11 days!!!!

Eleven!!! Ahhh.... I'm so excited to go home!! It's so close now that I am already in holiday mode! I keep feeling like we leave tomorrow! I finish work this Friday and then it really will be all systems go between packing, getting a few last minute bits and cleaning the place up before we go! None of which are exciting things to do but I can't wait to do them, ha!
The plans for when we are home have changed slightly, or at least mine have anyway. My brother found out that he has to get surgery on his knee and will be out of work for four weeks at the least, so our weekend away most likely won't happen as he is going to have to rest up and will be fairly stuck for money. It's very disappointing but it does also mean that I'll see him loads when I'm home because he won't be working away mid week so good and bad news, although all bad for him the poor fella. I just hope his surgery goes well and that he doesn't need to get a second surgery which the surgeon has said is a possibility. But yes I suppose a minor change really considering how long we'll be home for!
Still slightly panicked about finding a job when we get back but the agency I am with have said that they should be able to get something for me. I'll just have to call them before I get back and remind them because they are fairies!! Ha!
Tonight I am having a girlie night,some movies and junk food and most likely just crap talking but I'm looking forward to it because I haven't done anything like this in ages, there's always too many people in our apartment, with having five of us living here and all. It's rare I have the apartment to myself for the whole night so may as well make the most of it!
Then next weekend it's Claire's birthday so we're having a big night out in Richmond, should be loads of fun. And a good way to start off our trip home! :)

So that's it for now, I may go get some munchies for the ladies coming and may clean up this house, it's stressful living with two messy boys you know!

Amy :) x

Twice in one month...

Sure I'm on a roll! Ha!
So we went ahead and booked our flights! I'm like a giddy school girl every time I think about it! I can not wait to see everyone!! I keep thinking of all the things we could do while we're home but I reckon the month just won't be long enough for it all!
I am however going to do a weekend or a night away with Joanne and Dylan, I feel like I've missed out on way too much with them since I've been away! And Joanne got her visa for Canada this week, which is amazing news for her but it means that my trip home is the last time I will see her for a long time again! It's insane to think that! So yes spending as much time as possible with Joanne is a big priority! I'm so excited for her and her boyfriend, mostly because I know whats all ahead of them!! :)

I think all of my weekends have something on now too, between Declan's 21st, the sibling weekend, think some of my friends from college are coming down one weekend for a catch up and then last but not least we have Sean and Tanya'a wedding!! Busy busy! And I'll have to fit in nights with the family, the girls and Conor's friends in somewhere too! So many people to see!

Myself and Conor might try to get some trips in midweek too while everyone is working, maybe up to the Giant's causeway or the Burren, possibly on Conor's Dads bike. There's so much of our own country that we haven't seen meanwhile we're off trying to see the rest of the world! Silliness! Can not wait to use my camera at home too, I think I'm going to have everyone and everything mithered with it! It's going to be great!


So as you can tell all of my thoughts are centered around going home! I can not wait!! And every phone call from my family makes me more impatient! Ha! But this also means that we are saving, saving, saving like crazy people and not spending money on anything we don't have to. It's very exciting! It has been absolute months since we spent money without feeling guilty, although we did decide to have a blow out night on Wednesday, as we had the Thursday off for ANZAC day. I think we needed to blow off some steam and go out and see people and just have some fun! So I bought a skirt from Topshop, put on tan, did my make up and went out with Conor to meet his hurling team that were doing a pub crawl for the night. They are all lovely boys and it was nice to get to know some of them! My friends came and met us in the second pub too so there was a nice big crowd of us which made the night way better! Ended up being a nice late one for me, although Conor headed off before me because he'd had enough! But that is it now, we're finished until we get home! It was well needed however to keep us sane and focused on saving!!

So that's all my news now until we go home!! Did I mention how excited am? Ha ha!

Until next time!

Amy :) x

Easter and thereafter...

