Sydney

Sunday 20th - Thursday 24th August 2017

Sunday
I'm not gonna lie... I shed a few tears on the plane! It has been a lot harder than I thought it would be leaving the Langton family and I really don't feel ready to leave New Zealand yet, especially as the weather is just starting to get nicer! However, the in flight meal cheered me up as it was delicious! I'll definitely fly emirates again, they're way fancier than Jetstar! I got through customs so quickly, e passport makes everything so much easier for sure! It was so good seeing Kirsten at arrivals, it's literally feels like years since we last saw each other even though it's only half a year! She dropped me off at Rachel and Kay's house, Wade and Mary's friends who have very kindly let me stay at their place in Redfern, but not before having a good catch up! Rachel and Kay seem awesome!

Monday
So I could say that I had the best day ever in Sydney seeing the sights, however that was definitely not the case! I facetimed Mary and Emily in the morning (don't think that helped the whole feeling homesick for New Zealand thing!) Mary said that the boys didn't have very good drop offs which of course made me feel even worse!

I didn't really have much of a plan for today, other than go and see Sydney Opera house, so I popped that in my maps and decided to walk into the city and then go to a few places I see on the way. Turns out there's not masses of touristy stuff to do in the city for free! I did grab the most delicious brunch though!

Following this I finally got to the Opera house and I have to say, I was mildly disappointed! I don't think the cloudy weather helped, but it actually looked pretty ugly up close! However, after a short stroll through the botanical gardens I saw it as it is in pictures and I have to say it looks so much better from further away.

I then wandered round the city aimlessly, as I had no idea where to go or what to do! Travelling by

yourself does get a bit boring some times, especially after 7 months of pretty much always being with someone else!

Tuesday

Today was heaps better as I chilled with Kirsten all day! Although, saying that, I almost didn't as I panic got on the wrong train! But it was all good I got the express train from the next station! Even though I had leftover dominoes for breakfast, I couldn't resist Kirsten's offer of a free maccas from where she works! After that it was time for the hour and a half drive to the blue mountains. We went to the 'scenic world' where they have a cable car and cliff train and things which was pretty cool! The cliff train is the steepest in the world! It was such a fun day and lovely spending time with Kirsten - even if we did get stuck in peak hour traffic for ages on the way home!

Wednesday 

Had a leisurely day today, made my way down to Bondi beach but then realised I never put my bikini on or brought it with me so that was silly! I was gonna do the bondi to coogee  walk but i just decided I didn't want to in the end! To be honst everywhere kinda looks he same as the Jurassic coast back home, just better weather! I sat and watched the surfers for a while before a lady asked me to film a Facebook live video for her. I thought why the hell not, I'm not doing anything really! So I did it for her, she's a dancer/ self help person or something and yeah it was definitely interesting! 

After this unusual occurrence, I headed back to redfern to FaceTime my favourite boys! Cillian orettt much spent the whole time crying and telling me to come back  and Darragh keeps saying how much he missed me! Not gonna lie made my heart break a wee bit! They're just too cute! I then headed back out and had a wander around before deciding to just go back and chill for a bit. When rachel and Kay came hom, we went straight out to happy d's which is the most amazing dumplings place! Nothing better than dumplings and beer! We then went to another pub and got chicken wings too for a second dinner!

Thursday

Thursday has come around all too soon and it was time to leave Sydney! If anything it's made me even more excited to come back and travel around Australia more thoroughly, especially if I can meet up with friends! However, I was very excited today as I got a message from Emma saying she managed to get her visa sorted and she was headed to Sydney eh opera house! So after picking my bag and doing a wash I met up with her in Hyde Park for a wee bit, before quickly heading back to pack my washing. Mitch came and dropped us off at the airport which was so lovely of him, we didn't really see all that much of him! It took ages for my check in to open, and then finally I got through and I got pulled over for a full body scan and my bag was pulled over! Honestly he first time this has ever happened. I chilled with Emma in the airport before her flight left, and then I was on my own for an hour and a bit! So I decided to bug my fav family again and forced them to stay on FaceTime with me until my flight was boarding... they love it! 

