This is a creative writing piece I had to write for a class I was studying for media. I hated writing in this style, but this is how we we’re taught how to write a synopsis. It is also based on some true events.
The synopsis:
The start of the movie show the main character being on a podium addressing a crowd at a TED talk.
Talking about how people should stop being worrying about treating adult people with disabilities like ordinary adults instead they treat them like children.
The film starts with the main character getting a talking to from her netball coach but the netball coach is treating the main character like a child being in trouble instead of another adult as she is.
In a separate scene, later back at home, you can see the real frustration in the main characters body language, she is upset with the way the netball coach treated her.
The main character is then laying on the couch thinking to herself, why can’t I ever speak up and tell the coach that I am not a child, she then questions herself will it always be like this?
In another scene, the main character is about to train her first ever netball team while the other coach is sick. She prepares all week for it by looking up netball drills online and watching YouTube to make sure every single little detail is correct and perfect she even has a little exercise book that she has written all the information down that she needs.
Later she arrives as the netball courts and greets the kids and parents, her team are all ready to start training when suddenly a netball committee lady arrives and starts to completely take over the entire training session, feeling extremely annoyed she has no choice but to watch the lady take over. Later that night the main character was quite upset and maybe even feeling a bit embarrassed that maybe they thought she was not capable enough by myself.
In another scene; the main character is at a general netball training session with the rest of the team when they start running up and down the court passing some balls when the coach starts to applaud her in an annoying way, it was something so simple that a player in the youngest age groups could easily do the same. Sometimes, even the coaches would set up a small easy obstacle course so it was not difficult for adult players with disabilities to do.
In another scene, they are in a group of older adults and the other coaches and manager are talking about a subject that would seem hard for a person with a disability. The main character is listening in on their conversations and tells the group what the answer is to what they were talking about, the coaches and manager are shocked to hear the right answer from someone that has a disability, they just stand there with a surprised look on their faces. “Other people always assume that people with disabilities are all dumb”.
In a separate scene, it’s game day and everyone is playing the game fine then suddenly the main character falls over on court, everyone runs over to the player even the coach and makes sure she is ok. Later in the game she falls over again and this time the coach comes over and say’s “oh my god, you must come off sweetheart, just in case you have broken something in your body”, the main character refuses to come off the court and she just shrugs it off.
In another scene, the main character is playing in a Special Olympics game of netball. Suddenly she trips over another player’s foot, she then realises that her knee is bleeding so she calls for her coach and asks to come off so she can get a Band-Aid, the coach then yelled at her on the sideline rudely and said, “You’re not going to bleed to death”
In another scene, she starts to write a blog about how annoying it is to be treated like a child just because she has a disability.
In another scene, the main character is laying on her bed, a month has passed after writing her first blog and she goes to check how many views she has had, she is ecstatic about how many views she has had, she smiles with relief.
In another scene, she is writing another blog about something else and suddenly she gets a phone call from “TED” people.
She is so shocked about the phone call that she thinks it is a prank call and hangs up. They call back a couple minutes later and explain everything. They tell the main character that they saw the blog and thought that it needed to be told. She was invited her to a TED talk in New York City in a couple months’ time.
In another scene, the main character is starting to prepare her speech, gathering all the information that is needed so she can sound confident up on the podium.
She also tries to figure out how she can draw the audience members in so they do not get tired or bored easily.
Should she wear something that is totally out there or; something plain and simple and should there be props involved.
She also read the TED book so she can get further insight into what the talks are really all about which gives her so many ideas that she can then finalises the speech.
TED week is finally here; she has prepared her entire speech, chosen the perfect outfit and she even got her hair done.
In a separate scene, she arrives at the ted talk eagerly to do the talk.
The night begins and they start to call person by person up to the stage to do their inspiring speeches, the main character’s is fourth in line to do the speech and is starting to get extremely nervous and shaky and nearly starts to hyperventilate, she takes one last look in the mirror and sees her pastel blue perfectly fitted suit in the mirror she then realises why she is actually there, she finally figures out at that moment that this is her purpose in life she wants to help other people understand what she goes through and also she wants to do it for the other people with disabilities that don’t have a voice
The announcer calls the main character up on stage; she takes a deep breath, walks up the stairs onto the stage and stops at the podium, she looks out to the audience and starts her speech.
At the end of the speech, everyone in the crowd is giving the main character a standing ovation, she is feeling extremely happy with what she just did and feeling accomplished thinking to herself that dreams do come true.
They say, money can’t buy happiness, but are they really sure they know that, because money can buy mental health private professionals, can’t it?
Here’s what I would do. If I won a nice absurd amount of money I would invest it straight back to my parent’s pockets, I’d get them the help in whatever is going on in their maturing mind that is making them so unhappy, so sensitive, the same parent’s that used to be happy, laugh with each other or just being nonchalant all the time. It’s hard watching them be unhappy, is it old age that makes people become suddenly overly sensitive, or even when they go completely silent for ages because no matter what one person will say it will always end in a stupid argument, so they just avoid talking to the other at all costs.
Australia isn’t like the USA where it may be extremely easy to access rehab, where you pay 20k stay a couple weeks and be rejuvenated. We don’t have too much options, where we can go get the help someone might need, in coastal towns like mine, there is no help besides GP’s or the hospital, just two options, there are no AA meetings or NA or GA for that matter, the local government just kick the mental health to the curb. When there’s no other options everyone just suffers in silent, heartbreaking silence. Because even trying in the first place to get help is the hardest pill to swallow.
If I won that much money, I would open up an adult’s centre where they can get help for free, similar to a mental health facility Headspace which is from 12–25-year-olds, where they can go to a centre and talk to professional and get the help that is needed. It’s 2025 and we need way better mental health facilities in rural city towns, we need better ways to be able to get help or try to.
After a short 8-hour flight I finally touched down in the best city in the world the big apple, customs took about 1.5hrs to pass through and my bag was on the other end. I hopped into a cab and got dropped off at my hotel I was staying close to Chelsea and Hudson Yards, check in was easy and the staff we’re super nice. I got up to my room I was surprised it was on the 24th floor, and I got upgraded to a midtown suite, holy moly it was huge, by the time I got there it was nearly midnight so I went to sleep fast, the suite featured a bathroom straight off the doorway and coat closet, big lounge room with midtown views, the bedroom had a an American king with bathrobes and another big tv and the ensuite bathroom had a soak in bathtub shower combo and beautiful vanity, unfortunately I only got to stay here one night.
The next morning after a good sleep in I packed some of my bag and decided to have a relaxing bath before I had to check out, however I was only in the bath for about 10 minutes until I heard the fire alarms going off, as I was relaxing I thought the alarm was coming from fire trucks down stairs in the streets but the sound never went away so I got up and as I walked into the bedroom there was a light flashing red, I then ran around the room trying to find something decent to put on and to evacuate, I found a robe and ran to the door however once I got there a person standing in the hallway said it was a false alarm and they turned the alarms off, it really scared me. I called reception to ask them if I could get a late check out due to the disruption of the alarm and they happily gave me another hour, so I hopped back into the bath and relaxed a bit more. Later at checkout when I asked what the alarm was all about, they said that someone did it as a prank on our level, the only thing going through my mind when the alarm was going off was I would have to run down 50 flights of stairs, and to pull a prank that stupid in a city that had a major terror attack is horrendous. I really hope they got fined for that.
After checking out I left my bags at the hotel and headed to the Samsung store to try and find a watch strap because in London it broke the Samsung store was right near the highline so I walked the highline back to Hudson yards, I found that the highline was one of the coolest things to do in NYC, what a creative place to hang out in see some of the sights without passing cars, the weather that day was so hot around about 35c/95f so any chance to find a cool spot to sit under a small tree I took.
Walking on The HighlineOld train tracks
The end of the high line is at the vessel, Hudson yards has a big shopping mall with boutique shops and it’s also home to The Edge a new viewing platform with a glass bottom, it also has a restaurant and bar, it was on my things to do list, for lunch I got shake shack. I headed back outside and booked the attraction for the edge called The City Climb, you climb on the outside of the building it’s a 45 degree-angled staircase and 1,200 feet above the ground, the cost was $185 usd so around $300 aud.
The Vessel
After booking the attraction I headed back to the hotel to get my bag and go check in to my hostel, I decided to walk instead of taking the subway or a taxi it was only a 1 mile walk straight, although I struggled a lot with my suitcase, I tripped over trash I tripped over my own suitcase, the wheels kept screwing up, I was annoyed, however I finally got found it, the hostel was on the 3rd floor and there was an elevator , I checked in and my room had 4 bunk beds with females only, I unfortunately got the top bunk which I will always hate, I put my stuff into a locker provided. After setting up my cords for later that night I booked a City Harbour Lights Cruise so when the time was right I decided to walk to the wharf, I hopped on the boat and got a seat inside until I realised the views would all be better outside so I nicely nudged myself between two nice women that were happy to move over a couple inches both way to make way for me, the cruise departed at 6pm, there was good commentary about the sights I chose the left side of the bow and had the entire Manhattan skyline all the way, the boat first went towards New Jersey and then turned around, went back under the iconic Brooklyn bridge, just as the sun starting setting the city was perfectly shadowed and we headed to stop at the statue of liberty just as the sunset colours were fading into darkness, being an avid photographer I learnt a couple skills on my Samsung phone to try and not allow light in and when someone saw me taking a photo like I do they asked if I could take the photo for them like what I did, afterwards a whole bunch of people just handed me their phones and I took the photos of the statue for them, I really hope it turned out for them. The boat started again and we left the statue of liberty behind on our side of the boat we got views of Brooklyn and again NJ, the whole boat ride was about 2.5 hours, after it got back to the wharf I headed back to my hostel and got some dinner next door, while eating I met a really lovely girl from Latvia and we became friends, we talked for ages and decided that we would spend the whole day together the next day.
