all four corners - hello wales

I have been planning to make it to Wales my entire time in the United Kingdom. I wanted to make sure I went to all four countries, so that I could see the similarities and differences, and also visit a friend I had met on my way to the UK!

A rainy day in Cardiff

athens part one

Arriving in a new country at night is always a bit strange. Sometimes the airports and the transport to your destination all seem so familiar you could be almost anywhere, until you see something that firmly reminds you it's a whole new place and you can get excited about a new adventure.

In Paris it was spotting the Eiffel Tower, in Istanbul the ancient walls of Constantinople, and in Greece it was the Greek writing on buildings and signs. Kind of forgot about that...

northern ireland escapades

The beauty of Europe is that you can skip over to another country for the weekend and see a decent amount of it. I have been meaning to go to Northern Ireland since I got here, with the flight being only half an hour, and seven of us finally made the journey at the beginning of March.

The coast of Northern Ireland

iceland: land of fire and ice...and liquorice

I guess because New Zealand is always considered a fairly small country with 4 million people I thought Iceland would have around the same population, maybe a bit less. Wrong. Iceland only has 300,000 people! Less than some cities I have lived in.

Reykjavik

winter is...here

- Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans - 

Autumn in Edinburgh

one year on

- This is the part where you find out who you are -

Goodbye to the GC!

oh the places you'll go

- I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list - Susan Sontag

 

 

Edinburgh sunset out my window

sunshine and weddings in stockholm

So on a whim Sophie and I decided to go to Stockholm. For some reason flights to Scandinavia are ridiculously cheap from Edinburgh. Of course, that means it is ridiculously expensive when you are there...the tricks they play! 

Sadly, I never saw this guy when we were there...but I did have an amazing time and wish it had been a whole lot longer!

Yum

making friends in a new place

- An invisible red threat connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance - 

This might seem a little bit lame to write about, but I wanted to share my experiences of making friends in new places. When you're backpacking, friendship comes quickly and easily. The majority of people you meet are open and friendly because they want the same from you in return. Everyone wants to have an amazing experience and the people you meet are part of that. And in future, you welcome them with open arms if the chance comes up to meet again. Unfortunately, its a whole other story when you move somewhere to live. 

New Years Eve in Edinburgh with friends (yay!)

love for amsterdam

Last weekend I went away to Amsterdam, and fell in LOVE.

Canals, boats and bicycles...AMSTERDAM!

norway at easter

For the last few years I have had an awesome time at Easter, and this year was no exception!

New money again! Norwegan Krone

a day in england - berwick-upon-tweed

To alleviate my boredom for another day I decided to train to another seaside destination. This time Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is actually just across the border in England. I didn't know a lot about it, just that it was a small town with part of it surrounded by walls from the Elizabethan era. The town has been back and forth between England and Scotland in the past, and I found it interesting that the souvenir shop had mostly Scottish postcards!

another path forward

Well, here I am again.

New city.

New home.

New life.

I have been in Edinburgh for one month now and it's been a mix of emotions and experiences. Happiness at settling into a new home and life, the hellos and the excitement in the newness. This has been a dream for so long I can't even pin down when it started. But on the other side there is the sadness in the exchange of my wandering for a more settled life, the goodbyes and the niggling fear of what if it doesn't work out? This fear is pretty easy to allay, as it always works out in some way, whether it's how you thought it would or not. The more deep seated fear is, what if I don't like it? 

Fortunately I have decided for the moment that I do like it.

However, it is hard right now because I don't have a job yet so I don't feel completely settled. But I get the feeling  this is the kind of place that gets under your skin, that you might not realise how much you like it until you leave, and then you miss it with more feeling than you thought. At the moment I already feel like at the end of my two years I will be leaving. Not because I won't love my time here, and not because I'll be done with it by then, but because there are too many other adventures ahead. My love for Asia is too big to ignore, and I know I will have to indulge myself with an extended stay or I will forever regret it. But I can see how, day by day, I will fall more in love with it here, so that when that time comes I will leave with great sadness.

One of my goals for 2013 is to write in my blog more regularly. Nearly a month has passed so far without this happening, but I do have a list of things I want to talk about. So here's to the next year and the complete unknown that it is.

- Sail away from the safe harbour, catch the trade wind in your sails -