Travel | footstepping..

The island paradise of Utila in Honduras..

After a bus trip from San Pedro Sula airport and an overnight stop off in La Ceiba, I was on the ferry to the island of Utila off the east coast of Honduras.

A friend of mine, Aaron, met me at the ferry and, as he had already done the task of sussing out all the dive shops for the best deals, took me to Utila Dive Center to sign up for an open water course starting later that afternoon!

I completed my open water, meeting some great people, and moved into an apartment just off the main road which meant cheap rent and homemade meals. I was settling in.

My swimming hole for the five weeks at Utila Dive Center!!

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Aloha Hawaii for an extended stopover..

Wow was I disoriented once I arrived in Honolulu! It confused me (and still does) that I left at 1800 on Wednesday eve in Australia and arrived in Hawaii at 0745 Wednesday morning.. A massive 20 hours time difference.!

Now I have to admit (and yes I know this sounds dumb as) but it didn’t click that Hawaii was actually part of the States until I got there and was surrounded by the thick American accent.!

I spent that first day strolling up and down the foreshore and laying down in the shade for a little nap – I got burnt. Waikiki Beach was stunning but full of tourists as you could imagine.

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Hoo roo Australia..

For my last week in Australia I flew up to the Gold Coast to catch up with a good friend of mine, Sam, who I have grown up with over the years.

Of course, while I was on the Gold Coast it was some of the worst weather they have had with huge downpours of rain and winds to go with.

This didn’t stop Sam and I going to a football match at Metricon Stadium between the Gold Coast Suns and Port Adelaide. It was such a close game which Port ended up winning. Cool way to spend an afternoon though.

Gold Coast Suns v Port Adelaide at Metricon Stadium

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Exploring Australia’s backyard..

The next few months in Australia consisted of: Groovin’ the Moo festival, a few football games at the new Adelaide Oval (amazing stadium), a day trip to Adelaide Hills and surrounding wineries with a mate, gigs including Mat McHugh, Chet Faker and Lorde, hiking through Deep Creek Conservation Park and spending a few nights in Goolwa. I also went to as many of my brother’s football games and my sister’s netball games as I could noticing how much they have both improved!

Port Noarlunga Beach – where I get to call home..

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A trip to New Zealand for Easter..

I had always said I wanted to be in New Zealand for my 24th birthday, so that’s just what I did. I had spent my 22nd birthday with the same kiwi girls in the middle of the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan so only suiting that I was with them for my birthday. I found some cheap flights and was off, first stop Auckland.

As I flew in late at night, my friend’s boyfriend pick me up and took me back to their place. Once there I jumped on my friend, Terese, who was in bed (school teacher!).

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My first few months back home in Australia..!

I surprised my immediate family just before Christmas in 2013. It was just Mum who was aware of my arrival home. Even more surprises followed when I showed up at my friend’s birthday party the same day. I then kept a low profile to surprise the rest of my family on Christmas Day. Now that was a big reaction!!

My hometown of Port Noarlunga on the night I arrived back into Australia – magical!

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From Africa to Asia..

My flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia was via Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. I had a seven-hour stop over but had plenty of movies to watch and they even supplied dinner for free!! Easy as (and for the price I got the flight for, I could not complain at all).

My first impressions of going out for a walk around KL – wow, I was definitely not in Africa anymore. I could not believe the amount of white people and in particular, how much skin they were showing!! There were people everywhere and a whole lot of touristy souvenirs. This was such a different atmosphere than what I had been used to for the past five months and I was not at ease with it. People were just waving money around like it was nothing. The flashy malls and department stores overwhelmed me and the fact that it was Christmas-time meant the jingles and decorations were everywhere. It was all a bit too much for me.

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Traveling solo to my 50th country – Ethiopia..!

I am happy that my 50th country is one of the only nations in Africa never to be colonized. It makes it just that little bit more ‘special’ and ‘unique’.

Ethiopia is also the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari movement, which globalized its flag colours worldwide via pop culture and Reggae music. They even have their own religion (Ethiopian Orthodox) which believe in Saint Mary more rather than focusing on Jesus.

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Exploring Uganda and back to my Masai family in Kenya..

I went to Uganda by myself by overnight bus to Kampala. I had a rough border crossing with my visa but eventually got there.

That first day in Kampala I found it strange not to hear the East African language of Kiswahili anymore. It was odd to be a tourist in a foreign country again but now I was much more experienced in how things worked. I knew how to haggle down and felt completely comfortable jumping on the back of a boda (motorbike) to get where I needed to go. It’s all about confidence.

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Road tripping around Kenya..

One of my Kenyan friends who I met in Mombasa, Ivan, is a freelance photojournalist, Ivan Lieman Photography. Ivan was going on a road trip from Mombasa to the Turkana Region in North Kenya to take photos of the ‘rare solar hybrid eclipse’ and invited me to join him.

