New Zealand

Showing posts with label New Zealand. Show all posts

a Relaxed New Zealand North Island Road trip

Wednesday, 23 October 2019

Like most people, Jonny hadn't really seen much of his own country and having spent 5 months there myself, I was a terrible traveller and had seen even less. With plans set to leave for Oz, we thought we should probably have a look around New Zealand before we left and decided to turn the standard one hour flight from Auckland to Wellington into a little bit of an adventure instead.

New Zealand is world renowned for its incredible landscapes and adventurous hikes; and being the home of a very famous series of films. A Lord of the Rings road trip is a very popular choice since there's so many sites to see but I've never seen any of the films myself so that wasn't on my agenda.

I am not one for exerting too much energy, especially whilst I am on holiday. So, with just under a week to spare before we set off for Sydney, we took a leisurely drive down the North island.

Auckland

We actually left on a Friday night after work but having seen an incredible waterfall the week before, I thought it was definitely worth mentioning. Half an hours drive from where we lived or 50 minutes from the city, KareKare falls was a perfect little light afternoon adventure. Park up the car and take a 3 minute, signposted walk through the forest. We arrived in the late afternoon to a totally empty waterfall. It was incredible.

Hamilton

We arrived in Hamilton in the late evening and left first thing in the morning but it wasn't a problem because there isn't all that much to do there. We would have skipped the destination altogether but Jonnys cousins live there so we went to visit them. We hit up the casino in town and then grabbed some food before heading to bed; so that was all we saw of the area. If we had a bit more time in the morning, I would have liked to eat a Nourish POD and visit the botanical garden.

Waitomo

Having booked a tour that we were both very excited about, we left Hamilton at 9.45am and arrived just over an hour later. Waitomo is famous for its glow worm caves and whilst there is the option of rafting or caving through them, we booked a much more relaxed walking, guided tour that ended with a boat ride through the caves. Our guide was a local man who told us all sorts of magical stories about the caves past and how the glow worms came to be there. The boat ride was short but incredible - it felt like a real life Disney ride.

Rotorua

After the caves we headed straight to Rotorua. We spent a fun filled afternoon at Skyline; grabbing gondolas and chair lifts to the top of mountains and ziplining and luge-ing down them. It was super busy but very well run so the few hours we spent there was full of activity and there was hardly any waiting around.

Afterwards, we headed into town for japanese food and spent the rest of the night back at Aria's Farm - our accomodation for the night. With a clear sky and the moon so big from the recent eclipse, they suggested we do some star gazing from their hot tub, so that's exactly what we did! A truly magical day in New Zealand.

Before we left Rotorua in the morning, we took a dip at the famous hot pools at the Polynesian spa.

Taupo

An hours drive later, we arrived in Taupo; another place full of natural phenomenons. We stayed here for two nights, although it was doable in less. Having tried a farmstay in Rotorua, here we experienced Boulevard Waters, a boutique motel right on the lake and The Lake Motel, a retro themed studio flat.

Over the two days, we hit up Huka Falls, the Craters of the moon and the Watakeri terraces as well as I'm sure you've guessed, lots of eating. With your own transport, it's very easy to park up at each one and take a leisurely walk around. It's also worth mentioning that all three of these attractions happened to be on the same road.

Wellington

Wellington is the capital and one of my favourite parts of the country because it's full of life and also full of quirky cafes. Jonny is originally from Wellington so apart from spending lots of time with his family before we left, we spent most of our time wandering around town trying to pick where we wanted to eat.

There are lots of other things to do there though including driving up to the top of Mount Victoria for panoramic views, visiting the Te Papa museum to see the giant squid, walking along the bays and if you're a LOTR fan (which I am not) the Weta studios are supposed to be very good.

From Wellington, you can hop on a ferry and sail across the Cook Strait to Picton on the south island.

