Task #19 - Graduate College!

Sorry I haven't updated anything in a while but I was a little busy working on my final project because I graduated. Last week actually. I studied Interior Architecture at the Marbella Design Academy for three years, and now it's done. For the past year I was working on my Final Project which was a Safari Lodge and Spa. You can check out the 3D work for the project here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UupO0cp0zAc&feature=youtu.be

My exhibition on the right.

Then graduation was the week after! Both my parents and my boyfriend flew up to celebrate and it was a super fun party! We had an exhibition set up and then I was called on stage and given my diploma! Crazy, right? Adulthood - boom! 

My classmates and I after our presentations

My classmates, professor, and I after graduation

Hopefully now I will have a little more time to blog, travel, and get some things checked off my ever growing list. Thanks to Pinterest I keep discovering places daily that I want to visit.... This list is getting longer and longer....

Task #17: Visit Pompeii

About three or fours year ago I learnt about Pompeii. A town at the base of Mt Vesuvius near Naples, Italy - which was completely covered by the mountains volcanic eruption in AD 79. No one knew the town existed until about the 17th century and when they started to excavate they found that the lava and ash had basically protected the buildings from decay. Not only that, but the lava had basically provided a cast around human bodies. So when the scientists started digging around they found bodies that had been buried for almost 2000 years and where left in a cast. I was fascinated by this and when my Dad asked me what is my top destination in Europe, I immediately said Pompeii!

So last week, my parents and I flew to Naples to explore the Amalfi Coast, Capri, and of course Pompeii. It was a wonderful week exploring the area. But, without a doubt, Pompeii was the highlight!

We got there early (around 9am) and set about exploring - no one else was there! It was fantastic! There  were houses of all classes, an amphitheater, stores, and parks. They also had a lot of artifacts on display, which included pots from houses and also some human casts on display. It was so eerie to realize that an entire civilization was wiped out by one volcanic eruption.

Some of the human casts were in positions of terror, there was even a cast of a dog. It's a beautiful place and I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to be transported back to the first century AD.....

Hopefully, I'll return and be put under Pompeii's spell once again...

Task #16: Donate Blood

This may be a weird task to have on my bucket list, but I felt that donating blood was a relatively easy good deed to do. I could not have been more wrong. My whole quest to give blood began about a year ago, when I was back home in Sydney for Christmas. The Red Cross kept advertising for blood donors, and I thought why not? I'd always been healthy, and as far as I was aware I had no diseases or any reason to not donate. So I filled out an application form and made an appointment. When I went to the interview stage with the nurse everything went well until she asked me where I currently lived - my reply South Africa. Which she immediately replied that I could not donate because I "most likely had HIV/AIDS". So, you can all imagine my shock, after being educated multiple times on this topic that a certified nurse was telling me that I could contract AIDS from sharing a toothbrush with people who did have the disease.

Needless to say I was devastated, not only that I couldn't donate, but that I was so offended by the Red Cross personnel. Then, I was in Mallorca about 5 months later and saw a Red Cross bus that would stop in various places around the city, so I tried my luck again.... Unfortunately, this time I couldn't donate because I had been taking medication that could affect my blood (Roaccutane), this time I wasn't as disappointed because it was a legitimate reason.

Finally, (and here comes the victorious part) I was in Madrid and saw the Red Cross bus driving around. I knew I hadn't taken Roaccutane in a while so I was in the clear. I was so excited when the doctor accepted my application and I was cleared to give blood! The nurse hooked me up to the machine and in a second blood began draining from my body. I felt like I was being converted into a vampire.... They took almost half a litre of blood, and the whole process was over in 10 minutes....

At the end, I was given strict instructions for the next 24 hours and a Fanta to get some sugar... However, I fainted regardless. Of course, the doctors freaked out and began taking off my coat and putting ice on my body to "shock my system". Keeping in mind that it was about 10 degrees outside, my system was shocked very quickly...

Other than that I managed to do my good deed, and managed to cross another task off my bucket list... Only about 50 to go...

Task #15 - Visit Lalibela's Churches

According to UNESCO, Lalibela Ethiopia should be visited as soon as possible because the sun and weather is slowly starting to disintegrate the churches. I spent New Years 2013 there with my family and it was such an inspiring trip. We met so many friendly people along the way. Ethiopia is a very proud, religious country and we were fortunate enough to be included in some celebrations in the lead up to Christmas. They were so exciting and I felt very honoured to be included in them.

