Doha and Melbourne

Hi everyone!

So I'm back in Melbourne, I'm absolutely exhausted and riddled with jetlag. But here's my blog about our stop in Qatar (that I mostly typed on the plane!). 

Initially we were meant to have just a two hour stopover in Doha, but in about June the airline cancelled our first flight and moved us to one four hours early, meaning we then had six hours. Ash and I weren't very happy with this, but found out if we could make it from our gate to B gate section within ten minutes of landing there was a city tour we could do of Doha via bus. 

Luckily for us our plane landed half an hour early and we made it. Despite the gross man photoing me (see last blog) we were really happy because it meant we didn't have to sit around, and we got to see the city. 

There was a group of about 10 of us. We followed a member of staff and bypassed security, then got our free visa and stamp. We met our guide and off we went. 

Our guide Anthony told us Qatar is 160km from north to south and just 80km east to west. I've heard previously that in terms of Australia it's 1/3 the size of Tasmania. 

The population is 2.4 million and only 20% of these people are actual Qatarians. Like in the UAE, no one not born there can become a citizen no matter how long they live there. They also can't buy property. 

Qatar is an extremely rich country due to oil and gas. It doesn't have a natural water resource so desalinates water. The country is so rich due to this that residents don't pay income tax and don't need to pay electricity or water bills. However the wage for a government position is just $10,000 US per year, so I guess it all evens out. Due to the lack of natural water, $1 US will buy you 4L of petrol but just 1.5L of water! 

We passed the old airport which is now used for military and cargo. This place has some sentimental value for me as I passed through it on my way to Europe the very first time when I was just 18. But now they've built a new massive modern one for the FIFA World Cup they're having here in 2022. That's if it goes ahead, I guess it has to, but it's been discovered they bribed FIFA to hold it. Amazing what money can do hey? They've got 6 stadiums in Doha and 9 outside and are currently building a metro to connect them all. 

Our first stop was for a panorama of the city. There were lots of multicoloured strangely shaped buildings and we took some photos. A girl from China on our tour was 10 minutes later than our designated 5 minute time here, and the whole bus sort of ganged up on her when she got back as we had flights to catch. Needless to say she didn't do it at the  other stops! The buildings were mainly government and oil related ones as well as malls. The city began to be built as a modern one in 2000 and the oldest building in Qatar was built in just 1982. 

We passed the king's office which looked suspiciously like a palace to me! Apparently his palace is 30km away. In Qatar men can have up to four wives as long as that's ok with their first wife, and the king has three wives and nine children. Not sure why four is the cut off. If you're gonna have four wives, why stop there? Why not 50?! Haha. Apparently women are also allowed to drive a car without a male companion here unlike a lot of other Middle Eastern countries. I am so grateful to live in Australia. 

Our next stop was the Pearl Qatar island. This is a huge development at the moment and by the end of it there will be 17,000 apartments and 40,000 people living there. It's 30% done and we went to the Ferrari store. I got my picture taken with a few fancy cars! It's called the Pearl because they used to find lots of pearls in the area. 

Our final stop was at Souq Waqif, a standing market. I felt like I was in Aladdin here! I couldn't buy anything as no one took card but we had fun exploring the stalls and the smells and colours. We got back on the bus and headed back to the airport. 

By this stage we only had one hour to kill. We got on the plane and luckily had a spare seat in between the two of us so could spread out. We had about 6-7 hours of sleep and the second flight was much better than the first. 

We arrived in Melbourne at 10.30pm and were picked up by our families, it was so great to see everyone!!!!

I only slept 2.30-4.30am last night so spent the day really tired but did the best I could to get the most out of it. I visited my grandparents in the morning and it was fantastic to see them as I had really missed them!! Then I started to unpack. Oh my god, so many things. And I had to have a clean out of my cupboards before I could put clothes away because I forgot how full my cupboards are. I have a lot of clothes! I'm so used to  not having much due to life in London so it's very strange for me!!

