HELP eXperience

Growing up it was always drilled into me; don't message strangers on the internet, don't plan to meet up with a stranger, don't get in a car with strangers and whatever you do DO NOT enter a strangers house. So obviously I took this advice very seriously and went ahead and did all the above. Naughty Ames!

Help-X is a free website which hosts can advertise for needed help in exchange for providing free accommodation (and sometimes food) for their helpers, and helpers can search for vacancy's. Hosts can contact helpers but if helpers want to contact hosts they need to upgrade to a paid subscription.

Without any luck on the job front and wanting to fill up some of our time before we fly to Sydney me and Jen decided to sign up. We received two messages; one from a family basically wanting a full time au pair (you don't earn a wage through Help X, it's voluntary) for only free accommodation. We declined this offer as we didn't feel it was our cup of tea or fair expectations for the reward.

A few days passed and we received another offer. This time 2.5 hours work daily in exchange for free accommodation. We felt this was a very reasonable offer. The wage for 2.5 hours work is roughly the equivalent cost of a private room in a hostel. We checked the hosts profile and saw they had a dog. A dog and a reasonable offer we decided to except.

A few days later we caught the train about 10 minutes from Perth CBD and waited for Celine to turn up for a lift to their house in Kalamunda, a suburb in the Perth Hills. At this point you would expect us to start thinking wtf are we doing waiting for a stranger in the dark evening light, but I was actually excited to see what was in store for us away from hostel life and to get some needed doggy fuss!

View of Perth CBD from Mount Lawley train station

A pleasant car journey of easy chit chatter before we arrived at the house and shown to our accommodation. Expecting a small shared room for the two of us we were a bit taken aback when we were shown to our own maisonette/flat which is accessed from inside Celine and Geoffs home. After weeks of hostel dorm life, our own space of a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen/lounge was heaven. There was also a private balcony which looked out over Perth with the best view of the evening sunsets.

Our accommodation

After a good night's sleep without ear plugs and people snoring we got to work. For the next 2 weeks we did sooooo much weeding. In 37 degree heat you are a sweaty mess at the end of it. But each day we could see improvements. We actually quite enjoyed the weeding and felt accomplished at the end of our stay on what a difference the garden looked from when we first arrived.

Before (left) & after (right)

Before (left) & after (right)

Aswel as weeding, we also helped shift heavy buckets of soil, manure and sand into flower beds. Well I'll tell you what, we had very toned arms at the end of that shift. I actually had a visible bicep muscle for the first time in my life!

Completed flower bed

Nearer the end of our stay we decided to have a few shifts indoors away from the extreme heat. I always laugh at my grandma when she cleans her windows. But there we were cleaning the entirety of the windows inside and out, washing and hoovering the floor and cleaning skirting boards. Maybe I will make a good wife after all (I'll probably just hire a cleaner lets be honest).

Some days we opted to work for 5 hours so we could have some days off to explore. Jen or I may do a blog on our days off, so watch this space.

Our hosts Celine and Geoff were lovely. For two people to open up their house and trust you to have access to it while they are away at work is brave! We got on very well and were made to feel very welcome. Peppy the dog had such a gentle nature, gave us the love we needed and had great fun dropping his toy off the balcony to us working below to throw back up to him.

Peppy decided to lick me as i took our photo

Overall our first Help-X experience was a positive enjoyable one, and we will be open to more in the future.

Amester x

I had a whale of a time

19km off the coast of Perth is an island called Rottnest. Today a popular tourist attraction, its past saw it the home of an aboriginal prison.

On Tuesday 1st November, me and Jen jumped on the typical tourist bandwagon and boarded the 30 minute ferry to Rottnest Island. We were both excited for the day ahead having heard good reviews.

Other than a bus service and maintenance vehicles, Rottnest is vehicle free. The best way to explore the island is by bike. We hired bikes which we picked up on departure from the ferry. And off we cycled, deciding to follow the brown cycle route on our map (a nice 22km ride, estimated completion time of 3-5 hours, the longest route on the island). Not a problem we thought.

