AFRICA BLOG - Days 10-13

Day 10 - Tuesday 3^rd July

In physical pain! Partially from the workout yesterday and partially from this morning’s horse riding! I rode on a cool horse called Jacko – he was a bit lazy and needed the crop but was otherwise pretty well behaved – we definitely bonded! We learnt to walk and trot and we tried to canter but Jacko was far too lazy. It still bloody hurt by the end though! After lunch we went on a horse safari around the park. This time I rode Hwange – a younge stallion who was more obedient but apparently hates other horses so I had to stay at the back. Definitely got dibs on Jacko for the overnight horse safari on Thursday.
                Since we’re in so much pain the obvious thing to do next was play football with Sarah for an hour (I managed to kick the ball into my own face and we ended up in hysterics for a while!). I’m pretty knackered, bruised and achey now and hungry for dinner … it had better be something nice!

Me with my favourite boy Jacko <3

Me on Hwange before the bush ride

Day 11 – Wednesday 4^th July

Independence Day for the Americans here so there’s going to be a bit of a party tonight.
                Day started with a P’s walk – Paza tried to go for me again. She really is a very special lion!
                This morning me, Neeru and Sheran had BPG cleaning, not especially exciting but fun anyway. At 12pm all of us vols got to watch the Big 7 males (Apollo, Achilles, Mambo, Mamba, Kwezi, Phoenix and Penduka) get fed which was craaaazy! The less dominant ones nicked a bit of food quickly and ran off with it but the top 3 dominant ones (Apollo, Mambo and Mamba) lay on the offal growling at each other for ages and fighting over the food – awesome!

                In the afternoon us 3 plus Lorna went off fixing boundary fences. Although courtesy of “Africa Time” (you quickly learn that ‘now now’ means in the next 10minutes, ‘now’ means in the next hour and ‘just now’ could mean anytime in the next few weeks!), we didn’t get started ‘til about 2:45pm when we should’ve gotten going at 2:05pm. Wasn’t especially excited about it but it turned out to be hilarious. The fence didn’t need much fixing so we just drove along a really unkempt part of the track looking for parts of the fence to fix and ducking and diving onto the seats of the cruises to avoid being hit by branches. At one point the branches were so low we had to lie down which of course we were all hysterical at.

                Finally at 4pm I walked with the L’s – haven’t been with them for a while so that was cool, although they didn’t hunt anything even though impala were really close – stupid shumbas!

Chillaxing with Casper, a very handsome lion at BPG

Mambo (or maybe Mamba, I'm not sure) enjoying some lovely intestines for lunch :)

Laili and Lewa having cuddle times on their afternoon walk

On the look out for game with Lewa

Day 12 – Thursday 5^th July/Day 13 – Friday 6^th July

BEST DAY SO FAR! So I stumbled half sleep out of my room about 6:05am and straight away Dan shouts “LISA! How are you? Hurry up the trucks leaving!” … wha? Apparently I was going out on research and the truck leaves at 6:15. This involves going out with Rae to the Stage 2 release site to see the Ngamo pride which consists of 15 lions - Milo the male, his missuses Kenge, Kwali, Narla, Narnia, Ashanti and Phyre, the first born cub Wakanaka who is 17 months, two 9 month olds called Kora and Karnissa and finally two 8 month olds called Anulpa and Amadi. It was incredible to be so close to probably the nearest thing to wild lions I’ll ever be – the cubs have never had human contact so are pretty much completely wild. They mostly just lay around sleeping; the cubs played for a while then the whole pride joined together which apparently we were very lucky to see. We then just sat and watched the cubs suckle and the adults chill out for a while.