Sunset cruiseSunset Cruise
Day 2, I set my alarm early because I didn’t want to be late for my new friend, I got ready and we left to go try and find a coffee place, we found one and walked to central park to have our coffees, we then walked to the big fountain in the middle and my friend met a busker under the grand staircase and she asked if she could sing with him, she has the voice of an angel I was blown away and the acoustics under the stairs made it even better, she then wanted to go to the natural history museum so we spent the morning inside, by the time we had finished it was lunch time so we had lunch downstairs in the cafeteria, it wasn’t great and it was both one of our regrets because if we stepped outside we could have eaten for way less, after the museum I wanted to go the red stairs in times square to get some cheap tickets to see Chicago my friend said that she loved the theatre and we put our money together and got tickets. After getting tickets we headed to St Pauls Cathedral and then shopping for a new outfit for the musical because I had nothing fancy to wear so I headed into H&M and found the nearest dress and purchased it, once leaving we had to take a cab back to our hostel to get ready, since the theatre was only a couple of blocks away it didn’t take long to walk, it was at The Ambassador’s Theatre.
The show was incredible I was just on the edge of my seats all night because of excitement.
After the show we met up with another girl from our hostel and had a slice of pizza and headed for a bar, we went to a Spanish style bar very close to our hostel and danced all night until about 2:30 am.
Sunny Central Park
Day 3, I had to say goodbye to my new friend, however we got to do some things before, she went back to central park and sang one last song with the same busker this time it was Shallows, it was beautiful, after some singing, we headed back to the hostel to grab her bags because it was time for her to leave. I walked her to grand central station. We said our goodbyes and I headed out into times square, I wanted to get another hop on hop off bus so I found a person selling them and I purchased a 48 hour pass, included in the 48 hour pass was a night tour and a day cruise. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the bus then got off once it fully went around Manhattan, I got back off at Times SQ and went window shopping, for dinner I went to wholefoods to get a salad.
Day 4 wasn’t the best day, as I was fully ready to go out, I went to grab onto a small pole which I thought was supported and it came out of its attachment and I fell onto my back really bad, straight away I knew I had broken my ribs I was in so much pain and it truly winded me. The entire day I contemplated going to the ER, however I was scared and alone in the city and I didn’t end up going, (biggest regret) I took a photo of it and then went about the rest of the day in serious pain, I went on another bus and headed down to the river to get on the sightseeing boat, same good views as the night tour.
Once I got off the boat I hopped on another bus and went to the Whitney Museum, probably one of the most amazing museums I have seen, and to top it off they had a rooftop deck with views overlooking uptown. I headed back to my hostel for the night, and had to do the night tour to Brooklyn and New Jersey, by that time the pain had gotten worse but I still went on, every single time the bus stopped or went over a bump my back hit the seat and it made me cringe, the night tour was really enjoyable and it was good to see the city at night and NU too, after the tour finished I headed back and went to sleep.
Day 5 I still had time left on my hop on hop off group, so I got the first bus and got off at city hall to go walk on the Brooklyn bridge, but before I went on the walk, I noticed filming happening so I watched that until they finished, it was a tv show called FBI, it was so cool to see how they filmed one little part, once they wrapped I walked to the start of the bridge.
Walking along the Brooklyn bridge was surreal, and such a fun thing to do, it was boiling hot that day, it was already mid 90’s or mind 30’s, so I found shade in the highest point of the bridge, once I was on the other side of the bridge I wanted to see DUMBO (down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), usually a hot spot of tourist that take pics in front of it, however when I went there I had it all alone and didn’t get that good shot.
After dumbo I headed for Brooklyn bridge park, a really nice area they refurbished in 2021, I sat in pier 3 where it overlooks Manhattan with the financial district side, I sat around that area for a long time taking some photos of the skyline, listening to the light waves crash along the rocks, just dreaming of the day to call it home one day. I left pier 3 and just walked towards the bridge and around all the waterfront and ended up on a really nice trail on the inside called “The Greenway” I found some really good, shaded trees to stop for some time to take a break from the sun, after walking I wandered around to find some lunch and stumbled across another shake Shak and ordered a meal however unfortunately I think I stole someone else’s order because they kept yelling out my name mid-way through the burger so I just slid down and hoped no one would notice me.
After the burger I did the walk back to Manhattan this time it was even hotter I was so exhausted, on the Manhattan side of the bridge as I was walking back there was food markets in this undercover area, after the walk I headed to city hall park to rest and people watched, after resting I walked through Chinatown and east village and stumbled upon Gramercy Park. What a dream that would be to live around that area and especially being allowed in the park, Gramercy park is the only one of 2 private parks in the city, only those around the park pay an annual fee to have a key to the park, unfortunately I didn’t meet anyone that could get me in however I took some photos and sat outside and did some more people watch, a lot of people had dogs, the owners were so friendly. I headed back to my hostel and went to sleep.
Day 6 was the shortest day, I slept in until 11:30, it was already nearly in the 100’s high 30’s, I grabbed some fries and headed into central park, I climbed onto the rocks close to the playground, I was then joined by a cute squirrel, I fed him some of my fries and he was so happy he kept coming back for some more until some annoying children scared it away. After lunch I walked around central park a lot, I found the “Friends” inspired fountain, I took some good photos of the city backdrops, I stumbled upon the famous bow bridge, however it was too busy so I waited for a small little spot right on the water, I saw so many people rowing from the Loeb Boathouse, boats are $15 per hour with a $20 deposit.
Later that afternoon/night I got to finally go do “The City Climb” in Hudson yards. I had been looking forward doing this for 6 months so I couldn’t wait. It all starts in the gift shop, this is where you can pre-purchase time slots for the edge platform, I waited in line however if you already have “The City Climb” tickets you can cut all the lines, you have to go through a detector like at the airport and then they take you to a special room, once in the room the person that is taking care of you hangs around, you have to sign paperwork and then you are ready to go. You then get into a private lift to take you up to the viewing platform but away from the public side, they give you a safety suit and you have a locker to store your phone and other valuables, once you are dressed you get an individual person to put a harness on, at that point I was a bit worried with my sore ribs, I didn’t mention it to them otherwise I think I would’ve been unfit to do it. After getting the harness on another person tightens everything, you have about 6 people checking the harness to make sure it’s up to the safety standards, which is reassuring because you are about to climb on the outside of a big building, after tightening they used zip ties to make it extra secure, the pain when zip tying on top of my broken rib, ouch. After they secure you all in you go into another lift and go up another 2 levels and again they make sure everything is all secure and tight, they give you a two way puller that drags along with you and attaches you to the railings, I wasn’t so scared however once we opened the doors to walk towards the staircase on the outside of the building we had to demonstrate that our harness was working and we had to lean forwards over the building, but we couldn’t stop there we had to start climbing the 45-degree incline, there were 161 steps in total, the stairs were very steep and tall, while climbing the stairs the harness started dragging and pulling my back upwards motion I was in so much pain I thought I wasn’t going to make it up all of them. The top is a 1,271-foot high-point, once up the top we got to spend around 45 minutes savouring the panoramic views of Manhattan, once the entire group was on the level, everyone leaned forward at the same time to look down and we also leant backwards, then we got our individual shots, it was a bit daunting to lean off the edge however the staff and everyone in the group are all encouraging each other that it made it a lot easier, after getting individual photos we got to take a couple group shots and then just hang out for a while, the staff even let us stay up there longer because we were the last group up, instead of walking down the same stairs our group used the emergency stairs to walk back down to the locker area, the staff took our harnesses and suits off and got all our belongings out of the lockers, afterwards we got a medal and then we said our goodbyes.
Day 7 was the hottest day, I decided I wanted to go to a beach and just get some fresh air and cool down, I decided on Coney Island, of course I didn’t have a beach towel with me so I went quickly to target and found the cheapest one I could find, on the way back from the shops I had realization, time felt like it stopped and everything went into slow motion and I realised how accustomed I had become of this city already and this city is where I will hopefully come back and live one day.
I got the D train to Coney Island, I think I caught the slowest one because it took about an hour, however once I got out I saw the big amusement park and found the beach shortly after, I put my towel down right near the flags so I could remember where I was and relaxed the rest of the day, I went and got some lunch and after lunch it started to get really hot so I went for a swim, the water was nice and fresh but still a little warmth in it, once I got out I decided to have a nice afternoon nap and went to sleep for 2.5 hours, after waking up I went for another quick swim and decided to call it a day, unfortunately I hopped on a bad train carriage because it didn’t have any air-con so it was hot, however when I got back I had a Popeyes chicken sandwich and it made up for it.
Coney Island BeachConey Island Boardwalk
Day 8 it was time to leave this amazing city behind, I had a super early flight out of Newark so I had to leave at around 5:30, getting a cab was a breeze. I headed inside it took ages to find my airline, I flew Alaskan, going through security was super-fast, I was excited coming to this airport because I heard they had a really big upgrade but unfortunately I had to be in the boring old part, I had a quick nap and then boarded my flight, I was super lucky because my row was the only row empty and got the 3 seats to myself, the service was nice, there was no inflight entertainment which is always a bummer but I had a really good nap and woke up in sunny Los Angeles.
