1. I was staying at The Langham Hotel in Auckland. It’s a five star property, and they put me in a Langham Club room, which meant I had exclusive club privileges like:
   • 24 hour access to the club lounge
   • Free continental breakfast every morning
   • Free canapes and drinks between 5pm and 7pm each evening
   • Icecream, fruit, yoghurt, and coffee and tea available 24 hours
2. Upon my arrival on Tuesday evening, they had a chilled bottle of Moët & Chandon waiting for me in my room, along with a triple chocolate mudcake measuring 10cm x 10cm x 5cm. Mmm yum. They also had other freebies like a bottle of perfume, candy, etc.
3. On both days of the trade show, I was spoilt with a limitless supply of hot chocolate (perfect for the cold Auckland winter), and an incredible variety and selection of food for morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea.
4. I gained a Rolodex full of useful contacts in the New Zealand events industry, and a million useful tips and advice that I can apply to my work here in Australia.
5. I spent Wednesday night dining with Darnielle, Amanda and eemusings, and continued on to drink alcohol out of teapots with Amanda. By the way, did you know I am a wingwoman extraordinaire? Amanda will vouch for me. I was also initiated into the wonders of pterodactyl sex. Don’t ask.
6. I went to an incredibly impressive gala dinner on Thursday night with music and dancing.
7. I went sailing on an America’s Cup yacht on Friday morning. Despite the horrendous wet and windy winter weather, it was incredibly fun.

And the best thing about it all, is that aside from a cursory $100AUD for flight taxes and the $100AUD I spent out eating and drinking on Wednesday night, it was all essentially free. I AM A CHEAPSKATE AND THIS APPEALS TO ME.

If you’re an Aucklander (or surrounding areas), are you free for dinner on either of those nights? I’ve already arranged to catch up with Darnielle for dinner on the Wednesday, so you’re welcome to tag along to our dinner, or we could catch up on the Tuesday. I realise that it’s probably a bad time for most people as it’ll be in university exam time, but if you’re free, I’d love to catch up. Feel free to email me at acchamanda at gmail dot com, and we can arrange something via email!

When we were leaving our holiday villa, I made the effort to wash all the dishes, make the bed, wipe down the benches, etc. I didn’t go as far as to vaccuum and mop the floor, but I made the effort to make the villa look a little more presentable and a little less “rampant sex happened here”. Dylan was more inclined to do the basics – hastily make the bed, make sure there wasn’t any trash lying around, and leave it at that. His reasoning was that the owners would be cleaning the whole place any way – so why do the job twice?

I personally think it’s just a matter of courtesy – if you’re staying with a friend as a house guest for example, you don’t leave trash lying everywhere. You do your part to make sure that things stay clean and tidy. I don’t see the difference between that and staying in a hotel or other holiday accommodation. You might be paying a tariff, but you are still technically a guest of that particular establishment. You needn’t go overboard with cleaning, but there should be some bare minimum of effort. As for rock stars who trash hotel rooms…that’s just absolutely disgusting behaviour.

Question of the Week: What kind of guest are you?

See more of Australia

I took a short four day trip to Adelaide earlier this year, so I did manage to make it to see another part of Australia. The trouble is of course, that everything in Australia is so spread out. Going to another city isn’t simply a matter of driving an hour or two as it may be in Europe or America – I can drive for an hour, and still be in Melbourne!

On a more local note, this year I’ve become well-acquainted with the Melbourne peninsula region and the spectacular beaches it has to offer, rather than limiting myself to suburban beaches. I can only see more exploration up the coast next year, as I get more into water sports!

Get my savings account balance up to $20,000AUD, Get my eBay net earnings up to $6000AUDa year AND Get a job

It didn’t go as smoothly as I would have expected considering I was unemployed for a month in February, and had some unexpected large expenses during the year, but I’m currently sitting comfortably with $22,000AUD+ in my bank account. It probably helped that Dylan is, if not equally as frugal as me, is a man of simple tastes who prefers curling up in bed together with a DVD over paying $50AUD for two people to go to the movies. It makes a nice change from the extravagant and/or deadbeat people I’ve been with in the past.