In general our travel ways is just wing it and go with the flow. We do some research but don't overdo it so that there is still things to discover as you explore. Naively we assumed Rottnest would be flat. Ohh how wrong could we have been. The next 22km consisted of cycling up a hill and down a hill and up another hill and down the hill and up and down and you get the picture. I am only little with small legs so when jenny long legs kept overtaking me up a hill I was wishing I had been gifted with some of the tall gene from my Dad. Despite this I managed to cycle the entire 22km and didn't get off my bike to walk once. Not even when my legs literally gave up half way up a hill (this happened more than once) and came to a halt. I just took a minutes breather and somehow found the strength to overcome the lactic acid build up and keep on cycling. Despite us both having very painful legs (and bums) at the end and unable to walk properly for the next couple days we are both super proud to have accomplished this and it was worth every pain.

Treated myself to an ice lolly after the cycle

So what did this 22km cycle allow me to witness?! Lots of cute quokkas!! Rottnest is home to the quokkas. We really hoped we would be able to find some on our trip but a while into our cycle we both started to think that it wasn't our lucky day. That is until I saw some randomers looking at something. So being my nosey self had a look as I passed. Well I slammed on my brakes when I realised they were fusing a quokka! The cutest friendliest thing. Letting us stroke, cuddle and have selfies with it. It did give me a fright though when a bus was coming and the quokka decided to walk towards the road. Stupid thing! That was the first of many we saw and fused. I really wanted to kidnap one but it wouldn't have been fair (or legal) so I resisted the urge.

The furthest point on the island from the ferry jetty (11km, 3 hours cycle) is a whale watching location. This was one of the reasons we decided to follow the brown cycle route. Knowing our chances of witnessing a wild whale would have been slim we thought it was worth the risk. After about 30 minutes of no whale sightings we decided to head off on the rest of our cycle to ensure we could get back for the return ferry. I got back on my bike and out of pure luck I had one final look out to sea and over Jens shoulder I spotted a whales tail going back into the water in the distance. We then stood in awe for the next 5 minutes watching at least 2 (possibly more) whales playing in the ocean. I'm not one to be easily overcome with emotion but I had several tears in my eyes. It was completely unexpected and one of them moments I will forever remember.

We made it back to the Thompson Bay area of the island with a couple hours spare so laid on one of the 63 beaches Rottnest has to offer, letting our very sore bodies relax and recuperate slightly. We then got the very choppy ferry back to mainland Australia. On our disembarkment at Fremantle port we witnessed an amazing sunset. We then treated ourselves to a pizza at a restaurant to top of the perfect day.

On a completely different note, about a week ago I had a grim experience which makes me feel like a proper backpacker now. I have resisted the temptation to write a blog on it because it may make people feel sick but it may also make you laugh. If you want me to do a blog post please let me know and it could happen hahahaa

Amester x

Dreams do come true

G'day mate, I've arrived down under and for some reason my selfies are suddenly upside down hahaa.

If you asked me as a kid what my dream was I would always answer 'to visit Australia'. I'm finally at a stage in my life where it could become a reality.

Anyway the journey here was longggg. I wasnt nervous for the journey until the day before I was due to leave and illness struck. I somehow found an ounce of energy to get the final bits ready and headed to bed at 11pm with a 3:30am wake up call. Well there I was led in bed stressed at feeling so ill knowing the 26 hours travel I had ahead of me would be horrible when ill. I think I managed 2 hours sleep until my alarm awoke me. I suddenly leapt out of bed all excited and amazingly didn't feel to bad. It was right weird. i was sad to leave Buster though.

The entire journey to Heathrow I think i was sat in the car smiling to myself while dad drove and mum & Jen slept. Checked into the flight but unfortunately wasnt complimentary upgraded to business class (I can dream). Had a last family coffee date, said our farewells then found Costa in departures, classic us!

Time to fly... the first flight was fine. For someone who doesn't like films or TV shows I managed to somehow find some things to watch. I especially enjoyed the live on plane cameras. There we were watching the live landing when we notice (and felt) our pilot abort landing and accelerate towards the sky again at the last minute. I think I held my breath until we finally landed about 20 minutes later. A quick stop in Abu Dhabi then straight onto the second flight. An 11 hour flight felt like 24 hours. The last few hours of the flight I felt very disoriented and hungover even though I had touched no alcohol. My body did not have a clue what time zone we were on. I was so glad when the plane landed.

