I get around.... not like that you dirty people!

Okay, I'm officially on tour, and I haven't had an enormous amount of time to write etc... The access to the wifi has been pretty limited, so I've been collectively adding to an ongoing word document as I've been going along! To make things a little less boring (especially seeing my last post was boooring as batshit!) I will try to break things down in cities…..  and only post a few cities at a time! So here we go....

London to Paris

The drive from London to Paris is a looooooong one. We drive the couple of hours from London through to the Cliffs of Dover (which are absolutely incredible to see, the limestone face is really stunning) and then hop on a P&O ferry through to France! The crossing takes about an hour and a half or so. The ferry is huge, it takes busses, trucks and passenger vehicles. It has coffee shops, an eatery, a bar, slot machines, and numerous places to sit and just enjoy being out in the English Channel.

I got some lovely photos off the side of the ferry looking back to the Cliffs of Dover, and Dover Castle, and then a few other cool photos of the initial sighting of French soil.

The drive from here to Paris, was freaking loooong, but Jude had us playing speed dating on the bus to get us all talking to one another.

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly little  cliques seem to form when you put a bunch of young people together. This was definitely no different.

Last year, I spent a lot of time at the back of the bus, usually with a hangover, this year, it’s been very different. I am up the front of the bus, as the back of the bus is full of kiddies all born in the 90’s (geezuz!)

Finally arriving in Paris I was very happy to see we were in a different hotel to last year, our Hotel was nice and close to a Metro stop and a few little convenient places for things like water, chocolate and gum, none of which I seem to be able to get enough of this trip (yes my ass is rapidly expanding, even as we speak! )

The first night in Paris was rather quiet for us, after a quick drive aroud the major sites, we stopped at the Eiffel Tower and I finally got to the top. Last year the Eiffel Tower was closed courtesy of the Parisians on strike. No surprise there, they strike at the mention of anything they may not be happy with.  Too cold? Strike!, Too drunk? Strike! Not enough baguettes to go around?? Definitely STRIKE!! Lol As much as I LOVE paris, some of the people can be quite pushy and rude. It was ABSOLUTELY freezing up the Eiffel Tower!! We took the lift up to the second viewing platform, and then headed up once more to the top. The views from the top, are absolutely breathtaking.

The city below looks like one big shimmery sea of coloured lights, flanked by the dark winding river sene which winds its way through the city.

After coming down from the Eiffel Tower we all headed to the Metro to catch the train back to the Hotel. Others went out to try to find clubs and pubs, but I was quite happy to settle for my warm bed!

We do have quite a few little groups on the bus that are really getting their drunk on on the tour. We have two guys in particular that literally seem to be having their first beer at breakfast. YIPES!  I thought I was alco!

The next day, we decided that our plan of attack was to head to the Catacombs first up in the morning (one of the things I didn’t see last year)  via Notre Dame Cathedral. Notre Dame is truly stunning, the inside of the Cathedral is absolutely amazing, there is stained glass everywhere in a myriad of colours and patterns. We were lucky enough to head into the Cathedral as one of their usual Sunday services was starting, so we were greeted with music and prayer. Very special.

From Notre Dame we headed to the Catacombs. About 200 metres underground and winding around 2km under metropolitan paris, the catacombs are a very eerie experience. I don’t really know what else to say about them, fortunately we were allowed to take photos, flash free of course, so I’ve posted a few below so you can see what im talking about. Just hundreds of bones and skulls all neatly packed into the walls, or even creating walls themselves. Very cool indeed, but still creepy in the same sentence! Lol

From the Catacombs we then headed to the Arc de Triomph, so that the rest of the group could head up to the top and have a look around! I braved the 307 stairs last year, needless to say this year I decided that I didn’t’ need to put myself through that pain again! Can anyone say JELLY LEGS!

It was about Lunchtime now, so we wandered down the Champs Eliseeinto it’s stunning christmas markets. Nutella crepes and pretzels were definitely on the menu, as was mulled wine and churros (oh yeah my diets fabulous over here)

 Last stop on my itinerary for the day was to head to the Paris Opera house. Apparently they do tours around the opera house, another thing I missed out on last year, but unfortunately for me as last year, I found out upon arrival that there were no tours on Sunday. YAY ME! Lol So from here I walked back through the Louvre courtyard, and then headed back to the afternoon meeting point to get the bus back to the hotel to get ready for our Moulin Rouge evening.

Now, I did the Moulin Rouge last year, didn’t’ really think all that much of it. It would seem that my oppinion still stands. I really think for all the hype, it’s totally overpriced and overrated. The show is the same one that they have been doing for the last 10 years at least, and really it’s not that great. I’ve seen better shows at the local Jupiters Casino! I know that seems a little bit harsh, but really….. it’s not. Yes you get boobs, but other than that, it reminds me of a drag show I saw at the trocadero. I should have saved my money and put it towards seeing a stage show back in London. End rant.

After Moulin Rouge, we all heded to O’Sullivans for a few drinkies, Manda decided to head home, I can’t blame her, and I stayed out for a drink or two with the group and then jumped in a taxi and headed home myself.

The next morning we were switzerland bound.

Paris to Lucerne

Lucerne is honestly one of my favourite places in Europe, It’s such a quiet sleepy little city. The people are lovely and friendly even if I do offend their ears with my version of their native tongue. This year Luzerne was very different from last year. Still damn cold, just like last year, although this year, no snow! It wasn’t until we headed up Mount Pilatus that we saw any snow at all. This time last year, the entire of the little city was covered in about 15 inches of beautiful white puffy goodness! This year…. Nil!  There isn’t a hell of a lot to do in Lucerne, it is, as I said, a sleepy little city. After heading up the mountain for some snow time, we headed back down for a fondue lunch washed down by an icy cold beer. In the afternoon we took a walk around to the Lion Monument. This monument is a carving into a cliff face of a lion that represents the hudreds of Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when the mob  stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris. It is an absolutely heart breaking monument, the face of the lion is just incedible! I'll eventually post some photos!

