A very Autumn Easter

Even though I'm on the other side of the world to my family, friends, and home country, I don't feel that far away. I guess it's mainly to do with being able to keep in touch with everyone easily, and culture-wise Australia isn't too different to England.

Pancakes, Pokemon, and surfing

Pancake Day
I've only been celebrating pancake day since my coursemates came over to mine to cook some in my second year of uni. Since then, pancake day has become a tradition for me and I enjoy cooking them and especially eating them. This year I had pancakes for lunch and dinner and they were delicious.

Happy birthday Fairy Elephant Blog

February the 8th marked four years since I first posted on this blog.

When I started blogging, my main aims were to keep a record of my study year in Malta and to improve my writing (especially as my dissertation was the following year). These four years seem to have gone incredibly fast and I'm glad I have my posts to look back on and remember all the things that have happened since I first pressed 'publish'. I don't know if my writing has improved in quality, but I definitely find it a lot easier to write now. But more than anything, I have found a hobby that I really enjoy.

Fairy Elephant Blog has seen me through graduation, several jobs, travelling Europe, and is now with me for my year in Australia. I look forward to finding out what adventures we'll be having next.

Whether you've been here from the start, or this is your first time visiting, thank you for reading my blog.

Happy birthday Fairy Elephant.

J :)

Perth (Australia) * A coffee in every city *

A coffee in every city is a travel post series giving an overview of different areas, including things to see and do if you visit. And of course the most important thing when exploring a new place is where to find a decent cup of coffee. This is just my experience of these areas and this post does not contain any #spon or #AD material.

Perth, WA, Australia. Picture source: Google Maps

From October to December last year I spent ten weeks exploring Perth and the surrounding areas. This was a nice time to visit as it is the end of Spring and the beginning of Summer, which really messed with my head, seeing as it's the complete opposite in Britain. The weather was warm and there was a lot of things going on for Halloween and Christmas.

Letter to my January 2018 self

Dear future me,

I can't believe it's 2017 already, this past year has gone crazy quick and I suspect you're saying the same about 2017 going fast. I've been wanting to do a goals or resolutions type post, seeing as it is the start of a brand new year but I don't really have any at the moment. Then I saw Musical Bethan's video Dear 23 Year Old Me, and decided to write a letter to you and ask you how the year went instead. 

I assume you're back in the UK, seeing as your Australian visa runs out in October and I would like to be home for my birthday and Christmas this year. Was Australia everything you hoped it would be and what were the highlights? Did you go to New Zealand and the Fiji Islands? How about Bali or somewhere else? Do you have any trips planned soon? 

Are you living at home? Or have you moved to Cardiff yet? Have you got a job? If not hang in there, I'm applying to jobs at the moment and it worked out then didn't it?! Please tell me something works out. I hope you're smiling and saying YES you found a job you loved, or even just any job at all. 

How's this blog doing? Next month (for you) it turns five! Did you post as much in 2017 as you intend to at the moment? Is your Instagram game still going strong? Are you still watching YouTube? What books did you read that will stick with you for years? What did you learn over the past year? Are you still interested in Myers Briggs? Do you have any new skills or talents? What podcasts would you recommend I listen to? I know, it doesn't work like that.

What's the world like in 2018? Is the UK still a part of the EU? How is the USA doing? Has the real world caught up with the corner of the internet that treats people equally and with respect, whatever their gender, sexuality, race, nationality, physical abilities, mental abilities, the list goes on and on. I really hope so, it's about time already.

Now that you're back home I hope you've kept the same spirit you have when you travel. I hope you have confidence in your immediate and longer term future, even if you don't have it all figured out. Don't choose a path just because it seems easy or it seems what is expected of you. You've made it this far following your own heart and mind. You may not have a career plan but you know exactly what you do want from life, you just have to go for it. I believe in you.

From the Sunday the 8th of January 2017 you,

J :)

2016 round-up

The past two years I've done a picture round-up post showing what I got up to. You can find them here: 2014, 2015.

This year has gone by so fast. It feels like only a few months ago I was making the 2015 round-up post. And yet again so much has happened. This year saw even more travelling, which was kicked off with a trip to Bali and Amsterdam at the end of March. I started a new job working at festivals and events which was challenging yet rewarding. It also meant I got to see more of the UK and managed to see Frank Turner at Reading Festival again and this time he played Four Simple Words, which made me very happy. At the beginning of October me and my sister Amy set out on our current adventure travelling around Australia. Just before Christmas I celebrated my 25th birthday by climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge and finally I ended the year watching the Sydney NYE fireworks.