This little trip really made me appreciate the beauty of the country which I definitely didn't see enough of by staying in Auckland! Had we had more time before we left the country, I would have loved to see some of the south island as well.

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Monday, 12 November 2018

I moved to New Zealand earlier this year with absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into.
Usually, I'd do heaps of research before I book anything but not this time, I was just excited to see Jonny again so I booked my flight as soon as my visa come through and was in a country that I had never even given a second through within a few days.

Moving straight in with a house full of kiwis made it a bit easier (I had people to ask about words I didn’t understand – yarn, jandals, chur?!) but there were definitely things that would have made life easier had I known about them beforehand. So today, I'm sharing my expertise with you so, unlike me, you can be fully prepared

It's not 24 hour

No, the shops actually close and this is something that really did get on my nerves. Once, I convinced Jonny to drive me to the other side of town to find a smoothie bar that I had spotted online and it was closed when we arried; at 3:05 on a sunny Saturday afternoon! Like honestly stuff like that happened all the time which made it very hard for me when I want a bar of chocolate in the middle of the night.

The worst one was Easter; I thought we were going to starve to death. For three days, the supermarkets were closed, the petrol stations were closed, everything was closed. The only thing that was open was McDonalds.

There are no people here

Fun fact for you, when I left Vietnam, it was the TET holiday but I was very confused as to why they were celebrating it in NZ. Surely it was so quiet because everyone was at home celebrating with their families. Apparently not, according to google, there are twice as many people in London as there are in the whole of New Zealand. Even in Auckland, where it’s the most densely populated there are just no people around. The airport took about 3 minutes to get through, the roads are calm and there are hardly any people in the city centre. We went to visit a waterfall and were the only ones there which was amazing. Just being is a whole lot easier when there’s space to move.

Prepare to chill out

I can't talk for other countries, or even too much for the rest of the UK, but coming from a busy city like London, it was a bit of a shock moving to Auckland. Everybody walks slowly and takes their time, no one gets angry and makes comments about the tourists blocking the street under their breath.

When you get on the bus, you stop to say hello to the bus driver and it’s nice, just really strange to start with. I know this sounds terrible but it took me a while to remember how to be nice.

When it comes to the office, work is so chill. There’s no rushing around like a crazy person, you take a full lunch break in the kitchen and sit and talk to your colleagues. And if that whole hour wasn’t a big enough treat, you also get a morning and an afternoon tea break which is something that I took full advantage of, imagine that working back in London. lol.

Also, this photo was taken on my commute.

It does get cold

This one really threw me because just like my younger brother, and everyone else I spoke to from the motherland, I just assumed that New Zealand was the same as Australia and that they were both super hot all year around (Oz is hot all year round, right?) That definitely isn’t the case in New Zealand. Just like home, in the winter, mornings are cold, evenings are short and it rains a lot. It was also pretty depressing that all of this was happening in June and July while everyone in the UK was firing up the BBQ. It wasn't all bad, unlike back home, the sun does comes out and its not absolutely freezing, just a bit chilly.

You’ll probably get fat

Another thing I did not know about New Zealand before I got here, is just how bad the junk food culture is. It is cheaper to eat out than it is to buy food at the supermarket and it’s literally a junk food heaven with a Mcdonalds, KFC, Subway, Dunkin Donuts and everything else you could imagine on every street; and yes I did get sucked in. Tell me you wouldn't be tempted if you could get Pizza Hut or Dominos for $5 - thats two pounds fifty to me and you!

Shoes are not essential

One last thing to add: In London, most people are dressed for the office, suit and tie, pencil skirts and most definitely, shoes! I was very confused when I first arrived and started noticing that people don’t necessarily take shoes with them when they leave their house. I thought Jonny was crazy the first time he went out without any on but it seems to be a normal thing. People walking around the supermarket barefoot, the malls, Mcdonalds (yes ok we spent a lot of time there) and I’ve even seen people walking down the street without any shoes on. Very odd.