I wisely decided not to go out that night, and stayed in, there were some pretty large hangovers on the bus the following moring and I think that we had our first bus vomits and double bagging going on!

Lucerne to Barcelona

The trip from Lucerne was rather uneventful, which is kind of good when you're on a bus with 48 other people. We did the normal three hour stops and then finally arrived into Barcelona in the late afternoon/early evening!

Last year Barcelona was definitely not one of my favourite places, this year I've changed my mind (typical female) and have decided that I would definitley go back to visit again! Although there are quite a few places in Spain that I would definitely like to visit!

After arriving in Barcelona we took a drive around the streets so that the group could get orientated (or dis-orientated) and to see some of the sites before heading into town for a few drinks (I swore black and blue I was going to have a quiet night! Alas this isn't exactly the way things actually went). We started drinking in the late afternoon, and then headed to the a Bar near the waterfront called Olympica to continue to drink quietly.....  Holy hangover batman! I remember most things about the night, but somewhere along the way I managed to lose my credit card, and lost track of time, and got home at about 4am. YUCK! 

The next day was a bit of a waste, as both Amanda and I were hung over like crazy so we decided to just sleep in, and then go for a wander around a bit later on in the afternoon and see a few of the sites etc around Barcelona.

That night we went to a traditional Flamenco show, followed by another night drinking.... of which I didn't dare partake!  The Flamenco show was the same as the one I went to last year except this year things were a bit more interactive with the crowd which was pretty good. It's a very intense show, and not anything like I had imagined prior to seeing it last year.

The next morning we were off again, now with some of the biggest hangovers of the entire trip so far on the bus! It was vomitsville everywhere! Kinda wrong really. But I suppose the amount of hangovers keeps the bus pretty damn quiet! lol

I dont think I've mentioned that we have a day song and a wake-up song.... The day song is pretty tame, the wake-up song is a fair bit louder... it's quite funny to see everyone groaning in hangover agony everytime they are told they need to wake up for a pit stop somewhere. *giggle*

Bright Lights Big City!

So... I'm not sure exactly what I wrote about when I posted last but I am pretty sure it was my first walk around London since I got here. Since then, Manda has arrived and a multitude of other things have happened.


At present moment I am on the first day of my Contiki Winter Wanderer tour and am on the ferry leaving the White Cliffs of Dover heading over to France and eventually down to Paris. But I'll tell you about that later.


So before Manda arrived in London, I was treated to some fine dining and a hell of a lot of amazing wine with Will and Adrianne (Will's housemate) and I was also lucky enough to attend a Cointreau Prive party hosted by Dita Von Teese. I've been spoiled drinking bottles of Bollinger, Krug and Dom, and have eaten at some of the best Michelin Star restaurants in London! So basically I've been having a ball!! :)


Amanda arrived last Sunday morning and I met her at Heathrow (awwww) from there we went back to the hotel for her to change and shower and then we thought that we would head out and try to see some of London. Although nobody is in their right mind to be able to sight see after a 24hour flight, she soldiered on and we went and hopped on the London Big Bus Tour company bus and took a ride around London!!


Monday night we went to a restaurant close to the hotel for dinner, which turned out to be a huge mistake as I managed to get sick from the spaghetti that I had had and spent a horrible night in bed, eventually to be followed up by a power spew at about 7am the next morning. In all honesty I don't remember ever feeling as sick as I did that day. Hot cold hot cold hot cold, stomach pains, and never really being sure what end what was coming out of. I babbled some incoherent instructions to Amanda on how to get the train and left her to her own devices and to venture out on her own.


About 2pm I decided to suck it up so to speak and head out to find Amanda on Oxford Street, not the best move, as I still wasn't right, but I was feeling rather guilty about dumping her in a foreign city on her own not even 24 hours into her stay.


So somehow I managed to head into Oxford street on the train, don't ask me how as I don't really remember the actual train ride, to seek out Manda amongst the 4000000 shops.


Since I had disembarked the train I had been sms'ing Amanda to determine a central meeting point, I tell her I'm outside NEXT, across from Topshop, and we decide that I will stay put and she will meet me there. About 10 minutes later I get a text saying, "I'm here, where are you?". To which I respond.... No you're not.... I'm here.... You're not...... Lol. For anyone that doesn't know Oxford street and shopping in London, the London retail people (the ones that say what is retail and what shop goes where) are on crack!!! It turns out that indeed Manda was outside NEXT across from Topshop, BUT she was at the one further up the road. Not only do they have two NEXT stores, they have about eight in this particular shopping precinct!, ahhh!

From there we wandered around Oxford Street for another hour or two and then headed back to our hotel and promptly slept for about 16 hours!

Wednesday we had a lazy late breakfast out at South Kensington, and stopped by to say hello to Will and spent a cruisy arvo wandering around the shops. That night we we went with Adrianne and Will to The Big Easy, an American style restaurant about a 10 minute walk from the house. Talk about noisy! We were seated at the farthest end of the restaurant, right near the band, so it was realllly really loud. Food was pretty decent, drinks were even better and the company was fantastic! J

Thursday we went down to Portobello Road to have a wander around the markets, and see if we could see a Fur that I had seen earlier last week, alas the woman selling the fur is only there some Fridays and Saturdays. That night we went out to a Pop-up restaurant in East Melbourne,

We then went down to Portobello Road and had a wander through some of the shops and stalls down there, grabbed a coffee and then made our way back to Will’s to collect Manda’s washing and then headed to our Orientation for our tour leaving the following morning, grabbed a quick pub meal and then headed back to the Novotel, and then settled in for an early nights sleep.