To start our Aussie adventure in style jen and I were treated to two nights in a hotel by some lovely family (thank you Sharon and Graham). Well come 8:30pm aussie time we crashed and I didn't wake up until 11am. A whole 15 hours. Jet lag defeated!! I was so grateful to have two days in a private room away from hostel life to overcome the long flight. We even braved the outside infinity pool for 5 minutes. It was freezing but we would have regretted it if we didn't.

We are now in a hostel and the real travelling begins I guess.

Amester x

I failed

After 5 months I failed my new years resolution of uploading a blog post at least once a month -_- And then I miss two months in a row! But i'm back, the 1st of August! My favourite month of the year (it may or may not be to do with it being my birthday month)!

I've had a busy couple of months. I went on a family holiday to Brean! It was lovely, just relaxing doing as little as possible :) Upon return from holiday I got made redundant! I then started a new job as an events steward and have travelled around the country helping at events for the last couple of weeks. I'm really enjoying it so far, even though the camping washing facilities aren't always the most hygienic.

Supporting my country in Euros2016 while on holiday, A cute calf and a sunset through the raindrops

I also purchased a new phone! The android version on my old phone was too outdated meaning I couldn't access the snapchat filters. I was starting to feel left out so felt it was time to upgrade to a better phone :)

Having fun with the snapchat filters

My final piece of news is that today I launched my own youtube channel. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time, but have never found the guts to follow through. I think I was starting to annoy my family because I kept mentioning wanting to do it then never did. My first video is a clothes haul for my upcoming trip to Australia. Please check it out at https://youtu.be/PqkkBKAnCn4 , I spent many hours putting it together. I also have my travel series #APostcardFrom starting soon on my chanel.

Amester x

Memorable May

Its the last day of May and i've just realised if I don't post a new blog today then I fail my new years resolution of blogging at least once a month this year. Soo here goes...

I'm been lacking blog inspiration this month. I'm also feeling a bit down today so I thought what better way than a reflective post on all the good that this month has seen :)

This month I went to the Busted 'PigsCanFly' concert. This was my 4th ever concert but probably my favourite. I went with my sister and my 2 best friends and it was soo nice to spend time with some of my favourite people all together. It was especially nice to go to a concert with my sister. Our music tastes are so different but growing up Busted was always the music we both enjoyed. Everything from the lighting, to the flying pig made this concert memorable. Seeing the support act of Emma Blackery (a youtuber both myself and my sister watch) followed by hearing Wheatus perform teenage dirtbag live was the best way to start off the concert. Busted were incredible and it made me feel like I was 10 again.

Busted Selfie, Me and Sis ready for Busted Concert, Busted

Another thing I enjoyed this month was a night out with my mum and a new group of friends. We all met at slimming world, and we have a good laugh. We decided to get custom tshirts printed, let our hair down, I got drunk (classic Ames) and then had a hangover the next day. It was worth it though.

Before photo with Mum in our tshirts, Amester, Drunken Selfies

The third highlight of my month was dying my hair. I was bored of my normal hair and fancied a change. Change is good!

Purple Plum

But although all these things were highlights of the month, they have all been topped by one thing! One thing that means my childhood dream is now able to become a reality! My Working Holiday Visa for Australia got granted!! Time to start planning...

What made May memorable for you?

Amester x

Things I am thankful for

Why is it easy to get soo wrapped up in life's flaws and hindrances instead of fixating on the positivity life has to offer? It is all too easy to become blinded by the good things staring right at you! I know for one, I am guilty of this. Although I'd class myself as a generally positive person, there are times, situations and scenarios that draw me into a negative mindset. 

Here is a poem I have come up with that highlights the things I am currently thankful for:

Life has its hindrances and flaws

To eliminate the negativity

Break through the locked doors

To enter the new era of positivity

Discover what makes you thankful

For me a loving and supportive family

Wifi and WhatsApp are wonderful

Allowing communication with my sis in Bali

Medication that maintains my health

My dog who gives endless affection

A job that allows some wealth

My bed for a hard to break relation

Youtubers for publishing hours of footage

Always educating, enlightening, inspiring

Spare time like creating this in a train carriage

A good network of friends allows enjoyable socialising

A unique space like this blog

Allows me to document, reflect, express

A written down physical log

Complete freedom, no expectations to impress

This blog post came around from an idea I had in the shower, and a spurt of creativity on a recent train journey. I find it hard to put my thoughts into word form, so I'm quite pleased with this poem I managed to come up with :) 

What are you currently thankful for?