Monday, 13 August 2018

I say this all the time, but I cannot believe how long I've been away from home; it's been almost eight months since I left the UK on New Years Eve. Having spent a couple of months in Southeast Asia and five more in New Zealand, Jonny and I have just arrived at our new home in Australia.

My time in New Zealand was completely unscheduled but I soon got into a routine. With the job hunt starting all over again here in Oz, it got me reminiscing about months past in Auckland.

So what did I get up to in an average week?

Wednesday

It's a super miserable morning but I'm not too worried because it's National Pineapple Day and I somehow got myself invited to a cocktail party with Dole, the pineapple suppliers here. I met up with my English friend, Emily and we spend the evening drinking pineapple cocktails with the Dole team at Talulahs, a tiki bar by the harbour.

Thursday

I woke up with a hangover so Thursday was a little bit slow as you can imagine. Jonny is working night shifts this week so after work, I turn the heated blanket on and get straight into bed. Made myself dinner, called my mum and spent the rest of the evening scrolling through Instagram.

Friday

It was my last day at the insurance office I work at and it was a little bit bittersweet. I was only meant to be temping for four weeks but I'm finishing my placement 3 months later with an annoying 10 day gap before we leave. I guess it's a good excuse to just chill out for a bit before the travelling starts again though.

Since Jonny is at work again, I got myself dinner from Jar Story near where I work; beef and quinoa salad, chocolate chia pudding and an almond milk and date shake. It was still sunny when I got some so I ate it out in the garden.

Jonny ended up home by 10pm so we decided to make the most of our Friday night and headed back into the city to hit up the Casino.

Saturday

We got up early and drive to our favourite cafe, Little Sister for breakfast and as usual I was very excited, just look at the first page of the menu and you'll understand. Last week I went for the oats and I spent the whole week thinking about what I was going to order when we got back. This time I ordered the chocolate hot cakes. Yum.

Since we seemed to be on a winning streak after last night, we went back to the casino this afternoon, stopping off at the gym, and then GIAPO on the way. It will always be my favourite place for extravagant ice cream so I am trying to squeeze in as many visits as I can before we leave. The shop was full as usual but we managed to grab seats inside so this time I could sit and watch the magic happen in the kitchen.

Everyone seemed to be loving the new New Zealand sheeps milk and banana flavour, I watched one hand crafted cone, dipped in chocolate and topped with peanut and banana go out after another; I admit, I was very tempted - they looked incredible but I'm not huge on peanut butter so I went for my usual Hokey Pokey - plus an extra scoop of caramel & hazelnut praline underneath. Coated with thick milk chocolate and honeycomb pieces I was in heaven.

After another suspiciously good run at the casino, we headed home, via the supermarket (for chocolate raisins and dried apricots) and then to HELLS pizza. We watched Game of Thrones in bed until the early hours of the morning.

Sunday

You would have thought we'd be sick of eating by now but oh no, not when there is brunch to be had! We found a paleo café just across the road from the gym. I ordered my avotoast minus the toast on a sweet potato rosti with a date and cacao smoothie and it was delicious!

Next; we head to the gym. again. I've never been to the gym so much in my entire life but with Jonny going every day, its super easy for me to just go with him and strangely enough, I am actually really enjoying it. Sometimes I really push myself but sometimes, I just go for a walk on the treadmill and just look at it as getting a little bit of movement into my day. Sunday morning is Yoga!

It was such nice weather when we left that we decided to go on a bit of an adventure, it was going to be our penultimate weekend in Auckland after all. But first; more food. Jonny picked up a Lamington since I'd not had one and then we went out in search of a waterfall. After getting a bit lost, we ended up at the beach which was just as good a place as any to settle down and fight over who got the biggest half of cake. lol

After a few more episodes of GoT, somehow it was 11pm. Since we had been in bed for a few hours so I thought I could safety assume that I was done eating for the day but apparently not; I can never assume when it comes to Jonny and McDonalds. After spending the journey deliberating about whether I really needed to eat any more, when I saw an advert for the new mint chocolate shake, there was no stopping me. With no whipped cream left, they suggested topping it with soft serve instead and it is the only way I'm ever going to order my milkshakes again. SO GOOD.