Timaru Week 3

Monday 10th April - Sunday 16th April 2017

I've been keeping up with my couch to 5k, it makes it a lot easier when you're running around a place that looks like this!

One of the family friends brought her puppy, Daisy, round and the boys and I took her for a walk. She is super cute! Weirdly, dogs are allowed on the beach but not in the area behind the beach so we didn't end up going very far.

As Easter is coming up, I thought I would do some Easter themes activities with the boys this week. We made Easter cards as well as using cotton buds to paint Easter egg shapes! The youngest also brought home a bunny mask so I got into the Easter spirit wearing it around the house!

As well as the Easter activities, we've been keeping up  with construction activities as that's what the boys like to do best! I was particularly proud of my pyramid l, even if the youngest kicked it down milliseconds after I made it! We also combined lego with cars and made all sorts of garages for them. I

On Saturday the weather had turned absolutely gorgeous, so I made the most of it by taking myself for a long walk. There's a few more bags nearby and they're similarly stunning.

This year was the first year in a long time I haven't been to church on Easter Sunday, so it didn't really feel like a proper Easter! I was absolutely shattered so ended up sleeping in. When I got up, the boys had rehid all there Easter eggs so I could have a go at an Easter egg hunt! It was pretty cute! We had a full blown roast dinner for lunch which was amazing... there's something about having a roast on Sundays!!

Akaroa

Friday 7th April - Sunday 9th April 2017

This weekend, the family were going back on holiday to Akaroa and they invited me along, to which I of course said yes as I definitely want to see as much of New Zealand as I can before I go back home!

We drove up on the Friday evening, and we're staying at a family friends place which as a pretty decent view over the bay! The weather was a bit miserable in the morning but luckily it got much, much better by the afternoon. I didn't take many pictures though!

We went for a walk around the town, it's pretty small but really pretty. After lunch we went back to the house and everyone napped apart from me and one of the boys! So we stayed up playing while everyone else slept! We then got a Thai takeaway and it was soooo good. 

The next day we went to Okains bay, a beach about a 10 minute drive away from Akaroa. It was beautiful. I love the contrast between the beach, forest and hills. 

The banks penninsula is breathtakingly stunning. It is exactly what I imagine New Zealand would look like!

We then made our way back to Timaru. It was such a lovely weekend, just chilling out and exploring new places!

Timaru Week 2

Saturday 1st April - Friday 7th April 2017

So the most exciting thing to happen this weekend is that there was a leopard seal chilling out at Caroline bay. It was huge... the photos I took definitely don't do it justice! 

We had another fun week of activities. One of the favourites this week was making a puppet, it was from a kit but we added a few extra bits on to it to make it a little more interesting! Keeping up with the fort theme, we turned the corner of a lounge into a dark den and used torches to read books in there as a sensory learning activity which was a huge success and will definitely be one I'll use again on rainy days! 

We also made a cookie fruit pizza which turned out super yummy!

On Thursday evening, I went for sushi with some of the other Au Pairs near Timaru. It was really cool to be able to get to know some of the others and organise play dates and things! The food was really good as well... chicken teriyaki and avocado sushi is my new favourite! 

The weather has been a bit on and off this week, and it has been raining quite a bit (so not too different to England!). I managed to get out for a good walk on one of the nicer days though luckily. I've decided to start the couch to 5k training app as I have free time in the morning after I drop the kids off, and I feel like I need to start getting my fitness back up to a less embarrassing level!

Return to Auckland : Part 3

Monday 20th March - Friday 24th March 2017

Monday
I had a nice leisurely wake up this morning - I'm making the most of the lie ins before I start my Au Pair job! After a short walk around Albert Park, I decided to go to the art gallery today, as I haven't been yet and it's one of the few free things to do here. I actually really enjoyed it! I really wasn't expecting to but some of the exhibits were really cool, and I did a bit of origami!

