#they might have to fly to Sydney or Melbourne first

[fazcinatingblog]

What are the chances of the magpies netball players being on Jetstar and not QF or VA

[celikhardin31]

Value Of Living In Australia Prices In Australia Updated Feb 2024

On average, previous travelers have spent $31 (AU$46) per person, per day, on native transportation in Australia. The AUD and USD prices of gold, silver, platinum and palladium update each 5 minutes on The Perth Mint website when the global treasured metals market is open. Prices proven here may differ from these obtainable at the time of purchase. Unless other clever indicated, offers on Google Shopping are ranked based mostly on relevance, together with your search terms and different Google exercise. For instance, the Food2 day by day average is for all meals for a complete day, while Entertainment1 is for each particular person purchase. Thus, the general daily average price just isn't a summation of the individual classes. The common person spends about $15 (AU$22) on alcoholic beverages in Australia per day. The extra you spend on alcohol, the extra enjoyable you might be having regardless of your greater finances. To calculate each metropolis's Price Index worth, we begin by assigning a value of 100 to acentral reference metropolis .

In this time of inflation, when most eating places are raising their prices to reflect greater ingredient and labor prices, a cheap dinner is a welcome factor, certainly. The costs we pays in your precious gold, silver and platinum are in AUD below, with prices confirmed at the time of sale and topic to terms and circumstances. The Razer Blade 15 has lengthy been one of the most in style gaming laptops available on the market, and they just keep making it higher and better. Professional inventive types will benefit from the processing power when it comes to high-resolution video modifying, too. Bellwether Sydney edged up zero.2% whereas prices in Melbourne fell, resulting in an total increase of 0.4% for Australia’s main cities, property consultancy CoreLogic Inc. said in a report on Thursday.

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Buy and sell in person Trade treasured metals on the bullion buying and selling room in The Perth Mint Shop. Buy and store The Perth Mint provides a secure allocated storage option for our customers. Buy bullion Buy physical bullion on-line and get them delivered securely to you. Order on-line by 6 February (Australia/International) for delivery by Valentine’s Day. This is Google’s operating system designed specifically to run on budget-friendly Chromebooks. Win the battle against rising inflation costs by getting one of the best prices on everything you purchase. The common Australia journey price is broken down by class here for impartial vacationers. Australian First Nation Marketplace of those Australia travel prices are calculated from the budgets of actual travelers. Groupon- Offer offers like spa & salon visits, clothes, footwear, everyday necessities, pet care, fitness center, and local experiences. Not as premium as offers.com.au, but easy to find the best native offers which are finances pleasant. Although Honey is a great tool to search out coupon, cashback and extra product, it's primarily aimed on the US, but hopefully, it will lengthen extra to Australia in time. For Australia, if you like the thought of saving objects from totally different stores and being notified if the price drops, then you want to use WatchMyCart. Shapadocket provides a coupon App and a new cashback app for purchasing at tons of of shops. Simply Wholesale-an Australian low cost retail buying website with over 5000 Australian and Worldwide brands, 5000,000 merchandise across a spread of categories, and free shipping Australia-wide. When it comes to supermarkets, there isn't a surge in demand; it’s simply that individuals need to eat. The least expensive day to fly in is usually Tuesday, and the most affordable day to fly back is usually Tuesday. Click right here to see knowledge for the worth of flights out of your airport.

Supermarkets have not solely used the pandemic and up to date inflationary interval to promote more goods, but in addition profit more from each sale, expanding their margins.

You can earn points with every reserving and rack up extra reductions within the course of.

The absolute cheapest time to take a vacation in Australia is normally late August to early September.

Half a century on, prospects might do with a dose of platform shoe-era rage to push back against those taking benefit of a cost-of-living crisis.

There is not any true ceiling on the worth of a luxury journey, so our estimates are based mostly on what most individuals do in Australia. Fuel Map Australia- Fuel Map App is a crowd-sourced database of petrol stations and fuel prices from all throughout Australia. You can also add present gasoline costs that are then shared with other users of Fuel Map. Expedia-There's a cause Expedia is likely one of the world's leading journey websites – and that's because, like airways themselves, they reward you on your loyalty. You can earn points with every reserving and rack up extra discounts within the course of. There aren't any booking charges, you can browse many holiday packages, and you can both pay now, later or use your rewards. The prices for meals, lodging, and transportation are all pretty reasonable. A two week trip to Australia on common costs around $2,307 (AU$3,496) for one individual and $4,614 (AU$6,991) for 2 people. This price contains accommodation, food, local transportation, and sightseeing. Daily vacation expenses range extra based on what you’re thinking about doing. A fantastic eating restaurant with drinks round Australia can easily price $315 per particular person or extra, whereas a regular good meal could be about $21 per individual. Private excursions can price $630 per day, however self-guided tours to see the out of doors sights could be free.

Microsoft Floor Pro Eight Intel Core Evo I7-1185g7 512gb / 16gb Graphite

The average price for an organized tour package in Australia is $386 per day. While each tour varies by total worth, size, variety of destinations, and high quality, this is the daily common price based mostly on our evaluation of obtainable guided tours. Organized tours are usually dearer than independent travel, but offer convenience and peace of thoughts that your trip has been deliberate by a travel expert.

Whether you’re editing movies, building spreadsheets, or battling zombies, a laptop is a much more sensible gadget. Australia’s housing market began the new yr on a positive notice, recording its twelfth straight monthly value increase even because the nation’s two largest cities struggled amid deteriorating affordability. But at another auction within the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, first-time consumers Joseph Kang and Kelly Ke are still getting priced out of the market. They are having to compete towards migrants and abroad patrons who need houses in the identical space. You must declare all animal and vegetable derived merchandise and your luggage will be thoroughly scanned. If you don't declare something then there is a strictly enforced $220 nice and prosecution in some extra critical instances. The area has far more to supply than simply journey sports and out of doors settings. Melbourne particularly is called the middle for the arts whereas Brisbane has many alternative multicultural city villages. If you're in search of the area's best festivals then these are sometimes present in Adelaide the place there's a strong German influence. It's in the southern hemisphere, so July is cold and Christmas is scorching. It's a country that looks strikingly like any other westernized country, nevertheless it has animals and vegetation which would possibly be uniquely its own. "Construction prices been going up for fairly some time now. After doing a feasibility report, folks discover themselves a little bit better off buying one thing that is already prepared to maneuver into." Data from CoreLogic exhibits that home prices rose nationally, up 0.4 per cent within the month of January (compared to 0.three per cent in December), and eight.7 per cent across the year. In the UK, supermarket executives have been subjected to more parliamentary scrutiny than they have in Australia amid a nation-wide debate over food pricing. To show all of the knowledge, copy and paste the code beneath to show our journey price widget. You'll find international restaurants in virtually any metropolis, however you may additionally discover pubs and bars that serve up the standard meat pies and fish and chips. Barbecue is a well-liked activity and you may get grilled meat any variety of locations. This is a very multicultural country with some of the most numerous cities being Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney. Each of these cities is well-known for its variety of restaurants which represent a global population. This web site is utilizing a security service to guard itself from online assaults. There are a quantity of actions that would trigger this block together with submitting a sure word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed information. Carloop - Compare new automobile vendor asking costs to what different car patrons are paying. Doing so may assist avoid unnecessary fee hikes, subdue inflation and help alleviate a variety of the monetary strains weighing heavily on Australian households, especially their food payments. Half a century on, clients might do with a dose of platform shoe-era rage to push back in opposition to those profiting from a cost-of-living crisis. The RBA debate is critical as a end result of it informs the method that policymakers take to combat inflation. If the issue is that shopper demand is merely too sturdy, then price hikes designed to quash it may be the answer. The RBA cites information that exhibits that, outdoors the mining and vitality sectors, company earnings in Australia have been unremarkable. The Reserve Bank has famous on a number of events that it does not consider profiteering is widespread or fuelling inflation. We also have plenty of journey advice, lodging critiques, and exercise recommendations. The most cost-effective trip to Australia is about $150 per particular person per day for travelers willing to take standby flights, deal with inconvenience, and otherwise limit journey expenses. About 1% of rentals are available within the $0 to $100 vary for a complete place, and vacation rentals can be booked for as low as $20 per night time.

[businessclassflightdealstosydney]

Tips to get attractive deals on business class flights

To enjoy a luxurious flying experience, most passengers prefer booking business class flights to business class flights to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or whichever destination they travel. If you find it difficult to compromise with the excessive crowd and sometimes poor services from an economy class flight, upgrade this time to fly business class or first class flights to Australia.

It’s not unknown to anyone that the business class flight tickets are ten times more expensive than economy class. Even if you are ready to pay the whooping amount to fly one of the best business class flights to Brisbane, getting some cool deals will make you happy!

Here are some tips to get attractive deals or savings while booking business class flight tickets—

Pick one of the top aggregator websites featuring a whopping 20% to 30% savings on corporate fares! Instead of logging into any website randomly, you should have patience and explore the leading aggregator websites where they mention the offers on business class flights to Melbourne, Sydney, Cairns and so on.

Regular business class passengers receive loyalty points that they can redeem to get additional discounts on their total cost of flight tickets. Being a regular business class or first class flyer, you might have loyalty pointers that you can redeem to receive discounts.

If you choose to fly during the off-season, top airline companies will be ready to offer you attractive deals on the business class flights.

Missing out on these deals and opportunities to save more while booking business class flight tickets for your next Australian vacation or business trip will be a huge loss! 

Keep a close tab on the best flight aggregator websites by signing up for the newsletters or following them on social media.

Fly business class and enjoy a luxurious journey!

Travel Agency in Milton Keynes UK

Travel Agency in Milton Keynes

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[spacetimewithstuartgary]

New SpaceTime out Wednesday: SpaceTime 20211020 Series 24 Episode 119 Earth’s solid inner core could be mushy A new study suggests that the Earth’s inner core might be mushy rather than solid. Data based on seismic readings going back to the 1950s indicates the planet’s core comprises a molten iron and nickel metal outer core surrounding a solid metallic inner core located some 5150 kilometres beneath the surface. Space Rider to fly in 2023 The European Space Agency’s proposed Space RIDER orbital space plane is now expected to undertake its maiden flight in late 2023. Mars Ingenuity helicopter sees the road ahead NASA’s Mars Ingenuity helicopter has identified a potential interesting path forward for the missions Perseverance Rover. The Science Report 4 in every 10 heat-related deaths around the world can be attributed to climate change. Pollution leaving many vulnerable and endangered turtles at greater risk of disease. Archaeologists have uncovered a 2700 year old toilet at a dig site in Jerusalem. Alex on Tech: New security patches for Apple products, Google Chrome, and Windows 11. SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences. The show is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com SpaceTime is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio. SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/ SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary SpaceTime YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SpaceTimewithStuartGary SpaceTime -- A brief history SpaceTime is Australia’s most respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two and a half million downloads globally a year. The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, spaceflight, and science. SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their latest research. The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network. Award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary created the program during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor. Gary studied astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD, but instead focused on a career in radio. He wrote, produced and hosted StarStuff from its inception, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience based on the ABC’s Neilsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. The StarStuff podcast was published on line by ABC Science -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually. However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC funding cuts, and a redirection of available finances to increase sport and horse racing coverage. Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently. StarStuff was rebranded “SpaceTime”, with the first episode being broadcast in February 2016. Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. The show is now published three times a week and is also available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

[oztrekk]

Quarantine in Australia: Staying in the hotel

Hi again, everyone! My name is Radka and I’m in my second year at the University of Melbourne Dental School. I was fortunate enough to receive a travel exemption to travel back to Australia in order to complete my degree (you can read more about my experience flying back to Australia during COVID here!).

Once I found out that I had to complete a 14-day mandatory quarantine, I began scouring the internet for anything to help me prepare for my upcoming mission. Unfortunately, the material I found on the web was scarce and often depicted a rather negative experience.

Now, if it is of any consolation to you, I would like to let you know that quarantine is in fact not as bad as you may read about it being and I actually had a very pleasant experience. If you are going to be quarantining or if you are just a little curious then please keep reading!

My Hotel Room After arriving in Sydney, I was taken to the Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel. My room was just your regular clean hotel room, complete with a queen bed, a desk, a sofa, a clean bathroom, and a fantastic view (I got really lucky with the view!). There was also a kettle to use for your coffee, tea, or soups, and a mini fridge to store extra food or water. There was also a hotel laundry service; however, that came with a fee of $35.