Saturday was defintely an early start, and  our Addison Lee (similar to a town car, but they for some reason use Addison Lee as a verb in London) arrived at the hotel to take us to the Contiki meeting point at 6.10, and by 6.15 we were rocketing towards the next 24 days of fun!  We met our tour manager Jude, a vivacious, tenacious 26 old, with more energy than the Evereddy Bunny on a lifetimes supply of red bull and speed, and Neil (aka Hot-Neil) our Driver for the tour, Hot-Neil is I’m guessing in his late 20’s, more likely early 30’s and has a great sense of humour, and is very well travelled.

So at this point in this post, we are actually at day 10 of our tour. I haven’t really had a second of down time to be able to sit down and actually write. Wifi has been a little bit dodgy and it has been few and far between!  

Okay so because this has become quite boring Ii've decided to stop here. I'll write about the last few days a little bit later on!

Hope you're all safe and well!

Love to you all!

SJ x

I would walk 500 miles

Hi All,

I hope everyone is safe and well!

So today was my third day in London, and today I decided to ditch the maps and plans and just go for a walk! It was a bit overcast for most of the day, but occasionally I caught a glimpse of blue skies and sunshine poking through the clouds. I grabbed a coffee at starbucks, had a quick chat to mum via skype, and then headed to South Kensington Station.

From South Kensington station I took the tube through to Green Park station which is at the top of Green Park funnily enough, which butts up against Buckingham Palace. Green Park is full of deciduous trees (trees that drop their leaves annually). There must be hundreds of these trees throughout the park, so this means 4.3 billion leaves throughout the park. Crunchy and in an everlasting aray of colours, there are literally leaves everywhere! One good gust of wind, and you’re practically up to your waist in delightfully crunchy leaf matter. Today was also very windy, I had to stop on a few occasions and try to get out of a gust of wind that was almost knocking me over. What I came across next in Green Park had me slightly confused. There were men, about 6 or so, groundskeepers, with a GIANT blower, epically failing at blowing these leaves off the footpaths. Within seconds of them blowing the leaves off the footpaths, a gust of wind would pick the leaves back up and litter them back across the paths. Talk about fighting a losing battle! I think this definitely would top the list of most frustrating jobs in Brittan.

I passed by Buckham Palace, just as the changing of the guard was taking place, as it does daily, and then headed down The Mall, a road that leads from Buckham Palace through to Charinig Cross. From Charing Cross I really have no idea where I went. I passed a lot of museums and monuments and eventually found myself in Leicester Square. It was quite nice to not really know where I was going, and just to follow the crowds, or walk in the direction of something I could see in the distance. At some point during the day, I must have smiled at some random that made eyecontact with me, and he doubled back and asked if he could “pay me a compliment” then proceeded to tell me he thought I was “just lovely”! Lol My first thought was “are you going to rob me?” lol I said a very quick thankyou, laughed at him and walked away at a very very fast pace! Lol he looked like the guy from the Nescafe adverts “Swopshire? Realy? How wonderful”   I know at some point I ended up back at Piccadilly Circus and then back through to Charing Cross and on to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. I did pass a lot of the theatres today as well, which was lovely. I would really love to get inside on a backstage tour of a few, so might have a look into that tomorrow!

From Westminster Abbey, I decided it was probably time to head back to the house, so I hopped the train through to South Kensington. Westminster Abbey station is an absolute maze of escalators and walkways, very very confusing, I went downstairs three floors, only to find I had to go back up two floors in a different direction to actually get to the platform I wanted to be at! Argh! Lol however, I have found that the tube is generally pretty easy to use, and there always seems to be an abundance of trains every few minutes, so there’s never really a rush.

A few piccies from my wander around today!

So that was about it for me really, was a lovely day, really nice to just wander around with no purpose or direction. London really is such a beautiful city to just walk around!

If you made it to here, well done! The above was not the most exciting of posts!

SJ xx

Old London Town

Well,  I have arrived! I'm finally in London! Back in London I guess I should say!

I got in yesterday, but didn't really do a hell of a lot, as I was a bit jet lagged, so I took to staying close to Will's house (Will is my wonderful friend who is letting me stay in his lovely apartment in South Kensington <3) and only ventured out as far as the first foody type place I saw for a burger and onion rings (oh yeah I'm the epitome of health) and then I came home and went to sleep! Oh I did buy some lovely tulips outside South Kensington Station as well, they are beautiful and orange. I slept til 11.30pm, and then got up for an hour with a splitting headache, found some peppermint tea and some crackers and then went back to bed an hour or so later.

This morning I decided I would catch the tube to Oxford Circus and take a wander around Oxford St. This is London's fashion hub, and it just about has 2 of everything! If you head down Regent St you get all the wonderful brands and Hamley's the toy store!

For a Monday and a work day I was surprised at how many people were out and about. I was also surprised at the amount of people toting carry-on sized suitcases around. I caught myself wondering if I had missed the memo on some latest craze of carrying around luggage?  I finally figured out that people were using them to store their shopping! lol I saw two girls loading bags from Zara and Topshop into their suitcases. Good idea ladies! I like how you roll! (Pardon the pun).

I really do love it here, there is just so much to see and do. London is so rich in culture and history, a walk down almost any street has you passing little coffee shops that sit next to buildings that have been standing for hundreds of years. There is such an amazing array of smells as you wander around as well, one minute it's freshly brewed coffee the next it's fresh waffles or crepes. Lucky you can't get fat just from smelling wonderful foods as I'd be the size of a house, especially seeing I may linger a little longer outside the waffle places!

So a quick tube ride back to South Kensington station, and a stop in the local grocery store for something to have for lunch, and I am now back at Will's sitting in his very comfy chairs downstairs writing!

I think I will be going out for dinner tonight, but I'll wait and see what happens!

Luv to you all!

SJ xx

Up in the air

Hi All, Well I once again am back in the skies, it’s been a whole three weeks since my last long haul flight, and truth be told the thought of flying again has been sending chills up my spine for the past week at least!

