On Tuesday, I spent the day walking around Cairns and looking through all the shops, and decided I couldn’t do this for another whole day while waiting for my dive course to begin. I spent more than an hour just browsing through the brochures in the hostel reception, trying to decide on a day trip to do for Wednesday. Because I was leaving early the next day, I went to bed early again that night.
On Wednesday, the day trip I decided on was up to a village called Karunda. In the morning I went to a wildlife park, petted kangaroos, wallabies and koalas, saw crocodiles, dingoes, and several different types of Australian lizards. After the park I went on an Aboriginal Dreamtime walk, where I learned about spear-throwing, learned how to play the didgeridoo, and learned how to throw a boomerang. After the walk I watched some of the Aboriginals perform some of their traditional dances. Once the dances were completed, I went on a tour through the rainforest on an amphibious vehicle. We drove through the rainforest and went down a river, and saw heaps of different types of flora, but not very much fauna. I had the best eyes in the group, however, spotting a water dragon lizard, a turtle, and a wild turkey. After this I took the shuttle into the actual village of Karunda, where I browsed through the various markets, and finally purchased a pair of wood earrings that I’ve wanted for a while. I took the shuttle back to Cairns and had an early night to prepare for my big day the next day. Overall the day trip to Karunda was good, but not really worth the $50 I paid.
On Thursday, I got up real early and was all ready to go, standing at the pickup spot about 15 minutes early. Can you say keener? I got picked up, and went, met all the cool people who were going to be in my group, and we got through the morning classroom session with no problems. At lunch time, we all had to visit the doctor to get our dive medical. Of course, typical keener behaviour, I’m first in line. And of course, just my luck in Cairns, I fail my dive medical because of a medication I’m on. You can imagine my disappointment as I’m told I won’t be able to dive, and won’t be able to continue on in the course with everyone. I waited until everyone was through, and was brought to another doctor for a second opinion. I failed this second exam as well. The fact that I proved my physical fitness and determination a month ago by climbing the largest free-standing mountain in the world meant nothing. So I was brought back to the dive centre, where everyone stood watching me balling my eyes out, because there was nothing they could do to make me feel better. I was issued my refund, and went back to the hostel. Back at the hostel I immediately went out and bought a bus ticket down to Sydney, and booked myself on the next bus out of Cairns. I needed a change of scenery so much. After the day, I was so exhausted, emotionally and physically, so I went to bed really early.
On Friday, I caught the bus out of Cairns at 7:30am. I travelled all day on the bus down to Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands. After 10 hours on the bus I arrived, and went and booked into a hostel. I booked a day tour for the following day to go snorkelling on the Reef, and went to bed early.
On Saturday, I got the shuttle to Shute Harbour, where the boat was leaving from, at 7:15am and the boat left at about 8. We dropped off and picked up a few passengers at Hamilton Island, and continued on our way. We got to the reef and into the water at about 11. After about 2 hours of snorkelling, I took a break for lunch and went right back in for another hour or so. Being on the outer reef, the majority of the coral was hard coral, so I didn’t see any anemones, and therefore no clownfish. A HUGE disappointment for me was not seeing any sharks, rays, or turtles. Another thing I didn’t realize was that
about 80% of coral is brown, and all the colourful pictures and videos that I’ve seen are from the inner reefs, so while it was really amazing to see the coral structures, I didn’t see any of the colours that I was imagining. A fish that I thought was really cool though, was the sandy damselfish. I would swim over a sandy patch that had some algae, and these fish would charge at me, occasionally knocking my goggles, and one actually bit me. I thought this was very brave for these fish, because they are about 10-15cm long, whereas I’m about 165cm long, so if I wanted to I could have damaged those fish. Of course I didn’t, I swam away once I got bit. The weather wasn’t very cooperative, it was very windy, and it rained off and on, so I was almost sea sick a couple times on the way out and back, but I ended up falling asleep instead. Overall, I’m glad I went out, but I will NEVER go out on the reef again unless I can dive. Snorkelling just wasn’t that great. That night, the hostel that I’m staying at had a ladies night going on. This included free pizza for everyone, free pitchers of beer for everyone, free champagne for ladies, and a free shot for every time you did a successful limbo in the competition. Naturally I entered this limbo competition, and I came second! The prize for 1st was $25 cash, and it came down to rock paper scissors. I got a free drink for coming second. Saturday night was a lot of fun.
Today, Sunday, I walked around Airlie Beach, and lay by the Lagoon and swam and sunbathed. We are allowed to swim in the ocean here, but it’s not recommended because of the stingers, and so the lagoon offered a stinger free solution for swimming. Overall it was a lazy, but nice day.