Hotel – Crown Plaza HY36 Midtown Manhattan – 5/5 it was a fantastic hotel, the upgrade was amazing, the bed was even more amazing, the only thing the reception staff need to be more welcoming they seemed a little boring.
Hostel – Nap York Sleep Station – Central Park 8th Av – 4/5 – I stayed in a 4-bed female only dorm. The room wasn’t the same of the photos which was disappointing, the check in process was easy, the room was comfortable, and it had an ensuite inside, the staff didn’t help tall when I broke my rib, they weren’t helpful of where the best hospital was, they just shrugged it off, even though it was the hostels negligence, they need better training in medical emergencies. The location was great, very close to Columbus circle and central park.
Here I was, off on the first international solo trip, I finally arrived in freezing cold Iceland, walked through duty free and brought the cheapest thing I bought in Iceland, a bottle of Brenivin (black death) Iceland’s most famous alcohol.
Went to the bus station and got my ticket to Reykjavik, feeling tired but excited, finally hopping on the bus, taking a deep breath and realizing I finally made it.
Arriving at the BSI station I got a transfer with the same company with an added price, I hopped on a small minibus and finally I made it to another hotel close by because my hostel was off limits, walked only 100m and finally made it to my hostel.
At this stage it was only 10am, I was super excited to get inside and see the hostel in person, unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to check in until 3pm so I put all my bags in a safe area and put the stuff I really needed in my carry-on backpack (big mistake).
I decided to set off to town and walk around and find the hop on hop off tours, first of all while walking I saw so many beautiful colourful store fronts and apartment buildings, and eventually getting to the heart of town, the centre of town is huge, I wasn’t expecting it to be that big and everywhere you look you could see ice capped mountains, so incredible to see.
As I walked through town, I found an information centre, I headed in and gathered all the information for the rest of the trip, they gave me directions to Harpa concert hall,
Harpa Concert Hall
I tried to head into the nearest place to get a coffee however the price was 7.50 krona (way too expensive) so instead I continued to the find the hop on hop off bus, before hopping on I took a lot of photos of the mountain, the photos will never do justice. I decided to get a 24hr pass because I was short of time, so I didn’t need anything longer, it was about $60 AUD.
I hopped on the bus, listened to the commentary with the earphones and after the 3rd stop, I nodded off to sleep, I was so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes opened, I woke up a couple times but eventually the tour ended an hr later where the tour started.
I hopped off the bus to stretch my legs and also to try and find a coffee, but it was a dead end, and I wasn’t about to spend that much on my small addiction, I decided to head to Hallgrimskirkja church, a very big landmark in fact it’s 74.5m/244ft, I waited in a small line to head up to the very top, with breath-taking views all around Reykjavik.
I decided to head back to the bus and try one last time, this time around I stayed awake a little bit longer and saw a couple more places until I again fell back asleep, again waking up at the stop 1.
After a failed attempt to see this big city I decided to disembark and headed to a supermarket called Bonus, basically like a Aldi (but the same prices as Coles), I thought I was going to get some good bargains like sliced meats and cheeses but they we’re too expensive with the price conversion, I bought Cheerio’s and some milk which still costed me around $18 AUD, after buying some groceries I headed to the hostel to finally check in, I got a tour, I got my room number and a locker key and off I went, once I got in my room, I unpacked, checked out my large pod and just relaxed, I unfortunately I didn’t make any friends to go to dinner so I headed out alone, by this stage the weather had cooled down significantly, it was around 7pm and probably 5 degrees with a wind chill, I headed to a local burger place called 2Guys, a very quiet place but still had a small vibe, I ordered a burger meal because I hadn’t eaten since 5am that morning, it was a really delicious burger with also even more delicious fries, holy moly I think if I went back to Iceland I would definitely go there every night just to eat the same thing, the meal costed around $26-$30 AUD, a little on the expensive side however it was well worth it, after dinner I headed across the street to a small supermarket, a very upscale but good priced shop, it was open 24/7 too, after the small supermarket I headed back to the hostel and sat around in the social area, however everyone was doing their own thing, and no one was interacting with each other, so I decided to head to my pod and watch a movie.
I woke up the next morning around 5:40, however I realised after 10m of messaging people the real time was only 4:40, so I went back to sleep and finally woke up about 5:30, I headed for the communal kitchen and ate my breakfast, the kitchen was quiet, so I had it to myself mostly.
After breakfast I rushed to get ready for the day because I’m always late, I couldn’t even put my shoes on in the room I was that late so I ran to the bus stop which was about a 15m walk and sat down and put my hiking boots on, at the bus stop there we’re so many tourist buses and all the guides going crazy trying to figure who was on what bus, the morning temperature was only 3 degrees, it was so cold and there was also such a wind chill that made it even worse, we waited at the bus stop for about an hour, while waiting I met two good buddies, I decided to butt in and we all got talking, we finally got on the bus and off we were to our first stop, or what we thought it was anyway. Our first stop was another pickup location, more and more people hopped on this already packed bus, eventually there we’re 4 people standing up, by this time the other buses of the same company had just left so our guide was frantically trying to re-arrange the people that had no seats.
After about 30 minutes the guide finally made an announcement and asked if there we’re any 4 people that wanted to go on a private tour then to stand up and get off, finally after another 15 minutes (nearly 2 hours late) the tour started and we were really off to our first stop and because we were late we only had limited time at each location.
The tour I did was called “The Golden Circle” the most famous tour of Iceland, as we set off the guide was so funny, he kept telling us all these amazing stories and silly dad joke puns, also how much he hated Justin Bieber for ruining Iceland, in Iceland there is a lot of moss so much so it just looks like tiny lumpy grass, there are 606 different species of moss, they do so much for the eco system that they ask you to always stay on the path and never touch the moss because after heavy trampling it dies and it takes 100 years to grow back. While driving along you really feel like you’re on another planet, probably what mars could look like in another lifetime away, it really is so pictures that you’re constantly in awe of how amazing it is, I never expected it.
As we winded down the road of the we stopped at a petrol station for a quick break, there was a extra big Bonus, more like a warehouse style shop than an actual supermarket, I headed there to buy something and this time I was in luck, I got a roast beef, onion and pickled sandwich, it was about $4 AUD which seemed really reasonable and I wish I bought more of them.
Our first stop on the tour was Kerid crater, the crater is 55m deep, 170m wide and 277m in circumference, the water is also a perfect warm temperature.
Kerid Crater
The next stop on our tour was Gullfoss waterfall, Iceland’s most famous waterfall meaning golden falls, for the most bravest people like me you can walk down to the waterfall and be on the water’s edge, this waterfall was extremely popular like every waterfall in the summertime so you really had to mind your step and most of the time it was just a dirt slope up and down, with a small rope on the side to stabilize your balance when you needed it, getting right up close to it was incredible, once we got back up the top we were lucky enough to see a rainbow on the side of the falls, there is also a large gift shop on the carpark area and a cafeteria too.
After that stop we had a little bit of spare time to see the Icelandic horses, I was expecting them to be a bit woollier however they we’re still cute and friendly, one even smiled for a photo, and then proceeded to eat my jacket.
The third stop we headed to the Strokkur Geysir, the geyser erupts every 10 minutes but to get a photo you have to be quick because it can be over in a flash, the guides also told us not to touch the bubbling hot water for obvious reasons, although the temptation was too real, I eventually touched a small area and it wasn’t even that burning (thankfully), we saw the first eruption and also smelled it all around, the smell is really like rotten eggs, but two of us decided to stay back and head to the other side of the geyser, unexpectedly there was a sudden wind change and it decided to bless us with showering us with the delicious warm rotten egg soup, I wish someone got us all on video because it would have been so funny to see everyone running, after the geyser we had the opportunity to eat our lunch, and just to relax by the surrounds.
The calm before the impact
The fourth stop we headed to Pingvellir national park, a UNESCO world heritage site, Pingvellir meaning the fields of parliament Iceland is divided by mid-Atlantic rift, parts of the rift such as the Westfjords and Reykjavik are on the north American plate while the east Fjords are on the Eurasian plates, Iceland is the only country in the world where the rift is above sea levels, the tectonic plates drift 2.5cm each year.
In the distance water, Iceland was first created and the eurasisan and north american plates on the rightcute little farmhouse and accommodation across the river
We all hopped back on the bus and majority of the people went to sleep, we arrived back at Reykjavik on time.
After an exhausting day I headed for the bed and just ate cereal for dinner to keep prices down.
The next day I headed for another tour this time it was a tour of the south coast and it included a glacier hike, again my guide was late to picking me up and me the overthinker thinking they forgot about me, he finally came and we hopped on the small mini bus and headed to all the pick up locations, the driver was rude and a bit boring, he yelled at a poor tourist that stood up on the bus to ask him a question which really set a bad vibe for the rest of the day,
Our first location of the day was about a 2-hour drive roadside stop again, so after going passed all the sights I saw the day before I opted for a big nap, the next stop we headed for the first waterfall called Seljalandsfoss, our guide dropped us off and told us to “just walk that way” he didn’t even hop off the bus, the waterfall is huge 60m in-fact, this waterfall you can actually walk behind so you have to walk up a lot of stairs, each area you walk you are getting more soaked from the spray of the pounding water, I asked a lot of couples if they wanted photos taken and in return them taking photos of me which worked out so well. On the other side of the waterfall the trek back to the staircase was a bit more stressful, it was very rocky and you had to climb over many slippery rocks, at times I thought I was going to slip, I eventually got back on the bus and we headed for another waterfall.
