A Once in a Lifetime Experience.

As an animal lover/human with a brain, I know zoos can be a touchy subject. So, when a trip to Perth Zoo was suggested, I was understandably a little bit skeptical, but, after much research into all the work Perth Zoo do and just how much they give back, I was determined to give it a go, and I'm so glad I did. The habitats were large and designed to be exactly like the animals' regular home, and the Zoo itself works with charities across the globe and is determined to fight the extinction of many animals the zoo is home too. While there, I was actually allowed to have a one on one experience with some of the animals. You can book to do this either online or on the day, and can meet/feed/help bathe so many different animals: giraffes, elephants, different breeds of monkeys, etc. (prices vary). With the giraffes, you would normally be in a group of 10 and each person is allowed to give a giraffe one branch. I was lucky enough to be allowed to do it on my own and spend a good twenty minutes up there. Giraffes are easily one of my favourite animals, so this was a dream come true. Myself and Armani (!!) got on very well. All in all, I don't have a problem with certain zoos, as long as they are actually trying to better the lives of animals in the long run, with breeding and research that they do with the animals in their captivity. AND NO SHOWS.

I Got (Another) Tattoo & The Highest Cablecar in the World...

Hugging kangaroos and koalas, taking the scenic Karanda railway up through the mountains to see the whole of Cairns and the amazing waterfall up in the mountains and then the highest cable car in the world over Cairns rainforest... I couldn't think of a better way to spend my penultimate day in Cairns. Actually, I can, and Meg and I definitely topped it. As well as doing all of that, we piled on the make-up to hide our hideous sunburn and decided it was time for a night out, especially as it was the 4th of July (because, you know, Australia definitely celebrate that). Now I'm known for being quite spontaneous, but even I didn't expect to stop off and get a tattoo on my way to the bar. I didn't even know what I wanted until I was sat in the chair, and that's when I realised that I wanted something to commemorate my travels, so I got a plane on my wrist. This is my second tattoo and, just like with the first, my family didn't speak to me for about a week. Who wants to tell them that I have two more booked in for September? At the bar, we were treated to goldfish racing (Nemo won), wet t-shirt competitions, a group of Japenese people that wouldn't leave us alone (story time: I was in the middle of making out with someone and he kept tapping me on the shoulder), plenty of fit Australians and half price vodkas; eight vodkas for $32, plus drinks bought by other people and a few shots, yet I still wondered why I had a sore head the next day. Good times. 

Finding Nemo & Dory at The Great Barrier Reef!

I've definitely ticked off a fair few things off my bucket list this year, including visting the Great Barrier Reef. After years of watching David Attenborough documentaries (don't tell me you've never done the same), I was determined to see it for myself. We booked ourselves onto a day trip to Green Island and it was on the journey there that we both discovered that we don't get seasick, unlike half the population of Asia, who also seemed to be on the boat, who spent the hour long trip throwing up over the side of the boat and sucking on ice. Nice. We were booked to go far out into the reef to go scuba-diving and snorkelling, but a storm unfortunately put an end to that, so we had to stay a little bit more inland. Because we stayed reasonably close to shore, where everyone is allowed to swim and explore, we really noticed just how much had changed. It wasn't the vibrant and colourful place it once was, but brown and, well, a bit dead... Don't get me wrong, it was still an amazing experience, I just wish we could have gone further out! There was still plenty of sealife to see though, and we even managed to see Nemo and Dory. It started off as a pretty cloudy day, and Meg and I made the rookie error of not wearing sunblock. Massive mistake. We both fell asleep and woke up to full sun. We have never been so sunburnt in our entire lives. I actually wanted to cry. The fit lifeguard made everything a little better though...

Surrounded by Wild Dolphins...

My last day in Perth was definitely one to remember, mainly because I was joined by my best friend, who had flown all the way from the UK to join me for the final two weeks of my adventure. I had been in Western Australia for six months and even I hadn't seen anything, so my Aunt and I hatched a plan to show Meg the best of what Perth, where I was based, had to offer. We drove quite far up the coast, stopping off at various beaches (the beaches in Perth are some of the best I've ever seen), stopped off for some lunch with a view, went into the city, watched Perth's famous orange sunsets and spent the final few hours before our flight to Cairns kayaking. One of the main things I'd wanted to do in Perth was see wild dolphins. I'd seen them briefly, but not as close as I'd have liked. Clearly Meg is my lucky charm as, whilst kayaking, a whole pod of dolphins surrounded us and started jumping in and out of the water! Both of us were so mesmerised and shocked that we didn't even reach for our phones or cameras, we just lived in the moment... Definitely an amazing way to end a great trip!

