Welcome to Costa Rica

So arrived in San Jose Airport, Costa Rica around 11am on July 6th. I flew from LA to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and then connected to San Jose. Safe to say I was tired and needed sleep. I was the first Raleigh International Venturer to arrive at the airport, so I parked myself at a cafe with wifi and waited. I then bumped into a few others and got chatting. 2 being my future besties on the trip which was unknown to me at this point.

We had to sit and wait for well over 4 hours but it was fine as we had lots to talk about. Finally at around 5pm the Costa Rican hosts Mal and Arlene arrived to take us to the British School, not far from the airport where we were staying in the gym for the evening. We got there and we all got chatting to the other venturers including the Costa Rican venturers. I quickly discovered who I would be befriending and it was a lovely group of girls including the 2 I met at the airport, Liv and Tash who also happened to be twins and who are British but live in Washington DC as their Dad is a Diplomat. Pretty cool right? 

We had sandwiches with ham and plastic cheese for dinner and biscuits before setting up camp for the night for our first night of many sleeping on our roll mats on hard floors. The group I was with ended up staying up well past 11pm (everyone else was fast asleep) gossiping about normal girl stuff but we soon decided we'd be knackered if we didn't sleep soon. 

We had a 6am wake up call and we left the school for Turriabla which was around 2 hours away and it's safe to say I slept the majority of the way. We arrived at the Catie field base, which is an indigenous area where Raleigh International are based in Costa Rica and it's also a research area. Before being given a tour of the camp we had a traditional breakfast of beans, rice, caramelised plantain, papaya and scrambled eggs. This isn't something I'd usually pick but I rather enjoyed it although papaya and egg do not mix (NB do not try this at home). 

We were then given the rules and there were 4:

- No alcohol or drugs ever 

- No forms of communication e.g phones

- No climbing trees

- No riding horses 

We were also given groups in which we would sleep in at the 'resort' I was in the biggest camp (pretty much an army marquee) and I was with all the girls I had made friends with. We were then taken to the local swimming pool for a swimming test, I swear I'm not still at school, guess it's for insurance reasons right. Later in the day we got the opportunity to go to the local supermarket, MaxiPali (you'll later learn this was something we would count down the days for) and we had our last chance to buy things of normality. I got M&Ms, a banana and a fizzy lemon drink. 

For dinner that evening we had rice, beans, palm heart and veg. All these carbs will be disaster for my poor thighs and then my first of many MANY cold showers.

The following day we had an even earlier wake up call of 5am, not sure I'll be able to get used to this. We had a surprisingly delicious breakfast of porridge, I'm not the biggest fan of this normally due to past experiences but I loved it especially with cinamon and sugar. After breakfast we were told which groups we would be in for our project phase and I was so happy that I was with Tash (the girl I met at the airport). Our group was Delta 3. There was no one else I knew in the group but we had a wide variety of international people. From top left; Hubert (French), Arlenne (Costa Rican and our Project Manager), Tash (English but lives in DC), Hila (Israeli), Mundev (English but originally from India), Ollie (English but lives in Majorca), Mike (English and our other PM), Lucy (originally English but has never lived there has lived in Sweden, Russia and now in Switzerland). Bottom left: me, Rhian (Welsh), Sylvia (Costa Rican) and Jess (Northern Ireland. We also had another Tico, Greivin, who's not in the picture. 

We were then told we would be heading off that day to a jungle camp and a practice river crossing for the evening, so we quickly packed our bags appropriately and then distributed the group kit and sure I drew the short straw as I ended up carrying a four man tent (please note the size of my bag in the picture) and poor Tash carried the Comms kit (very heavy).

We left around lunchtime so the midday heat was at it's hottest, not the best conditions. Within 10 minutes I had pretty much sweated through my tshirt and this was with no hills, then we hit a very steep downhill around an hour later which took us to our river crossing where we learnt how to cross the river safely in groups of 4. 

It was a boring and slow activity but because we were so hot it was nice to get to go in the water. It was here we also stopped for lunch, which was crackers (which crushed in my bag) and puréed refried beans (yum) which I decided I would not be eating. 

Later that day we arrived at Jungle camp, which looked like we should be on 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here'. We were shown how to create a basher hammock and a basher bed using tarpaulin, string, bamboo, trees and stretcher material. 

Luckily our group managed to put these up fairly quickly as soon after the rain came and good grief did it pour. There was earth-shattering thunder, lightening, torrential rain, gallons on mud and of course millions of bugs yay. Everyone wanted to sleep in the basher bed shown in the picture above and so we picked cards and I won and I managed to have a relatively dry night with only a bit of rain getting in. 