It’s been a very odd few weeks being back at home, I’ve felt like sleeping….alot….. for some reason that just hasn’t been happening though. I think knowing that I have had this 2 month trip coming, amongst the billion other things that float through my head have been very underwhelming at the least and probably the exact reason for my lack of sleep…   The thought of another two hours or possibly more playing packing Tetris is just enough to curl my toes! Unescapable and unavoidable at best!

So for the past two weeks at least I have been trying to get business in order (organised chaos) to make sure that everything is available to me while I am away and if I am unable to access something at least then someone will be able to find files at least in amongst my mess.

Along with being a fantastic organiser this weeks, I have been trying to make sure that I remember Christmas presents, birthday presents, thank you presents, for friends and family while I am away! (See I do need a PA! – apply within!) There are also friends and family that I have things for, that just have not made it to their recipients as yet. I’m belatedly sorry… and sorry in advance!

Oh… I don’t think that I mentioned that I am currently writing this from the air – Somewhere near India I would say! Seatbelt sign is on and daring people to live on the edge, by getting up to go to the loo…. When ya gotta go ya gotta go!  This is my second flight for the last 15 hours. Apparently we DID have to disembark the aircraft at Singapore’s Chaingi airport (much to my travel agents reassurance otherwise), it was about an hour or so waiting around there was at least a good chance to get up and stretch my legs.,  About half an hour ago, I decided much to my better judgement to take a sleeping tablet, and currently I think it’s kicking in…. cause all the keys are blurring into one another and I can barely keep my eyes open.

I’m thinking that another ten minutes or so and I’ll be out for the count for just a little while at least.

So, for those of you reading this, wondering where little ‘ol Chanel is, well Adam is looking after her while I am away as I trust him, she knows him, and the garden/house is absolutely dog proof! Lol

Okay so a couple of paragraphs up I took  a sleeping tablet, and upon completing the previous sentence, I may have also fallen asleep practically in my keyboard!  Alive and awake now I  am sitting at Abu Dhabi airport, I’ve just cleared through the transfers area and am praying that this last leg of my flight will be swift!

I’m vowing never to travel long distance in Economy EVER EVER again! (Sorry Manda, but you may be left in coach alone on the way home :oP) I need a flat bed! End of story! But seriously I’m about to board the plane for the third time within a 24 hour period, I’ve spent collectively about 5 hours so far sitting at airports and waiting in queues! Just insanity! All I want is to lie flat on my back with a pillow and a doona! Oh bring it on! lol

The lady I have been sitting beside has been quite pleasant, other than the couple of times she quite verbally abused at the woman behind her  for knocking her chair. For some reason I think Etihad’s economy seats are a lot smaller than Qantas/British/Vaustralia. It’s either that or my backside is growing at a rapid pace! They certainly manage to pack you in like sardines!

It’s 1.20 in the morning in Abu Dhabi by the looks of a few of the buildings on our way in I’m really really glad that we are stopping here on the way home! YAY!

So I've been up pacing around the back of the plane... the below are my random musings from my iPhone:

This year so far I have had 6 major international flights! And about 30 domestic flights, which means I've taken off and landed around 36 times probably more of you count all the times I have had layovers in other places along the way. What never ceases to amaze me and take my breath away are the moments in the plane when you look out of the window and see such amazing scenery. These fleeting glances of tropical island coasts, bustling cities and never ending countryside are some of my favourite moments, and no matter how many times I see it, I always have a huge goofy smile on my face.

As we flew over Singapore this afternoon, the sun was just going down, and there must have been 500 or more ships out in the bay, huge container ships waiting to pick up cargo, all spotted along the water like a game of battleship.

One of my other favourite sights are the clouds, floating around like fairy floss! I think I would like to sit on a cloud, the way Katy Perry does in her film clip for California Girls, minus the blue hair, plus some clothes! If anyone knows how I might achieve this cloudy fantasy, please let me know!

So currently I'm pacing around at the back of the plane, and this time I needed to pee! No toilet dramas this time, but a quite quizzical moral dilemma that I have not yet come across on a plane! Do I pee with the window shade up or down? Yes my toilet has a window!! Very strange indeed! Each time I have been in so far, I've opted to shut the blind, but why? Who's going to see me? A seagull? Another flight? God? All three? And what would they think?

We've got 3hours and 15 minutes until we land, and fortunately for me, everyone seems to be English, or from somewhere around Europe, which means that passport lines should be relatively small! Yay!

Are we there yet? 3hours and 13minutes! Possibly thinking I should go and fit in another movie before we land! Yay.... <---- Heavy Sarcasm!

Okay that’s me about done until I’m in Ye Ol’ London Town!

Luv to you all!

SJ xx

A whale of a time

Okay! Well for those of you who don't know, I got a bit sick towards the end of my trip, and continued along the sick path when I got back on Wednesday morning. Delightful! Hopefully on the mend though as I do feel a bit better today! :)

So I need to fill you all in on the rest of my trip! :)

I think last time I blogged we had come back from the long drive to Forks, ready to pack our things and head down to LA.

In our final weekend in Seattle, we decided to go whale watching with Kris and Dan on the Saturday. It was a rather early start as we had about a 35-45 minute drive down to Anacortes where the boat departed from.  As soon as we arrived we were briefed on the normal safety stuff and we were off. A couple of days earlier I had purchased a new snow type jacket to wear while I am in Europe. I decided to grab it and take it with me on the boat, just incase it rained or got cold. Thank god I had done so, as it was absolutely FREEZING!!!!! My eyes watered, and my nose ran, and my teeth chattered for most of the trip! 

In the first few hours of being out on the boat we didn't see much at all. A few seals sunbaking on rocks or swimming in the waters. There were probably about 30-40 people on the boat, and we had all been asked to keep our eyes on the look out for any type of movement in the water. Initially everybody was outside lining the sides of the boat eager to be the first one to spot something. But, as the hours ticked past, with no sign of anything except seaguls, people's attention started to waiver, and most headed inside where they could grab a coffee and thaw out.