Amester x

#fmsphotoaday February 2016

This blog post is inspired by my sister, who wrote a blog post about her attempt at the #fmsphotoadaychallenge in January.

The #fmsphotoadaychallenge was introduced to me a year or so back by my mother. It is a photo challenge set up by a blogger called fat mum slim Each day of the year has a different prompt to base a photo on for that day. These can then be uploaded to instagram with the hashtag #fmsphotoaday or uploaded to the official Facebook page. It is essentially a community of like minded people who enjoy photo sharing through these prompts. Although each individual is using the same prompt, each photo is unique and so much diversity can be found.

During the month of February I set myself the challenge of attempting to upload each day for this challenge. Here are a selection of my favourite uploads. The rest can be found over on my instagram page by clicking here

Day 4 Prompt: Texture. 

For this one I decided to photograph the texture of the tree trunk at the bottom of the garden. I was stood wandering which section to photograph, when my eyes were drawn in. I realised that a section of the bark looked like the outline of the continent of 'Africa'.

Day 8 Prompt: Family

I had to get my pandas in somehow this month!

Day 12 Prompt: Paper

I was struggling for an idea for this prompt, when I was sat making a photo album. I suddenly realised that photos are indeed 'paper' and this is what I came up with :)

Day 13 Prompt: Pet

Conveniently the 'pet' prompt fell on Busters 10th birthday.

Day 24 prompt: Path

For this prompt I decided to think outside the box and I came up with this quote. To me I believe life is to short to not follow the path YOU want to take. After all its only you having to live your life! My current life path is one of travel, what is yours?

Regretfully I failed at this challenge. I made it to day 25 (of 29) and basically fell at the last hurdle. I lost inspiration and felt that it became more of a daily chore I had made myself instead of a fun interaction. Although I will not be continuing this daily I will still participate in this challenge, when I feel I have a good idea for a prompt.

If you are reading this blog post and participate in this challenge, or even if you don't and are an active instagrammer, I would love to check your stuff out. Please leave your instagram handles in the comments section or tweet them to me at @AmesterAmes

Amester :)

Panda-monium

Anyone who remotely knows me will know that I have a love of pandas. What they may not know is why.

This love affair all began in 1993, on the day I was born, where I was gifted with a cuddly toy panda. Naturally as a young kid my love for this cuddly toy panda grew into more of a big deal whereby pandas were now my favourite animal. Ever since, anything panda related has been associated with myself, to the point 22 years down the line where I now have a substantial panda collection.

The original panda

Let me introduce my original panda. The cuddly toy I fell in love with, looked after, washed (in the washing machine), put plasters on when holes appeared until mum or grandma sewed them up, took everywhere with me, still sleeps in my bed at the age off 22 (I have no shame) and to this day is my most treasured possession, which if my house was on fire and I could only save one thing (after my parents, sis and dog), I would without question save this panda.

For this blog post I decided to try and find some old photos of myself and 'original panda' for a trip down memory lane. This is what I uncovered...

Panda chilling with myself, my older sister and dad in the caravan in 1994, when I was 1 years old.

I took Panda to the dinner table so he could eat the same food as myself...

...later that same day, a much need nap was taken.

At this stage, I should probably introduce you to Brian. Brian is my sisters teddy and Pandas brother.

Me, my sister, Panda and Brian

For my 3rd birthday I received this panda cake :) made by my aunt!

Nap time cuddles

Being the cheeky person I am, I clearly thought it would be funny to throw Panda when having a photo.

Picnic time!

As well as looking through the photo archives I also thought it would be a nice idea to gather all my panda possessions into one place. Now, I knew I had a lot, but after seeing the visual representation, I find it quite funny how much I actually have.

My current panda collection.

In this photo there are 72 items! Consisting of...1 lunch box, 1 plate, 1 money box, 1 book, 1 tile, 1 bag, 1 memory box, 1 PJ top, 1 purse, 1 pair of slippers, 1 panda charm, 1 set of stickers, 1 set of panda thankyou cards, 1 set of panda Russian dolls (brought on the great wall of China itself), 1 salt and pepper shake, 2 pillows, 2 hats, 2 jumpers, 2 fridge magnets, 3 figurines, 3 brooches, 4 underwear, 6 keyrings, 9 pictures, 12 different pairs of socks and 12 cuddly toys.

