Author: Hannah Bowen

Saturday 27th December

After a LONG overnight coach it was back to Janet’s house for a quick nap and turnaround before going back out for girl’s night! Had cheese and wine before heading out to a rooftop bar for some drinkies!

Then the lovely Clare and Alex let me spend the night in their Airbnb <3

Sunday 28th December

The next day was brunch in Bondi followed by a look around the market with the girlies <3 I then went for a swim before meeting my friend from Melbourne for the sunset with a surprise feature with a friend met in Budapest in 2022!

A lovey evening rounded off with a late night pizza treat.

Monday 29th December

This was a very chill day where we went for a walk at the beautiful Barrenjoey lighthouse and a lovely day with Janet!

Tuesday 30th December

This was a fabulous day exploring the Blue Mountains!! We had a bit of a hiccup first thing with the hire car but all was ironed out with a different company and we were on the road…

Blessed with beautiful weather for this was a gorgeous day with friends on a much needed wholesome day out 🩵

Wednesday 31st December

The last day of the year started well with a sunrise dip at Balmoral with some friends who reside in Sydney that I happily met in Airlie beach!

After a bit of a tumultuous journey one of my bestest friends ever finally made it to Sydney in time to celebrate NYE together 🍾🍾

We enjoyed the music and dancing at Luna Park and had a fabulous view of the fireworks from behind the bridge. Happy to see in 2026 with some of the bestest 🩵

Thursday 1st January

2026 started fabulously joining my beautiful friends for a walk from Manly to Spit which included trying the (not at all overhyped) Butter Boy cookies and Norma’s deli before a DELIGHTFUL walking route 🫶🏻

Friday 2nd January

My last day in Sydney started with Brunch with a lovely friend Cat from Scotland and ended with a dance and a drink at Coogee Pavillon to say goodbye to the beautiful country of Aus 🫶🏻

Saturday 3rd January

All packed up and ready to go for my next aventure to New Zealand !! 🇳🇿🇳🇿

Thursday 18th December

When I landed in Brisbane I got the train out to the suburbs and was met at the station by the lovely Kylie and Ruby who were welcoming me into their home! Double welcome came when arriving at the house by two lovely pups. I was then spoilt with a home cooked meal and then had a late night virtually dialling in to Holy Trinity Claygate 💙

Friday 19th December

This was a super exciting day as we went to Lone Pine Koala sanctuary to see some koalas! We also got to see some donkeys, spotted one wombs hiding away and fed the kangaroos 🦘

Then rounded off with a relaxing evening watching Marie Antoinette which I hadn’t seen before 😊

Saturday 20th December

Finally made it into Brisbane city on this day and had a great day exploring, I did a walk round to kangaroo point and found myself really wishing I had planned more time in the city itself!

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I then had a bit of a crisis as the trains were messed up and I ran the risk of missing the last one before Kylie kindly offered to drive me to a station further away on the Trainline! Finally was on my way to Gold Coast where I checked into my Pod (in the Podstel) and caught up with Percy Jackson to round off my evening 😊

Sunday 21st December

I had a very chill day down at Broadbeach finishing my book and getting a good up close look at the so called Bin Chickens… I also finished up the Red Queen series which I think I started in 2015ish and never got round to reading book 2!

In the eve I joined a group for drinks at an Irish pub before we transitioned to a bar called ‘Cowboys’ where I acquired a free cowboy hat for giving them a 5* review… I strategically swapped this for a Fireball bucket hat which much more practically fits in my rucksack 🤠🤠

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Monday 22nd December

Had a relaxed morning and worked my way over on the VERY cheap public transport to just past Burleigh Heads National Park to Custard Canteen where I made use of my Christmas voucher from Rob and Kay! I then walked back through the Rainforest Loop via a beautiful viewpoint and rounded off the day making use of the free hostel dinner 🍲

So not convinced to relocate to Surfer’s paradise and live in a pod but had a lovely time doing some nice walks and relaxing!

Touched down early in the morning in Airlie beach after a slightly painful overnight coach journey – had 5 hours to kill before I could check into the hostel so I dropped my stuff off and took myself on a solo day out! This constituted of a pedicure, lunch, a new book an investing (scarily) In a bikini!

