Australia

Happy Valentines Day

February 14, 2019 by Vicky Leave a Comment

A year ago today I was granted my permanent residency in Australia so Valentines Day is a bit of a special day because the whole visa process and waiting for the permanent residency took a long long time but was also quite worrying and stressful.

It seemed quite amusingly timed that it was granted on Valentines Day when I had applied for a De Facto Partner Visa! I don’t know if it was deliberately done by Immigration or just happened that way!

Either way as from today I can apply for Citizenship in Australia so I will be putting things in to place so I can apply for Citizenship soon. I think it will then be about a year until I should be granted citizenship, fingers crossed any way.

I know that Valentines Day is still very commercial but I hope that you have a lovely Valentines Day with your loved ones x

Final Flight Countdown – Blogmas Day 9

December 9, 2018 by Vicky Leave a Comment

We fly to the UK in just 12 days and so I am in the final countdown and planning stage. The Aussie is in neither!

1. Download music and tv shows / films for the flight – I will usually go through iTunes and select 15 to 20 songs which I can listen to on my trip.

2. Locate and check passports and leave them somewhere safe – I do always leave both of our Passports in the same place but to avoid last minute panics I will find them and make sure they are ready to be packed in my hand luggage before we leave.

3. Print out the flight information and information for the car parking – I use the Trip It app to store all of our travel plans and of course I have the emails on my phone but I like to have a hard copy of the information we will need for the flights to hand.

4. Top up UK SIM cards and let everyone know what number we will be on – I usually try and keep my UK sim card for the next trip home so I will log in to my old account and top up the day before so I can switch the sim cards over and let everyone know when we have landed and also find my brother who is picking us up when we land!

5. Check what films and tv shows will be on the flight – I love that on Singapore Air you can check on the website what films are being released during the month you travel and also the next months flights. I try and plan what films I want to watch if I can manage to stay awake.

6. Pack! Most important of course. This years packing planning has been tricking because of my weight loss. When the sales happened in Australia at the end of winter I couldn’t buy anything because I didn’t know what size I would be. This years packing is going to be mainly the presents I have bought for everyone for Christmas I think!

7. Wrap Christmas presents purchased in Australia – this goes number 6!

8. Charge cameras, Ipad, phones and pack the charger cables – I like to make sure everything is charged ready to go. I also take one of those battery pack chargers with me to cover the time when my phone runs out of battery.

9. Leave my valuables – there are some valuables I won’t take with me so I will arrange to leave them and a key to our house with Naomi to look after whilst we are away!

10. Get everything ready at work – the week before we leave will be mad at work. I will get everything that I can done in advance to minimise the work my colleagues have to do whilst I am away. I also like to prepare holiday notes which explain in detail what is happening on all of my files at work for the same reason.

When you are going away how do you plan for travelling?

My October Faves

November 28, 2018 by Vicky Leave a Comment

Another month down and only two left in 2018. October was a bit less busy but was a fantastic month with the colder days becoming less frequent and the warm spring days on the horizon.

Below are some of my favourite photographs that I took during the month.

Top Row:

1) Over the weekend before Halloween I spent the day with Naomi and her beautiful cats.

2) We finally made it to Byron Bay! You can read more about our half day trip here (top image).

3) This was taken on the Gold Coast when we stayed there with Naomi. I love being in the hustle and bustle of the city but am also drawn to being beside the sea. We think/hope to eventually end up living a bit closer to the sea (bottom image).

4) I had a great time at the Manly Harbour Halloween Parade which you can read about here.

Middle Row:

5) This month we tackled our first 10km walking event at the MS Moonlight Walk which was fantastic even in the rain and you can find out more here.

6) Another Gold Coast snap shot. I always end up in this spot staring out at the view which really gives me a Wizard of Oz Emerald City vibe!

7) Back again to our Byron Bay trip. I loved visiting this beautiful seaside resort. It was whistle stop with a touch of a work out with our coastal walk and it is on the travel agenda for another visit in the hopefully not to distant future.

8) Jacaranda Tree view from my office. Purple is my favourite colour and when I first settled into my office at work the tree was bare as it was winter. I started seeing the beautiful Jacaranda Trees coming into bloom around the city which I loved and then one day I looked out and my tree was purple! This year I have been really looking forward to the purple blossum making its appearance and am enjoying my view.

Bottom Row:

9) Another Jacaranda Tree spotted on my lunch time walk. Aren’t they gorgeous?

10) and 11) Food! Re-feed/cheat breakfast meals which have been enjoyed as part of my meal plan/fitness regime. The top one is from Kith ‘n” Chow in Mount Gravatt which is such a gorgeous little cafe which serves delicious food and lovely staff. The bottom is from the Beach in Byron Bay. I really enjoyed and appreciated both meals and feel like they gave me just the right boost I needed.

12) A final photo from our Byron Bay trip. We reached the most easterly point of Australia which was pretty cool and very scenic.

All in all October was a blast and has set me up for a great November and December which is going to be jam packed.