Archives for 2012

December 18, 2012

Four bits

and pieces.

Verandah in Grafton via my Instagram

1. Mike and I are winding down our road trip and getting ready to settle down in Terrigal for the holidays. I’m so excited to put our tent away for 10 days!

2. After resisting this sort of thing for the past few years, I’ve decided to allow a bit of advertising on my site. It’s not a big deal, but I feel like I should be open about it. Personally, I don’t mind at all when bloggers blog for money…but I do find it a bit annoying when they try to sneak it past you! (Especially when you consider that many of those advertisers cast a wide net and several other bloggers were probably emailed as well, making it easy to spot). I’ve definitely noticed advertising that’s gone undisclosed on other sites and it makes me screw my face up a bit.

So, because I don’t want any of you to screw your face up at me, I’m letting you know in advance that you might see a few paid links here and there. If you have any questions about it, please send me an email so we can chat.

Basically, Australia is really expensive. A few extra dollars here and there will go towards filling the gas tank and paying for campsites.

3. In the middle of the night a few nights ago I suddenly decided I hated my blog design and needed a change. Well, I basically made it worse. So please, disregard what you see and be patient with me. I’m nearly ready to just pay someone to make me not hate it anymore.

4. Are we following each other on Twitter and Instagram yet?

xo, jill

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Filed Under: chatter

December 17, 2012

Surfin’ Santa

Aussie St. Nick.

In Australia, Santa comes on a surfboard. There’s even a song about it. I’ve seen enough lawn art evidence to believe it must be true.

Hope you’re enjoying the lead up to the holidays!

xo, jill

posted by Jill 2 Comments
Filed Under: Australia

December 16, 2012

Sunset in the Blue Mountains.

With pink, purple, and orange too.

I apologize. The photos in this post are going to be very repetitive. I couldn’t help it. The sky kept changing colors and I kept trying to capture each change. So, after our month long stay in Newcastle we were ready to check out a few more of Australia’s famous sights, starting with the Blue Mountains.

The Blue Mountains are called so due to the blue tinge of the area when viewed from a distance. The blue color comes from the eucalyptus oil released into the air due to the abundance of eucalypts. This is a fact that you will overhear often from other tourists if you visit. We chuckled everytime we heard a new person explain it to their family or traveling partner. (And indeed, it is a good fact!)

We decided to use Katoomba as our base for exploring the area. I would recommend this to anyone else who travels this way. The weather was chilly and our guesthouse was particularly cozy. As I mentioned before, it had central heating! (A rare find in Australia.)

Our first night in town we headed directly to the Echo Point Lookout to watch the sunset. It was cold and windy and I was freezing my buns off, but I think it was worth it. Every time we would decide to leave, the view would get better and better.

It was a wonderful introduction to a beautiful region.

xo, jill

posted by Jill 8 Comments
Filed Under: Australia

December 15, 2012

From the Hip Friday

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Today’s photo from the hip comes from Audrey at That Backpacker. Remember her from her 10 Questions interview? She snapped this photo in the Gocheok-dong neighborhood of Seoul. She says it’s quite common to see chili peppers drying in the sun all over the city. I don’t even want to think about how spicy those guys are!

Thanks, Audrey!

xo, jill

From the Hip Friday features photos taken without the use of a viewfinder. If you have a photograph that was taken from the hip you’d like to share here, please contact me!

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Filed Under: from the hip

December 13, 2012

One day in Newcastle.

The video.

Here’s a little video that shows what a typical day was like in Newcastle. It starts with my morning walk, then Mike’s morning swim, a bit of cleaning, and then off to beach.

Don’t worry, it’s less than a minute.

xo, jill

posted by Jill 8 Comments
Filed Under: Australia, video

December 11, 2012

More Newcastle.

Our home for four weeks.

During our first road trip, I started to crave a bit more stability. So when we were offered the chance to work at a hostel* we liked, we jumped on it. (And drove like the wind to get back to Newcastle in time…)

We started out thinking that we’d just stay in Newcastle for two weeks. Then, maybe three. Three weeks turned into four weeks and before we knew it, we had stayed a full month. No complaints.

We were able to establish routines, work on projects, and make friendships that went beyond the whole “Where are you from?” conversation. We were also able to sit down and better plan how we wanted to spend the rest of our time in Australia.

Here are a few favorite photos from around Newcastle. Mike took my camera out a few times, so some of these are by him.