Most Liked Instagram's of 2014

We all know I love Instagram and thanks to Iconosquare they make it so easy this time of year to know what your top posts of the year are. The video of this is up on my IG feed but under the cut are my top IG pics of 2014 and a bit about each one.

Thank You and Happy New Year

This year has been an incredible journey for me, from starting my blog back in May to being in Australia having travelled around and thinking of where to settle down to make a life for myself for a few months before moving on again. 

Looking into the new year possibilities are endless and I am excited about what the new year will bring for both myself and the blog. Today I just wanted to thank you for following my journey, reading my posts and supporting me. 

I will be taking a short break from my blog while I make some changes and brainstorm inspiration for the new year. I hope you will stay with me on my journey when I return in 2015.

So Thank You and I hope you have a fantastic 2015 full of adventures.

SA - Christmas Markets

Christmas time in South Australia is so different from what I would be experiencing back home. The weather is boiling hot, though I have been told that it is cooler than usual due to all the storms we have been having, so it is easy to forget that Christmas is coming up and just think that summer is here. 

Highlights of 2014

I am a fond fan of looking back, I do think you have to be grateful for what you have and what you have done and that sometimes people can't appreicate where they are going until they remember where they have been. I have been so fortunate to have had so many incredible experiences this year as well as so many amazing people to share them with that today, as the sun is setting on 2014, I thought I would share my highlights with you.

Uluru - I really don't think there could be a highlight higher than this fore me. I absolutely adored being out at 'The Rock'. The remoteness, sleeping in a swag and the millions of stars and milky way all heightened this experience and luckily for me I was there with an amazing group and had a few too many nights burning the candle at both ends making sure I completely absorbed this whole experience. I can't wait to go back. (Posts Here 1 - 2 -3)

Whitehaven Beach- Whitehaven really is as incredible as it looks in photos if not more so with its fluffy pure sands and crystal clear waters This was a day I wont forget anytime soon going with my East Coast Family makes it a special memory and added to that the fun of going out on a high powered speed boat made it for a thrilling adventure. (Post here)

Melbourne - I can't really talk about Australia without talking about my first port of call and it features highly on my list because once again the people helped make it for me helping me get over my jet lag and showing me what backpacking life is really like. Melbourne really is the perfect place for me to have started my adventure with so many sights to see, I am looking forward to going back and finding a job here after I have completed my farm work and seeing so much more. Here is a post from my favourite experience in Melbourne.

Columbia Road Markets - Not Australia but I cant really have a list without my favourite city on here can I? With this being my last treat weekend away before my adventure began and getting to meet Emma and Ellen, who I will hopefully be seeing in Adelaide soon, make this a special trip memory from 2014. Even the visit to The Shard and Tower of London to see the "Sea of Blood" display make this a special day in my heart. (Post here)

Skydiving - Something I have wanted to do for years finally got ticked off my list and I am so glad I did it. I am always wanting to try and push myself to the limit and this experience certainly helped to do that. I'm excited to do my next skydive and am already looking into where I would like to do it. (Post here)

SA - Counting Stars

One of the best things for me about being on the farm is being so far away from all the street lights and being able to see all the night stars. This was certainly a blessing at the weekend for the Geminids meteor shower on the 14th. I love the night sky and stargazing but back home in Britain it normally is too cloudy to view them and in the city there is not many places that are dark enough to see the amount of stars that I got to see out here. 

We perched ourselves on the trampoline in the farm and lay back to watch the night sky. Hannah even lent me her camera so I couldn't get some photos of the stars. My camera has unforunately taken its last photo a short while ago but didn't have the capabilities to take photos of the stars unfortunately and it felt so good to be able to take some star shots. 

Instagram - South Australia: Part 1

Four weeks ago I returned to South Australia to start my regional work towards a second year visa. Here are some of my Instagrams from the area so far. 

Reflections: 3 Months

I can't believe I have been away from home 3 months already. It seems so crazy to think it has been that long and at the same time that short amount of time, this last month in particular has flown by.

