The home straight, then straight home

Well, after almost a month of being home I  have finally gotten around to writing my final blog entry. Previously, I had just 'Lived below the line' for a week... Nothing interesting really happened in the time between that glorious McDonalds after a week of near starvation and the end of my exams. There were a few legendary nights out, the details of which cannot be broadcast over the internet, and a lovely cruise around the Sydney Harbour with free alcohol (you can all guess how that went).

Here is a picture from fairly early on in the night when we still looked nice

The reason the last part of my time at the University of Wollongong is nothing to write home about was because of the fourty page thesis I had to write on my semester long research project, on top of other lab reports from other subjects and my job... There simply wasn't any time for adventure!

But after my first exam, I had a bit of time to relax before my second, so my mum and sister came to visit! I had cunningly told them that I would not get up at 3am to pick them up from the airport (a two hour train ride away from Wollongong), and that they should get the train wake me up when they got to the gong. When the day came, I borrowed a car, downed some coffee, and surprised them in the arrivals terminal. It made the reunion so much sweeter! I took a day off to show them around the main sites of Sydney and, naturally, got all the touristy shots...

Then after my last exam, my family and I flew up to Cairns to see the great barrier reef. Wow. I have never seen anything like it! Even after more than a month, I still haven't found the words to describe it, so some pictures will have to do

  

The thing I'm holding in the top right is a sea cucumber. As you can tell from my facial expression, they are bloooooody barmy! Also notice Nemo in the bottom left. From Cairns, we hired a car and slowly made our way down the Queensland coast towards Brisbane. I can't be bothered to write (and you probably can't be bothered to read) every little detail, so highlights include...

• Visiting the waterfall that the Herbal Essences advert was filmed at (because we're worth it)

   

• Kissing some birds 

   

• Sailing in the Whitsunday islands (where my sister saw a turtle... so jealous)

• Finally holding a koala (I got over my grudge against one trying to claw me to death)

• Watching the sun set over Captain Cooks first landing point in 1770 (bizarrely and unimaginatively the year of landing AND name of place)

• Brisbane's south bank, which had a man made beach next to the river

Travelling with my family... Yes, there were some minor dramas and differences of opinions, but I still had a great time (I wouldn't do it again though, sorry ladies). It was definitely great to see them again after such a long time, and I enjoyed showing them my way of travelling (even if they didn't appreciate it at times!). Once I was back in Wollongong, I had two days to start saying my goodbyes and to see as many people as I could before I left the country. The flight home was torturous. They kept giving me free vodka and playing films that would make me cry. Hell, with that much vodka in me, I was crying at the films that were't supposed to make me cry! Nevertheless, it went fairly quickly, and before I knew it, I was back home with my dad, his wife, her child and MY DOG! HOORAY! I missed my dog a lot.

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So, predictably, since I've been back a lot of people have asked me how it feels to be back after such a long time. I don't know if everyone has had this feeling, but quite frankly, I've just not had the time for it to be weird to be back! I started a full time job four days after landing back in Blighty. When I've seen people, it's been like I never left, and I've just generally been ridiculously busy. 

Do I think I've changed? Yes, but not in a bad way at all. After having only 30kg to transport my life half way across the world, I feel a lot less materialistic. I keep finding bits of tat around my room that I definitely will never need. I've become more accepting of more different people, more liberal on a lot of issues, and a lot more laid back (before I left, I was the UK's biggest stress pot). I really hope these new qualities can last!

Someone told me the other day that they viewed me as a yes-man. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, it's someone who just says 'yes' to every offer they receive. Looking back on my year, I now know where they are coming from. I think it's a great way to be, and a great way to be perceived, and I think that one of the reasons that my year was so fantastic was because of this 'yes-man' attitude, so my first piece of advice for anyone who is going travelling is to always say 'yes.' Answer 'yes' to every offer and you will, I guarantee it, love your trip.

My second piece of advice is to always have a positive attitude, and to find the best in every situation. Sure, at one point of the year I was at rock bottom, in debt to two different banks with four accounts, my parents, 

and my friends, [warning, this was caused by too much saying yes] but I knew I'd be all right eventually. And yeah, I stayed in some pretty horrible conditions over the year (namely Tony's house in Wakerie) but I looked past it and accepted that finding a dead mouse in the toilet was just normal in a house like this.

Do I miss Australia? Of course I do, it was my home from home for a year, but as much as I miss the places and the people, I'm starting a new, exciting chapter in my life that I'm very much looking forward to, and in my eyes, it's a good thing to not dwell and to always be moving forward in life.

Thank you so much for reading this post, and any other posts you may have read. I means a lot to me that you want to know what I'm up to! Keep tuned for more posts from me in the future, whenever and wherever they may come from.

Year in Australia, over and out.

Live below the line - the aftermath

So as you may or may not know, I recently spent five days 'living below the poverty line.' According to the Oaktree foundation, people who live in extreme poverty in Australia have only $2 per day to survive which has to pay for food, drinks, a place to stay, electricity, education - and many other things people like us just take for granted. Luckily for me, and the other people taking the challenge, we had $2 per day for food and drink, and our accommodation and other expenses didn't come into the equation.

Despite this, it was still hard. I ate a lot of rice, drank a lot of water, and as my house mates can tell you, I really, really missed having cups of tea! The experience has taught me how difficult it can be to have no choice about what to eat, and how having to survive on very repetitive meals can drive a person insane, especially when we're used to having such varied diets - I'm glad it was only for five days!

The food I bought for the week which came to $9 - I later got some sweet chilli sauce for $1

I'd say the hardest part wasn't a constant feeling of hunger, but a constant feeling of being unfulfilled. Living off a diet of carbohydrates is by no means satisfying, and my body was craving nutrients, so as a result I ate, and ate, and ate until I could physically eat no more.


There were many temptations along the way... All I wanted was a sprinkle of salt on my rice. I started thinking things like "no one will know!" ... but I would know, and I'd feel far too guilty to justify the slight improvement to my meal. The challenge got harder as the week progressed, and some people cracked under the pressure, but most of us stayed strong.

I had this meal probably 7 times over five days Not fun!

We held loads of fundraising events in the lead up to, and during the week to try and raise as much money as we could. Having things like bake sales and barbecues and not being able to eat anything is murderous! But it all paid off... Before the week started, Casey panicked in an interview and said that the Kooloobong team could raise $5000 ... We all thought she was crazy, but the kindness and generosity of our friends, family and the public was overwhelming, and we raised OVER five thousand dollars! This is enough to fund twenty full scholarships for children in Papua New Guinea, and help them break out of the poverty cycle.

Of course, we went to pig out at McDonalds as soon as the event was over

The amount of money we raised also managed to attract the attention of a local news broadcaster who interviewed us after the event - and this interview can by found by following the link below...

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/05/17/3505023.htm 

I'm fantastically proud of the amount of money raised by team KB. I would also like to say a special thank you to Miss Casey Madigan for her manegerial point of view, and for remaining a constant ray of sunshine, optimism, and source of laughter throughout the week even though she was going through the challenge herself :)

Begging for Beggars

Hello everyone! So every year since I started university I've done something that involved raising money for charity. In my first year, I had a great time treasure hunting around Europe for Sheffield RAG with four amazing people, having the best time, and got barked at by French dogs and whipped by a stripper.

Last year, I hitch hiked to Krakow, Poland via Slovenia with Todd and Steph on Bummit - we experienced eastern European chavs throwing rocks at us, and all had an absolute roller coaster of emotions - but at the end of the day I still had an amazing time and would do it again in an instant.

This year, though, I will be "living below the line" between 7th and 11th May - which means living below the national poverty line (that's just $2 per day) to raise awareness of the extreme poverty that goes on in the world. The money raised for this will go towards building schools, finding teachers and providing scholarships for children in Papua New Guinea, one of the southern hemisphere's most poverty stricken countries. I was inspired by a dear friend of mine, Helen Pitman, who went through the ordeal last year, and was further encouraged by several other Kooloobong residents taking part.

Anyone who knows me knows I like my food, and I like a lot of it, so this will definitely not be as much of a treat as my previous charity experiences! So PLEASE sponsor me for this. Maybe you will spend $5 (about £3.50) on charity this week instead of booze. My target is AU$400, which is about £260 - no easy feat with the amount of time I've given myself!

You can sponsor me by clicking the above image ...

... or following this link: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/danjenks

Much love! x