2018 Round Up!

2018 was an all round good year for me. Ive got some of my favourite photos or memories together from 2018 to try and show my year in images. 

We started the year in Australia as our 2 month travels came to a sad end.

Soon after i was home we had loads of snow! Slight change in climate for me...

I left my job and the most amazing people. I worked here for 3 years.

I celebrated my 21st Birthday in April.

Had a fun BBQ at the beach with some old work friends.

Had a 1 night stay at Fritton Arms.

Ate my first ever Five Guys and my god, it was amazing!

Treated myself to a Mulberry purse.

Baked lots of lemon drizzle cakes.

Took my Mum to Dunston Hall for the night for her Birthday. We stayed in the penthouse suite.

I went to Latitude for the first time and even saw Tanya Burr there!

I went tubing with my old work besties.

Booked a last minute holiday to Majorca. Much needed!

Baked a cake for my friends 30th birthday at work.

Made a pact with myself to have nice nails and treat myself to getting them done regularly.

Baked for Children In Need

Had a few Christmassy days in Milton Keynes & Bicester Village

Day 74 - 80 Returning the Campervan after 3 months!

Day 74 - 13th January 

Today we moved sites again, to a place called Beachmere. We booked in for 5 nights as we are close to Brisbane now for the drop off of our camper. 

We were a little disappointed when we got to our powered site though as we looked on the map of the camp site to see no swimming pool. There was one advertised on this site which is the main reason we chose to come here. 

It has been swealtering hot today, the tide was so far out and the beach was full of crabs so we couldn't go there. 

We went to Bribie Island which is a 30 minute drive from here. One site of the beach was completely still and murky water. And the other side was SO chopping and dangerous with sand flying everywhere! There were 10 life guards on duty at the sea that side so I think that proves how unsafe it was!

There's no shade here either so we are hoping tomorrow is a little cooler. 

Day 75 - 14th January

We drove to Redcliffe with the idea in mind to spend the day there. As we arrived we instantly knew we wouldn't be too impressed with the beach! Instead of the gorgeous white, soft sand we had been experiencing at places like Byron Bay and Jervis Bay the sand was really grainy and looked quite dirty with washed up seaweed, sticks and leaves everywhere. Nethertheless we had a dip in the (still and murky) sea as it was so hot and sticky so we needed to cook off! We had a good chat on the beach about things we want to do and achieve when we are back home. My partner will be looking for a job with one potentially lined up, and I'm getting the feeling I'm in need of a change as well. We will see what happens when we are home but my ideas usually get a bit carried away, then I end up disappointed!

There's really high winds this evening so the camper is swaying a lot. I'm hoping no trees fall near us!

^Beachmere

Day 76 - 15th January

Another day at Beachmere. 

We did our usual shop at IGA for the ingredients we need for tonight's meal. (That sounds much better than reality!) we've run out of ideas of what we can cook and every meal just seems so boring to us now! There's a max of about 5 or 6 meals we cook in the camper as we are limited. And I think we've over done it on every meal option now! There's only so much pasta one person can eat!!

It's been much cooler today which is so nice, it's still sunny but not muggy at all and nice and breezy!!

We got a quiche (for me) and a pie (for ben) at the bakery near IGA so that was breakfast/lunch. Nice to have something different and it feels like such a treat! It's the small things! 

I did a massive clean of the camper today in preparation to hand it back in just a few days time. Sad times. 

Day 77 - 16th January 

Another day relaxing in Beachmere. Such a strange little town everyone seems to know everyone! Even the people at the caravan site seem so strange around us. Makes us feel a little uneasy at times!

Had another sort out and clean up of the camper in preparation to return it soon. We need to find out where we can hoover it and wash the outside though. 

Feeling very apprehensive about going back to normality after such a long and lovely time and break away from it all. It will be so strange - this is our reality now and I don't want it to end!

^Beachmere

Day 78 - 17th January 

We were relaxing on the camp chairs outside the campervan when a man walked over. He gave us a business card and said we could go to his house and use his pool, it's just him there....

We of course thanked him. Then looked at each other because we both thought it was weird. It could of been just a nice gesture but in this day and age you can never be too careful. 

