HOLIDAY DIARIES: NEW ZEALAND THE NORTH ISLAND PART ONE

Hello loves!

(Firstly apologies for the huge delay in getting this post up, I've been incredibly busy with sorting my move to Manchester and my Mums wedding. Anyway without further ado here is part one of my holiday diaries to New Zealand!)

After a long and hungry 26 hour flight (the vegetarian options on the plane were unfortunately lacking) I arrived in the beautifully sunny New Zealand! My lovely school friend Kim and her boyfriend were nice enough to let me stay with them for part of my trip, they picked me up from the airport and brought me back to their gorgeous apartment. The majority of homes are built with wood and tin roofs with inspiration from classic villa style homes.

My first day consisted of lots of chat, laughter and food - the usual catch up scenario after one of your best friends moves away and you see her for the first time in a long time! That evening Kim and Chris treated me to dinner at Mexico an incredible little Mexican restaurant in the heart of Ponsonby where all the waitresses wear Mexican flowers in their hair, it was fantastic! 

I was travellling round New Zealand by myself most of the time so I chose to hop on the Kiwi Experience tour in two separate places to see as much as I could with the little time I had there, because of the dates of the tour I was backwards and forwards from North and South to fit them in. However for the purpose of this post and for ease I am splitting the posts into North Island and South Island.

Kim and I took a road trip to Rotorua to visit the famous Hells Gate hot mud spa and take a tour around a Mauori tribe. It was so much fun at the spa, sitting in gurgling hot mud baths with the sunshine beating down on your skin felt incredible, the sulfur baths you go in afterwards were very relaxing but stank to high heaven!

The Mauori tribe greeted our tour with a traditonal dance and proceeded to take us around their grounds showing us different areas of their lives; tradition games, trades and dances. We were then treated to a special performance, half an hour of traditional dance rituals and songs followed by an out of this world feast consisting of traditional meats, breads, potatoes, vegetables and puddings.

Driving back home the following day we stopped a few times to stand in awe at the beautiful scenery, Rotorua is known for its thermal activity as it lies on Rotorua caldera, the town is covered in bubbling mud pools and steaming lakes. 

Next stop was the Karanghake Gorge - one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places I have ever been too, it was so tranquil, the weather was stunning the the scenery was incredible. 

Next stop on our journey home was  a climb up/around Mount Maunganui, you could see for miles and it was littered with holiday makers and sheep!

And finally we stopped for lunch in Paeroa the town where New Zealand's famous L & P lemonade originated.

My first road trip ever was pretty spectacular! Other highlights of my time in Auckland were walking along the viaduct and watching the boats and the city pass us by, the botanical gardens, the fashion exhibition at the local museum, Mount Eden, the beach and my big jump off the highest point in Auckland, the sky tower! 

Mount Eden and The Viaduct - from the top of Mount Eden you can see everything, it was stunning and so interesting to see the city layout, so different to the UK such vast spaces of greenery and fields dotted between high rise buildings and housing estates.

Base jumping off the Sky Tower - I'm not going to lie, I was petrified! It was a beautiful day and I was standing with my toes over the edge of the platform looking down thinking why have I just paid to jump of a building?! They counted down 3, 2, 1 JUMP! and I just stood there, feet frozen to the spot shaking my head and then something came over me and I stepped over the edge and got the most incredible rush it was phenomenal! The jump was over in seconds and I landed on my feet at the bottom desperate to relive that moment, the utter sense of freedom I felt falling from the building with the wind rushing past my face and the array of huge buildings and water around me, perfection. 

The beach, a live band in central Auckland, the gorgeous vintage town Parnell and the Botanical Gardens - beach day was wonderful, slightly hungover from the party the night before we lay sprawled out on the beach for the majority of the day! Parnell is a gorgeous vintage style town with ice cream parlours, fabulous independent cafes and restaurants and a string of (expensive) little shops. The Botanical Gardens we visited on my second day along with the local museum which was so interesting and beautiful, an array of colours, smells and some of the tallest peculiar looking plants you will ever see.

Auckland is such a vibrant, busy, exciting city and one of the most fantastic things about New Zealand is that one minute you will be in the city centre and the next you are on the beach or climbing a fabulous mountain to see the views of the city, it really is the best of both worlds. 

A massive thanks to Kim and Chris for being amazing hosts and tour guides =)

Next stop on my holiday diaries is Paihia and Cape Reinga....

See you there!

HOLIDAY DIARIES: CORNWALL

Recently I returned to Newquay in Cornwall for a holiday with my boyfriend and his parents, I have to be honest after visiting Newquay at the age of 17 and 18 with a group of friends on a ‘clubbing holiday’ I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to go there for a relaxing holiday (as you will read my opinion changed very quickly! At the age of 17/18 you don’t appreciate the beauty around you but I more than made up for it this time, I think I am slightly in love with Cornwall).