The boost to my bank account is surprising actually, because eBaying and my online trading (buying cheap in second hand stores and re-selling online) fell. eBaying was a large source of my savings for the last three months of last year, with about $1500AUD profit in online trading. This year, I managed to pull in just about $1760AUD – though the majority of that was concentrated in the early months of the year when I wasn’t as run off my feet at work. By the time May rolled around, I was working close to six days a week (if not seven days), and had no opportunity to casually drop into a second-hand store to check out merchandise. It’s been like this since May – between work and other commitments, I simply have no time to shop for cheap stock – and probably won’t, for months ahead. In any case, $1760AUD p.a. isn’t bad for a secondary source of income that I treat as a hobby.

In terms of jobs though, I did alright. True, I lost my retail job when I came back from my three week trip to the UK, and went through nearly a month and a bit of unemployment (and subsequent depression, because I’d never been unemployed before in my adult life), but since then, I’ve held a number of jobs! From the administrative position at a medical training organisation, to the casual retail role in a baby store, and the first real job with career potential and real responsibility that I’m now in (as well as a few other small jobs along the way!), I’ve gained a full year’s of worthy and useful work experience.

Comment on a blog a day that lies outside of my usual blog circle

Um…no. I didn’t account for the severe lack of time I would find myself plagued with for the majority of the year (work, etc.). So no. I could barely even manage a comment a week, let alone a comment a day.

So For 2010…

…what kind of resolutions should I make, considering that chances are, I’ll completely forget about them by the time the 2nd of January rolls around? I’m going to keep it simple:

1. Continue to average Distinctions and/or High Distinctions in my Masters studies next year
2. Accumulate $30,000AUD in my account.
3. Visit a country I’ve never been to before. I want to go to America, but timing is going to be hard because of work commitments – I may have to settle for a week or two in a south-east Asian island nation instead.
4. Have more fun. It’s very easy for someone of my workaholic nature to get sucked into the cycle of working seven days a week without any thought as to maintaining a good work/life balance. I need to learn to say no to shifts, and yes to meeting up with friends.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Flights from Melbourne to Los Angeles via Air New Zealand (7 June 2010 to 3 July 2010) is $1133 (taxes included). I get four weeks annual leave each year. This is perfect. I’m already 95% convinced that I’m going to go, and travel around the west coast (and potentially go as far in as Texas/the two Dakotas). I’m being realistic – four weeks isn’t enough for me to get as far as the East Coast, but I can always save that for another trip.

To convince me that further 5%, I encourage all American readers of this blog to offer their couches for me to sleep on, and for everyone else to suggest places for me to go when I’m over there. And if you live on the East Coast and will travel to the West to meet me, I’ll give you cookies.

Get set JetMail Members, it’s our 5th birthday and this sale is just for you!

We will be offering 5000 seats for only 5 cents to our JetMail members only, from 10pm – 11pm (AEST) tonight, Tuesday 5 May, unless sold out prior. 5 cent fares will be on limited routes only and for travel in selected periods.

So for only 5 cents, you could be on a flight to a fantastic Australian destination! That INCLUDES surcharges, fees and taxes! Prices are based on payment by direct deposit through jetstar.com. …

The only way you will be able to access this sale is via the button in this email, so set your alarm for 10pm tonight, then click on the button for all the details, including routes, travel periods, and to book.

For the record? That email found its way into my inbox at 10.52pm. I never got a chance to attempt to constantly refresh the Jetstar home page and book tickets as its server gets overloaded with booking requests in these major sales. The last time this type of sale was on, I got my cheap flights to Adelaide ($15AUD return) – this time I would have liked to go to Perth, Brisbane or Tasmania…or even the Top End. Not to be. Technology blows.

Oh, and that Jay Chou concert I was wanting to attend? The tickets I wanted ($168AUD for a gold seat) had sold out before they officially went on sale. So had the cheaper silver and bronze seats – the only tickets left were the $268AUD VIP seats, the $488AUD front standing, and the $248AUD rear standing. And as much as I love new experiences and as rare an event as the concert would be, $250AUD for a concert ticket is pure extortion – I can’t justify that amount of spending. So…no concert, and no Sydney for me. Bollocks.