On Good Friday, everything was closed, but luckily the weather was amazing. It was probably 25-30 degrees and sunny. A group of us went down to the beach and spent the day sunbathing and swimming. Friday night was a really quiet night for me because everything was closed, so we weren’t able to go out anywhere. However, my room was right across the hall from the common room, and there was a pretty big party going on in there, so it was pretty loud. I was still exhausted enough from the couple late nights I had before that I was able to fall asleep fairly quickly though.
On Saturday, my last day in Melbourne, I got up early to skype home, and then made my way into the city to go see Federation Square. Even though it was Easter Weekend, it was still bustling with people. There was a huge book sale going on, but I wasn’t quite finished with my current book, so I wasn’t able to sell or trade it, but I did manage to purchase a book I’ve been wanting to read for a while for fairly cheap. After Fed Square, I took the tram back to Albert Park, and spent a little while wandering around there. I then stopped at the South Melbourne Market, and bought a few ingredients for dinner that night. Since it was my last night in Melbourne, we had a big party, starting with us sitting around drinking goon. That is definitely one thing I will not miss about Australia. The goon is dirt cheap, but kind of gross. We then all went out to a club with a live band. It was overall a pretty good night.
Sunday morning I got up real early to pack my stuff and head to the airport. I got to the airport at about 10 and was able to get on a flight to Cairns at 11:30, and arrived in Cairns at about 3. I made my way to the hostel, and within 2 hours of checking in, someone in my room stole all my cash. It was just $100, but when you’re in the end leg of your journey, $100 can make a big difference. Needless to say, I moved rooms right away, not that it made much difference because my cash was already gone. I booked my scuba trip on the reef (starting Thursday!!!), and had dinner, and an early night.
Today, Monday, I had a nice long lie-in, went grocery shopping, and basically just explored the area. I looked into day-trips, but I haven’t decided on anything as of now. I found out that even though my hostel is just metres away from the beach, we’re not allowed to swim in the ocean because of the crocodiles and jellyfish. A bit of a bummer, but there is a massive pool called The Lagoon right beside the beach, so that’s ok. I spent some time sunbathing and swimming there today.

I was right in thinking I wouldn’t get much sleep on the bus to Melbourne…I think I maybe got an hour total, very frustrating. When I got to Melbourne, I took the tram out to St. Kilda. The man who sat beside me told me this was where a lot of backpackers stayed, and it’s right on the beach. I got to a hostel at about 9am, only to find out I couldn’t check in until 1pm. At this point all I wanted to do was sleep. But instead I left my luggage at reception and went into the common room where I read all morning pretty much. Once I was able to get my luggage in I got cleaned up and wandered around St. Kilda, and got familiar with the surroundings. After an early dinner I walked down to the beach and watched the sun set over the ocean, it was just beautiful.
On Wednesday, I went into town to go to the Melbourne Museum. It was actually really cool. It wasn’t like the other museums I’ve gone to that just have paintings and stuff; this was kind of like the Science Centre in Toronto, where there was so much information on so many different things. Naturally I spent about 5 hours walking around, and since I didn’t get out of there until 5pm, any other plans I had were kind of shot. I went to Federation Square afterwards, where there are usually loads of displays and exhibitions set up, but I got there late, and everyone had gone home already. I ended up staying there and watching a bit of this street actor’s performance, which wasn’t very funny so I left. When I got back to the hostel I ended up met so many people and we all went out later that evening. It was a pretty good night, apart from me leaving my ID back at the hostel, and this one place that I had a free drink voucher for wouldn’t let me in.
Today, Thursday, I went back into town with a group I met last night and we all went to the Queen Victoria Market, which is the largest open air market in the southern hemisphere. We spent a couple hours just wandering around, buying some fruits and vegetables, and looking at all the clothes. We came back to the hostel because we were all pretty tired after our big night out, and made some food. I made some chicken cesear salad, and cooked the rest of the chicken breast so I can heat it up at dinner. However, I pretty much butchered it. Traveling and having to cook for myself has been a real eye opening experience, and I appreciate it so much more that I never have to cook at home. Cooking a chicken breast has got to be a pretty straightforward thing to do, and I still managed to screw it up. Oh well, my cooking skills are pretty much rock-bottom, so they can only go up from here!

