The Travelling Dancer: Photos from Melbourne Laneways

Today I'm going to share some photos taken by my wonderful friend who I met studying dance at uni, when our paths crossed in Melbourne.  She's only just emailed them to me and it's brought memories of my trip flooding back.

Then I thought I need to write a post about what it's like being a dancer on the road, taking time out or a gap year to explore the world.  Because it's really tough; being constantly on the move it's sometimes difficult to find time for any sort of exercise, never mind searching an unknown place for a good dance class.  But that didn't stop me dancing on my travels...

Of course, the internet always helps! But it also depends which part of the world you're travelling in - I was lucky to be living and working in a Westernized country where everyone spoke my native language, which is a great start.  Even if you know you're going to be sticking around in one place for a few months, few backpackers can afford a gym membership or regular classes at a studio (especially at Aussie prices).

Nevertheless, I think I did rather well sticking to my passion whilst I was travelling, and managed to do a wide range of physical activities.  I also tried out a few new classes too! 

For those people who followed my journey from the very start, you'll know I took part in yoga classes right from the beginning of my trip in Thailand.  Most days we were lazing around on the beach or enduring long coach or train journeys, so I was desperate to stay fit and lots of resorts on the islands offered cheap yoga classes. Winner!

When we arrived in Australia, we were broke and had to start work straight away, and I certainly didn't have cash to be spending on anything fun in our first month living in Brisbane.  But as soon as I did, I found myself a yoga studio in the city and bought an unlimited pass - as I worked mostly night shifts, I loved going to yoga class during the day. It's not a substitute for a professional dance class, but at least I was attempting to keep up my flexibility (which is pathetic for a dancer at the best of times!)

I also couldn't leave Brisbane without hunting down Jasmin Meakin's Mega Jam Hip Hop class.  Her choreography is famous all over the world, so this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to learn from the master herself.  I managed to make it to her class twice, and it was absolutely incredible; in the flesh she's even more inspirational. Although I was slightly intimidated by her hardcore hip hop regulars, I cracked the routine and think I did really well - it's just a shame she didn't do a class video the days I was there!

From here we travelled for a month or so, and I have to admit I was having far too much fun to even think about my fitness levels.  But a few dips in the pool and the sea every day count, right? Maybe not, but once we were settled again in Melbourne I found an offer on some Body Barre classes.  I'd never heard of Barre Body before, but their classes are a fusion of yoga, pilates and ballet barre conditioning which sounded perfect.  They offer a range of different class styles with a certain emphasis on toning with weights or more ballet moves, and even I found it tough! I really enjoyed the sessions, and most of the teachers were professional ballet or contemporary dancers themselves which gave me confidence in the class technique.

But I was desperate for some real dancing in my life! Melbourne is such a vibrant, creative city so I thought there must be some artistic schools offering quality dance lessons somewhere in the creative hub.  I found a dance studio close to my flat in the Chapel Street area which was one of my favourite places in Melbourne.  I finally got to a contemporary class - which was good, but very lyrical and Americanized - and tried out some other dance styles too.  The studio had a great variety, from jazz and tap to strength and stretch, and one day I even had a go at Reggaeton.  Which I love from my Zumba training, but full on Reggaeton was very different!

Not only did I long for the physical form of dance to move my body, I also craved theatre trips where I could admire professionals and be emotionally connected with live dance theatre.  So I splashed out on a ticket to The Australian Ballet and had one of my most memorable nights immersed in Melbourne's renowned culture, all on my lonesome.  Check out my review of the performance here. 

As the time to leave Melbourne drew closer, it dawned on me that I was wasting the city's amazing art landscapes.  Not in the way that I hadn't appreciated them; I'd took plenty of photographs to cherish forever, take a look at some of my favourites.  But I wasn't making the most of the cityscapes because I hadn't danced in front of them.  I hadn't chosen an amazing piece of graffiti, danced in front of it in public and photographed the process. So I decided to do just that.   

     

And that's the end of my story about what it's like to be a travelling dancer.  No, it wasn't part of my life every single day, and consequently I probably lost technique, flexibility, strength and many other skills.  But I'd much rather be a travelling dancer than an ordinary traveller, or a normal dancer who doesn't travel. 

Travel Blog: THE END.

I can't believe this is it.....
the end of my travel blog, which has lasted over a year! :(

I thought I better finish it before the end of 2013, so here is a quick summary of our adventures....