Starting on a low note by losing my long term travel companions, being unable to find work in Sydney and not really getting along with Sydney as a city, whether this is because I felt very low after losing my East Coast family or not I am not sure, and then moving onto a farm in South Australia my life just seemed to be a crazy mess. However I feel like that farm is probably the best move I could have made in the whole situation. It has given me some stability and helped my work-a-holiday self from getting bored, it has also taken away the immediate stress of having to pay out money for accommodation when I don't have a job (or a plan).

It's hard work and long hours but I honestly enjoy it. The first week I didn't want to get my hands dirty, I have never been green fingered and pretty much refused to ever garden or weed back home but out here I am now keen to get stuck in and get my hands dirty which is crazy to me. I have pulled out six foot weeds, bled, sweated and become exhausted by it all but despite this I am keen to continue. I'm even developing muscles in places I never had them before and being active a lot which I am loving. The farm has even given me the opportunity to try new recipes which travelling hasn't given me before.

Now the only thing I think I need to do is learn how to relax again, or at least gain a balance between working and relaxing as I tend to do all of one and none of the other. The last 2 months were all relaxing for me so this month has seen me throwing myself into work, trying to find work or stressing about working that I haven't really relaxed which has always been a problem for me. Getting my second year visa work done early is taking a huge weight off my mind and give me the oppertunity to really think about what I want to achieve in Australia before I move on and I would recommend this approach to anyone looking to stay in Australia for longer, starting your regional work sooner means if you hate it, you move on and still have time to do some more elsewhere. So I am glad I took this approach and feel so fortunate to have landed myself straight in a good farm.

Where does your food come from?

I don't know whether it is working for the farm and all the fresh vegetables I can get my hands on there but I thought to myself the other day "why have I never wondered where my food comes from?". Even before I came to Australia I had heard about how good South Australia's produce is and after working at the farm I now have a huge respect for what goes into producing market fresh goods. So I thought I would share a few points on what goes on behind the scenes in farming and a few facts about the produce to give you a better idea. 

It takes a team to make a farm great.
At the farm I am currently working on Brenda and Al have a team of Wwoofers (5 of us), 2 daughters that help and 2 full time employees to help them with the day to day running of the farm. They prefer not to use too many chemicals so weeding is done by hand and can take several hours just to do a small plot. Then you have to add in fertilising, picking, packing, building maintainence, feeding the animals, planting new crops, laying new water lines for the crops and about a million more jobs just to run the farm before you can even consider all the work to be done for the markets. This is done over 7 days a week with the farmers themselves working long hours to get all the work done before you even account into it the helpers.

Produce with marks are still edible. 
Supermarkets will only stock unblemished produce of a certain size because aestetics of a piece of fruit or veg is what makes it sell. However at a farmers market you will probably find that there are a few marks on the item and that it still tastes better than what you get at the supermarkets. Unblemished goods are sold as 'premium' goods but even the 'rejects' with splits in the top (from tomatoes trying to abosorb too much water) or marks from the leaves can still be eaten and taste just as good at the premium product.

Produce from farms will be fresher than from the supermarket.
The advantage to farm work and backpacking is when you get talking to others working toward their second year visas you find out what it is like to work in other farms and packing jobs. On one such occasion i was speaking to someone who packed for a supermarket and she told me it can be stored and shipped for up to 8 weeks before it hits the shelves. Where as produce from your local farmers market is fresher with having only been picked a day or two prior to the market and stored in large chillers on the farm.

It is now crazy to me that I have never considered this before and I now feel I have huge respect for the farming community for all they go through just to give others fresh food. Hopefully this post will make you think twice before you look away from farmers markets again because now, to me, not only is the atmosphere better but the food is too.

SA - Adelaide Show Ground Farmers Market

Yesterday I headed out to do my first Sunday farmers market at the Adelaide show ground with produce sourced from the farm I am working at and all I an say is what a rush.