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G'day everyone!!!
Well, it is very hard to believe that I am sitting here about to write my final blog entry!! It's scary how quickly that time has gone, but what an adventure!!
So I will start from where I last left off....with Annette and i returning (slightly earlier than planned!!!) to Fiji after our trip to Tonga!! And luckily, our last week in the beautiful Fiji islands was relatively uneventful.....all aprat from Annette falling down a manhole that is!!! It was actually our first night back in Fiji too!! We were so excited to be home we went straight to surprise all the other volunteers where we knew they would all be having lunch...and yes they were surprised!!! We then were very good girls, and went to help out with the painting at the local kindergarten, and to surprise a few more people of course!!! Anyway that evening we were returning from a goodbye party organised by the special school for their volunteers (and completely unintoxicated I will just add) and were walking down our street, not the lightest place at the best of times, and I had just said goodbye to Annette and turned the corner when I herd a huge scream and turned around to see Annette- or rather not see her- down a manhole!!! Apparently metal is brought at a very good price in Fiji at the moment, so the locals are seizing the business opportunity by grabbing as much of it as they can!!! Very considerate!! Thankfully, and very luckily, apart from a few cuts and bruises she was fine- so after helping her out and some hysterical laughter as well as a lot of attention from the locals sat drinking kava nearby we were all ok!!!!! All in a days work for living in Fiji!!!
The rest of the week was really lovely, I was determined to make the most of my last week, which I now appreciated having very much and we had some great weather too which always helps. Many hours were spent catching the sun and swimming at the Radisson- another 5 star resort which is very easy to sneak into!! Plus on a rainy afternoon, 5 of us made a trip to Lautoka, one of the only 2 cinemas in the country to watch Happry Potter 7!!!!! A group of us also visited Natadola beach for the day- which was certainly worth it. From what I have gathered it is listed as the 7th most beautiful beach in the world......and it certainly does not dissappoint. Crystal clear waters, where you can see all the fish swimming by meet white sands stretched out for miles- absolutely beautiful. It was after returning from my day here that I received an email from my parents with photographs of the foot and a half of snow which had covered their back garden- was quite hard to comprehend that we were on the same planet really!!!
Of course my week also was full of lots of very sad goodbyes. Particularly with all of the wonderful volunteers from all over the world that I had met and of course my wonderful host family, who as I write this I miss very much. I was lucky to attend a Christmas carol concert with them at their local church on my last weekend, their older daughters were both singing and performing, and their son was crowned the 'Children's Church' prince for 2010 which was a wonderful end to the evening! Followed of course by a huge feast and even more of the warm Fijian hospitality I had grown to know and love. On my last night, after saying my goodbyes to Annette, my family held a special goodbye meal for me with traditional Fijian foods, and I was garlanded with a beauitful lei made from real flowers and made by the nanny of ther house that day! It was finished with a birthday cake and the whole family singing happy birthday to me- a most wonderful end to my Fijian stay. The next morning I was picked up for my lift to the airport- having banked on it being a Fiji time pick-up after them being 40 minutes late to collect my room mate, they of course were right on time!!! So after a tearful goodbye that was it, goodbye to beautiful Fiji. I have to say that I have certainly never visited a country so beautiful, fascinating and above all so welcoming and hospitable. I feel that I have made real friends there who I hope I will keep in touch with for a long time to come, and I think there are certainly a number of things the Uk could learn from them, lots of which I certainly intend to take back with me- although not Fiji time you will be pleased to hear!!!