After a few hours of unpacking I walked to the train station to catch the train to the city. It's the strangest thing. Everything at home is the same. My room still has everything in the same places, the house is the same, the neighbourhood is the same mostly, but I feel completely different. I got myself a new Myki (apparently you can't trade in an old one, you have to pay again. Why we didn't just employ the Oyster system in the first place is beyond me, what a waste of plastic cards) and got on the train. It was delayed by 6 minutes, welcome to Metro! I miss you TFL. 

In the city I met Jamie at Southbank. I stared around and again everything looks the same!!! I had felt fine up until this point, but at Southbank I started to feel like I was going to fall asleep whilst walking haha. We had an iced coffee and walked around. I took Jamie to my favourite place by the river and then we walked via all the arcades etc (inc Degraves St and the Block Arcade) to the Myer Christmas windows. The windows were great, the best in years! Set in Melbourne and they even showed props from previous years including my favourite - 'The 11th Hour' in 1998. We both loved it. 

Then we had a drink at the Rooftop Bar which has a fan view of Melbourne, and next I quickly showed Jamie Melbourne Central before getting a train home. 

Last night I went to Mum's basketball. Everyone kept telling me my voice sounds different which is funny, and then I came home and collapsed into bed as I was so tired I literally felt sick. 

This morning I've been up since 4.30am. I've tried to be productive and today I have a day full of appointments. 

Being home is good but strange, it will take a little settling in but once I do I'm really excited for my next adventure, full time teaching work! 

I would like to thank those of you who have followed my adventures this year, I am nearly up to 18,000 hits which I can't believe!! Now I'm home I won't be writing about home life on the blog, but I am going to try and save to go overseas in the June school holidays for a week next year. I will be travelling again as soon as I can, so watch this space. 

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox

Arrived in Doha, Qatar

Hello everyone,

I'm currently flying above the Syria/Afghanistan region. It seems like something awful always happens the week before I fly home. Last year it was MH17, this year Paris. So Ash and I were a tiny bit nervous about flying but we're OK. 

Last night we had lots of fun laughing and chilling out. It was a great last night in England. Then we tried to sleep, it took us a while! I hate the night before a flight because you're always thinking about what you have to do or what's in your case. I think in the end I got about 5 hours which was alright. 

This morning Shannon drove us to the airport and London gave us a great send off by making us walk from the (open!) drop off point in the pouring rain. Love you too, England! 

We checked in all ok. I think I had one too many hand luggage bags but they let me on all ok :) We were really lucky as we are in the middle row that only has three seats so has a big space. We managed to score an entire overhead locker to ourselves and it's really easy to get up and walk around. The flight is half empty which is weird, so a lot of people are sleeping across multiple seats. The service has been pretty average to be honest and we're both a little disappointed with Qatar. Especially as we have six hours in Qatar and have to buy food, which is their fault not ours as they cancelled our initial flight that would have seen us only have two hours. 

So far I've gotten a tiny bit of sleep, but I've mainly just been resting. I've watched a movie and am now on my second one. Ash and I have also walked around and explored, then we did some dancing/aerobics at the back of the plane. We caught the hosties laughing at us!! Getting the blood flowing and all that. 

So, time to reflect. I've just typed up the London list I completed last week because a number of people want to use it themselves, and it got me thinking of all the wonderful things I've done this year. 

I have had the most incredible year, and I'm so grateful that my life up until this point allowed me to live life this way this year. There are people 40,000 feet below us living in a war zone at the moment, and I am very lucky to come from a country where I have the opportunity to live freely and work, and save up to spend my money on whatever I choose. I'm particularly grateful to my parents who have helped me out when needed, who always support me and who despite the fact it means I come home not being able to move out are happy that I travel to learn about myself and the world. 

For those of you who read regularly, you know of all the amazing experiences I've had this year. People this week kept asking me what my favourite place, favourite country, favourite experience this year was. But I can't really answer that! The whole year has been absolutely amazing and each and every experience (even the negative ones like being attacked in the street in Bolivia, altitude sickness, rude people in various places, night kayaking etc) have all helped me learn and are part of the experience. 

So what I thought I might do is name my favourite experience in each country, so here goes!!

Chile: Being shown around by Elena

Peru: The Inca Trail and Colca Canyon (despite the agonising altitude sickness!)