I’m put a thousand dollars on a bet. If this wasn’t Shakespeare’s birthplace, the town would have disappeared off the map centuries ago. Instead, it’s a thriving cultural hub, with a huge tourism industry that must account for three quarters of all revenue for the locals. Yet, despite this, the costs of visiting all the important Shakespeare-related locations in town aren’t expensive at all. All up I would have spent approximately ten pounds on visiting everything in town – do expect to spend more if you stay long enough to catch a performance at one of the many Shakespearean theatres in town, which I unfortunately didn’t get to do as I was only there for a handful of hours.

There are basically four sites of historical interest to Shakespeare fans within walking distance in the town centre: Shakespeare’s Birthplace (the family home); Hall’s Croft (the home of his daughter Susanna and her husband, Dr. John Hall); Nash’s House and New Place (the home of his granddaughter Elizabeth, and the foundations of his former home); and finally, the Holy Trinity church where Shakespeare was buried. You can manage to visit all four within the space of three hours, so Stratford-Upon-Avon really is very much a day visit type of place.

I suggest that you buy the three-in-one town pass (purchasable from any of the three houses) which comes to about £9.50 for a concession pass. It’s well worth the cost, as each site you visit is staffed by people who each have a bit of a spiel about Shakespeare and the significance of the site. They really do know what they’re talking about and are all experts on that particular era – I had a really interesting chat with the staff at Hall’s Croft about the practice of medicine in Shakespeare’s time. The Holy Trinity church is also worth visiting to see Shakespeare’s tomb, if only because entrance is a suggested donation of £1!

YHA Cambridge

Like the YHA in Ironbridge, the YHA in Cambridge was clean and safe, with ample bathroom and kitchen facilities. I was surprised however, by the long-term residents that seemed to be staying in the hostels. In my four-bed female dorm, two of my fellow roommates who were comparatively advanced in age considering that it’s a youth hostel, had been living at the hostel for months – the room was decorated and arranged to their tastes and they had pretty much monopolised the storage space. This isn’t normal YHA policy (they usually have a limit on how many days you can stay in their hostels), so I wonder what the extenuating circumstances exactly were.

With that said, the stifling atmosphere in the hostel definitely isn’t conducive to having a fun-filled trip. The average age of the hostellers was much higher than you’d find in other establishments, and there wasn’t much nightlife nearby at all. It’s a decent place to stay at for a single night if you plan on catching up on some sleep and having a good meal (their free all-you-can-eat breakfast is very comprehensive and includes bacon, eggs, porridge, etc – hot food you can fill up on so you don’t have to buy lunch that day!), but staying more than one night would severely curtail enjoyment of your trip.

Cambridge

Though really, one night is all you need in Cambridge. I only spent a handful of daylight hours there in order to take photos that would support my claim of a scholarship interview, but I honestly don’t think that I needed any more than those handful of hours. It really is primarily a college town. The nightlife is probably (?) geared towards students (e.g. cheap pubs), while my own preference tends to lean more towards cocktail lounges.

If you’re into that kind of thing, you can find more impressive architecture in Oxford. I didn’t even bother paying admittance fees to gain entrance into the different colleges – if I wasn’t impressed by the exterior, what are the chances that I’d be impressed by the interior? Not high – onto Manchester then!

Manchester

The time I spent in Manchester (approximately thirty hours) was one of the best times I had in England. It’s one of the cities that I’m looking to move to, as I thought it quite similar to Melbourne in design and lifestyle, which would make the move less of a shock to the system. That, and living near the lovely ladies I met while I was there is hugely enticing too.

Upon my arrival in Manchester on a Friday afternoon, I went directly to the Old Trafford football stadium, home of the Manchester United football team. Booking myself into the last tour of the day, we were led around the entire stadium – from the different stands to the more exclusive parts of the stadium that are normally closed to the public, like the player’s changing rooms, the player’s lounge, the dugout, etc. Though I’m not as big a football fan as I used to be, it was still a thrill to be standing in a room where someone as hot as Cristiano Ronaldo would have been naked, and to sit in his designated spot in the changing room.