Tip: Pack lots of extra comfy clothes so you don’t have to worry about doing laundry. Or, if you would like to hand wash your clothes, consider packing a small amount of laundry detergent.

The hotel staff also brought by fresh towels and extra toiletries halfway through quarantine, so don’t fret because you in fact do not need to ration your toilet paper or clean towels! Of course, regular guest hotel services were available 24/7 with just a quick phone call to reception, so don’t be afraid to request whatever you may need. I ran out of toothpaste on day 3 of my stay and when I requested some from the guest services, they delivered a few tubes to my door.

The Food Before you check into your hotel room, the hotel staff will give you a form as ask you to identify any dietary restrictions, preferences, or allergies.

Breakfast was scheduled to arrive between 7  and 9 a.m., but it consistently arrived around 7:30 a.m. at my room.

Tip: Set an alarm to get out of bed to collect your breakfast around 7 a.m. so you don’t miss it!

Breakfast usually consisted of a bag of cereal (cornflakes, Kellogg’s All-Bran, Sultana Bran), a carton of milk, yogurt, and a cold fruit juice. Sometimes we would also have bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon or some banana bread. All very delicious and very filling versions of breakfast!

Lunch would arrive around noon. This was by far my favourite meal of the day during quarantine. Lunch usually consisted of a colourful salad with some sort of protein (smoked salmon, chicken, beef), bread with butter, and a fruit. Since the breakfasts were very filling, I was never hungry for lunch… but I ate anyway. The odd time we had warm lunches, such as pad Thai, rice and chicken, or a delicious meat pie with mashed green peas.

Dinners were delicious as well, but not quite as good as the lunches, in my opinion. I had lamb with potatoes and baked carrots, steak with veggies and mashed potatoes, chicken parmigiana, and lots of different meals with fish and pasta! Dinner was served anywhere from 7  to 9 p.m., but most of my dinners arrived consistently around 7 p.m. Our dinners always included bread and butter, some sort of fruit, dessert, and a big, cold bottle of water.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy most of the desserts. Sometimes we were given lemon tarts and apple tarts and those were my absolute favourite! Other times we were given small cakes and I did not enjoy those as much.

Tip: Bring lots of pre-packaged snacks because you might get bored or you might not like the snacks delivered with meals.

On my very last day of quarantine, the staff delivered a generous slice of red velvet cake to congratulate me on completing my 14-day quarantine. I thought that this was a very kind gesture and was a great way to end off my quarantine! (Unfortunately, my friends quarantining over at the Four Seasons did not get a farewell cake.)

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with how healthy and nutritious the meals were; however, I recommend packing some vitamin D supplements because the one thing your body will be deficient in during quarantine is sunlight access!

When I was craving something different, there were plenty of food delivery services available. My go-to is always Uber Eats, and thankfully my favourite treat (“Poke Bowls” from Poked) was near the hotel, so I ordered them a few times. I also gave the in-room dining menu a try and ordered a pizza. The hotel’s in-room dining prices have been reduced 30% for the quarantining guests to enjoy, so hopefully your hotel will offer you some sweet discounts as well!

The Drinks I was worried about how much water I would be provided, but thankfully I received plenty of water. I was given one bottle of cold water with every dinner. However, I recommend keeping the water bottles and refilling them with water and storing them in your fridge (this way you will always have cold, refreshing water available).

The hotel room was equipped with a kettle, a mini fridge, and the drawers were stalked up with lots of instant coffee and tea. The instant coffee did get a little boring after a few days, but thankfully a flat white was just one phone call away to Guest Services. It was $5 for a small coffee from the hotel but as soon as you order it they bring it up to your room with the receipt 🙂

If alcohol is something you would fancy, (Quarantininis, anyone?) the in-room dining menu served alcohol until 9 p.m. There were also alcohol delivery options available through third-party restaurants.

Staying busy This is very important because I am sure we can all agree that 14 days is a looong time! Thankfully, time flew by because I made sure to bring all my favourite hobbies with me. I love knitting so I made sure to pack lots of yarn for my quarantine. I also really enjoy sketching and so I would sketch on my iPad. I am a sucker for Australian reality TV too, so I binged watched the latest Married At First Sight (PS: lots of drama) and other fun shows on the 9now website.

Tip: Pack an HDMI cable to watch your favourite things on the hotel TV. You can only watch so many shows on Netflix sideways in bed!

I also spent half my day talking to loved ones back home on FaceTime and having daily workout sessions with my friend group back in Canada! Speaking of exercising, try to move around as much as possible. It’s so easy to spend the whole day sitting down, but I set alarms on my phone to remind me to get moving in any way possible.

Tip: When you are on the phone with your family and friends or listening to podcasts, try pacing up and down the room rather than sitting in a chair.

And don’t worry if you don’t have any hobbies or you cannot physically bring your hobbies with you during quarantine. You can use this time to learn something new!

COVID-19 Testing The hotel nurses will knock on your door on Day 3 and Day 10 to conduct mandatory COVID tests. At the end of my stay a doctor and an officer knocked on my door to provide me with a certificate that stated that I had tested negative for COVID-19. You will need to keep these documents with you because the hotel staff will ask to see them on the day of your check-out. The doctor also provided me with a bracelet that said “COVID19 NSW SATURDAY.” I assumed this was so hotel and airport staff would know that I had completed my quarantine.

The nurses will also call you daily to check up on your physical health and your mental health status. The nurses are very friendly and want to help you, so don’t hesitate to talk to them and tell them how you’re feeling. If you become sick or require medical help at any point during your quarantine stay, there are doctors and nurses available 24/7 to provide you with medical assistance.

Final Thoughts Overall, my quarantine experience was pleasant (believe it or not). I love to relax and I really value my “me time,” so I approached quarantine as an opportunity to enjoy lots of relaxation.

With all that being said, I encourage you to sit back, relax, and try your best to enjoy your two weeks with a cleared schedule, no alarms, no appointments, and no daily obligations. Embrace your time off my friends and really, really try to make the most of it! Your quarantine experience may be a story you will be telling for the rest of your life, so why not make it a pleasant one to tell your great grandchildren!

Take care everyone and thanks for your time! 🙂

Sincerely, Radka

[holisticpassport]

My Covid Story

Apologies for any spelling errors, I’m on a time crunch. I’m a few hours out from leaving for my first flight since July 2019 (and before that, March 2018). Heading out to Sydney, I’m a mix of anxiety and absolute excitement. In January of this year, our sublet was almost up in Eltham and Cam and I had plans to pack up the car and begin doing workaways around Australia to help rebuild communities devastated by the historic wild fires (doesn’t that feel FOREVER ago?). When our sublet became available for a full lease transfer, we changed our minds to stay in our space, so that was the first instance of travel being knocked out of the picture. Then we had Valentine’s weekend open to go visit some friends in Tasmania, so we booked tickets and upon waiting in the airport, our flights were cancelled due to inclement weather. DAMN.  Mid-march came around and it was Cam’s birthday, so we wanted to get out for a weekend of camping in our big bell tent, find a gorgeous spot in the woods out east near Warburton. When we arrived, every camping spot for an hour’s dive any direction was either full or completely not open at all. We picked a spot off a random road and spent one night there, but some rangers came by and said we couldn’t stay there due to the possible danger of logging trucks not seeing us. So that was a bust.

Then as you’re aware, this time frame leads up to the very tumultuous third week of March when Melbourne officially went into its first lockdown due to COVID. I documented this time in journal entries which I will add at the end, but ultimately the lockdown went until June, and the state reopened too quickly/had a fiasco with quarantined cases getting out of a hotel, thus sparking the second wave. We had flights booked to California for June to see my family and then planned to travel around Mexico for a few months, but that dream was quickly squashed when flights out of Melbourne ceased to exist at all. Months later, I had a flight booked in July to go to Sydney where I was to have my eggs extracted for donation. The day before I was to fly out, second lockdown went into effect and the flight was cancelled (thus forcing me to have the procedure done in Melbourne and cause a huge, historic controversy between Melbourne IVF’s CEO and the medical director of IVF Australia about how to transfer frozen eggs over a closed border!).

I’m struggling to comprehend just how important and meaningful my ability to travel today is. To think back to the first time in history, watching borders around the world close, flights become grounded, and witnessing a global pandemic unfold whilst in a foreign country—I remember thinking at the beginning how unfathomable the scale of it was. When people talk about things not seeming real or like it’s a dream you can’t wake up from, that’s exactly how it felt. I questioned whether I needed to go back to the U.S. in fear I might not see my family for years or be with them if they got fatally ill. Would I be able to even go back if that happened let alone would I be able to re-enter AU (the answer was no). And thank god I didn’t go back considering the absolute cluster fuck of a mess Trump made of the pandemic. But also, thank god my family has been healthy and safe. The level of fear for their safety was at an all-time high as civil tensions grew when the riots around the country kicked off in conjunction with the pandemic. I wrote to all of them to have a plan to escape to Mexico and get their passports if Trump won the re-election. This was a genuine fear I’ve never experienced before.

The level of frustration, depression, anxiety, hopelessness, self-hatred for lack of productivity during lockdown, and uncertainty about so many facets of life weighed down on me during this time. But I know how much worse our time could have been. I was immensely grateful for the fact that we had a home and incredibly gracious landlords who were human and understood the financial difficulties of this unprecedented time when so many became homeless as job loss skyrocketed. We were so fortunate that I was able to continue working even 2 days a week through the lockdown as a barista and Cam was able to get government support for six months as a NZ citizen who lived in AU over 10 years when so many other New Zealanders were forced to return to their country because of the time limit stipulation for support. We only had two family members contract Covid and were young and healthy enough to survive when so many families will be without a member at the holidays this year.

And I acknowledge my privilege in that my identity is so closely entwined with the ability to travel, that while it felt suffocating to not even have the choice to travel anywhere outside of a 5km (3mile) zone, I fully empathize with those in parts of the world where they could not walk more than 50 meters from their front door or people who didn’t have windows/balconies in apartment buildings who were going out of their mind. All of that does not diminish the struggles I faced with not being able to travel, but it does always keep my perspective in check. My trip today signifies how a city and a country came together during the most difficult period of our lifetime, followed strict government guidelines, and came out after 120+ days in full lockdown on the other side of a pandemic, now able to cross state borders without isolation or quarantine. To go to a live music show,  have drinks on rooftop bars, walk around outside without a mask on, and see people going about their daily lives again on public transport and see a city bustling with energy—the months of mental hardship and growth was all to get back to a post-Covid world. Even though a vaccine is not out yet and we need to be cautious, the level of hopelessness has diminished significantly, and I’m not terrified my trip might be cancelled in two hours. I’m actually going this time!

There is also a whole other facet to my time in lockdown and that of course is the personal development and mutual growth in my marriage! That’s a whole separate post though which I hope to get out soonish. But here’s a bit of something I started a few months ago. Enjoy.

 ********

I remember when it first started in the news; like a minor blip of a story flashing at the bottom of the screen: some mutant virus had infected a couple dozen people in some random city in China. I was working solo in a café serving the employees of a major shoe distribution company in the warehouse district of Collingwood, Melbourne. The TV was on in the cafe but muted the first few weeks of January as the main stories were about the most devastating wildfires in the history of the world, and we all just felt a communal helplessness. As the numbers grew in China and the story became a daily headline, the first case was announced in Queensland on January 25th. Everyone stuck around a few minutes longer each day after they were handed their coffee. I think back to the moment when Wuhan, the epicenter at the time, reported 1,500 cases and I thought surely there can’t be much more than that. This is just media sensationalizing something small. This whole story will blow over in another week or two.

If only.

It was summer in Australia, and my husband and I were planning what to do after our sublease was up in mid-March. I commuted daily from a suburb 50 minutes north called Eltham, a creative and eco-friendly heritage town. We lived in a triplex made of adobe mudbrick, surrounded by native forest, a communal garden, and enjoyed huge artisan windows that brought in natural filtered light through the towering trees. Our little studio was a quiet haven away from the chaos and constant flurry of people in Melbourne, especially during summer as it brought travelers from every corner of the globe. There was no way we could have possibly known that this little paradise would feel like a prison after six months in the world’s longest lockdown due to a global pandemic caused by that little virus in some random city in China now known worldwide as COVID-19.