After spending about an hour there, I wandered around the shops trying to find a little present for the two boys I will be looking after. I have never had more trouble finding a present for a child in my life! There are no toy shops, unless you count fancy dress shops that have party favours, and the book shops are small so they don't have a good selection to choose from. Nevertheless, I got a few ideas and planned to get something nearer to the end of the week. 

Kristine and Lottie had spoken to Neil about staying at his until they get their Kiwi Experience bus on Thursday morning, so they made us dinner tonight which was awesome! Fidya and Lottie went to the spa, so Kristine and I decided to put on a film to pass the time. 

Tuesday

I decided to spend the morning tidying up a bit and sorting out a few bits so I didn't end up leaving the room until after lunch. I decided to go back up to Newmarket to see if th ebugger warehiuse had anything I could give the two boys and, luckily, I managed to find a couple of superhero colouring books and little cars to give them, so I'm definitely happier now I've sorted that out!

I walked back through Auckland Domain, stopping every now and again to spend about half an hour reading. I got pretty lost, and ended up spending longer than anticipated there! But I managed to find a few cool spots that I didn't see when Emma and I went there's back in February. 

 I decided to go to Zambreros for a burrito for dinner, I absolutely love that place - the food is insanely delicious! I then headed back for another chilled evening, I'm doing my best to save as much money as I can so I'm only letting myself go out once this week!

Wednesday
This morning I walked up to Parnell to meet an old friend from first school, Lauren, at a little Cafe. It was so lovely to see her after over ten years! Afterwards, I had a browse through the shops in Parnell but as I have extremely limited room in my backpack I decided to go to Auckland Domain again to do some more reading and chilling out. I walked back to the hotel for lunch, finishing up my noodles beforehand heading back out in the afternoon to chill out in Myers park again. I have been loving this chilled out life but I'm very excited to get back into working and having a set routine - I'm too restless at the moment!

This evening, Fidya, Kristine, Lotte and I went out for the Couchsurfing drinks and it was kind of mixed emotions for me as this will be the last drinks I'm going to, and it's always sad to leave cool people! It was good fun though!

Thursday

Today I met up with Cameron again and went to see Zhan at the cafe he works at, so basically a repeat of last week! This time I got a snickers milkshake as I hadn't long had breakfast and it was the nicest milkshake I have had for a flipping long time! So happy! I didn't stay out too long as the majority of the day relied on me washing, tidying and packing ready for me to leave tomorrow. I had to go and get my favourite dumplings for the last time!

Friday

My alarm went off at 5:30am this morning and that wasn't the easiest of wake ups! But I got myself sorted, tidied up Neil's lounge, had breakfast (well forced it down) and left ready for my elongated journey to the Holiday Inn by Auckland airport as, typically, there wasn't any direct buses or trains there, so I had to get a train to Onehunga and a bus to Mangere. 

The first aid training was really interesting, not much is different to the last one I did, bar a few minor details. Apparently now it's not being taught as essential to give rescue breaths in CPR,  as the blood should be oxygenated enough beforehand and also through the air,  and compressions are more important as it keeps the blood pumping to the brain, effectively making sure the patient isn't brain dead. Other than that everything was basically the same! We had loads of food given to us as well which was amazing! We also had to have a group photo taken and, despite having loads of photos to choose from, the one on the Facebook page is the worst one of me 😂... I'm on the far right with the disgusted look on my face!

It didn't take long before the orientation was over, and it was time to get on the flight to Christchurch. A few other au pars were flying their as well, so it was nice to have a familiar face to look hang out with for a bit. Mary came and got me from the airport, and we grabbed food before the long drive down to Timaru, my home for the next 5 months. We got there at around 9ish, so it was pretty dark, but she gave me a quick tour round the city and we went to see if there were any penguins down at the beach. I didn't see any, but I heard a few in heir nest which is pretty cool, I'm hoping to go back down there a some point and see them before they migrate