The next day we were up at 4am, why does it keep getting earlier? And surprise surprise it was still raining. We had porridge for breakfast before packing everything up and heading back to field base, everyone was covered in mud and soaked through to our packs. So naturally you'd expect people to be miserable but there is nothing you can do to change the weather so there is no point complaining.

On the way back the Mike and Arlenne set up a scenario where Arlenne had broken her leg and we had to, as a team coordinate a rescue and we had to assign roles for everyone in the group. It was pretty stressful and it was still raining but it was good practice in case we had a situation like this during trek or project.

After returning to fieldbase, we had to wash out the tents and hang them up to dry, have training on how to use the Comms kit and also how to use the tools for project. We then separated our team food for our trek the following day to project and then had free time, during which I signed up to take pictures for the blog and write some of the blog posts which you may have seen. 

For the entire night the rain continued and most of the 'resorts' were flooded, thankfully ours wasn't. We had an early dinner and then a treat of hot orange which we drank out of our mess tins. 

It was then an early night in preparation for our trek to Koiyaba, our location of our project phase. 

Los Angeles

So we got to Sydney International Airport at 11pm Wednesday 2nd July with Amy and Naomi and spent the night at the airport, not so great, I reckon I got half an hour. Anyway Nath and the girls were able to check in at 3am the following day (Thursday 3rd) and they said goodbye to me shortly after. The sunrise at the airport was pretty amazing and I was treated to the Sydney skyline.

 I checked in around 5.30am and we were in the sky by 10am and the craziest thing is I arrive in Los Angeles at 6.30am on the exact same day so technically I'm a time traveller. 

The flight seemed endless, but the food was the best I've had on a plane and the film selection was OK although I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted. 

So I arrive in LA a bit disorientated especially with the time difference, but I managed to get on a Supershuttle, which I would recommend using if you are arriving in LA. It is basically as bus/taxi that picks up people that are staying in similar areas and it's a lot cheaper than taxis. 

I arrived at my accommodation around 9, I was staying with a lady called Irene, who I found on the website, Air Bnb. Now for those of you that haven't heard of this I recommend having a look. It basically where you stay at someone's house and they can either be there or you could have the entire house to yourself. Irene had fantastic reviews and I thought it would be better to stay in a house with my own bed rather than a hostel where I would stay in a dorm with 10 people and it was only marginally more expensive. 

The house is more than 400 years old but is beautiful. Irene grew up there and briefly lived in New York, before moving back to sort the house out. My room was located at the front of the house and it's a bungalow, I'm not entirely comfortable with this sort of location for a room but it turned out to be ok! 

After dumping my bags and grabbing a quick shower to wake myself up, I headed to the nearest supermarket, Ralph's to grab some food. I couldn't believe how reasonably priced everything was, it was definitely so much cheaper than Australia. I bough 2 apples, 2 bananas, a bottle of water, a huge bottle of Gatorade and a hiking cereal bar for $4.50, not bad. Afterwards I decided to head towards The Grove, which is a famous shopping mall, although I couldn't quite remember the directions Irene gave me so I made a friend at the bus station Marvin/Marshall can't quite remember his name. Anyway he happened to work at Banana Republic in The Grove and was heading that way so he said I could come with him. Turns out it was a short bus ride and only $1.50. 

The Grove was amazing.

I did a bit of shopping and got some real bargain bits, before heading off to explore the Farmer's Market, which had food from all over the world. I then stopped at Whole Foods and had a delicious slice of mushroom pizza.

On returning to the house Irene informed me that Katie (a girl a similar age to me from the UK, that often stays with Irene in LA) was keen to go to the beach if I wanted to go. I was all for that, as I had no idea how I would get to Santa Monica as the buses are super confusing. 

So we went to Santa Monica, I was expecting something a little different so I was a bit disappointed. It was really commercial and there was a huge carpark between the town/park and the beach. But it was the beach and you all know I love that. We went to the pier first where I treated myself to candyfloss which is my absolute favourite.

We then headed to the beach as Katie wanted to go swimming and I was so wiped from the flight and time difference I feel straight asleep on the beach, but not before I took a photo.

I must of fallen asleep for an hour before Katie woke me up and took me to Old Navy to get a $5 July 4th tshirt. We ended up getting back to the house super late, so that no restaurants were open and we had to root around in the cupboards for something to make, we had pasta with minimal sauce and some garlic bread. 

