New Zealand – Stop 3 – Rotorua

On our way to our next stop we were going to Hobbiton!! Now this is quite a shock but I haven't properly seen the Lord of the Rings movies or the Hobbit ones, but despite this I was really excited about going to where they filmed them. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and going to the Harry Potter movie set was really good, so I knew this would be amazing. It did not disappoint. The whole tour takes around 2 hours, and then it has a giftshop and cafe.

From where you can park you get a coach to the start of the tour, and you begin where all the hobbit holes are. They are so cute. They were all different sizes. Some even had mini veg patches, washing lines and postboxes. The whole thing was super cute. We then went down to see where they filmed the party scene in the Hobbit. Next we were taken to the Green Dragon Inn where we got a complimentary cider and got to sit in there for a bit. We then went round the lake and a little more scenery. The whole thing was really good and cost around 90 dollars, which is about £45. The only thing is we were quite a large group so I felt like if we were at the back we were rushed a little bit even though people ahead had the photos.

In the evening we had the choice of a Maori cultural experience evening, and we could stay if we wanted to. We decided just to do the evening as staying over was a little pricey. We were picked up from our hostel and driven back by the most hilarious driver. When we got there we were welcomed with their dance thing which was really good. From there we went around their 'village' and they spoke to each group about certain aspects of their culture, for example the haka, weaving, how the boys train and some games. We then saw our dinner being pulled from the ground where they cooked it, and boy were we excited, roast lamb!! We then went into a, sort of, mini theatre where they did a couple of performances for us. Then is was DINNER TIME, eat as much as you like and there was even pudding too. The food was nice, very smokey in flavour, but was nice. Some of the people on the bus bought tupperware to fill up which was hilarious, and we should of definitely thought about that beforehand. The whole experience was really good and it seemed nice to learn a bit more about the Maori culture.

ACCOMMODATION – Base Hot Rocks - $30

We had a mixed shared 8 bed dorm here. We had an en suite shower and toilet which was good, although a couple of the lights didn't work which was annoying, and there wasn't really enough plugs for 8 people. The space was pretty small for a room of 8. The hostel did have it's own pool which sounded nice, although we didn't have time to go in it.

Rating – 3/5

New Zealand – Stop 2 – Waitomo

On our way to Waitomo we had a few stops and one of which was a walk where the scenes were seriously stunning. This sounds really dumb but I never realised how green NZ was?!

In Waitomo there were a number of activities that were available for us to do, including black water rafting, which although sounded amazing we decided not to do it. Instead we went for a little walk/boat ride around the caves to see the glow worms. Who would've thought glow worms were that interesting, but they were pretty cool.

ACCOMMODATION – Kiwi Paka - $32

We were in a smaller room of four, so it was us three plus a friend we made on the bus. The rooms were spacious and there was no bunk beds! The kitchen area was pretty big which made cooking our dinner less stressful, and where to eat it was spacious too. The showers weren't that nice, and there was only 2 per floor so we had to wait.

Rating – 4/5

New Zealand – Stop 1 - Hot water beach

So our Kiwi experience tour began the day after we arrived in New Zealand. That wasn't exactly how we wanted it to start, we would have preferred a day to get used to the timings and everything, but nevertheless at 7am the following day after we arrived we were off on the kiwi experience tour, heading south. We had booked onto the 'Rangi' tour, which is basically the whole of the North and South island. Most of their tours are discounted at some point or another so if you want to book one I would wait until it's at least half price (website linked here).

Our first stop was Hot Water Beach, but on our way their we had a few stops. One of the stops was at Cathedral Cove, where some films, including Narnia, and music videos e.g. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis – 'can't hold us' was filmed. The beach was simply stunning, but the water was freezing. I was all for getting in but there was absolutely no chance after I paddled a little bit, the sea was just too cold.

We then got to Hot Water Beach, which is basically a beach where you can dig your own hot bath. We attempted this a couple of times but in the end we basically stole someones hole that they dug. The water was boiling. It was soooo lovely, and it was nice to sit and chat to a couple of people we had met on the bus on our first day.

Cathedral Cove

Cathedral Cove

Hot Water Beach

Hope you enjoyed hearing about our first day on our four-month-long adventure, I hope to post as often as I possibly can, updating on what we've been up to. I thought at the bottom of every post I would write a little section about the accommodation we stayed in, what it was like, and how much we paid. Remember these are all hostels so 5/5 does NOT mean it is luxury. 