The second waterfall was a bit underwhelming called Skogafoss the second most famous waterfall in Iceland, we stayed a little bit too long but there was an amazing double and even triple rainbow.
We hopped back on the bus and headed to the infamous Black Sand Beach called Reynisfjara, it was created by molten lava that enters the water, a reaction occurs when the volcanic ash collides with the sea, Katla volcano formed black sand beach in one of the eruptions, however the most photographed part of black sand beach is of course the basalt columns created by the volcanic forces. The most famous movie and tv shows have filmed there, like Game Of Thrones S7 and Star Wars, The force Awakens and Rogue 1.
Next stop on our tour we went to the famous seaside town of Vik, a very small town overlooking the black sand beach and the surrounds and it has a small church on the top of the hill.
The next stop we made it to Katla glacier and volcano, we got our harnesses on and our ice shoes and ice picks and away we went, I wanted to do the glacier hike because I know it won’t be around forever, so I wanted to experience something really historical. We walked for about 10 minutes and finally reached the area where we had to put our ice shoes on and some more safety instructions before we were allowed to head towards the glacier, we finally headed to the glacier and started the hike, we were all lined up like the seven dwarfs taking in the breathtaking views along the way, our guide was ahead of us at all times at times, he would tell us to wait to make sure the ice was stable underneath us, the first part of the hike was similarly to rock climbing, but not that difficult, eventually we headed deeper into the glacier even walking down stairs with a tiny rope there for support, walking with the ice shoes were a bit difficult because you have to stomp your feet, after heading down the stairs we had to head up again, eventually making it to the flat area of the glacier, we took in the surrounds as the sun was setting behind us, just in awe of how amazing it really is.
We eventually hiked for another 30 minutes, we took in the surrounds even more and also did a caveman drink, where you have to do a push-up with your ice pick and drink fresh glacier water, we then had an opportunity to fill our bottles up with fresh glacier water and to tell you there is a big difference between tap water and glacier water, it’s hugely different and so crispy delicious.
After relaxing up there for about 15 minutes we had to head back down, on the way down we saw some tourist sitting on the glacier rock face risking their lives to take some photos, it is very much illegal to go past a certain point without any safety harnesses, they also had a couple young children…anything to get a good gram. We made it down and took our shoes off and headed back to the bus, we all sat down until we got our breath, then we all got on the bus and 2 hours later we we’re back in Reykjavik, it was a quiet trip back, mostly everyone slept all the way, I forgot to bring my earbuds so I was bored for the entire way home.
That night for dinner I opted for cereal to save money and also I was too tired and exhausted to go out so after I ate, I just went straight to bed.
The next day it was so wet, unfortunately the rain never stopped that day but with the rain the wind came, straight from the artic, I opted for a lovely walk in the pouring rain to the bus stop to return my hired clothes, getting very lost along the way, I finally found it and opted for another lovely walk in the pouring rain to the centre again getting lost however I found a beautiful park along the way.
I made plans to meet up with my friend I met from my first tour Gloria, and we met at a small bookstore in the middle of town, it was so lovely catching up with a familiar face, after grabbing a hot chocolate and trying a Icelandic pastry we went to look for souvenirs and Icelandic jumpers, I was so ready to buy an Icelandic jumper but the price of a jumper was around $300.
After buying some kish souvenirs we headed for Iceland’s very own and famous chocolate factory, mind you it was still quite wet out, the walk was about 45 minutes which felt like hours because of the vicious winds and we we’re very close to the water, after what felt like walking through the desert in the pouring rain and the worst winds imaginable we finally made it to the factory, well more like a small shop with decadent ice-cream, we started to dry off or try to at least, I wrenched out my jacket every 15 minutes, eventually asking the girl to call a cab because I didn’t want to walk back. The chocolate unfortunately wasn’t worth the hype, I got the original one and salted toffee, the salted toffee was delicious but the 50% less coco wasn’t great, it was a bit disappointing.
For dinner that night I tried to make some friends in the main room so I headed to get some pizza at dominos, however I couldn’t entice anyone to eat so I just headed to my room and packed my bags, however my night really got better, I met some really nice girls in my room.
The next day I had to wake up early to have breakfast and then leave the hostel for the blue lagoon, I said goodbye to my first ever hostel experience and headed for the bus stop, I hopped on the small mini bus and headed to the main bus terminal and then hopped on another bus to the blue lagoon, the bus ride took almost an hour but the scenes along the way we’re so beautiful, I was definitely excited to get there.
Once I arrived I had to go check in my bags in the blue lagoon’s own bag storage, it was about $10 to store my suitcase, once I checked my bag in I walked around the path to the entrance of the lagoon, I have been dreaming of the blue lagoon for so long so actually seeing it in person felt so magical.
I headed for the check in, they gave me a wristband so you can buy drinks or a mask, I opted for the premium package, it was $110, my expectations weren’t met, what I expected was a quiet oasis, not that many people in there and private closed doored showers, however when I walked in there we’re so many people that bought that package too, people rushing around everywhere trying to steal showers, cutting in lines, kids (very lucky kids) and also a little bit dirty. However, I decided to put that all behind me and really just take in the moment of actually being in the blue lagoon, I walked through the confusing corridor and finally made it to the exit the lagoon. I looked around me and got my photo taken in front of the lagoon.
Step by step I walked into that beautiful very warm lagoon the inside temperature was about 38 degrees, it was beautiful and so relaxing, I headed for the mask kiosk to get the first of 3 masks, they gave me a charcoal mask first, and then the second mask was a algae (from the lagoon), after washing off the second mask I headed for the in water bar, it was a long stroll going through people, it felt like forever trying to get some alcohol, the line thankfully only took about 5 minutes or less, I got an apple cider, gosh the first sip tasted so crisp and fresh, after getting the drink I decided to sit by the side and watch everyone go passed, I then heard this lovely Californian girl ask if I wanted my photos taken, she really was a godsend, I wandered around the lagoon and eventually had to get out to catch my flight to London, once I hopped out I got changed, put my swimmers in a waterproof bag they provided and got a cab to the airport.
I got to the airport and finally passed security and then relaxed before my flight (or thought so) I decided to sit around the departure halls however I didn’t realise that we had to go through immigration, there are no signs saying that you have to go through, I headed to what I thought was my gate turned out to be the customs line, the line was out of control, it went for over 200m, people we’re cutting in everywhere, people we’re asking attendants questions, it was very chaotic or perhaps just a really busy day or time at the airport, the time quickly started to dramatically decline and I only had 30 minutes to start with, I eventually made it to the other side, my gate said final boarding as I ran to a toilet and finally made it with about 5 minutes to spare (even with final boarding calls).
Review of Galaxy Pod Hostel:
First impressions we’re good, the kitchen was usually tidy, the rooms we’re nice and large, my pod had a very squeaky door so it was very hard to pull open and shut, and unfortunately the toilets we’re dirty most of the time and the bathroom was very hot and humid without any ventilation, the hostel was in an “ok” area, it was a little bit further from the actual centre however it was only about a 5 minute walk into the main area.
After putting everything down and choosing our rooms, we all sat around and caught up on everything, we all had dinner together, some traditional dishes like cabbage rolls and blood pudding, then we had pizza’s, one of them had reindeer on it and the other had smoked salmon, after dinner everyone left and we nestled ourselves on the couches before heading to bed, I only slept 3 hours that night only because in northern Finland the sun doesn’t go down at all, so all hours there is at least enough brightness to wake you up.
reindeer outside our room
Waking up the next morning was exciting, we we’re ready to have an adventurous day, first Dad and I went for a walk to the local shops but instead of following the map we took the extra-long way, we went to the shop to get some groceries and necessities to get us through the week, the bag was heavy when we walked home, and the temperature was only 12c.
After coming home I decided to have some breakfast and relax while we waited for the daily itinerary when they did come we split up into two cars, and then suddenly it started to pour rain, we headed to Kopara a reindeer farm that Ansi and Heidi own, a huge pictures farm with tepees and little huts plus a working shed with big heavy machinery. First we headed into the mess hall and we could already smell the soup slow cooking, once Heidi and their car arrived we started a tour, walking around the lot and watching everyone work, although it was pouring rain and cold so it was a bit hard to concentrate, mum and I headed back inside the food hall and dried off while everyone else did some more touring, when they came back I went to have a look at the oldest hut in Lapland, a small winter hut for the families to stay warm on cold winter days on the farm, it had beautiful wood and on the inside reindeer fur along a large man made day bed, a small table and a fireplace, it was amazing to see something like that, after the small cottage we headed inside and had some slow cooked reindeer soup, if you haven’t tasted reindeer before (no not venison) it’s usually mouth-watering good and tender, it was amazing.
reindeer farmtepee the hut
After going to the reindeer farm the rain had finally stopped and we headed to Heidi’s place, a short drive and we we’re there, a beautiful farm house, something like off the movies, as we drove in I saw two horses one foal, the colours of them we’re so beautiful like a beautiful caramel, after parking I got to pat them and then we headed into the house, inside was a beautiful kitchen with a large open plan lounge attached and a big fireplace, such an amazing farm house.
After arriving half of us split up, one half went to the nearest town and the other half stayed back and had a sleep, I got to have a nap above the fireplace, a cute reading/sleeping nook with fairy lights and heaps of pillows, gosh it was so nice and relaxing. Eventually after a couple hours the other half of the group came home and we all woke up from our naps, Heidi then started making dinner, we had risotto and reindeer osso Bucco, the risotto was so amazing and the osso Bucco was incredible too.