Wakanaka - the first born cub to the Ngamo pride who is now 18months old

Anopa and Amadi suckling

The stunning lead male, Milo

 After breakfast we did enclosure cleaning that had a bit of rush to pack everything for overnight safari, which was the absolute highlight of my 2 weeks so far. There were 10 of us volunteers, plus Matt the Animal Planet cameraman, the stable guys Andy and Joe and their dogs. I got the lovely Jacko horse again so saddled him and put his harness on and we all set off around 3pm. It was amazing and Jacko was really good: trotted and even cantered a bit when I wanted him to – I got praised for my good control of him – I AM HORSE MASTER! Haha! Anyway, we got really close to zebra, impala, kuda and I finally saw a herd of wildebeest which we chased around and may have caused a slight stampede! We got to ride through water too – sweet! We stopped for a break half way to the “campsite” and me and Jacko shared a coke … seriously love that horse – Andy said he’d sell him to me for $400 … tempting! We rode into the sunset which was an awesome sight and arrived at the camp about 5:30pm. It was so much better than I expected – they had camp chairs set up around a fire, a full on dining table set for 12 with lamps, plates, glasses etc., and finally mattresses and our bedding ready for us to sleep on. We made up a little paddock for the horses and put their coats on for the night. 

                Dinner was incredible! Mr. Conolly’s (the founder of Antelope Park) own chef cooked for us. We had fish on a salad bed with white onion sauce for starters, stuffed beef and chicken in a salsa sauce with homemade potato wedges and vegetables for main and a yummy banana cheesecake for pudding. Totally worth the $80 we paid!
                Post dinner we all sat around the fire listening to music and drinking beers under the millions of stars until midnight.

Woke up the next morning having slept surprisingly well considering there was no tent and it was freezing cold! I did have thick socks on, 3 jumpers and a hat … and a duvet and a blanket so I was prepared! We were awoken by the sun rising at 6:30am to find that the horses had gone! Andy had let them out to graze but they had other ideas and wandered off into the bush! Joe went off to find them while we sat down and were provided with a full cooked breakfast with coffee and toast which distracted us while we waited for one of the guys to go and fetch a cruiser to take us back to camp. Kinda felt robbed of our second day of horse safari so may try and go again next week. I was also quite saddened that Jacko left – I thought we were friends! Regardless of this little hiccup it was still the highlight of my trip so far.
                Once we were back, a group of us went to do another workout by the pool – seriously hard work! But fortunately I had the rest of the day to relax, which we certainly did!  Well until the big BBQ/bonfire out by Bush enclosure at 5pm – everyone went and we chatted and drank plenty of cider, as usual! Neeru and I chatted to Jo and Andy , who’re leaving Tuesday (bad times) until they went back to camp and then to Geir one of the Norweigian guys but by 9pm though I was almost falling asleep on the rocks! I think me and Enid actually completely fell asleep at one point – Lorna had to wake us up when it was time to leave. Although as per usual here this was easier said than done: just as we’d all climbed into the back of the truck wrapped in our blankets due to the serious cold we heard the engine rev … and die. After a couple of attempts we accepted the truck wasn’t going to start so we all hopped out and tried push, however a combination of driver Dan being drunk and the truck being on a hill resulted in our efforts failing miserably and so the decision was made to walk back to camp. That’s something you don’t expect to see wandering through the Zimbabwean wilderness – a group of 20+ drunk and tired volunteers all wrapped in blankets!

Back with my homeboy Jacko, sharing a coke :)

Riding into the sunset - incredible!

Sarah, Mai-lynne, Enid and me at the bonfire

Neeru, Enid, me and Emily (Chutney) after a few to drink!