As the weeks passed by in February, more and more countries began reporting cases. I did not understand how pandemics worked as the last one I was alive for and could remember was H1N1 in California, and I was about 17—far too consumed with college applications and boys to think about world affairs. The Spanish Flu was never something that was particularly emphasized in our history classes, so it didn’t even occur to me to compare what was happening now to that point in time. Then again, this was incomparable because in 1912, the world was a less globalized economy and there were no commercial flights transporting thousands of passengers across the globe daily. By the first week of March, my daily rush-hour commutes became the first real difference I noticed. The number of morning passengers on the train platforms dwindled from 50 to 25 to 5, and eventually, to just me. As the train stopped at over 30 stops from where I lived to the city, my carriage wasn’t even remotely full at 7 a.m.

There was less foot traffic in the city. Flinders Street Station, one of the two largest hubs that saw thousands of people daily, was eerily quiet and empty. We were two weeks out from leaving Melbourne to go travel, planning to go to New South Wales, AU to help rebuild communities that were ravaged by the bushfires. I was desperate to travel this year, and we were so close to leaving. I had picked up some other barista work in an advertising agency closer to the city. But day by day, office workers were being told to work from home if they were able to. Hand sanitizer became readily available in the café, bathrooms, and around the office. I remember staring out the window of this high rise building that overlooked the lush green stretch of Albert Park and thinking it looks so normal outside. Every day, I looked at the news in Australia, which I had never really done before. Industries were shutting down, and the panic was setting in for thousands of casual workers in the hospitality industry as it was only a matter of time before we would be shut down too.

Melbourne is a cultural hub filled with travelers who typically come here on a Work and Holiday Visa which gives them 1-2 years to work and live in AU. Most find work in hospitality as there are over 40,000 restaurants and cafes in this region. You couldn’t go a single day without meeting someone from another country which is why I fell in love with this city. I worked as a freelance barista through agencies that called for workers to be able to step in if someone called out sick or quit unexpectedly and they found themselves short. But my agencies had gone completely silent in the week leading up to the industry shutting down. There was no more work and travelers were finding themselves stranded. I journaled daily in the lead up to my final day of work in the city as I knew something big was happening, and I wanted to be able to recall when it all began. I also knew we would not be travelling anytime soon, around Australia or otherwise, when national and international borders began closing around the world.

 March 17th, 2020

All that’s being talked about is COVID-19. Entire countries are closing borders and going into complete lockdown. Italy has been inundated with patients in hospitals and now have to choose who lives and who dies. AU isn’t taking nearly as intense of measures, but the general atmosphere is not normal. All events with over 500 people have been cancelled. Those who have traveled anywhere must self-quarantine for 14 days or face a huge fine. Some people still don’t take it seriously, thinking/acting like it’s just a normal flu when in reality its ability to be passed on and even re-infect someone a second time is much higher than the rate of a simple flu. In the states, my family says all the restaurants and schools have closed, even the Hollywood entertainment industry has closed down. So many independent contractors, myself included, are without means to live because there’s no emergency government funding in place. It shows what’s truly flawed with the system. Luckily Cam has full time work still, but for those people who have kids and no daycare options? No partner or family? Those who are traveling and can’t get back home? This is devastating for all of us, but them in particular. Supposedly, there are rumors that the virus dies with the warm weather, but AU is headed into winter. It could be why the virus isn’t as big in places like South America and Africa (*note* countries from these two continents are now in the top 10 most infected places as of September 2020) Europe is completely shut down as is New Zealand. I have flights to California in June, so I’m hoping I can still go. For how weak my immune system is, I’m surprised I’m not more concerned because I’ve been continuously reassured the virus only attacks those with underlying conditions, mainly in the elderly population. Even in calm, tight-knitted communities like ours in Eltham, we’re seeing the best and worst of humanity come out with people hoarding resources, but also there are those offering rides for people to stores or grocery drop offs to their homes. I’m very interested to see how the next three months progress all around the world. Right about now, it’d be nice to hide away in a beachside house in Mexico. (*Mexico is also among the top 10 most infected countries now*)

March18th, 2020

The government should announce today whether hospitality industry will close, potentially putting Cam and I both out of jobs. Luckily our landlord is being highly accommodating. Trump is giving Americans $1,200 and has postponed tax season by 3 months. Only seems he does something decent when it’s to keep the economy from tanking and his money is protected.

Cam and I both have throat annoyances and headaches. We should try to stay home, but can’t afford it. Today, they’ve dropped gatherings of 500 down to only 100 people, yet shopping centers and public transport remain open, which I would think are the riskiest places for transferring infections. It’s been stated this is a once in a decade event that will change the course of history.

 March 19th, 2020

Amidst all the chaos from morning to night, people are finally taking time to nurture their interests and creativity. I’m taking two courses on sustainable fashion and fashion in design. I’ve also applied to be a mentor for women trying to gain work and leadership experience at an NGO called Fitted for Work. They have stylists that help women to prepare business outfits and tailor their resumes/do mock interviews. I’ve looked into an MA program I’m interested in at Warren Wilson College back in North Carolina. I think looking forward is the only way to keep the fear down about how long these shut downs may last possibly through June. The world economy is going to see some extremely confronting realities it hasn’t seen since the Great Depression. For the moment I’m looking into teaching English online which I’m already certified to do, just to try and earn some money. I’ll be interested to see all the art that comes out of this period and the photojournalism that captures this historic time.

 March 21st, 2020

We went over to Williamstown (Cam’s parent’s house) as Cam had two shifts out that way. Restrictions in cafes are now 1 person per 4 square meters, so in the 100 person limit already imposed, it’s now down to 25. I’m nervous for Cam to keep working and going on public transport. It’s high risk and unethical in terms of coming in contact with people we could transmit it to without knowing (asymptomatic) because it takes 14 days to even show symptoms. We made the choice to start self-isolation come Monday as we can see in the next week or two the same spike will be here in Melbourne as we’ve seen in Italy and most likely soon to see in the U.S. Reading other peoples’ accounts about how they continued life as normal as though nothing had changed in Italy is exactly where AU is projected to head towards.

 March 25, 2020

As of Monday, AU took drastic measures to ensure safety and closed many non-essential businesses with a series of daily updates for more and more businesses to shut or only stay open for takeaway. Overnight, nearly 80,000 people in hospitality work were laid off or lost work, Cam and I included. A stimulus package of 66 billion dollars was announced and Cam qualified for government payments through Centrelink because he’s a kiwi who’s been here over 10 years. Other kiwis who haven’t been here that long are completely without any kind of support from the AU government, even though in NZ, Aussies are supported. A very backward, selfish system who told them to go home.

We went to Centrelink on Monday at 7:45am in Greensborough (suburb over from Eltham). By 8:30 am when the doors opened there were over 200 people in line. The government has been terribly confusing with their messages out to the public, highly unprepared. People are confused about what they can and can’t do, what businesses are remaining open, who is eligible… it’s a mess. Why are liquor stores and hair salons considered essential?? There have been spikes in young people getting this virus as young as 18, and they are dying. The virus coats your lungs like a jelly ultimately blocking oxygen. We did what is hopefully our last grocery shop because being in the store is just as contagious as a café. There’s no safety or hygiene measures in place. We had gloves on and people were dancing around each other in the aisles to maintain 1.5m social distance.

The U.S. is becoming the new epicenter with horrific rapid spreading, particularly in New York. Flight around the world, including as of today AU, are being stopped and we can no longer leave the country at all.

  To Be Continued…..

[tessmontyart]

2020 year in review

It’s funny, last year I never actually got around to doing one of these. I didn’t think it was overly interesting. Oh 2019, how I miss you so 😭Such an innocent time ....

I’ll do a quick recap, cause hey no-one but me reads these anyway. 2019 was a glorious time. I went to Italy for the first time, went on an awesome Hunter Valley trip with my friends, had a 100th birthday celebration for my pop, I got to see the show I worked on air on TV, we saw the Lano and Woodley apartment in Melbourne .... Good times!

I didn’t give a rats about being unemployed and took matters into my own hands by making loads of new merch and selling at the most conventions I’ve ever been to. I tabled at Sydney Supanova, Adelaide Avcon, Sydney SMASH, Coffs Nexus Con, Sydney Oz Comic Con and Brisbane Supanova! I did so much travelling and events, it became my full time job. It was exhausting, but it was loads of fun, it paid the bills nicely, and it was wonderful to meet followers and mutuals in person.

My partner was very invested in counting up the numbers of what was selling and what wasn’t, and taking note of what was inconvenient with my setup and how to make it better. He even made a powerpoint presentation on what I could focus on for 2020, what kind of merch I could focus on and adding more conventions to my list. We were both excited about the idea of trying out Armageddon in New Zealand, which would have been my first overseas convention!

Cue 2020.

It started off uneasy. There were still bushfires everywhere and smoke hanging around, but I was optimistic they would die soon and the rest of the year would be fine. I booked a bunch of conventions early as usual. Got a whole bunch of new things made and ordered for the first convention of the year, Melbourne Supanova in early April. Some Acrylic charms didn’t make it in time because of COVID, but I thought that’s ok I still have a whole years worth of conventions to sell them at!

COVID-19 was just a spooky mysterious thing that was happening overseas at that point. I think there might have been 1 case in Australia, so all the toilet paper and hand sanitizer was sold out, but we were still able to do our usual travelling for the event. Little did I know, Melbourne Supanova was the first and last event I could do in 2020.

COVID hit Australia hard, Melbourne especially. There were lockdowns, quarantines, planes were grounded, airmail was halted, the cases kept multiplying, rules kept changing and changing and it was all so new and such a headache. Seeing every single convention I had booked cancel one after the other was hard to process. This was my main source of income in 2019 and now it’s up and vanished. Everyone were losing their jobs too, so the idea of getting a new job was completely out the window. 

I tried to cheer myself up by drawing ‘Toilet Paper Chan’, my new magical girl character who has the ability to summon toilet paper in a time of need 😅

I made it into a Draw This In Your Style challenge, seeing as everyone was bored out of their minds in quarantine I hoped it was something people could pass the time and have fun making. 

(here’s a handful of my favourites) I had a few entries which were all very adorable, but I admit not as many people joined as I expected. I don’t blame them though, this whole pandemic was very soul sucking and demotivating, especially hearing the constant stream of bad news when it all started.

I also made some lineart of a cute Easter girl, encouraging people to colour her in if they are bored in quarantine.

That was really fun, and I planned to do more, perhaps whole colouring books for a small price to download. 

Then, out of nowhere, my friend from the last animation studio I worked at in 2018 contacted me. “Hey Tess, are you looking for work?”

“Um .... yes?”

Work? In 2020? What?

It turns out the animation industry is one of the only industries that are doing fine in the pandemic. Literally the only change is that animators have to work from home instead of at a studio. If you have the animation software and an internet connection you have everything you need.

So my good friend had recently scored this job for a studio which outsources all their animation for their animated TV series. The role is just fixing up any animation errors inhouse to minimize the amount of back-and-fourth between studios. It doesn’t sound like much but it became too big a job for just one dude to handle, so he contacted me and 2 of my other animation friends to help out. We had a ball!

It was loads of fun, and the contract lasted the whole year! 

It wasn’t just fixing up errors either, I got to animate walking/ running / jumping / flying cycles for the overseas animators to use, which was great practice for me, and we even had a whole episode to ourselves to animate from scratch which I really enjoyed.

And then ... the year just flew by, because I was busy working the whole time. It was really quite surreal!

There were a few highlights, such as being a bridesmaid for my best friend’s wedding and organising her hens party, which is one of those once-in-a-lifetime things.

(Hens Party - it was yellow themed (her favourite colour) and High Tea.. it was adorable!)

(The bridesmaids and the bride on the Wedding Day)

Unfortunately there were some lowlights too ... This was the last year I got to see my aunt. 

She was the craziest, funniest aunt, and still far too young to go. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever be the same without her.

As always, drawing is the only way I cope with anything. My family chose a plain wooden casket, encouraging everybody to write a message or draw something on it, before it would be sent to the crematorium. I drew Spotty, her awesome horse I remember from my childhood, surrounded by her favourite flowers. Monty draw Mingus, her awesome ferret we also remember from our childhood.

