Waste Not. Want Not.

When I was 22 I packed 15 kilos into a backpack and 7 kilos into a carry-on bag, travelled 14469 kilometres and started a new life.

Now I am 25 and somehow trying to pack up a 3 bedroom flat so that I can continue this life in a new place. I have found myself in a situation I did not want to be in. I need to be out of where I am ASAP and my new place is not yet ready. Which means I need somewhere to put all this stuff (including myself!) until the new place is ready. The perfect scenario would have been that my new place was ready before I needed to leave Binstead and therefore I could gradually move my things from one place to the other. This has not happened. It's not the biggest deal, I know I won't be homeless in this town but it is just killing me that there is so much good stuff in this flat that is just going to be left behind. (I think I said just too many times in that sentence!?)

This flat came furnished but over the years, with all the different tenants it has accumulated a whole lot of handy household items. As we are setting up our new place from scratch a lot of these would be very useful. However, I literally do not know how I am going to get all of my personal possessions (and yes I have managed to accumulate a lot in the last couple of years) as well as everything that I would like to take from this flat. I have been ruthless and have culled my wardrobe, bookshelf, pantry etc. However it is not in my nature to throw perfectly good and usable items away! It's just going to be such a shame that when I am in North London I am going to have to go out and re-buy things that I have already owned (well had in my flat) in South-West London. This feels so wasteful. Plus I am incredibly poor right now (thanks to the house and my holidays etc) so don't really want to be spending money on things when I previously had them!

But hey, this is the way it goes. I will do my best to take as much as possible to the new place. Something I could not do without the help of a whole bunch of people!
First of all, thank you to everyone who has recently come to retrieve their belongings from my flat; their shoes, clothes, costumes, books, CD players, speakers, works of art and guitars! This means I didn't have to break it to you that I had left it all behind. :)
Thank you to the friends who have come round to help try and rid my flat of all remaining food and alcohol.
Thank you to the previous housemates who have left behind bedding, pots, pans, cutlery, crockery, cleaning utensils and everything else that I have been able to go through and take what.
Thank you to the people who have allowed me to store my things in their flats; in spare roomes, in cupboards, on shelves, on their floor.
Thank you to those with cars who are happy to drive me and all my packed up belongings, dispersing them around London.
Thank you to those who are offering me beds and couches for me to sleep on so that whilst I am in this limbo stage I will always have somewhere to stay.

So here I go, off to continue trying to stuff my life into bags and boxes!

Bye Bye Binstead

Well it feels like the end of an era right now. After 2 years I am moving out of my box room in Binstead House.

My room is tiny, the kind of room where you can’t even open the door fully thanks to the furniture (the door opens the wrong way!) and floor space is considered a luxury. But you know what? It is my room and I am going to miss it. The packing for my move has begun and my room already looks incredibly boring with it’s bare walls and windowsill. It has made me realise that a space, no matter how big or small, starts to hold sentimental value when it becomes your space.

So this is mine (for the next 24 hours anyway);

And the old furniture...I've made improvements right?

And yes I do realise that this post is all about the room and not the people that I am leaving, but, it's Bree's last night in London and I'm not quite ready to face that yet....

Growing Old/Growing Up.

In just over an hour I will officially be a quarter of a century old. Eek! Sometimes I think ‘wow, 25 and you have had such an amazing life; graduated university, visited a lot of countries and moved across the world to set up a life for myself!’ and then other times I think ‘wow, 25 you should have done way more by now!'. You know like when you are 6 years old and the 12 year olds at school seem sooooo old? I remember being young and thinking that by the age of 25 I would probably be married and  thinking about having children whilst living in my own home and having an exciting job (my career aspirations in primary school were; checkout chick, hairdresser or teacher – the only jobs I knew existed). The fact that I haven’t achieved the above doesn’t really get to me, I know I am not ready for marriage or children and I have made the choice to travel and live in one of the most expensive cities in the world rather than buy a home. I do, however, find that I have to be more grown up than ever before.

And anyone who knows me knows I am not that great with decisions, let alone grown up adult decisions.  To be honest I haven’t felt all that great about my birthday. Life is just getting in the way of being able to get excited. And I have a sneaking suspicion that this whole ‘life’ thing is all part of growing up.