AFRICA BLOG - Days 7-9

Day 7 – Saturday 30^th June/Day 8 – Sunday 1^st July

Normal morning – went on a walk with the P’s. They actually sort of stalked some impala which was pretty cool – these guys are yet to make a proper kill as they’re still too young so for them to stalk is good progress.
                On Saturday mornings those who want to can go into the nearest town of Gweru to shop, get pizza and stuck up on alcohol for the Saturday night party! So obviously I went – it was bizarre being the minority: myself, Neeru and Sarah were the only white people for as far as you could see!
                We left town and went to a small village called Mkoba. It’s very poor – I had an image in my head of how bad it would be and it was definitely worse. The houses were tiny and all in pretty bad condition – it kinda makes you feel guilty for having anything L The volunteers here that are part of the community projects have recently been helping the Mkoba Boys Orphanage to become self-sustaining by providing them with chickens which they can raise and slaughter to sell them on for $7. They’ve also just been given some kitchen appliances like a freezer and a decent oven, so 8 of us vols went along and had a little party to celebrate. It was so awesome to see the boys there having such a good time dancing to the music, especially when we joined in! it was great but it was sad to think it wasn’t normally like that. The inside was tiny too – they had 3 bedrooms, each with two bunkbeds in, a kitchen and a few other storage rooms. We had lunch there with them – rice, sausage, chicken and bread. I couldn’t really eat it all but obviously there was no way you could waste any food as you got the impression that this was the biggest meal these kids had had for a long time. For pudding we ad ice cream which most, if not all of them, had never had before – one of them was 16 years old and he’d never had ice cream! But it was great and a massive eye opener to how the other half live – hope to go back there every Saturday.

                We got back to AP in time for our afternoon activities which was stables where there never seems to be anything to do. All I did in an hour was groom Duke the horse. And pull muscles in my back picking up one of the stable dogs. There are two of them – Rhodesian Ridgebacks x Boxers called Summer and Landela. Summer decided to make a break for freedom from the shed she was shut in. The stable workers were trying to call her back but failing, so I tried and she came scuttling over to me and flopped at my feet. Apparently this meant I had to carry her the rest of the way and something I learnt while doing that is that she was much heavier than a Jack Russell! I later found out she weights 27kg – no wonder it hurt!
                As previously mentioned, Saturday night is party night! Myself, Sarah, Neeru and Amanda started early and took some ciders up to watch the Polo Cross game at 4:30pm. I’m still none the wiser as to the rules of this game – although we did that 2 bottles of cider did not lost a game and to never underestimate how cold it gets after the Sun goes down!
                After dinner the drinking truly began around the pit fire. We were joined by some guys from the overland truck that had stopped here for a few nights who also came up to the vol block to party with us. 10 hours of drinking later at about 2am, most people had gone to bed … a few had to be up at 6:30am to lion walk. This didn’t include me although apparently my body clock still felt it necessary to wake me up at half 6 anyway, just for fun, and then again at 8:15am but at least then there was the incentive of breakfast to help me out of bed!
                Sundays are supposedly the day off here and you’re not technically meant to be doing activities but it’s a lot people last day so we managed to blag our way into doing an elephant ride. This time on Chibi, who nearly threw me off when she suddenly veered off to grab a takeaway in the form of a tree. After this I spent the afternoon cub-sitting the P’s. They’d just been fed so were just sat there chewing the remains of a cow leg and we sat on a nearby log watching them for over an hour … as you do.
                Tonight I’m going on another night encounter – it’s mostly for guests who’re paying $100 to go but there’s space for 4 vols so I’ve shotgunned a space along with Sarah, Sunface and Alan – YAY! Details will follow tomorrow!

Some of the kids dancing at the orphanage - they had some serious moves!

Me hanging out with the P's

Penya showing of her nashers!