So I've been in Australia for a week now and have yet to see a koala or a kangaroo. I'm a little disappointed with that, but otherwise, it's been pretty good. It didn't get off to a great start, however.
I arrived on Sunday March 24th, and immediately had problems. At customs they decided to do a narcotics test on some of my stuff, and low and behold, they found traces of cocaine on my keyboard! I started to freak out, because I've never done cocaine, I've never even seen it in person! Because of this, and the fact that I booked my flight and bought my visa last minute, they needed to rip apart all my bags. It took me probably an hour after everyone else to get through, but finally I did, and it turned out okay. It was pretty terrifying though, I'm not sure what would have happened if they decided I couldn't come into the country. Anyways, after I got through, I got picked up and went down to Victor Harbour, where Louisa had spent the weekend. We went down to the beach for a little while, and then drove home. I was extremely jet lagged, having spent more than 40 hours in transit, and Louisa was just hungover, so we napped for hours. Even with the 4 hour nap, I slept for 14 hours that night. I must have needed it. Louisa finished school and came home before I woke up. Once I did, we went down to the beach, and had lunch, and then went to see The Hunger Games. It was a fantastic film, and there was hardly anyone in the theatre. That Monday night I slept for another 12 or 13 hours, I was still catching up I guess.
On Tuesday, while Louisa was in school, I went to the mall and had a look at all the shops, went into some travel agencies to try to get some plans formulated, and went to the doctors to try to get a prescription for some of the pills I forgot in Nairobi. I ended up making an appointment for the next day because it would have been about a 2 hour wait to get in. We both had a quiet night that night.
On Wednesday, I skyped home early in the morning, and then went to the doctors. After the doctors, I made my way down to the beach. I spent probably an hour or 2 just browsing through a used book store. That night Louisa and I went out to meet a couple of her friends for drinks.
On Thursday, we went into the city and walked through the Botanic gardens (still no koalas, but I did see a kookaburra). It was very pretty with all the big tall trees, and different flowers. We then went to Rundell Mall, which is a huge outdoor shopping centre, and found some beach chairs that we sat in and people watched for half an hour or so. We then made our way to the market. It was so interesting, and you would never expect there to be so much room in the building it was in, but there was so many vendors. After the market we walked through China Town for a bit, and then made our way home. It was a long day, so we had a quiet night that night as well.
On Friday Louisa’s father, Louisa and I went kayaking in Port Adelaide. It was awesome! We discovered my common sense is not so great sometimes, Louisa told me to stand up in my kayak, and I tried to, and consequently fell in. After struggling for a few minutes to get back in, I realized I could stand up. So we emptied my kayak and went back to the shore. After an hour or so of tanning, we were getting ready to leave and then all of a sudden I look out at the water and see 3 dolphins swimming along. Naturally we both got really excited and watched them for about 10 minutes. In total I think we saw about 6 dolphins. It was wonderful to see them in their natural environment, they are so graceful. That evening, we were supposed to go to a benefit concert about climate change, but we were both so tired we just stayed in and watched a movie. On Saturday, Louisa, Adrian (L’s brother) and I went to Comic Con. Adrian didn’t want to dress up, but Louisa went as Poison Ivy, Batman’s nemesis, and I went as Katniss from the Hunger Games. It was actually a really fun day. Lots of people got dressed up, and I felt really cheap with my simple costume and homemade bow and arrow, but a couple people recognized me, so
that was good. After Comic Con, Louisa and I went to a SAFL (South Australian Football League) game with a bunch of her friends. SAFL is a very interesting sport; it’s like a mix between rugby and football. I didn’t understand much of it, but it was fun. After the game we went to a bar for some drinks and ended up back at one of her friend’s house. All in all, it was a good day.
On Sunday, Louisa and I went to a housewarming party for a couple of her friends, and we met a lot of people. It was meant to be quiet but Louisa was still so tired from Saturday night that I had to drive home. It wasn’t much different than driving in Canada, apart from being on the left side of the road instead of the right.
Today, Monday, we have no plans, and have not done anything exciting. I’m heading to Melbourne tonight; I’m taking an overnight bus so I don’t think I’ll get much sleep. Because of that I’m just taking it easy today.