Work is alright, I love my team and appreciate the fact that they felt I was worthy of a promotion, but this new role isn’t exactly easy. The job itself is alright but I have noticed that as I now lead a team of people I deal with well, people. And people have, well, people problems, both staff and customers so that's what I currently spend my time dealing with.  I do enjoy my work and feel grateful to have this job it’s just that I don’t have time to get excited about a birthday when I have so much to do. There’s also the little issue where I don’t exactly have my house situation sorted just yet. I made the decision to leave my current flat and move in with friends, something that I am still looking forward to. However house hunting is hard, this is not exactly a revelation to me. However, with how this has played out for me and my friends it’s getting to that stage where it is just so god damn frustrating! Especially when you have finally found something you like, you are ready to move in, references are checked, you paid money and then – you don’t get it! The timing would have been perfect, I had paid my rent in my current place and had the perfect amount of time to pack up here and gradually move in to my new place, well before the date that I have to be out of here (yes my current flat has now been sold). Well, that’s not going to happen now is it? So yes, last week I was feeling a little ‘woe is me, I’m about to turn 25; I’m not earning enough money, I’m single and homeless!’ Thankfully though I received a wakeup call over the weekend that reminded me how great life is, how fabulous my friends are and how lucky I am! So yes I have started to get a little bit excited about the ol' 2-5.

My weekend started with after work drinks with the work crew, which often starts off quite classy and civilised but may have descended into shots, dancing and kebabs before passing out. Saturday I had errands to run before Steven came around to pick up the last of his things. We headed to a pub near the train station for a cheeky pint before Drew (who I had last seen in the early hours of that morning) joined us. After a few more drinks we headed up to north London where we found Ashlee and headed off to view what could, potentially, be our new home! The excitement of this meant we deserved a celebratory drink at a pub in our new area. I had now been out the whole day in my hoodie, leggings and slip-on shoes and my exciting plans to head home and have friends come round so we could watch Take Me Out were really rather appealing. So we said our goodbyes to the boys and Ashlee and I headed back to Southwest for a quiet night in. Or so I thought…

Jess and Lee had been let into the flat by Lee and Bree so that they could decorate my living room with a ridiculous amount of balloons, party poppers, streamers, party hats, glow sticks and an inflatable saxophone (of course). So when I came through the door they yelled surprise and presented me with a birthday cake! The girls had cooked food, made a punch and laid dresses out on my bed so that we could get into the party mood. Due to the fact that I didn’t come home until after 9pm and we are all really poor we ended up staying in and having a rave in my flat. Yes, the 4 of us put on CD’s (they had the best speakers) and danced around my living room – it was like a sleepover with girlfriends, just slightly more grown up! The girls were successful in getting me excited about my birthday for the first time – and although it wasn’t a massive party it was a lot of fun (and we got a noise complaint from the neighbours who live below us! Whoops).

Sunday started off slow but we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather so made our way to Clapham Common where we enjoyed fish & chips and cider in the warmth, until the sun set and it got cold so all headed home. Bree had her friend Alex round to make homemade pizzas (he made the dough from scratch –yum!) and we watched the cinematic masterpiece that is the 80’s film; Mannequin.

So you know what? Turning 25 isn’t so bad.

Look at the fun you can have….

Perth is on my mind

Exactly one year ago I was back home, enjoying the sunny weather, catching up with friends, heading to Future Music Festival and getting excited about my birthday.

Today my life is very different. Not bad, just different. Things are far from perfect right now although I am loving life. However I will admit I am insanely jealous of the fact that my best English girlfriend, Roxy, is currently in my home town (and will be there on my birthday)!

I wrote Roxy a list of ‘must-do’s in Perth’ and then proceeded to never show her. So here it is. It was hand written last year when I was on a bus between Zadar and the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia, so I will endeavour to read my scribbles and share my advice of what visitors to Perth should experience.