Oh, and the stadium itself was very modern and nice as well. I didn’t go there just to stand where Cristiano Ronaldo stood, how dare you suggest such a thing. If you’re a football fan, yes, it is worth paying for the tour. It was money well spent!

Tanya and her husband Mark picked me up from the stadium after my tour, and we headed to their home where I was to stay the night, as was the original plan. They’re both incredibly lovely people – helping me get some laundry done (the only time I did laundry in an actual machine rather than by hand the entire trip!) and dried, making sure I was comfortable in their spare room, etc.

Tanya made an amazing dinner – scouse, which is apparently a dish native to the north of England. You’ll have to ask her for the recipe sometime, as my contribution to the dinner was just to stir the contents in the pot. Cooking skills ftw. The two of us managed to polish off a bottle of wine between us, then took a short walk to the nearby Iguana Bar, where Mark and a couple dozen of his friends were celebrating his birthday. We promptly managed to add to our alcohol intake at a rate that had us going to the toilet every fifteen minutes (literally, we have the weakest bladders in the world), and I managed to get friendly enough with one of Mark’s friends so that I didn’t actually end up staying in Tanya’s spare room that night. Irish accents, they’re a killer.

In any case, the next day Tanya and I had arranged to meet up with Jenny and Catherine in the heart of the city, the second large “blogger meetup” that I had arranged during my trip. We spent the day mainly exploring the city – we did go on the Manchester equivalent of the London Eye (with views of rooftops and construction sites!), and to the Manchester Museum, as well as doing a bit of shopping at the Arndale Centre. I’d offer you a photo of us as a group, but I think the other ladies are somewhat wary of having their photo splashed across the Internet.

As my train left at 8pm that night, farewells were said by 6pm. Before I knew it, I was back to merry ole London!

Friends have been worried about this desire of mine, counselling me and advising that what one feels on a vacation, mightn’t necessarily be the way one feels if they have to go through the 9-to-5 slog every day in the country. This is true. It’s also true that if I simply blame my desire on a post-holiday gloom and live out my life in Melbourne with sporadic overseas holidays, I may live to regret it for the rest of my days. I’m not prepared to take that chance.

Thus, I’ve made a plan for my move. I’m going to spend the next year in Australia. In this year, I’ll gradually work on downsizing what I own, so that I can eventually take everything essential over in just two large suitcases when I move. This means lots of eBaying of clothes, shoes, handbags. It means boxing up books and DVDs until I’m fully settled in the UK and can get things shipped to me via seamail. It means cutting down everything to the bare essentials – a challenge, but a challenge I’m willing to take up.

The year will also be spent building up my savings. While I currently have about $20,000AUD in the bank, it’s being steadily depleted as I’m still unemployed (and my babysitting gig on halt for a month as the family holidays overseas) without an income. Ideally, I’ll have $25,000AUD spare in my account by the time I move – e.g. I’ll need $30,000AUD by this time next year ($5,000AUD for airfares, shipping fees, settling in costs, etc.). So, job. I need one. Badly.

I need to work on my family – more specifically, my parents. Lying about a three week holiday is one thing. Figuring out how to break the news of your desire to move halfway across the world is another – I figure saying “You’re stifling me and I need to get as far away from you as possible” isn’t an option. A friend did suggest that I use the “my heart surgeon boyfriend has taken up a prestigious position in England paying ten million dollars a year and asked me to accompany him” excuse, but they might actually ask to meet the heart surgeon boyfriend, and that would present problems considering that he doesn’t actually exist. Eh. I’ll figure something out.

I also need to sort out issues with things like my Masters degree which I’m starting in a couple of weeks. It’s a three year course, part-time, via distance education (e.g. they mail me work, I complete it and mail it back), so I should technically be able to complete it while living and working overseas – though I should triple check this just to make sure. I don’t think there’d be a problem with it, though perhaps a problem with fees (and me having to pay higher fees for the course) as I may no longer be considered technically an Australian citizen.

