Jet lagging

Flying in over Melbourne at 7am

I've touched down on the other side of the world, and I've been here for 24 hours now.

I flew with Qantas with a stopover in Dubai, and the flight was pretty good. It was quiet, so I had a whole row to myself, which was great as it meant I could actually get some sleep! The service was awesome as well - good food and non stop snacks. I watched a few movies, but mostly tried to sleep, so it wasn't much of an ordeal.

None the less, by the time I got off at Melbourne, I was wiped out. They're pretty strict with customs and passport control there, so getting through to baggage reclaim was a bit stressful. I woke up a bit once I saw my aunt and uncle, and actually did quite well during the day, although I was probably a bit spaced out. By 4.30 I was asleep on the sofa, and by 9 I was in bed!

This morning, I got up about 5, and I checked in with everyone in the UK. Today will probably be a pretty lazy day, but I'm so excited to be here and we've got a lot planned.

Although the weather's not brilliant now, we're expecting it to brighten up quite quickly, and Gisborne is such a pretty place that it doesn't matter whether it's sunny or not!

The plan is to go into the city tomorrow, and on Monday, we're going to healesville animal sanctuary, so I'll update Everyone after that.

Stay tuned,

Em

Enter Graduates

Waiting for the ceremony to start... Mortar board and all.

So I feel as though the last two weeks have been about two days. It's like the days are tripping over themselves to get here, and I'm running out of time to get everything done. Since finishing work a week and a half ago, I've spent five days in Devon, (where admittedly, we did a lot of sitting around and watching TV), taken a trip to Cheltenham, graduated and celebrated with my friends, some of whom I won't see again for a long while.

I've started packing my suitcase for Tuesday, and I've also been trying to sell my car, so I feel as though I've been run off my feet! Even though it's been stressful, I've been glad to be keeping busy, although the odd day to relax, write or paint is always nice, especially since I'll probably be even busier very soon.

Graduation was so much fun. Although I was apprehensive about the ceremony, and really nervous, we all had a real blast and it was so great to see everyone one last time. We spent the whole evening in our favourite pub, and even though I don't drink, it was a lot of fun watching everybody get more and more unsteady on my feet. It's a shame I didn't have my camera to hand.

Shaking hands with the Vice Chancellor... or the Pro Chancellor. I didn't know him, anyway.

I was really grateful to Tom, who's putting me up in Singapore in April, for letting me stay overnight in his flat, and we went for coffee and breakfast early the morning after, despite the fact we didn't go to sleep until 2am! It was great to catch up with him too, and the next time I see him will be on the other side of the world.

I was so pleased to have my family around me, and so so proud of all my friends who graduated with me, especially my darling friend Becca, who won the creative writing award for enthusiasm and hard work.

Becca with her award.

My flight to Australia is at 10.30pm on Tuesday, flying from Heathrow, and happily there doesn't appear to be any snow on the forecast. I'm really excited to get going, and although I haven't been able to save as much money as I wanted to, thanks to the generosity of my grandparents, so long as I'm careful, I'll have plenty to keep me going. Expect my next blog from Melbourne, and I'll keep everyone updated!

Roll on Tuesday,

Em