The world’s population of Humboldt penguins is rapidly declining, so it is such ‘adopt a penguin‘ schemes, like the one that I have taken part in, that are giving this gorgeous species a chance of survival.

Arnold the penguin is 19 years old and is currently taking part in a breeding programme at Great Yarmouth Sea Life Centre, along with his partner of 15 years, Lola.

Today, I took the opportunity to go and meet Arnold, Lola and the other penguins down at Great Yarmouth.

Arnold - shying away!

Arnold and Lola are the eldest of the 7 penguins at the sea life centre, and it’s safe to say that Arnold believes he rules the roost! He is also extremely protective of Lola and will give a serious pecking to anybody who approaches her. He may give the impression that he is a big tough guy, but approach him, and it’s a different story… Penguin?! Chicken more like!

Arnold wasn’t the only penguin who attracted our attention today. A certain little character who goes by the name of Ringo definitely wanted to make himself known, and something told me he may have been a little bit peckish…

A not-so-shy Ringo!

Having watched the hungry Humboldts enjoy their lunch, I had to practically be dragged away from them so that we could go and enjoy ours. And following a lovely, wintery stroll along the sea front, we finally ended up at Harry Ramsden’s World Famous Fish and Chips restaurant. Wow. After tasting that melt-in-your-mouth fish, I can see why they are world famous! I just hope Arnold and the gang’s fish is coming from there as well!

Harry Ramsden's World Famous Fish and Chips

Today’s trip to Great Yarmouth made me realise that not all animals in captivity are there for the wrong reasons. So much good is being done through various breeding programmes, not just for Humboldt penguins, but for a whole number of endangered species. Let’s just hope more can be done to save the future little Arnolds and Ringos.

When I was still at uni, I used to work at a bar that was a 7 minute walk from my house. In those 7 minutes I would phone Mum and tell her everything about my day, whether it was about the mark I’d got in an assignment or the Pot Noodle that I’d had for breakfast.

This post is what I would tell the only person who ever listened to all the nonsense I had to say – if I had just one more 7 minute call with Mum.

“In terms of travelling, things haven’t changed and I still can’t keep my feet still for more than two minutes. Going to Cornwall with Dad (which we did after the funeral) just wasn’t the same any more, so I decided to turn it into a new memory by going to Fowey again in June, but this time with Jay and I got to see Jack Johnson for a second time!

As well as those little trips, I also went back to Paris to see a good friend who I worked with in America and Jay and I went to Barcelona in Easter. That definitely has to be one of my favourite places ever! We went back to Reading Festival this year as well and went to Olü Deniz in Turkey for our main holiday, which was awesome!

You’ll also be pleased to know that I managed to gatecrash another one of Dad’s holidays by meeting him in Milan for 4 days when he went to France and Italy for 6 weeks.

But here are some things that you might not be so pleased about…

Just before the funeral, I blew £140 of money that I didn’t have on a pair of Uggs, BUT they’re the comfiest things I’ve ever worn! And a couple of weeks later I started pole dancing, BUT it’s so good for you and actually really popular now! I’ve also sold Suzie Snot as she was beginning to struggle with all the miles I was doing in her, so I’ve bought a shiny new Astra! (And he’s black, not a horrendous bright green.)

You’ll probably be gutted to find out that I no longer work for Thomas Cook. They had a massive re-structure of my department and moved it to London! I didn’t want to take my new role down there, so I left. However, I got an interview for a similar job in Kettering, offering better money, and I got it! It was my first ever proper interview! God knows how I did it without you.

Oh, and I might’ve got a new tattoo… I’m sorry! But it’s of your favourite flowers and it’s my last one, I promise!

To make up for it all, I did run the London Marathon for you this year, and in the process raised £4,204 for the Multiple System Atrophy Trust to try and help prevent other sufferers and their families from going through what we’ve been through. It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done, but I’m pretty proud because I trained for the 26.2 mile run and raised all that money with just 3 months notice instead of the usual 8 months. And they only asked for £1,500!

