IF YOU'RE HOMESICK, GIVE ME YOUR HAND AND I'LL HOLD IT

 

Listening to: People Help The People by Birdy

Wearing: Tee - Topshop . Jeans - Levi's

Location: The Breakaways, South Australia

 

Today marks exactly 6 months of me being in Australia and I can not believe how quickly time has flown by. My time has been full of ups and downs, missing my family and friends and meeting some amazing new people.

 

My first 4 months were spent in Perth, Western Australia. I spent a while settling down and seeing more of the great city and suburbs of Perth but, eventually had to get a job because of lack of funds. I started work at a Sales and Marketing company at the beginning of 2013. My job involved standing in streets and shopping centres, getting people to support charities on a monthly basis. To be honest, I hated it! I always avoid these people in the streets and I was one of them. Working solely on commission and hating my job, I soon ended up pretty much penniless. Luckily I had some amazing friends who were there to make me smile, provide beer and even put a roof over my head, rent-free for a month.

 

Whilst in Perth, I got to meet up with friends from Essex. I started off living with my friends who used to live down the road from me and cut my hair, but moved to Perth about 8 years ago. I had a great time living with them for the first 4 weeks in Australia.

 

I soon met up with my friend Becky, who had travelled to Australia on a Working Holiday Visa earlier in 2012. We spent a lot of time travelling around Perth and eventually rented our very first house together. We had a lot of fun, but Becky soon decided it was time for her to go home back to England. I was left in the house alone. At the time, I thought it was going to be pretty terrible, but I actually loved it. I had friends round all the time and a whole house to myself. I soon thought of the house as a home and was pretty upset when I had to leave as the house was being sold.

 

At work, I met my amazing friend Caitlin who is from New Zealand. We spoke properly on a work trip and, after only 8 weeks of knowing each other, we are now planning trips to New Zealand and Europe together. Although I didn't like my job at all, I did meet some absolutely amazing people there so I have no regrets that I stayed there longer then I should have.

 

I also had another group of Aussie friends who I met in a pub just before Christmas. I really enjoyed hanging out with this weird bunch, but it soon got confusing when the line between friend and something more got slightly blurred with one boy. I won't go in to detail, but I soon decided my heart was bruised enough and I left Perth to start a new chapter.

 

I am now living in a small town called Coober Pedy, which is in outback South Australia. I was passing through Coober Pedy on a tour of Australia in 2010, met some the locals, stayed in touch and decided to come back. Coober Pedy is an opal mining town and I have found myself a nice little job selling opals and giving tours in a museum. I will be staying in Coober Pedy until the middle of July, which is when I will be leaving to complete my 3 months fruit picking/packing for my Second Year Visa. I can't say I am really looking forward to it, but it's all part of the adventure.