Monday

My first day off started with 4am alarm because a week of late shifts is always followed by a week of early shifts. After Jonny turned all the lights on, made a big mess and left for work, I fell back to sleep until 10. Finally with some time to myself, I made a start of my inbox which I had been severely neglecting over the past few weeks and started thinking about what blog posts I wanted to get done with my time off before all the madness started again. Then I get a call from a recruiter offering me work for the next day.

Tuesday

It was another early start today but this time I actually had to get out of bed. I was just covering a receptionist who was off sick for a few days but it was in a part of town that I hadn't been to before so I had fun trying to navigate my way there. I don't know why but I have always wanted to do a receptionist job; well, now I can tick that off of my list!

It's been a simple life over the past few months; lots of eating (because it's one of my favourite things to do) and a little bit of exploring too. New Zealand has been cold and we both had full time job but it's still been a lot of fun!

Monday, 23 July 2018

Travelling hasn't just all been a big adventure (well it has, but), it's actually helped open my eyes to other ways of doing things; hence today's blog post. I realise that whilst a few of my most memorable experiences have indeed been at a luxury hotel, you don't need to spend thousands on accommodation to have great trip. If you're clever about it, you can do even the most expensive destinations on a budget and still have a blast. Whether its a cheap or expensive destination, there are always ways around it! Check out this useful tool to help you experience a Dubai holiday on any budget shoestring to splurge!

Although it seems pretty obvious, this really was a bit of a discovery for me. To put it into perspective, the first time I visited Bali, I blew so much money I don't know what I was thinking. I'm glad I did it back then because I don't think I could justify spending £300 a night on a holiday right now. When I went back to Bali last year, my accommodation cost £7 a night; that's almost 50 times less omg.

I've slept in some very expensive rooms and now, I've slept on the airport floor to save paying for a bed. Here are some of my most memorable nights:

Purple Monkey Hostel, Pai

I had never heard of Pai but when I arrived in Thailand the whole backpacking community were talking about how amazing it was so I decided to book a couple of days and give it a go.

My trip turned into a week long visit and it became my favorite part of Thailand; it definitely had some of the coolest hostels but all of the good ones were out in the middle of nowhere and I didn't want to hire a motorbike so I had to compromise.

After a few nights in a shared dorm at Purple Monkey, I couldn't take any more, it was just too basic and with Electric Valley festival coming up, I decided to book myself into one of the private rooms because I knew that I'd want to get a proper sleep the day afterwards.

Turned out that the private rooms were actually tiny little huts, just big enough to fit the mattress on the floor. There were 5 of them, all lined up in different colours. Super cute and pretty hilarious (they looked like an oversized dog kennels to me) with a padlock to lock the front door; it was the perfect place to shut myself away from the world and get some much needed sleep.

The Mondrian Hotel, London

The Mondrian is my favourite hotel in London and I have mentioned our many stays there on the blog before; although somehow, I failed to mention the time/s we stayed in their river view balcony suite (which is going for £924 including breakfast for tonight).

I assumed it was going to be an once in a lifetime experience, seriously, not even I would spend that much on one night but somehow, it happened again and we got to stay in this incredible room on two different occasions. Interesting what a couple of 4am fire alarms and a good old complaint email can get you.

The room was 700 sqft with two bathrooms - one with a freestanding bath, a separate dining area and a huge balcony overlooking the Thames. We drank complimentary champagne in the room, had massages at the spa and dinner and cocktails at their Sea Containers restaurant downstairs. Along with crab scrambled eggs and avo toast in the morning; this will forever be one of my most memorable hotel visits ever.