That wasn’t the only bad news either. Pat’s Grandpa passed away later in the year, and a handful of my friends had relatives who either passed away or were diagnosed with cancer or some other horrible life threatening disease. A musician who collaborated with favourite artist collaborated passed as well, and even though I didn’t know him personally, it was still horribly devastating. Not to mention all my friends/relatives pets who didn’t make it through 2020. There was just so much loss this year, and I’m still grieving my cousin and my friend’s mum who both passed last year, it’s getting harder and harder to cope. It’s gotten to the point where I’m paranoid about who the next person will be because I haven’t finished grieving the last ... 

All I can say is I hope 2021 is a little kinder when it comes to my loved ones. The small light at the end of the tunnel is; any suicidal thoughts I used to have frequently have all completely vanished, because I’ve been faced with the reality of it all. You really don’t realise how many people love you, people you don’t even know.

...

That was very dark, but it’s definitely something I needed to get off my chest.

Lets go back to a much lighter note. 

More highlights: 

🌻Animal Crossing New Horizons came out this year! I used to play Wild World back in the day so it was wonderfully nostalgic, and me and Pat have made the cutest little town with all our favourite villagers. It’s a nice way to escape from it all ^_^

(Monty’s island when we started)

🌻Speaking of games, the brand new Crash Bandicoot came out this year too! It was actually jaw droppingly amazing seeing all the awesome new ideas and mechanics they came up with while still keeping it classicly Crash. I loved it and I’m so excited to see if they give Spyro the same treatment!

🌻2020 brought about new and interesting ways to still enjoy Live entertainment. Lano and Woodley did a Zoom show which was absolutely hilarious, and Lights did an amazing online Dead End show which had me so pumped!

🌻Pat and I continued our anniversary High Tea tradition, this time trying it out at the Hydro Majestic hotel in the Blue Mountains!

🌻Speaking of Pat, his sister got married this year too, despite the pandemic. Congratulations!

🌻Pat randomly bought a Miku figure for himself, out of the blue, completely unravelling years of unnecessary ‘shame’ I’ve inherited caused by a pushy mother and a crappy ex. I used to love figure collecting but was convinced by certain judgy people that it was stupid and I needed to sell them all. I kept my very favourites in a cupboard ‘just incase they increase in value’. But now I can finally display them all again knowing Pat loves them just as much as I do!

We also added a ton more to the collection to make up for lost time (and because there’s SO MANY CUTE MIKUS NOWADAYS)

It’s a bit messy because we recently got new ones and need to make more space for them. The shelf with the Vocaloid nendoroids were my original ones hidden away in the cupboard, the rest we got this year ^_^ They make me so happy!

🌻Speaking of Pat unlocking things I’ve always wanted to do in the past: I am now planning to revive my old OCs Yui and Lotto! They were just characters of mine back in the day, but since I’m not good writing I never really came up with a story for them. But with Pat’s writer wisdom and my kawaii art style, I’m now planning a webcomic featuring the two cuties ^_^ It’s still in the very early planning stages but I’m super excited, and forever grateful for Pat, for believing in me ;w;

🌻This year I drew 31 more Owl City songs in copic markers, to go towards my ongoing project to draw every song! I’m actually getting quite close to my goal now which is exciting! 

🌻This year I went to a Drive-In movie theatre for the first time to see the new Bill and Tedd movie, it was glorious and now I wanted to try more drive-ins. Going out to see a movie on a big screen *without* being able to hear smart-asses or screaming babies? Yes please!!

🌻How could I forget, this was the year my idol noticed me!! Lights shared and retweeted my Deadend fanart! Life = made.

What to to look forward to in 2021:

This is the first New Year where I actually have an idea of how 2021 will go! I managed to secure another animation job at a new studio starting January, ending January 2022 😊So thats the financial security for this year sorted! :P

As for general goals for 2021;

I’m hoping to have a decent plan, concept art, chapter ideas and hopefully even a script done for my new webcomic! I also wanted to make some cute simple animations of the characters just because c:

I’d also like to just do more of my own animation in general ... I animate every day for work but I never get to do my own animated projects. It will be hard with a full time job, so maybe this can be a 2022 goal ... but hopefully I can do at least one little animation of my own!

I suppose another goal is to make a social media accounts for my animation, too. Even if I don’t fulfil my goal, I still would like a page to showcase everything I’ve done so far.

And if all else fails .... Another goal is to draw more Miku. It’s crazy that I love her this much and haven’t drawn any fanart!

I think I’ll leave it there because I’m babbling now. 😅

I’ve done so many of these now o_o

[2018] [2017] [2016] [2015] [2014] [2013] [2012]

[dailytomlinson]

It was the morning after our staff Christmas party that I got on the horn to Louis Tomlinson.

While the entire office was munching on bacon and egg rolls and chugging coffee to revive themselves, I was in the studio, eagerly awaiting a call from the UK to chat to my favourite member of One Direction (yep, you read that correctly).

You see, unlike most folks who occasionally whack on ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ during road trip karaoke or follow Harry Styles on Instagram to stay up to date with his dazzling wardrobe, I have been a true 1D stan since day dot: X Factor.

As soon as the band was pieced together, punters began choosing their faves, most of them picking Harry and don’t get me wrong, he’s an absolute lord (I’ve literally travelled to another country to see Harry live, I’ve had his album(s) on repeat since their release and I have tons of his merch), but I was instantly enchanted by the quiet, brooding, eldest member of the band and as their popularity skyrocketed, so, too, did my love for Louis.

I guess it’s a combination of his sleek style, his dreamy eyes plus the fact that he’s sassy (his public feuds have rightfully earned him the name ‘Sass Master of Doncaster’) and also has a ‘yuge heart and loves his fans unconditionally.

So naturally when the band went on hiatus, I followed Louis’ career like a hawk and, my fellow Louis stans, our time has finally come ‘coz 2020 is going to be THE year of Louis Tomlinson.

Let me repeat that louder for the people in the back:

2020 is going to be THE year of Louis Tomlinson.

The excitement in his voice is palpable as he discusses his debut studio album Walls which drops on January 31, 2020.

“I’m quite big on lyrics, it’s important for me to be honest and real and, at times, vulnerable,” he says of the album.

“My fans already know a lot about me but hopefully I can bring them an album that shows them another side.”

This ~other side~ includes personal yarns and tales from Louis’ life as he explains that he draws inspiration “from my life events.”

“There were times in the past where I tried to write in a fictional sense, and there are a couple of songs on the album like that, but mostly I find it easier to write autobiographically.”

He adds, “Things happen to you and sometimes it might seem mundane but it makes you feel a certain way and it’s worth writing about.”

If you haven’t already listened to his latest singles, first of all what the heck is wrong with you? Second of all, go give them a listen and you’ll know exactly what he means by writing autobiographically.

He says his newest single ‘Don’t Let It Break Your Heart’ is “something that I’m definitely really proud of.”

“It’s a song trying to invoke hope, it’s about seeing the glass as half full as opposed to half empty and no matter what life throws at you, don’t let it break your heart.”

I then point out that he has a lot of positive, inspirational, anthemic bops under his belt and I ask if this is intentional.

“I think so,” he responds. “You always want to write lyrics that are relatable and inspiring, and I think songs like the song I did with Steve [Aoki] ‘Just Hold On’, it’s got the same kind of vibe of hope. I think it’s a pretty cool topic.”

He then talks me through my personal favourite, ‘We Made It.’

“It’s kind of about two things because we started out with just the title and what it meant to me in that moment was me picturing our first show of the tour and all the hard work it took me to get there and with the fans, it’s a collective, we made it here together, and that’s how the song started out,” he says.

Directioners will be happy to know that Louis doesn’t shy away from name-dropping his bandmates and when I ask him to talk me through the best moments from the past decade, he literally lists three 1D-centric mems.

“When we first got put together as a band, that was a magical moment,” he says.

“We didn’t know each other that well and we went through that whole journey together, so that was pretty special.”

“When we played Madison Square Gardens in New York, that was a pretty memorable one. All of our families came down to watch.”

And finally, “We were lucky enough to play at the Olympics which was definitely one of the proudest moments I’ve ever had, definitely.”

Speaking of performing with 1D, Louis’ forthcoming trip to Australia will be his first without his bandmates and he is, as he put it, “proper excited to come back.”

“The gigs [in Oz] are always incredible and also for any Brit, it’s the ultimate dream to travel to Australia.”

But punters who have been lucky enough to see a One Direction show in their lifetime should expect a very, very different vibe from Tomlinson now that he’s flying solo (~obviously~).

“It’s not going to be a massive production with any gimmicks, it’s just going to be pretty straightforward. Just a good live show focusing on music and hopefully we’ll have a good night.”

Going from touring with his besties to being on the road by himself (and the backing band, of course) is bound to be a huge adjustment that Louis plans on easing into.

“I like creating normality [on the road], I just like to be sat with mates chatting, listening to music and then head out onto stage.”

He also gave me this lil tidbit about his travelling style, which should come as no surprise to the die-hards.

“I’m notoriously a really bad packer, I always leave with not enough clothes and not enough things that I need.”

But while he’s often short a pair of sneakers or a sweater or two, he always makes sure to pack the essentials.

“I like to take tea bags with me on tour. You can’t get a good cup of tea everywhere so it’s important to travel with your own.”

Which prompts me to ask about his thoughts on our tea Down Under.

“It’s good, yeah! It’s good,” he assures me.

So now that we’ve discussed what 2020 will look like for him (including starting his sophomore album in the second half of the year!), along with his highlights from the last decade, I’m eager to know what his plans are for the next decade.

Brace yourselves for the response…

“Fucking hell, I’m not that good at thinking far ahead,” he immediately quips. Legit, there’s nothing I love more than when celebs drop an F word in an interview. It shows that they’re not doing the super-polished, media-trained thing and they’re happy just being themselves.

Frankly, if Louis didn’t swear in the interview, I would’ve been convinced that he’d been abducted by aliens and replaced with a cyborg. But you’ll be happy to know that in our nine-minute convo, he swore a grand total of three times which is a great score, IMO.

But anyway, back to the question at hand.

“Hopefully still making music, still making albums. My intention is to get better as a songwriter with every album, so hopefully still making music and still touring.”

We wrap up our good old chinwag with a message to his fans, particularly the Aussies who he’ll finally be treating to his angel voice when he plays the Big Top in Sydney and the Palais Theatre in Melbourne in April.

[louistomlinsoncouk]

It was the morning after our staff Christmas party that I got on the horn to Louis Tomlinson.

While the entire office was munching on bacon and egg rolls and chugging coffee to revive themselves, I was in the studio, eagerly awaiting a call from the UK to chat to my favourite member of One Direction (yep, you read that correctly).

You see, unlike most folks who occasionally whack on ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ during road trip karaoke or follow Harry Styles on Instagram to stay up to date with his dazzling wardrobe, I have been a true 1D stan since day dot: X Factor.

As soon as the band was pieced together, punters began choosing their faves, most of them picking Harry and don’t get me wrong, he’s an absolute lord (I’ve literally travelled to another country to see Harry live, I’ve had his album(s) on repeat since their release and I have tons of his merch), but I was instantly enchanted by the quiet, brooding, eldest member of the band and as their popularity skyrocketed, so, too, did my love for Louis.

I guess it’s a combination of his sleek style, his dreamy eyes plus the fact that he’s sassy (his public feuds have rightfully earned him the name ‘Sass Master of Doncaster’) and also has a ‘yuge heart and loves his fans unconditionally.

So naturally when the band went on hiatus, I followed Louis’ career like a hawk and, my fellow Louis stans, our time has finally come ‘coz 2020 is going to be THE year of Louis Tomlinson.

Let me repeat that louder for the people in the back:

2020 is going to be THE year of Louis Tomlinson.

The excitement in his voice is palpable as he discusses his debut studio album Walls which drops on January 31, 2020.

“I’m quite big on lyrics, it’s important for me to be honest and real and, at times, vulnerable,” he says of the album.

“My fans already know a lot about me but hopefully I can bring them an album that shows them another side.”

This ~other side~ includes personal yarns and tales from Louis’ life as he explains that he draws inspiration “from my life events.”

“There were times in the past where I tried to write in a fictional sense, and there are a couple of songs on the album like that, but mostly I find it easier to write autobiographically.”

He adds, “Things happen to you and sometimes it might seem mundane but it makes you feel a certain way and it’s worth writing about.”

