Destination Dreaming: Ios, Greece

Sunset from Francesco's Hostel

One of my favourite stops on my trip last year was on the small greek island of Ios!

A week spent there could either be more then or not nearly enough time to get your head around the the madness this island contains! But if you look past the drunken craziness of the nightlife and even daytime antics, Ios is quite a beautiful place with historical sights, quadbike trails to remote beaches and delicious food! 

But what made this island a favourite of mine, was a sunset like this every night.

What a perfect way to start a night!

Weekends Away - Down South with Billie

As a new working week begins, I cant help but look back and smile at the weekend I just had. With a bit of indulging, new tastes, new faces, and some disappointing losses, it was all just the right amount to balance out a relaxing weekend.

I was invited during the week by my friend Billie to accompany her down south for a little road trip while the boys (our partners play football together) had their mini mid year wind-up, what ever you want to call it with much booze and boobs (skimpy). Keen for a small change and to get out of the house, I tagged along.

Billie works with Dan, so before we set off we had to duck into their work so she could finalise the week accounts. I got a sneak peek at how Dan works, and in just the short time I watched him, he was very professional, knowledgeable and took great pride in his work. I know he loves his job very much!

I poked around the office while they did what they needed to do, then a quick kiss goodbye and we were off, south bound to Busselton.

We pulled into Billies parent house real quick and I got to hold their pet snake. It was incredibly weird feeling the snakes muscles contract and move as it draw warmth from my hands and started to move up my arm. It was only a tiny little thing, but big enough for me, as my large fear of lizards started to surface. Yes I know its no lizard, but was small enough to look like one without legs.

Next stop was out Cowaramup way, where Billie, her nan and her parents all caught up with their family friends. Their house was just 300ms or so up from an awesome ice creamery where we spent an hour or so watching their children on the playground, chatting and indulging in some delicious ice cream made straight from the cow to you.

http://www.millersmargaretriver.com.au/view/home/

It was so relaxing sitting in the warm sun, on a lovely fresh day. I wish I’d got my camera out of the car because everything was so green, but I felt awkward getting my camera out and snapping shots around people I don’t know, not sure why but I need to get over it because I’m kicking myself now!

Our next stop was the beach but we decided a few little detours we in order and we pulled into the Chocolate Factory to grab a handful of tastings and a look at Providore and all their jams, spices and oils! There was so much I wanted to try and buy, and so began the plans for a day trip to the wineries in the near future!

Driving past all the wineries and vineyards we finally hit the beginning of Smiths Beach. Out came the camera! So here are a few shots of the beach!

As the sun started to set, it was time to hit up a pub where a couple of Billies friends were having drinks to celebrate a birthday so we popped in for a visit! Deciding to have a drink as well, I tried the Moscato that was on tap, and it was oh so good. Innocent bystander moscato was its name. Just discovered you can buy it at Dan Murphy’s so will checking that out this weekend I think!

Our last stop of the day was to Indigo Pearl, and Indian restaurant where we met up with Billies old work mates who all work/worked at a travel agency together! Billies thought I may find some of the ladies stories interesting as some have done extensive travel, one lady even lived overseas for a couple of years. We shared tales of places we had been, and she told me some hilarious adventures she experienced! Dinner came out, and though I was a bit sceptical about trying Indian food, Billie told me which where the milder options, but I decided to try several dishes and give most a fair shot! Butter chicken and Lamb Rogan Josh were both winners in my books and garlic Naan bread was a great way to top it all off!

There many stories, and as the wine and spirits got lower, the voices got louder. I seriously haven’t laughed that hard in a long time and it felt good to be introduced to new faces who also have similar interests.

Soon it was time to call it a night and for Billie and I to trek on home. I began to get a migraine on the trip back to Bunbury so I kept my eyes shut for the whole trip back (a weird feeling when your not tired) and settled into Billies bed and watched a movie while we waited for the boys to stumble in!

And stumble in they did! Haha

So coming into Sunday with a combination of hangover and headaches, there in itself was a great excuse to sleep in! It was nice to not have to have another early Sunday due to football (there was a bye that weekend) so to make the most of spending an actually morning with Daniel without the call of work or football, I dragged him out to breakfast at Café 140 which was as always delicious!!

The afternoon was spent watching the Western derby between West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers which started off a fantastic match (20-20 half time), only for the Dockers to fall far far behind the Eagles 3rd quarter onwards. Bit disappointing boys! But still a good match to watch with friends!