When we came down the mountain and got back to the hotel, we were all exhausted and so ready for a shower. Since I had a double room with dad though, I had to wait and shower afterwards. It was still great. Going a week without a shower just makes you appreciate it so much more.  After we all got cleaned up, we went and all got our certificates and a well-deserved celebratory Kilimanjaro beer.  The next day a big group of us went into Moshi town.  Once again, we got swarmed by the locals trying to sell us something or other. Despite that, I still really enjoyed town.  The day after that, Tuesday, 4 of us went on a safari to Tarangire National Park.  I really wanted to see a lion or leopard, but no dice. We did, however, see heaps of elephants, loads of impala, and a few giraffes, zebras, warthogs, dikdiks, and yellow monkeys. At lunch time, we were sitting at a table and looked away for 5 seconds and a monkey stole our biscuits! We were thankful it wasn’t our cameras, but I was looking forward to those biscuits. After lunch, we came across a group of elephants not 10m away from the truck.  We stopped and watched them bathing and washing themselves in a mud pool.  It was the most incredible thing. On the way home we stopped off at Kilimanjaro airport to drop off dad.  It was really sad saying goodbye to him for the second time; it was awesome to break up my trip with parts where I was with family. When we got back to the hotel, we found out the only bus to Nairobi left at 6am the next day, and not 11am as we had originally planned, so we had to pack and it was an early night.  Amy and I then took the bus from Moshi to Arusha to Nairobi, and I slept pretty much the entire way. We got to the hotel and just chilled that afternoon, I booked my flight while Amy lounged by the pool. The next day we went to the elephant and giraffe sanctuaries. At the elephant sanctuary we watched the baby elephant orphans being fed, and they were so cute! We also saw an orphaned rhino at that sanctuary as well. We then moved on to the giraffe sanctuary, where we got to feed the giraffes. They are such gentle creatures. Both Amy and I “kissed” a giraffe (we put the piece of food in our lips and the giraffe took it) and it was pretty disgusting.  We then went to do some errands, and then went back to pack. Since I booked last minute I wasn’t able to get a direct flight, or even a close to direct flight to Australia, so I’m at the Nairobi Airport now, waiting to board to go to Amsterdam. After Amsterdam I fly to Malaysia and then to Australia. Here’s to yet another long day of travelling.

I LOVE AFRICA.
I arrived in Moshi, Tanzania at about noon on March 11th, after approximately 30 hours in transit.  After picking up my stuff and taking a cab to the hotel, checking in, I promptly laid down on my bed and just passed right out until 4. Then I just laid by the pool with my book and relaxed until dinner, when I ate and then went straight to bed.  Dad came in around midnight, so I got up, it was great to see him after a little more than a month away. We skyped with my mum, and then went back to bed at around 1. After a very lazy morning, we got up and took the shuttle into town where we were rushed at by several locals all trying to sell their goods.  It was pretty crazy to see.  After touring around town for a while we came back to the hotel and went to the orphanage just down the road and gave them the pencils and notepads.  We came back to the hotel to meet our group. We had 9 people including me and my dad, and then 2 more came with us, as they were doing the same trek as were did.  We had Kim from East coast Canada, Katie from D.C., Fleur from the Netherlands, Allen, absolutely wild coincidence, is from Guelph, Caroline from Sydney, Vanessa from Sydney, and Conor from Ireland.  The two that joined us were Frank and Amy from the UK, also trekking as a father/daughter duo.
So, Day 1 was harder than I planned, we were told it was a gradual grade, but some parts seemed very steep. We covered 18 km in just about 5 hours.  Vanessa's luggage was late arriving, so we started without her, but she got to camp only about 20 minutes after us, so she must have been gunning it. I have so much respect for the porters after today, seeing them carry everyone's luggage.  It turned out that everyone was syrprised at the steepness of today's climb though, which made me feel a little better.  I'm a little worried for tomorrow though, because the guides say it is very steep.  So I'm thinking if I thought today was bad, tomorrow will be hell.  After about 15 km I was thinking "And I thought this was a good idea because...", but then I reached the Moorland, out of the rainforest , and the views are just stunning.  I saw the beginning of the peak today and it was magnificent. The altitude of our first camp is 3000m ASL and the peak is 5895 ASL, so after Day 1, we are halfway there.  I can't wait to see what day 2 brings.
Day 2: It seems I have caught some sort of "bug" up here, I'm having trouble keeping anything down. It started after dinner last night and continued on to today.  I'm not sure whether the altitude is having a hand in that though, or if it's just me.  My cough that had cleared up down in Barcelona has come back to haunt me as well, only it's much more difficult to get a good breath in order to cough.  So, needless to say, today was tough.  They weren't joking when they said it would be steep. It was: we only hiked 6km today, but nearly 1 km up in altitude. We left camp this morning at 8:30am and arrived at camp by about 2 or 2:30, so we have been relaxing all afternoon.  Our guide, Edwin, has taken everyone out to the caves, but unfortunately, I sat up and my heart-rate skyrocketed and I felt I was going to be sick, so I'm still back at camp while everyone is exploring caves.  I went over on my ankle today as well, so it's probably smarter for me to just stay and chill anyway.
Day 3: Today I felt much better.  Very fatigued due to lack of calories the day before, and maybe 1-2 hours of sleep last night, but overall much better.  However, we climbed just short of 1km in altitude, so that was tough.  We started at about 3800m and climbed to the Lava Tower at 4600. That was very difficult.  And then we started to descend, that was slow going due to the pressure on my knees and ankle. We walked through the Barranco Valley and have just stopped at about 3900m, so hoping tonight will be a better sleep.  The Barranco Valley is just beautiful, lots of little mice scurrying everywhere.  We have stopped at the ominous "Wall." It is the Barranco Wall and will be the most technical part of the climb. However, it is just after 7pm and everyone is going to bed because tomorrow will be a very long day.
Day 4: Today was rough.  It said at the beginning that people with sore throats or chest infections should not go above 3000 m. Naturally, I ignored that warning, and my cough has gotten much worse, but we are at base camp now. Today we trudged up and down, up and down, and it was not easy on my knees or ankle. We walked up the Barranco Wall (which was really awesome) and down the Karango Valley. We are now stationed at the Barafu huts at about 4500m. We are here only to rest and eat though, as we start the final ascent at midnight. The end is near, and let me tell you, it feels kind of good. Everything you do winds you up here, even just walking to the toilets. It's just about 6pm as I'm writing this, so in about 6 hours we begin the daunting task of 5895m.
Day 5: We got woken up at 11pm and got ready. For me, that meant 2 pairs of pants, 4 layers inside my coat (along with a 5th inside my day pack), a balaclava, a headband around my ears and a hat. We departed base camp of 4500m, ready to make the climb to 5895m at midnight, officially St. Patty's Day. Little did I know this would be the most taxing ordeal of my life. After about 2 hours, the altitude and fatigue were so bad for me that I had to pass my pack along to a guide. As if the nausea wasn't bad enough, my coordination was way off as well. I felt as if I was just hammered and couldn't walk or see straight. It was awful. However, if it weren't for my dad being with me and a constant support, I probably wouldn't have made it. As it was, I made it up to Stella Point for the sun rise, which was absolutely breathtaking. We then made the final trek up to Uhuru Point. It was such a rewarding experience, and I think the fact that I struggled so much just made it that much better. After a few photos we began the trek down. Seeing the slope we climbed up in the day light made me feel a little better about my struggles going up. It was so steep, and so far. Finally we made it back to camp where we all practically fell into our tents because we were all so exhausted. We slept for a little over an hour before we started our descent. All exhausted, we left again and walked for about 4 hour straight downhill from 4500m to 3100m. It was such a long day, we walked for probably 14 hours. Very rough, yet rewarding.
Day 6: Still a very steep downhill grade, we walked for only 3 hours today and made it back to the hotel by about noon. The shower I had was amazing. It was so good to go 6 days without one just so you realize how much we shouldn't take it for granted. Overall, it was just an incredible experience, and I would definitely push anyone considering doing it to just do it.

