March Round Up

Making: splodges of paint on a page to turn into Hirameki

Cooking: pumpkin scones with more success

Drinking: Morning Tea by Tea Pigs

Reading: 'The Secret Commonwealth' by Philip Pullman

Wanting: crochet hooks

Looking: at foxes, squirrells and tits

Playing: the Moana soundtrack

Deciding: which conference call platform to use for our social gathering this weekend

Wishing: for the curve to flatten asap so life can get a little bit more normal

Enjoying: our home

Waiting: for the travel restrictions to lift

Liking: apples drizzled with salted caramel

Wondering: if we're going to visit all the places on our shortlist before our time here is up

Loving: the ease of boiling water 

Pondering: what to snack on whilst trying not to snack o.O

Considering: the fact I enjoy brussels sprouts way more since coming to the UK

Buying: carefully and not frantically

Watching: as little of the news over the course of the day as possible

Hoping: the small businesses everywhere are able to recover from this

Marvelling: at the sound of robins and tits and all the other lovely birds around our flat

Cringing: at the selfish people who aren't getting the point of staying in

Needing: kewpie mayo to make homemade sushi

Questioning: whether I need all those things in my Amazon shopping basket

Smelling: my freshly washed hair

Wearing: my dressing gown ... I promise I do have other clothes but I seem to only write these in the evening

Following: John Krasinski's 'Some Good News' on Youtube

Noticing: how dry my hands are getting

Knowing: that I have one book left in our isolation and I need to make it last

Thinking: about making my own bubble tea

Admiring: all those people who find silver linings during this time and help lift up others

Sorting: through my art stash for the next bout of inspiration.....

Getting: new gym leggings

Bookmarking: how to dye my hair

Coveting: boba tea reusable straws

Disliking: how dry my hands feel

Opening: all the tabs on my browser. Cameron hates it ><

Giggling: at innapropriate dinner table conversations

Feeling: happy and toasty and very grateful

Snacking: salted corn kernels are actually the bomb

Helping: tidy the kitchen after dinner

Hearing: 'You're Welcome' from Moana go round and round in my head

Surreal landscapes

I'm not going to talk much about Corvid-19. There's enough madness out there without me adding to it. But as a quick reflection on what it's like for us - Cameron, Sarah and Daniel have been working from home since Wednesday of last week. The shops here are as bad as what we're seeing in Australia. Restaurants are only allowed to do take away, supermarkets have implemented allocations of food per person (2-3 of any item, depending on whether they're classified as high demand), and we've been hitting a few different supermarkets just to get everything we need from a weekly shop.

Things I've been doing while everyone's been working in the lounge:

• Reorganised my side of the bedroom since the curtains we just put up are so long that it makes it hard to use the windowsill for anything more than a temporary work station. A good thing since it was getting very cluttered and too convenient of a dumping ground.
• Ordered the new Disney+ service since that went live yesterday (Tuesday 24 March) and if we're going to be stuck at home together, we're going to need some more viewing options. Also, I did read the other day that Onward was getting released straight there sooooo kinda excited :P
• Talked to CSD waaaaay more than I probably should since they're still technically 'at work' during the day....but it is so nice having company between 7-4.
• Cancelled our accommodation in Brighton for the first weekend of April
• Looked into an anniversary trip to Greece in November....fingers crossed this has all sorted itself out by then, yes?
• .... to be perfectly honest, my days haven't changed all that much otherwise. I've been on the internet an awful lot (Amazon UK, Youtube, Facebook, Gmail and all my fave blogs have been copping so many hits), I've done a chunk of reading, scrolled a lot of Instagram, listened to a lot of birdsong and starred out the windows looking for squirrels, magpies, foxes and anything interesting that might be happening in the streets below. 

N-Iceland

I'm sure you've heard it before, but I'm going to repeat it - Iceland is incredible. Indescribable. In-frigging-sane. Five days was both enough and not enough time to discover how much we loved it.

Sarah, Daniel, Cameron and I flew into Reykjavik  last Tuesday afternoon and had the evening free to do a quick wander. By some crazy fortune, the hotel I'd booked us was a five minute walk from Hallgrimskirkja, the tallest building and church in the whole country. We arrived just in time to buy tickets to go up to the top, to get a bird's eye view of the capital, before getting a much needed coffee. This was when we discovered how expensive coffee was; during the course of our trip, we paid between $6-7AUD for a teacup-sized coffee.

(Hallgrimskirkja is the pointy building, centre stage - I promise, it's taller in real life!)

We walked the Rainbow Road, visited a few souvenir stores (in what was our only real free time to shop), had a hot dog at the famous stand, Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (overrated), and visited the Sun Voyager sculpture. 

During our exploration, we froze. We definitely discovered that the wind was an icy blade and hermals/gloves/beanies/scarves were a daily requirement for getting dressed.

Dinner was another expensive experience but wow was it good! Admittedly we were tired and cold, so our bar was lower than usual, but the chips had CHICKEN SALT, the burgers were delicious (including Cameron's reindeer one), the fish batter was thin and actually tasty....we were stoked. 

The next morning our car rental agency picked us up and took us to the depot where we collected our Kia to start the 4 day self-drive adventure. 

If you're looking for a cheaper way to see Iceland, I cannot recommend this enough. Our accommodation and car hire were taken care of, and we were provided an itinerary to follow each day. We chose to use Extreme Iceland and they were so helpful, from changing our dates at the last minute, to checking on us during that first day when there was particularily bad weather and giving us recommendations on where else to go. 

WE SAW SO MUCH. The landscape was made up of tiramisu and cookies & cream, and when the sun made an appearance, everything was bright and blue and stunning - but so, so chilly because the sun held no warmth. The Icelandic palette was made up of browns and blues and whites, with a hint of gold where the sun hit. Or silver, if the snow started to melt a little.