So onto the final leg of my trip, Australia!!! And I have to admit that for this part I am afraid I was a complete shameless tourist!!!! I spent my 2 weeks here having a great time and ticking off lots of boxes for things I have always dreamed of seeing and doing!!! My trip started off in Cairns, Queensland. A lovely, tropical town with a great backpacking community and vibe to it! I got into the swing of things and was actually quite adventurous here. I went on a white-water rafting trip which was great fun, and managed to stay in the boat the whole time....others did not!!! I am also very proud to say that I did a Skydive from 14,00ft- I have the certificate to prove it!!!!! It really was more amazing that I could have imagined, indescribable really- all I can say is I have a much clearer inclination of what it must feel like to be a bird! The parachute descent was wonderful, we drited slowly for about 5 minutes over the ocean with fantastic views of the Great Barrier Reef, before landing right on Mission Beach. Beautiful....just beautiful. I do have video evidence of my skydive too, so will be gald to show anyone who needs to see it to believe it!!!!! My final adventurous activity was something I had always dreamed of doing, and my whole reason for visiting Cairns, so on my 23rd birthday I went out onto the Great Barrier Reef. And what an experience it was!! I herd it described recently by someone as imagining the beautiful tropical fish tanks in aquariums, and then imagine swimming through one!!! But even better!!! Luckily with my newly purchased underwater camera I was able to caputre some of this!!!! The trip consisted of 3 snorkelling advetures on different parts of the reef during the day, with a lovely lunch on the boat inbetween. And i was lucky enough on my second snorkel to have the experience of a lifetime- I spotted a turtle down on the ocean floor and watched it for a few minutes. I was so excited as this was what I had really been hoping to see- and then I just couldn't believe it, it started to swim right up to me, it swam right past me, less than a metre away and then went up to the surface for air!!! Just amazing!!!!! I then followed it around for probably more than half an hour watching it swim around between the beautiful corals and fish, the best birthday present I could have wished for!!!! That evening I went out for dinner with two lovely English girls I had met in my hostel to the aptly named 'Outback Jacks!!!' where we tried both kangaroo and crocodile!!!! Followed by the famous desert and spakrler with all the waiting staff singing 'happy birthday' of course!!!! Not a birthday I will forget in a hurry that's for sure!!! The next day, my final day in cairns I visited the rainforest and Cape Tribulation and then I was off down to Melbourne!!
My adventure here was very short- consisting of just 2 nights but I think I managed to see the highlights of this city- helped immensely by the tourist sightseeing bus!!!! I also met a friend Hannh here who I had met in Fiji and we went out for drinks on my first evening which was great!!! My real highlight of the trip was my visit to Phillip island at dusk where we watched as the sun set and thousands upon thousands of tiny penguins swam up from the sea and walked along the seashore to burrow down for the night after a long day of fishing!!! Just spectaucular to watch!!!!
And so i made it to my final destination...Sydney!!! Where I have been ticking off all the sights- helped again by the open top tourist sightseeing bus!!! I fell in love with the Opera House as soon as I saw it- totally worth all of the hype I think. Although rather inconsiderately the day I chose to visit so did Oprah!!!! Broadcasting her show right from the front steps!!!! So of course mass chaos construed, roads were closed, hoards of people everywhere, and you could not get anywhere near the Opera house.....unless of course you were wearing the 'Oprah pass' around your neck!!!! So the closest I managed to get was around the back of the Opera House where a big screen had been set up, and so I decided to join the crowds and settle down to watch the show live from the big screen......and actually it was quite enjoyable I have to say!!!! Then as I was leaving, so was Oprah, in her fleet of bullet proof Audis, and I actually saw her quite closely as she wound down her window to wave to everyone!!! Just when I thought I had experienced everything on my travels!!!!
So anyway I tried again the next day and this time was more lucky, I took an inside tour of the Opera House, seeing all of the different theatres- beautiful!!! Just as amazing inside as out. And I was extremly lucky to manage to get a ticket to see the Nutcracker Ballet perform there- a show I have wanted to see my whole life since watching it with my Auntie Rene when I was little :-) And it really was beautiful!!!!! I also ticked off a few more boxes, visiting Bondi beach and the blue mountains, taking a harbour cruise, feeding a Kangaroo, stroking a Koala, seeing wombats and a tasmanian devil, and of course visiting the Home and Away Beach- which i have to admit is something else I have always wanted to do!!! I saw not only the beach, but the surf club, Alf's Bait shop, and ate lunch in the Diner!!!!!! This was the same day that I saw the ballet though so I think my cultural levels were fully balanced out by the end of the day!!!!! Then my final night of the trip- I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge!!! And it really was amazing- a fantastic end to my adventure of a lifetime!! We climbed at twilight and got to the top just in time to see the sunset, with beautiful views of the city at night as we came down. Just a breathtaking experience I will ever forget!!
And so now I am sat writing this in my hostel waiting for my airport shuttle to begin my journey home. And this really has been the trip of a lifetime!!! So many amazing memories and expeiences I will never forget. I am so grateful to have had this wonderful opportunity, with everything from teaching in another country and living in a new culture, to reconnecting with family members across the miles, seeing sights I had always dreamed of, and having the experiences of a lifetime!!
So 15 weeks, 4 countries, 14 and a half (if you count the skydive) flights, 2,000 photographs, countless souvenirs and memories and i hope friends for life!!! What an experience!!!!
But it is true what they say, home really is where the heart is and I am now really looking forward to getting back to my lovely family, great friends and fantastic school :-)
So see you all in about 30 hours!!!!!
Love and miss you all xxxxxx
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