It all started at Manchester Airport....

From there we had a lot of travelling to do.  All in all we endured:

13 flights

19 boat rides

1 campervan rental

Too many buses and trains to count.

We had many different sleeping arrangements over our trip.  Mine included:

5 beachside huts

1 jail

3 nice hotels

1 friend's floor
1 tent

1 yacht

1 grumpy relative's spare room

2 swags
1 sleeper train

1 rural lodge
1 night boat

1 gorgeous flat to call my own

Too may hostels to begin to count.

Once in Australia, I went through 5 jobs to keep me alive.  Throughout our journey, we experienced extreme weather including tornadoes in New Zealand and floods in Australia.  The bar where I worked at the time was situated on the riverbank, and I spent a week of the Summer clearing sandbags instead of sunbathing. We also chose one of the coldest places in Aus to spend the Winter - good choice.  Of course, looking back there are many things like that I could change, but we still had the most amazing time even if our planning wasn't exactly thorough.

Our journey, expanding over 5 countries, crossed paths with an abundance of wildlife, from monkeys and elephants in Thailand, to seals and dolphins in New Zealand - not forgetting my favourite marsupial, the koalas in Australia and touching a shark in the waters of Fiji.

Aside from all the facts, I returned a different person; with a tattoo, eating new cuisines, and with an array of new friends for life. I now have friends all over the world, including Irish friends, Americans, Taiwanese, Australians, Canadians - and even Germans. (Yes that one's a shocker!)

The most difficult part for me is choosing a favourite place I visited, or even a few favourite places.  All anybody asks me about travelling, is "Where was your favourite place?" But it's just an impossible question to answer, when I loved every single city, island or town for totally different reasons.

Rik and I had the pleasure of taking a video camera on our adventure, and I'm so happy for it now! I tend to have a terrible memory, the sights and sounds of my first destination are already hard to recall.  So thankfully, we have memories forever in our videos and photographs.  Here is our little montage:

Thank you so much to those of you who have been following our journey from the beginning.  Hopefully the adventures are not over! As you know, we got engaged while we were travelling, and instead of planning the wedding I'm too caught up planning the extra long honeymoon travel experience.  I'm already feeling travelsick and long to get back on the road again! Feel free to ask me any questions you may have or contact me if you'd like advice for your own trip of a lifetime.

Jade x

Time to wrap this up with a few inspiring travel quotes :)

This may have to be tattoo number 2.....

Ignore the '22' part.....age should never hold you back from going anywhere or doing what you want.

Travel Blog: Fiji

8/10/13 - Fiji, Viti Levu

After returning to the mainland, we embarked on the second half of our Fiji trip - the 4 day Feejee Experience.  They do lots of different packages, mainly aimed at backpackers for different amounts of time.  As we were short on time, we just chose a 4 day pass that drove right around the main island.

The main highlights of this trip were: 

Sandboarding

Jungle trekking


And, of course, the village visit to a school:


I had anticipated doing some form of volunteering on this gap year, with children or animals, but unfortunately it never happened.  That is why I was so excited to visit a small school in Fiji! Unfortunately we couldn't stay for long, so we didn't have an opportunity to help in the classroom or teach.  We gave them a group donation though, and the teachers were thrilled with it.  The school children performed lots of songs and dances for us, and we were treated like VIP's. It was such a memorable moment for all of us on the tour.

Here's the boys performing a traditional song and dance for us

Travel Blog: Fiji

30/9/13

I don't know where to start because it has been quite eventful already, and we are still only a few days in.

• We have met a French guy called Pierre. (Yes, really)
• We have stayed on deserted islands that are more remote than you could ever imagine.  The first island we stayed on looked like the island from Lost.  And it kind of felt like we were stranded on the fantasy island too! It was back to basics - only 8-10 other guests, from all over the world, and we ate fish that had been caught fresh by the Fijian staff.  Spear fishing too, not the lazy modern way!  It also felt like we were staying on some form of retreat or ashram, as meal times were so structured.  The sound of drums summoned us three times a day, to eat whatever the locals had made for us. (Heads up - a LOT of pineapple).
• And yesterday, whilst lying in my hammock on our beautiful, secluded beach, Rik asked me to marry him.  I wasn't sure if he was serious at first, but it turns out he was and now we are engaged.(!!!!!!!!)

