I've had such a busy and crazy time since I've arrived in England that I've completely put off posting for 2 months!
I've got a lot to catch up on, so I'm going to go from the start. The flight.
Word of advice to anyone travelling, don't use cheap airlines and definitely don't use China southern. My flight home with them was changed to give me a 50 hour layover in an airport with pretty much nothing to eat, that didn't take any foreign currency. Fifty hours. So I've since cancelled that flight and asked for a refund, and that whole kerfuffle has being going on for a good month.
I set out from Adelaide convinced that I could make the flight like nothing. I brought one of those sick masks to stop myself from catching the plane lergy (didn't work) and brought pen and paper for my other entertainment... Stupid me though that all these years later there would still be nowhere to charge your phone so I didn't bother downloading any games.
The first time I felt semi alive again was when I arrived in Amsterdam, it was a beautiful airport with actual food, so that was a huge plus.
Arriving in Birmingham was bizzare. I walked off the plane, grabbed my bag and was straight out. There were no customs or checks, nothing. It was a ghost airport.
I have been staying in Derbyshire, in the Midlands. The weather's been abnormally warm, but still only around 30°c so nothing particularly hot.
The first thing I notice is how green everything is. There are bushes and greenery growing and overgrowing everywhere, and everything looks absolutely ancient. The buildings are dark and mildewy, but not in a bad way. The whole country has a really homely cottagey feel. Also the roofs are super super slanted? Like they're really steep.
I love that everything grows, there are beautiful pots of flowers everywhere, all through the cities too. I wonder who waters them and how they get up to the ones on top of street lamps.
I've been to a few places now, around Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire the most notable ones are Wollaton park (home of Mr. Squirrel) and Chatsworth House... Which now I think about it might not be in either of those suburbs.
Did you know that some squirrel tails are like feathers? I always thought that they'd be a lot bushier, but they're like someone stuck a feather in a mouserabbit's butt.
Nottingham is definitely the nicer city in the East Midlands. A lot of the cities I've been to so far are a lot dirtier than I'm used too, but that's to be expected when the population is so high and dense I guess. They're even making a "beach" in Nottingham. Pretty sure they're just dumping a pile of sand and turning on the fountains.
The canals are filthy but kind of beautiful and serene. They seem to run everywhere. I'm always scared to get too close though, I feel like I'd catch something if I got any of the water on me.
I've got quite a lot still planned, and have been on a few other adventures that I'm hoping to post soon. I'm a lot more up to date on Instagram, so if you're on there then add me here!