expat

Writers Block

/ keeks927 / Leave a comment

I have not written in a while mainly because life got in the way…

New jobs (2 to be exact), a trip home, a trip to Ireland, friends got married and one visitor from home. Its been a crazy half a year. I am finally settled into my role at work and slowly gaining my me time back.

I worked hard at developing some great habits of self care and being present (mindfulness). I have let them all go the last couple of months. I am slowly building it all back up. Over the next few months I really want to put my time back into my exercise and mindfulness. A lot of my energy goes into work and will continue to but I need to make sure I take that step back so I do perform well at my day job.

Do you ever feel sometimes life takes a hold of you ?

Goals for September:

  • Keep writing, even if no one is reading it it really helps me unwind after a long day
  • Exercise more often, I have already signed up for a PT session once a week
  • Get back out more in the outdoors and take the camera
  • No phone before bed, try reading instead
  • Get into work earlier, usually can get a bit more done if I am in earlier
  • To not stress the small stuff and just work on focus

Coffs x2

/ keeks927 / 1 Comment
I went up to visit my boyfriend again in Coffs. The weather in Sydney had been terrible and it was not much different up there. After a hour and a half delay from Tiger Airways I was off. The landing was a bit bumpy. It was St Patrick’s Day and with that we headed into Coffs to the Coffs Hotel for the night. A lot of green and  a lot of Guinness. On our way home the heavens opened and the rain did not stop all weekend.
Coffs is very much a outdoors place and with the weather being wet it was very hard to find something to keep us occupied. After breakfast we headed to a bowling alley. If you are ever in Coffs Visit here Coffs Coast Kegel 9 Pin Bowling. It is old school bowling. There are games to play with the bowling and the bowls are brought up after every go by string. The place is decorated in airspray art and there was not a sole in there. You can grab a coffe or tea for two dollars off the trolley. It was a lot of fun.  That evening we ate at a restaurant in Sawtell called The Spare Rule. The food was lovely and we had great service. If you want a nice date place in Coffs I would check it out. After dinner the rain was still coming down strong.
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Sunday we headed to the beach at lunch time but the sea was not a good colour with all the storm debris floating around in it. After a walk around the coast line we headed back to the beach opposite my boyfriends unit. The water looked clear here so we had a little dip, we didn’t venture to far as the waves out at sea were wild. The sky was black and I have to say I was not looking forward to flying back to Sydney. I left that afternoon and the sky had cleared a little and the take off was fine. It was nice to see the sun when I landed back in Sydney. I did learn that you can now order a Uber from the airport you just have to go to one of the pick up locations….it is a great relief as I hate getting into a taxi at Sydney airport and having them try to rip you off.
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It was not the best weather to visit Coffs in, but it did mean we got stay in cook meals and be a normal couple for a weekend and as we haven’t got to do things like that in a while I really enjoyed it.
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Rain, Rain Go Away…

/ keeks927 / Leave a comment

The past three weeks in Sydney have been very wet. Being from England I wouldn’t think the rain would bother me… but it did. I found it hard to fill my weekends!!

There are a few activities to get you out the house in Sydney when the weather is not on your side…

Sky Zone – One Sunday we tried out the Sunday deal at Sky Zone; three hours of Jump for twenty bucks. Sky Zone is a trampolining and climbing venue. There are two arenas with trampolines covering the floor and all around the sides. In one area the staff held a dodge ball game. There was also a foam pit area where you can run and flip into a pool of foam. It is a incredible work out and I would be very impressed if you managed the full three hours. You do have to purchase the special jumping socks which are only two dollars and you can use again and again. It does get very hot in there but as you have three hours you can take a break by the fan area and cool off. They do have a small café in case you need to refuel. You can lock all your important bits into a lockers but I would recommend taking your phone for some fun Boomerang videos!

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Burrow Bar / Wofies – My dad was in town and the weather did not improve on the Friday afternoon. I needed a bar that would not be full of happy hour lovers. Burrow Bar was perfect choice. It was busy, it had a good atmosphere but you could also have a good conversation. The bar is down a alley way opposite Wynyard station. After a few drinks we had dinner at Wolfies. Despite the rain you can still sit outside under cover and have a great view of the Opera House. This restaurant is perfect if you have guests. It provides a incredible view and a menu to serve all tastes

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T2 – Yes!! I finally got around to watching Trainspotting. I checked out Dendy cinema in Newtown to watch Trainspotting 2. Incredible movie and lovely little cinema. Dendy also has a bar if you fancy a glass of wine with your film. We grabbed dinner before the movie at Thai Pothong across the street from the cinema. If you like Thai food you have to check it out. The place is huge but always busy. We booked so we did not have to wait in line in the rain. Check out there website here.

 

4.5.7

/ keeks927 / Leave a comment

Hello!

Sorry I have not updated for a while on any social platforms but life just went a bit chaotic. Both my partner and I moved out into new places. He will be very shortly moving up to Coffs for a project. I have decided to move somewhere a little cheaper then the Eastern Suburbs rent, as I will have to fund some weekends away up to Coffs. After the two house moves were complete my mother and her partner arrived in Sydney for a short two weeks. I also turned 28 and received my approval for my 457 visa…it has been a crazy few months.

I am going to be putting some new blogs together of everything I did with my mum and how I spent my long weekend in September.

The biggest news for me out of everything that went on over September and October was recieveing the 457 approval. Usual time of a sponsorship visa is 6-12 weeks. My visa took 5 months due to the back log at immigration and the Australian election. Even though I knew there was a delay with visas it still made the last 5 months extremely stressful. It made me realize how much I love my life here in Australia and that I am not ready to give that up. I know we all go traveling searching for the unknown, cultures, white beaches and adventure but what you don’t see from our blogs and instgram posts is the dark side of the unknown when traveling. Applying for these visas abroad is terrifying you have to put your trust into someone whether it be the company sponsoring you or advice you receive from a friend or immigration lawyer. The pressure to not miss a beat when filling in forms and locating information from back home consumes your days. The horror stories everyone shares of it all going wrong or seeing your friends miss out on a visa for a small error is the worst feeling.


I know I have been a nightmare for a good few months stressing about the outcome. If it was not for my friends family and boyfriend I would have let it get the better me and cloud that time here in Australia.

I still have friends waiting to hear about there visas and I’ve seen friends get rejected. The last few months were tough but thankfully I get to carry on my life here and that is exactly were I want to be.