxury dessert bars! Amongst them all, as you already know, my favourite has to be GIAPO and his imaginative and delicious creations – still the most incredible ice cream in the world if you ask me - I never know what to expect when I head there. These guys are totally geniuses. Whereever I go I try to eat as local as possible, i am fascinated by Maori culture and giapo's maori fry bread ice cream is one of my favourite "new foods" that I’ve discovered whilst travelling and i totally love it! That's why this place will always be one of my top things to do in New Zealand

The Viaduct

This is a wonderful part of the city that I have only just discovered is there. It’s the harbour area, lined with bars and restaurants which honestly, is such a great place to spend an evening. Like I said, its all new to me, I met up with Emily, who I found in the Brits in Auckland Facebook group and on our hunt for happy hour cocktails, we stumbled across The Culpeper. We sat down outside and made our way through the a few espresso martinis whilst the sunset on the water and was back again the week after looking for our next stop - we've been to an Irish pub and a tiki bar there since! Facebook has been crazy useful for stuff like this since I've been travelling!

Sky City Casino

I had kinda come to terms with whilst Auckland is huge and very spread out, everything back home is much bigger and faster paced. But last week, I discovered one thing in this city that that doesn’t apply and that would be the Casino at SkyCITY. With over 2,100 machines and 150 tables, its pretty huge and being open 24/7, it was absolutely buzzing when we went on Saturday night. With bars and restaurants all through it, you can spend hours and hours at this place; and we did!

Go to a gig

Newly discovered by me, Auckland in fact isn't the capital of New Zealand, Wellington is. But saying that, Auckland is actually bigger so you can bet if an act is coming all the way to New Zealand, they'll be playing somewhere in Auckland. I made a last minute decision to join the boys when they went to see Machine Gun Kelly last month and had a blast! Kiwis are pretty into their live events and the atmosphere was amazing! Meet MGKs newest fan!

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