We eventually were informed by our Captian that we were going to cross into Canadian waters, as he had head on the radio that some of the Canadian whale watching boats had spotted a humpback whale about 20 minutes from where we were. When we arrived, there was what we later found out was a 5 year old Male humpback called Splitfin, slowly and gracefully moving around the water.
Unfortunately he didn't seem in the mood for any amazing-out-of-the-water type shots from my camera or anyone elses for that matter, and he just lazed around occasionally fluking for us to take photos of him. I think we spent around an hour and a bit watching, and then headed off. Within the hour we were greeted with a sighting of a pod of Transient Orcas, two bald eagles and some more seals.

So a quick run down on Orcas.... three different types, Resident - eat fish, Transient - Eats everything (seals/sharks/turtles), Offshore - They think they eat fish, but possibly also mamals, only discovered in 1988, still alot to learn about them.

These Orcas didn't seem to be up for much fun either, they just cruised around while people on shore and in the boats looked on with fascinated eyes, including the Canadian Coast Guard who were running exercises not so far from where we were sitting.... illegally....in Canadian Waters.... <_<  Apparently as long as we didn't engage in any activities (is whale watching not an activity) we were allowed to be in Canadian Waters... Go figure!

Humpback

Transient Orcas

Bald Eagles

All in all it was a lovely day out! We were out and about for a good 7 or 8 hours on the water, and it was only in the last hour that we discovered the upper deck had heaters outside! DOH! lol

The Friday before whale watching (sorry not working chronologically here at all) Eloise and I headed into downtown Seattle to the Pier Street Markets.... The place where they throw the fish! lol for wander around. There was tonnes of produce and arty/crafty things to buy. I bought a couple of photographs of Seattle and one of Forks, which believe it or not, actually made it home in one piece. I also bought some chocolate covered cherries which were absolutely YUM! they did not make it back at all!

Although I did not catch a fish, we did see the guys throwing fish around, but it wasn't at all what I had imagined. They only throw them inbetween staff, and then there is alot of yelling which is undecipherable.

After the markets we went for a walk in and around downtown Seattle. There are tonnes of shops around the area, everything from Sephora through to Banana Republic. I bought a couple of tops and necklaces from Banana Republic, and then we headed out to dinner with Dan and Kris at a restaurant about 10 minutes from downtown Seattle.

I attempted to get a photograph of the amazing sunset through the glass window of the resturaturant but it didn't turn out overly great! lol see below!

Sunday and Monday we generally didn't do much at all except pack and repack our suitcases a thousand times to attept to get our 50 pounds of luggage under 50 pounds.

Then Monday afternoon, off we went to LA!

So i'm going to leave this post here, and then i'll post about LA a little later on! :)

SJ xx

vampires, warewolves and copious amounts of coffee!

Hi All,

Well, it's been a few days now since I have posted, and in that time I have been roaming around the country side! Literally!

So between my last post on Monday and this post (being Sunday) we've done a whole heap of shopping! I've bought more undies than ever, I've also done a bit of shopping towards my Europe trip this year, in the form of a nice backside covering coat and some big snow boots! (photos to come)! There have also been copious amounts of coffee in between every trip. I have seen more Starbucks and coffee places here than I have ever seen in my life! Currently I'm quite partial to a Grande Salted Caramel Mocha. LOL I'm becoming a seattle-ite! Yep! Eloise and I always have a giggle when the speaker at the Starbucks drive-through says "WhadcanIgeetfuryastodaeee" *giggle*

On Thursday El and I took the very long drive out to Forks. We left the house at 5.10am and headed straight towards Starbucks for, you guessed it, a Grande Salted Caramel Mocha, to go with my blueberry toast! At 5am in Seattle everything is covered in Fog and it's freaking freezing!!!!! You can barely see your hand in front of your face. Let alone street signs and traffic lights.... enter Betty!

Betty is our trusted Garmin, who takes us from place to place and attempts to keep us found instead of lost! It doesn't always happen that way, but she tries! She seems to also love to say "RECALCULATING"! I think it has something to do with us taking wrong turns, when she tells us in xx Feet or pointsomethingofamile when to turn. Pfft who uses feet and miles these days!

The trip out to Forks involves a ferry ride of about half an hour or so. From Mukilteo out to Edmonds is about a 45 minute drive along the I-55 or I-104. When we arrived, there was about 3 other cars there, and it was about 5.50am with the next departing ferry at 6.10. We had a very friendly sniffer dog sniff our car and then we boarded the ferry for the half hour crossing. It definitely went quicker than I thought, and soon enough we were headed towards Port Angeles.

Port Angeles is a small town about an hour and a half away from Forks, it has a safeway and not a whole lot else (it probably does have more, but it's far more interesting having nothing in my story). We stopped in at Safeway for a starbucks, and to grab some donut holes for the trip! Yes donut holes, I'm being super healthy!! They were listed under the "Breakfast Items" sign in the bakery section..... (breakast? seriously? geesh!) We grabbed what we needed, and headed back to the car, with the intention of driving and eating. Only to find that apparently Eloise and I can't eat anything with powdered sugar on it and drive at the same time, cause it looked like we'd both been snorting a pound of coke each! So we finished "breakfast" in the carpark and then headed on our way!

Now a little about Forks..... Forks is the home of Twilight mania! They have a population of 3,532 and it's named after the forks in the Quillayute, Bogachiel, Galawah and Sol Duc Rivers. There ain't much to do in Forks, it's a one street town, the rest of the streets are residential.

It seemed like every corner we turned in the little tiny town, someone had a poster, or a sign advertising twilight something! They loooooove it!

The locals at the Twilight shop (one of many) were very happy to give us a map with directions to all the different places to go and visit...

So map in hand, we started our own little twilight tour (corny) and set out to find all the places marked on the map! First stop, the Cullen residence..... Not at all what I had envisaged, definitely nothing like the movie except for the mounted and framed graduation caps and the rather creepy lifesize cut out of Edward himself standing in the window of what I would imagine is an upstairs bedroom.