He even returned a second time in a different car to ask if we were coming or not. As much as we wanted a dip in the pool right now we are not idiots and would not be going to a strangers house - however pleasant they may seem. 

We cleaned the inside and outside of the camper today at an actual car wash! It's looking sparkly clean. Just one more day left after today! 

A really nice couple have parked next to us for the night in Beachmere. We've sat outside all evening chatting and drinking beer. I can't believe it's our second from last night and we are finally having a. It if interaction and conversation with another human in the same situation! 

^Cleaning the wagon ready for returning! 

Day 79 - 18th January

We left Beachmere and headed to Samford Showgrounds via Margate beach for a last beach sunbathe of the trip. 

I can't believe tonight is our last night in the camper. It has gone SO quickly and it all seems like a blur now which is really sad. I think as soon as you get used to anything, it becomes second nature and the beauty of it goes a little bit. We settled into the campervan very quickly and now it seems gone in a flash!

It's so sad to be packing up all of our items and emptying the cupboards and fridge. I will miss this van a lot!

^Margate Beach

Day 80 - 19th January GOODBYE CAMPER!

We got up early to have a final clean of the camper and to pack all of the last minute bits up. 

We spent around 3 hours in a park near our Airbnb before it was time to check in. 

It felt so strange to get into an apartment. Even sat in the park we both said how we felt almost free. Even though we loved the camper adventures so much. 

I'd taken full advantage of having a bath! And I'm so excited to sleep in a huge comfy bed tonight. 

We ordered pizza which was amazing and felt like such a treat. Happy days! 

Summer Go-To Shirt Dress

I've been living in this striped beach dress throughout my travels in Australia. In the evenings it's the perfect dress to throw on as it still light and airy but just enough as the sunsets and it gets cooler. 

It's currently summer in Australia so during the day it would be too hot to wear, but it's ideal for an evening stroll on the beach, out to dinner or a late night trip to the ice creamery! 

I bought the dress from New Look last summer. If it's not available I'm sure they do the same dress in a different print, or there will be loads out there from different shops. It was inexpensive (under £20) but really well made and the quality feels amazing. 

I tend to roll the sleeves up a couple of times for a casual look, but they are full length so either would look good. I wear the dress with the top few buttons open. There's a draw string in the middle that looks great done up slightly, or loose. 

Day 59 - 66. Hervey Bay & LOTS of frozen yogurt

Day 59 - 29th December

Yesterday the search for another campsite in this area began. We want to stay here for a little while as it's a lovely area and would be nice again to stay somewhere for a few days and feel a little at home somewhere rather than be on the move all the time. I called a free camp sites and enquired online for loads in the area and everywhere was fully booked. I presume people are having a post-Christmas break. We continued the search this morning and we were so lucky to find a place to stay at just the 3rd place we asked. 

We are staying at Shelly Beach Caravan Park. I think it was fate as someone cancelled 5 minutes before we came here to ask apparently! 

We've had a really nice day swimming in the pool, grabbing iced lattes and going to  subway lunch for a salad bowl. 

Although both of our eyes are so sore and dry from the pool even a couple of hours after getting out now. 

^Iced Latte from Cody's Coffee Shack

Day 60 - 30th December

Our gas canister in the campervan ran out last night half way through cooking our curry and rice which wasn't ideal! We ended up having just the curry as that was cooked (luckily) but the rice was still raw. So this morning as soon as we woken up we started mission gas canister! We've pre-paid for a refill at travellers autobarn as you either had to replace the gas you've used, or pay them to refill it. If we knew we would have been replacing it so soon to the end we wouldn't of paid for the re-fill at $35 as we've had to buy a whole new one this morning at just $17. It's really frustrating and I think the company are definitely onto a money making scheme there, but we didn't know that at the time so the idea behind being the pre-paid refill with the company was so we had one less thing to worry about when returning the camper. But these things happen and I'm just glad we have gas again so we can cook and boil the kettle! 

We had a little swim in the sea before treating ourselves to a huge dominoes each! I've been craving pizza so much as it's one of my favourite things to eat and I haven't had it in so long! 

