48 Hours in Sydney

Good evening, this post is a little late in actually getting up. I have been getting distracted by things that are way better than writing a blog.

Sydney was short and sweet, I had booked a hotel next to the airport so I could be up out and early to fly to NZ. My first day was ruined by my attempt at a nap. I landed at 7am after 21 hours on a plane and 3 hours in Singapore. I was doing ok and wasn't actually that tired but thought as it was so early that a nap would be a good idea, noooooo. Probably one of the stupidest things I have done. Actually, not as stupid as setting the wrong time on my alarm, so instead of waking up at midday I woke up at 4pm, cue the jet lag issues of the last few days.

After that, I had a soak in the Jacuze and then had room service, watched a film and then went to bed, kind of. I slept from 10pm til 1am then was awake until 6am, then slept until 11. I don't know what that was, but my body was all over the shop.

Then the fun stuff happened, I decided to investigate the city. It reminds me of New York, smart streets and well maintained, just with a better view from the water. I had some lunch with a lovely old couple called Michael and Sylvia who had emigrated from Burnley 18 years ago and it was the best decision they had made. Their kids had grown up there and they think it has made them better people than living in the small town. One fun fact: the Burnley accent doesn't reduce over time, they could have left yesterday, apart from they were really happy with their lives, ha.

After that I went and acted like a tourist, taking photos in front of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, very impressive design and construction but not as imposing as I was led to believe. The Royal Botanic Gardens however were amazing, the trees were like trees at home, just completely different, you have to look at them closely.

Me in front of the Harbour Bridge

Me in front of the Opera House

Using what seems like the only public wifi spot in the city (Mcdonalds), I arranged a drink with Tash from Bristol. It was nice to see a friendly face, catch up and start my sunburn. Then I had to rush off to get back to my hotel so I could welcome Jess and Bex. Now that was fun, some naked photos covered in money, making it rain in a tutu. Room service, sneaky 3-way, and Jess complaining of the terrible nasty that Minnie done.

This really happened! #lad

The highlight of Sydney was in the airport the next morning, for half an hour we watched people try and use a lift. We were in stitches. Our favourite was parents putting a child into the lift and then not being able to get the trolley in so the kid went down on his own and 5 minutes later came back up with a member of staff. Improved only by the fact that 20 mins later they came back up and missed the floor. Thank you Syndey, off to Christchurch!

Woodies Wisdom: When looking after your child in an airport, don't leave them in a lift!

24 hours on a plane

Traveling half-way around the world turned out to be a lot easier than expected. Even with a quick stop-off in Bristol to pick up a package (wink wink), we made it to the airport with plenty of time.

All my bags!

I had a pleasant surprise in the airport, being checked in by a friend of mine. So a selfie was definitely needed, as well as a photo of my attire, haha. Just how I roll.

With my attention span I thought that a whole day on a plane would be awful! I was pleasantly surprised.

I ate 4 meals, 3 of which ended up on my clothes. Not just the mentality of a child but the eating habits too. The last meal I actually covered myself in napkins and didn't get anything on my clothes, even though there was a bit of fruit juice on the napkin.

One of the meals I spilled over myself

I used the toilet 16 times, brushed my teeth twice, watched 5 films, 8 TV shows, slept for about 7 hours and had a stop over in Singapore for a couple of hours.

Now I have made it to Sydney, I haven't yet left my hotel. A little spa session and a pizza later and I tried to go to bed. I am currently suffering from this wild thing called jetlag because I set my alarm wrong when I went for a nap, whoops.

Hugely excited for the next couple of days. I will keep you updated.

Love, Edd.x

Bye Bye Bristol

It was loud. It was crazy. It was awesome.

What a last night in Bristol. A Halloween themed party. In my mind this meant Slutty Nurse so that's exactly what I went for. This encouraged a trend that the guys dressed up as attractive young ladies.

What a group of sexy ladies/men/men dressed as men dressed as ladies

It was a really fun night, lots of punch drunk and silly string sprayed. Nearly everyone showed up in fancy dress. For those that didn't, they had to delve into my dress up box, a strong selection of sexy outfits in there.

Everyone showed up to play hockey the next day and it would appear the punch hangover made everyone play better, so more punch pong next week? After that, it was back to the flat to pack and watch the football. Then it was time to leave, I will apologise to Dan (the flatmate that was left) because we didn't do any tidying up of decorations, so that will be a bit of fun for him...

