Gizzy

Hey Ya'll!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! Here in NZ it's a long weekend, which is pretty magical because that means I get extra r&r plus catching up on editing my South Island adventures :) It feels like I have been going pretty full on lately so it has been great to sit back and take a breather.  This weekend I am house sitting for a friend and am enjoying bonding with their dog, she is quite adorable.  I have also chased chickens who escaped from their fenced area.  Should have gotten that one on tape, it was quite the show ;) I feel like a country girl now lol

Anywho onto the next adventure of going up the east coast of NZ.  It's about a 3 hour drive or less from Hastings.   The road there is quite twisty and turning which makes for quite the drive.  Most NZ roads are quite curvy, this one takes the cake.  Lets just say if you get car sick you will not enjoy the drives here and if you do not get car sick NZ will be the ultimate test of that.  Just for the record I passed the test.  Driving/biking around NZ is one of my favourite things to do here.  I never get tired of seeing the rolling hills, the clear blue skies, and the amazing clouds. While in Gizzy the sky was particularly amazing because a hurricane was coming in the next day so it was the calm before the storm and it was breathtaking.  

That is a funnel coming down, but it never touched land

 These photographs were all taken within about an hour or so and as you can see the sky changes quite quickly.  It's quite the dramatic sky and I loved photographing it!

Fashion Friday

Hey Ya'll

While clearing off my laptop I found folders of fashion pictures I never posted....whoops! So I thought I would attempt to do fashion/flash back friday posts. These photos was taken back in October 2014 when we went for an adventure at Flag Ponds.  It was a pretty awesome day! We ran around, had log floating contests, played frisbee; it was just a great day with family.  Plus the beautiful scenery does not hurt :)

Luckily I was able to put a kiddo to work and got some outfit pictures, enjoy! 

Shirt - Gap (free)

Cardigan - Target (??? had this for ages)

Pants - Charlotte Russe (gift)

Shoes - Shops at Asbury ~$1

I really love this outfit and am now wishing I brought the shirt and cardigan back with me to NZ.... sadly there is only so much room when you are restricted to 23 kg.  One of my favourite parts of this outfit is the shoes, mainly because I hunted around for ages for them.  I was just about to cave a buy the shoes new, but then I went to the Shops at Asbury event and found them.  Needless to say I was super pumped!! Don't you love it when you strike a bargain like that?! Well I hope ya'll enjoyed this post more to come!

Jump then Fall

Hey Ya'll!

Remember a wee bit back I shared with ya the falls I went to? Well I was able to go back and jump off them..... multiple times :) Plus get pictures aka proof of me doing it! I like to think of it as building up to bungie jumping or skydiving.... or so I like to think.

Anywho getting up to the the jumping off point was.... interesting. There was minor wall scaling involved, which I did successfully :) Then you walk up a short incline and you have arrived pretty easy peasy! It was quite the rush jumping off, there is just enough time between jumping and landing in the water where you have a oh man what was I thinking adrenaline pumping moment. Then you plummet into the cold water and take the long swim back (or so it feels that way) just to jump off again. Pretty refreshing and awakening!

I DID IT!

Had to snap this while in the backseat! 

All in all it was a lovely day to jump off and as always I greatly enjoyed the views.  It still amazes me how you can be out driving and see scenery like above then turn off and walk a bit and you feel like you are in a rain forest.  It's pretty grand! I cannot wait till the weather warms back up so I can jump off some more! Have ya'll ever jumped off of any waterfalls?

Kaikura

Hey Ya'll!

Sorry it's been a while! Heaps of things going on right now between starting a new job, working on business plans for NZ, and some family events; life have been quite full on.  I am working on getting a more stable blogging schedule down for this new season of life so bear with me :)

So back in February, when it was warm (it snowed today in Napier crazy!!), I was able to tag along on a trip to Christchurch and from there a trip up the east coast to Kaikura.   Apparently years ago it was a not very well known location to see seals in the wild.  Not so much anymore, but that did not take away from a stellar experience!

Sweater - Optimum via Once Upon a Time ~ $2

Jeans - Ann Taylor ~ $5

Scarf via DSW ~ $20

Hat via Once Upon a Time ~$5

The sweater I am wearing is seriously the best investment ever! I wear it constantly plus it's merino  wool made in NZ so it keep me super warm as the weather gets colder here. Really enjoying "op" shopping here, it's quite the hunting experience. It definitely takes me longer to find things that I am looking for which was an adjustment, but that just means I get to go to the stores more often.  Nothing wrong with that ;)

So onto Kaikura..... it was pretty great! There was a short super easy trail to get to the waterfall pictured above.  That is where all of the baby seals play at, unfortunately there were not any since we went to late in the season. Once you leave the waterfall area there are a few look out points where you can see the seals which is pretty great.  Me being me though I decide to walk onto the rocks and explore a bit. I snap a few pictures take in the scenery and smells (seaweed is not so great smelling) then turn around and behind me are a bunch of seals sunbathing.  Pretty neat-o!

After seal watching for a bit we went up to the top of a hill which gave a spectacular view of the surroundings.  You could see the mist coming off of the sea and the amazing panoramic views.  It was breathtaking!!

Just some cows chilling by the sea. Must be nice to be them!

Hope ya'll enjoyed the pictures! More adventures to come!!

Christchurch Round 3

Hey ya'll!!

I've been super busy lately and haven't really sat down to work on pictures since Queenstown..... But I'm getting there :) Life has been pretty busy here in New Zealand.  I just started a new job and am settling into a new normal here.  Hopefully I can get a new routine down soon for blogging. In the meantime enjoy some more pictures from Christchurch :)

You know me if there a cute kiddos around I snap away :) Hope ya'll enjoyed them!