For the following day, I set my alarm for 8.30am, that was an epic fail as I ignored all my alarms and only woke up at 11.40am as I heard my phone buzzing. You see Katie and I had made plans to head out for a proper American brunch to celebrate July 4th at 11am whoopsie, I must have been tired! Anyway I got ready quickly and tried to dress suitably.

We then headed down to Hollywood Boulevard, Katie went off to a July 4th Festival which wasn't really my scene and I did some sightseeing. My first stop was the mall, where there was a great lookout point of the Hollywood sign.

I then walked down this street, which I'm sure you'll all recognise.

After having a browse of the names in the stars and people watching all the crazy characters on the street I decided it was time to eat, American style so I asked a shop keeper for suitable recommendations, he advised to to go to Mel's Diner. Now apparently this is famous and has been in a few films but I have yet to google this. Obviously i had to ask for a table for one, not as awkward as you would think. I ordered a Vanilla Shake and a BLT stacker, both were incredible, safe to say I was full after my American size meal.

It was actually great, I read my book, wrote some postcards and looked in my guide book and no one was there to tell me off. After a lengthy late afternoon brunch I decided to walk to the end of the boulevard.

It was all rather patriotic with loads of people dressed in their red, white and blue attire. I also noticed how confident and forward the Americans are, now this is a generalisation and only my opinion but I got approached by so many people, it was an awesome confidence boost. I had people approach me in the street with 'you're so beautiful girl', 'you're an actress right?' and 'shortie damnn', strange but awesome as this has never happened in the UK let alone 3 times in one day. So anyway I then got on the bus back to the house and this guy say next to me and was like, 'you're on E Entertainment right?' and I was so gobsmacked I didnt say anything, so he was like 'I love your work'. Being a fake celeb for the day was great.

I got back to the house arrive 5pm and caught up with some blog posts (sorry for so many in a row, I've been lazy) and then headed to The Grove for a lonesome July 4th meal. It was packed with families, friends and couples enjoying Independence Day festivities, it was really great to be apart of. 

So eating lunch alone was fine as it wasn't that busy, but dinner was pretty awkward, as there was no one else doing the same. I have never had to say, 'table for 1 please', I felt like a confident, independent woman, how appropriate for  Independence Day. 

I had a Apple Midori cocktail.

For food I had 2 'small' appetizers as I was still pretty full from lunch. Seated tuna and calamari, it was delicious.

As you can see my Kindle was my only company.

After dinner, I was some of the water fountain show before heading to Sprinkles Cupcakes, as recommended by someone from home. Now you should know I'm rather fussy when it comes to cake, it's my mum's cake or don't bother. So it came as a huge shock when I realised it was incredible. I picked a Red Velvet which is Classic American and a special that day. Definitely head there if you're in LA.

I headed back to the house but only managed to get to sleep around 4am, jet lag got the best of me.

My final day in LA, I woke early to Skype my mum and dad and Nath before heading to Ralph's supermarket to stock up on cereal bars for Costa Rica. My plan was to then hike Runyon Canyon, however I think there was a heat wave as it was roasting outside, so Katie and I decided to head to the local pool and it was deliciously refreshing.

We ate Mexican Tacos for lunch at the Farmer's Market before heading back to the house to get sorted for my flight.

So lasting thoughts on LA. It was OK, more hectic, commercial and trashier than expected but I did enjoy my time there but I can't imagine I'll be heading back in a hurry.

Next stop Costa Rica for 5 weeks of no phone, Internet (blog posts), bed or alcohol. Wish me luck and I'll write again on my return.

Xoxo

Goodbye Australia

Saying goodbye is the absolute worst and I'm not sure I'm too good at it. I have had the most incredible 4 months exploring what felt like the entire country, however there is still more to do. I would love to go to Ayers Rock, Alice Springs, Darwin, Esperence and see a lot more of Victoria. So I'm pretty sure we'll be back at some point in the near future. 

I have truely fell head over heels for Australia, I just love the outdoor culture there. It does help that the majority of the time they have amazing weather. Also my one true love is the beach and I love how close it was to everywhere we visited. And also love how many very different and unique places you can visit, it's just such a diverse country. 

Anyway enough rambling, I'm sure you can tell from all my posts how much of an amazing time we had. But now it's time to say goodbye but a while and fly to my next destination, this time alone...

Xoxo

Port Macquarie & Newcastle

So we spent a day in Port Macquarie. The weather was lovely and we wrote postcards, read and ate carrot sticks and humus whilst lying on the grass by the beach. We didn't do anything else so this is all I have to say and there is only one picture I can include.