We also had a little dip in the pool, making sure we both kept our eyes shut today so that they didn't irritate like yesterday. It took over 5 hours for my eyes to feel normal again yesterday. I was quite worried that they were damaged in some way as they were so dry and both our visions were foggy & cloudy - I couldn't look at bright lights without it being blurred and having a rainbow around the whole light. Thankfully both our eyes are ok now but I didn't want to take the risk in the pool again. 

We had an evening stroll on the beach just before the sunset which was lovely. 

^HUGE 16" dominoes pizza!

^Shelly Beach

Day 61 -31st December

The start of the day today was very humid, even in the shade we couldn't escape the heat. 

There should be a fireworks display tonight for New Years although a thunderstorm is forcasted and it has rained today.

There's a street market in Hervey Bay today so we've watched that get set up, also aninflatable waterslide park which looked sooo good!

It's a shame to see it deflated as the rain got heavier tonight. I really hope the fireworks go ahead and they aren't called off. 

Day 62 - 1st January

Happy new year! Last night came to an abrupt end as there was a huge thunderstorm so the fireworks were called off. So disappointing as we were looking forward to going out and doing something normal!! But nethertheless it was night to be in the camper playing candy crush and drinking lemonade! (Wild night!!) and it was also nice that it wasn't so hot as the rain took away some of the heat. 

Today has been very relaxed. We got some fish and chips for lunch - definitely not as good as back home and England obviously has the best fish and chips, but it was still yummy and a nice treat. 

It's rained again this evening, but we are cooped up in the camper cooking curry - we even went to an Indian restaurant to get some naans! 

^Cod and chips, I miss English chip shop chips!!

Day 63 - 2nd January

The sun has been in and out today. It's a weird kind of heat and very muggy. The sea was so rough and washing up loads of sand so we didn't swim as sand would of gotten all over us! 

We went to the shopping centre near Hervey Bay and got frozen yogurt. This has become a regular thing and we both love it so much! I will miss it a lot back home!

The rest of the day has been very chilled, we've had a dip in the pool and we are now cooking pasta sauce for our evening meal. 

Day 64 - 3rd January

Another beautiful day in Hervey Bay. 

We spent a while at the beach topping up the tan. We also accidentally made another trip to the frozen yogurt shop. This is becoming too much of a regular thing!! But it's too damn good !

The afternoon was spent (as usual) in the pool which was just what we needed as it's been so hot and humid. 

It's not raining a little - this is becoming too much of a regular thing in the evenings for my liking. 

The rain stopped and we had such a nice evening; we went to the beach for sunset and got ice creams. 

Day 65 - 4th January 

I can't believe we have 2 weeks left in the campervan. I honestly don't know where the time has gone!

Today was really hot and I felt so sluggish and couldn't do much because of this. We drove around a little and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. 

This evening we went from beach to beach to watch the sunset and take some photos, it's nice to do things in the evening when it's not hot and isn't raining! 

Day 66 - 5th January 

Today was very similar to yesterday so here are some photos ! 

Day 51 - 58 Christmas on the Gold Coast

Day 51 - 21st December

We left the camp site and had a day of aimless driving around little towns to find places to stop and chill. After this we headed back to New Italy rest area where we've been a few times before already. This was a couple of hours drive and is near Byron Bay again so we may spend the day there tomorrow. 

The rest area has a small museum which we had a look around, and a cafe where I got a coffee. I really miss my coffee machine back home and the costa I would buy almost every shift at work! 

^Kangaroos at Darlington Beach Holiday Park this morning. 

Day 52 - 22nd December

We spent the day at Byron Bay again. It was raining this morning so we weren't sure where to go. But I'm glad we went here as it was really lovely and sunny as the day went on. The forecast said it was supposed to rain with a thunder storm so I'm relieve that didn't happen!

I think we will spent the next couple of nights at New Italy again as it's just over an hour away from where we need to be fore Christmas at our Airbnb. 

We are planning on doing a food shop Christmas Eve to get all the supplies we need across the Christmas period. I'm planning on cooking a roast to take advantage of actually having an oven to use! 