After dinner the boys had a sauna and didn’t get out until very late, after only having at least 3 hours sleep I was getting tired, eventually my aunty drove us back, we all headed to bed and “slept” I only slept about the same, maybe an extra hour. After breakfast we, my aunty and cousin decided to head to the top of the mountain, taking the chair lift up overlooking the entire Pyha region and also you could see all the way to Russia, it was very cold up there and while on the ski lift, but incredible views.
on top of the ski lift
Once back down we headed to lunch to a little ski eatery, after lunch we headed back home and had an afternoon nap, I slept a good 3 full hours, finally, for dinner that night for dinner we went to the pub up the hill from us and walked passed many reindeers, they didn’t care about us they just kept sitting there, the pub was like a mini American saloon, I wanted a burger but accidently ordered a vegetarian burger instead, but never the less it was still good. Once we finished dinner Patric came all the way from Sweden to see us arrived and we sat around talking the rest of the night.
The next day we headed to Heidi’s farm to walk the dogs and to see the lake, we walked to the beautiful lake and then we all hopped into the cars and headed to another farm to see the men farm hay, we had a quick stop at a local marketplace to meet Ansi so we could follow him to the farm he was working on, after basking in the nice sun we headed across the road to a house café and we had some morning tea, I had a delicious piece of carrot cake, we stayed at the café for a while relaxing more in the sun, also on the property there was a donkey, after morning tea we then headed back to our place to have another afternoon nap.
Later that evening we went out to an amazing ski resort that overlooked a beautiful lake, when we first got there we had to change our shoes and put slippers on, as we walked through the restaurant the only thing I could notice was that the place was made out of trees, it was amazing and you could still smell them, once everyone got there we started to get served the wine and then the first of the degustation meal came out and it was reindeer leg with a delicious coating (like a tiny chicken drumstick), it was gone in seconds, for the 2nd meal we had pickled cucumbers and vegetables with a mayonnaise, for 3rd I had a vegetarian dish, while everyone else had a fish, my dish was chat potatoes with egg yolk, for the4th meal we had a malt bread and butter, for the 5th dish we had lamb with cep mushroom sauce, for 6th dish I had reindeer while everyone had the menu and for the last dish we had a rhubarb desert. After dinner we headed to the lake to take some photos it was a beautiful end to the night.
The next day we relaxed a little bit in the morning and then at lunch time we headed to a amethyst mine, and wow what a wonderful place that was, we first had to climb over 150 stairs to reach the top, then we got to go to the mine and dig for our own amethyst, you we’re only allowed to keep one the size of a closed fist, so we all dug in separate areas and we all found one or more, after the time was up we got the amethyst checked to make sure they we’re indeed amethyst and then we headed back down the mountain and headed to a late lunch close by to our resort. After lunch dad and Ansi went fishing and the rest of us went back to the resort to sleep again, after resting and near dinner time Heidi picked us up and took us back to her place to get ready for dinner, this night we we’re having minced reindeer tacos and a salad, the tacos we’re delicious.
The next day, we had to say goodbye to our friend and then mum and I headed back to the pub for lunch, this time we played uno for lunch I had a pizza which was huge and yum, after lunch we just rested before dinner again at the pub (it really was the only thing opened on a Sunday) after dinner we came back and went to “sleep
The next day we packed our bags and left Pyha (ahh big sigh) and went to Rovaniemi, on the way we made a little pitstop by a raging river and a bridge, such a beautiful little roadside stop, we hopped back in the car and headed to lunch, a small café on the water’s edge which also had a large sauna, I had the best burger in Finland there, after lunch we headed to Santa Clause’s village, wow what a cool place and tourist attraction, we went inside and headed upstairs to meet Santa and to take our photo with him, he was a covid safe Santa, he had a screen in between us and him, after taking our photos we headed for the airport, we hopped on our flight, a couple hours later and then we landed in Helsinki, we then made our way to our hotel right next to the train station, we had an early morning train ride so we wanted to be close to the train station, we walked to the dinner place, the place we chose was a newly opened Italian restaurant in the station, a beautiful large room filled room with olive trees and candles, so amazing, probably the best pasta I had in Finland.
The next morning, we woke up bright and early to go to a town northeast called Savonlinna, we had to catch two trains, one took about 2.5 hours however we played uno to pass the time, the other train took 1 hour, and it was an old train, very small. We arrived in Savonlinna around lunch time, our friends picked us up at the train station and we headed to their apartment in the city centre, we sat around and relaxed and also had some light lunch, after lunch we got in the car and headed to the boat harbour to get to the island, we we’re staying on. We arrived on the island and went to our sleeping quarters to drop our bags and then got a tour of the island, once we we’re settled we sat around and talked and ate, we then had dinner and went to bed, the first night I slept and even slept in. The next day we had breakfast and went to back to the town to the markets and to do a little bit of shopping, I decided to get the boat all the way to the markets with Dad and on the way we stopped and took pictures of Savonlinna castle, a beautiful historic castle built in 1485 where they have held opera performances since 1912,
we made it to town and met Mum and Anneli and we walked to a shopping centre, after shopping we went back to the markets to meet dad and Jorma and at the markets they had some delicious finish style pancakes, thin and crispy, (my dad still makes the best ones) however they were at par, after eating the pancakes we headed back to the apartment for a little time before hopping back in the car and heading back to the island.
Once back at the island mum and I played Uno for a couple hours and then eventually it was dinner time, for dinner that night we had boiled crayfish and I had sausages, eventually it was bedtime and we went to sleep, I slept really well that night and I even slept in the next day. The next day for breakfast Jorma made me finish pancakes, they we’re so delicious, for lunch we headed to a beautiful restaurant in the forest, unfortunately it was the waitress first day on the job and she got most of our orders and other peoples orders wrong, I asked for a starter but it never came so I was extra hungry and got stuck with a salad only, but the setting was beautiful none the less, after lunch we headed to the train art gallery and outdoor gallery next to it, however I found a cute puppy and played with it instead, all the little puppy wanted me to do was throw her a perfectly small pebble and she would bring it back to let me throw it, very very cute, after lunch we went to scenic way back to the road, it was so beautiful looking at the lakes both side, we made it back to the jetty and went back to the island, we got back a bit later around dinner time so we had a late dinner, played some uno and then went to bed. The next day it was a bit wet and gloomy, we ate breakfast inside and I had a pancake again, gosh I could eat them every single day if I could, after breakfast, mum, Anneli and I went for a walk around the island, it was a beautiful walk and I was so surprised mum actually did it too, after the hike we sat and relaxed and waited for lunch to be ready, we had chanterelle risotto, it was so delicious, probably the best risotto I’ve ever had, after lunch we packed and headed back to the mainland because they we’re having some extreme weather forming and it wasn’t going to be a good couple days on the island. We arrived back to the mainland and settled into the apartment, for dinner we to a restaurant downstairs. The next day it was extremely gloomy and wet so there wasn’t much to do, we went to a fish restaurant in the middle of the harbour and all I could have was 4 different sausages and most of them were really good. After lunch we headed home again and just waited out the rain, playing uno or watching reality tv, for dinner that night we went across the road, and I had a really good cheeseburger.
The next day we got all our things ready and headed to the bus stop and headed to our first stop Jyvaskyla a big town not far from where we we’re heading, once we arrived, we headed out for dinner to an Italian restaurant and walked around the town centre. The next morning, we got in our hire car and drove to Mantta however before that we stopped in a small village to see a historic church made from beautiful timber, it also had an old graveyard. After that quick stop we arrived in Mantta, a place where dad grew up, he showed his first house and then we headed to lunch on the riverside and after lunch he drove around and saw his house he grew up until he left, after we saw the house we drove to get our key for our Airbnb we waited out in a big hall where they had old photos on the wall of what it used to look like, in one of the photos my grandfather would have been in.
After getting the key we drove to the Airbnb, it took us a while to find the place because there was no number or letter large enough to see which apartment complex we we’re staying, in Mantta there isn’t much options with accommodation so we booked a small studio which unfortunately wasn’t the best or what the photos on Airbnb look like. The first night of dinner we went to a laughable place on the water, the restaurant was a mess, the food was “ok” and the staff just didn’t really care, the next day Mum and I both stayed home for the morning to wait for dad to come home (he had a boys meeting) after him coming home we went to the museum where my grandfather’s office would have been, after the museum we went to a church in the middle of town and then went to get some lunch and then headed back to the studio to hang out and rest for a little while. For dinner that night we went to a restaurant on top of the mountain top, it had such a beautiful view overlooking the ski fields and treetops. After dinner we went to visit my grandparent’s gravesite in a beautiful cemetery, it was a really sad moment and eerie to see our last name on the grave.
The next morning we woke up early to meet one of dads friends to take us for a boat tour around our family island, the boat ride took about 45 minutes to reach, it was amazing to see where my dad and my family spent all their summers! we took some photos and then took the boat back to another island before heading back to the mainland, once on the mainland we went to the café on the river again and had some breakfast to warm up before hitting the road, this day we took a short drive to Tampere, a large city not that far from Helsinki, when we arrived at the station we decided to take the hard way to our accommodation, at first the lifts weren’t working at the train station so we had to carry our heavy bags up the stairs and then down the stairs, at that time I really just felt like throwing my bags so they would get down there faster, after we made it down the stairs it was only a short walk up a hill to the apartments, we booked a beautiful apartment right in the centre of the city, the apartment had 1 ½ bedrooms, I say half because the room I was in was just a shoe closet that they put a single bed cramped in.
