After 24 hours spent in airports and on planes, I was very glad to be home. After being cleared from customs I walked out and met my family. I was very happy to see them after 2 months abroad. Arriving at home was even more exciting as I saw my border collie Mia, when I went into my room I found it filled with balloons (my younger sister had organised). I enjoyed an early dinner with my family before I tucked of to bed early thanks to my jetlag. I finished unpacking and gave gifts to my family the following morning when I was much more refreshed.

I would like to thank my SISEP coordinator Scott who met me at the airport on my departure and return.

This is only a quick post as a must finish unpacking. I will post soon a reflection of my exchange to England.

- Bella

Today our usual group was broken up as half went to Harry Potter world. I was not a big fan of Harry Potter so instead we went exploring.

St Pauls Cathedral

The St Pauls Cathedral was a lot bigger than I expected, unfortunately it cost to enter so we just appreciated the views from outside. We then walked across the Millennium Bridge (featured in a Harry Potter movie) to the Tate Modern.

Tate Modern

The Tate Modern is a free modern art gallery. Our group spent an hour exploring a range of exhibitions and then relished a snack whilst enjoying the views of London on the 6th floor.

Globe Theatre

Next we walked around the Globe Theatre, we didn’t go inside as we were travelling on a budget. The view from outside however was very impressive.

Lords Cricket

After having a quick lunch at Burger King we caught a tube to the Lords Cricket Ground where we met the group that had spent the day at Harry Potter. Once we arrived at the Cricket ground the security guard was very nice and allowed us in to take a picture (we had missed the daily tours). We pulled out an Australian flag to include in the photo but got in trouble as apparently it is illegal inside the arena.

Wicked

Tonight we were lucky to score a £20 ticket to the musical Wicked which is about the untold story of the Witches of Oz. We were seated on the circle with centre seats, the production was very enjoyable!

Only a short blog post as the adventure awaits.

- Bella

Today was my third day in London. Below I have put a list of the awesome things we did.

Thames River Cruise

We started the day on the Thames on a river cruise. The boat took us from the London Eye to the Tower Bridge, along the way we learnt a lot of interesting history about London.

Tower of London

We enjoyed exploring the Tower of London for the next couple of hours. We saw the crown jewels (unfortunately) we couldn’t take photos) we also saw many other interesting exhibitions.

Shopping

After leaving the Tower of London and catching a short tube ride we spent the afternoon on Oxford Street shopping. One of my favourite shops would be Primark, where inside the 2 story building our group spent around an hour!

Dinner at Fiori

In our smaller group we enjoyed dinner at Fiori Leicester Square, I ordered a Falafel. Dinner took a little longer than planned so our journey to the Jack the Ripper Tour was very rushed.

Jack the Ripper Tour

The Jack the Ripper Tour was a very enjoyable experience, the tour guide lead us to the scenes of the deaths and explained the gory murder details! Although one of the girls in our group began to feel very unwell so we had to leave the tour early.

Overall I had a very enjoyable day! 

Day 1: 
Today after enjoying lunch with my host family we caught a train to Russel Square and found my student hostel. My farewell with my host family was very tearful, I was both happy and sad to say goodbye. After all the Australian Venturers arrived we unpacked our bags and enjoyed dinner at Pizza Hut.

Day 2:

Buckingham Palace

Today we started our day at Buckingham Palace watching the changing of the guards. We saw the marching band arrive and enter the palace and the guards exiting (the guards were wearing the winter grey coats instead of the usual red). We were also lucky to see the horse parade.

The Monument:

Next we visited the monument. The Monument was built between 1671 and 1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London and to celebrate the rebuilding of the City. After reaching the halfway point we realised that we had underestimated the difficulty of 311 steps, although once reaching the top we were very grateful for the climb. The views from the top were amazing although the wind was blowing very strongly.

Westminster Abbey and Big Ben:

We visited Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, both were amazing buildings that were larger than I expected. We explored around the area for a couple of hours and then caught the tube to Tower Bridge.

Tower Bridge:

Once we arrived at Tower Bridge we bought our tickets to the exhibition and caught the lift up to the top. Our ticket included walking across the glass above the bridge (it was very scary!).

Overall the day was enjoyable, I am excited to see what we do for the remainder of the week!

-Bella

Last night I received a very special farewell from the scout group. I arrived with my host sister at the local scout hut, I was expecting a cooking night but when I entered the den all the lights were dark and there was no one inside. I knew something wasn’t right, then the music started, the lights began flashing and everybody came out from where they were hiding. The night was spent dancing and jumping as we had our own DJ (thank you Jagz!), after enjoying an Australian BBQ with burgers and snags we all moved inside to watch a presentation. My host sister Emily had prepared a slide show of my trip, it was full of many memories and some embarrassing photos. It felt very special to have such a big farewell secretly organised by my host sister. I have made many friends both at school and explorers, everyone has made me feel very welcome throughout my stay. One more sleep at the Jones’ house, today I am tasked with fitting everything into my suitcase and cleaning my room. On Sunday I will leave my host family and spend a week in London with the other Australian Venturers. I am both sad and happy to leave, sad because I am leaving many friends and memories but happy because I will get to see my family and my dog. I will update you next when I arrived in London.

