Preparations

Hello again, just a post to fill up my blog a bit! It will be a little empty until I begin my travels though.

I booked my flights last week! I depart Manchester on the 27th November, change in Abu Dhabi and finally arrive in Sydney on the 29th November. Early start as I arrive in Sydney at 07.20am! Fortunately I am getting picked up by some cousin's I will be staying with for about 6 weeks, in their home in Cessnock, which as far as I can tell, is about an hours drive from Sydney. They said they will be bringing me straight home from the airport, but I am going to try my best to stay awake and eat meals at the usual times to try my best at suffering jet lag as little as possible! That first week, they will be taking me around the area they live and to Newcastle, which is nearby. We will try to visit Sydney again that week but otherwise we will go soon after, as they will be arranging a family get together the following weekend - which falls the day after my birthday! The cousin's my age now work as well as the older folk so it will have to be a weekend that I meet them.

We should then be visiting Queensland for a little bit, then to Brisbane for a while. After this, I will then be embarking on my own journey around Australia! Before I start looking for work, I am hoping I have enough money to take me to Ayers Rock (and fly over in a hot air balloon), Melbourne and hopefully visit Sydney again. Depending on what work is available at this time, I'm going to be looking for work in Moreton Bay/Moreton Island or Cairns. Ideally I would love to work in a dive shop. I should be starting my divemaster course in September before I head off so this should help get me a job quicker! After I have worked for a while and saved some, if I can get some time off work to come back to, I'd like to visit Perth, Darwin and hopefully fly over to Tasmania, Fiji and New Zealand. There's always hope I can do it all!

But for now, I must keep trying to save as much money as possible and get everything else organised; health/travel insurance, open an Australian bank account (I have been told I can do it here, but I need to find out if it'll be easier to do so here or when I arrive in Australia) and any various little bits that I need to do before I go. I certainly have enough clothes so at least I don't need to worry about that! Though I could probably do with a big hat! X

First Post!

I've decided to create a blog a little before I start my travels to Australia in November. The main reason behind this is so I can easily (and cheaply) update friends and family (who are interested!) in my journey!

I will be starting a 365 Day Project before I go to improve my skills and build my portfolio. I am taking a break from education and will be using this opportunity to practice camera skills and develop new styles for my photography to find new ways of proving my work. My main theme behind the project will be a little more mixed rather than just self portraits or just still objects I see every day. I would like to include both, so I can see how I have changed in 12 months but also keep it a little interesting showing the world through my eyes and any activities I partake in to a personal level, such as scuba diving or involvement with animals, as those who know me, are two of my biggest passions.

So watch this space! X