After settling in my cousin Ilari came over and we chatted for a while until dinner time, for dinner we went to this really trendy rooftop bar, very colourful and maybe a bit of a Spanish theme to it, I ordered mushroom tacos and when they came out their was only one tiny crumbed mushroom on each taco, the furriery I felt was huge, even so the mushrooms we’re so nice and tasty, I bit into each one like I was a tiny mouse eating cheese.
The next day we lazed around for some of the morning and then went to the Moomin museum, a fictional character created by Tove Jansson a Finnish author and writer, after the museum we headed for the growers markets and met my cousin for lunch, we went to a little Thai hole in the wall place, after the markets we headed back to the apartment and had an afternoon rest, later that night we headed to dinner, this time we headed upwards for a revolving restaurant, it had such beautiful and amazing views all over Tampere, the meals were good and unusual, I could hardly concentrate with the views around me.
The next day wasn’t the best unfortunately, I woke up to have what I thought and still think was food poisoning (just a low dose) after having a little energy we went for a walk around town and to the waterside, every single smell was making me feel sick so we headed back to the main centre and went to the market hall for lunch, a huge hall filled with all the food you could think of similar to the one in Helsinki, we decided on a Japanese restaurant probably the size of a NYC apartment, I probably shouldn’t have ordered food it was quite torture. After lunch we headed back to the apartment so I could rest and we had to check out and head to a hotel for the last night so we packed up and walked to the hotel which was only 100m from our place, for dinner that night we went to a German restaurant, a huge restaurant in a beautiful part of the city, hidden away, I of course had a wiener schnitzel with vegetables and a mushroom sauce, probably one of the best I have eaten, I luckily had my appetite back so I ate everything. After dinner my cousin was nice enough to show us around the other areas of the city first a little fairy tale market place and the next we went to the waterside to take in the views, we also saw a WW bunker which was huge but really cool, next we headed to the top of the mountains, the views up there we’re so nice, a little chilly but so serene, after the top we headed for the bottom of the mountain and went to a lakeside with heaps of wooden boats lined up on the shore line, even more pictures than the top but also a little more windier, after those little excursions we went to our cousins place for a tour and then headed back to the hotel.
The next day we had to get the train from Tampere to Helsinki central, it was a cold wet morning, the train ride only took about 1 ½ hrs and we we’re back in Helsinki, we headed for the lockers again at the station and then went for a walk to find lunch, we went to the hard rock café for lunch, it was super busy however we finally got a seat, I ordered chicken wings and they we’re over-salted, I like my salt however I could hardly eat them until I gave up. After lunch dad headed to get the key and mum and I went shopping, we met dad back at the station a short time later and we all walked over to the apartment, it was so close to the station which was super convenient with so many annoying bags, we made it to the apartment and the cleaner just started cleaning, however she left quite quickly and didn’t clean the rest of the place, it was odd, so the place was dirty, we headed for dinner and we headed to the worst Nepalese/Indian restaurant nearby.
For the next evening we went to see our family, and we went to a beautiful a fine dining restaurant, for starters I had a beetroot salad, for our 2nd course we had a delicious corn soup, I still think about the soup, I wish I could duplicate it, for the 3rd course we had an eye fillet perfectly cooked and so tender and for desert I had a lemon cake with the best tasting lemon curd on top with blueberries and ice-cream.
The next day dad went to golf and mum, and I played some uno and did a little bit of shopping and we also went to a small Japanese place and I had the best chicken karaage, then around 3 Heidi, Ansi and Pietu came and we went to a an exhibition, after the exhibition we headed to back to our apartment and relaxed dad later joining us, unfortunately they didn’t have that long to stay because of a connecting flight but it was extra nice to see them again before we left Finland too.
For dinner that night we headed to an old-fashioned restaurant, where the maitre d’ took my jacket because he thought it wasn’t fancy enough to wear inside the dining room, the audacity.
The next day it was time for mum and dad to depart to head to Ireland and me to start the solo adventure, we headed to the apartment where I was staying for the remainder of the trip, we had one final lunch and said our sad goodbyes.
I settled in and decided to take a walk to the big shopping centre nearby to get some dinner and some groceries, I ordered a chicken fried rice and also bought the most fanciest butter I’ve ever tasted, I walked home and then settled in more watching some tv. My first day alone I went to the fortress of Helsinki Suomenlinna a huge place right in the middle of the harbour, I decided to head there a bit later and that wasn’t very wise, I didn’t anticipate how big the island was so I only got to see ¼ of it, after leaving I headed to meet my friend I hadn’t seen in a very long time and we went shopping, then we had a delicious dinner at central station and then we went for a evening walk around Helsinki harbour before deciding to take the observation wheel around at sunset, it was so amazing catching up, it felt like old times.
The next day I decided to go to Helsinki zoo, I had to catch a short ferry it was a beautiful boat ride over, after only a short 20 minutes we got to the zoo, I headed straight for the bears and I’m glad I did because only 15m later they had a feeding, unfortunately there was only a couple animals out, I got to see a tiger too however it was too far away, I think they need better observation decks so we could have got a closer look at them.
The day after I decided to have a lazy morning and then I headed to the museum of natural history, a really good museum however they need numbers for the audio guides it was very hard to navigate where you were on the guide, after the museum I headed back to the apartment and packed up my bags and headed for the airport, because I had an early flight the next morning I decided to book a airport hotel, one of the best decisions ever, I booked the Hilton and it was such a great hotel, I also decided to take the club level, in the club level you get free drinks (any alcoholic) free food and also tea and coffee until 10pm, such a great deal, I also got breakfast included so I woke up earlier and headed down however it was so disappointing, no milk, nothing hot, it was so hard to find out what the limited foods were. I left the hotel and headed across the road to the airport to leave Finland behind.
Thank you to everyone that hosted us, dined us and made an big effort to come and see us wherever we were, a unforgettable adventure.
Finland voted world’s happiest for the 5th year in the row, how?
After a long 11-hour flight from Bangkok we finally landed at the capital Helsinki, we landed super early in the morning, just before 6am, ughh that was hard trying not to sleep at all. After going through all the hoops of immigration we got a taxi through a bidding war and got to our first place we we’re staying for 3 nights Espoo, a quite town just 30 minutes from the city centre. We met with our close friend and first host Aino and her cute puppy Roomba a jack Russell. After sitting around and relaxing for a while we headed for S-market a up-market shop with so much fresh bread, fish, pastries and even a sushi bar, it was an exciting venture, trying to figure out what type of pastries we’re what, and asking dad to translate everything for us, ha-ha sorry dad.
For dinner that night dad’s school friend Hanu came and picked us up and we went to his apartment. After dinner we all headed home to hit the hay.
Day 1 of Finland, After sleeping well we headed off to the city for the day to see the wonderful sights of Helsinki, even though it’s my 2nd time in Finland I hadn’t actually seen the sights, so I was excited to be there, even though it was quite cold and windy. We walked around the main pedestrian streets and then headed for the main attraction of the Lutheran cathedral, those fit enough can climb the 43 stairs to the top to reach the cathedral, I didn’t attempt it any time I went. After marvelling at the cathedral we headed to market square, a huge market filled with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, reindeer on a stick and other various finish traditional foods, instead of eating outside in the cold we headed inside to the food hall, a bit like the food hall at the easter show every year but more classier, there we’re tastings everywhere, little tiny cafes that could only seat 15 people, fish and meat as well as some really exotic foods like reindeer jerky, I wish I bought some however Iceland’s law on no meat products killed it. We had a lunch time snack at a little tiny French looking café, I had my first karelian pie (a delicious rye crust with rice and egg butter).
After lunch we decided to go for a walk but just before we were leaving there was a big downpour and we had to wait it out, we ended up going for a walk in the rain and then it stopped raining, basically like Melbourne weather.
We headed to the best bookstore in Helsinki called academic bookstore, a nice two storey book shop, after the bookshop we decided to head home.
We arrived back and just relaxed the afternoon away, for dinner we headed across the road to an Italian restaurant, even though it was authentic it still tasted delicious, after dinner we headed back to the apartment and went to bed, unfortunately due to jetlag I couldn’t sleep well enough.
Day 2 This day dad and I decided to go to the city again and explore while mum had a rest, we headed out early and caught the direct bus to Helsinki and off we went with our day, again a crisp windy morning, we went for a walk to the church in the rock, however not a free attraction we decided to not to go inside, the next attraction on our list was going for a walk around billionaire’s row to find me a young gorgeous bachelor, but unfortunately no luck. We walked around the area for a little bit even heading to the ocean to soak up more of this beautiful chilly wind then heading down memory lane for dad where we went passed dads old apartment he used to live in, after heading to his old apartment we headed to Olympia stadium where we went to the top of a tower overlooking the entire city, after the tower we went to a small market area where we had some coffee and a pastry, one thing I’m not a fan of is Finland’s filtered coffee, sorry but nothing tastes as good as any type of espresso. Next we went to the station to meet my cousin Nora and her two children, we went for a walk to the fazer café a famous chocolate branded café in the centre of town, I had a delicious fazer geisha dome mouse cake, I couldn’t how amazing it tasted, after lunch we all went for a walk through a beautiful skinny park, it was so luscious and green, the weather also had heated up a lot by this stage it was a nice 23c, the park leads you to market square so we decided to all go on the observation wheel, we took our photo in front of the green screen and on we went, once on there the views of Helsinki city were incredible, after the observation wheel we walked towards the city and dad and I headed back.
For dinner that night we went across the road again to the shopping centre and went to an all type cuisine restaurant, the food unfortunately wasn’t good to my liking and at the end of the meal the waitress told us she came from Ukraine, she told us that she fled the war and her mother and two kids we’re with her but her husband and father stayed back in Ukraine to help fight it.