Me and some of the guys being drunk and disorderly on Saturday night

Day 9 - Monday 2^nd July

Wow! Crazy day! Let’s start with the night encounter – we went out with 3 x 30 month old lions known as the MK’s – Moyo the male and the lionesses Maka, Meeka and Kali. Brief explanation here : the lions born here are taken from their Mum aged 3 weeks and cared for by the lion handlers and volunteers. After 3 months they are taken out on client lion walks where they are exposed to their natural environment and given the opportunity to act on their very strong natural hunting instincts (by hunting game not us). At 18months old they enter the night encounter stage and stay there until they are fully independent and competent hunters. Last night was the MK’s last ever walk and as if they were trying to emphasise the point that they were damn good hunters, they made a kill within a few minutes of leaving their enclosure, thereby breaking the previous record of 7 minutes. The victim was a poor unsuspecting duiker out for a moonlight walk! Unfortunately we missed the kill itself but were able to stop and get some great photos as the lions nommed away at their evening snack. After this bit of excitement the rest of the encounter was fairly crap and cold and the lions wandered off to do their own thing.
                So that was yesterday – today began with walking the P’s who were surprisingly playful considering they ate yesterday. Paza tried to jump me again! I’m trying hard to see it as a good thing and that she sees me as a pride member and only wants to play with me rather than eat me!
                Oh I almost forgot … it’s changeover day here which means we have a crap load of new volunteers (20+) including most of Norway and a new roommate called Anne-Marie. Although this also meant that some people were leaving – Heleen, Anne Lea, Karin and Helene left this morning which was pretty sad. Really hope were all stay in touch as they were awesome people and we all got along even after only a week of knowing each other.
                So anyway from 9:25-11:30, Lorna, Neeru and I cleaned out the L’s, P’s and Bush enclosures with help and guidance from Mackay (legend). We had an hour or so to waste so the 3 of us did a workout by the pool which was pretty sweet and that we’ll hopefully have time to do every day.
                Anyway the BEST BIT was this afternoon: we were about to set off to do some boundary fence fixing when we were informed of a huge bush fire that was heading toward the Stage 2 release site so a bunch of us set off to help put it out. It really was massive – there was smoke everywhere, flames reaching up to 6ft high and a lot of ground already reduced to ashes. Only two people had water sprays so the rest of us had to use branches to beat the fire until it went out. It was very hot and being in shorts my poor legs were cut to shreds. As Heleen would say “I’ve got a jaggy!” Awesome though – of all the stuff so far this was probably the most dangerous thing but totally amazing – certainly got the adrenaline going – massively sore throat now! It’s 9:34pm now and nearly bedtime, especially as I’m off with Sarah, Sunface and Neeru to ride a horse for the first time tomorrow! EXCITED!

"Shit's on fire y'all" 

Moyo on the night encounter

Moyo and one of the lionesses tucking into their duiker

AFRICA BLOG - Days 4-6

Day 4 – Wednesday 27^th July

This morning’s walk with the L’s was hard work – they decided to go after some zebra and when they go we have to go too! By the time we’d found them and finished the walk it was nearly 9am and we’d travelled almost 7km – a good morning workout! I was then supposed to be on stables but there wasn’t a huge amount to do so just shovelled horse crap for half hour. Only bonus was that I could then sunbathe for two hours and also hug the stable dogs Summer, Landella and Chundu.
                In the afternoon we did a training walk with the L’s and then elephant herding again, although this was also shortlived as Jaicha disappeared so we had to go back to camp while the handlers went to search for him!
                All this was made up for by the night encounter. We took two trucks out with all 26 vols to see the 4 C’s, Chundu, Chise, Chobe and Cheta – four 2 year old lions and lionesses. They were gorgeous! Once we were in the bush all the headlights went off and we used a huge red spotlight to find and light up the eye of the game. We were out in the freezing cold from about 7pm ‘til 10pm (way past bedtime here at Antelope Park!) and had one good chase when the lions went after some zebra but were otherwise unsuccessful: I can’t wait to do another one though.

Sunbathing out by the river

Myself, Heleen, Sarah and Neeru wrapped up warm for night encounter

Day 5 – Thursday 28^th July

Well and truly integrated into the workforce here today! Usual morning walk – this time with the P’s the two younger cubs (15 months) called Paza and Penya. They were very playful! Twice Paza decided me and her were going to play i.e. she ran at me with a very mischievous look in her eyes! When they do this you have to point your lion stick at them and shout “NO!” … which I did – fun as it sounds to play with a lion I would definitely lose!
                Anyway, the morning activity was to build a den for two of the lionesses here that are expecting their first litter of cubs in the next few weeks - *fingers crossed* I get to see them. However, half way through we got called away to help put out a bush fire – EXCITING! Or not as it turned out. By the time we got there everyone else had managed to put it out. Anyway, since everyone had been taken from their activites we all went to watch the Big 5 males (Mufasa, Puma, Casper, Arther and Maxwell) get fed up at the Breeding Programme (BPG) – seriously intense!  The 3 most dominant males came charging at the fence then spent ages lying on the offal growling at each other while poor Maxwell and Arthur had to sit aside and wait their turn. Definitely need to take my camera next time!
                In the afternoon I worked up at BPG with Neeru collecting lion shit from the FIV (Feline Immuno Virus – cat HIV) lion enclosures. It stinks! It’s weirdly fun though – everyone does it with a good attitude and you have a laugh … but it really does smell quite appalling! Dog poo is gonna smell like perfume in comparison! Although I did make friends with a lioness called Cheeky while cleaning the enclosure next to hers: she came up to the fence and brushed up against it so we had a chat and I scratched her neck and back … casual!
                My evening was spent chilling in the vol lounge with Sarah, Solveig (hence forth known as Sunface), Neeru and Anne Lea watching Wolverine – sorted!

Penya showing off her tree climbing skills on our walk

The walk is a bit too much effort for Paza

One of the FIV lionesses relaxing while we cleaned her enclosure

Day 6 – Friday 29^th June

So I’m currently sat looking out on the lake with the only noises being that of insects and fishes jumping out of the water – awesome. There’s supposedly a crocodile in the water but I’m not convinced … although I’m also not willing to go for swim and find out.
                This is now day 6 of my month stay in Zimbabwe and it’s great. In these days I have walked with lions, fed and ridden on elephants and made some great friends – animals and people! Admittedly most of the week as been induction stuff but now we’re really getting stuck in. Off for the morning activity now – continuing building the den for the pregnant lionesses Soriah and Sahara. Hopefully we can finish one today and make a start on the second.
                …
BUSH DEN COMPLETED! Pretty proud of our efforts! My arm is gonna suffer tomorrow from all the hammering of nails though. Only about 10  minutes now so can replenish energy! Food isn’t actually too bad here although it is always fairly similar – potatoes/rice/vegetables and a choice of some form of meat dish which is mostly fat and bone. Nom. They sell cider at the bar though –bonus! Imagine there will be quite a bit of cider drinking tonight as it’s a Friday. This afternoon I’m cleaning the enclosures at BPG again which should be good but really hot! And as normal I’ll finish off the day with a lion walk. Standard day at Antelope Park!

Hammering away at the den

FINISHED! Neeru, Anne Lee, Amanda and me testing out the den

A normal night hanging out by the pit fire

AFRICA BLOG - Introduction and Days 1-3

Hey guys, 
So as many of you know I have recently come back from a 4 week stay at the fantastic Antelope Park in near Gweru in Zimbabwe. I was a volunteer in their Lion Rehabilitation Programme which pretty much does what it says on the tin - it rehabilitates young lions so that they learn to hunt and survive on their own. African lions populations have decreased by over 80% in the last 30 years. Antelope Park and the charity ALERT (African Lion & Environmental Research Trust) aim to help increase numbers of lions again by this rehabilitation programme, to which there are 4 stages:
Stage 1:
Cubs born at Antelope Park are taken from their mothers aged 3 weeks old and hand raised. After a few months they are taken out into the reserve and exposed to their natural environment where their strong instincts will be brought out and they will hopefully start teaching themselves to hunt. They are accompanied on these walks, which occur twice daily (6:30am and 4pm), by volunteers and 2 lion handlers. By 18months old they will have made their first kills and will be almost independent therefore day walks stop and they progress onto Night Encounters. This is where they are taken out at night with a cruiser and learn to stalk and hunt prey at night - their preferred hunting time in the wild. This continues until they're around 30-36months old - long enough for them to gain full independence and competence at hunting for themselves.

Stage 2:

A pride is formed - ideally from 7 females including 3 good hunters, 3 good mothers and 1 dominant lioness and also an aggressive, dominant male. This new, young pride is released into a 50 acre site where there is plenty of game and most importantly where all human contact is removed. This reserve will only be able to sustain one lion pride therefore they will not experience any competition for food. If the pride is successful then cubs may be born. 