So I am completely useless at this blogging thing really aren't I! Whoopsies!! I'll try to be better! But we don't do very much now that we are trying to get home! Its expensive business I must say. We got very excited when we found cheap flights to London but after looking in to it we found it was going to be a lot more difficult to work it out that way so not going to happen. We would have to get a domestic flight to Dublin, which would have a lesser bag weight allowance! That's the first problem! Second problem, waiting around for aaagees to get the Dublin flight as we would have to allow a lot of time between the flights due to having to collect our bags for the international flight, get across Heathrow then check in all over again and go through security! As well as that we would have to allow time for if our flight got delayed! Disaster! I think it would just end up being far too long a day and we would just end up cranky and tired by it all! So direct flight it is! For the sake of my piece of mind if nothing else! Anyway, hopefully we'll be booking our flights this week! Exciting stuff! I just can not wait to actually see everyone! Ahh!!But less of that and more on our trip to Adelaide, which we managed to do on the cheap, which we were delighted with, although we could not understand how we got our accommodation for so cheap! I'd imagine however, having been there now though that it is because it was a DIVE! Well that's a bit unfair, but it is very old and in need of some restoration. And cleaning! The kitchen was bloody gross and had very little utensils to use in it so we ended up having breakfast out which we hadn't wanted to do, but when do plans ever work out eh!! So yes no recommendations from me on this one!Unfortunately it was also a very quiet weekend as it was Easter so close to every thing was closed Good Friday when we got there but we had a stroll around, got some lovely pizza and then headed  out to Glenelg. I love this little suburb. It's so pretty and seems to have loads going on! Nice pubs, restaurants and of course my favourite thing in Australia, a lovely beach!We even played a round of mini golf in The Beachouse, which has all kinds of amusements like bumper cars, a water slide and arcade games. It is safe to say that I lost, miserably, but I was the only person to get two holes in one!! I'll take that victory! :)

Saturday we headed off early and went to Cleland wildlife park. It was actually really nice, we got to buy little bags of food and feed anything that roams free! So no getting the hand taken off you, bonus! It was so weird though actually walking up to these animals that I would never consider approaching normally. The rest of the guys actually fed an emu, I thought they would take the fingers off you! I would recommend doing this if you're in Adelaide. It's so much fun! And I finally saw a tasmanian devil!!! Evil looking little buggers as they are it something else to check off my list!

We headed into Rundle Mall to see what the shopping is like in Adelaide. I can say that I would love to shop there, when I'm allowed again, but I was expecting great things from Australia's biggest Cotton On which I didn't really get. It didn't have any more stock than any other Cotton On! Its a nice street to shop on though!That evening we decide to go to an Irish pub in the city called PJ O'Briens. It was grand, the guys got steak and guinness pies and a few drinks so we were fed and happy! We couldn't have a mad one though as we had to be in Glenelg Sunday morning at 7.30! So early for a weekend morning in all fairness but I would have got up at any hour to go swim with dolphins!

Which brings me to our Sunday morning swim. True to form we were the last people to get on the boat so we got our wet suits last. This meant that Conor got one that looked like it had just about been pulled off of someone who had in fact been ravenged by a shark! It was hilarious! We headed out on the boat and started looking around straight away to see if we could see any dolphins! It was a bit choppy out and it was hard to see as the water wasn't very clear but as soon as the guys who worked on the boat saw them they would shout to us to get ready to get into the water. As soon as you were in you had to hold a rope and move back along it to make room for others getting in. I ended up at the end of the rope. Not where I wanted to be! It was a bit too choppy for my liking, whenever I looked up I could see waves bigger than me heading straight in my direction and when I put my head under water to see the dolphins its was too murky to see them so I pulled my way in, past eight or so other people and against the speed of the boat that was still moving. By the time I got in I felt like I had been at the gym! Ha! Once I was back on the boat though, WOW! I saw dolphins playing with each other, diving out of the water and swimming right under me. It was so cool! I would definitely recommend doing it, just try to do it on a nice day, unfortunately the weather was not one our side when we did it but I would do it again in a heartbeat! We did it with Temptation dolphin swims, the crew were really nice and they give everyone a USB full of the pictures they take during the trip which is a nice touch too!

 For the rest of Sunday we did a bit of sightseeing down by the river and headed out to Glenelg again for me to attempt hurling and for everyone else to actually play! Ha! Good fun though!! And a nice bit of chill out time. We had a meal to celebrate the fact that our friends Sharon and Michael got engaged while they were at home which was nice! Then we headed to a pub for a few drinks before our group breakfast where we gave them their engagement present of engraved champagne glasses. I love them, because I am apparently an old person now!! Ha!

Our eight hour drive home however was not so amazing! I was wrecked until Thursday after it! Ha! It was a good weekend and I think I would like to go back to Adelaide, especially as I haven't seen Kangaroo Island yet!! I'd try and pick a busier weekend to go however to get a better feel for the place!

