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Published: February 1st 2012
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Sailing the High Seas The time has come to leave mainland Europe! Unfortunately the agreement between the Aussie Government and the European Union is to allow Aussies to stay in Europe for only 3 months. I can return once I spend 3 months outside of the Schengen countries – which is the majority of Europe. I was left with two options; go home and settle back into normal life, or go back to England and make the most of my UK visa that expires in May 2013. I’m not quite homesick yet, plus I came to terms with missing out on summer (what summer?), so I chose the latter!
To date I have explored Europe by many modes of transport; bus, car, plane, train, tram, raft and foot. There was only one mode left; boat! I considered catching a plane from Amsterdam to England but with my overweight luggage, the most cost effective (and scenic under a starry sky) way was by overnight ferry. I farewelled the chilly motherland at 5.30pm on 15 November and arrived in Newcastle, England at 9am the next morning after a comfortable sleep in my cosy cabin.
So what’s next? I
Ho Ho Ho
I think the last time I had a photo with Santa was when I was 4! (me with Sophia) will be staying with Pete, Paddy & their 2 young kids in Carlisle (in the north of England, near Scotland) for a few weeks and then I am going on another trip! Yep, that’s right – I have the travel bug! My friend back home (Melina) was considering meeting up with me in Europe to spend Christmas, however due to my visa restrictions we decided to jet off to a new destination, the US of A!
I leave England on 21 December and will spend 2 weeks in New York, a few nights in Las Vegas (maybe I will win some money to fund my next trip!) and a 1.5 weeks on the west coast (California).
When I return to England on 22 January 2012 I will be on the hunt for somewhere to live and a job. I’m not sure where I will live or what type of job I will look for, but something that pays the rent and a ticket home (for later) would be a start!
So.. now that there is another (unplanned) trip on the horizon and I won’t be home for Christmas, the blogs will continue! Thanks for joining me on
Giddy Up!
Playing with Sohpia my European exploration this far, I love hearing that people are actually reading my blogs, so keep the feedback/comments coming, whoever you are!
The Lead Up to Christmas in Carlisle This was a time in-between trips; Europe was behind me and America was awaiting my arrival. I had three weeks to take a breath, do my washing, plan the next adventure and catch up with the Harris family again. I met Pete when we both worked for at Ozjet Boating in Sydney when he was on a work visa in Oz about 5 years ago. It was great to take a break from being on the move constantly, have my own room and enjoy home cooked meals; a holiday from my holiday!
Despite all intentions to catch up on my blog, sadly I didn’t quite get to it! Days were filled with playing with Sophia, Pete & Paddy’s 3 year old and taking a steep learning curve of how to deal with a nappy explosion, courtesy of Louie, their 8 month old. I traded take-away and travel maps for home cooking and crafty card making. There was a plateful more to know about
America than the little I knew. Some research on the movie-mad, star studded, burger eating nation went down like a supersize soda and I felt a bit more confident about the trip ahead.
The countdown began, but not before a promised visit to a special friend I met in Italy about a month ago. Tammy was drawn to Bradford, West Yorkshire, England because of a church there called Abundant Life Centre. I spent a few days with her, celebrating her birthday and taking a few day trips to explore the mid-lands of England. Renowned for its exquisite architecture, tangle of quaint cobbled streets and the iconic York Minster, guess where we went? York! An old English favourite, we enjoyed a traditional meal of fish & chips and gave our legs a work-out climbing the 275 steps of the Central Tower of the Minster for the best view of York and beyond.
Manchester pulls a good crowd not just for the football but also the annual Christmas markets. A serve of some meaty German food and melt-in-your-mouth macaroons was all we walked away with, but satisfied as usual.
On my day to say farewell to Tammy, we woke
Snow!!
View out Tammy's window in Bradford up to Bradford’s first showering of snow! Although there wasn’t quite enough to play in, we had a slippery walk to the train station and the 4 hour train ride back to Carlisle through the countryside blanketed in snow was amazing!
Before I knew it, 3 weeks was just about up and Christmas was drawing near. With 6 months on the travel clock gone and who knows how long more ticking, a package in the mail arrived to settle any qualms I had about missing my first Christmas at home. My wonderful mum (and PA) has a gift when it comes to making me smile from across the other side of the world! She put together some Aussie traveler staples (vegemite, tim-tams, life-savers), a few personal items and Christmas keepsakes to make me feel at home. Just one thing was missing - the sweet smell and warmth of the summer sun. Oh hang on, that's what you're all waiting for isn't it!?
I took a scenic train ride to London and another surprise was in store, this time for an old friend from Sydney, Miss Jessie Adams. Stacey, her sister and I devised a plan to surprise her
A taste of home
Christmas came early - thanks mum!! during her inaugural overseas trip. London delivered a beautiful day of cloud, cold weather and rain but that didn’t dampen the fun we had checking the time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, home of the prime meridian. And for those that don’t remember as far back as school geography, the Prime Meridian is the meridian (line of longitude) at which the longitude is defined to be 0°. (I had to look up that definition!).
Time spent with Jessie is always full of fun, especially as I watched her chase squirrels in the park! We struggle to catch up when we live 10minutes apart from each other, but here we were on the other side of the world, in London!
It was 4 days before Christmas and time to take off above the clouds with the hope I would find Melina at the other end of my flight in the bright lights of New York.
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Mum
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Ohhhh
Nice blogg Kim! Thanks for the mention! I forgot what I had put in that parcel. You have done sooooo much in 7 months and met up with lots of friends and family. Good on You!!