Dad nearly missed it all though after being stuck in New York because of a stupid ash cloud. Long story…

Anyway, I’m still gutted that you’re missing Coronation Street, but Jay is looking after me (we celebrated our 4 year anniversary last week), my bedroom is tidy and your 2-year-old granddaughter is still the most amazing thing on this Earth.”

I suppose the one good thing that can be said about today is that it marks the end of the hardest year of my life.

When I think of Milan, I think fashion, chic, trendy; a city bursting with life. However that wasn’t necessarily the impression I got when I began reading up on this infamous city.

Symbolising Milan's fashion industry

I soon found out that Milan isn’t really considered to be the most popular of tourist spots and to make the most of the city, you have to really dig deep to discover the hidden gems that aren’t so visible to the unsuspecting eye.

Upon arrival, I saw exactly what people meant. My dad and I took a walk into the centre of Milan in the scorching Italian sun, but all we could really find was the castle and the breathtaking Duomo. I was so glad that I’d booked us on to a 3 hour walking tour two days later…

Il Duomo - The world's largest Gothic cathedral

For anybody hoping to visit Milan, I would strongly suggest that you book yourself on to one of the walking city tours. I saw so much more in 3 hours than what I did in 3 days! And not only that, but most tours have entry to see Da Vinci’s world famous Last Supper included in the price.

The famous bull's balls - Spin on them for luck!

When you go ‘behind the scenes’ in Milan, you see it’s true beauty. Hidden behind the endless grey architecture are quaint, little cobbled streets with quirky, little cafés and countless cute gardens.

Milan's lovely Brera District

The impression that I got of Italy’s fashion capital is that despite it being one of the oldest cities in the country, it is in fact a little confused about it’s true identity. Having torn down all it’s original structure and covered up it’s many canals, the city has now completely re-built itself from scratch based on numerous other cities from around the world. Especially Paris, thanks to Napoleon’s influence. It was sometimes easy to forget where I actually was!

The "Arco Della Pace" - Milan or...Paris?

I found myself becoming more and more intrigued with Milan and it’s history, and whilst exploring this fascinating city, I also managed to cross off another 4 of my ’1,000 Places to See Before You Die’: Il Duomo, The Last Supper, La Scala Opera House and ultimately… The Milanese Experience.

The front cover states that this book is ‘a traveller’s life list’ (Sorry Patricia, but I can only bring myself to spell “traveller” the English way…) And because of this, I have decided to make it my mission to see how many of the 1,000 I can get around to seeing…before I die. Positive thoughts and all that…

This compact book is easy to navigate, with a nice, simple design, making it perfect to carry with you on your travels and tick off the places as you go along.

My next port of call will be Milan on Sunday, where fingers crossed, by the end of it I will be able to tick four more places off my list: Milan itself, Il Duomo, Da Vinci’s Last Supper and La Scala Opera House.

As it stands, I have currently seen 32 out 1,000, before buying the book. So you could say I have a fair way to go!

Here’s a quick run down of my current 32:

1. Windsor Castle, England
2. Penzance and Land’s End, England
3. St. Ives, England
4. London, England
   

   A cloudy day in London

5. Cambridge University, England
6. Warwick Castle, England
7. Biarritz, France
8. Paris, France
   

   The Eiffel Tower by night

9. Cathédrale Notre Dame de Chartres, France
10. Lourdes, France
    

    The Basilica of Lourdes

11. Vieux Lyons, France
12. Mount Athos, Greece
13. Rome, Italy
    

    Sun beginning to set over the Colosseum

14. Sistine Chapel, Italy
15. Florence, Italy
16. La Sagrada Familia, Spain
    

    La Sagrada Familia - a work in progress

17. Museu Picasso, Spain
18. Sydney Opera House and the Harbour, Australia
19. Fraser Island, Australia
20. The Great Barrier Reef and The Coral Sea, Australia
21. Denali National Park, Alaska, USA
22. Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, USA
23. The Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA
    

    The Grand Canyon...