Anyway that's my dose of blogging for now! I'll write again soon! I hope!! When I will have definite plans for our visit home!! Ahhh!!!

Amy :)

Jobs, Trips and Visitors!

So firstly, I am now a working girl! Yay! I got a temporary office job in the CBD. It's a super quiet office but  I love the hours and the pay is hopefully enough to get me home for a visit!! We're hoping to go home for a month in June. It's Conor's brothers 21st birthday and my cousin is getting married so we want to be home for those things! And I seriously need to see everyone!!! It will have been 18 months since I've seen everyone! Far too long! So yes that's the plan! So we are trying desperately to save now, which is not easy because all I want to do is buy EVERYTHING! I haven't gone shopping properly since I left Melbourne, that is extremely depressing! But I think if it means seeing everyone I can wait a bit longer! I hope!

So lets start at the start, or at least as close to that as I can remember, I will be better in the future I swear!!! So Valentine's day we went to the Merrywell at Crown for dinner for Jamie's birthday! I know so romantic! It was good fun and we FINALLY got to go into the casino! Jamie was hilarious betting, she made the lady working on our tables night! I did get a lovely bunch of pink roses from Conor! Who knew I liked roses, apparently I'm a bit more girlie than I thought!! :)

Our friend Steve from the farm has come to stay with us! It has been really good having him! Luckily he has hit it off with the housemates as well! He has actually properly moved in now too! I've trying to get the boy to go do all the touristy things but so far he has only really seen the beaches near St Kilda and the Dandenongs, which was way better this time because it was so clear out! We found a cafe in Sassafrass that served the most amazing scones! I would drive an hour back for them, which is a rather sad reflection on me really but they were yummy and I even ate them with cream! Amazing! And of course we found a random shop with a photo opportunity! Took Steve a while to realise he was posing as a girl however! More importantly we found an amazing sweet store that had Irish sweets, in the middle of nowhere like! I was literally a kid in a candy store, that I did not want to leave!!!
That night we went to the BBQ festival in St Kilda, think it was part of the food and wine festival. Got some yummy food and their was a great band playing, got a bit nippy though so we headed to Iddy Biddy's for a few drinks! Forgot how much I love that bar! There was a great reggae band playing in there too!

This week it was Conor's birthday as well, and it fell on a bank holiday so we all had the day off and it was super hot! Beach it was! We went to Sandringham with Conor's friend from home and his girlfriend and Steve. It's such a lovely beach and it was the only solution for the heat, we had nine days with temperatures over 30 degrees!! Sweet mother like! Afterwards myself, Conor and Steve went for some food in Iddy Biddy's! The boys got parmas the size of their heads, how anyone finishes those things I will never know!!

So yes last night I finally went out in the city properly! I know that is super sad! Was really good fun! Jamie, Jenna and I went to the Berlin Bar and drank cocktails while sitting on bunk beds in the East Berlin part! My cocktail came even with a lollipop in it!! It was so terrifically random! You have to ring a bell to even get into the place and then you are lead to your table/bed and have a waiter to look after you while you're there! Was so cool! I've no idea how to even get to the West berlin bar however, must try that next time! We went downstairs to Eurotrash below which had the best music, free popcorn and was the first pub I've found over here that has Sailor Jerry! Win! We met Jenna's housemates there and headed to the Carlton after, loadsa fun! And I wasn't hungover this morning! :)

Now I think I will leave it there for today! I think it's going to be a quiet few months but we do have Adelaide coming up for Easter. I can't wait for it! We're going to swim with dolphins! Ahh!!

Bu bye for now!

Amy :)

Back in Melbourne!

So now that Christmas is all over and our road trips and sightseeing done our bank balances are somewhat affected so we've decided to stay in Melbourne and try build our funds back up a bit! Easier said than done when I can't get a job! Starting to feel very panicked now but applying for lots so hopefully a job is just around the corner! Hopefully!

Since we've been back we've been catching up with friends! I've had dinner with Alex and lunch with Laura, both of which were great to catch up! We went and saw Jamie and Alex's new apartment in Port Melbourne, which is lovely! They were babysitting a puppy, who was adorable!! Little trouble maker but so completely cute! He's so fluffy I'm gonna die!!!