And research! I need to do research! Jobs. Living standards. Average food prices. Taxes. Visas. Good areas to live in. Flatsharing. I need to be realistic about the whole day-to-day living and working a 9-to-5 job in the UK, rather than the carefree holiday lifestyle, and examine how much I’d need to earn each year in order to make the lifestyle I want feasible. Regular readers will obviously know that I’m frugal in my day-to-day life, but I do obviously enjoy travelling and don’t scrimp on my adventures. I’d still like to hop across the Channel every six months or so, and have a weekend away in Rome, Madrid, Santorini, Berlin, etc. Cheap Ryanair flights maybe?

In any case, I don’t know how long I’ll be in the UK. At this point, I’m thinking that I’m going to give myself a minimum of three years while I try to make a real go of assimilating myself into English society and creating a whole new life for myself. Anything less than three years, and any desire to return to Melbourne would just be homesickness and a desire to see my friends and family again. Three years is long enough to know for sure if becoming a Brit is the right thing for me.

The trip was marred by the news of the worst bushfires in Australian history in my home state of Victoria, which begun on Saturday. While thankfully, everyone I know is safe and well, others haven’t been as lucky. At last count, there’s been over 180+ fatalities (with an estimated 200+ as more fire victims are found), with 750+ homes lost and families displaced, and entire country towns wiped off the map. Fires are still raging throughout the state, and the strong winds expected over the next couple of days could make the situation a lot worse.

I urge all Australians to contact either the Australian Red Cross, or the Salvation Army, and to donate whatever they can. Whether it be money, food, clothes, other necessary goods, or even blood (burn victims will need blood transfusions!), every little bit helps towards the relief effort. Non-Australian well wishers can also contribute to the cause in a very tangible way – simply jump onto the Red Cross website and make an online donation.

As for my own personal contribution, I’ve booked another blood donation appointment (I was about due for another donation anyway), and have already registered at a local clothes and toiletries drive. My family will be clearing out bags of clothes to donate to families who have lost everything, and I’ve also packaged up boxes of stockpiled toiletries (I tend to buy in bulk) to donate as well. Every little bit counts!

Make sure to arrive at Salisbury station before 2pm, as that’s when the last “Stonehenge Tour” bus leaves. I missed the bus by half an hour, so ended up having to take a normal bus to Amesbury from Salisbury, and then a taxi to Stonehenge from Amesbury. A return trip this way ended up costing me about £10 more than the “Stonehenge Tour” bus, which was a bit of a blow to my budget.

As for the attraction itself…well, it’s really nothing more than a pile of rocks. A remarkable pile of rocks when one considers the history behind it and its significance, but a pile of rocks nonetheless. The £5 is worth it if simply for the chance to take a photo in front of it to say and prove that you’ve been there (the audio guide is also very detailed and enlightening), but it’s really not an attraction you can spend more than an hour at. Don’t go specifically out of your way to visit, but do stop off if it’s on your way to somewhere else.

8 Princess Drive B&B, Alton, Hampshire

This is the priciest of all accommodation that I stayed in while in England. At £40 a night, it really blew my accommodation budget open. It was however, good value for what it offered – a double ensuite in a private home, well within walking distance of both Alton Railway Station and Chawton, where Jane Austen spent the last few years of her life. It makes an excellent base for any Jane Austen fan wanting to spend some time in the area.

The proprietors are a lovely and friendly retired couple who will do their best to cater for your every need. You’ll get free use of Ian’s laptop to connect to the Internet if you need, and Jean will cook you an absolute feast of a full English breakfast (fully inclusive in the £40). It’s really a lovely place to stay – great for Austen fans, and it would actually be great for couples looking for a romantic weekend away as well.

Alton/Chawton

I only spent a handful of daylight hours in these two little towns, but I can’t imagine a better place to get a more authentically “small English town” experience. While Alton as the bigger town has quite a developed shopping strip and its own railway station, Chawton’s only industry is centered around Jane Austen tourism, so it’s quite untouched by modern life. As they’re only about a half hours walk apart, it’s really the perfect location for anyone who wants both rural and village life – something like what I imagine the Bennet sisters would have enjoyed.