Day 3
Today we decided to have an easy morning and pack our bags and headed to central, of course after leaving I realised I forgot my thick coat hanging in the closet so it put me in a bad mood, once we got to central we put all our bags in the lockers and headed for an early lunch, a tapas restaurant across from the station, the server was so rude she had so much attitude because and kept grunting, eventually she calmed down and laughed at the situation but the tapas food was delicious. After that we headed to the station and waited 30 minutes for our train to go to Hanko, the southern most city in Finland, a beautiful seaside town, the train took about an hour and a half and then we had to get out and catch a coach the rest of the way and that only took 45 minutes.
We arrived in Hanko and went straight to our accommodation, right in front of the train tracks, a beautiful old but renovated and soon to be finished building, we settled in and got ready for dinner, we went to a small restaurant, the atmosphere was so lively and the food was delicious, after dinner we went for a nightcap, the night time sky was perfect so I went outside to the beach and captured a couple good shots.
Day 1 in Hanko We all woke up early and dad and I went for a walk around the markets and it was quite cold only about 14c or a bit lower, once we got back to the room we only waited about 15 minutes and then Aino came to pick us up for breakfast, we made a quick stop at a local bakery which sold delicious croissant’s, artesian bread and cakes, we went back to Aino’s place and enjoyed the breakfast together, it was a really beautiful morning and the sun was out.
We finished off our breakfast and coffees and headed out for the day, our first stop we went to indoor market where there were individual shops in each cubic area, after that we went to a couple other shops and then we headed to a town called Ekenan another cute seaside village, this one was a bit more greener and a lot more houses that were really close together, we went to a café there for lunch and the café was in an old house which was super cute, it had outdoor seating very much like a cottage backyard vibe, it started to rain so we headed back to Hanko, and then I went for a walk with Aino and Roomba around the town inlet area, it was so beautiful to see all the houses, they’re very rich and old fashioned at the same time, they really know how to design houses in Finland.
After the walk I headed back home for a small amount of time before we went out for dinner to the other side of the marina, this one only had small fisherman style boats and the setting was so beautiful, the inside of the restaurant was small but relaxing with nice furnishings and it overlooked the beautiful marina the food was great too, after dinner we went for another nightcap this time at a local wine bar, then we had a nice enjoyable walk home.
Day 2 of Hanko After no sleep again (thanks to an overhang of jetlag) we had a late morning and went to the Hanko casino for lunch, (we thought it was brunch but we got the time wrong) so before eating our lunch we went to have a look at some shops and by the time we got back it was ready to go in. The lunch was superb, there was reindeer meat sliced and in two different ways, salmon, salads, chicken, fish and vegetables, plus more, my favourite was the sliced reindeer meat (cured) on a piece of baguette with mayonnaise, I also had an espresso coffee. After lunch we went for a drive around town and headed for an afternoon nap before going to dinner, once dinner time hit the weather turned quite chilly and really windy, this time we headed to another marina the place was a tiny sea shack with only about 20 seats inside and the same outside, we were lucky enough to get seats inside eventually and had a good warm meal, we went for one last night cap and a quick walk around with the dog and said our goodbye’s to Aino.
The next day was a long travel day, we had to catch another bus but this time it didn’t have any storage underneath, so I placed my bags wheels first and of course as soon as the bus left the stop the bags kept rolling around like a roller derby, eventually by one of the stops I got up to go and lay them on their sides however the bus driver must’ve thought I was hopping off and opened the back door where my bag was and it was like my bag was trying to run away, just going wheels first out the door and smack on the road outside, I got back on the bus for one second put my hands up to the driver to gesture (what the hell bro) and put my bag on the bus again. We got to our train and it felt a lot slower than the first one did, we finally got to central and put our bags in the lockers again and dad headed to Espoo to get my jacket so mum and I went for a café and had an espresso, gosh it was good. After our little café stop mum and I headed for the shops, we didn’t buy anything but it was nice to window shop, after that we met dad again and headed to the bar for a quick drink at the station and then we hopped on a train and headed to the airport to fly to Rovaniemi (Lapland), the airport was busy but we moved through efficiently, we found a spot to eat and had a look at the shops and then went to our gate, our gate was packed and there was no where to sit, so we waited and waited until they called our boarding number, mum and I were on the same number however dad was on another number, very weird because we were all sitting next to each other. Once on the plane I realised how small it was, it felt like I was a giant or a adult on a kids ride, no leg room, knees touching the person in front of, the armrests were built as if someone had tiny arms, it was just very uncomfortable, but as a budget airline what can you expect.
After only 1 hour we landed at Santa Clause’s main airport, we finally got my bag and we headed for the door, straight away seeing Heidi, Enska, it was so nice to be there and start our northern Finland experience, my first time being in Lapland so I was excited to see everything, we got on the road and headed to the region of Pyha a ski resort that we spent the week at, but along the way we saw Santa’s Village and then after driving for only 30 minutes we saw our first reindeer, reindeers aren’t on the side of the road they are usually right in the middle blocking both sides of traffic just so people can perfectly take a photo of them, they also weirdly run along side the car too like dolphins chasing a boat, we then drove some more and went to a different resort, at the first I thought we had arrived at our place, I was so excited and this reindeer looked like it was fake just standing before a balcony, but instead we drove some more and saw a 1 year old reindeer, oh it was so cute and small, after another 30 minutes of driving we had finally made it to Pyha and wow what a place, I was just in awe of it, brand new ski chalets or bungalows, inside there were two bathrooms a nice updated kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a large lounge room with a sunroom attached, it basically felt like heaven, I had never seen anything like it before.
You could feel the heat as soon as you got off the plane, the airport had no air-conditioning because it was under renovation.
Finally, through to the other side the taxi system you need to press a machine and then it highlights which person it is. The first man tried to put all our luggage in his boot however because my bag was too big he couldn’t close the boot, us begging him to stop he kept trying and trying nearly breaking my bag until we started taking our luggage out, the second man was much more a breeze, it was a maxi taxi and off we went into the city of Bangkok.
The taxi ride only took about 35 minutes to get to the hotel.
We arrived at our hotel, Radisson Blu Plaza and was warmly greeted by the staff. Unfortunately, our rooms weren’t ready, so we had to wait 15 minutes at the bar, time passed, and we we’re given rooms opposite each other which was really convenient.
The rooms we’re amazing, but the bathroom was the standout, marble floors, nice soaking tub, large vanity and a rain shower head, the bathroom of dreams, my room had two single beds and a small seating area with a desk, simple but perfect.
Because it was getting late and we were exhausted from the flight, we headed upstairs to the hotel rooftop bar and had a light dinner, it was pouring rain up there, so we had to sit at the bar, we had some chicken wings and a big plank of individual foods with a mocktail that had way too much syrup in it.
Day 1 of Bangkok
Once everyone woke up, we decided to go out for a walk to see what is in the area around us, not much opens until 10am in Bangkok so we went to Starbucks and had a little breakfast. I was on a tight schedule because I had a cooking class to get to at 9am so as soon as we finished our breakfast we headed back to the hotel and just relaxed till it was my time to hop in a taxi and go to the school.
The taxi ride from hell.
I hopped in a taxi from the hotel under the impression that the driver knew where we were going because he kept saying yes, I know, so I sat back and relaxed a little bit, but I turned my maps on just in case, at first according to my maps we we’re heading to the right place, eventually somewhere close he took the wrong turn and decided to take me on a detour, then asking for my phone for the directions looking zooming in and out and saying ok I got it, NO HE DID NOT. Time was ticking closer to the time I was meant to be at the cooking school, I was getting really stressed and maybe thinking he was going to just drop me in the middle of nowhere, he then pulled over on the side of the road next to another taxi and he was trying to give him directions, I thought it was good until this other taxi told him the wrong directions too, me knowing somewhat where I was trying to tell him to go the other direction and him not listening or reading the maps properly, I was now getting mad and sick of his little game, we eventually ended up complete opposite area of where I had to go and now he pulled over for a second time outside a local market, I then had a good brainwave and asked him to call the number of the school because it was a local number, he did and I felt a sigh of relief, finally she was telling him exactly where to go. He turned around and headed back to the city and towards the school, the school started at 9:30 it was 9:20 and we we’re still far away, we also hit some heavy traffic every single traffic light. 9:30 rolled around and I was so mad at him for making me late, the girl was still on the phone and telling him exactly where to go. 9:50 we finally made it to the school. I should have paid him less, but it was still only $8.50, and I wanted to be out of the cab.
The cooking school.
I decided to book a school instead of a typical hotel lesson, the place was cute and open aired very Thai style house, we straight away got into learning and the first thing we learnt was how to make coconut milk and cream, then we headed to the garden to get our herbs for what we we’re cooking for the day. We learnt how to make an egg custard cake first, it was so interesting and hands on by squeezing the egg and coconut milk in your hands, then we made minced pork money bags, they were delicious so much different being fresh, then we learnt to make prawn tom yum soup, the hardest lesson of it all was doing the next course, green curry paste, it was so much chopping, then we made the chicken green curry, that tasted amazing. Once finished we all took some photos and then that was it. The girl convinced me it was easier to take the air-train back to the city and so she dropped us off at the station and these other two tourist helped me get the ticket and on the train, we went, it was super crowded obviously because it was peak hour, eventually after 30 minutes I made it to my stop and headed for my hotel (which I got lost) of course. Once back at the hotel I headed straight for the hotel pool to cool off at this stage it was 35c. After cooling off we relaxed before heading for dinner at a Thai style house, the food we ordered was good, but the setting was an old house with so many antiques and the person behind me kept banging his foot on the ground every couple seconds, it really drove me insane. We headed back to our hotel after dinner and called it a night.
