An Introduction

Ok, let's have a go at this blogging thing. I have never attempted anything like this before because I feel as though I am pretty bad at putting what happens in my brain on to a page in a way that makes at least some sense. Where do I begin? Maybe with some background information about me? Lets's give that a go. My name is Rhona, I'm 18 years old and I'm from East Sussex, England. I'm currently on my gap year, I arrived in Australia yesterday and I have begun my 6 months of working/ travelling/ having fun. Hopefully when I return to the UK I will begin my course in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the University of Gloucestershire. Wow, what an excellent start, enthralling. Definitely didn't sound like a socially awkward person introuducing themselves at a 'team building' meeting. I'm sure you're all desperate to find out what I write next.

I came up with the name of this blog after reading a book about British landscapes and coming across the word 'woolgathering' which is defined as:

noun: woolgathering

indulgence in aimless thought or dreamy imagining; absent-mindedness.
"a vacant daze that leads to formless wool-gathering"

(thanks Google)
I felt as though this word could easily be applied to me and so it was decided, it would become the name of the blog that would be read by no one but myself, allowing me to ramble on about nothing in particular to nobody. Perfect.

I'm not entirely sure what it was that made me want to come to Australia in the first place, maybe it was the knowledge that I have lots of family members who would allow me to live in their houses for no cost, provide me with endless knowledge of their location, transport me places, and most importantly treat me like a small child. The idea may also have come about as a result of spending hours trawling through Pinterest creating boards full of other people's idealised, filtered travelling photos and wanting to produce something like that myself. Either way, here I am.

I landed at Brisbane airport at around 6pm Australian time (9am UK time) after 24 hours of travelling. The journey was relatively smooth and I slept for the large majority, meaning jet lag doesn't seem to have affected me yet. So far today has been spent outside in my Uncle's backyard, cleaning the pool and taking extremely zoomed in photos of cockatoos. These may sound like the most boring activities, but to me everything is exciting because it is all so new.  The only time I have ever seen a cockatoo is when its's been sat in a cage outside a pet shop mimicking the sound of a telephone, so this was an improvement. I am also excited about the prospect of visiting the local supermarket later to do the weekly food shop. What is it about foreign supermarkets that is so exciting? I find the colourful cereal packaging a particular highlight.

Anyway, I feel as though this is enough to begin with. I cordially invite myself (and any other person that has accidentally stumbled upon this blog as a result of a vague google search) to follow me in my adventures around Australia. Unless I give up on this blog in a weeks time, in which case I apologise. Hopefully this is the beginning of what will become a wonderful collection of memories and photographs documenting my travels.

Here we go!