-Bella

Today my host family drove an hour to Chatham to the John Nike Leisure Centre. After enjoying a hot chocolate we made our way to the tobogganing trail. The 700 metres of tree-lined track is the longest in the UK. The first part involved getting onto your cart and getting pulled up the hill to the start of the track. The driver controls the speed of the car using the brake handle. After a number of turns I tried the challenge of not using the brake which made the ride even more thrilling. Overall it was a very fun and enjoyable day spent with my host family. I have put a video of the ride below (sourced from youtube).
Also a mention to my Dad who celebrated his brithday yesterday! I hope you had a wonderful day!

Yesterday was New Years Eve, I spent the day cleaning my room and skyping my family. After dinner we made our first stop at Jacks house, it was only a short stay with a quick catch-up. Our next and final stop was the Mallot household where we spent the night playing a celebrity heads and family trivia where every round I received a stereotypical Australian answer like Crocodile Dundee. We switched on the TV to the live Big Ben coverage when it came close to midnight, the countdown then started. As soon as we reached 0 we saw many fireworks being set off, the difference in England is that on special occasions it is legal to buy and set off fireworks. We also did a jumping dane and signalong to Auld Lang Syne. We spent anoter couple of hours talking, dancing and playing games before we arrived home at 2am.

Today we went ice skating at Van Hage, I really enjoyed skating as I had learnt the basics at Winter Wonderland a couple days earlier. The rink however was more uneven which made it funnier as it was more difficult. We even had a number of races we involved dodging little kids to reach the side barrier the fastest. After ice-skating we enjoyed a warm hot chocolate and then went home.

Today I visited WinterWonderland at London’s Hyde Park. I caught the tube into Hyde Park where we met Emily’s cousins, Michael (17), Charlie (15) and parents Liz and Richard. We started our frosty day at the Ice Skating Rink where my balance and co-ordination were put to the test. The ice rink was magnificent; it was a large circular shape and in the centre there was a live band that performed whilst you skated. My skills at first were very rusty but after numerous laps of the ring I felt more comfortable going faster… that was until Emily and Michael started a snowball fight. Making the snowball was quite simple as all it required was going to the edge of the rink and picking up the excess snow. The hard part was trying to act innocent as you skated around the rink carrying a snowball in your hand. All in all I very much enjoyed ice skating. Next after a little exploring of the wonderland we entered the Magical Ice Kingdom, inside the -20⁰ (or at least that’s what it felt like) building was an amazing display of ice sculptures. There were animals, people and even a castle that included an ice slide. Following exiting the freezing Ice Kingdom into the now somewhat pleasant English weather we made our way through the amusement/ride section. The interesting thing was that all of rides were snow and winter themed unlike the rides found in Aus. Michael, Emily and I braved our safety and went on the ‘Power Tower’ a very, VERY tall rotating ride that had a spectacular view of the park. After enjoying dinner at a nearby Pizza Hut we watched an amazing circus performance. It included a contortionist, fire twirlers, a motorbike show and a number of other awesome acts. Overall I highly enjoyed my day at WinterWonderland, it is definitely a wonderful experience I will never forget!

-Bella

Christmas in England is very different. For starters it is freezing, although this is also a bonus as you can wear an awesome Christmas Jumper like I did. Another difference is the build-up on the 24th, I watched a Christmas Pantomime (a musical production) with my host family and some of their friends. The show was enjoyable, afterwards we drove to St Luke’s Church and attended the ritual known as Christingle. Christingle involved a short service where everybody receives a symbolic decorated orange and candle (I have put a photo below).  I departed the Church with my host family and went home, after finishing wrapping my presents we left for a family friends house. We arrived at James house after a quick drive, Emily and I went upstairs and hung out with the other teenagers whilst the parents stayed downstairs. The final part of Christmas Eve was Midnight Mass, although I am not highly religious the Church was beautiful as it was lit entirely by candles. I was very tired after the service concluded, I went straight to bed. I awoke a couple hours later a little tired, together with my host family we all opened our presents. My host sisters definitely liked their Australian Hoodies, and my host parents liked their Australian Cap and T-shirt.

After putting our presents away my host family started preparing for Christmas Dinner (a significant meal at 2 or 3pm), the dinner was very delicious. I enjoyed the Yorkshire Pudding (which is an English side dish made from batter consisting of eggs, flour, and milk). Not spending Christmas with my family was definitely difficult although my host family made me feel very welcome. My Australian family was unable to Skype as they were in remote Ski Lanka, this made things tougher as I felt a little lonely not speaking or seeing my family on Christmas. Overall I highly enjoyed Christmas in England (even the cold weather) and I apologize if this post is a little confusing talking about two families. J I will update soon on my future endeavours.

