I flew from Perth to Darwin and I was lucky enough to get a window seat, allowing me to take photos of the gorgeous Australian landscape:
Darwin is absolutely gorgeous. It's a lot like Cairns (my favourite!), but it feels a little more resort-like. The hostel I stayed at was one of the top rated in the city and I spent my two days there exploring the city and taking photos.
Now I did love Darwin, but I realised that nowhere did work for accommodation, looked at my pitiful savings and panicked! Decided on impulse to buy a flight to Cairns and go back to Global! A little pathetic, I know. Travelling is supposed to be about new experiences, new places and new people but I couldn't face the thought of my parents having to scrape together the money for my flight home and I knew in Cairns I'd be able to find work for accom at least, if not paid work.
If I'm honest, I also really wanted to see my friends again!
So here I am, back at the Global desk, preparing to go home after a year in Australia!
I've arranged to meet my sister and Gillian in London and I'm really excited! I put my sister's flights and the hotel on my credit card so I think I'm going to go home in quite a bit of debt unfortunately. Seems ridiculous considering the money I earned here.
It's hard to believe, but I'm less than a month away from the end of my visa! Here was me thinking I wouldn't make it 3 months. It really has been amazing and I feel like I've grown up and changed for the better in the (almost) year that I've been here. If anyone is thinking about doing it my advice would be go for it - it's one of the best things I've ever done.
If I were to do my year again I would probably have tried to travel more. I spent a great deal of my time in Cairns and as much as I love it here, Australia is a big country with so much to see. Money issues and a broken ankle put a little damper in my grand Australia plans though, so c'est la vie.
In all honesty, I wouldn't really change a thing though - I've had an amazing time here and met the greatest people. Unfortunately it looks likes I'll be unable to see Uluru like I'd hoped, but I've got the rest of my life - I do plan to come back to Australia, definitely see Uluru and perhaps the East Coast. It all comes down to money and time, doesn't it? So much to see, not enough time to do it!
So thanks Australia. For being like, awesome and stuff.