24. Hollywood, California, USA
25. The Pacific Coast Highway, California, USA
26. Oahu, Hawaii, USA
27. Acadia National Park, Maine, USA
28. The Freedom Trail, Massachusetts, USA
29. The Las Vegas Strip, Nevada, USA
    

    The Strip at dusk

30. New York City, New York, USA
31. Historic Downtown New York, New York, USA
32. Whistler-Blackcomb Ski Resort, Canada

So for now, the mission continues…

Take a trip down the M5 and you reach, in my opinion, the most beautiful of them all.

Forget Italy, forget the south of France*; Cornwall is in a league of it’s own, with it’s idyllic coastal towns and secluded coves, you’ll be hard pushed to find somewhere quite as picturesque.

Coming from a family of dog owners, every summer as a child was spent catching waves and exploring rock pools in ‘Kernow’s’ southern coast town of Fowey.

The view of Fowey from St. Catherin's Castle

These days, things are different. Three weeks ago it was me behind the wheel (not my dad) and my boyfriend in tow (not a caravan), as we went to revisit my childhood memories.

Arriving in Fowey at 4:15am, the exhaustion from driving five hours through the night soon disappeared and was instantly replaced with that familiar child-like excitement – much to the dismay of my boyfriend. There’s nothing quite like watching the sun come up over the horizon and hearing only the sound of the sea and those god-awful gulls. (Seriously, I love them!)

The most wonderful thing about Fowey is that it is unspoilt. I returned to find everything the same as I remember, and still as unique as ever.

Fowey

The main purpose of our trip was to see my beloved Jack Johnson live in concert again. The second I heard he was playing at the Eden Project, near St. Austell, buying tickets was an absolute must! Granted, some might say that a ten-hour round trip for a gig is a little bit on the crazy side, but if it meant spending a couple of days in Cornwall, we were going to make the most of it!

Our first day was spent on the livelier north coast, where we visited the tourist hot spot of Newquay and watched the breathtaking sunset over the tranquil Holywell Bay.

Newquay Harbour

Holywell Bay sunset

Then, on the day of the big gig, we took a boat ride up the River Fowey, home of the China Clay works and the late, famous author, Daphne Du Maurier. But what I was really looking forward to was seeing the Eden Project again.

Ferryside - Daphne Du Maurier's home

The last time I visited the Eden Project was the year that it opened, and therefore, not a lot had grown! Ten years on, and the developments are incredible! I have never seen so many spectacular species of plants and flowers under one roof! Who knows what the next ten years have in store for the project…

The Eden Project

One of the project's many beautiful flowers

I can’t imagine any better set up than seeing Jack Johnson at the Eden Project. The whole evening was just one big, biological biome of perfection! The only thing that put a dampener on it all was the fact that it was our last night and the next day I would be back behind the wheel and driving the opposite way up the M5. (Also with a horrific England defeat on my mind…but I wasn’t to know that at the time!)

Jack Johnson - the definition of perfection

Heading home after spending time in Fowey is always one of the hardest things for me. One of my favourite quotes of all time is:

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the places and moments that take our breath away.”

And I think this can definitely be said for time spent in Cornwall.

* Both of which are still very lovely places to visit!

My poor laptop...

I’d compare the moment of losing my laptop, along with my thousands of photos, to that of when the ‘four rings of death’ appeared on my boyfriend’s XBox 360… Devastating.

So, for now, I’m going to attempt to condense 5 months of activity in to one bitesize post for you to feast upon.

Despite “apparently” being in training for the London Marathon, at the end of March and beginning of April I managed to squeeze in a trip to Paris to stay with my American friend who was studying there and then a trip to Barcelona with the other half.

I will hopefully be writing more detailed posts about these little getaways, but for now I’ll just say that Barcelona is right up there as one of the best places I’ve visited. Culture, cuisine, history, architecture, shopping…and a beach! It really does have everything.

So, back to this “little jog” around London I was training for. Never in my life have I ever been through such hell. Having never run further than the 800 metres at school, training to run 26.2 miles wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. I was a nightmare to be around and I even managed to make myself ill.

But the big day soon arrived and to my surprise, and everybody else’s, I ran the WHOLE distance without getting a single blister and barely breaking a sweat. I just managed to bust both knees and rupture my abs…that’s all.