Here's my highlights from the past year:

Jan: Burned my old uni work and school work on a bonfire; Mar: Got paid to defend the VIP carpark from people in massive cars at my first event; Mar-Apr: Trip to Amsterdam and Bali; May: Busted gig with support acts Wheatus and Emma Blackery, then a trip to Watford with my bffs to visit the Harry Potter Studios #hufflepuffpride; July: My childhood dream of becoming a pokemon trainer became a reality; Oct: Started my Aussie adventure in Perth; Nov: Met a quokka at Rottnest Island; Dec: Survived a quarter of a century and climbed a bridge.

J :)

Off to Kalamunda we go

After exploring Perth for over a month, including a stay in Fremantle Prison (The Spookiest Halloween), and without much luck on the job front, it was about time for a change. I convinced Amy that we should look into finding work in exchange for accomodation by signing up to Helpx. Through there we found a lovely couple to stay with in Kalamunda and so off we were on our next adventure.

Weeding, cafes, and dog fuss | My week in pictures #2

Here's a look back at my week in pictures.

MONDAY 28TH NOVEMBER
I had a day off from my helpx work so I went for some lunch in the park, then headed to the Chatterbox Cafe for an iced coffee with cream and ice-cream. Yum! The cafe is opposite The Best Drop Tavern, which me and Amy became regulars at during our short stay in Kalamunda. 

Invasion of the cows.

When you visit Australia you are warned about all the strange creatures you may encounter. Anyone who's visited Perth in the last few weeks will have noticed something very peculiar indeed. An abundance of multi-coloured cows have swamped the city.

I love a good treasure hunt so a few weekends ago I went out in search of the painted cows with my map in hand.

The spookiest Halloween

Halloween is about dressing up, having fun, and most of all having a good scare! To me it's also about crunchy leaves, hot chocolates, and general Autumny goodness, but this year it was spent in Australia so it was Spring instead (don't even get me started on Christmas in Summer).


This year I managed to fit a lot of spookiness into the days surrounding Halloween. First off, I went to the Perth Zombie Walk, which included a walk around Northbridge with lots of zombies, in order to raise money and awareness for the Brain Foundation. Some costumes were so realistic, it felt like being in The Walking Dead.

I think it's about time for a life update

It's been seven months since my last blog post and so much has happened. Last time you heard from me, I was at Hong Kong airport about to fly to Bali to do turtle conservation. I'd been wanting to do a programme like that for as long as I can remember and it was exactly what I needed, when I needed it.

Looking back at how far I've come (6031 miles to be precise)

Eight years ago 16 year old me was worried about getting the bus to Cheltenham on my own for work experience in case I got off at the wrong stop and got lost. Now I'm in Hong Kong airport waiting for my flight to Bali.

I always dreamed about travelling the world, I remember playing a world explorer game on the computer as a kid. But the thing is I never actually believed I would. I spent hours researching conservation projects abroad but didn't believe I had the confidence or capability to ever actually do it. Now here I am, aged 24 and doing exactly that!

J :)

Lost in London

Anyone who's ever travelled by train in the UK will know that things don't always go to plan. Considering I've been using trains for the past six years, I've managed to avoid the dreaded replacement bus. Until now. But more into that later, lets start at the beginning of the day, shall we?

I didn't actually take any pictures this time, so here's one from my trip last year.

My reason for visiting London this time was to see my lovely friend Georgia, who I went to university with. So last weekend I hopped on a train to London Paddington, enjoying the free WiFi and watching the English countryside zoom past. 

When I arrived I had a brief look on my phone to work out how to get to my friends house, decided on the route I thought would be simplest and jumped onto an underground train. I slowly realised that the train was terminating early due to some works going on, and ended up at Kings Cross station instead. It was then that I found out my phone had no signal or internet connection, even when I went above ground!

The songs I live by

Nothing beats a good tune, especially one with a positive message. So I've picked out some of the songs that help me along this rocky road we call life. If you want to listen along, there's a playlist here.

Yes, I am one of those annoying people who likes to plaster a Pinterest worthy quote against an unrelated yet attractive photo.

If Harry Potter is my bible then these are my hymns, in no particular order:

It's my Life - Bon Jovi
If you ever need the motivation to go out and live life to the fullest, then this is the one for you. Basically, it's along the lines of 'YOLO', "I ain't gonna live forever, I just want to live while I'm alive". As well as reminding us to follow our own path, "like Frankie said I did it my way", thanks Frankie (whoever you are*).

Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge | January 2016

This month I decided to take part in Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge. I really enjoyed coming up with ideas to match each days prompt, as well as seeing what other people were posting. I posted my pictures to Instagram with #fmsphotoaday, but you can also post them to the Facebook group.

Here's a selection of the photos I came up with:

Left to right: Black + White (day 1); Simplicity (day 26); Faceless (day 17); Close-up (day 14); Flat Lay (day 30); Telephone (day 27)

In doing this challenge, I found a great community of people all taking part, whether they were posting every day, or just the odd one here and there. I set myself the goal of creating a photo for every prompt in January and I'm quite pleased with the outcome. (I've been showing my pictures to anyone who'll listen!) Although I won't be posting every day now, I will continue to check the hashtag on Instagram and will occasionally follow the prompts.

Check out my Instagram to see what photos I came up with for the other days. If you've been taking part in this challenge, leave your username in the comments below so I can have a nosy at your pictures!

J :)

Coconut oil - the miracle beauty product

You may think 'miracle' is an over-exaggeration, but seriously, this stuff is so good. I've used it for a few years now, but only recently have I found out the full extent of it's powers.

What coconut oil do I use? Superdrug's own brand

Superdrug coconut oil - suitable for vegetarians and vegans - BUAV (leaping bunny) approved.

If you live somewhere cold like me, then the coconut oil is generally going to be in solid form. I either spoon a bit out and warm it between my palms until it melts, or put the tub in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes.

So what can coconut oil be used for?

Plans for 2016

Since I gave my shop job up in November and my elf job has finished with Christmas, I've ended up with lots of spare time. I'd like to put this time to good use by volunteering somewhere locally.

Then in April I'm visiting Bali to do some turtle conservation and to teach kids English. I've wanted to do some conservation work abroad for nearly a decade so it'll be great to finally tick this off my bucket list.

From Bali I'll fly to Amsterdam, where I'll meet my sister in time for Kings day. We had great fun celebrating this Dutch holiday last year at the start of our European adventure. You can find my King's day post here, and Amy's here.

The next two points on my 'to do list' are more general goals. I used to draw a lot when I was younger so I'd like to get back into that. I'd also like to blog more than I have in previous years and learn some more programming languages. My mum recently taught me how to make crochet hearts so I'd like to have a go at trying some other patterns.

2015 round-up

Check out last years round-up.

So much has happened this year! The biggest thing that I did was to go travelling around Europe for six weeks with my sister Amy, where we visited eight different countries. I also went off to Reading festival on my own in the summer. In November I'd been working in my retail job for a year, and ended up handing my notice in two weeks later. I got a temporary job as a grotto elf, where I got to entertain children and talk about Christmas all day. And finally I turned 24.

Here are my highlights in pictures:

Jan: My sister's graduation; Feb: Spent a few days in London; March: girly weekend with my uni friends; April: weekend in Cardiff with my school friends; April-June: Europe; August: Reading festival; Oct: Met Carrie Fletcher at Cheltenham Lit Fest; Nov: Road trip to Salisbury to deliver a Christmas shoe box; Dec: Worked as an elf and spent my 24th birthday ice skating.

J :)

Meet Ivy Snowflake

This is Ivy, a young elf who has always dreamed of leaving Lapland and travelling the world, just like the humans she watches on TV. This year she's finally got her wish of adventuring into the unknown by earning a spot on Santa's pre-Christmas visit team. 

So Ivy, what elf can you tell me about yourself?
My favourite thing to do is ice-skating. There's nothing better than gliding across the frozen lake back home when there's snow falling. I also love a good snowball fight with my younger siblings. I've got 8 sisters, all younger than me. Elves tend to have bigger families than humans.

How did you get picked to be on Santa's team?
I actually applied the previous year and was unsuccessful so I was working in a factory that makes Christmas cards. Back in August I received a phone call from one of Santa's personal assistants asking if I'd come to an interview. Of course it was an offer I couldn't refuse. After the interview and a bit of paper work, I was invited to a training day and got to meet Santa. It was very exciting.




What does the job involve?
I talk to the children whilst they are waiting to see Santa, and then take them through. I also take a picture of the children with Santa, so they can remember their visit. 

Autumn is coming | BEDS 3

The nights are drawing in, the cold is approaching, and summer is coming to a close. But fear not, Autumn is on the way and there's a lot to be excited about.

Big, baggy, woolly jumpers - there's nothing better than curling up in a baggy jumper on a cold evening in front of the TV.

Hot chocolate - it's always a good time for hot chocolate, but Autumn makes it feel that extra bit special.