If you haven’t already listened to his latest singles, first of all what the heck is wrong with you? Second of all, go give them a listen and you’ll know exactly what he means by writing autobiographically.

He says his newest single ‘Don’t Let It Break Your Heart’ is “something that I’m definitely really proud of.”

“It’s a song trying to invoke hope, it’s about seeing the glass as half full as opposed to half empty and no matter what life throws at you, don’t let it break your heart.”

I then point out that he has a lot of positive, inspirational, anthemic bops under his belt and I ask if this is intentional.

“I think so,” he responds. “You always want to write lyrics that are relatable and inspiring, and I think songs like the song I did with Steve [Aoki] ‘Just Hold On’, it’s got the same kind of vibe of hope. I think it’s a pretty cool topic.”

He then talks me through my personal favourite, ‘We Made It.’

“It’s kind of about two things because we started out with just the title and what it meant to me in that moment was me picturing our first show of the tour and all the hard work it took me to get there and with the fans, it’s a collective, we made it here together, and that’s how the song started out,” he says.

Directioners will be happy to know that Louis doesn’t shy away from name-dropping his bandmates and when I ask him to talk me through the best moments from the past decade, he literally lists three 1D-centric mems.

“When we first got put together as a band, that was a magical moment,” he says.

“We didn’t know each other that well and we went through that whole journey together, so that was pretty special.”

“When we played Madison Square Gardens in New York, that was a pretty memorable one. All of our families came down to watch.”

And finally, “We were lucky enough to play at the Olympics which was definitely one of the proudest moments I’ve ever had, definitely.”

Speaking of performing with 1D, Louis’ forthcoming trip to Australia will be his first without his bandmates and he is, as he put it, “proper excited to come back.”

“The gigs [in Oz] are always incredible and also for any Brit, it’s the ultimate dream to travel to Australia.”

But punters who have been lucky enough to see a One Direction show in their lifetime should expect a very, very different vibe from Tomlinson now that he’s flying solo (~obviously~).

“It’s not going to be a massive production with any gimmicks, it’s just going to be pretty straightforward. Just a good live show focusing on music and hopefully we’ll have a good night.”

Going from touring with his besties to being on the road by himself (and the backing band, of course) is bound to be a huge adjustment that Louis plans on easing into.

“I like creating normality [on the road], I just like to be sat with mates chatting, listening to music and then head out onto stage.”

He also gave me this lil tidbit about his travelling style, which should come as no surprise to the die-hards.

“I’m notoriously a really bad packer, I always leave with not enough clothes and not enough things that I need.”

But while he’s often short a pair of sneakers or a sweater or two, he always makes sure to pack the essentials.

“I like to take tea bags with me on tour. You can’t get a good cup of tea everywhere so it’s important to travel with your own.”

Which prompts me to ask about his thoughts on our tea Down Under.

“It’s good, yeah! It’s good,” he assures me.

So now that we’ve discussed what 2020 will look like for him (including starting his sophomore album in the second half of the year!), along with his highlights from the last decade, I’m eager to know what his plans are for the next decade.

Brace yourselves for the response…

“Fucking hell, I’m not that good at thinking far ahead,” he immediately quips. Legit, there’s nothing I love more than when celebs drop an F word in an interview. It shows that they’re not doing the super-polished, media-trained thing and they’re happy just being themselves.

Frankly, if Louis didn’t swear in the interview, I would’ve been convinced that he’d been abducted by aliens and replaced with a cyborg. But you’ll be happy to know that in our nine-minute convo, he swore a grand total of three times which is a great score, IMO.

But anyway, back to the question at hand.

“Hopefully still making music, still making albums. My intention is to get better as a songwriter with every album, so hopefully still making music and still touring.”

We wrap up our good old chinwag with a message to his fans, particularly the Aussies who he’ll finally be treating to his angel voice when he plays the Big Top in Sydney and the Palais Theatre in Melbourne in April.

“Massive thank you for your patience and your support. I’m so excited to release the album. I’m as excited, if not more, to come and see everyone on tour so thanks for your love and I’ll see you on tour.”

Final tickets for Louis Tomlinson’s debut Australian tour are available now via livenation.com.au.

[razieltwelve]

Quarantine Post #1

Quarantine: Day 17

We're running low on toilet paper. I might have no choice but to make another supply run. I can only hope it goes better than the last one. Twelve of us went out on that last supply run. Only seven of us made it back. Those bastards from up north have started hoarding supplies, and they're in no mood to share. They've got some real firepower too. I don't know where the hell they got a grenade launcher, but I was damn lucky not to be on the wrong end of it.

Quarantine: Day 19

The toilet paper convoy got hit on its way to the supermarket. It must have been the northern crew. A couple of our scouts say there is still some toilet paper in the wreckage. Maybe they didn't have enough trucks to carry it all off. We'll wait until nightfall and then make a run for it. If we're lucky, we can snag a couple of rolls each.

Jameson suggested using leaves. After all, there are plenty of gum trees. I'd almost forgotten he only joined us around Day 10. I told him what happened to Simmons. The damn drop bears got him. With the fires burning so much down, they haven't got anything to eat out in the bush, so they've been getting closer and closer to the cities. Simmons, the poor bastard, was wiping his ass with some eucalyptus leaves when they caught him with his pants down. By the time the screaming stopped, the only thing left was his pants.

Quarantine: Day 20

It was a trap. Those jerks from up north were waiting for us. They let us get right up to the toilet paper before giving us both barrels. We lost Wilkins and Chan to snipers before we even knew what was happening. Felton and Hassan went down a couple of seconds later when they opened fire from all sides.

I don't know how I got out of there. I grabbed as much toilet paper as I could, threw it in my backpack, and screamed for everyone to fall back. It was chaos, and then they started shooting that damn grenade launcher. My ears are still ringing. Somehow, I made it out of there, along with half a dozen others. We're all pretty banged up, and we've been picking shrapnel out of Cuthbert all night. I don't know if he's going to make it. I hope he does. He's a good man, and he's handy with a rifle too.

Quarantine: Day 27

I don't know what the hell those northern bastards have been smoking, but they just torched the Coles. That was one of the biggest supermarkets in the area, and one of the only ones still getting regular supply drops. Now, the damn thing is on fire, and we can see the smoke from kilometres away.

Patel thinks it's a power struggle. He says the northern group has gotten big enough to support multiple factions. He might be right. There were a damn lot of them shooting at us when they sprang that trap with the toilet paper. If it is a power struggle, I'm hoping they wipe each other out. It means more toilet paper for us and less trouble all around.

Quarantine: Day 30

I begged Smith not to go out at night. I begged him. I said it was too dangerous. There are a lot of trees out here, and night time is drop bear time. But he wouldn't listen. He figured he could hit the supermarket around midnight, maybe sneak out some extra supplies.

He'd only been gone five minutes when I heard the screaming. It was... it was awful. He must have screamed and wailed for at least an hour before they finally put him out of his misery. That's what drops bears are like. They know how people think. They know if they hurt one person that others will come running to see what's going on. One person can't feed a pack of drops bears - but a whole group of people? That'll do nicely for them.

There wasn't anything we could do for him. All we could do was listen until finally they must have realised we weren't going to come. Poor bastard. I wish I'd been close enough to put a bullet in him to make it quick. Hopefully, nobody else tries anything at night. There are a lot of trees here. Too many.

Quarantine: Day 37

We got a bunch of refugees from down south near the centre of the city. We had to check them all for any sign of infection. There have been rumours the Infected aren't just getting sick anymore. We've heard they're changing. We got lucky. Far as we can tell, none of them are Infected.

I talked to their leaders, a man and a woman. Claire said they'd come from one of the hotels near the harbour where they've been putting people in quarantine. It worked well enough the first few days, but she said once the Infected started changing it all went to hell. She and her husband, Rob, got out of there as quick as they could and grabbed anyone else who could keep up.

She couldn't really describe what the Infected looked like, but she told me I'd know when I saw them. After what happened to Smith, I figure there's not a lot left in this world that can scare me. But, hey, what do I know? I figured this whole thing was going to blow over in a couple of weeks, and here we are.

Quarantine: Day 40

We finally got word back from the Old Folks Home. I was worried they'd been wiped out, but apparently, they've got a militia going. Good for them. I went over there with a few other people to talk. I know their leader, a tough, old fella who cut his teeth fighting in Vietnam. I used to drop by and help with the garden down there, so I was hopeful he'd hear me out.

It went pretty well. It turns out they've been self-isolating, trying to keep clean of the infection and everything, but they're running low on supplies. We made a deal. They've got a generator and access to washing machines, and we've gotten good at hitting up supermarkets and other depots after supply drops. We get them the supplies they need, and they get all of our stuff clean. It's a good deal. I can't wait to sleep on clean sheets that don't have blood all over them.

Quarantine: Day 45

Someone tried to raid the Old Folks Home. They gave us a call over the radio, and we came running. There was a whole bunch of them in cars. I didn't recognise them. They must have come from someplace else. I think a few of them were flying Vaucluse colours, though. They were about to break through when we got there.

We gave them a good beating, and the old folks did their bit too. I've never seen a granny with a flamethrower before, but damn if she wasn't good with it. We took a couple of prisoners. It turns out things in the city are way worse than we thought.

The Infected are everywhere. Surry Hills is gone. Bondi is burning. And that last they saw of it, Darling Harbour was being overrun. There's nothing left down there, so they're heading north, trying to get someplace safe, and most of them don't care who they have to kill to get there. It's a damn shame. If they'd just told us they were planning on passing through, we'd have let them go, so long as they didn't try to take any of our supplies.

Quarantine: Day 48

We got a message for the military today. They're pulling back to defend Canberra. Sydney, Melbourne, everywhere else... they're lost causes. We're on our own. It sucks. But they've got to defend the capital and what's left of our government. On their way out though, they left us some satellite communications equipment.

It's pretty grim.

We got into contact with them, and they told us about the situation overseas. Italy is gone. The Infected just overran the place. Spain is fighting, but they've got a week, maybe less, before they go under too. China claims they've fought back the tide, but I don't think any of us believe that. They wouldn't be buying up every weapon they could find if things were okay.

Britain is... we don't know. We haven't gotten much word from them in more than a week, apparently, and the last we heard the Prime Minister was one of the Infected. As for the United States, well, they're still fighting. I figure if anyone can fight off the Infected, they can. We'll have to hope they can manage it. If they go down, I think we're just about finished.

Author's Notes

In all seriousness, it isn't actually this bad in Australia although the toilet paper shortage is a real thing. Anyway, I hope everyone is staying safe. Take care of each other.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

You can find my original fiction on Amazon here

[sciencenewsforstudents]

Until last week, the Kangaroo Island glossy black cockatoo was one of Australia’s conservation success stories. Thanks to a recovery program that began in 1995, its wild population increased from 150 to 400, and its status was downgraded from critically endangered to endangered.

Now it’s part of an unfolding horror story.

Fires have raged across nearly 50 percent of Kangaroo Island, a 4,400-square-kilometer isle off the coast of the state of South Australia, destroying the habitat of the great majority of the birds. It’s unclear how many glossy black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus) survived. For those that escaped the flames, food may be scarce; it eats the seeds of single tree species in its habitat, the drooping she oak.

Many years of hard work have gone up in smoke and “it’s a big step backwards for the recovery team,” says Daniella Teixeira, a conservation biologist at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, who has studied and worked to protect the birds for the last four years. Even if just a quarter of the population has been killed, the subspecies could end up back on the critically endangered list, she says.

The Kangaroo Island glossy black cockatoo is an endangered subspecies of parrot that may struggle to survive in the charred wasteland it once called home (a male, right, and female shown during better times).

CREDIT: WATTS/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Similar stories are playing out across Australia, where, as of January 12, months of wildfires had burned nearly 11 million hectares — an area larger than the nation of Guatemala. More than 2,200 homes have gone up in flames and 29 people have been killed, and there are still two months of bushfire season left to go. Already, the toll on animals and plants, many of which are evolutionarily unique and endemic to the continent, is mind-boggling.

It’s an ecological disaster unprecedented in the nation’s history. More than 1 billion animals have been killed so far, says Christopher Dickman, an ecologist at the University of Sydney. That estimate has been extrapolated based on previous calculations of the number of Australian animals lost over a given area due to land-clearing practices.