Agony aside, it was all for a good cause and so far I’ve raised £3,562.06 for The Sarah Matheson Trust, in memory of my mum. (http://www.justgiving.com/make-sadie-run)

26.2 miles later...

Soon after the marathon, I found out that my job was being put at risk as the tour operator that I work for has decided to move our department to London. Great…

Although I map to one of the new roles in London, moving down there is pretty much out of the question for me.

Time to get job hunting.

Two months on, I am now ready(ish) to leave my job and start with a new travel company, which is closer to home and offering a much better package altogether.

Things are finally beginning to look up…

Boston is only about two and a half hours south of Portland, so we hopped on a bus down there and stayed for one night in the Holiday Inn, before flying across country to San Francisco. (‘We’ being Jay, myself and five other English people who we worked with at CLS – Anna, Dave, Ash, Louise and Laura).

Here are a few photos of the city, including some of Boston Common, which is part of the Freedom Trail and Harvard.

Duck Tours - the preferred mode of transport around Boston.

Boston Common.

I wanted to go on one of those.

A church...

First taste of freedom.

Harvard.

Good old John Harvard.

Good roof...

Wanna-be Harvard students.

Speaks for itself, really.

Across from the library.

I’m going to begin with a selection of snaps taken in and around Camp Laurel South, which is the summer camp that I coached tennis at in Casco, Maine (near Portland).

I’d never been to Maine before, but we arrived there after a night in New York followed by a seven and a half hour bus journey up the east coast. It was so different from New York; very remote and hardly a soul in sight. It was absolutely beautiful, but according to the American staff that I worked with, Maine was not a real taste of America, it was only where people went to retire/die!

When the weather was being good to us, it was gorgeous. But if it wasn’t feeling so kind…my God, I have never seen so much rain in all my life!

So here we go…

My first ever baseball game, watching the Portland Seadogs.

The ski dock, which I frequently jumped off during a hot day on the courts.

My home for 2 months.

My office for 2 months.

Jay and I on Spirit Day.

The view that I woke up to every morning.

Crescent Lake during cove.

The floating dock. My favourite place in the whole of camp.

The structure, office and health centre across the fishing lake.

The swim docks and the slide!

Up near the stables.

The Downeast across the fishing lake.

Two little chaps.

What lovely eyes.

The view from Kennebec (The girls' side).

Our last ever cove with Roger.

Camp at 5 o'clock in the morning on our final day.

You can see why I loved this place.

This is from August 2008 when myself and my housemates featured in an article in the Guardian to do with student living:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/aug/14/student.accommodation.freshers/

Mum was diagnosed with what they thought was Parkinson’s disease about 5 or so years ago now, but it wasn’t until November 2008 that doctors realised they had wrongly diagnosed her and she was in fact suffering from a rare, degenerative and horrible illness called Multiple System Atrophy, or MSA.

In short, MSA sucks the life from a person in such a quick and shocking way and the past year or so has been absolute hell, watching my mum lose her identity and deteriorate so rapidly.

In April last year, myself and my best friend applied to run this year’s London Marathon by entering into the official ballot. I also got in touch with the Sarah Matheson Trust, which is the charity that provides information and support for the sufferers and families of people affected by MSA, and asked if they had any places left in the marathon. I was told that I would find out in October if I had been successful, but October came and I heard nothing. So I didn’t train.

However, last month my phone rang and it was a lady calling from the Sarah Matheson Trust, asking if I would like to run THIS year’s marathon (in such short notice) and raise money for their charity. It was impossible for me to say no. So now I am putting myself through all kinds of stress, trying desperately to get myself fit enough to run 26.38 miles and raise a hell of a lot of money in the process.

What a joke.

I will do it one way or another though, even if it means crawling across the finish line.

Today my ‘story’ was in my local newspaper, the Harborough Mail:

Marathon article in the Harborough Mail

Hopefully this might gain me a little more publicity and help with the fundraising!

I have set up a Just Giving page, so if you’d like to help me out and make a little donation to a very good cause, please click on the link below:

http://www.justgiving.com/make-sadie-run

Ta very much.