I also go to go to the Night Markets with Aoife and Niamh. I had only found out about them the week before but really wanted to go! The smells that you get as you walk around are amazing! You have to queue for all the stalls but it's totally worth it! The food is good and not too expensive either! Even got myself a cocktail! Bonus! :)

We've been trying to stay in and not spend money but that is seriously boring! 

Beginning to be a bit of a struggle and I feel awful having to remind Conor when he wants to make plans! Like for Australia day Conor wanted to go to Adelaide for the weekend but we honestly can't go off road tripping while I still don't have a job! It seriously sucks! So I'm sure for Australia day we'll just do a BBQ and go to the beach or something like that! We will do something!!!

This weekend we went to a BBQ in Siobhan and Benny's friends house! It's a fab house that I did not want to leave, especially since they had two amazing dogs! (Yes there does seem to be a theme to this post! Puppies!) One was a beagle and the other a rescue dog that weren't too sure of the breed but he was a lovely gentle thing! The food was amazing! All sorts of everything and it all tasted amazing! The dogs sniffing at my feet for the whole time was a little hilarious too!

It's nice to meet some new people while we're back here and everyone at the house was so lovely! Hopefully we'll see them all again! Anyway, now to get back to the job hunt! Eugh!!!

Post again soon, hopefully with some good news on the job front!

Amy :) x

The Fantastic Great Ocean Road

Finally getting around to this post, I've actually had a semi busy week catching up with friends and avoiding the laptop besides when on the job hunt! But I shall talk about all that later on first, and finally The Great Ocean Road!!

So we hit the road, hungover and late. We had a house rented in Warrnambool which was sooo good. It was pretty late when we got there though so not much time for sight seeing so instead we decided to head down to the beach and watch the sun set, and everyone knows I love a good sunset. We also came across some camels which was more than unusual but pretty funny to us at the time! It was lovely watching the sunset but not quite a Cowra sunset! I think they will always be the most amazing ones I've ever seen!

So on our second day the sightseeing began, first stop Portland to the shire lookout over the quarry. Then we were in desperate need of coffee and tea after the drive so we stopped at Bridgewater bay beach which was lovely. Such blue water and white sand! Fab! Just up the road from the beach was Cape Duquesne where there is a blowhole and petrified forest. The petrified forest was pretty cool, but not what I expected, at all!! The view was lovely from both but unfortunately for us the blow hole wasn't feeling very active when we were there! :(

We headed to Portland next to go to the information centre, I'd recommend doing this as you go along on the road, the people working there have great information. The lady told us about a place called Fauna park and Cape Nelson, so they were our next stops! Firstly, in fauna park we got to see a white kangaroo, it wasn't a very big park I will say with only one kangaroo and a couple of emu's but it was worth it for the white kangaroo alone and we had fun in the park's playground!

 

The next stop was one of the best of the trip! Cape Nelson lighthouse and enchanted forest. The lighthouse was so pretty and unlike Cape Otway you don't have to pay to see it! And the boys got to do their usual of going out on to the edge so they were happy, even if poor Therese wasn't!! Then it was on to the enchanted forest, amazing! It was a walk through a forest that writhes and intertwines the whole way through just giving random glimpses of the beautiful blue below. Was a very pretty walk and the view at the end made it even more worthwhile! I just want to swim in any water I see that is that blue!

So I should have warned you all, there are a lot of beaches in this post! Especially for this days section!!! Our next stop was Port Fairy, and it's lovely beach and of course some chips or ice cream! As usual I was on the ice cream team! My sweet tooth is most definitely going to be my downfall! But its the best way to appreciate a good beach! ;)

Our last stop for the day was to Killarney beach, purely for the name of course! It was also the perfect place for a spot of hurling, Conor even got his Scottish uncle to play who was pretty decent for a first timer!! Was also a nice end to a seriously busy day! Day two, done!

 

Day three, a much more chilled out day! We headed to an Irish village called Koroit which is where a lot of Irish farmers settled years ago when they came to Australia. This area of Victoria has the best soil for farming in Australia because of its weather and how close it is to the ocean. It all felt a bit too touristy though, a bit over done with the green and Irish named businesses but was nice to see all the same, even if they did spell Kilkenny wrong on their sign!
Next stop Tower Hill reserve, because we were big fans of a a bit of scenery. Was nice but in comparison to everything else we've seen it was a bit 'meh' for want of a better word!
On the way to our next stop we visited Cheese world, for the cheese connoisseurs of the group! Ha! The museum part was woeful, just full of the kind of stuff you would find anywhere in Ireland and some really random stuff too which had nothing to do with cheese making!? The shop had a nice cafe in it though and a pretty massive selection of cheese! Can't believe I've even spoken about it for as long as I just have.... Anyway, moving on... 