After the 7 and a half hour train journey I pulled into Newquay station in the pouring rain and was driven to our gorgeous apartment over looking Fistral beach. The apartment had three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen diner all great sized, very clean, minimalistic and modern (we booked our apartment here: http://fistrallife.co.uk/). We were very comfortable in the apartment and it was in a fantastic location but above all the best part of it was the view (picture below) - absolutely stunning, even on a cloudy day to look out over the sea, see the beach and the cliffs was wonderful and immediately calming - immediately I understand the call of Cornwall. 

We were so lucky with the weather, the rain fell for a little on our second day but every other day was bright, warm and sunny. We spent the whole holiday walking along the various beaches, sitting in pubs, eating some fantastic meals and walking along the cliffs looking at the views. There is something about the air around the coast and being by the beach that is so relaxing and comforting, I haven’t felt that relaxed and happy in a long time.

The food as I mentioned was fantastic - I am a vegetarian and a very fussy one at that, not one that often raves about food but wow I think I was made for Newquay food! I could not fault one meal we had, and for me that is a BIG deal! On our first evening we picked up a takeaway pizza from Rossi’s Pizzeria (http://www.pizzanewquay.com/) - oh my gosh delicious pizza! The base was thick and crispy but not too heavy, the toppings were very generous as was the helping of cheese and the seasoning they used! If you are visiting Newquay at any point I would definitely recommend a trip here, they also have a restaurant at the back of the takeaway.

 On our second day for lunch we visited The Central (http://www.thecentralnewquay.co.uk/) mainly for nostalgic reasons for me, the two years I visited Newquay in the past we spent most of our time here! I ordered a simple jacket potato with beans and cheese and it came with a fresh salad. The salad dressing was insanely good - sweet onion and poppy seed, YUM! Not only is the food good but they have a large amount of various sized televisions inside with comfy seats which we made the most of one afternoon while watching the cricket. That evening we went to a medieval themed restaurant which despite the dark lighting had very good food. 

Now I forget the order of the restaurants visited in the following days but two really stand out to me - Smuggler’s Den (http://www.thesmugglersden.co.uk/) and Lewinnick Bar and restaurant ( http://www.hospitalitycornwall.com/lewinnicklodge/).

Smuggler’s Den first of all - situated just outside of Newquay in a beautiful 16th century thatched pub. The ambiance was superb, exactly what you would expect from a cosy little country pub with loads of history and fantastic food thrown in. I had spinach and ricotta gnocchi with Chantilly carrots, asparagus and rocket salad followed by hazelnut and muscovado torte with vanilla ice cream. There are literally no words to describe how good this food was! My boyfriend (boreddrummer) and his family had the homemade char-grilled burger, the marinated lamb leg steak and the fillet steak again was all delicious.

Now for Lewinnick Bar and restaurant - a short drive or relaxed walk through the coastal paths to one of the most incredible views in the whole of Newquay (photo below of the sunset). The meal was delicious I had the best vegetarian burger I have ever had in my whole 25 years and a scrummy sticky toffee pudding for dessert with clotted cream, but the view was just breathtaking. 

Now I don’t believe you can visit the coast and not experience some cornish ice cream and a cream tea, so here is the one I tried (photos below). I chose cornish clotted cream fudge ice cream while Mr. Predictable chose strawberry although to give him credit it was exceptionally good!

The tea room we chose was a gorgeous little blue and white shabby chic miniature cafe slightly set back from the high street closer to Fistral beach. The homemade scones were huge in size and baked to perfection, slightly squigey in the middle but crisp on the outside and slices like butter - served warm with delicious clotted cream and strawberry jam on a gorgeous, dainty vintage tea set - wonderful. 

Shopping wise Newquay was naturally littered with surfing shops and outdoor, sporty style fashion. The little gems we found were the shabby chic-esq shops between the surf stores - some really cute pieces in there - plaques, models, photo frames and all the touristy tokens you would expect at any holiday destination. 

Although none of us were brave enough the try our hand at surfing the love of the sport is obvious from the minute you enter Newquay, people rushing home from work to surf on a good tide, the shops I mentioned before, the flocks of people walking through the town barefoot clutching their boards was lovely to be a part of for the week. We even wondered down to the beach for the night surfing and watched the fabulous firework display (photo below). 

Like I said before we spent most of the time walking the beaches and standing in awe at the sights so I will leave you with more photos of the spectacular views of my happy and relaxing trip to Newquay. I completely understand why Newquay and all of Cornwall are busy holiday desitinations and I will definitely be visiting more of Cornwall in the future, hopefully with the same people, Debbie, Steven and James Coxon who I would like to thank for making my holiday truly special and completely unforgettable.