Barcelona is the most beautiful city I have been to.  The architecture is so wonderful, and the city is just gorgeous.  I could be saying that just because I didn't have to wear my winter coat at all, but I genuinely loved it.  Not that I didn't love the other cities, but I don't know, it just seemed different here.  The first day I got to Barcelona I was a little lost.  Usually at the train stations or airports they have free little maps and booklets with things to do, where to stay, the usual stuff, but not this one. So I had no idea where I was or where I wanted to go. Not a good start after a terrible nights sleep on the train. Eventually, after finding the hostels around the train station started at about 50 euros a night, I decided to take advantage of the shuttle service to Passeig de Gracia, which is the centre of the city.  I found a hostel there where all 3 nights in total were less that 50 euros. I spent the first day just walking around the neighbourhood, familiarizing myself with street names and buildings and such, and of course made a trip to the grocery store to stock up on a few items. It was an early night that night, and the other people in the room made sure it was an early morning as well, being very noisy when they packed up and left.
The second day I took the metro about halfway and walked the other half to Parc Montjuic. Essentially it is a big park with lots of gardens and museums and the Olympic Stadium on top of a huge hill.  I figured I better get some practice in walking up hill, so instead of taking the gondola up I walked it. Good news, I'm still in decent shape for Kili.  I had heard Barcelona was bad for pickpocketing, and had my first (and only so far) experience with it.  An old lady came up to me and was selling roses for the celebration of the Flamenco (or something... hahah) and it was basically a give whatever you wanted to.  I didn't understand what she was saying, so I opened up my wallet in front of her and started going through my change. She pushed my hand aside and grabbed a 0.20 euro coin, and very stealthily grabbed a 50 euro bill. Thank goodness I looked in my wallet about a minute later. I chase her down and started yelling and making a scene and she gave it back and told me to leave. I guess she figured it'd be better to shut me up then have me follow them around all day scaring all their "customers" away. I learned my lesson though, and I won't be so stupid next time. That afternoon I decided to venture down to the sea side. I walked down La Rambla which is a big street with lots of street artists, and souvenir shops and just in general really neat. I had put on my swim suit but couldn't find the actual beach, so I sat by the water front with all the boats. Of course since I was planning on going to the beach I had left my camera back at the hostel. All the fresh air really tired me out, and I was a little sick with a bad cough, sore throat, and a runny nose, so I decided rather than pushing it by going out at night I would just stay in, get lots of rest and get better for Kili.
The third day, my last day, I started out by walking back down to the sea side. I took a different route though, and saw several beautiful buildings. Eventually I got down to the sea, and typical, I found the beach but didn't bring my swim suit. It was nice just to sit on the sand in the sun though. March 9th, and I got a sun burn! Amazing. I decided that afternoon to walk to see the Spanish Arc de Triomfe. While not quite as magnificent as the one in Paris, it was still very impressive. I walked through the garden that was beside it, and it was very nice. All 3 days that I was in Barcelona were sunny, clear, blue-skies with temperatures between 15-20 degrees. I didn't get to a bull fight, which I wanted to, but I found out that the bull dies at the end of it, which I didn't think happened, so I think I'm ok that I missed out on that.