Tipsy Tiger Hostel, Penang

Tipsy Tiger was the best party hostel that I stayed in during my stint in Southeast Asia plus it was super cheap for such a popular place. My £7 got me a bed, a 2 liter bottle of water, two very strong mixed drinks at the bar and as much nutella and toast (and well you know, fruit) as I could eat the next morning. It was big, spacious and super chilled out during the day which made sense because you don't really get much sleep sharing a bedroom with 19 other ridiculously drunk people.

Yep. The 20 bed at Tipsy Tiger was the biggest room I came across and stayed in on my trip and yes, there were multiple couples having sex every. single. night. That was the tame stuff; all sorts of things went down in that room and as you can imagine, it was just madness.

Like all of my favourite hostels, I extended my stay here and did 6 nights on the trot. I left at 7am on the last day, completley broken and had to take a week off to recover, vowing I'd never go back. oops.

ME Hotel, Majorca

It's not often I go back to the same place again and again, but this is one exception; I went back one year after another and was still desperate for more.

I've been to a few ME hotels but the one in Majorca is very arty, very lifestyle based and it is such a vibe. Honestly, that is the perfect the word for it; they even have a room called VIBE - although I've always stayed in sea view PASSION room because it has bathtub looking over the beach. Priorities.

Along with the bath tub, the rooms are minimalist, fresh, white and crisp with an open plan bathroom so you better be comfortable with whoever you are sharing with. With an adult only pool, an on site beach restaurant and music pumping all day from Nikki Beach next door, I didn't want to leave the hotel all too often; but of course we did (a couple of times at least.)

Chilled days would be spent drinking frozen cocktails by the pool and then heading out to Port Adriano for a seafood feast and more adventurous days would see us exploring Palma old town on an open top bus and making the most of Magaluf's infamous night life with super club, BCM just down the road - another Majorca holiday highlight for me, I've been going to that place since I was 17.

Home, Auckland

I wasn't sure if I should put this one in but I always think to myself how important part of my life story this little place is going to be. Not only was it my first home, the first place that I paid rent for but it's the first place I lived with a partner and the first time I've lived in another country, let alone one that is about as far away from home as I could get. It's funny where life takes you.

Ubud Village Resort, Ubud

I couldnt come in with an intro like that and then not mention the rooms. We actually stayed at The Elysian in Bali too but whilst I loved that place equally, it was much less authentic and I will always remember arriving at this hotel. It was our first time in Bali and I didn't realise that places like this existed. A completely open reception area meant we could see across the whole property while the sun set and we sipped on welcome drinks. As it got darker, candles lit every walkway in the resort; we hopped on a golf buggy to our villa. A big wooden gated entrance, a private pool, an outdoor bathtub and soft Balinese music playing in the background, made it (and Ubud in general) the most romantic place I've ever visited.

I wrote this paragraph and then realised that I have quite literally quoted this post word on word; very strong memories as you can see.

Sukhuvati Retreat, Canggu

For someone who had never done yoga before, it had always been a strange dream of mine to visit a yoga retreat and I finally made it happen last year.

What an experience; with daily treatments at the spa and in the villa, vegan food that I didn't know existed and a room to myself, even more extravagant than the one in Ubud, it was one of the most amazing things I've ever done.

Having taken up yoga since arriving in New Zealand, I would love to return to Sukhuvati one day.

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Wednesday, 27 June 2018

Life in Auckland is pretty similar to life in England. I mean it’s easy to just go about my day and forget that I am actually on the other side of the world. I got into a bit of a get up, go to work sort of routine but I’ve been trying my hardest to make some effort to go and do things because actually, I am on the other side of the world and it's an awesome opportunity! Obviously I have to fit this stuff in around work but whether that’s days out at the weekend or wandering around the city during my lunch break I'm making it happen. So here are a few things I've been squeezing around work and some ideas for anyone who has a few hours spare during a visit to Auckland!

Snow Planet

Just a half hour drive from the CBD, (Central Business District) Snow planet is an indoor ski centre and even though I was expectedly terrible, it's definitely a fun way to spend a few hours – we jumped in the car and hit up one of their night sessions after work. I've never been skiing before; indoor or outdoor but it’s fine, they were pretty prepared for my skillset with a little beginners slope and staff everywhere to help direct you. I did spend a lot of time falling on my butt but that’s all part of the fun right?

Beaches

I didn't realise just how many beaches there were to explore in Auckland but there are loads, especially ‘out west’ which is convenient because that’s where we live but it's really not that far from the city either. For the first few weeks after I arrived, every weekend we would get on the bike and go and visit a different one. There’s Muarai and Takapuna but Brown's Bay was my favourite. There was a live event on over the weekend and food stalls all along the front, so we grabbed some lunch (we were halfway through Narcos at the time so made a beeline for the Colombian stand) followed by an ice cream and spent the afternoon listening to the band play in the sunshine.

Queen Street

This is where I spend most of my time because a. it’s outside my office and b.it reminds me most of home. I like to think of Queen Street as Aucklands answer to Oxford Street apart from that there are alot less people. Still, like when I was at home, I often spend my lunch hours wandering around the shops. There aren’t as many clothes stores here but what NZ lacks in clothes it definitely makes up for with food - Queen Street is full of places to eat! You’ll also find the IMAX cinema and the Sky Tower just a street behind.

Eat Dessert

Admittedly I do have a bit of an ice cream problem but Auckland is the best place for me because it's full of luxury dessert bars! Amongst them all, as you already know, my favourite has to be GIAPO and his imaginative and delicious creations – still the most incredible ice cream in the world if you ask me - I never know what to expect when I head there. These guys are totally geniuses. Whereever I go I try to eat as local as possible, i am fascinated by Maori culture and giapo's maori fry bread ice cream is one of my favourite "new foods" that I’ve discovered whilst travelling and i totally love it! That's why this place will always be one of my top things to do in New Zealand

The Viaduct

This is a wonderful part of the city that I have only just discovered is there. It’s the harbour area, lined with bars and restaurants which honestly, is such a great place to spend an evening. Like I said, its all new to me, I met up with Emily, who I found in the Brits in Auckland Facebook group and on our hunt for happy hour cocktails, we stumbled across The Culpeper. We sat down outside and made our way through the a few espresso martinis whilst the sunset on the water and was back again the week after looking for our next stop - we've been to an Irish pub and a tiki bar there since! Facebook has been crazy useful for stuff like this since I've been travelling!

Sky City Casino

I had kinda come to terms with whilst Auckland is huge and very spread out, everything back home is much bigger and faster paced. But last week, I discovered one thing in this city that that doesn’t apply and that would be the Casino at SkyCITY. With over 2,100 machines and 150 tables, its pretty huge and being open 24/7, it was absolutely buzzing when we went on Saturday night. With bars and restaurants all through it, you can spend hours and hours at this place; and we did!

Go to a gig

Newly discovered by me, Auckland in fact isn't the capital of New Zealand, Wellington is. But saying that, Auckland is actually bigger so you can bet if an act is coming all the way to New Zealand, they'll be playing somewhere in Auckland. I made a last minute decision to join the boys when they went to see Machine Gun Kelly last month and had a blast! Kiwis are pretty into their live events and the atmosphere was amazing! Meet MGKs newest fan!

Saturday, 5 May 2018

When I left for my big trip back in September, I had no idea what to expect; I certainly didn't expect it to take me all the way to New Zealand. I've been living here for 11 weeks now and finally I’m starting to feel at home. In the past few weeks, I've moved into my first home, started working and yesterday, I even ignored the sat nav and drove myself home in half the time!