• Also, we touched a shark!! Maybe it was only a small, harmless, reef shark but STILL. I touched a shark. Unfortunately no photos, because as I have mentioned before, I was silly enough not to invest in a waterproof camera.

So I'm lost for words in Fiji! As I write this, I am at our second shipwreck island of the Yasawas, just outside our beach bure watching the sunset over the calming ocean.  It could definitely be labelled paradise.

We also have this amazing little bathroom in our bure. It is outside, at the back of the hut, almost like a shower garden. I absolutely LOVE it. I would love it slightly more if it dribbled hot water instead of freezing, but hey. I'm not a complainer.

Our beautiful shower garden!! Getting naked outside was an experience

There isn't much else to report on from the first half of our Fiji trip.  It is so relaxed, but for some of our travelling companions "Fiji Time" got very irritating.  Apart from lots of snorkelling, and exploring a cave, there is not much else to do but relax.  Or this kind of malarkey:

For more exciting and adventurous travel, check out my next blog post with the Feejee Experience.  Our main activity on the islands was climbing the huge mountain behind one of our resorts.  It was the hardest trek of my whole year - I was not expecting it in Fiji! New Zealand, or Australia, yes.  But no, it was this rock climbing affair, 900m above sea level that nearly defeated me.  Nevertheless, as always, the view was more than rewarding.

Travel Blog: Australia

16/09/13 - Darwin

We carried on our journey overland from Alice Springs to Darwin with Mulgas Adventures.  Once again it was a really fun journey, always making sure we stop at the best sites and attractions whilst getting to our destination as quickly as possible. Our first stop was the Devil's Marbles, where we had endless fun taking these sorts of photos:

We stopped overnight at an outback pub, in a "town" with a population of 7 people. That's not what I call a town! 
As soon as we arrived in Darwin, the next day we were off on camping trip number two. This time myself and my fellow Dora Explorers were seeking out the great national parks, Kakadu and Litchfield.  These places are not only natural wonders, full of billabongs, rivers and cascading waterfalls.  They have an abundance of wildlife, from fresh and saltwater crocs, to tiny termites that make mounds taller than humans.  And on top of all that, the parks have heaps of indigenous culture ingrained in them, including famous Aboriginal rock art sites. 

Just one of the many huge termite mounds!

The places we visited were incredible, including the most famous Kakadu spots Twin and Jim Jim Falls. Unfortunately because of the time of year we went, the falls were actually dry, but it was still so beautiful! Maguk was another fantastic swimming spot, which was so secluded.  I couldn't actually get many photographs because I didn't have a waterproof camera.  That is my best piece of advice to anyone travelling here - get a waterproof camera!! There are countless spots where you can swim through pools and rock climb to gorgeous secret places; and only one person in our group could take photographs of the amazing scenery.  

A few other exciting elements, like the croc spotting cruise and 4 wheel driving made this feel like the ultimate adventure.  Camping anywhere always feels adventurous, but being told to watch out for dingoes on the way to the toilet block in the night takes it to another level.  We also tried some more local cuisine....green ant! Obviously not as filling as kangaroo or buffalo (which we did eat again from the BBQ) but surprisingly tasty!! We didn't have to kill them either - the only tasty part is their bum, so you catch one, lick its bum, then place it back on its tree.  Sounds quite hilarious doesn't it?!  But it tastes like citrus and is used for seasoning by the Aborigines.

Here's the truck we spent 3 days in:

  

I'll finish this post with a photograph of me with our tour guide, Rob.  We nick named him Crocodile Dundee, and he was absolutely crazy and fearless.  I hope I'm like him when I'm older - still a free spirit!

Has anybody been to these places? I'd love to hear from you, especially if you have some photographs of the spots I couldn't get my camera to.  Please feel free to ask any questions too, on any of my posts.

Jade x

Travel Blog: Australia

12/9/13 - Alice Springs, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

So today is my birthday!! And to celebrate, I flew to Alice Springs to explore the outback. Rik decided he didn't want to go, but I've been fascinated by Uluru since childhood.  As our departure date from Aus hurdled towards us, I decided I wasn't leaving until I went to the Northern Territory.
So I planned a Girl's Roadtrip of course!! And it was an amazing adventure.