It's Coming to an End... - My Time in Perth.

This post was due to go up almost a month ago now but due to some... issues, shall we say, it got a bit delayed. When living on planes and island hopping, sometimes things just don't go to plan, and I'm okay with that! But yes, after a five month adventure, my time in Perth, and Western Australia in general, came to an end. I met some amazing people, made some amazing memories and, all in all, had a great time. I got to meet and truly bond with family that I didn't even know existed, and we all ended up having a bit of a cry at the airport (I blame the fact that I'd accidentally took too much cough syrup...). Because it's now been over a month since I left Perth, I thought it would be nice to look back on some photos from my time there. I'm sure this will be a blog post that I come back to in  a few years time, or probably even in just a few months!

July Favourites.

(...) Can time please slow down?! I don't understand how it's going so fast. I've loved my time in Australia so much that I should have just gotten married just so that I could stay there for longer than my VISA allowed and so that I don't have to pay international university fees. One thing I've been loved about my time there is that I've been wearing less make-up and, when I do wear make-up, I've only been wearing my holy-grail products. So, here's some of the beauty (and also non-beauty) products that I've been loving recently...

Something New.

Plane tickets to and around Australia cost a lot of money. Though mine were cheaper than usual, it was still hard seeing that much money be taken out of my bank account at once. I also had a momentary panic when I saw my bank statement that month, completely forgetting about my recent splurge. This meant having to cut my spending habits and, though it was hard at first, I've now been in Australia for about four months, but it's only in the past week or so that I've bought an item of clothing & a few beauty products. I'll be showing you them in another post but, for now, I thought I'd share with you a few things that I treated myself to or received just before setting off for Australia all those months ago...

May Favourites.

I've been loving writing monthly favourites posts recently. Because of trying to save money in order to put everything I have into travelling, I've been having to curb my fashion and beauty spending habits and instead have a root through my make-up bag(s) and rediscover some old favourites. As it's almost Winter and getting a bit cooler here in Australia, I've also been doing some transitioning and rotating my make-up around. Here are some of the things I've been loving this month...

Lost in the World.

It's safe to say that I have seen and done most things that Perth has to offer. It's been fun but, if I'm honest, I'd probably have left earlier if it hadn't been for my job ($$$). Because of this, I decided it was time to head a bit further afield, just to stretch my wings, before heading east next month. My aunt, cousin and I decided it was time for a roadtrip. We didn't head too far (you can drive for three hours in Australia and still only make it to the next city), but it was far enough. We headed down to the Margaret River region, located some three to four hours away from Perth. We visited Busselton, Bunbury, Yellingup, as well as a few other places. Despite the bad weather, I still enjoyed my wet and windy walks on the beach (you can take the girl out of England, but you can't take England out of the girl). Fun fact; Australians hate rain. A bit of drizzle and they were running for the hills. 

Finding Nemo & Friends.

I love aquariums. I have done since I was four years old, when my reception class was taken on our very first school trip to one. I don't remember much, just being fascinated by the stingrays and seahorses. Fifteen years on (Fifteen? Really? That is terrifying), and not much has changed. I am still just as fascinated. Though I much prefer seeing sharks, turtles and all other animals in the wild, it was still great to see the variety of colours and wildlife up close. I even got to hold starfish! And being the Disney fanatic that I am, I got a bit too excited when I saw 'Nemo' and 'Dory'... 

Taking Selfies with Kangaroos and Koalas!

