It has been a long time since I last updated this blog. If
I’m honest, I kind of forgot all about it. We have been in the Hunter Valley
for the last 8 months, sometimes it feels like a lifetime and others as if we
arrived only yesterday. Today was our last day there, and as we locked up our
house for the last time it was hard not to get emotional. We are now en route
to Port Macquarie, a small town on the central coast. It is good to get
travelling again but we will miss the friends that we have made during our stay
in the Valley. As there is so much to
write about, I guess it is easier to start at the beginning.
We arrived in the Hunter Valley in November after another
long, uneventful road trip across the Australian outback. My first impressions
of our new home were not the best, and to be honest they never really improved
much. Some parts of the Hunter Valley are incredibly beautiful and it is easy
to see why it is a popular tourist area, especially for those who love good
wine. Cessnock, however, is not one of those places. When we arrived we had one
day so find somewhere to live as the hostel we were staying in was fully booked
over the weekend. Not a great start. Luckily we had 3 house viewings lined up.
One turned out to be with a crazy old lady who was sweet but had inspirational
quotes all over the wall "to help her with her stress levels.” The second house
we looked at sounded great on paper as it had swimming pool and pool table.
However, when we got there all the curtains were drawn, there was a weird old
guy sat on the couch who also lived there and the 2 rooms we were shown had
enough room for a double bed but not much else.
The last house we went to was the best of a bad bunch and
this is the one we chose. It was more expensive than the others but it was a
nice place, already furnished and the guy told us that as soon as we moved in he was
going to get unlimited, high speed internet which sounded perfect. We had our
misgivings as soon as we moved in. The place was a mess. They told us they were
in the process of moving in, but after a week we found the guy we lived with
was more interested in sitting in his man cave then sorting out his belongings.
Even though we were paying rent we had no place to put anything, so all our food and clothes were being kept in our bedroom.
It wasn’t long before
we were looking to move out, and with Richard and Caroline planning on heading
back our way, it seemed like a perfect solution for us all to move in together.
Unfortunately for us, but happily for them, they got offered a job on the Gold
Coast that came with sponsorship so obviously they took it. As we couldn’t
afford a house by ourselves we began to look into house sharing again. Just
after Christmas, an ad came up on gumtree for a brand new unit. The woman who
owned it lived in Sydney and had bought the house as an investment and
somewhere for a weekend getaway. It was perfect, she charged us less rent for
the whole house than we had been paying for one room and we had it all to
ourselves.
Just before we moved in, Dean started his new job at the
Crowne Plaza and I headed down to Sydney to spend New Year with my friend Ben
from home, and Jules who I met in Karumba. Sadly, Dean had to work but I had
managed to guilt trip my bosses into letting me be the only staff member who
didn’t have to work NYE. It was a great night, although very drunken and I
don’t remember as much of the firework display as I would’ve liked to due to some
surprisingly strong vodka drinks.
After New Year things started going downhill for me at
Harrigans. They were starting to cut everyone’s hours and there never seemed to
be enough staff on so we were all unnecessarily stressed. I couldn’t seem to
save any money as I was doing stupid split shifts, where I would work for 3
hours, have a 4 hour break, then another 3. Dean was really enjoying Crowne and
he was getting a lot of hours and managing to save almost double what I was. On
St. Patricks day, him and a lot of his friends from work came to Harrigans for
drinks and I joined them after I had finished. Everyone seemed so nice and I
loved how they all socialised outside of work. They were saying how they needed
more staff so I gave Dean my resume to hand in and a few weeks later I started
there. I never regretted my decision. I felt bad leaving my friends at
Harrigans but I know I made the right choice. We’ve made some awesome friends
at Crowne and I hope it will stay that way for a long time.
At the end of last month, and after more than a year without
seeing them, my mum and Megan came over to Australia for a holiday. It was
amazing to see them and after a few days it felt as though we had never been
apart. They arrived in Sydney on the Thursday and we were really lucky with the
weather. After a week of constant rain it was the first (and only) day that the sun made an
appearance. By the time we made it to Sydney, they had already been to see the
Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. I’m a bit controversial and I don’t really
think much of Sydney, I prefer Brisbane by far and I’m looking forward to
seeing Melbourne too. After you’ve seen the few touristy bits, there’s not a
whole lot to do there for such a big city. We only had 2 days there before we
headed up to Cairns, and as the heavens opened once again on the Friday, we
were all looking forward to getting back to the 27 degree heat awaiting us in
the tropics.
As we touched down in Cairns, I felt like I was home. I love
that city. As soon as you arrive it just hits you how much brighter everything
is. The sky was blue, the mountains in
the background were covered in greenery and the sun was shining. The house we
were staying at in Trinity Beach was beautiful. We had our own pool and a great
outdoor deck. That night we had our first family Aussie BBQ.
One of the best things about Cairns is that there is just so
much to do. I’ve been there 3 or 4 times now and I still haven’t done
everything. The first thing we did was go white water rafting. I did it last year
and loved it and I knew Meg, Rob and Dean would too. The water levels were a
lot higher this year than the last time I’d done it so I enjoyed it even more
as well. We had a great day, and it was definitely one of the highlights of the
holiday for everyone. We also did the waterfalls tour that I’d done last year
as well. We weren’t as lucky with the weather this year though so only Rob and
Dean braved the cold water.
There were a couple of first time trips for me too, we went
to Fitzroy Island and to Kuranda on the skyrail. If you’re scared of heights,
the Skyrail is not for you, as myself and Dean soon discovered. To get there
you go on an old train, up a rickety mountain track until you are about a
thousand feet high. The train kept lurching precariously towards the edge and
the track kept creaking, safe to say I was clinging to the edge of my seat for
the majority of the journey.
The way back down was even worse, you go in pods like those
on the London Eye, down what can only be described as a ski lift. It is about a
thousand feet up in the air and every now and then it just stops unexpectedly
and you start to drop. Luckily for me, Dean found it even worse and his ranting
and raving kept me and mum thoroughly amused. We were literally crying with
laughter at some points.
As always, it was hard to say goodbye. The 2 weeks we were
with them went so fast and when mum started to choke up it was all I could do
to stop myself from breaking down. I held it together but only until we were in
the taxi. It took me a few days to get over it and I think it was harder
because I knew they were still in the country.
As we landed back in Sydney on a Saturday night, we decided
to meet up with Lee and George from the farm and head out on our first night
out in Sydney. It was great to see them. I’ve seen Lee a few times now but it
was the first time we’d seen George in about a year. We’re not sure if we will
see them again so it was great to get the chance to say goodbye properly.
It was my birthday a few days later so around 15 of us went
for a meal to Harrigans. It was also our chance to say goodbye as we were
leaving for good the next day. We were given a photo album from the guys at
work, with pictures and messages from everyone. It was so nice and we are
planning on filling it up with pictures from the trip we are on now. My friend
Sarah, who I thought was currently in London, also made a surprise appearance
as she’d flown in the day before to spend a few weeks at home. It was so nice
to see her before we left and I hope to catch up with her and Jen
when I’m back in the UK.
After that mammoth entry, I am about up-to-date on what
happened before this trip. It’s taken me a few days to write this so we have
already been to Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour but that is another entry for
another day.
Love to you all at home <3