Ethiopia is famous for coffee so I tried to see if I could make some - Ethiopian style. It was fun and very specific about the steps needed to be taken before serving the coffee.

 We met a lot of wonderful people along the way, including these two girls who ran to the van we were in to say hi!

 This woman had never seen her photo before, so she gave me a big kiss and hug when she saw it!

I tried my hand at drumming, which is done during most celebrations.

Here are some of the churches, the most famous one is St George's (left). King Lalibela built them into the ground and carved them out, taken a very long process. His churches are breath taking! I would highly recommend to anyone to visit this place ASAP.

 It was a pure joy to experience this beautiful, vibrant, and diverse country. Hopefully, I'll be back to visit soon!

Task #13 - Spend New Years Eve in Sydney

It sounds weird, doesn't it? I am Australian so why have I never seen the Sydney NYE Fireworks in person? Who knows, but this year I put my foot down and thought that 2013 should start properly - which in my mind is; a glass of champagne, camera in hand, looking over the entire Sydney Harbour and City counting down to midnight.

Sydney definitely knows how to begin a New Year! There were the preliminary fireworks for the kids at 9pm and then the important ones at midnight! It was a terrific place to be and the fireworks were great. Some of them were being let off from the tops of buildings, the harbour bridge, and barges along the river.

The theme this year was "embrace" and the key colours of the fireworks were yellow, red, and crimson. It was fun and most definitely a good way to start 2013 off! Let's hope the rest of the year is just as awesome! Happy New Year to everyone!

Task #11 - Visit Ireland

I've always been fascinated with the thought of Ireland. A different country to visit, with a lot of culture and history, and even more beer! In my mind it is the land of green pastures, leprechauns, Guinness, & pots of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I traveled to Dublin this weekend to see if any of that was true. It was amazing! The Irish celebrate Christmas in the most amazing way and Dublin is such a vibrant, historical city. There was Christmas lights on every corner and so many people dress up in some very ridiculous costumes to celebrate this festive time of year! I saw this one girl who had spiked her hair up into a cone, spray painted it green and then covered it in tinsel & lights - it was awesome!

Basically my time in Dublin was spent walking, being in awe of the amount of shops they have there, looking at the Christmas lights, and also drinking Guinness! It is a beautiful city, although a tad chilly, but it is filled with surprises on every turn.

I wish I could've spent more time there exploring the countryside. I caught a glimpse of it when flying in and out of Dublin and it is very green so it lived up to my expectations! :)

Next time I go back, I'll be on the hunt for a leprechaun and that pot of gold!

Task #9 - Go On A Road Trip

Hey Bloggers! I'm sorry I haven't been posting things in a while, been a tad busy. But one of my latest ventures that I can remove from my bucket list is to go on a road trip!

My boyfriend and I decided to go and check out the Drakensberg region of South Africa. It's about halfway between Johannesburg and Durban and it's a massive mountain range. So it's ideal for outdoor people! :)

We decided to spend five days there and stay in different places along the way so we could see and experience as much as possible! Our plan was to stay at the Amphitheatre (cool mountain lodge place) the first night, then move down to Champagne Valley, and finally end up in Mooi River!

The plan did work, for the most part - it decided to snow! Normally the snowy week happens in July, but of course this year it decided to happen in August. ALL of the highways were closed once we got to our checkpoint at Harrismith.... Including the important main highways from Joburg to Durban.... It was crazy. We quickly booked ourselves into an inn in Harrismith and then made plans with our other accomodation to scoot everything back by a day. So it was a great start! But still, it was awesome, especially to see SNOW in AFRICA!!!! :)

The next morning we woke up to find that most of the roads were still closed but we managed to take back routes to the Amphitheatre! We spent a freezing night up in the mountains, but it was beautiful! :) Looked so much like the Alps! The following morning we decided to go on a hike up the Amphitheatre, because of the snow the hiking trail wasn't cleared properly, so we were literally walking in each others footprints on the edge of a very high mountain!!! I was scared, I won't lie!

After surviving we made our way through Champagne Valley and then finally reached Mooi River. We stayed at this beautiful lodge where the rooms are actually individual treehouses! :) Upon arriving, we were told that because of the 1m of snow, there was no electricity or water.... we had food and candles, so it was a fun night, consisting of candlelit dinner and flashlight billards :) But it was beautiful, our treehouse had an unobstructed view of the Drakensberg and it was magnificent....

 
Needless to say, it wasn't the trip we were expecting with a few issues and delays, but it was so worth it. The Drakensberg looks so much better with snow!!!! 