Bolivia: The Uyuni Salt Flats

Argentina: Buenos Aires (everything about it!!)

Uruguay: Colonia and it's pastel buildings, bike riding in Montevideo

Brazil: Hang gliding over Rio de Janeiro

England: Everything - from the friends I made to the work experience I gained. Also loved York in particular. 

Ireland: St Patrick's day and the friends I made whilst I was there for it, so much fun!

France: Chateau Chenonceau and commemorating the 100th Anzac anniversary 

Luxembourg: The unexpected beauty, I didn't know anything about it before I arrived. 

Belgium: Beer, waffles, BRUGES! Menin Gate. 

Iceland: Going inside a volcano

Northern Ireland: Giant's Causeway and the black cab tour of Belfast

Scotland: Oban <3

Wales: Snowdonia

Croatia: Swimming at the cliff top beaches of Dubrovnik

Germany: Oktoberfest (minus camping in -2 degrees and getting a six week cough)

Latvia: NOT night kayaking!! Beautiful autumn leaves in the canals

Lithuania: Trakai Castle

Now it's 7pm in Doha and I'm sitting at the airport. Our plane arrived early and due to having a 6.5 hour layover so we now qualify for a free visa and three hour tour of Doha in Qatar. Bonus!! I did a very short one in 2010 but this one has stops. Then we only have one hour before boarding for Melbs. 

Only thing I hate is that I forgot how men here stare at women. It's pervy and disgusting and I'm wearing clothes covering me head to toe. A man just walked past me taking pictures of me very obviously and I called him out on it. I don't put up with that mysoginistic crap anymore. It was literally 30 seconds of him taking about 10 photos of me standing reading a board. Thought you would be proud, Pa. 

I'll post another blog after being home a couple of days with photos of Doha. Probably sooner because it's unlikely I'll be able to sleep when I get home!!!

Love to all from Qatar

Claire

Xoxox

Farewell dinner, moving out and Alexandra Palace

Hi all!

So this is my last night in England. Mixed feelings! I'm going to post again tmro at the airport and then after a few days at home to talk about how being home feels. 

Last night we went to Covent Garden and there ended up being 12 of us for my going home do. I had friends there from all aspects of my life over here but everyone got along so well and we all had a fab night! We started at Punch and Judy in Covent Garden and enjoyed the Christmas lights on the way. They were so beautiful :)

We had a few drinks and then headed off to Wahaca, a Mexican restaurant where we lucked out and got two x six seater tables right next to each other. Had the most delicious food, my favourite had salmon and avocado. Yummmmm. Then we got a group photo and the hard part started. I had to start saying bye. Said good bye to Rachel and had a cry! So hard when I'm so used to seeing her and knowing the next time I'll see her. 

The rest of us headed to a pub and we had a few more drinks. Then I had to say bye to the others - James, Kate, Louise, Dave, Stephen, Cecilie and Robert. Ash and I headed back and I had a bit of a cry! 

This morning we got up and Ash went out for breakfast. I packed up. This was a challenge! I packed up my whole room and literally spent half an hour sitting on my suitcase zipping it millimetre by millimetre. And each time I closed it I discovered something else I hadn't put in yet :( But I made it eventually, washed the sheets and met the new girl to give her my keys. It was strange having my room empty. I've been there for exactly six months today. As great as the room was in term of size for zone 1 London though, I'm really looking forward to my room at home and our lovely clean house!

At 1pm Shannon and Alisha picked us up and we drove to Alexandra Palace. It was built in 1873 and the first ever TV broadcast was from here on November 2 1936. We walked around and had a drink inside. The view was great! You could see the whole of London. I could see where I lived, where Jamie lived and everything in between. 

We drove back to Shannon and Alisha's via Tower Bridge and went out for a roast dinner. It was the best one I've had during my time here! James came and met us as a surprise which was nice, and now we are back at Shannon and Alisha's. Robert has come over as well, and the five of us have been watching funny Karl Stefanovic videos and now 'Death at a Funeral'. 

I've had such an amazing time here. I'm going to post a blog summarising the year tmro. Tonight I'm just trying to get a good night's sleep. Then Shannon is driving us to the airport in the morning. 

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox