Welcome back guys and gals, you wild internet people to this blog. I've been on a hiatus of sort, a year long break from, well most thing, but I'm back now and I already have a few things planned out and some things to share.

So let's start from the beginning.

Well not the very beginning.

My name is Kat, I'm 24 and from Sydney. I spent the last three years as a drama student and trying hard to find myself. And in finding myself I changed. From the person I used to be, a person I strongly disliked inside and out, to a more confident and more all together person. 

But in those three years I also learnt that I still have a lot of changing to do. To be the person I need to be, and I need figure out myself and my life along the way.

Being in a new city for those three years changed my perspective on life and who I was. 

It made me want to be a better person.

It made me more independent.

It made me find my self worth.

It made me see things a little clearer.

With all of this I have taken my first year out of uni and back at home, learning from the mistakes of my past and living life to its fullest.

So this is where the change in my blog starts. I will be keeping all my old posts and adding new material from my life and adventures from here on out.

Welcome back and enjoy.

Dream big.

xxx Kat

Rippon Lea and the Dressmaker Costume Exhibition

Before leaving Melbourne to go home for my holidays, my family and I decided to see what we could do in Melbourne whilst they were here. Luckily, much to their surprise and enjoyment, Rippon Lea a historic mansion in Elsternwick, was holding an costume exhibit of one of my mums and aunts favourite movies. The Dressmaker.

The exhibition itself was a showcase of the wonderfully crafted costumes worn by the actors in the movie itself, placed within the magnificent halls of the Rippon Lea mansion.

The historic halls of Rippon Lea became the breathtaking backdrop to the costumes. Adding in a certain elegance to the whole experience. As we wondered around the exhibition not only did we take in the well designed costumes, but also the architecture of the insides of the manor.

Once we had wound our way through the entire exhibit, we ventured out into the gardens that surround the house. Seeing what marvels we could come across. 

The grounds themselves hold many wonderful bits and pieces and can be explored in your own time. Along with the mansion you can also find a Fernery, Lookout tower, a Lake, Tennis Courts, a Heritage orchard and a grotto under a waterfall, along with several other interesting places that can be explored.

We wondered around the groups at our own pace and marvelled at the little things that we managed to come across on our wander.

                    

It was like some magical wonderland, almost as if time froze once you stepped into the gates. The wonders of the grounds really made me feel at peace. Like I could almost comfortably get lost wondering around and not worry to much. 

It was a much needed relaxing day, in which I am glad that I got to spend it with my family.

xx Kat

Easter long weekend

I hope everyone had a great easter, and for those who don't celebrate just a great weekend in general. I had the pleasure of celebrating easter with my roommate, at her family farm. 

It was strange for me. This is the first time in my 22 years of life that I haven't spent the easter weekend with my own family. But the year heading back to Sydney just seemed like an inconvenience as it's rather early on in the semester and such.

I got to do something that I haven't yet done here in Melbourne, which was catch the train to get to her place. Coming from Sydney I am more accustom to catching trains, but here in Melbourne the trams make travelling so much easier, in my opinion.

 I spent the weekend offline, away from the internet and out of reception mostly. In the fresh air and away from the city. 

I also had the joy of cuddling a puppy for the weekend, something I miss doing since I'm not at home and away from work.

I hope you all had good Easters.

xx Kat

Just a small update.

It has been a while I know. I have many excuses that I could make for my being away, but the reality is I was just out living life, working and enjoying my holidays.

Now the summer is almost over and I am heading back to uni, for my last year. I will be doing things and having fun. I will be trying hard to complete my work and finally finish my studies. 

So here is a little update just to get us started again.

I have spent the summer months working away. It is practically all I did on my holidays, which is kind of what I wanted to do, and on my days off all I did was sleep and be lazy. I got to spend my days with dogs and animals, just being comfortable and at peace with life.

I took chances in life and did things that I had wanted to do for a while, like dyeing my hair. 

I spent time with people who made me happy and made friends with new people.

It has just been a pleasant summer. 

I hope everyone is well. And I hope to see you all soon.

xx Kat

It's a new year.

Holy crap, it's a new year. I can hardly believe that 2015 has ended and 2016 has begun. I know I am a little slow on the new years post, but I just needed to get myself to sit down and write this out. 

In a way I am glad that 2015 is over. It means that all the bad things that happened last year can be washed away and all the good times can be remember fondly. Its also a time for change and to begin being a new person, to better myself. 

So in the idea of changing for a new year, and bettering oneself, I thought I would share some of my goals for the new year with you all.

1. Read more new books

2. Say YES to more opportunities

3. Write more/blog more

4. Learn to enjoy life for the little things and appreciate them

5. Be more creative in everything I do

6. Make healthier life choices for myself

7. See more of the world

8. Try something new every week

9. Learn new and interesting things

10. Be positive

Hopefully I will be able to stick to these and make life more enjoyable and fun for myself as the year goes on.

This year is a rather important one for me. It is my last year of university (yikes) and that means that I need to get myself organised and figure out what I am going to do with myself when I leave the comfort of university. Creating and finding opportunities for myself and my future. Which is an idea that scares me more than I sometimes would like to admit.

I also plan on making some changes here, and I know thats not the first time I have said that, but this time I plan on keeping that promise. I have a couple of regular post ideas that I would like to start doing monthly and sometimes even more often than that. Things that I want to be able to keep up and continue on as the months go by. In the aim of furthering this blog a little.

I want to be able to share  more exciting things with you guys this year, and getting myself more out there. 

I hope you guys are ready for what lies ahead, and I hope that the year that lies ahead of us, is an exciting one at that.

xx Kat

I have been doing some soul searching

The summer break is a great time to find ones self and figure out things. It's a couple of months where you don't have to worry about uni and study and quite a few other things. 

It is a much needed break from life for me. Whilst on holidays I will be having fun and working on myself and seeing what I can discover. 

I have been struggling to write, not only on here but in other places and in other forms, but I plan on changing that and working on becoming a better me.

Expect to see a few changes here on the blog over the summer. 

I want to try out a couple of new things, not only on here, but also in life in general. To see how I can broaden my horizons. I had a major opportunity fall through and it took me some time to get over that, so now I have a months worth of extra time that will need to be willed with something else. 

This summer I will be finding out who I really and and seeing what I can discover about myself. Changing what needs to be changed and fixing what is broken within myself (which is quite a bit). And this blog will accompany me on this journey. 

I hope everyone is doing well. If you have just had end of year exams I hope you did well and are looking forward to your holiday, like myself. 

xx Kat

Going Round the Twist.

Growing up as a kid, here in Australia, in the 90s, I had the pleasure of watching some weird and wonderful Australian made kids TV. 

One show, and still one of my personal favourites, was Round the Twist. A show that followed a family that lived in a lighthouse and the weird things that happened to them. It is hard to explain exactly what happens to people who haven't seen it as it just gets too weird sometimes.

But with the awesomeness of it being an Australian show, means that it was filmed here and that you can go and visit the lighthouse they used in the show. Which is something that I have wanted to do since I was little. 

So one weekend we decided to just do it. To pack up the car and venture out to the coast to see the lighthouse itself. My friend Erin and I had been meaning to make this trip for a while, but hadn't found a good weekend to do so.

Firstly the drive to Aireys Inlet, where the lighthouse is, follows the Great Ocean Road. A coastal road that goes around the bottom end of Victoria. This gave us spectacular views, and a chance to walk along the beach later on in the day. 

It was kind of unbelievable seeing the lighthouse and actually recognising it from my childhood, considering the show played such a big part in my life as I was growing up, as it was always on TV. But being here was a childhood dream come true for both of us.

Also the views from around the lighthouse itself were pretty breathtaking and beautiful. With amazing coastline stretching out as far as the eye could see. 

Can't you just see how excited we were.

Afterwards we headed back to Anglesea, a town near by and have coffee, lunch and a walk on the beach before heading off.

It was an awesome day being able to see something from my childhood in real life. It was also just one being amazing adventure of a day, considering neither of us had been there, and had always wanted to go.

What is one place that you wish you could go from your childhood?

xx Kat

Healesville Sanctuary

Over the weekend I took a much needed break from all of my work and headed out for an adventure on Sunday. One of my roommates had asked me earlier on in the week if I wanted to go to Healesville Sanctuary with her and one of her friends.

Being an animal lover, I instantly agreed.

Healesville sanctuary is a wildlife park that specialises in Australian native animal. Since my roommate and her friend are both international students, they wanted to go and check it out and even take part in one of the up close encounters with some of the animals.

Having picked a surprisingly sunny day, we headed out early as it would take us about an hour to reach the park. Upon arrival, we got a tad lost (having relied on google maps) and were sent in the right direction by one of the keepers.

Once there we roamed the sanctuary and took in as many of the animals as we could. With the occasional fun fact from me about the animals, the the others girls didn't know. I think by the end of the day they were glad that they weren't from Australia, with our dangerous animals that hide around every corner. Especially after seeing the worlds most venomous snake, and one that we kinda proudly call our own here down under.  

 

The encounter that we got was with some of the dingo's they have at the sanctuary. I, being a dog person, was very excited about that. They were two of the sweetest animals in the world and were happy (as you can see above) to give you kisses. Something that I miss from my work back home.

It was a nice adventure and an enjoyable day. I really love being able to see the native animals and never get tired of being able to spend time around them. 

I would like to thank my roommate Leonie for suggesting the idea and also letting me use some of the awesome photos she took of the day. I was so honoured to be able to share this day with her and her friend, and to see their amazement of the weird and wonderful animals we have here.

xx Kat