On Monday, I took the train bright and early with Jannine and William into the city.  I went to the Louvre Museum, and spent at least 4 hours there, there is way too much to see in that museum.  Naturally I had to go and see the Mona Lisa, and the Venus de Milo, but I think my favourite part was the Ancient Egypt part.  There were so many sweet sarcophagus' and tombs.  Made me wish I had lived back then so I could have had one of them.  After the Louvre, I walked down to the Notre Dame Cathedral.  It is such a beautiful church and there is so much history to it. I didn't have a chance to climb to the top of the bell towers, but that was ok, the inside of the church was beautiful enough. When we got home I had to pack again.
Tuesday was another early morning, and this time I brought all my stuff into Paris with me.  I left it at Jannine's office and took off. I went to the Trocadero Aquarium, which was pretty sweet. They had some grey tip reef sharks, nurse sharks, zebra sharks, and grey sharks. The one thing I was disappointed with there was the "touch basin".  At other aquariums that I've been to, in the touch pool they've had really cool creatures, like skates, or crabs. However, in Paris it was a koi pond, like you'd see at the Mandarin restaurant or something. Other than that though, it was pretty good.  After the aquarium, I went and walked up and down the Champs-Elysees.  Every single store was out of my budget, but it was really cool walking into stores like Cartier or Louis Vutton and just seeing everything.  I will admit, however, that window shopping isn't as much fun by yourself.  After that I went back to Jannine's office and waited until she was done work, and then we went to the train station.  I caught an overnight train from Paris to Barcelona.  There was a really annoying woman in my section, her phone kept going off like every 2 hours when we were sleeping, and she would answer and was pretty much yelling into her phone. I was not impressed. However, I'm in Barcelona now, and just trying to decide what to do, whether I want to go to the beach today or tomorrow.

Ahhhhh beau Paris!
On Friday, Jannine (mum's cousin) took the day off and showed me around Paris a little bit.  We walked down the Champs-Elysees, and walked up L'Arc de Triomphe. L'Arc de Triomphe was originally constructed to evoke terror and impose sheer military power.  It does just that.  It's a fantastic building, and a trip to Paris would not be complete without it.  After this we made a team decision to not go up the Eiffle Tower because of the weather.  Instead, we went to a free photo exhibit showing pictures of old Paris.  That evening, William (Jannine's son, my age) and I and a bunch of his friends went to the movies to see Chronicle.  Funny, I hardly go to the cinema at home, and since I've been away I've been twice.
On Saturday, it was my 19th birthday.  I had a very lazy morning, laying in bed until about 11:30.  I skyped with my parents later that afternoon, and then had to get all dressed up for the surprise Jannine and family had planned for me.  The boys were all wearing suits, and looking very handsome.  Turns out my surprise was a dinner cruise on the Seine River.  It was very beautiful to see all the buildings and monuments of Paris all lit up.  I couldn't have asked for a lovelier night.  The only thing that could have made the spectacular night even better would have been if my immediate famjam could have been there with me.
Today, Sunday, Jannine and I went into Paris again, this time with a full agenda.  We took advantage of the nice weather and right away went up the Eiffle Tower, we walked up to the second floor, which is approximately equivalent to 43 floors of something.  After that, we took the metro up to see Moulin Rouge.  We decided it was better to skip the interior though.  We walked up to see Sacre Coeur after that, but didn't go in.  We grabbed a bite to eat at a cafe, and then made our way to Pere Lachaise.  Pere Lachaise is a huge cemetary where there are no regular tombstones, only extremely extravagent ones.  A few famous people are buried here, the main one being Jim Morrison of the Doors.  Naturally we went to his tomb first.  I was expecting this huge monument, but it turned out to be very discreet..well about as discreet as you can be with flowers, cigarettes, photos, and bottles of rum all around it.