Another one of my favourite things from the road trip was the Bay of Islands which was pretty awesome. You have to fight the crowds a bit to get a good view but it's worth the wait! The main viewing platform was a bit more of a struggle but their is a quieter platform that no one seems to notice really which has a great view too.

Next stop was the Bay of Martyrs beach which was fun, just another beach for me to fall in love with and for Conor to mess around of course! Next stop The Grotto, which was just another wall for the boys to hop to get as close to the edge as they could! Then onto Loch Ard Gorge, although we didn't do the main part we did see the thunder caves which were pretty cool but more so we went to Sherbrook river which I think may have been my favourite part of the whole trip. It was just breath taking. The waves there are completely insane, you couldn't swim or surf there! I think it's part of the Bass Strait which is one of the most lethal bodies of water, hence having the name of the shipwreck coast. Crazy!

Next stop for this crazy day, the twelve apostles. It is a bit manic here with all the other tourists, and you kind of have to fight for space but people are pretty good when you're taking photos. It really is a shame that they are gradually disappearing. Such a cool thing to see, considering it's one of the things you think of when you think of Australia. We got to see the London Bridge on our way home too. We really did pack our days! Ha!

On the fourth day we left our lovely house in Warrnambool and headed to our motel in Lavers Hill, a bit of a downgrade from the house but we really weren't there much for the two days so it didn't matter!
We headed to Gibson steps, stopping on the way to see the Arch and another scenic lookout ( I did mention how we loved a bit of scenery!). Down on the beach at Gibson's Steps it is actually lovely. It's a nice beach and it's a little amazing looking up at the apostles as opposed to fighting for a glimpse on a platform! We were going to go to Cape Otway lighthouse, until we found out just how expensive it was so we decided instead to head to Mait's rest rainforest walk! Thought it would have been longer but it was still pretty cool! We had a bit of a photo theme too of standing inside the trees!

Next stop Apollo Bay for a bit of dinner and a look at the beach! It is a much quieter town than I expected! I was expecting some huge beach town with loads of cafes and bars but we struggled to find somewhere to eat that wasn't fish and chips!

The next day I was actually sick so stayed in bed for the day while the rest of them went and saw Otway Fly, which I am so jealous about because thats the thing I REALLY wanted to do, along with seeing some waterfalls! A little heartbroken but we may take the drive back down to see them again!
That evening I was feeling a bit better so we went down to Johanna beach for a look! It's very pretty but again the waves were a bit mad! It was packed with people camping there too. It would be a great beach to camp at too and it was free to stay there, bonus! If you are camping I would definitely recommend a night here! Was lovely to just chill out here so a while.
We headed back to Apollo Bay again for some tea and dessert at the Apollo Bay Hotel which was lovely! Always good to treat yourself! :)

So New Years Eve was our the day we headed back! So didn't want to leave, even though I was sick! We of course got a little bit more sight seeing in on the way home! We went to Split Point lighthouse, which was pretty cool and was close to the bluest water, you all know how I love blue-blue water! It was fab and just made me want to go swimming again!! Unfortunately it wasn't really a beach! 

Next stop Bells Beach, Conor's uncle really wanted to see it because it was in one of his favourite movies, Point Break. Well he discovered after it wasn't actually filmed there but on a similar beach in the US! The waves there were insane, I can see why Rip Curl use it for their competitions from time to time! Madness! Was packed with surfers too, but apparently more so on the other side!
We stopped at Torquay beach for Conor and Stephen to have a swim on the way back, it was one of the only beaches that was actually safe to swim at! This also meant that it was packed but the boys didn't mind! They were delighted to finally get to swim!

So that was our Great Ocean Road trip, all organised to perfection by Conor's sister! It was a great holiday and an even better way to finish off the year!!! I have soo many photos from the trip, all of which I want to put on this post so I'll throw some more at the end for good measure! Definitely recommend everyone to do it while they're here, but bring warm clothes, it is not warm on the coast! Ha!

Amy :) x