-Bella

The last day of school was concluded at 11am after watching the Year 12 and 13 Pantomimes (a Christmas performance), immediately after school my host sister and I were picked up and we started the drive to Centreparcs.  Our accommodation was in a villa surrounded by trees and bushes, I shared a bedroom with my host sister. On Friday night after enjoying an Indian dinner we played a game of bowling (I came 3rd). On Saturday we spent the day enjoying the Subtropical Swimming Paradise which is a large indoor/outdoor heated centre with multiple pools, slides and spas. On Sunday morning we enjoyed a high ropes course which includes a large 300m zip line over the lake. On the drive home on Monday we stopped at LongLeat Safari Park which was the first drive through safari park outside Africa, there were over 500 animals and the the park is situated in the grounds of Longleat House, an English stately home that is the current home of the 7th Marquess of Bath. After driving through the enclosures we explored the grounds and went in the largest hedge maze in the UK. 

This weekend I travelled with my host family to Liverpool, a 4 hour train ride in first class delivered us to Central Liverpool. We visited The Cavern Club, which is the venue where the Beatles UK popularity started. Later after a little shopping we went to the Bars and Melody Concert (a band from Britain’s Got Talent). The concert was held in an amazing venue with a large domed roof, my little host sister Lucy was a big fan and even got to meet the band before the concert. We arrived home very tired at 1am due to road works. I have put some photos from the trip below.

Today I watched a Dance Recital at the local dance school where my host sister does ballet and tap. The show was interesting to watch as I don’t know much about dancing. After the show we caught a train to Alexandra Palace or Ally Pally (the local nickname). Once we hiked up the long hill we arrived at a family friends 10th Birthday. The party was fun, a highlight for me was the photo booth. After the party we caught the train back home and had dinner.

The Jingle Bell Ball is an annual Christmas music festival hosted by the radio station Capital. I was lucky enough to visit this year with my host family! I went on Saturday night and saw many famous performances from One Republic, Union J, Olly Murs, Ella Henderson, Take That and many more. The concert was held in the O2 Arena, also known as the Millennium Dome – it holds 20,000 people! After catching a tube to the arena and catching some snaps outside we entered the dome, inside the dome there were restaurants and many shops (the concert arena only takes up 40% of the dome!). Inside the arena the music was pumping and the sight of seats and people was never-ending, it was shocking as I had never seen such a large group of people in one area. Overall the concert was amazing and definitely something I will remember forever! I am also very grateful to my host family for organising the experience.

Today I had my first day of school at Enfield Country School. After struggling to fit my thermals under my jeans and realising that I had forgotten a beanie, I signed into the school office and put on my ‘Visitors’ Lanyard. My host sister Emily then introduced me to my form class, everyone was so welcoming and friendly. The structure of the school day was very different to mine in Australia, each lesson was 1 and 10 minutes (only 4 lessons during the day). There was two 20 min breaks and one 55 minute break for lunch. During lunch you eat in the hall and can choose to have a school ‘dinner’ (a hot cooked buffet) or ‘tuck’ which is little snacks such as pizza or cake. During my second lesson in French I didn’t understand very much, although I did have fun convincing the girl next to me that I ride a kangaroo to school and then she asked me what language we speak in Australia. A lot of people were interested about life in Australia, they asked a lot of questions about school, the weather and about Brisbane.

The school day finishes at 3.20pm, the exit from the school goes through a graveyard (some of the graves are from people that lived before Australia existed!). After school Emily and I walked into Enfield Town (the local shopping precinct), I purchased a sim card with £10 credit. After shopping, we caught a 5 minute double decker bus ride and walked home. By the time we get home around 4 pm the sky was almost dark, the days are very short in winter.

 I will update you soon on my future endeavours!

 
-Bella

After just under 30 hours spent flying and at airports I arrived at Heathrow airport bright and early at 6am. As the 15 or so of us exited boarder control we were greeted with the Australia flag held by our host families. As each Venturer left with their new family for the next 2 months a sense of excitement and nervousness was in the air. The commute home on the M25 (Major Highway that circles London) was filled with traffic that we waited in for 40minutes, however I quite enjoyed chatting with the family and enjoying the view of endless green rolling hills. 

After arriving home I had a tour around the house and found my room in the loft. The loft is awesome - it is the stereotypical attic conversion, it has the slanted walls and high roof. My family were so welcoming and kind, in my room they had printed and framed a family photo and had left a stuffed Koloa on my desk. After a quick nap, the family and I drove to a local restaurant called Toby Carvery to celebrate Caroline’s (host mum) belated birthday. Although the outside weather was freezing, inside amongst the tinsel and Christmas trees we sat next to the fireplace and enjoyed a nice buffet roast selection.

Time to get to bed - hopefully this jetlag won’t last long.
 
-Bella

With the first entry of my exchange blog there remains only 3 days until I depart! The anticipation is building, and the preparations are well underway. However my bag requires a little more packing. I just finished my second Skype call with my host family in England, they are a lovely family and I am very excited to meet them and stay with them for the next 6 weeks. I will say goodbye now as my suitcase is calling my name, I will update you next once I arrive in England.

-Bella