Life is much slower out here compared to London and right now, I'm enjoying the novelty of all sorts of strange things, from the bus driver saying hello to each person who gets on the bus to just how easy it is to get my junk food fix (seriously I have never seen so many fast food places). Here are some other things I am seriously loving about New Zealand.

Renting My First Home

When I first arrived here, I went straight to stay with Jonny in his flat-share. But sharing a small room in a house that sometimes had 6 other people in it was hard and we really needed to look for our own place. After a few mediocre flat viewings in locations that made it hard for either one of us to get to work, desperation hit and I posted in a Facebook group with our ideal situation; as if by magic, someone got in touch with the perfect place. It was down the road from where we started and the owner had been renting it out on air bnb (increasingly popular with solo travellers like me because they're a great way to avoid the dreaded single person supplement according to schofields. See my last post to find out why I'm not solo travelling right now) so it was pretty self contained. It had everything we'd need; plus a swimming pool and a garden with strawberries growing in it. We knew it was right as soon as we saw it and moved in a couple of days later.

The only problem is that now Jonny knows just how undomesticated I am; unlike in London, it's not normal to still live at home at 25 in NZ. I'm learning though, he's taught me how to use the washing machine and how to change the sheets, although I must be pretty bad because he still prefers to do it himself haha.

The Accent

Honestly, at the moment it still all sounds Australian but I love that even though we all speak the same language, everyone sounds different to me.

I was trying to work out why it's something that I like so much and I finally came to a conclusion. It's because even though my day to day feels pretty normal right now, it’s a constant reminder that I’m not at home anymore and in fact, I’m still on this huge adventure, on the other side of the world.

Riding a Motorbike

Before I left the UK, there was absolutely no way you would have gotten me on the back of a motorbike. Even when I was in Vietnam, where I was desperate to experience the country in the most authentic way I could, I refused most of the time. It seems that quiet roads (there are hardly any people in this country) and a bike licence was all that was needed to convince me to hop on the back of one in the end.

Jonny bought it when I arrived, and we’ve taken it and put it back together a couple of times so I feel a bit attached to it now, like a pet or something. *Sometimes* I actually prefer it over the car; like if we go to the beach on a sunny day or if we pop out for something late at night when the roads really are empty.

Sals Pizza

After weeks of getting my pizza fix from the same places that I do when I'm back home, last week, we went for something a little more exciting. Sal's is based on NY style pizza and it was so good. We got a half and half pizza; pepperoni on one side and crispy breaded chicken on the other, both topped with delicious stringy cheese. It was just like the stuff you see in the films and it's all I've been thinking about this week haha.

They serve it by slice (as well as half or whole) which makes sense because we only got through half the whole pizza between us which is pretty unimpressive for a weekend cheat meal, but fear not! I 100% support that pizza is better the next day so those leftover slices went straight into the fridge to chill and tasted even better in the morning!

Chocolate Dipped Ice Cream

I had my first chocolate dipped ice cream at the cinema and I initially though that it was just the IMAX being a little bit bouji with their snacks. But whether it's the cinema, Giapo or even the ice cream van I seen to be coming across this chocolate dipped phenomenon more and more. My favourite has to have been this one that I got from a corner shop (they call them Dairy's out here. Weird) by the beach in Wellington. There was a vat of molten chocolate next to the tubs of ice cream which my white chocolate and hokey pokey (another strange NZ word haha it means honeycomb) scoop got submerged into. It then dried solid around the outside and stopped any melted ice cream from running out. Sweet As.

SLIDER

a Relaxed New Zealand North Island Road trip

Wednesday, 23 October 2019

6 things you should know before you move from London to Auckland

Monday, 12 November 2018

A week in my life in Auckland, New Zealand

Monday, 13 August 2018

Some of the most memorable places I've ever slept

Monday, 23 July 2018

7 Awesome Things to fill in the gaps in your Auckland Itinerary

Wednesday, 27 June 2018

5 Things I’m loving about life in New Zealand right now

Saturday, 5 May 2018