I found virtually the cheapest hostel in town, at a rate of 15 euros a night.  There were 4 bunks beds, so more room for activities. The first day in Amsterdam I tried really hard to find the Rijksmuseum, but I just kept getting so turned around so I spent until about 7pm just walking around and familiarizing myself with the area.  The next day I got up early and went to visit the Rijksmuseum (finally found it!) and I saw all sorts of neat paintings, including the famous one, "The Nightwatch". That afternoon I did something my dad has never done during the 4 times he's been to the Netherlands: went on the Heineken Brewery tour.  It was pretty sick.  That night I went out with some guys I met on at Heineken's, we did an organized Red Light District Pub Crawl.  Altogether we went to 6 pubs, all in the Red Light District, and it was actually really interesting to see it at night.  I had walked through it during the day the day before but it was much more lively at night.  The late night called for a late morning, and that afternoon I walked about 4 km in the opposite direction of all the tourist attractions, and was very happy I did it.  I walked through what was called Westerpark and it had a whole bunch of sculptures in it and it was very pretty. Eventually I was able to get to an area where I could actually breathe, no smoke in the air (cigarettes or otherwise ;) ) and it was great.  That night I went to the coolest bar in Amsterdam.  It's called the Icebar (see what I did there?).  It's a bar that's made up of 35 tonnes of ice. Even the glasses were made of ice.  We were given a coat and mittens at the door, so we were all prepared for the -10 degree climate in the bar.  In the morning I packed up (yet again) to move on to Paris.  I'm in Paris now after a long journey on the train, and thoroughly enjoint (see what I did there?) Amsterdam.

I'm sitting in a cafe in Amsterdam after spending a wonderful weekend with family in Stadskanaal. I had arrived in Holland on Friday, and was detained at customs due to my lack or organization for this trip, but I got through and arrived at my dad's cousin's place safe and sound. On Friday night my great aunt Kini and great uncle Geert came over, and although there is a language barrier, it was nice, and they tried hard.  On Saturday, Annelieke (my cousin) and I went into Gronigen to do some shopping. I finally bought a belt! Saturday evening we went to the disco. And by Saturday evening, I really mean Sunday morning. We didn't get to the disco until about midnight, and we didn't get home until about 4:30 am. Getting up Sunday was killer. On Sunday Gerjan (my cousin) and I went to this place that I can't remember the name of, it was an old military base.  We went over to Kini and Geert's for dinner afterward, and then had an early night.  I got up this morning, and packed up again.  I took the two hour train ride and have now arrived in Amsterdam. In hindsight, I've decided it probably wasn't the best idea to come to the Netherlands without the slightest background in the Dutch language.  I'm about to go search for a hostel now, I have a general idea of where it is, but not one hundred percent. Should be fun :)

That awkward moment when you realized you haven't posted on your blog in over a week...and freak out. And then that hilarious moment when you're in Holland and make a type and spell week wrong (ie weed)
So thinking way back to Scotland:
On Friday, Granny, Margaret, Andrew and I went into town and walked along the main street. We went into an art gallery as well, and saw lots of unique pieces. We met up with Helen at the Dome for lunch, and after lunch Andrew left us to go to an appointment, and the 4 girls went to the cinema to see the Descendants. George Clooney disappointed me a bit in this one, to be honest. After the cinema we just went home and had a quiet evening.

On Saturday, Margaret, Granny and I went into Curves, and tried to have a little workout. However, since I've never done the Curves circuit, I wasn't allowed to participate. I was very disappointed. For lunch, Granny and I went to visit her brother-in-law and his wife, Hamish and Jean. We spent just about all afternoon there, and when we came home it was time for me to start prepping for a big night out on the town. Helen came round and we had Chinese for tea, and then, all dolled up, we left and went to her friend's house to have a few drinks before we went out. When we went out we went to 3 different pubs. In one of them we met a few German boys who were very nice. The last one we went to was called the Dropkick Murphy's, which made me wonder whether it was named after the band or the band was named after it, or if it was just a coincidence. However, they had a great band playing, and although a very late night, it was a lot of fun.

On Sunday, a little hung over, I went for a 2 hour walk with Granny, Margaret and Andrew out to a little village called Cramond. Skyped with the 'rents when we came home, which was good. For tea, the four of us, along with Helen, went over to Nicola's. When I was 5, I was the flower girl for Nicola's wedding :) It was really good to see Nicola and Jim (her husband) again, seeing as the last time I saw them was about 5 years ago.

