I T I N E R A R Y 2014/15

I have returned! 

To my blog that is.. Not the country.. I haven't left yet.

On the subject of leaving.. Would you like to know where I'm going?

Get ready to follow me on my adventures...

T o n g a

A u s t r a l i a

B a l i

B o r n e o

M a l a y s i a

T h a i l a n d

L a o s

C a m b o d i a

V i e t n a m

B u r m a 

A u s t r a l i a 

T o n g a 

WHEN am I leaving? Well that is to be revealed ;)

Also I saw this quote today and it's rather wonderful.. 

"Believe

Live the moment 

as if today is all we truely have.

Let a little sunshine out as well as in 

to create your own rainbows.

Believe in your heart...

something wonderful is about to happen."

Peaceeeee ~

Who is this little adventurer you may ask? (Adventurer is definitely a word)

                     

Well hi there. I'm Hayley; A 5ft 2" British girl born in England and baptised in Australia. Yes it matters. 

I know I have introduced myself before on my blog, but I felt it was time to give you guys a bit more of a personal insight. 

Since I was little I have travelled quite a bit; my parents are divorced but both enjoy seeing more of the world. With my dad we used to go camping. a lot. Hense my boyish side (I used to climb trees and build forts)

A few years ago we travelled through France and Spain from England camping our way down in some awesome places. (Take a look at Granada!)

I grew up as quite a tom-boy; I used to make mud pies, I had slow worms (theyr'e neither worms or slow) and drive my brother round in our toy jeep (I was a pretty cool kid).

At the moment I've racked up quite a few adventures, however for me it is definitely about the experiences and people you meet rather than the stamp on your passport (although they are pretty awesome). What have I got in my bank of memoirs you ask? Well; I've co-hosted a radio show live to a whole country one evening, accompanied a young boy to a hospital after he sawed his finger off and a group of us piled into a car and played charades at the hospital (not the boy as he would be at a slight disadvantage), Elise and I hired mopeds in Tonga and were almost ravaged by wild dogs, I have jumped into a fresh water cave that I could not see the bottom of (not only was it really dark but I had also lost my glasses) and I've woken up in the middle of the night with a giant cockroach on my neck. Brilliant experience, I'm TERRAFIED of bugs. I can't even look at cockroaches without almost passing out in terror.

I am starting a new journey hopefully in November this year (2014) and i want to use my blog to keep people updated, as well as offer friendly and hopefully humorous advice (no promises) and just generally show people my photography and what I'm up to!

My blog is my views only and I hope to give realistic perspectives and honest stories.

Some of you may or may not know that last February I decided to retract my university place and grab the chance of travelling with both (tiny) hands. This could be brave/crazy/stupid. But hey, if you don't take chances you'll never know! I'm going to be doing some of my journey alone and some with my (also tiny) travel companion Elise - who joined me on some of my travels last year. 

To give you an idea, Elise and I went into STA a few days ago. They have been helping us plan our itinerary (totally recommend by the way, they are so helpful!) and the guy we were talking to said I have one of the craziest itinerarys he has ever seen. (I for some reason was proud of this) oh and he also mentioned that if I return he would offer me a job straight away based on my itinerary. (It was a good day, we also went ice skating)

I'm going to leave you in a bit of suspense and tell you my full itinerary in my next post (evil. I know.)

But until then, I'm off to drink some tea and walk my bulldog. I've planned to read about the royals later, have a beer and get seriously rained on then proceed to moan about the weather. Just kidding.. It's rather sunny today.

Hayley

My Travel Bucket List...

1) Visit elephant sanctuary
2) Climb a mountain (even a little bit!)
3) Travel the east coast of Australia
4) See monkeys in the wild in Borneo
5) Trek through a rainforest
6) See Uluru
7) See the stars at night in the outback
8) Visit Cooper pedy underground
9) Snorkel/ Scuba in the Great Barrier Reef
10) Visit Byron Bay
11) Go to Rio carnival
12) See the blue mountains
13) Hawaii
14) Travel in a converted van
15) See the Grand Canyon
16) Inca Trail
17) Surf
18) Alaska
19) Northern Lights
20) Eiffel Tower
21) Niagara Falls
22) Rome and make a wish in the Trevi fountain
23) The Amazon
24) Morocco (Done once with mother but want to go again!)
25) Help make my own hut
26) Travel the pacific islands
27) Go on the radio in another country (Done this once but really hoping i can do this again!)
28) Learn Tongan
29) Work in Adelaide
30) Travel Europe (Went straight to the other side of the world - madness)
31) Actually manage to swim with whales (tried last year.. too slow.. nearly drowned.)
32) See the sunset in Burma
33) See the Bali rice fields
34) Swim in an infinity pool
35) Cameron Highlands
36) Have Christmas on the beach

