Home, Home

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Ever since we booked our tickets home people have said 'you must be so excited to get home', 'oh wow are you excited', 'it's been so long you must be excited'. And yes of course I'm excited. I'm excited to see my family, my friends, mainly by dog though. I'm excited to have a real winter where I can wear big jumpers and boots and feel cosy by a fire in a pub instead of sweating like a turkey on Christmas Eve. I'm excited to see my favourite places that I haven't seen in so long and I'm excited to see all the things that have happened and changed since I left.

But also I'm scared and I'm anxious and it's a bit bittersweet. 

I've lived in Australia for two years now, and yes I have lived here. We've had our own life, finding work, making friends and doing real adult things like paying bills and filing tax returns and buying our own weekly shop. I've lived in Australia for two years and it's a little like home. 

I've made attachments to people and places. We've seen more of this country than we have our own. It's hard to do all these things and have all these experiences and make all these attachments and not form roots and feel like you're leaving a place like home at the end of it all.

I've missed home and I've missed friends, family and places. And when it comes down to it I'm about to do the same again. I'll miss the family I met again, I'll miss the friends we've made and I'll miss the places we've seen and experienced. I'll even miss the dogs. Ok I'll miss the dogs heaps.

But seriously, travelling is like that. You form roots all over the world and leave parts of you all over the world so where is home?

Of course, home is home. Home, home. Everyone has home, home. For the past two years home has been Australia and home, home is home. The little house in the south coast of England with my family and my dog and all my stuff and the little town with all my friends and memories. So will that always be home, home? Probably. 

But home? Home is wherever you make it. Home is where you can make attachments and roots and feel loved and love. 

The thing is I've always known I'm going home, home to see everyone and be there again, so I've missed it in a 'I miss home but it's okay I'm going home' way. And of course some days you miss it more than others. 

But it's different with Australia. I'm leaving here never knowing when I'll be back, though I know I will be back. And that's the hard part. 

I'm leaving home and I don't know when I'll be back.

Until next time,

5 places you NEED on your NT to do list

The northern territory is a vast state. Thousands of people travel from across Australia and from across the world to visit the northern territory every year. It's full of culture, national parks and red dirt. The territory is a must see for anyone on a long term trip to Australia. 

With all these things to see and do it can be a bit overwhelming trying to decide what, out of it all, you want to do. So here's 5 things you can start with, and I promise you, you won't want to stop here.

Darwin

You cannot miss the capital city of the Northern Territory. It's a lovely city with a relaxed, laid back vibe that fits to most people's idea of Australian life. Darwin is a great spot to take a fishing charter, enjoy a cold drink in the harbour or watch the sun go down over the sea. There's also heaps of wildlife and crocodile parks you can visit to get up close and personal with some of the Territory's and Australia's most dangerous residents. 

Litchfield NP

Litchfield is a beautiful national park covering 1500 square kilometers just south of Darwin. It's full of stunning waterfalls, natural wonders and cultural highlights and it really is a must visit. There's so much to see in the park that you really need about three days if not more to see it all properly. However, if you're rushed for time Buley rock holes and Tjaynera Falls (Sandy Creek) are both beautiful spots but you will need a 4WD vehicle to get to Tjaynera. 

Kakadu NP

Another one of the NT's beautiful national parks and probably it's most famous. It's a tricky one though. In the wet season it's often too wet to visit by foot but in the dry most of the waterfalls don't run so it's all about getting your timing right. Though you don't need to worry too much. There's heaps of helicopter tour operators you can fly with to see everything in full flung wet season mode and in the dry there's still plenty of rock holes and Aboriginal rock art to see. We visited in the dry season and for us Ubirr was the most incredible part of the park. It's an Aboriginal rock art site which is fascinating but it's also a beautiful spot to watch the sunset from,

Alice Springs

Alice Springs is one of the largest towns in the NT and arguably the capital of the red centre. Aboriginal people have lived in the area thousands of years so again it's full of fantastic Aboriginal culture. There's also heaps of natural landscapes to have a look at such as the Macdonnel Ranges and Simpsons gap. However, for a bit of history about the town you should visit the old telegraph station. It's really cheap to get in and is a great spot by the river to discover some of Alice Springs past and also enjoy a picnic. 