Next stop, Dr Cullen's parking space at the Forks Hospital..... unfortunately for us, our map wasn't as accurate as it could have been, and after 10 minutes of searching we gave up trying to find said parking spot and headed over to Bella's house.

Like the Cullen residence, Bella's house was nothing like the movie, and the "Swan Home" sign was a little underwhelming at best. We were told at the Twilight shop that there were actually people living in it, and they didn't mind people taking photos of the house, as long as they didn't come onto their land. Click Click.... next stop Bella's truck and the Forks Washington Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Information Centre.

Indeed there are trucks... alas they aren't the actual trucks from the movie, like we were lead to believe. But still, a little whimsy and a sprinkle of fairy dust and maybe if you squint and turn your head to the side, it's believable! lol No in all honesty, if you had seen the movies once, then I'm sure you'd believe.

Next stop Jacob's House...... Did I mention that by this stage, even on a full moon, I had not seen or spotted a vampire or a warewolf... let alone a good looking male! Long hair, 10 day growth and cammo just don't do it for me! :S

Jacob's house ACTUALLY was as the twilight shop said it was! Indeed this was the house that Jacob had resided in in the movies. Same everything. Even down to the woods being in the backyard, and the grassy area at the back. But alas, no Jacob *sigh*.

We then headed out to La Push beach. Now I haven't mentioned that Forks actually sits in/around the Olympic National Park, which is very whimsical in itself. The tallest trees that I have ever seen, surrounded by lush forest and rambling rivers, make for a spectacular drive through to Forks and La Push.

We stopped a few times for photos along the way, on different signs here and there. But most of the time we just cruised. The roads are pretty good, and apart from the occasional slow logging truck, you really don't see too many people.

So La Push was definitely not what I had expected. The first thing that you see when you get down to the beach is driftwood, and tonnes of it. Now I think the word "driftwood" doesn't really give you an idea of how large this driftwood is. Try "DRIFTMOTHEROFGODHUGETREESANDLOGS". These things are huge! I haven't exactly figured out how they get into the water and end up washed up on the beach (my guess was washed down the rivers into the ocean), but my god they're absolutely enormous. I have some photos which I will post up in the coming days, I just want to edit first! :P

I found this La Push beach to help you to gauge the size until I get my photos up.

When you actually stand back and take in the full breadth of the beach, it is quite magnificent. The wave crash onto the shore with a huge amount of force, that it is almost deafening. There are quite a few little islands that sit out within swimming distance (not that you'd want to swim out there) . I would imagine in good weather that watching a sunrise at the beach would be quite special.

We then headed over to Rialto beach, another beach further down from La Push, and we found the same thing. Huge pieces of driftlogs that had washed ashore. This beach was far prettier than La Push, and has beautiful black pebbles for "sand" that shimmer as the waves wash over them.

From there we headed back to Port Angeles, for another quick starbucks stop, then back to Kingston to the Ferry home to Edmonds then back to Mukilteo!

All in all a HUGE day of driving, and fun!

Saturday we went Whale watching out past Anacortes, which was incredible, we even crossed over into Canada! (Ohh Canada!) lol

We were lucky enough to see a 5yr old male humpback they call Splitfin, and a pod of Orca's while in the waters off Victoria, British Columbia, it was absolutely incredible. Also along the way we ran into a few seals, and a couple of Bald Eagles just hanging out on a rocky island.

It was also incredibly cold out on the boat, so I made good use of my new snow jacket, and was wishing that I had made use of my boots as well!

I managed to get quite a few good photos of the Humpback, but not as many of the Orca's as people kept getting in the way, and the orcas are alot faster than the humpback. No major breaching from either parties, but it was still pretty amazing to see them just swimming around!

We were out on the water for just over 6 hours, and I for one was very glad to get my freezing cold backside into the warm car! I think El was the same as well! lol

This morning we had a lovely brunch with Dan and Kris' neighbour Sally (just as awesome as I am of course, must be the name) at a lovely restaurant down on the harbor at Everett. I had French toast, and then their famous Huckleberry Slump (like pie but not). Twas loovely!

Okay I've just looked back and seen how much I've written, no doubt you are all asleep! There is still so much more to tell you and I have so much more to write about our adventures! but it's 10.22pm here and I have to fly to Los Angeles tomorrow! YAY! Double YAY! and a little more YAY!

So I'm going to leave it there!

Love to you all!

SJ xx

life in the fast lane...

Hi All!

Hope you are all safe and well!

The past two days have been pretty laid back as Eloise and I have been a bit sick, so we have mainly been at home just chilling out, as well as done some work here and there.

Yesterday we had our first trip to a CostCo, where everything including the butter is supersized! It's absolutely incredible! So much stuff and all in Bulk! There were people everywhere buying everything from Diamonds to Cheese! Absolute insanity.

We then went to Quality Foods (QF) to get a few other groceries, QF is like a woolworths but again on steroids, as I am slowly learning everything in the good ol' USA is!

Each shop really tries hard to out-do the next, business seems very competitive here, which I suppose in the long run is advantageous for consumers as everyone is trying to undercut one another! I know we are getting a few CostCo's opening up in Oz, and I say bring em on!

Today, has also been a little bit slower than we would have liked. We worked first up this morning, and then later in the afternoon, I put my elite driving skills to the test and we had our first driving adventure, driving on the wrong side of the road! It was alot of fun, but it is a constant battle with your brain as to what is actually right, and what isn't! lol It is definitely something that you need to concentrate on, completely, otherwise you may find yourself in a gutter or up a median strip!

We went back to QF to pick up a few items so that Eloise and I could made dinner for Dan and Kris. After a few photos and HI 5's about actually reaching our destination (much to the bewilderment of onlookers who couldn't understand our elation and giggling) we went inside to get the few things we needed, via the Ben and Jerry's section of the freezer, of course and then headed back to the house.