Dinner with the rents put a nice final touch to a very busy yet strangely chillaxed weekend.

Hopefully the week will be the same :)

xoxox

Recap: May 2011 to May 2012

Hello!!

Im back haha and hopefully to stay for awhile! I thought I would try start up a new blog through a different site but I couldnt set it up how I would like it to be so figured, may as well stick to what I know.. so here I am :D

Alot has happened since my last post from Milan in May last year! A year has gone by, as have many countries, new adventures have been experienced and new friendships have formed as well as new lives! So go grab a drink and snack and prepare yourself for a quick update on what has happened in this last year:

May 2011 - May 2012:



Daniel and I

 I got a boyfriend!!! :D :D Haha This is Daniel, and we recently celebrated a year together on May 1st! Yes he asked me out 3 days before I left for my "RTW" trip for 4 months but we made it work long distance through skyping and emails. 3 Months after I came home, due to reasons I will list shortly, I moved into his house with 3 of his other friends and his dog Linkin! Sonic was not impressed! To me this was a big move but one I do not regret because it has worked very well, and I couldnt imagine not being here now.

I love him very much and hope we have many many more years together :)

From the month of May, my friend Anthony and I backpacked and contikied all through Italy, Greece, Spain, France, into Amsterdam then over to Scotland, Wales and England and jumped over to America for 4 months until the beginning of September. We ate some amazing food, saw incredible sights, met alot of awesome people and became pros at subway systems in every major city we ventured to! Everyday was a fantastic experience, ranging from the differences in the cultures, the values and the lifestyles of each place as well as the experience of going about traveling as a flash packer ("backpacking with a bigger budget." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backpacking_(travel)) But as much as I enjoy venturing around the world, I also discovered that long term travel was quite hard, and I missed my family, my friends, my boyfriend and a routine way to much. This doesnt mean I wont travel as much any more, just not for as long! I think 2 months would be the perfect amount of time away and have already made alot of plans to visit old and new destinations in the future!

Out on the ski boat!

 Upon returning from my travels, my boyfriend introduced me to a new summer hobby! Wakeboarding! Every sunday we head out on his mates ski boat and hit up the dams in Collie for a day on the water. It took nearlly to the end of the season for me to actually give it a shot, but when I finally got to stand up on the board, I realised why the boys enjoy the sport so much, it is quite exciting!

To mix it up abit we also ride around on blow up biscuits, wooden disks, kneeboard and single ski's! And every so often stay a night or 4!

After much thought and research,i finally bit the bullet and brought my dream camera,and I absolutely LOVE it! I use it whenever I can find a reason too. Puppies, wakeboarding, food, christmas, birthdays, flowers, sunsets! Nothing is safe from my viewfinder!

(Also a month ago, i lashed out again and brought a new laptop YAY)

Whilst I was away last year, my friend and old housemate Madi met a great guy and in February this year, they welcomed to the world their beautiful baby girl! She is such a cutie and I love seeing how much she has grown each week!

Hearing of Madi's pregnancy was amazing news, but also very sad! It was to mark the beginning of the end of some fantastic years I shared with Madi and Ant and Nathan in the party house! Ant, Madi and myself all got serious with our new partners, and with a baby on the way, it was time to break apart and get places of our own! Spread out all throughout the suburbs of Bunbury now, it is not very often we all see each other any more. But when we do catch up, its a treasured gathering I always enjoy!

On a much more happier note: Danika got engaged :D :D

Her wedding is in April next year and preperations are in full swing, with many weekends at expos, bridal shops, location looking, decoration choosing, and dress shopping :D :D

With the some of the most important parts already chosen, this wedding is shaping up to be one colourful tear jerker! Such hard work, dedication and personal style has gone into the planning of this exciting day and I just know it is going to be filled with such love, happiness and lots and lots of rainbows!

Plus the dress! WOW!!!

(p.s. I am maid of honour too *squee*)

Daniel and I in Bali ~ March 2012

And to ease your eyes, I'll end with some more adventure!

In March this year, myself and 14 others, somehow managed to be organised enough to jump on a plane and fly over to Bali for 10 days! Lots of drinking, swimming, shopping, eating, dancing, elephants, quadbiking, cycling and drinking was had! And all the mini adventures? Well I'll cover them abit later ;)

But for now, thank you for making all the way to the very end of this post! I am hoping to elaborate more on each of these notes with their own posts very soon, as well as starting to keep a more up to date blog! So dont go too far away, I have more headache inducing posts coming soon.

Love me

xxoo