Our next stop was Newcastle. It was a lot colder and definitely not bikini weather, although the sun was still shining. I reckon if it was raining it would look a lot like Newcastle in the UK. We drove the through the town and along the water front before parking up at the Ocean Baths. Once we left the camper we got hit with the wind and it was freezing but we headed out anyway to watch the early morning surfers brave the sea. There is something about watching surfing, it's almost hypnotic and you can get carried away and spend too long there.

After spending a while there, we decided to go for a run along the front and we headed in the direction we had not yet been. Big mistake! It was uphill only and not just any uphill, the steepest we could have picked. I struggled big time, it was tough. We probably ran about 3.5km before heading back to the Baths for a shower. I had a quick dip in the Ocean pool before my shower and it was freezing. This was the view on the run.

We didn't have anything to make for packed lunches so we treated ourselves to a footlong meatball Subway and it was so delicious before heading on our way towards our next destination.

Xoxo

Coffs Harbour & Yamba

So we arrived in Coffs Harbour pretty early in the morning and we went straight to MacDonolds, now not for what you might initially expect. So basically Bob, told us a hidden Aussie secret, that you can get ice cream for 30cents all day everyday. I can't believe we only found this out in Byron, we could have saved ourselves a lot of money. So here's the picture of our 30cents ice cream at 8.30am.

We found the beach as our first priority obviously and had a long walk by the sea before we found an island, I think it was called South Coffs which we decided to explore. 

 

It was really beautiful and the views were completed uninterrupted and there were no other tourists around so we felt like we had the island to ourselves. 

We stayed in Coffs Harbour to eat our packed lunch before heading to find our rest stop for the night. Only a short visit but we really enjoyed the walk. 

The following morning we arrived in Yamba, which I'm not sure is a very touristy place but the main beach was huge and there was no one around so we went for a walk, whilst watching the sun come up. 

Nath and I also this thing, which we find really funny. So you know how normal people write in the sand 'I love Sam' or 'B.R 4 C.L' well we think it's hilarious to write things like 'haemoglobin' or 'tables' because other people and the beach walk past and spend ages staring at it and just don't get it. Anyway I did actually write something normal. 

We didn't stay in Yamba for too long, as out initial aim was to spot dolphins on Pippa Beach but we couldn't spot anyway, so off we went. 

Xoxo

Byron Bay

Byron Bay is hippy central, so naturally I loved it. I used to think I would love to be a hippy but I realised last year that it wasn't the thing for me as I couldn't face the uncleanliness but it doesn't mean I don't enjoy then. Byron Bay is where they flock, they are just so interesting to watch. Always carrying a guitar, wearing baggy cotton trousers, dirty bare feet, more often than not dreadlocks, singing and always happy to be your friend. What is not to like? 

Anyway, people we met along the way have raved about Byron Bay, the beaches and the laid back culture and I have to admit it didn't disappoint. We were lucky to have fantastic weather, sunshine everyday and able to get the swim gear out. 

We met up with a guy we had shared a hostel room with in Rainbow Beach, Bob. A lone traveller with similar interests to ourselves. He had arrived a day before us, so showed us around and took us to The Pass. The Pass is a half hour walk along the right hand side of the main beach and there is a wind-shielded cove with excellent waves to swim in, along with a random rock which there are stairs to get to the top where you can look out over the beach and finally it is a great spot for beginner surfers. 

We spent our first day swimming here and whale and dolphin spotting and we even saw a couple a flying fish, well we think that's what they were.

Mid afternoon we realised we hadn't had lunch so we headed back to the town where Bob informed us of how cheap Dominos were. It was $7.95 for a medium pizza and a drink. We couldn't say no. So we grabbed our pizzas and sat on the hill overlooking the beach. 

Bob had to leave soon after this to catch his bus to Sydney. We had a short browse of the town, but it's no fun when you can't afford anything and then went to the beach to watch the sunset. 

Sunset is a great, hippy-like atmosphere in Byron Bay, with a group playing drums, everyone either surrounding them or facing sunset, camera poised and there are people dancing, making Jewellary and all sorts of other things. 

The following day we hired a surfboard for $20 for the whole day after a long morning walk along the beach, where I found my dream house. It was a bit colder because of the wind but Nathan wanted to give it a go. He spent a good 2 hours in the sea and he loved it. I decided not to swim as it was a bit nippy by this point.

We spent the majority of the day at the beach before heading to the famous Byron Bay lighthouse. The view from the top was awesome, just endless ocean and we spotted quite a few whales. We also walked to the most Easterly Point of mainland Australia. 

We decided to get onto our next destination that night.

Xoxo