The true number could be much higher, however, as this estimate does not include bats, frogs or invertebrates. “Invertebrates make up more 95 percent of animal species and the vast majority of animal biomass,” says Mike Lee, a biologist at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide. Invertebrate losses alone could therefore number in the trillions. He fears for species including the vulnerable Richmond birdwing butterfly (Ornithoptera richmondia) and numerous peacock spiders, these “jewels of the arachnid world,” whose habitats in eastern Australia have been badly impacted (SN: 5/14/19).

Trillions of insects, including the Richmond birdwing butterfly, are among the species experts fear have been killed by the fires. This vulnerable butterfly lives in subtropical rainforests in the region around Brisbane, where plants eaten by their larvae grow.

CREDIT: DON SANDS/CSIRO, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS (CC BY 3.0)

The extreme intensity of the fires and the speed with which they have moved – thrust  forward in some instances by winds of up to 60 kilometers per hour — have also added to the death toll. As a result, largely tree-bound species such as koalas and fluffy swooping marsupials called greater gliders have had little chance to escape (SN: 7/2/18). Even many birds, which can fly away, have become disorientated by smoke and strong winds and killed.

Many habitats have been destroyed as well, setting up a crisis that will continue long after the fires die down. Even if animals such as small marsupials survive the fires, they may have no suitable habitat or food remaining — and they also face threats from cats and foxes, introduced predators that return to burnt landscapes and prey on survivors left exposed in habitats devoid of cover.

For endangered species, often adapted to specific ecological niches and hanging on in highly fragmented patches of remnant habitat, the fire devastation threatens to push them to — or past — the edge of extinction. The glossy black cockatoo is just one of 20 to 100 threatened plants or animals that a group of scientists now report have lost most, if not all, of their habitat to the fires. Six of Australia’s leading biologists, including Dickman, published the first written estimate of the scale of the damage on January 8 in The Conversation, a nonprofit online publication that publishes commentary from researchers.

“Some animals may have been lucky enough to find refuge and survive,” says Euan Ritchie, an ecologist at Deakin University in Melbourne. “It might not always be the case that animals have been completely wiped out in these habitats, however given the scale and severity of these fires [in Australia], there’s no question that, even common species and not just threatened species, will have been affected quite dramatically.”

Australian fires have incinerated the habitats of up to 100 threatened species

[yahooin-feature]

Get bowled over by Australia with airfares starting at just Rs. 40,000*

You’ve seen videos of people on the sun-kissed beaches of Australia. You have heard your friends talk about their trip to the Great Barrier Reef or how they explored Melbourne. With so many things to offer, Australia is bound to be on top your travel bucket list. Well, it’s time to act on it because leading airlines are offering exclusive prices to fly to Australia. Starting from Rs. 40,000*, the fares are perfect for someone who likes to book their travel in advance. But hurry up, because the sale is valid till 13th December. Read more here.

If that’s not motivation enough, these eight spots will definitely make up your mind.

1. BONDI, NEW SOUTH WALES

As one of Sydney’s most popular golden-sand beaches, Bondi Beach needs no introduction. This stretch of sand comes alive with the sunrise, and the party continues all day and well into the night. As you walk to the beach, chances are you’ll see surfers riding the waves, swimmers getting their laps in at the Bondi Baths, and plenty of people soaking in the sights and sounds (and sun) from their towels on the sand. You can dip your toes into a true-blue Aussie way of life and sign up for a surfing lesson here; there are plenty of accredited schools along the main stretch that’ll show you the ropes. Grab a bite at the iconic Bondi Icebergs, one of the country’s oldest swim clubs, or walk the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk, a six-kilometre (3.7-mile)

2. WINEGLASS BAY, TASMANIA

Lounging on one of the top ten beaches in the world should be a definite addition to your Aussie bucket list. Tasmania’s Wineglass Bay is situated within Freycinet National Park, just a one-hour drive from the capital city of Hobart. A crescent-shaped bay with clear blue waters, hugged by the peaks of the Hazards range – you could spend hours taking Insta-worthy photos here. A cruise along the waters is one of the best ways to get up-close with the bay and its highlights. Spot wildlife and gaze up at the soaring granite cliffs as you learn more about the region and its history.

3. AUSTRALIA’S COLOURFUL LAKES

You can never get enough of Australia’s coast, but for something a bit different, head towards Western Australia and its colourful lakes. The bubblegum pink lakes of Australia’s Golden Outback are an astonishing site, and will make a great addition to your Instagram feed. The most famous of the pink lakes is Lake Hillier, near Esperance, an eight-hour drive or short flight from Perth. In this region, you can also visit Lake Ballard near Kalgoorlie, a salt lake that features a permanent art installation of 51 statues. Down in South Australia, you can visit the bright pinks, blues and greens of Lake MacDonnell in the Eyre Peninsula, or even see the world’s largest ephemeral lake, Lake Eyre. Whether there's water or not, it is a phenomenal sight best taken in on a scenic flight.

4. KANGAROO ISLAND, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

If you are looking for up-close encounters with Australia’s intriguing wildlife, Kangaroo Island should be a top pick. Located a quick 40-minute flight from Adelaide, over a third of this island is a conservation park that is home to everything from kangaroos and koalas to short-beaked echidnas and tammar wallabies. You’ll find all of this in beautiful surrounds, including natural structures like Admirals Arch and the Remarkable Rocks. Kangaroo Island also provides opportunities for a luxurious retreat, whether it's staying in an award-winning lodge set atop coastal shelves, treating yourself to a massage at a cliff-top spa, or sampling the delicate flavours of marron – a type of crayfish – paired with some of the country’s best produce, gins, wines and brews.

5. DAINTREE RAINFOREST, QUEENSLAND

Trek through lush jungle amid ancient ferns and green vines as you spy animals and plants that are found nowhere else on the planet. This is the Daintree Rainforest, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site. Here you can fly through the canopies of an age-old forest on a zipline for a bird’s-eye outlook of the land below, or cruise down the Daintree River towards Cape Tribulation, where the Great Barrier Reef meets the rainforest. You'll also find plenty of lodge and luxury accommodation. This is truly a magical place – it’s no surprise it served as inspiration for the movie Avatar.

6. SNOWFIELDS AUSTRALIA

If you are visiting in the Australian winter (June – August), don’t miss a trip to Victoria’s snowfields. From skiing and snowshoeing to cutting through the powder on a snowmobile and skidding down slopes on a toboggan, there’s plenty for an adventure-lover to pick from. While you’re here, go on a dog-sledding experience; it’s one of the best ways to immerse yourself in the beauty of the Alpine scenery. You will get a chance to test out your mushing (dog sled driving) skills before spending some time cuddling with your new four-legged friends. But if you'd rather stay cosy indoors, you can opt for a wilderness retreat, where you’ll enjoy being curled up in front of a warm wood fire with cheese fondue.

7. VLASOFF CAY, QUEENSLAND

If you want to step off the beaten path towards something secluded and remote, consider Vlasoff Cay. This private sand island is surrounded by the vast blue ocean and appears only at low tide, making it a unique spot for an intimate picnic. You can get here on a helicopter or take a chartered boat from Cairns and settle onto the sand with a delicious picnic lunch and a bottle of bubbly.  The island is yours to explore, making it the perfect mix of leisure and adventure.

8. HEART REEF, WHITSUNDAYS, QUEENSLAND

When a heart just pops up in nature, you have to check it out. Heart Reef is a naturally formed coral heart found in Hardy Reef in the Whitsundays and was first spotted by an Air Whitsunday pilot flying overhead in 1975. It may have popped up in your Instagram feed once or twice (especially if there was a romantic proposal involved), and though it might look remote, it’s not difficult to get that ‘Gram worthy shot. Its protected nature means that the only way to see it is via a helicopter or light plane flight over – that’s also the best way to get a photograph (or five) of this romantic location. You can combine the flight with a tour of other incredible sights in the Whitsundays, like Hill Inlet and Whitehaven Beach.

This content was provided by Tourism Australia

[elceeu2morrow]

By Matt Galea  18/12/2019

It was the morning after our staff Christmas party that I got on the horn to Louis Tomlinson.

While the entire office was munching on bacon and egg rolls and chugging coffee to revive themselves, I was in the studio, eagerly awaiting a call from the UK to chat to my favourite member of One Direction (yep, you read that correctly).

You see, unlike most folks who occasionally whack on ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ during road trip karaoke or follow Harry Styles on Instagram to stay up to date with his dazzling wardrobe, I have been a true 1D stan since day dot: X Factor.

As soon as the band was pieced together, punters began choosing their faves, most of them picking Harry and don’t get me wrong, he’s an absolute lord (I’ve literally travelled to another country to see Harry live, I’ve had his album(s) on repeat since their release and I have tons of his merch), but I was instantly enchanted by the quiet, brooding, eldest member of the band and as their popularity skyrocketed, so, too, did my love for Louis.

I guess it’s a combination of his sleek style, his dreamy eyes plus the fact that he’s sassy (his public feuds have rightfully earned him the name ‘Sass Master of Doncaster’) and also has a ‘yuge heart and loves his fans unconditionally.

So naturally when the band went on hiatus, I followed Louis’ career like a hawk and, my fellow Louis stans, our time has finally come ‘coz 2020 is going to be THE year of Louis Tomlinson.

Let me repeat that louder for the people in the back:

2020 is going to be THE year of Louis Tomlinson.

The excitement in his voice is palpable as he discusses his debut studio album Walls which drops on January 31, 2020.

“I’m quite big on lyrics, it’s important for me to be honest and real and, at times, vulnerable,” he says of the album.

“My fans already know a lot about me but hopefully I can bring them an album that shows them another side.

”This ~other side~ includes personal yarns and tales from Louis’ life as he explains that he draws inspiration “from my life events.

“There were times in the past where I tried to write in a fictional sense, and there are a couple of songs on the album like that, but mostly I find it easier to write autobiographically.”

He adds, “Things happen to you and sometimes it might seem mundane but it makes you feel a certain way and it’s worth writing about.”

If you haven’t already listened to his latest singles, first of all what the heck is wrong with you? Second of all, go give them a listen and you’ll know exactly what he means by writing autobiographically.

He says his newest single ‘Don’t Let It Break Your Heart’ is “something that I’m definitely really proud of.”

“It’s a song trying to invoke hope, it’s about seeing the glass as half full as opposed to half empty and no matter what life throws at you, don’t let it break your heart.”

I then point out that he has a lot of positive, inspirational, anthemic bops under his belt and I ask if this is intentional.

“I think so,” he responds. “You always want to write lyrics that are relatable and inspiring, and I think songs like the song I did with Steve [Aoki] ‘Just Hold On’, it’s got the same kind of vibe of hope. I think it’s a pretty cool topic.”

He then talks me through my personal favourite, ‘We Made It.’

“It’s kind of about two things because we started out with just the title and what it meant to me in that moment was me picturing our first show of the tour and all the hard work it took me to get there and with the fans, it’s a collective, we made it here together, and that’s how the song started out,” he says.

“And then in the verse you have to add a bit more of a story so we’re talking about me going to visit my girlfriend at the university halls while I was on tour with the boys, so I was going off that dynamic.”

Directioners will be happy to know that Louis doesn’t shy away from name-dropping his bandmates and when I ask him to talk me through the best moments from the past decade, he literally lists three 1D-centric mems.

“When we first got put together as a band, that was a magical moment,” he says.

“We didn’t know each other that well and we went through that whole journey together, so that was pretty special.”

“When we played Madison Square Gardens in New York, that was a pretty memorable one. All of our families came down to watch.”

And finally, “We were lucky enough to play at the Olympics which was definitely one of the proudest moments I’ve ever had, definitely.”

Speaking of performing with 1D, Louis’ forthcoming trip to Australia will be his first without his bandmates and he is, as he put it, “proper excited to come back.”

“The gigs [in Oz] are always incredible and also for any Brit, it’s the ultimate dream to travel to Australia.”

But punters who have been lucky enough to see a One Direction show in their lifetime should expect a very, very different vibe from Tomlinson now that he’s flying solo (~obviously~).

“It’s not going to be a massive production with any gimmicks, it’s just going to be pretty straightforward. Just a good live show focusing on music and hopefully we’ll have a good night.”

Going from touring with his besties to being on the road by himself (and the backing band, of course) is bound to be a huge adjustment that Louis plans on easing into.

“I like creating normality [on the road], I just like to be sat with mates chatting, listening to music and then head out onto stage.”