The beach. Thanks to where I grew up and went to school; I spent a lot of time at Sorrento beach (you are right near the marina if you want to combine your beach trip with a meal or look around), however there are so many great beaches you can try; Mullaloo, Scarborough, Mettams Pool, Cottesloe. Basically you will enjoy whatever beach you go to.

A Sunday session. Preferably somewhere overlooking the beach (Cottesloe or Mullaloo are good options). The Cott was being renovated when I was back but if it’s open again; get there when it’s busy, get merry in the sun, hear some jazz and then, once you’ve seen the sunset you could head to Claremont for dinner (and more drinks).

Fremantle. Check out the markets; not only filled with souvenirs but some nice hand made products as well (jewellery, soaps, toys etc.). You have to visit Little Creatures Brewery so on your way you can wander the streets of Freo, head down the cappuccino strip and away from the crowds. You can see Notre Dame University (old heritage buildings scattered throughout the city), you’ll notice ‘pop-up’ coffee shops and cafes that literally look like cupboards but serve quality pasta and coffee. You may notice the Roundhouse and the Maritime Museum – although it’s not necessary to stop at them as your destination is the brewery. Once you are there, ‘creatures’ will sit down with you to discuss your food choices. Go for woodfired pizzas and the vegetarian nachos, your visit would not be complete without their famous frites and aioli and, of course, beer (I vote pale ale!).

Party. In terms of heading out, the latest things seems to be boutique wine bars/microbreweries. In other words, expensive and pretentious. But it’s still worth heading out. Central train lines stay open until at least 2am on a Friday and Saturday night so if you head to one of the typical nightlife areas (Northbridge, Claremont, Murray St in the city, Leederville, Fremantle, you should be able to make use of the public transport. My old faves; Amplifier/Capitol were not the same when I went back so probably wouldn’t bother (although a lot may have changed in the past year). Republic sounds like it would be fun-starting out as a strip club the venue offers its customers pizza or cheeseburgers in the early hours of the morning! As most visitors to Perth will end up using taxis you can head to places like East Perth where you will find late night venues such as Villa or Shape. These are the places that are open all night so you will find gurning zombies but also (well it used to have) quality DJ’s.

Leederville This is a pretty busy place and has a ‘happening’ vibe, it's a good place for going out for a meal. Combine this with the Luna Cinema’s ‘Monday Double’ feature (where you must get a choc bomb!) to see 2 films for around $11 in a small, old cinema. If you are looking for more of a proper night out there are many options here; the Garden, the Leedy or the Hip-E Club, to name a few!

Movies under the stars. In the summer there are a number of outdoor cinemas to choose from;  Moonlight Cinema at Kings Park (which you should probably visit anyway), Luna Leederville (their Monday doubles don’t play during Summer so try this instead), Kookaburra Cinema in Mundaring Weir (means you get to see the hills and bush land of the east), or Movies by Burswood (near the casino and the proceeds go to charity)

House parties. Try to get invited to a house party, as these are often the best nights! Use your connections to enjoy empty pools, rooms full of bean bags, bonfires etc.

This one is if you have time; leave Perth!

Rottnest – was good fun, it is a one of a kind place with its unusual creatures (quokkas), you can sleep in an old Aboriginal jail, go snorkelling, ride around the whole island, lay on the beach, head to the pub, drink at your accommodation (it can get a bit complicated with a ballot system but it is a cool place to visit if you have the time and money). Some people may have grown out of Rottnest by now so there are plenty of other options.

Margaret River/Dunsborough – take a road trip down south (often called douth), this has some of the most beautiful beaches and as you have a car you should definitely check out the chocolate factory, cheese factory, ice-cream factory, olive oil factory, brewery and there are plenty of wineries with amazing wines that you have to try!

Karajini National Park – this place is amazing and so beautifully Australia; red dirt, clear water, native wildlife. You can jump off cliffs, float down gorges and sleep under the stars. I haven’t been in years and although I’ve never actually organised a trip here I would definitely go again.

I’m sure there are plenty more places I can recommend in Perth (I do have more scribbles but they appear to basically be gibberish) and to be honest, someone who currently lives there would be in a much better position to give advice. However, this is a start! I can guarantee that anyone who heads to Perth at this time of year is going to have a good time!