We will get lots of treats as well to enjoy the festivities and forget the budget for a couple of days!

^Street graffiti in Byron Bay town centre 

Day 53 - 23rd December

We spent another day at Byron Bay. There were barely any waves again as there was no wind at all it was completely still. But the sea was crystal clear which was lovely. 

We are staying at sleepy hollow rest area tonight which I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about as we avoided it on the way down south because there were lots of comments saying watch out for the snakes and spiders! We haven't seen any so far which is good. Im quite comfortably sat outside on the camp chairs now and not too worried about it, which means I've definitely came a long way since the start of this trip as I would never of done this 2 months ago! Just goes to show it's mind over matter (besides the fact that it's too hot to sit in the campervan anyway!)

We did a spring clean of the camper as stones and LOTS of sand seems to get everywhere as the cushions on the bed are in 4 sections (see picture below) 

and underneath these are wooden slates that we slot into place to create the bed. So sand and dirt gets in all the nooks and crannies!! I'm glad we have a semi-clean camper ready for our return into it after Christmas. 

We are both excited to check into our Airbnb tomorrow morning. It will be so nice to sleep in a proper bed, electricity, and have showers and baths until our hearts content !! It's the small things...

^Byron Bay

Day 54 - 24th December.  Christmas Eve!

We got ready for the day slowly to kill some time before headed to the Airbnb. We got the directions from the app and no one appeared to be home. I then noticed that the lady didn't actually give us a house number and just a road name so i presume that google maps was just taking us to the middle of the road! We stopped to ask a man to help us and it appears he was acy the one meeting us there because the lady who owns the house is on holiday for the Christmas period. I'm glad we found the right place eventually but it's also frustrating that we wasted some time no knowing where to go. 

The house is lovely it's one level but detached so there's lots of privacy and a lovely garden at the back with decking. 

We went to Woolworths to do a shop for Christmas supplies then spent the rest of the day inside making the most of air conditioning and showers! 

Mince pie?

Day 55 - 25th December. Merry Christmas! 

What a lovely day. We had a very chilled morning pottering around the house, laying in the hammock, drinking coffee, and cooking fry-ups! Perfect. 

We got ready and headed to the beach for a little while, we wanted to go to the beach on Christmas Day but we didn't want to spend too long there as we have just today as our last full day in the Airbnb before we go back to the campervan. 

After getting back I warmed up some camernbert, French stick and cut up some carrots for lunch. 

We had a couple of beers and watched stranger things 2. 

I'm currently cooking a roast for this evening as it's tradition! So we couldn't not!  

I don't want this time to end in the Airbnb it's been sooo lovely!!

^Tugun Beach on the Gold Coast

^Our breakfast 🍳 

Day 56 - 26th December

We left the lovely home and got back on the road. We weren't sure whether to go back up or down the coast. We need to drop the camper back in Brisbane in a few weeks and we've definitely seen more down the coast so we decided to head up again. 

We are back at Sanford Showgrounds where we have been once before at the start of our travels. It's very peaceful and relaxing here so we should get a good nights sleep. 

Day 57 - 27th December

We are back into the swing of things in the campervan. It was bitter sweet coming back in here after staying in a beautiful home, but it wasn't long before we were used to it again! 

We drove for a couple of hours to Alexandra Headland near Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast. The journey was only supposed to take an hour but there were massive traffic jams all along the M1. 

It drizzled with rain on-off throughout the day but once arriving on the Sunshine Cost it was fairly warm and sunny. We had a little chill before heading to Belli Creek rest area. 

Hopefully we will be heading back to Hervey Bay tomorrow as we really liked it there before and are lucky enough to have the time to go back to the places that we enjoyed at the start- that was our plan and it's worked so far :)

^Alexandra Headland

Day 58 - 28th December

We made our way back to Hervey Bay where we stayed for 2 nights previously. 

Where we are staying has a pool and jucuzzi so we have spent loads of time in there today. We've been trying to book into another site around here for the next couple of day to cover new year, but everywhere is so full I'm not sure we will find somewhere. I'd love to be here for New Years because it's such a nice town, it's peaceful and isn't overcrowded and not too big. 