The Ben and Jerry's freezer! mmm

Random MnM flavours

Eloise and I then set to cooking up a storm! (and at the same time, the Sound outside was definitely whipping up some crazy winds). We made a chicken and rice thing for dinner, and then a cherry pavalova for dessert, which went down a treat! :) *unbuttoning jeans*

So that has been the past two days, nothing overly crazy or anything, which suits me just fine! Currently El and I are planning our trip out to Forks (home of the Twilight series for those of you who don't know) and La Push (the famous beach from the Twilight series). This is a ferry trip and a 3 and a half almost 4 hour drive from where we are at Mukilteo. We haven't yet decided if we are going to stay the night or not but we will get that figured out soon. Also on the agenda for the week is the Seattle Aquarium and Space Needle and we have a whale watching trip planned on Saturday to see the Orka's which will be amazing!

If anyone has any suggestions as to what else we should be seeing, I would looove to know! :)

We leave Seattle all too soon on the 17th and then head down to Los Angeles.

I've just read back over this post and it's a little boring, so apologies if you actually made it this far! lol

Talk to you all soon!

SJ xx

Plungers Pickups and Plastic

It has now been a couple of days since we landed here in Seattle, and I am now officially sick! YAY!
No doubt it is something that I picked up off the plane, Eloise is also on the sick side, I found her curled up on the floor around the toilet bowl at around 3am this morning (Sunday). My sick is thankfully not the vomit kind, it's' the raging mucosy sore throat kind! The pharmisist suggested I go to the doctor, but that will have to wait until tomorrow!

So I have a little confession to make... on Saturday night when I blogged, I may have left out a little incident I had with the toilet on Friday night........ For those of you who haven't been here, in the states the toilet bowl is half full of water. I wish I knew why, but I don't. Can't for the life of me understand it, and I don't think I ever will!

Soooo... the story goes... that I needed to go to the loo..... now unbeknown to me, toilets in the USA are ANGRY!!!!!! :( They lull you into a false sense of flushing security, and then the minute you turn your back, BAM! Angry toilet water is rising!!! I flushed the toilet and all seemed to be fine, but then there was a loud gurgle, and I watched the water start rising.... Now at this point, I am not entirely sure what was going through my head, but once again, I reached for the toilet flushing handle, and pressed it down again.... HOLY SH17 more water rising..... It stopped just clear of overflowing the bowl!

I've whipped out my phone, and sms'd Amanda (not sure what I thought she could do, but I was panicking)... Sms's are as follows:

Me: Om my F***ing god I've backed up the toilet!!!
Me: Oh my F***ing god!! Oh god!! Oh my god!!
Manda: What the??? are you okay??
Me: hahaha no! I'm panicking!!!!
Manda: Can you not use toilets in America??? HAHAHA <--- Gee thanks Manda!
Me: Apparently not!! What the f*** do I do??? The water is like slowly going down, but oh my god! What if I can't unblock it?
Me: I'm gonna have to stick my hand in
Me *SOB*
Manda: Find a plunger?? is anyone awake?
Manda: hahahahahaha
Me: Yes how embarrassing!!! WTF is with these kinds of toilets!!! What the farq!!!!

Manda: Why don't ppl just have normal toilets!! Are you having fun?
Me: No! I'm not having fun
Me: okay so I found a plunger
Me: But I dont know how to use it!
Me: Oh my f***ing god!
Me f***ing!
Manda: I meant in general not with the toilet!! you are making me crack up!!! In and out like a plunger!!!
Me: I have never used a plunger!!!
Me: Oh my f***ing god!
Me: Can a plunger get dirty?
Manda: it's literally like a coffee plunger in and out to cause air etc or whatever lol yes
Me: Oh my god! I'm freaking out!
Manda: You are so cute!!! Can it get dirty lollll
Me: Crisis averted! I'm f***ing exhausted! That was almost a panic attack! Oh my god!
Manda: I'm sorry I know you were freaking out but seriously!! Only you!!! Break shit on your second night!!!

And that was that! Seriously! I DIE! If I never have to see a backed up toilet again for the rest of my life I will die a happy lady!

Okay... on with the rest of the trip! Toilet saga's aside!

Yesterday, (Saturday) was the most beautiful day we have had so far. We woke up to completely clear skies, and it only got better as the day wore on. By about 12pm, I was completely regretting my choice of singlet, long sleeve top and hoodie!

Dan and Kris took us to an outlet mall on the northern side of Everett, which is about 20 minutes drive from the house at Mukilteo. The mall is very similar to our Harbour Town on the gold coast, but on steroids! They had EVERYTHING! Coach, Juicy Couture, Ralph Lauren, True Religion, Nine West, Burberry and pretty much everything in, over, under and in-between. Things were a fair bit cheaper, but as far as pricing goes, it was all very similar to what we get in Oz.

Oh did I mention that they have drive through everything here??!!! Banks, Pharmacy's, Starbucks, Taco Bell! Banks were surprising... I thought that was a little odd, same with Pharmacy's! Team not having to get off your backside with the giant servings, and buying in bulk at CostCo, and I can fully understand why they have such a huge obesity problem!
I thoroughly enjoy not having to get out of the car to get a coffee though!! haha lazy pants! I also haven't mentioned that literally every second person has a pickup truck, these things are HUGE! I've never seen so many in my life!

After the outlet mall, which I could have easily spent hours and hours wandering around, we headed off to the Anderwood mall. This was like one of our Westfield shopping centres. They have Nordstrom and Maceys (similar to Myers) and then a huge range of specialty stores etc. All in all great for a wander around. But by about 6.30pm, my feet were killing and I seriously needed a drink!

Dan and Kris took us to the Keg and Barrell for dinner. It was really lovely, I had a really nice steak with a blue cheese crust, and a few lychee martini's and Eloise had some chicken and seafood thing, that she revisited later in the night, poor thing! :( By the time we left it was about 10.30pm and I think everyone was absolutely exhausted, and Bed was the only thing on the agenda!

