Everyone says how amazing New Zealand is, but until you're there it's hard to imagine just how spectacular it could be. We didn't have much time off and were worried about having to rush through, but in five days we saw so much I am really happy with how well we got to see the South Island. Day One Well this was really day 2 as we arrived in Christchurch the night before, but since we didn't land till 11pm I don't really count that as a day. We stayed in a cute little backpackers called Frienz, and unfortunately, that was the last time we'd have en ensuite till we stayed there again on our last night. It might not seem like that much of a big deal, but when you're a couple on holidays it's ... read more

After a year of being away, returning home to Australia was both sad and exhilerating. I loved France so much, but there really is something about returning home that makes you feel like you belong somewhere. The only problem about being home is getting sucked into the day to day routine of life. I returned home in January, yet here I am posting this blog 8 months later. Why bother, you ask? Now that it's been 8 months, what does it matter if a post was forgotten? Well, it matters because I told myself that no matter how busy life became I would continue to see the world through a travellers eyes. After all, isn't Australia just as beautiful and unique as all those other countries I have visited, or those I intend to visit? Being ... read more

Merry Christmas to everyone that I haven't yet had the chance to contact, I hope you had a fantastic day! Once again, the Australians came together to celebrate the festivities by having an "orphans Christmas" for all of us still in Strasbourg. Although, calling it an orphans Christmas doesn't seem as fitting as it did earlier in the year when we planned it, because we've all spent so much time together this year they're starting to feel like family anyway. As with so many other food nights we've had this year, everyone prepared a couple of dishes themselves and brought them to share, making, as always, way too much food. But it was fantastic, we had such a large variety of things to choose from, even sushi! We stuffed ourselves silly, drank too much wine, laughed ... read more

The fact that Strasbourg is on the edge of France makes it so much easier to pop out of the country for the day. Germany is only a 10 minute drive away, and Switzerland is only just over an hour away by train. So the other day, just for something different, Laura, Lizette, Ben and I decided to take that train over to Switzerland and check out Basel, the little city near the Swiss/French border. And it really is on the border. When you arrive at the Basel train station, you’re still officially in France, and then you have to walk through the border gates inside the train station to get to Switzerland. It doesn’t feel that different from one side of the gates to the other, but my French mobile phone will only work in ... read more

I can't believe I was dreading going back to uni! I had so much fun during the summer holidays that I didn't want them to end, but now that I’m back at uni I’m really enjoying myself and am glad to be back. Although it was great spending lazy days wandering around Strasbourg and occasionally popping off to different European cities, having a schedule to follow once again is actually a welcome change. It’s making me feel like I have a purpose in life again! This semester is a lot more intense than the previous one because this time round, instead of taking mostly classes for foreigners, I’m in with the French students taking real university courses. I took one course for French students last semester but I was so frightened I’d rock up to class ... read more