At 00:00 on Thursday the 1st of January I checked off country number 1 from my challenge list! Yes it may not have been the most exotic of first countries but it's not the country I live in so it counts. I absolutely love Edinburgh. My grandma is from there and I spent alot of time there as a child so it holds a special place in my heart. So whilst not the furthest country I will be visiting this year by a long stretch I couldn't think of a better place to start.

Why was I in Edinburgh for New Years Eve? Well why the hell not really. Its infamous Hogmanay puts it on the list of top 10 things to do before you kick the bucket and I always wanted to give it a go. So it was perfect that my friend Emily who I met in New York in summer 2014 lives there. Win Win. Catch up with Em and party with her in Edinburgh for new year. I jumped on a train picked up our other camp friend Molly from Newcastle and arrived in Edinburgh. Everybody knows about the big street party on Princes street on the 31st but what I hadn't a clue about was the torchlight procession on the 30th. Me and Molly appeared out of the train station onto Princes street and immediately joined the procession with Emily. For those of you unaware of the tradition as I was it is thousands of people walking up Princes street carrying torches that are on fire. I know what you're thinking and yes health and safety is well and truly out of the window and you find yourself dodging under and around people all night trying not to get hit in the face with what is essentially a stick of fire. But it's all good fun culminating in spectacular fireworks at the top of the hill to end the night. New Years Eve saw us on Princes Street celebrating with thousands of others at the hogmanay and drinking alot of cider. The atmosphere is amazing, there is great music and the fireworks set off from the castle at midnight are not to be missed! It was a great way to start off both my challenge and 2015. I can't thank Emily enough for having us and it was great to catch up with her and Molly. Edinburgh is also where the 3 of us got hired seperately in January 2014 to work at a summer camp in New York where we met and lived in the same cabin (Hawk for life) for 10 weeks. So it only seemed fitting to finish 2014 in Edinburgh where it started and changed my year completely! Well that was New year and country number 1 done. Tomorrow the journey to country number 2 begins. Australia here I come!