The funny thing is, these are mostly gifts I have received over the years. I think I have brought no more than 5 of these 72 items personally. Although this is all I could find, It wouldn't surprise me if there is more panda items hiding somewhere in the house.

Have you had an obsession growing up? If so comment below what it was!

Amester x

P.S; if you'd like to find my sisters blog it can be found at http://fairyelephantblog.blogspot.co.uk/

Thankyou 2015, 2016 I am ready :)

The end of a year/beginning of a new year always somehow turns everyone much more reflective. I know for one I reflect on the previous year, what I accomplished, what I didn't achieve, the memories made and the pondering of what the next year may pan out like. So now it is 2016 and this blog post will reflect on my 2015 and how I see my 2016 going.

How the hell is it 2016 already?! It feels like 2015 went past in the blink of an eye. Despite it flying by I feel 2015 was a good year for myself, one I will look back on happily for years to come.

2015 marked my first entire calender year out of education since I started the long haul of academia at the age of 4 (I'm 22 now, so work out how many years I had to endure education). The end of this era bought with it my first entire calender year in an employed position. I'm fully aware that the next 45+ years will all be dedicated to work but getting the first one out of the way feels like an achievement in itself. 

In January 2015 I finally had my graduation ceremony, despite being freezing all day and wind swept photos for memories I look to that day with pride of celebrating the achieving of my degree. It was made all the more special that I shared it with 3 of my closest friends who supported each other through the hard times and laughed at the good times throughout the 3 years at university. Also having my family witness me graduating meant a whole lot to me :) It was a fitting way to end my time at university. It didn't stop me feeling sad on the drive home when reality struck that graduation was my last cling-on to claiming I was still a student, that I had to accept I was a fully accepting adult in societies eyes and I could no long use the 'but I'm a student' excuse when I didn't wake up till 2pm, was low on money, was hungover, etc.

2015 also saw me escape rainy, cold England for a couple of months to travel rainy, cold Europe (the sun appeared towards to end of the trip). 6.5 weeks of just my sister for company, living out a backpack, paying in foreign currency, using different transport systems, trying to establish what foreign signs said, trying to converse with people speaking in different languages to get by, sightseeing, etc. It was a challenge but an enjoyable one where I gained many memories that I'm sure will be spoken about for years to come.

2015 was also much more than these big events; it allowed me to realise friends can live at distance and not speak/see each other all the time, it just makes the time spent together mean much more. 2015 let me appreciate family time a lot more than ever, I have always been family orientated and close but with working it now means less free time, so it was down to me to make sure I filled some of this free time with family time. 2015 allowed me to go out for food and coffee with my mum and sis (hot chocolate in my case) more often, and being able to offer to pay because I had a stable income for the first time in my life. 2015 allowed me to buy more people Christmas gifts; again because I had a stable income and had saved up to ensure I could do this. 2015 turned me into a saver whereas before I was a spender, by saving I can plan towards the future with the knowledge that I will have sufficient funds saved when I may need them.

Despite all the memories and achievements 2015 bought, inevitably it had its drawbacks. I feel that for the months after my return from travelling, my life became engulfed by work. Working 5 days a week, a change of ownership and more hours on offer I found myself working more and more. I also struggled to switch off from work on my days off. I noticed that this was effecting my happiness and mood, I felt my personality was fading because I was constantly in my work role where you have to be more professional. As a result I decided to put myself first, work my 5 days, leave when my shift ended, switch off from the workplace and try to make the most of my 2 days off a week.

So what will 2016 bring?! I want to continue making the most of my days off, I want to put myself first, be my old self and do what I want to do! I'd like to continue to make people laugh, I want to lose weight and get my body to a stage where I am comfy in the clothes I own. I'd like to develop a hobby. I want to put more effort and attention into this blog; I know I failed last year so during 2016 I will aim to post once a month at the least, if its more than that's a bonus :) 2016 will also see my childhood dream become a reality! If all goes to plan, towards to tail end of the year I will be travelling to the other side of the world and living in Australia for up to a year on a working holiday visa.

2016 will be my year! I am looking forward to it :) What are you most looking forward to this year?!

Amester x