Task #8 - See the Gorillas

If you believe in evolution you will believe that humans are directly related to apes.

I got the privilege this year (July 2012) to see the endangered Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda! What an experience! There are only about 700 gorillas left in the wild and they are very well conserved. In the national park in Rwanda where you can find these gorillas only 80 people are allowed in per day to track various gorilla families of which only 8 people are in each group. Once you find these massive animals, one gets only an hour to take as many Kodak memories as possible!

My family and I tracked the Agashya group. Consisting of about 25 members all up and one set of one year old twins! And they are exactly like how the youngsters in Tarzan where - rolling around, climbing trees, eating, etc. There is one silverback in the group and eight adult females (greedy silverback!). I felt like Jane, just without the yellow dress, umbrella, and high heels!

They are beautiful, calm creatures - there only tasks in life is to eat, sleep, and play! Not a bad life to live. Watching them in their natural habitat was extraordinary, especially knowing that these apes might not be around in 50 years... Its daunting but so magical. A once in a lifetime experience (because thats all our wallets can handle!), but so worth it, just to see such a powerful and famous animal without any cages or fencing in-between (literally 5m away from the family!)

 

Make sure bloggers that you put this one on your bucket list, its worth it! Till next time :)

Task #7 - Go to a Drive-In

I think it's safe to say that most people adore that "Grease" era - the 50s. A time where dates didn't consist of dinner following a movie, but actually where dinner was eaten in front of a movie being projected at the drive-in.

It's cute and classic so I had it on my bucket list just to experience something that wasn't typical from my generation. In Johannesburg there is a drive-in called Velskoen Drive-In and unfortunately it is shutting down and moving elsewhere. So we had to race to go and see the final showings. It was pretty cool, being able to stay in the comfort of your own car, eat as much food as you want, play on the playground (which I didn't do but it was an option) and tune in to a frequency to listen to the film being shown.

 I had so much fun and it was such an experience. It's sad to think that in 20 years time there will probably be no more drive-ins to visit!

Task #6 - Visit Bilbao

Bilbao is famous for the Guggenheim Museum. It's a massive structure made out of metal and stone to form an art gallery where the building is an artwork in itself.

I decided to check out this Northern "Spanish" city for a weekend and what I found was exactly the opposite to what I was expecting.

For starters - I was told because Bilbao was an industrial hub back in the day so I was told it is filthy! Those people were incredibly wrong. Granted - one can tell that smog can collect there but it was very clear when I visited. It's a city where things are SO different from each other that they somehow work. A renaissance style building right next to a bright Art Deco building - yet they contrast each other so much that it makes them seem like they fit! It's rather spectacular.

Secondly, I have no idea why but I was expecting the Guggenheim to be small. Quite the contrary! It is a massive building and it really stands out from everything else. The artwork inside is rather amazing as well. It completely messes with your head. The first exhibition are iron sculptures made by the artist Richard Serra. He makes these massive sculptures that are kind of like mazes but they make you incredibly confused. There is an entire floor dedicated to David Hockney who basically creates smaller images and pieces them together to make jigsaw puzzle-like landscapes. It's pretty fascinating!

Bilbao is a good place to visit for a weekend and you can see everything in 48 hours! So a very easy stop over for anyone up North :)

Task #5 - Chalk my Hair

It's the best invention - a crazy colour that can be put in your hair and then washed out the next time you shower. Chalk!!! My friend and I saw all these amazing photos on the internet of people trying it, and although our hair did not look as elegant and pretty afterwards it sure did look pretty cool.

My Blue Hair!!!!

Besides it was "colouring in" our hair :) I definitely think that hairdressers should offer this as an option of dye :)

 If anyone else feels the need to try this out you can find a tutorial on: http://thebeautydepartment.com/2012/01/chalk-it-up/

Keep checking in <3

Task #4 - Sleep under the stars

Despite all my adventures, I've never gone camping. I'm more of a hotel - or at least a proper bed - kind of girl, but I wanted to make an exception.... So, rather than sleeping in a tent outside in nature, I slept outside on my terrace with my friends, Kate, Heidi, & Malin. We got some wine and set up some blankets and mattresses and fell asleep.

It was beautiful, saw so many stars and we could even see a few planets! It was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had! Waking up in the middle of the night and having the stars right there was unbelievable. It was such a calming experience and one of the best sleeps I've ever had.

Morning Sunrise

My village at 7am

I'm recommending it to everyone! Such a terrific thing to have on your bucket list!!!

 My bed for the night! :)

Keep checking for more updates :)