I really enjoyed the brief hour I spent wandering around Chawton. Though the Jane Austen House Museum unfortunately wasn’t open when I was there (they’re only open on weekends in the winter months), it was incredible to simply wander through the garden adjacent to the house, and to walk the paths that Austen herself would have walked. Visiting St. Nicholas church where the Cassandra’s are buried (Austen’s mother and sister) and seeing the memorial stones to them was really quite incredible as well.

All in all, the two towns together are an excellent place for any literary fan to visit, especially if they’re looking to escape to rurality from the big smoke, while not entirely giving up modern comforts.

Bath

Bath is one of those cities where you step out of the station, and almost immediately recognise that you’ve stepped back in time. Not ten minutes up the road leading from the station, you’ll find yourself with a stunning view of Bath Abbey and the river and surrounding hills. The architecture in the entire city is incredibly well preserved from the eighteenth century, and you can tell why it was once so popular as a pleasure spot for the gentry.

The town itself is very compact – you can easily see all the sights in a single day. Make it a day trip from London. Architecturally and historically, make sure you visit Great Pulteney St, The Circus, and the Royal Crescent – the majestic buildings in these areas have been preserved in their original forms and you can tell with a single glance why they were the homes only of the wealthy and titled.

Jane Austen fans may be tempted to visit the Jane Austen centre in Bath, and pay an exhorbitant £4.95 for entry. Don’t bother! The centre itself doesn’t hold anything that’s particularly engrossing – like the Jewel Tower in London, it’s really nothing but a series of posterboards and photos from Jane Austen film adaptations. You’ll be better off doing your own preliminary research into Austen’s associations in Bath (e.g. where she lived, places mentioned in her novels), and visiting all the sites yourself as it’s all within easy walking distance.

On a similar vein, I’d also recommend avoiding paying entry into the Fashion Museum at the Assembly Rooms. The rooms themselves offer free entry (just spend a couple of minutes taking photos, there’s not much to them), so they’re worth going in for a quick look, but the Fashion Museum really didn’t offer enough of interest even for someone like myself who is arguably relatively fashion-savvy.

The one attraction that one really has to visit in Bath is (surprise surprise) the Roman Baths. The sheer elaborateness and technicality behind these ancient baths makes one wonder at the technological wizadry of the ancient Romans. They’re incedible – truly a magnificent sight. Well worth the £9.50 entry fee – and take the opportunity to “take the waters” yourself in the Pump Room restaurant after you exit the Baths!

Bristol

I actually didn’t manage to see that much of Bristol – like my time in Brighton, I was there mainly at night, arriving at 7pm and leaving at 10am the next morning. I mainly spent my time with Ruth – a (very much sporadic) webmiss who I had met on a tennis fan forum way back in 2004. We went out to dinner, had a few drinks at a magic bar called Illusions (e.g. someone was there doing magic tricks – they were AMAZING), and walked around the city a bit.

From the little I saw of it, Bristol does seem like a lovely city – lots of hills, but very walkable. Lots of nightlife, especially considering that it was a Wednesday night that I was there. Lots of eateries, pubs, bars, clubs – whatever kind of entertainment you’ll want, it’ll probably have in order to cater to the large student population in the city.

Full Moon Backpackers (Bristol)

While superbly located right in the heart of the city within metres of the bus station and shopping complexes, the hostel is a bit harder to get to from Temple Meads train station, especially ifi you’re carrying a bit of luggage with you. Make sure to print out Google Maps directions instead of relying on their instructions which are questionable at best.

The security measures of the hostel are impressive – not only is there 24 hour reception, but the hostel employs fingerprint recognition security and access, rather than the more vulnerable keycard system that most other hostels offer. One downside however, is that lockers aren’t available within the dorm rooms themselves, so your belongings are still in danger of being “exploited” by unscrupulous peoples within your dorm room. Be smart, and lock up your luggage for extra security.

As for the beds, bathrooms, etc, they’re alright. Nothing to write home about really, it was pretty standard hostel fare. Bring a sleeping bag for extra bedding, wear thongs in the shower to escape fungal diseases, etc. And while I personally didn’t use it because I was there so briefly, I believe they also offer internet access and washing machines for a small charge.