He also gave me this lil tidbit about his travelling style, which should come as no surprise to the die-hards.

“I’m notoriously a really bad packer, I always leave with not enough clothes and not enough things that I need.”

But while he’s often short a pair of sneakers or a sweater or two, he always makes sure to pack the essentials.

“I like to take tea bags with me on tour. You can’t get a good cup of tea everywhere so it’s important to travel with your own.”

Which prompts me to ask about his thoughts on our tea Down Under.

“It’s good, yeah! It’s good,” he assures me.

So now that we’ve discussed what 2020 will look like for him (including starting his sophomore album in the second half of the year!), along with his highlights from the last decade, I’m eager to know what his plans are for the next decade.

Brace yourselves for the response…

“Fucking hell, I’m not that good at thinking far ahead,” he immediately quips. Legit, there’s nothing I love more than when celebs drop an F word in an interview. It shows that they’re not doing the super-polished, media-trained thing and they’re happy just being themselves.

Frankly, if Louis didn’t swear in the interview, I would’ve been convinced that he’d been abducted by aliens and replaced with a cyborg. But you’ll be happy to know that in our nine-minute convo, he swore a grand total of three times which is a great score, IMO.

But anyway, back to the question at hand.

“Hopefully still making music, still making albums. My intention is to get better as a songwriter with every album, so hopefully still making music and still touring.”

We wrap up our good old chinwag with a message to his fans, particularly the Aussies who he’ll finally be treating to his angel voice when he plays the Big Top in Sydney and the Palais Theatre in Melbourne in April.

“Massive thank you for your patience and your support. I’m so excited to release the album. I’m as excited, if not more, to come and see everyone on tour so thanks for your love and I’ll see you on tour.”

Final tickets for Louis Tomlinson’s debut Australian tour are available now via livenation.com.au.

SAT APR 25 – BIG TOP, SYDNEY

MON APR 27 – PALAIS THEATRE, MELBOURNE

[goldstarnation]

JUNE 2020 GOLD STAR MEDIA SCHEDULES & REVIEW

Members may earn 3 points each (up to 6 points) for writing, by the end of July 7 KST:

A solo para of 400+ words based on their monthly schedule (does not count toward your monthly total).

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) based on their monthly schedule.

Threads do not have to take place directly during an important date listed on the schedule, but must be related to what the muse is mentioned to be doing in the paragraph explaining their schedule/the company’s schedule for the month and/or their thoughts on the mentioned activities or lack thereof.

These schedules may be updated throughout the month if new information needs to be added.

Reminder: May schedule posts are due by the end of June 7 KST. Please do not post schedule posts in the fmdschedule tag.

OVERALL COMPANY

This month, all three companies are coming together for their second annual joint retreat, and this time it’s in a location Bang Sunyoung is a big fan of. Though a frequent guest of the resort in the past, she won’t be attending with the idols and lower-level staff this time with the excuse of having all attendees be of a more equal level in their respective companies to facilitate bonding.

Important dates:

June 19-22: Wellness retreat with BC and Dimensions.

GOLD STAR SOLOIST 1

"Blueming” is doing well as a more chill option for listening on the border between the spring and summer seasons. Promotions are still rather sparse this month, but Gold Star has her booked for a pair of radio show guestings to appease fans who have expressed disappointment that there wasn’t much on her promotion schedule for her new album. Next month, she’ll begin working on her upcoming concert tour, but for now, that’s still in the stages of company planning and arrangement.

Important dates:

June 1: “Blueming” fan chant guide video filming.

June 8: KBS Cool FM Gayo Plaza radio show guesting.

June 11: KBS 2FM Volume Up radio show guesting.

June 25: End of music show promotions.

GOLD STAR SOLOIST 2

Her first schedule of the month is a trip out of the country to New York for this year’s KCon. Gold Star decided to send her despite the rather poor performance of her American debut a few years ago because there’s been talk of having her release another English song, or English version of the song, before the year is out. When she gets back to Korea, she’ll be wrapping up her cross-country tour with a final date in Busan.

Important dates:

June 12: Performance at KCON NY at the Javits Center in New York, NY, USA (also performing: Knight, Dimensions Soloist 2, and 7ROPHY).

June 28: I AM : RE-BORN tour concert at KBS Busan Hall in Busan, South Korea.

GOLD STAR SOLOIST 3

It comes as a surprise to no one that he’s been booked to attend KCon this year. Between his status as one of the more common pushes in the market from Gold Star in general, the approach of his English language album makes this year a very good opportunity for him to potentially earn some new fans. He’ll be performing “Love Die Young” and “Runaway”. Next month, he’ll be in the studio to finish recording his next album, so management encourages him to take any time off he might need this month before they go full force into album preparations.

Important dates:

June 13: Performance at KCON NY at the Javits Center in New York, NY, USA (also performing: BC Soloist 1, Dimensions Soloist 1, and Lucid).

SILHOUETTE

Silhouette’s contract as brand ambassador of sportswear brand Mizuno has been renewed, so it’s time for them to shoot another CF at the beginning of the month. The CF will require a day trip to Jeju to shoot on the beach since they’re advertising swimwear. Later in the month, it will be time to shoot their comeback MV. Management has no qualms reminding them how big they want this comeback to be. It’s a rebirth of Silhouette with a shift in image from sexy to empowering and they’re expected to channel all the energy they can into make a music video worthy of the reception Gold Star desires.

Important dates:

June 5: Mizuno CF filming in Jeju.

June 15: “Sixth Sense” M/V filming day one.

June 16: “Sixth Sense” M/V filming day two.

ARIA

The week before their comeback, Aria will be the guests on Running Man for a two-epsiode special. During the episode, they’ll give short performances of “Luv”, “I’m So Sick” and “Beautiful Days”, and they’ll team up to play a variety of games [2] [3] [4] with the cast. On June 15, Aria as a full group heads to the Dimensions Entertainment building after filming a short package where they visits 7ROPHY to help them with a cover performance of “Mr. Chu” they’ll be doing as a special stage. Once they return to the Gold Star building that day, they’ll be called into a filmed meeting to officially confirm with them that they’ll be appearing on a new MNet competition show called Queendom where they’ll compete against five other female idol acts. During the meeting, they’ll be informed one by one that they’re competing with Lipstick, 7ROPHY, two NPC junior groups, and one NPC senior soloist and their reactions will be filmed. The show will begin airing in late August, but they must begin preparing a brief introduction stage, which they will go to the MNet studio to film on June 26. While they are there, they will be interviewed and asked what they want to show through their performances and will be heavily pushed towards answers that push the story line MNet has planned for them: proving themselves as capable of more than the pure concept they’re most known for.

Important dates:

June 7: Running Man appearance filming (to be aired: June 28 & July 5)

June 15: MCountdown Mr. Chu stage behind the scenes filming with 7ROPHY.  

June 15: Release of Beautiful Days & Once Upon A Time album, music show promotions continue through July 15.

June 16: Queendom Opening Performance filming.

ORIGIN

For five days this month, Origin will be packing up and taking a trip out to Jeonju to shoot their summer package. This will be the first time they do the yearly fan content in their own country. Shortly after they return, they’ll have comeback outfit fittings and then shoot the photo book for their upcoming album. Later in the month, they’ll perform their duties at the new ambassadors of message chair brand Bodyfriend by filming a series of group and unit CFs.

Important dates:

June 7-11: Summer Package 2020 filming at AWON Museum & Hotel in Jeonju.

June 12: Comeback MV [2] [3] and stage outfit [2] fittings.

June 26: Comeback photo book/teaser photo shoot.

June 27: Bodyfriend CF filming.

IMPULSE

At the beginning of the month, Impulse will leave the recording studio to enter the dance studio and begin learning the choreography for their new title track “You Calling My Name” and b-side track “Crash & Burn”. Later in the month, they’ll go in for fittings in preparation for MV filming at the beginning of next month before they make their comeback at the end of July.

Important dates:

June 25: Comeback MV and stage outfit fitting.

FUSE

Their Seoul concerts are behind them, so it’s now time to focus fully on preparing for their comeback in August. Since the album is now fully recorded, this month, they’ll be working on the choreography for the title track. Early in the month, they also have a photo shoot for Allure Magazine’s July issue which, along with what they showed at their concerts last month, should confirm to the fans that their next comeback is a darker, more luxurious one than “Umpah Umpah” or “Zimzalabim”.

Important dates:

June 6: Allure Magazine July issue photo shoot.

ELEMENT

"Dumb Litty” didn’t work magic on Element’s public recognition in Korea, but Gold Star never expected it to or chose the concept or song to achieve that. As has become their dependable marketing strategy, most of Element’s promotions outside of music shows are geared toward their existing fandom or earning new international fans. This includes three different Youtube videos they’ll film before the end of promotions as well as a couple of radio show appearances.

Important dates:

June 2: 1TheK Dumb Litty Suit Ver. filming.

June 5: NewsAde Dumb Litty Part Switch filming.

June 7: Element Tries Brazillian Snacks video filming.

June 8: Idol Radio radio show guesting.

June 10: Arirang Radio Super K-Pop radio show guesting.

June 17: End of music show promotions.

FEMME FATALE

Things have finally begun to calm down some for the members of Femme Fatale as they turn their focus entirely to touring (and filming their Femme Fatale Diaries reality series [2] [3]) this month. Until the third, they’ll be in Spain before returning to Seoul. On June 12, they depart for Macau and will return on June 14 before once again flying out to stay in Melbourne from June 24 to June 26 and in Sydney from June 26 to June 28.

Important dates:

June 2: Femme Fatale In Your Area World Tour concert at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain.

June 13: Femme Fatale In Your Area World Tour concert at Cotai Arena in Macau.

June 25: Femme Fatale In Your Area World Tour concert at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia.

June 27: Femme Fatale In Your Area World Tour concert at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.

[totalconway]

Burning Bridges at Christmas...I think

Christmas is by far my favourite time of year! I like all the good will towards man, the spirit of giving, Santa Claus and all that shit. The best part for me is being able to watch Christmas movies and not have to worry about the month I’m watching it in. 

One particular Christmas was special because after less than 2 years of doing Stand Up comedy I was invited to perform at the Sydney Comedy Store for their end of year Christmas shows. This was a huge honour for me because working through the open mic scene in Perth, the feeling amongst the comedians was that being invited to perform at the Sydney Comedy Store was the same as becoming a ‘Made Man’ in a gangster movie, it was the highest honour you could obtain. 

When I got the invitation I was travelling through Port Headland on a 5 week mining tour performing to some of the roughest crowds that I have ever performed for. They weren’t bad crowds, they were just tough and my skill level was not ready to perform for an audience that had just finished a 12 hour shift and just wanted to sit in silence with a few beers and dream of the day they can return home to their families and jet ski’s.

Comedy in my opinion has a lot in common with Shawshank Prison, to get good at it you have to crawl through five football fields of shit and hopefully come out somewhat talented on the other side. At this point in my career I was nowhere it, I was still chiseling through the wall and learning the craft wishing that one day I could get even close to the shit pipes. 

These mining tours however fast tracked my learning and after 2 weeks on the road I learnt that I was well and truly crawling through the shit pipes. Weeks of bombing in front of miners was a depressing experience made even worse by the fact I couldn’t drown my sorrows because all the mine sites we performed at were Mid strength mine sites. Drowning your sorrows with mid strength alcohol is like trying to combat your heroin addiction with milk shakes.

One of the stops of the mining tour was Port Headland. A massive shit hole to most people, for me it was my favourite part of the tour purely for the fact that my Vodafone phone would get reception and I was able to check my missed calls and emails. During our drive through Port Headland my spirits were lifted when I received an email from the Sydney Comedy Store inviting me to perform for their Christmas shows. I was ecstatic and told the guys I was touring with that after this mining tour I would be heading to Sydney to perform at the Comedy Store. In unison they all looked at each other with a look I can only describe as “How the fuck is this guy getting a gig at the Comedy Store”. In reality they probably didn’t give a shit that I would be making $50 a night when they were going to be making thousands of dollars doing cruise ships or whatever they had planned. Whatever they thought I didn’t care, in my mind I was finally going to become a ‘Made Man’.