I was lucky enough to have some friends living in Nairobi so I stayed at their apartment before Ivan picked me up on for what ended up being my favourite road trip ever.

The start of the road trip. On the road to Lake Naivasha.

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My first, of many, steps in Kenya..

Little did I know how long the coastal town of Mombasa, would become my home..

I was at Mombasa Backpackers for a few days exploring the city and figuring out what I was going to do on my travels next. I arranged to go live with a Masai tribe through a volunteer company but as things happen, I met some great people including Linnea (American) and Hannah (Aussie). Linnea had recently started up her own NGO, Local Push Global, in Mombasa and Hannah had just moved in with her to help out.

Children jumping the puddles in the OId Town of Mombasa..

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Our African adventures..

We were finally in Africa!! We arrived in Cape Town where we had a few days to chill out and catch up on life before our 35-day overland tour, with Acacia Africa, to Zanzibar.

We spent the first few days checking out the magical city of Cape Town and walked to the top of Table Mount, which was stunning. We also did a day trip to Cape of Good Hope (the most south-western point of Africa) and surrounding areas (Haute Bay, Chapman’s Peak etc).

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Italy, the Balkans and Tomorrowland..

While it was sad leaving London, my first stop was Italy for my mates (from Adelaide) wedding!!! It was held in Venice and I had a week to explore beforehand. I went to Naples first and did some pretty amazing things such as a day trip around the island of Capri, cruised along the Amalfi Coast and ate some delicious food!!

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Exploring England on my final days living in Europe..

Once back from Russia I had two of my Aunties come over to stay with me. It was great having family over and I showed them around London as much as I could after work hours and took them to Paris for a weekend. This was great fun as the sun was out to play while we wandered around the streets, going up the Eiffel Tower and we got to enjoy a beer at the Sacre Coeur overlooking the beautiful city of Paris.

The Aunties and I on the Emrites Cable Car..

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Baltics, Scandinavia and Russia in three weeks..

Riga was the city I flew into to start the Baltic leg of my trip. First thing I did was climb the tower of St Peter’s Church for a great view of the city. Of course, I did the free walking tour with Yellow Free tours where I met a couple of awesome girls. We checked out things such as ‘Stalin’s Cake’ , the food markets in the old airplane hangers (one of my favourite markets in the world!) and the oldest wooden church in the Baltics before a few of us branched off and went to an amazing teahouse in the middle of a snow-covered park.

Fun in the snow of Riga - freezing!! — Fun in the snow of Riga – freezing!!

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Snow filled London, Romania and the Alps..

The start of 2013 had started in fine form and the next few months followed in suit.

We had a fair bit of snow in London which made for some more snowman making at our friend’s pub, the Trafalgar Arms, which was the in the middle of our houses. This pub became our home for the next couple of months over winter for a solid ‘Sunday Sesh’, we even had a couch that was the specifically saved for us.

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My second Christmas away from home..

I was lucky enough to once again stay with some family in Copenhagen and to spend Christmas with them as well.

We were off to the West Coast of Denmark to spend it at my cousin’s family home in Värde.

The day we were due to leave there was a snow storm which caused a little delay but made everything look beautiful. It was a nice drive and once we got there you could smell the amazing aromas saved for Christmas time.

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The last part of an extremely eventful 2012…

Shortly after arriving back in London, my Dad arrived for a visit..

We spent the first weekend exploring London and I took him for a typical English pub meal. We also went to a soccer game which is pretty foreign to the both of us. It was Fulham v Aston Villa and ended up as a draw.

During the week my Dad caught the Eurostar to Lille where he hired a car and took himself around France and Belgium for a week by himself to explore the WW1 Australian battlefields on the WesternFront..

Exploring London Town with the Old Man..

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My volunteer experience on the island paradise of Zanzibar..

I was off to Africa to volunteer for my first time, and I chose Zanzibar (an island of the coast of Tanzania) to offer my services (although it does cost to do this!). What an island paradise!

I arrived a few days before I was scheduled to help and went to the Northern tip of the island to Kendwa. This place was incredible. I have never seen such white sand with pristine waters – it was like a dream.

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The European weekends for 2012 continue..

As it was the year of the Olympics in London, it was manic with crowds of people from all over the world – more than normal! Such a great time to be in the city though and there was even more on than usual!

A group of us watched the Opening Ceremony at a mate’s pub before I caught the train to Manchester the next day read to go to my first Olympic event – New Zealand v Egypt soccer (also Brazil v Belarus). As the people I went with were mainly Kiwis I thought it was best to support the cousins from across the sea and join in donning the black and white. It was good fun watching the game at Old Trafford stadium and a great atmosphere. I spent the night and did some exploring of Manchester with some mates making the most of our time there.

Amanda and I at Old Trafford..! — Amanda and I at Old Trafford supporting the All Whites..!

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