Unfortunately I woke up at about 2am with a raging sore throat, and spent about an hour gargling salty water in hopes that I would feel a bit better in the morning, alas I did not! :(

So we've been to Costco (everything smells like plastic in that place) and the drug store this morning, and unfortunately I can't get any good drugs without a prescription, and apparently a prescription takes 2 days here because they actually swab and test before prescribing for what is probably toncilitis! Double YAY!

Welcome to the USA

Hi All, all lonely three of you... 4 when you count a lovely mysterious reader! haha

So as you would have guessed, I am currently in Seattle, Washington! The Journey from LAX to Seattle was pretty easy. speInt a couple of hours lying on the floor in Terminal 3 wishing I hadn't consumed the two largest pancakes of my life only 20 minutes earlier! See pancake photos! I put the asprin in the photo so you could guage the scale of the light fluffy deliciousness that was pancakes from Gladstone's Seafood Restaurant. I think the pancakes tasted so much better after the plane food! lol

There may have been a side of Bacon in there somewhere, but I use the word bacon very very loosely. It has a very strange smokey flavour, all looks the same, but by god it's crispy, which totally makes up for all its strange points!

So after arriving in Seattle we were met by Dan, Eloise's cousin. So a little about our hosts... Dan and Kristine are both professors at Washington University, and they both are world renouned experts in their fields. They have a house overlooking Puget Sound in Mukilteo, which is about 45 minutes drive outside Seattle city. It is truely an amazing house, lots of glass, with one of the most incredible views of any house I have been in!

Part of the view of Puget Sound, you can literally see all of this from the hot tub!

After some much needed sleep, Eloise and I went into the uni this nmorning with Dan and Kris, and got the grand tour of Washington University, which is truely an incredible campus. It's absolutely huge with the most amazing builings and lecture theatres!

Dan then dropped Eloise and I up to the university shopping precinct, and we spent some time wandering around the shops!

We hit up Victoria Secret and Sephora and a few other places like Juicy Couture, Restoration Hardware (OMG I'm in LOVE). We went through GAP and H&M and a bunch of boutiques and drug stores. I am amazed at how very different all our brands are for every day items when compared to the US. They don't have any panadol or nurofen or anything like that, everything is Advil (which comes in 100 different types), and 400 other brands of pain killers we don't get in Australia. When it comes to the cosmetics and beauty/hair products, we do have alot of the same stuff. Things like cereal and breads are interesting, they have cinamon toast, blueberry toast, wheat-a-bix and a few other strange items. I had my first tootsie roll (little chocolatey lolly) and will probably pass if offered one again! Yuk!

So after all our shopping yesterday Dan and Kris picked us up and took us to dinner at a restaurant called Ivars, which seems to be a bit of a thing around here, they specialise in salmon type dishes, and have a very native american indian feel to them. Really great service which was awesome, and the food was lovely!

Thats all for now!

SJ xx

up in the air...

By the time I will actually be able to post this, I will have already landed in Los Angeles. I am currently standing at the rear of the plane, trying to get some circulation back to my backside, after the last 11 hours of being stuck in a middle seat, with a very limited amount of moving space!

So, some of you may know, other not so much that I have some leg swelling / dvt issues when I fly.... Not so fun I assure you.... This trip I have for the first time decided to ditch the compression socks for full length thermal compression tights! ( thank you 2XU) so far at 11 hours into my flight my legs have pretty much remained a very normal size, which is a nice change from my usually very fat, fluidy kankles! Oh so attractive!

Soo freaking tired! Want to sleep and not sit in LAX for hours! Haha

On a brighter note I just saw Matthew Gubler from Criminal Minds!

tetris and the art of packing...

On average I would probably pack a suitcase approximately 40 times a year. This has somewhat made me a bit of a pro when it comes to the game of 'suitcase tetris'! I know that I save a considerable amount of room by shoving my toiletries (excluding my toothbrush) into my shoes, I know to fill little gaps in my pre-rolled clothing items with undies and anything else that is soft and small, I know that if I put parfume bottles inside socks inside jumpers all rolled up, they will survive Qantas baggage handlers! I also know not to put toiletries inside shoes without first putting them inside plastic bags, especially toothpaste... bye bye red suede peep-toes!

This time, I will be doing all the above, but I have invested in a few little things to make life a little easier! The first being a 20 dollar jewellery case from Diva! What I normally do is carefully place any jewellery I am traveling with in a velvet pouch. The big fat downfall of this is by the time I go to use any of it, I have to spend half an hour untangling each necklace and earring from a big shiny ball of knotted chains, plastic beads and dangly things! Mission!! So enter organized jewelry thing!

The other investment for my journey was my new new totally indestructible suit case from the Samsonite Cosmolite range! This thing is incredible! With its silver carbon fibre good looks, it's a rather sleek looking piece of European ingenuity! If you go to YouTube, and type in 'Samsonite Cosmolite' you can actually watch my suitcase get hit, head on by a car and then spring back to life! Incredible!

So between starting this post and finishing this post, I've successfully packed my bag, then culled my bag, and quite literally now I am on the way to the airport, with a cabbie who doesn't find my sense of humor funny, even one tiny little bit! Lol oh well!

To the airport!

SJ xx

a suitcase, a passport and another airport....

Late last night while I was lying awake thinking of how I was going to keep in contact with everyone whilest I travelled practically around the world over the next few months, I decided that a blog would be the best way to keep everyone up to date with where I was, what I was doing and just how life was going in general!

So, this is the start of my blog "That touch of mink". I am going to attempt to keep it up to date every couple of days, or maybe even twice a day if I get the time, with all the titbits from my trips, and just my thoughts on different things that come my way!

I shall attempt photo's and all sorts of other fun things along the way, to hopefully keep you all interested and still reading!!

So to actually get my trip underway, I have to start and finish packing my bags! Seattle here I come!

Keep Safe and Stay Tuned!

SJ xx