Uluru and Kata Tjuta NP

As if I could write a post about the NT and not talk about this absolutely phenomenal place. It really is a must visit. If you're going to go to one place in the NT make it this place. It's so much more than an awesome looking rock. It will completely take your breath away. It costs $25 pp to get into the national park but it's worth it. Also make sure you take a ranger tour I promise you will get so much from it. 

Well, there's five places you really should visit when you're in the NT, but really there's so many more. I've got lots more blog posts about the NT planned so keep your eyes peeled for those in the coming weeks/months. 

If you think there's somewhere in the NT that's a must visit make sure you comment below or tweet me. 

Until next time,

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Diving the Great Barrier Reef

Diving in the Great Barrier Reef is something you can't miss if you come to Australia. It's an iconic Australian experience that you simply won't get anywhere else. In short it would be a crime not to have a look. 

The reef stretches from Torres Strait to Fraser Island so you can dive and snorkel in a lot of places and get a good look at the reef. Jack and I decided we'd take the plunge in Cairns whilst we were on our trip up there. We cruised with 'Ocean Spirit' to Michelmas Cay from Cairns. You can cruise from Port Douglas and there are heaps of tour operators to choose from that go to various different parts of the reef and different islands. 

Green Island is the most popular but it's also quite busy so Jack and I decided to try a different area. We visited one of the tour information centers in Cairns CBD to get an idea of the various different options, and I'm glad we did. They told us the best day of the week to go for visibility and also for how choppy the sea was going to be. As someone who is not the biggest fan, by not the biggest fan I mean hate, of boats it was good to hear from someone in the know what would be best for me. 

The person we spoke to suggested going with Ocean Spirit as they have a really good reputation and also the boat is a catamaran meaning it's less bumpy. And he was right. The crew and staff were all lovely and really happy to help from checking in right until we left the boat in the afternoon. The sea was relatively rough so it was still a little bumpy but nothing like it would have been in a single hull boat. He also told us that Michelmas Cay was a really great island to go to. It's quieter than other islands as only two boats go there and also it's how Green Island started. So eventually Michelmas will look like Green Island so it's pretty cool to see. 

On board we were given tea and coffee and muffins in the morning, a light buffet lunch, and cheese & biscuits and champagne on the return voyage. Included in the price is a trip in the semi sub so you can get a view of the reef even if you don't want to swim, return boat trips (as many as you like) to the island and snorkeling equipment and wet suits if you'd like one. Scuba diving is an additional cost but one worth the price.

Our instructor, Marcos, was really great. I think he could tell I was little nervous and made the effort to relax me and make me feel OK about it all. He explained everything in depth so there was no confusion and was reassuring if you weren't 100% about something. If you're feeling nervous about diving don't be. The instructor won't let you dive if they don't think you're capable and you don't even have to let go of their arm if you don't want to. You're guided through the whole thing and it becomes like an under water guided tour without the commentary. 

The key tip is to relax. Don't focus on your breathing, or your ears or anything apart from taking everything around you in because it's a once in a life time thing. It's incredible down there and we're lucky to be able to experience it in this way so enjoy it. At the end of your dive you swim under the boat and there's heaps of fish swimming past you and it's just the most amazing thing. If you've got your diving license you can dive unassisted but if not there's no need to worry, even if it's your first ever dive. 

If you don't want to dive, you can still snorkel and that's also an incredible experience. You can still get close to the reef and see all sorts of underwater creatures. 

For us it was one of the most incredible experiences of our trip and I can't wait to dive again somewhere else and carry on exploring the underwater world. 

Until next time,

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