We booked our Uluru 3 day camping tour with Mulgas, and I can't recommend them enough.  Our guide was fun but also very knowledgeable of the area.  As with all these tours, there is a lot of driving involved but they try everything to keep you entertained; from trivia quizzes to drawing on the windows.  And trust me, the early get-ups are always worth it!
Not long after we set off, we pulled up to our first activity - camel riding!

Then I picked up this sexy necessity:

Then it was off to the famous monolith, Uluru.  It is a place that is really hard to describe - you just have to go and experience it yourself, to understand why people believe it to be spiritual.  It is so calm and still.  We spent lots of time here, walking around the base, watching the sunset, camping in the national park and then watching the sunrise over the rock.

The camping was surprisingly one of the most exciting parts of the tour.  Camping in the outback means no tents - just swags! The main benefit of this is the ability to stare at the Outback night sky.  I remember distinctly one night, (after a few glasses of goon and moonshine by the campfire) I fell asleep rather quickly without appreciating the stars.  Then, during the night I woke up, and literally couldn't stop myself saying "WOW" out loud.  It is everything you imagine it to be and more.  Really trying not to sound cheesy, but it made me excited to be alive.

 Our swags around the fire

getting tucked up for bed!

The food was also amazing - barbecues with sooooo much local meat. I like my meat! I tried camel, kangaroo and buffalo and loved it.  Chomping on a real kangaroo tail though...not so much! 

 After Uluru, the next day we drove to Kings Canyon, which I didn't know much about.  After a three hour hike, I'd fell in love.

The whole tour was an eye opener. Born and bred a city girl, I'd never seen anything as vast as the Australian Outback.  I'm not sure I could live there, (far too many flies) but I definitely could have spent a bit more time in that amazing place. 

I've figured out that I really like going to places that make me feel completely insignificant.  Especially when it's forces of nature, like Uluru and Kings Canyon, that cause the effect.

Travel Blog: Australia

1st - 3rd September - Driving the Great Ocean Road

There were 5 of us in the campervan, "Berry" - me, Rik, Jodie, Lauren and Carl.  We knew the van was called Berry because the previous renters had left us a message on the roof.  By the end of our short trip, we loved Berry and Berry loved us.  The places she took us were phenomenal, and even though she'd probably seen them a million zillion times she had a good time too.  Apart from when we left her lights on and we had to get a stranger to come and jump start her...(Bad decisions...good stories).

The main part of the trip I want to share is where we camped on our first night. We drove the long drive to the Twelve Apostles - wrongly named. as I don't know how many rocks are in the formation but it's definitely not twelve!  Stunning views, but unfortunately along with them were fifty coach loads of tourists.  It was a surprisingly sunny day, so the holidaymakers were out in force, making it rather overcrowded and hard to get the shots you wanted.  After this we made our way back to the Great Ocean Road.  It turns inland for a while, into the forest behing Apollo Bay which is where we found our campsite.  On a quiet road along the way, a car parked by the side of the road flagged us down.  Automatically we presumed they had broken down or needed our help in some way, but when they started pointing high into a tree and getting their cameras out, my heart jumped and I knew it - THEY HAD SPOTTED A KOALA.
Sure enough, high in the branches was one lone koala, doing what they do best, chilling in a tree. I was so happy, I had finally found the wild koala I had been hunting for for the past ten months.  As we carried on driving, we soon began to spot them in almost every tree that laced both sides of the road.  The campsite where we were staying, Bimbi Park, was in the heart of this forest - and to mine and Jodie's delight, the koalas were all over the campsite aswell.  We slept metres from real, live, wild koalas!  It was amazing to see them in their natural habitat, and encounter the loud crazy noises the males make.  We even saw one incredibly close, when he adventured down to the ground to swap trees.  This was a dream come true and definitely one of my highlights of the whole year.

The following day we headed to the next town along, Lorne. We spent the day relaxing on the beach, having a pub lunch in a beer garden and camped a minute's walk from the sea. We discussed running away with Berry and just living life on the road as we really didn't want to give her back. We'd seen so much wildlife, including cockatoos and kookaburras and possums, but unfortunately the only kangaroos we seen were roadkill.  In the morning we drove to Erskine Falls, a beautiful 38m waterfall deep in the forest, before dropping Berry off with a tear in our eye. We returned to Melbourne to our beds and our jobs, but luckily for me I only have 2 shifts left! Then I am off adventuring again, this time to the outback - and I'm definitely not driving there!