Well, that's another few things ticked off of my Bucket List; talking selfies with kangaroos & koalas and holding a snake! My day out at Caversham Wildlife Park was probably my favourite day so far in Australia, and potentially even one of the best days of my life. The fact that I just sat there for twenty minutes with a kangaroo, managing to get so close that I accidentally got poked in the eye with its ear. It even struck a few poses! My day at Caversham also proved to me that I open my mouth far too much, not just from talking so much, but in photos. Given that my brother practically owns a zoo (think multiple snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, geckos, etc.), I figured it was only right that I got my hand on some reptiles. Though everyone else was terrified to even go near the snake, I asked to hold it on my own, but unfortunately wasn't allowed. They clearly thought I was going to run off with it/completely bottle it, drop the snake and run screaming from the room... Here are some photos (I won't lie, they're mostly selfies) I took on the day...

Getting Competitive!

I come from a very competitive family. One of my fondest memories is my Mam tossing her money across the table and claiming that she hated us all during a game of Monopoly, all because I wouldn't sell her a card. I'm either very competitive or not competitive at all, there's no inbetween, I just didn't expect my competitiveness to come out during a recent early morning spent kayaking. Someone suggested we have a race and I started off saying "it's just fun, it doesn't have to be competitive", but then I witnessed him start to paddle and I went for it. I also won *insert all the princess emojis*. It probably explains why I was so tired afterwards and fell asleep for the next three hours. Next up was brunch (what's a weekend without brunch?!) and a trip to the Fremantle Street Festival where I witnessed a woman throw a man around like he was a pile of feathers. She is my spirit animal.

King's Park.

When you search for the best things to do in Perth, nearly every site (including Google & Trip Advisor) will list King's Perth as the #1 thing to do. Though I wouldn't say it's the best, it is a great thing to do. Whether you just want to go for a walk, have a picnic or play some family games, there's plenty to do. There's also a war memorial and some botanical gardens for those that are looking for a bit more culture. I've been a handful of times now, both at night and during the day, and can safely say that it's worth going just for the view. Just a short walk from the centre of the park is also a DNA sculptor, which I visited and climbed during my last visit as a way of celebrating my unconditional offer to study Forensic Science. from my top university choice.

Lesmurdie Falls.

I'd say our recent trip out to Lesmurdie Falls was pretty successful. We might have originally hiked to the wrong place but, other than that, like I said - it was pretty successful... Or at least it would have been, had there actually been a waterfall at Lesmurdie Falls. Taking a trip to see a waterfall in the middle of one of the hottest summers that Perth had seen for decades probably wasn't the best idea, but we had fun none the same. With there being no water, I decided I wasn't going to hike up to the top like everyone else, I was going to scale the cliff like a monkey. People genuinely cheered, clapped and asked me how I did it. I ended up not taking many photos (it's surprisingly hard to whip out your camera and take photos when you're scaling a cliff), but here are a few that I did manage to take...

Serpentine Falls.

As I've mentioned before, I'm pretty sure the #1 thing that people want to do or see when they visit Australia is see a kangaroo and a koala. Though there are quite a few places that you can see them in wildlife parks, it's rare to see them in the wild - especially koalas, which you only really see in certain areas of the east. However, when I found out that there was a national park, where kangaroos roam around, just twenty minutes from my aunt's house, I knew I had to go. Though I didn't get as close as  I would have liked (I wanted to respect their place and also didn't want it to punch me like you see in films, haha!), I still got some amazing photos. 

An Australian Sunset.

I think my overall favourite thing about Australia (other than the weather) is the sunset and the afterglow that they leave behind. Not a day goes by where I don't sit outside and appreciate them. The actual sunsets themselves only last about five minutes, but the afterglow just gets prettier and prettier over the course of about an hour. One of my favourite places to watch them is at the beach in Fremantle, where you only have to blink and the sun will have sunk even more.

February in Photos.

February is a month that has bought a lot of change for me, with the biggest being moving half-way across the world to Perth, Australia. I had no plan, I just knew that I was going to head off on an adventure. I don't even know how long I'm going to be here for, which meant I had to say my goodbyes to some of my favourite people and also my favourite places. 

I'm in Australia!

So yesterday, after four continents, too many time zones and 56 hours of no sleep, I arrived in Perth, Australia! It feels a bit weird to be saying that and I couldn't actually believe I was actually here. I felt like I was in such a daze but that might have something to do with the 56 hours of no sleep that I mentioned. That was definitely the way to beat jet-lag though as I then slept from 11pm to 9am, refreshed and ready to start my first proper day in Australia.