G’Day Mate! How’re you going?

After spending a year in Australia, I’m delighted to be back in Nottingham and re-joining the team at Perfect Motion. The summer’s already shaping up to be a busy one, with nine Sunrise City 5k events, Cycle Live and Pedal for Scotland, amongst other events, to prepare for.

This time last year I was heading to the airport with my passport, two bags, and a vague plan in mind. First things first, my boyfriend and I hired a campervan (like I’m sure all ‘travellers’ do) and over the next three months we made our way up the East coast, from Melbourne to Cairns.

The scenery is unreal, there are beaches at every turn and plenty of opportunities for exploring, sunbathing and ‘barbies on the beach’. I’m in love with the wildlife out there and have a list of every animal I’ve seen in Australia. A personal highlight was snorkelling with seals – they’re extremely playful, just like puppies in the water.

Travelling then led on to farm work – three months of grading potatoes and picking edible flowers. Farming is hard, let me tell you, but soon enough we were done and on to the final stop…Melbourne.

Melbourne may not have a famous bridge or a mighty opera house like Sydney does, but boy oh boy can they serve up good food. Brunch is a daily activity and meeting friends for drinks after work is the norm. Life. Was. Good!

At the end of March, my time was up and I was boarding a plane back home, excited to see family and friends but sad to be leaving the Aussie life behind. This past year has been a whirlwind and, whilst it was completely amazing, I’m now more than ready for a new challenge…