The morning after

It was a drive of mixed emotions, I finally started to feel excited about going away but also going to miss all the Bristol chums. It's ok though, I will be back before you can say hubbaglypthalepticbollygraphy.

Now all I need to do is a bag of washing and ironing, get my haircut, repack, maybe pick up some shoes, style my mo and get to an airport, EASY!!

Wisdom: Punch always has wayyyy more alcohol in than you think...

History of the Tutu

A few years ago, whilst waiting in an airport for a ski holiday, I was trying to convince my brother to buy something silly to wear when we were skiing. A compromise was reached, I would buy something that he had to wear on the slopes and he got to buy something that I would wear when riding.

I thought that I would be kind (for those that don't know Henry, he doesn't dress up EVER!!) and go gentle on him. I bought a pair of pink, fishnet evening gloves (technical term, look below for more info) and thought, they will make his outfit pop! In return, Henry provided me with the largest tutu that Claire's Accessories had ever produced. If you ever have a child that is the size of me that wants a tutu, there needs to be a serious conversation had. I digress, it was a hot pink, tripled layered tutu with a flashing light belt. It couldn't have been more beautiful and perfect! Love at first sight, a theme that may well continue through these posts.

Combine such a delightful item of clothing with me and what do you get? The weirdest looking ballerina ever. The tutu had its first outing on the slopes of Serre Chevalier, the start of an era.

Since then, she has been with me through thick and thin. Every time I have been abroad, the tutu has been packed and somehow I always found an excuse to bring her out. This has nothing to do with my love of dressing up as woman, just a coincidence.

Then recently during a "work" sojourn to Sivota, Greece the tutu had a few outings and was very popular. Chicks dig tutus, obviously. It led to the creation of "Tutu Tuesday", the best day of the week! It's as simple as it sounds, wear a tutu on Tuesday. It makes people smile so why not.


For those that want to read up on the history of gloves, check out this website: http://www.fashionintime.org/history-gloves-significance/

Woodie's Wisdom: Do something everyday that makes someone smile, it's worth it.

Visas - What not to do...

Most of my traveling prior to this adventure has been in America or Europe. Getting a visa in advance has only ever really been required for working in America, everything else is a do it as you get there.

However, when traveling to the other side of the world it is best to arrange a visa earlier than 2 weeks before you leave. It can leave you a liiiiiitle bit nervous and without fingernails. I knew that I needed a visa for a long trip to New Zealand so had arranged something or other. When I came to print it out, so I could put it in my 'useful folder of things I'm taking with me' (Mother's influence), I noticed that the information about me was incorrect. I'm pretty sure I wasn't born on 30th September 2014!

After a bit of running round like a headless chicken I decided to flirt my way out of it, a late night phone call to a young lady in NZ later, flattery included, a replacement visa was being prepared.

Then I thought it was probably best to get round to sorting out a visa to get through Australia, this was an unexpected minefield. After looking at all the available visas I found the one I thought I needed, a 72 hour transit visa. DON"T DO IT! After spending an hour filling out the form I saw that you needed to post it in with a passport, cue more shitting myself and pulling my hair out.

Then after another cross-world phone call to Amanda in Callcentreville, Australia I was sorted out. Now I have a 12-month visa, who would have thought it was easier to go to Australia for 3 months than 3 days.

With all that sorted, I can now get into and out of the countries I plan on visiting, score. Less than 2 weeks to go.

Woodie's Wisdom: Planning is a good thing!

I booked my flights, now PANIC!!

Today I woke up in a panic because I just spent a shitload of money on flights and so far all I have planned is that I am leaving New Zealand on the 6th April 2015. Now to fill 5 months! 

At the moment, I have 25 open internet tabs about New Zealand! Let's take it a bit at a time.

Where to start? 

I have decided that I am going to buy a car/camper so I will always have somewhere to keep my stuff and sleep if necessary. Then when I leave I can sell it on and hopefully not have wasted too much money. 

There are a few useful websites to help with this, one that has made it seem less stressful is: http://www.planitnz.com/planning-for-new-zealand/getting-around-new-zealand/guide-to-buying-a-car-or-campervan-in-nz/. The hard part is not being able to view a car until you get into the country. I have some money set aside to rent a car for a few days so I can get around to view cars, the longer I rent for the cheaper the car I buy needs to be. I am hopefully going to have a few viewings planned for arrival and then it's fingers crossed time.

This is a short post to get me started. I like to keep things short and sweet. I haven't had any complaints, that's probably because I never call them again...