Stage 3:

This now well established, experienced pride is released into a large reserve where they will now have to compete with other lions and species such as hyenas for their prey. This larger reserve also allows for any older male cubs to leave their maternal pride and also for new young males to take over the existing pride.

Stage 4:

THE WILD! Cubs born to the Stage 2 and Stage 3 lions will be fully wild and won't have had any human contact therefore they will be safe to release into the wild of Africa. Unfortunately the cubs born at AP and that walked with humans can never be fully wild as they may actively seek out humans so they remain in Stage 3.

Pretty worthwhile cause, ay? And although it's much easier said than done, being there and being a part of it you really can see that it can and will work :) Here's my story ...

Day 1 – Sunday 24^th June

So relieved to finally arrive at Bulawayo Airport after a very turbulent 12 hour flight from London and a second 2 hour flight from Johannesburg. After spending most of my flight time watching films and not sleeping I’m pretty knackered! Met 2 girls called Sarah and Solveig who’re doing the community project at Antelope Park. Once we arrived at AP we were introduced to everyone and given a mini-tour around the camp by Jealous. Our rooms aren’t so bad, I’m with a Danish girl called Anne Lea – all of them have 2 bunk beds, chest of drawers, bedside tables etc. Not sure what else to say … got lots of induction stuffs tomorrow and up at 6am so definitely getting an early night.

Day 2 – Monday 25^th June

Yep, as I said, plenty of intro stuff – what the park’s aims are, a walk about the Breeding Programme (BPG), Data Induction but most importantly - walked with lions!! Two 18 month old cubs called Lewa and Laili … I say cubs, they’re actually huge and have already made their first kill. Sitting next to and stroking a lion is amazing, it feels like you shouldn’t really be doing it! There’s loads of safety procedures such as always approach them from behind, don’t  crouch down unless they’re lying down etc. but surprisingly you’re allowed to grab their tails and hold them as you walk along and also do ankle-tapping which is a technique used to emphasise your dominance – so awesome! The 6 of us newbies, Jo, Andy, Sarah, Solveig and Neeru all went on the walk with the cubs for about 2 hours before dinner.
                After dinner most people go and sit around the pit fire outside the dining hall chatting and drinking for a few hours. Bedtime here is about 9pm - after a 12 hour working day everyone is shattered by that time. Can’t wait for the rest of the week to really get stuck in with the activities with the other vols.

Two of the younger males at the breeding centre

Chillaxing with 18-month old Laili on my first ever lion walk

Who knew lion walking would be so literal - with Lewa

Day 3 – Tuesday 26^th July

ELEPHANT DAY! The elephants here are brilliant – Tombi, Ami and Chibi are the females and Jaicha is the male. It was incredible to get so close to them. We watched them do their training with the elephant handlers and then we were allowed to go and touch them. We were able to feed them by holding their trunks and pouring the food in. I fed Tombi some nuts – she was very persistent and kept pestering me for noms! After this she sat down for me so I could climb on her back – the handler told me to hold on as she stood up … “What to?!” At 9:30am, myself and Sarah went on an hour long ride on Ami and her handler Charles - Fact of the Day: sitting on the back of an elephant is really uncomfortable and your legs feel like jelly when you get off!
                At the end of the day we herded the elephants back to their Bomas. Herding basically consists of walking along while the ele’s go around eating every tree in sight!
                After dinner tonight was hilarious: we played some weird games around the fire and had a great laugh – felt like us newbies were now party of the group :)

Me and the lovely Tombi

The newbie crew - Solveig, me, Sarah, Jo, Andy & Neeru

Herding with Jaicha

Bit too real for comfort!

So I had this mad dream last week about something I REALLY didn't think was bothering me but maybe I do have a guilty conscience :/ Proper freaked me out and felt seriously weird - it was bugging me all day! Thought I'd whack it in a blog ... you know ... for 'Lols' !!!