I then checked into the Hostel where I met my dorm mate Cat from Edinburgh! We went for dinner to a lovely Italian (recommended by Clare)

Monday 15th December

My alarm tragically did not go off but luckily they called which woke me up- I ran out of the door in my PJs to make it to my exciting morning!

This was sunrise with the wild(ish) kangaroos and wallabies which was so cool! We then stopped at Whitsunday Gold Coffee on the way back where there’s incredible coffee and lots of rescued birds which was so cool!

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What then followed was an afternoon of sunbathing, some inevitable sunburn on the legs because I was being a silly goose and then went out again for some bingo 🍻

Tuesday 16th December

Pretty big day, think the following says it all…

Major adrenaline crash after this and had a midday nap! When I rallied slightly I took myself for dinner courtesy of a Christmas present from Rob and Kay 😊 I slightly ambitiously decided to walk there not realising there was an almost vertical climb 🫠 It was lovely ti go somewhere a bit further out of town and have a lovely relaxing dinner solo !

Wednesday 17th December

Gentle start to the day using my bingo winnings to take myself, Meg & Claudia for brekkie at the hostel (no pancakes in sight) 🥑

Then another book and sunbathing day before getting ready for my evening sunset cruise!

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After this I met two girls from Sydney and we had a little dance to some of the karaoke, had a few too many drinks, and then happily called it a night 😴

Thursday 18th December

Saturday 6th December

Sunday 7th December

I had an early start the next morning to make it to Bondi for an open water swim, it was chilly and the waves were GINORMOUS but I finished the event in about 16 minutes which I was super happy with! 🏊‍♀️🏊‍♀️ I met this lovely older couple afterwards who took me for a coffee and spoke to me about their trip to Cornwall and my travelling plans – they met on a flight from Bangkok to Kathmandu 20+ years ago!

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I followed this with a little trip to a market where I was blessed with free pink lemonade and pink lemonade flavoured sorbet 🫶🏻

Monday 8th December

On the Monday I then flew to Hervey Bay where I stayed in a hostel with an outdoor kitchen!

I was happy to then go for a DELIGHTFULLY warm swim in the sea and treated myself to pizza on the beach. I also saw some GINORMOUS bats goodness me!

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Wednesday 3rd December

I gradually made it into the middle of Melbourne for my first Hostel stay! I did panic change to a private room for the first two nights but glad I did as I hadn’t been sleeping 🫠

I joined a small group of others from my hostel at 17:00 to go to the Victoria Night Market! There were only 6 of us which was lovely as there was lots of chatting and we then went to Goldilocks – a rooftop bar – together after, first socialising experience was a success 🍻🍻

Thursday 4th December

This day started with me deciding to go for a swim at the Fitzroy outdoor pool which had me remembering how long a 50m pool feels, having taken myself for a delicious breakfast first!

I had a message from one of my new friends and we arranged and went for drinks at a bar on a boat aptly named Afloat before going to the outdoor cinema for Love Actually 🎬

Friday 5th December

As my last full day in Melbourne we went and did some exploring and shopping and finally had a frozen yoghurt 🍦

The evening ended with pres on the rooftop before a bar crawl full of other brits who were very lovely and fun 🕺

All in all an excellent time was had!

Welcome to my first (proper-ish), but possibly most boring, update🥹

Sunday 30th November

I left Heathrow at 9:10AM on the 30th November and embarked on the longest flight I have ever done! The first flight was just under 14 hours and some highlights included:

• Running through the whole Sound of Music film in my head (this killed just over 2 hours and feels like I’ve unlocked a new skill)
• Having breakfast on the plane which was an Apple crepe with custard, looked far better than any of the meat options.
• Appreciation for past me splashing out £80 for extra legroom, there was LOTS extra and it was very much appreciated.

Monday 1st December

The above flight was quite delayed so ended up not having much time to get through Singapore Airport when we landed on the 1st December… we got scooped up by a buggy to drive us to the next gate! This next flight was another 7(ish) hours and I was FLAGGING by this point and had been spoilt by the earlier legroom…

Nonetheless touched down safely and had a very efficient passport control and bag check 😁

Ended the evening safely in a very generous family member’s house with a homemade curry left from them and a delicious chocolate cake before bed 🫶🏻

Tuesday 2nd December

I then had ANOTHER walk to the (very strange) cinema to watch Now You See Me: Now You Don’t before repacking my bag ready for my location change tomorrow YAY‼️