In the Perth open mic scene, I was best mates with a group of guys who would regularly fly over to Sydney to perform at the Comedy Store. Lucky for me they gave me the inside scoop on what to do when you get there, how to conduct yourself, essentially performing at the Comedy Store has the same rules as performing anywhere “Try not to be shit, and don’t be a cunt” pretty easy rules to follow. Being shit can be subjective but it’s pretty obvious if someone is being a cunt and in most places it won’t be tolerated. The Comedy Store is one of those places. I know a story of a comedian who managed to worm his way in to perform at the Comedy Store and got banned for snapping his fingers at the bar staff trying to get served like he was a Wall Street guy at Hooters. I know the comedian and he’s got that spoilt little rich kid demeanor kinda like Joffery in Game of Thrones except more cunty.

Now a little back story before I get into the next part, when I was starting out the group of friends I hung with would always bust each others balls in the most fake macho bravado way possible. Someone would say “Don’t be shit tonight” and they would respond “I’ll kill you cunt” and they would respond “I’ll bash your whole family”. Writing it out now sounds terrible but that’s how it was and  everyone would always laugh and joke when we did it. I was still new and incredibly naive, I thought I had stumbled across some secret “In” joke that only professional comedians knew and not just a running joke amongst the 10 open mic comedians I would regularly perform with.

I flew over to Sydney with hope in my heart and some ‘insider’ tips on how to fit in with the crew there. I remember one of the main things I was really looking forward to was seeing my name in the big bright lights on the Sydney Comedy Store. The sign that would shine out to let the world know I was a legit comedian worth seeing. I remember walking down the alley trying to act as cool as possible but really feeling giddy with excitement for the moment I’d see my name on that sign for the first time. I remember walking up with my eyes facing down, then I casually took a look up and my name was nowhere to be seen. They hadn’t put my name on the board! It didn’t really upset me but after 5 weeks of bombing on mine sites seeing my name in lights at the Sydney Comedy Store would have been a nice bit of sugar for my ego. 

The reason why my name wasn’t on the board is because I was doing a two week run and unless you’re a superstar they only put your name up for the second week of your run, so I still got my name in lights and got a few happy snaps for the memory book.

One piece of advice I got for when you start out at the Comedy Store was to bring a bottle of Jamieson and some cigarettes to drink with the staff afterwards. The staff at the Comedy Store were the guys you wanted to be hanging with after the show, there was no real professional networking reason for this, they were just cool people to hang out with. So I made sure to bring two bottles of Jamieson and 2 packs of smokes, not only for the staff but also as a sacrifice to the Comedy Gods to let them know I was taking this opportunity seriously. As it turned out it wasn’t a big enough sacrifice because I bombed for 2 weeks straight. I knew it was bad, but it didn’t sink in at how bad it was until the Booker called me after the second or third gig to say that I should just do my Raw Comedy set. I was devastated, I called up my friends in Perth to ask what I should do and they said they didn’t know. They had never received a phone call from a Booker like that before, they also laughed in my face which is always humbling. In their defence I would of done the same thing. 

I decided to put my head down and try to fix what I had, and I managed to turn my shit shows from bad to just kinda bad. 

Despite the shows going badly it was still a worth while experience. I became good mates with the staff and I’m still mates with them today. After every gig we would hang out and drink, smoke and talk shit. The 2 week run was awesome because I became mates with the other comedians as well who were a mix of TV and radio stars and guys who were on the cusp of becoming the next TV and radio stars. 

The biggest name on the line up was staying at the same hotel as me. I was told by everyone he’s the nicest dude in comedy and he’s the sort of dude that would do anything for you, the utmost gentlemen. So I decided to walk back to the hotel with him one night. I don’t know whether it was the Jamieson or the weed but I thought i’m going to let him know that I know the "In” jokes that all comedians know (still blissfully unaware this is just a shitty joke amongst open micers in Perth). So we were walking and chatting and we came across a house party and I turned to him and said “We should go in there”. He said “Why would we do that” and I said “I don’t know, to bash em”. He looked at me like what the fuck are you talking about, but in my mind he’s throwing me lob balls to hit out of the park. Then he said “Dude why would we go in there and bash them”. At this point I’ve finished the joke so him asking me why would we bash them?, felt like he was testing me by taking me into deep water where I’d have to riff my way out, so I said the funniest thing I could think of and I said “because we’re from the streets”. I think the rest of the walk home was probably a lot more awkward for him than it was for me.

We got to the hotel, shook hands and went our separate ways. I didn’t think anything of it until I was in Melbourne a few months later and I was sitting with a group of comedians in the artist bar and he walked in. He went around the table shaking everyone’s hand with a big smile on his face and came to me and  shakes my hand but looks at me like I’m the biggest piece of shit in the world. I’m trying to think if I had bumped into him already at this festival (I may have had a few big nights with one or two blackouts at that festival) and made a cunt of myself. I thought surely he’s not mad at the “We’re from the streets” comment? it was clearly a joke, that couldn’t be it. Then I thought it might have been because I put on such an amateur performance at the Comedy Store but that couldn’t be it either because I saw him shaking hands with comedians who are way shitter than me like that fucking Joffery cunt. So it must have been the “because we’re from the streets” line. (which I find funny) I’ve bombed in rooms where the Booker doesn’t want me back on the line up again but I’ve never bombed a conversation to the point where the person never wanted to see me again (Excluding first dates). 

I haven’t seen him since the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, I mean I have seen him he’s fucking everywhere but hopefully we can cross paths again and I can remind him where we come from- The Motherfucking Streets!

I’ve been back to the Comedy Store in Sydney numerous times since and have had some amazing gigs. Once opening for Eddie Ifft and Tony Hinchliffe both from the USA. Even though the staff from the first gig there have moved on to bigger things, I still make a point of bringing a bottle of Jamieson and Cigarettes as my sacrifice to the Comedy Gods and to spread some Christmas cheer no matter what time of year.   

[myaustralia5-blog]

35 Things You Want to Know Prior to Traveling to Australia

My Australia

1. Due to its enormous size, Australia provides a broad selection of climatic zones - in the temperate climes of Southern Australia into the tropical humidity of north Queensland and the arid desert heat of the inside. The summer months (December to February) are usually the very popular for seeing coastal regions like Sydney and Melbourne, while winter (June to August) is a fantastic time to explore the Red Centre.

My Australia

2. Winters are usually mild across the southern countries, but temperatures could be surprisingly nippy in Tasmania.

3. Back in Australia, the very long summer, particularly the 2 weeks around Christmas Day, is the busiest period of the season and also you need to book flights and accommodation well in advance if you'd like to be in Australia during this period.

4. Also Keep in Mind that resort lodging  Is at a premium throughout major sporting events like the Melbourne Cup (first Tuesday in November), the Australian Open (also in Melbourne, each January), Adelaide's engine occasion in March and the Australian Grand Prix held in Melbourne during March.

5. Unless You're an Australian or New Zealand citizen, you'll require a visa to enter Australia.  It is possible to apply for a selection of visas, such as tourist visas and working holiday visas, but you have to do this prior to leaving home.

6. Back in Australia, tipping is becoming a lot more common, particularly in pubs and pubs. Giving 10 percent of the Entire invoice Is Usually considered proper

7. Back in Australia, driving is on the left, therefore many UK guests will feel at home.

8. Australia is a casual society - do not be surprised to be known as"partner" by strangers.

9. Dress codes are both relaxed: when exercising, except in smart restaurants, most guys wear shorts and T-shirts.

10. Australians have a strong sense of humor.

11. If you are aged between 18 and 30 you might be qualified to apply for a Working Holiday Visa, letting you live, travel and work anywhere in Australia for a year.

12. You can apply for vacation working license if you meet the following requirements

• Be aged between 18 and 30 (inclusive) in the beginning of employing

If You're awarded a Working Holiday Visa, you are able to:

• Input Australia anytime in 12 months of the visa grant

• Stay for up to 12 weeks in Australia

• Leave and re-enter Australia any number of occasions in the 12 months from the date of original entry

• Undertake temporary employment in Australia for up to six weeks with any company

13. Having another Working Holiday Visa you can extend your stay in Australia or return again for one more year until you turn 31. To acquire the next visa, you want to have done a minimum of 3 weeks'specified work', such as fruit harvesting, in a qualified regional place.

14. Australia is a remarkably varied island, continent, and country- both culturally and geographically speaking.

15. Virtually all of Australia's population lives within 50 kilometers of the shoreline.

16. As a former penal colony, the nation is currently a combination of contemporary cosmopolitan civilization and historical Aboriginal customs.

17. A trip to Australia guarantees excellent nightlife, sightseeing, and daring adventures to remember forever.

18. The very best time for Australia travel is involving mid-April to late August, when airfares are the cheapest, although the peak travel season in many areas of Australia is through their winter, the very pleasant time to go to Australia is from April through September.

19. Daytime Temperatures are hot, and it seldom rains. September and October are perfect, once the heat is enough to protect you on the shore in the southern countries and the wildflowers of Western Australia have been in blossom.

Hostels Begin at 20 AUD per night for a dorm room, although they get as large as 40 from the large coastal cities.  Personal rooms with a double bed and a shared bath in hostels array between 80-100 AUD each night.

20. For budget resorts, you're seeking to spend around 75-95 AUD to get a double room, private toilet, TV, and breakfast. Larger, string hotels cost nearer to 200 AUD. Camping prices between 15-30 AUD each night (cheaper if you bring your own tent, more costly if you are parking an RV).

21. Food is not cheap in Australia! Most decent restaurant Eateries price at least 20 AUD.  The ideal value food would be the Indian and Asian restaurants where you could find a really satisfying meal for under $10 AUD!

22. Local city buses and trains price 3-4 AUD. The hottest and most affordable way to travel would be to push yourself.

23. Flying can be quite expensive as a result of limited competition, particularly if going from shore to shore. I normally avoid flying in Australia unless I'm pressed for time or there's a sale.

24. Multi-day Tours and activities are expensive, usually costing 400-540 AUD. Day excursions will cost approximately 135-230 AUD. As an instance, a one-way visit to the fantastic Barrier Reef can price 230 AUD as a two-night sailing trip round the Whitsunday Islands can cost up of 540 AUD. A three-day Visit to Uluru out of Alice Springs is about 480 AUD. Walking tours are approximately 50 AUD and afternoon excursions to wine regions are between 150-200 AUD.

25. Suggested daily funding - $60-80 AUD / / 43-57 USD (Notice: This is a proposed budget assuming you are staying at a hostel, eating a bit, cooking all your foods, and utilizing local transport. This also depends heavily on the amount of excursions you're doing! Employing the budget suggestions below, you always have the option to reduce this amount. But should you keep in fancier lodging or eat more frequently, anticipate this to be greater!)

26. The amount of crime is not any greater than in the united kingdom. Be cautious with personal possessions and travel records in towns and popular tourist destinations.

27. Avoid carrying everything in 1 bag. Do not  Leave bags unattended in vehicles, public areas or nightclubs.  Theft from safety deposit boxes is normal in the more affordable hotels and hostels.  Be particularly attentive at night at the busy tourist regions of Sydney such as Kings Crossdown city George Street, Hyde Park and Centennial Park.

28. There have been a few significant sexual assaults against British nationals in Australia.  Be careful at the city center of Alice Springs in the nighttime. There have been quite a few incidents of harassment, robberies and attacks (including sexual assault) on overseas tourists.

29. Alcohol and drugs may result in you being alert, less accountable and not as conscious of your surroundings. If you're going to drink, know your limit.  Drinks served in pubs abroad tend to be more powerful than people in the united kingdom.

30. Beware of scams where potential tenants Are requested to move a deposit into an overseas bank accounts in exchange for keys into a rental home in Australia. British travellers have fallen prey to such scams.

31. You can reduce the danger of  Losing your passport by acquiring a proof of credit. This can be a recognized form of ID for several services such as opening bank account or entering licensed premises. By acquiring a card shortly after you arrive you may limit the requirement to take your passport with you.

32. In case your passport is stolen or lost you could have the ability to acquire an Emergency Travel Document in the nearest British Consulate. .

33. Australia is a massive country. If you are researching national parks it may take some time to get help in the case of an emergency.

34. The terrain and extreme heat could have a serious influence on your capabilities. Take loads of water and also a way of rigging up shield from sunlight.

35. Australia is home to some of dangerous Animal species, out of crocodiles, jellyfish and sharks to venomous  Insects, snakes and spiders are present in many areas of the nation.