37) Be in Tonga which is situated on the international date line and be in the first country to enter 2015

38) (Attempt to) do Yoga in Bali 

39) Meet Ketut in Bali

Tips for Tonga - Top five things to see and do

So, you arrive on the beautiful paradise island that is The Kingdom of Tonga; but where do you begin when it comes to making the most of your trip?

Well here's my top five things I totally recommend that you check out on and around the island of Tongatapu!

1) First stop? The Talamahu market in the center of town - Here you can pick up any bits you may need such as: fresh fruit and vegetables, shoes and clothes and even beautiful handmade local treasures. I recommend you invest in one of the pretty wrap around skirts upstairs in the market, they're amazingly low priced and keep you cool and protected from the sun throughout the day!

Talamahu Market is also the perfect place to get a first hand experience of the unique culture that is highly valued and mightily protected in Tonga. Also you will get a chance to engage with the people who are the kindest I have ever met - hence being called 'The Friendly Islands!'

The moped i rented from Friends
to explore the island

2) Friends café is also a must visit. Not only do they provide delicious meals and a friendly, relaxed atmosphere but you can also rent a scooter here and explore the whole island for an amazing price! I would suggest heading over towards Houma and taking a look at the amazing Mapu'a 'a Vaea blowholes - its a spectacular sight as the water hits the natural coral rocks and spouts up to 18 meters into the air!

Milkshake from Friends Cafe in
Nuku'alofa

Whilst in Tonga i would say take the opportunity to turn off your phone and keep off social network and enjoy your incredible surroundings. However, if like me you enjoy capturing the beauty in photographs and sending them for others to enjoy, then you can get wifi at friends; Plus you can enjoy a yummy milkshake while your at it! 

A Whale!

3) I love nature and wildlife so something you should definitely save some money for is a trip with Deep Blue Diving. They are based at Faua Wharf and it is really easy to get to here from the main town - Nuku'alofa. We took a quick taxi which was cheap and the driver was really chatty and helpful.

The guys are so nice and friendly at deep blue and the views are amazing! The perfect season for this is around August; you can take a swim in the middle of the ocean and try to keep up with the whales for an amazing sight! 

Big Mama's Yacht Club

Islands in the distance

4) If you really want to get a feel for a tiny island paradise head over to the wharf and catch a boat over to Pangaimotu. The boat ride takes approximately no more than 30 minutes and you can watch the wharf go into the distance as a new tiny Utopian setting appears. You arrive at 'Big Mama's Yacht Club' here you can get a delicious lunch (I had a burger and chips!) and then snorkel in the beautiful crystal clear waters. The fish and coral are like nothing I have ever seen before and we spent hours swimming around watching all the beautiful creatures in this other world. However, I would recommend some sort of sea shoes as the coral can be very sharp! Also if you feel up to it you can walk around the island in about 20-30 minutes, we saw some shipwrecks and some really interesting birds. 



5) Attend a church service. The singing is incredible and the service is beautiful. There are usually many beautiful exotic flowers intricately arranged specially for the Sunday mass and everyone wears their Sunday best. Even if you do not attend church regularly i really recommend you attend one of these services, it is a really amazing experience and the singing is unlike anything i have ever heard before. The songs are definitely one of the things i miss most about Tonga.


Some Advice! Be prepared for all sorts of noises in the night: dogs barking, church bells, cars, lorries, and cockerels. However don't worry! You do get used to it very quickly.
Above all else, just enjoy yourself, welcome the relaxed laid back culture and embrace the slower paced island lifestyle. 

Some of my favorite snaps from 2013