Baipai Cooking School BangkokMoney BagsGroup photo
Day 2 We all woke up and then headed down to the hotel breakfast, I had high expectations but unfortunately, I could barely eat anything, I had cereal first and the milk wasn’t real milk which I had no idea about it was just powder with water, then I had some eggs and bacon and other easy normal items but they weren’t edible or just not what I like. After breakfast we went to Jim Thompson’s House a beautiful Thai style house with other houses that he built it was really beautiful to see and so interesting, we then headed to his gift shop I wanted nearly everything in there, all his designs we’re amazing.B
Jim Thompson’s House
After the house we headed to the river and go to Jack’s Bar a little tiny shack on the riverfront, a good spot to cool down from a warm morning, we had a couple dishes and they we’re all good but nothing incredible.
After lunch we went back to our hotel and headed to the pool again, and just relaxed before heading out to a Michelin bib restaurant for dinner. We headed to dinner and when we walked in, we we’re so warmly greeted and taken to our table but first we walked through the entire first part of the restaurant which was also a museum, then we walked up stairs and the place was amazing, blonde flooring, open plan dinning, bright, beautiful king like chairs, I could really get used to that. For dinner we had a mixed entre that came with some unusual but delicious foods and for main we ordered a variety of dishes, I ordered massaman curry with ox tongue, we also ordered a sticky rice and a Thai style pork salad and a fish dish, I decided with the ox tongue because I wanted to try something different for once and it sure was different, the taste was very flavoursome but also very unusual at the same time, I was proud I tried something different and I also had the most famous Thai dessert mango with sticky rice.
Day 3 – Departing day
We headed down for breakfast again, but this time I decided on the KISS rule and just had fried eggs on toast, and they were satisfactory. I had to pack up my room for checkout because I forgot to request a late checkout, so I packed everything and moved it into mum and dads room, at checkout they realised they had been charging all the breakfasts to my room plus more, hmm thanks mum and dad lol. We decided to head to the shopping centre to buy a couple things and then headed for a walk around the streets before going to an amazing lunch, after that we headed back to the tiny room to relax our afternoon away, I headed to the pool deck again.
We checked out at 6pm and headed to the airport in a nice luxury car, the ride was relaxing and pleasant.
For my 27th Birthday I decided to book the best hotel in Melbourne. This is what luxury is all about, 5 stars. (Even more if I could) From the minute we stepped out of the cab we knew this was going to be the best. The lobby was ginormous and breathtaking, as we waited in the small queue we looked around in awe. We quickly got served by the nicest receptionist I have ever met, he was fast and efficient and just as we were paying the bond he asked if we wanted a room upgrade, of course without hesitation we said YES. He said there would only be about a 30 minute wait and they would message my phone when the rooms were ready, he handed us two drink vouches for the bar/lounge opposite the reception, they took our bags and away we went.
The Waiting Room.
We got our room key, still feeling the buzz from our amazing cocktails, we retrieved to floor 20. (still not realising what type of upgrade it was). We finally got to our room and it was a double door, we had only joked before saying imagine if it was the double door at the end, but it was. When we walked in we could instantly see the floor to ceiling panoramic windows with the entire Melbourne skyline, we ran around around this room like we had the energy of a four year old at six am in the morning. The doorbell rang (Yes Doorbell!!) and a lovely room service lady wheeled in a bottle of champagne the card read “Compliments of management”.
Work Desk.
After the champagne arrived our bags then followed. This room was the best I have ever seen. The bathroom had a double glass door, a double vanity, with some of the brightest chandeliers each side of the mirrors and even more lighting overhead, perfect for doing make-up. It had a deep soak bath with a tv on the wall and the best rain shower too, the intensity of the water was so amazing and it was a even from the ceiling of the shower not from a shower a shower head.
The bedroom was as huge as the lounge room and even had small day beds by both the windows so you can look down or out into the hustling city below, the bed was the most comfiest bed I have ever slept on and those sheets were so soft as well, literally like heaven.
We left the room for a concert that night and when we returned back to our room, it was spotless again (we did leave it messy). Everything was put away, our bed was re-made the robes were hung back up, our delicates were put in the draws of the walk in wardrobe and we also got some more shampoo/conditioner and body wash.
After settling back into our room we decided to drink our champagne, but we didn’t know how to pop the cork (I’ve never opened a champagne bottle before) so we called room service and asked if someone could come up to our room and open it, without hesitation someone promptly came up and opened it for us, the cork even hit the ceiling.
The technology in the room was fantastic and really looking into the future of better hotels, they had a remote control for the blinds and curtains. Instead of the usual book you see in other hotels, they had a samsung note with all the information you need to know. The walls all around the room has the same curtain/blind button, they also had a docking station.
Different brightness of the lights.
Automatic curtain/blind.
The amenities of the hotel are amazing, with a gym that overlooks the pool and some of the Melbourne view and the biggest indoor hotel pool I have ever seen, it had double daybed at the end of the pool and the water was so nice and warm compared to the cold Melbourne weather outside it also had a steam room which was so relaxing after a swim. We didn’t go outside the hotel until we had to checkout at 12pm (late checkout). Downstairs the hotel has a casino plus a giant food court and other highly expensive restaurants. I only booked a premier twin at $369 and we got upgraded to a Premier Suite.
The view from the bedroom
Pool, Gym and Steam Room
Night View.
Tips on how to get a room upgrade. – Book the second lowest room – Dress to impress (we arrived in nice dresses, heels, nicely done hair and makeup) – Always be nice – Go an hour after check-in time – Just ask!
If you want to stay at the best of the best don’t look any further. You definitely won’t be disappointed
For the last 4 years I have been bullied in my netball team. Some years weren’t as bad as others, and some years I have completely avoided the negative situations, so I didn’t get my feelings hurt.
I decided 2019 was going to be the year that I wasn’t going to let it happen anymore. If you are wondering why I didn’t speak up to anyone, or confront the problems head on, to be honest, I was worried that no one would believe me or care about the situation.
Bullying has many definitions and presents itself in many forms. I’ve only been a victim of verbal bullying, which ranged in exclusion, intimidation, and being put down, but many people aren’t as ‘lucky’ as me, and experience things much worse.
In this story, I won’t be using any real names or places, and have only included the situation as it played out, so here it goes.
This is my story.
Jacinta and Pamela were two athletes of a competitive sporting team that I was also a member of. We were on one of our away trips, for said sporting team, when it all began. It had become apparent that I was always the teammate getting into trouble (mostly due to wrong timing). At the beginning of the trip, in the elevator with Jacinta and Pamela, I was confronted with my first experience of bullying. They both looked at me and said, “If you misbehave in any way we will kick you off the team, so we suggest you just be quiet for the whole weekend”. I was terrified.
The next year at another away trip, I had to share with a different group of people. To avoid drama I chose to sleep in the bedroom with two single beds. Five minutes later Emma walked into the room and took the mattress off the other bed in the room and dragged it out into the lounge-room. I was shocked and upset. I started unpacking my clothes when Jacinta came into my room and closed the door to exclude me from the group. OUCH!! After dinner we all went back to our rooms and as I was lying in bed Jacinta came into my room, sat on the side of my bed, and said, “Don’t worry if you don’t get any court time tomorrow, because you are not a good player”.
You’d think I’d be sick of this by now.
The next year I decided to avoid Pamela as we were having a few differences and I wasn’t getting along with her, however, ignoring her only made the situation worse. She also decided to tell me that I wasn’t “allowed” near her during the game, as if she was in charge of it!! I still did nothing or said nothing about these situations.
The following year I wanted to avoid all the drama and bullying, so I requested that I be put in a room without the said team members. That year was great because I wasn’t involved in any confrontational situations or belittled in any way.
For the most recent year’s trial, I stayed at a so-called friends place because I had recently moved away with my family. My friend was also a member of the team, and as it turned out, Jacinta was going to be there. When I arrived at my friends house, Jacinta decided that it was appropriate to continuously tell me that I wouldn’t get into the team and that I was not good enough to be in the team. During the trial all I could hear through my head were the words that Jacinta had said to me and I completely lost concentration, totally putting me off my game, and making me upset. The end result was me losing my place in the team 😦
From the people I asked on social media, 60% said they had been bullied by people in their own team at one point in their sporting career, and 50% of people said they had been bullied or sledged from people on opposing teams. It is quite shocking to discover that maybe there isn’t such a great team environment amongst team sports. It also made me think of how the people that I look up to deal with situations like these and if they are ever in situations like this….? I was also amazed to learn that an estimated 17% of athletes practice or participate in bullying at some point in their sporting life.
The bottom line, in my opinion, is why do people even bully in the first place? Is it simply due to their own lack of self-esteem or lack of gratification? Does it make them feel better about themselves, and do they get what they want when they bully others?
If this is happening to you, don’t stand for it. Do everything in your power (excluding violence) to make it stop. Tell your teammates, tell your coaches, tell your friends, tell your family. Tell anyone!!!!
Just remember, bullying someone could be the reason they decide to take their own life.
If this article raised any concerns with yourself or anyone you know, don’t hesitate to reach out to any of the many support services available, such as Lifeline 13 11 14 and/or Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636, just to name a couple.
***Names have been changed to protect peoples identity.
Rebwithacause 