In those four days of driving, we saw epic fields of snow, enormous mountains, lakes of ice, hot springs, geysirs, fierce and frozen seas, and all manner of waterfalls - frozen, running, aand those that had frozen on the outside but water still ran through the centre like a crazy waterslide.

We decided to be smart and save money on lunches so we hit up a supermarket before we started driving, and while there were some items that blew our mind ($20AUD for a 500gm punnet of strawberries???), we were able to get the fixings for sandwiches and snacks. All of which (including meat, yoghurt, butter, cheese) lived in the car for the next 3 nights since days and nights were well below zero. We would open the car in the morning and if we'd left drinks in there, they were half frozen - such a novelty!

I think one of the things we all loved the most was how much freedom the itinerary gave us. We had suggested places to go but no scheduled times. If we wanted to stop for coffee, we could (though finding an open cafe in the smaller towns was nigh on impossible). If we wanted to take the time to make a snow angel, we did. If the snow was perfect for snowman-moulding, you can be sure we made a snowman. And had a snowball fight. And acted like the biggest kids because IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. Wow.

We had to check the roads every day to make sure they were a) actually open and b) see what the surface was, be it clear or icy, but otherwise, driving on the wrong side of the road didn't present too much of a problem. Cameron did have to drive through a blizzard on the first day, which was slightly horrific since visibility was maybe 5m ahead - we were literally driving from one yellow road marker to the next. We quickly learnt that in those situations you need to have your hazards on for extra visibility to other drivers - fun fact.

If you left your car, you HAD to wear your beanie, gloves,scarf, and do up your jacket. It was too cold not too - most days averaged about -3C. We were so exhausted at the end of every day and we put it down to the fact that our bodies were working overtime in the cold. Even though we all had multiple layers and thermals to boot, it was just so much colder than we were used to. Otherwise, we were only really driving and moving anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour at a time.

There's not a thing we would have changed about the entire trip. It would have been the icing on the cake to see the northern lights but the weather and the lights themselves were just not in our favour. We also got super lucky that Corvid-19 didn't impact our trip. We flew out Saturday night and on Monday they imposed restrictions on restaurants, cafes and gatherings.

For the last time (in this blog at least), Iceland was stunning. And worth every cent. Every corner we turned, a new vista made our jaws drop. The snow that fell during the middle of the trip was unprecedented which made it even more special. Being able to see these stunning natural monuments AND play in the snow whenever we felt like it - dreams are made of this stuff and we were living ours.

February Round Up - Belated

Making: the March spread for my bullet journal

Cooking: pumpkin scones (with limited success)

Drinking: apple juice with elderflower

Reading: Alyzon Whitestarr by Isobelle Carmody

Wanting: to book all the things but needing to exercise some restraint!

Looking: at too many travel blogs

Playing: Gaia Project

Deciding: on what picture of Bard to paint in the 'Paint Your Pet Party' Sarah and I signed up for

Wishing: that Bard was closer

Enjoying: SUN

Waiting: for the next holiday - Iceland, next Tuesday!

Liking: far too many Youtube videos

Wondering: whether my backpack will last me this year

Loving: how much sun our flat gets

Pondering: what we can actually do without for a year.

Considering: the uses of a dehumifier for back home.

Buying: headlamps on Amazon Prime

Watching: too much Youtube - Zoe Sugg, Cari Cakes, CatCreature, Wild We Roam, Eamon & Bec

Hoping: that the weather is actually nice this weekend.

Marvelling: at how squirrels move

Cringing: at my poor editing skills in my blog and my inconsistant grammar in these lists.

Needing: more paper towellling

Questioning: the hygiene of people

Smelling: My tea - English breakfast. V. boring.

Wearing: My dressing gown

Following: just the right number of people on Instagram so as not to be overwhelming but still uplifting and inspiring

Noticing: the grammar thing. Sorry to everyone reading >.> Which is probably all 2 of you :P

Knowing: that while there's so much to see, sleep is also kinda wonderful

Thinking: About the interview I have tomorrow.

Admiring: People who take amazing nature photography and the patience they have.

Sorting: what I need to bring to Iceland.

Getting: excited for the chance to wear a skirt again WITHOUT stockings.

Bookmarking: a beef bourguignon recipe for tomorrow night

Coveting: clothes from Oliver Bonas

Disliking: how quickly raspberries go off in the fridge

Opening: a Milo tin! Love the sound of that aluminium popping

Giggling: more belly laughing at how alike Sarah and I think, and how similar Cameron and Daniel are

Feeling: happy because of all the vitamin D I got today. And the fox I saw

Snacking: on Vegemite flavoured Shapes that I won at the recent bushfire fundraiser we went to

Helping: Brooke plan our Croatia trip in August

Hearing: guns blazing from the tv as Sarah and Daniel play Destiny

Sunshine and daffodils are no way to apologise for tardiness ... or are they?

I've been pretty slack on here the past two weeks - between being sick, going to Disney, working most of last week and then just being preoccupied with booking  travel and making friends with other secondees and their partners, it just didn't leave much time for here.

In the six weeks we've been here, one thing that I've noticed the most is the light. When we arrived in late January, the sun wouldn't rise til 8:30am and it would be setting and dark by 5pm. Fast forward to now, and it's getting lighter at 6:45am and not dark until closer to 6:30pm. I AM SO EXCITED FOR SUMMER. And getting some block out blinds, because our Venetians are just not gonna cut it.

To celebrate the onset of warmer (or maybe just longer) days, here's a fox sunning himself in today's glorious weather.

Also, I saw my first red breasted robin yesterday! It was a joy :D I feel like I'm living in The Secret Garden, conplete with all the bulbs sprouting.