On Monday, Granny and I went to the shopping centre nearest Margaret and Andrew's house, and walked around there, looked at all the shops, and each bought a book, but that's it.  Monday was a very quiet day.

On Tuesday, Margaret went back to work, and Andrew went to play golf, so Granny and I had the house to ourselves in order to pack up to catch our flight back to London that afternoon.  It was a change of plans, I had originally anticipated flying straight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam, but soon found out it was a much better and cheaper option to fly out of London. 

On Wednesday, it was a rainy day, and so we had a very lazy day, reading and watching the tele.  However, Alison, Hilary Collins and Carole Casey came over for dinner, we had Chinese.  I don't usually eat Chinese at home and already since I've been away I've eaten it 3 times!

On Thursday, Denis drove us down to Portsmouth.  It was the most beautiful day by the sea, it ended up going up to 17 degrees! It was insane for a February day.  We went up the Spinnaker tower, and walked through all the shops, and had lunch by the sea.  It was an awesome day, but an early night to bed.

Today is Friday, and we had a very early start, getting out of bed at 5am. Yuck. I had to catch an 8:10am flight to Amsterdam, while Granny had a 9:30am flight to Toronto.  It was a sad farewell, at least with Granny with me I had a little bit of a comfort zone.  Now I'm out on my own, while I'm staying with family, but family I've never met before, so it's interesting, but a little scary as well. Oh boy.

Happy Birthday to Granny!
Yesterday Granny, Auntie Margaret, Helen (my cousin) and I went into North Berwick.  It was a nice day, but very chilly with that breeze off the sea.  We spent the day walking along the harbour, and up and down the main street.  It's a cute little town, and was the first thing Granny said she wanted to see once she got here.  After dinner, Granny and Margaret went off to church while Uncle Andrew, Helen and I sat down for a few games of skip-bo. It was a pretty good day.
Today it is Granny's birthday, but due to her incredibly selfless nature, she insisted on paying for lunch today! Crazy woman :P  Margaret, Andrew, Granny and I made the hour and a bit long drive to St. Andrew's (apparently a world famous golf course).  Also a cute little town, but lots of history to it with St. Andrew's Castle and Cathedral.  It was extremely warm for February, even by the sea! 

Goodbye London, Hello Edinburgh!
The last couple days in London were great, another couple trips into Kingston, and a couple nights out.  Granny told me she was a little ashamed of my brown satchel, as it had a nice big rip on the seam and the strap was falling apart, so got a new bag to complete my dress and shoe outfit from the previous trip in.  Went to a Chinese restaurant, and the waitress was quite surprised by my reply "no" when she asked if I was Asian.  Mimi and Georgia had quite a laugh at that.  But alas, it is Valentines day, and time to move on to a new country.  Packing back up was a ridiculous pain, but I figure by the time I reach Africa I'll have learned the most efficient way to pack! 

Day 1: We arrived in London Gatwick at about 9 am, aka about 4 am at home, we were exhausted.  We basically just took it easy the first day, spent a little time catching up with Uncle Denis, then went for a well-needed nap.  In the afternoon, we went with my mum's cousin Peter to pick up his 2 little girls from school, so that would make them my ...second cousins? We spent the evening catching up with Peter and his daughters Georgia and Mimi, and mum's other cousin Alison came over as well.  The first day we "took it easy," meaning 2 different pints and a vodka cranberry for me ;)

Day 2: Granny and I slept in until about 11am, I can barely do that at home!  We took the bus into Kingston, which is a little neighbourhood of London, comparable to Brooklyn or Manhattan of New York.  We shopped all day, I got a beautiful new outfit, including a dress and new flats (no room for heels in my luggage :( :( ) But the shopping tired me out, and it was an early night for me.

Day 3: Took a train into the heart of London today, and saw lots of really cool things.  We went to the changing of the guards at a horse place, it was pretty cool to see.  After that we went to the Tower of London, known mainly for it's dark and gory past.  King Henry VIII lived there, so naturally there was more than a few beheadings.  However, it was such an interesting trip, and we only really got through one of the 13 towers! I wanted to go to Abbey Road, and recreate that famous picture today, but there was just no time!

The wifi at Uncle Denis's has been down all week, which is why I haven't been able to blog sooner, and why I probably won't be able to blog until Tuesday or so when I head up to Edinburgh.

It's finally here! I'm sitting in the Pearson Airport in Toronto with my grandma, and we're just waiting for our flight.  Mum and Dad insisted we get here suuuuuuper early, so we've been here for about 2 hours already!  Very nervous, but also very excited.  Didn't help that Mum was a wreck :p I just want to get going, can't wait to get me some airline food!