We walked into town from the site which was longer than I thought, I regret being the one saying 'come on, let's walk!'. I got a smoothie which we shared (it was more like a milkshake as it had ice cream in it, so much for a healthy smoothie!!)

Day 44 - 50. Nimbin, Byron Bay & Sapphire Beach

Day 44 - 14th December

Today we left Crescent Head. This felt bitter sweet as we were excited to go to the next place and continue the adventure but sad to be leaving a beautiful place. 

We headed for Burnett Park which is a free camp site - stopping at Woolworths for our food shop on the way. 

We stayed a couple of hours at the camp site. It was getting so hot and the camper was just boiling. We were yearning for the fan!

We decided to skip this place for the night and instead go back to Nimbin which was the journey for tomorrow. 

At least here we have electricity for the fan and it's not expensive. 

After arriving in Nimbin we had a walk up to the town and went to the bar for a beer. It was nice to sit down in the beer garden and do something that felt a little normal! 

Day 45 - 15th December

We spent another day today in Nimbin. 

The weather has been so hot, it's a shame we aren't near a beach to cool off in the sea. 

We had a really chilled day again and went for another beer at the pub this evening 

Day 46 - 16th December

Another beautiful day. 

However we are waking up around 7am now because the sun is beaming through the camper and it's too hot to sleep. We've seen a lot of people in campers without windows and they sleep with the big back door open and a mosquito net hanging. Not sure I fancy this as I wouldn't feel at ease. Even in a quite camp site I don't think it be able to relax knowing that the door would be open. But this might be something we have to consider as it's only going to get hotter. 

Day 47 - 17th December

We left Nimbin and headed for Byron Bay. We spent a couple of hours here on the beach. Everywhere around Byron Bay is pay & display and I think that's because it's a very touristy area. On the plus side the meter took Apple Pay so it was easy enough as we didn't have enough change. 

The sea was so nice and warm and really clear as well, it was lovely. 

I got a coffee from a cafe on the beach and also bought a fruit salad with yogurt, delicious!

We are now back at New Italy rest area for the night, let's hope it isn't as loud as last time as there are barely any free rest areas around and paid camp sites are so expensive in Byron Bay. 

^Fruit salad from 'Beach' at Byron Bay

Day 48 - 18th December

Today was pretty much a replica of yesterday!

We went to Byron Bay for a few hours, I got another coffee and fruit bowl from the same cafe, we even parked in the same (expensive) car park! And just to top it off we are staying in the same rest area again tonight - New Italy!

So not much else to report other than it's getting very hot! I'm slightly sunburnt and we are both struggling to sleep at night with the heat. Even with all windows open we are still so hot. The things I would do for electricity to use the fan right now !!

^The most delicious fruit salad again!

Day 49 - 19th December

Today we decided to head back south a couple of hours just because we have some time to kill before our Airbnb for Christmas. We found a paid camp site close to Coffs Harbour on Sapphire Beach that looked lovely. 

We called for a price and instead the lady just booked us in and didn't tell us the price! We thought it would be expensive as it looked so nice and we were right... $60 p/n for a powered site. 

It's a lovely area with a pool and a 1 minute walk to the beach. But it's definitely out of our budget! 

We went to Woolworths soon after having a swim in the pool to get some supplies. I noticed a frozen yogurt shop and we both gasped with pure joy as we hadn't seen one for ages and had both really fancied one for such a long time! So just to make us over budget a bit more we spent $17 at yogurt land ! Ooops. 

We had paprika chicken, avocado and halloumi in a tiger bread roll with garlic mayo it was delicious! 

^Sapphire Beach 

Day 50 - 20th December

We headed just 20 minutes up the road (with a slight detour because our satnav from travellers autobarn hasn't been updated so it doesn't know any of the new roads!) to another camp site called Darlington Beach Holiday Park where we will be staying tonight. It's a really big area with a pool which we've spent loads of time in today. There are lots of kangaroos jumping around the park, they don't seem bothered by people at all!

It's much cheaper than last night at $46 and we both prefer it. 

^Darlington Beach