Starts off in a library and a certain male I met recently, let's name him ... 'Alec Baldwin' walks passed, which is awkward. Then suddenly, and I'm not sure how or why, but I'm asleep on a hillside and wake up to see Alec Baldwin, two little girls (who I somehow already know are his daughters) and some other guys in a car park at the bottom. One of the guys is shouting at me, asking whether I want a lift home so I hop in the front of this car (apparently stranger danger isn't a problem in my subconscious). Alec Baldwin and one of the girls are in the back of the car and then there's some guy driving (left hand drive for some reason?!). The second daughter is sat on my lap in the passenger seat, chatting away to me and I can't help but keep looking round guiltily at Alec but he just smiles at me. Another sudden quick change of setting and I'm in an open plan kitchen/living room thing with Alec Baldwin laying on a sofa with me sat by his feet and his wife cooking us dinner. Then she just starts yelling at him about being a shit husband and he just rolls over and goes to sleep and I just sit there thinking .. "she doesn't know the half of it" 


.. then I wake up.


Yeh I know, madness right?


Cock out :)

Like a dream slipping away

So you've been having an amazing dream, one of those that really gets inside your head ... then suddenly you wake up. You can still feel the raw emotions and at that very moment it's as though it really happened. You want to go back to it; you shut your eyes tight, refusing to accept that it's over and desperately trying to get back to the dream, clutching at whatever it was that had made you feel so happy. But the more you try the more you feel like it's being dragged away from you and gradually it fades until you accept that it's gone: nothing more than a memory and it kinda hurts.


That's how it feels. All the time.

I wish it could be Christmas everyday

Apart from the fact that Ianto has just done a Christmas wee on my hand. Stupid rat.

Anyway, so just sitting here chilling, singing along to Mr Elton John's Step Into Christmas waiting for my Aunt and Uncle to come round for the standard Christmas Eve exchange of presents and eating of mini cheddars. Tomorrow morning me and my brother will get up early, open our presents from Santa
(who still comes to 21 year olds! I'm so happy!), then the grandparents will come round for presents and lunch and then our day will end at 4pm when my two Great Uncles come round and bore our faces off.

I don't remember Christmas any other way. Christmas and NY 2010 only seem like yesterday. Maybe because nothing changes it seems like the same day on repeat and actually I kinda love it this way. I don't know how I'm going to cope when I get married or move to Australia; things will have to change then!

OMG HAIRSPRAY'S ON IN 15MINUTES! WIN!

Minor distraction. Never realised how properly close I am to my family. When I was young I always wondered why on Earth my parents didn't mind not getting so many presents or that Father Christmas didn't visit them anymore but now I'm quite happy just coming home and enjoying being with my family and of course Mr Jake Dog. Before uni I guess I took home life for granted but now I look forward to it way more than presents .. although they do help :P

This year I'm stepping out and for the first time in 21 years I won't be spending New Years Eve with my parents ... though I'm sure I will phone them and shout some drunken New Year wishes from the JSV :D

But with a new year comes changes so ...
My New Years Resolution for 2012:

Go back to FatBusters (Slimming World) and lose some weight! Then once I'm a size 10 and under 10 stone I will treat myself to a new tattoo on my hip :) Yes I am bribing myself.

I've just realised that 2012 is essentially the year that will shape my life ... depending on what I get in my degree, what job I get, whether I stay in Plymouth or come home ... it's frightening really but I am comforted by the fact that it is 2012 ... 12 being my lucky number so I'm relying on that getting me through! 

2011, you're been one hell of a year. It's been a brilliant one actually .. a few pot holes but I wouldn't expect anything else. I have completely turned myself around since this time last year and believe me I never thought I would feel this good :D  Incredible what can change in 365 days.

So finally lots of love to everyone that's been there for me this passed year whether it be a shoulder to cry on; some helpful arms pulling me up when I passed out on my 21st or just willing to laugh at things again and again because lets face it ... some things just never get old :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I hope all your wishes come true :) Love Cock 

xxx