ACCOMMODATION- Top 10 Holiday Park - $30

Due to this place being quite isolated there wasn't any alternative for us to stay at. We were in a shared dorm of 7. The rooms were pretty small, but fine. There was 2 showers and 2 toilets between two rooms of 7, which seemed plenty. We had fish and chips there which was nice and was about $9. It was part of a campsite so was nice and the rooms as well as outside were clean, plus it had this inflatable trampoline thing which was fun.

Rating- 3.5/5

Emotional goodbyes and the start of my adventure

So as the title of the post says I am off on my adventure! Myself and two friends (Holly and Melissa) are off travelling. I thought I would give a brief overview of our trips itinerary and also how I felt leaving my family, friends, and boyfriend for 4 months.

So our trip starts off in New Zealand where we will be spending 3 and a half weeks doing the Kiwi experience bus tour, I think this is going to be a bit intense as people can spend months travelling NZ and we don't even have one month. We then fly to Fiji, where I hope it's going to be super relaxing, but also we are hoping to do a couple of boat trips to other islands, and this is for a week. Next we travel down the East coast of Australia, beginning at Cairns and then finally spending Christmas and New Year in Sydney. From there on it's a bit of a mystery; we fly to Bali, and from there we have 2 months to travel around South East Asia; Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos etc.

I don't think it had really hit me about leaving until a couple of days before I was going. Throughout the whole summer it was like a monthly countdown and then suddenly we were going ( even still now writing this a week into travelling I feel like I'm just on holiday). I had so much stuff to sort out and so many people to say bye to that the week leading up to going was just sooooo busy. On the day of leaving I had a really nice breakfast with my family, had a few final things to pack (and repack, and repack), then the goodbyes started... and so did the tears.

I knew I was going to be a big baby when saying goodbye to everyone, and I was exactly that. Don't get me wrong I wasn't crying because I was sad about leaving and didn't want to go, I just knew how much I was going to miss everyone. I'm going to be doing so many activities I know my time will go quickly, and the fact that I can whatsapp so easily means communication with my family is just so quick and simple.

Anyway I hope you keep returning to my blog to catch up on all of our adventures!!

CULOTTES

Top - Topshop

Culottes - New Look

Heels - ASOS

Sometimes it's good to wear stuff out of your comfort zone, and for a recent party I did just that! I really like the look of culottes, but never worn them before, but now I will definitely wear them again! I think they are super versatile, with heels, sandals, or trainers I think they will always look super cute. I wore them with this plain top, but you could quite easily wear it with crop tops too. These shoes are really comfy as well as the heel isn't thin, which also makes them easy to walk in! 

"WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS ONCE YOU FINISH UNIVERSITY?"

If I get asked one more time "What are your plans after you graduate? What jobs are you looking at? Are you looking forward to leaving University?" I will not be found guilty shouting in the face of that person! The reality is I don't know what I want to do, and I am most definitely not looking forward to going into the big bad world of work! That sounds like I'm really lazy and I need to grow up, but I think most people in my situation feel the same. 

What I do know (finally) is that I'm off travelling at the end of the year and I am so looking forward to it!! I am off for 4 months in total, with two of my best friends who I have met whilst at Uni. We are off to New Zealand, Australia  Fiji, and not sure on specifics but countries around South East Asia. I think I will do a couple of posts on how we booked it etc over the next few months, and I'm also hoping to blog whilst I'm out there and keep readers, as well as my family up to date with what adventures I get up to. 

I think there is a possibility of too much pressure being put on students to go into a job straight away. For me personally I think this is a perfect time to travel and go on adventures before I do get into a serious job or career. As many of you know I study geography, so I know key parts of it I'm interested in, but I'm glad I've left myself a while before I have to choose what I want to do!

If anyone has any good blogger recommendations, who have travelled around NZ, Australia etc.? As we are starting to plan the actual activities we are going to do, so would love any help! 

RED LIP KIND OF DAY

Dress - Topshop

Necklace - H&M

Bag - Michael Kors 

Heels - Dorothy Perkins

So I know this is another dressy post right after the last one, and the same shoes but thought I would share it anyway! This dress, once again, is very flattering, especially as it just flows down and is NOT tight in any way! It is quite short, so could be good if something was worn underneath. Due to the neckline being as it is I decided to wear a chocker style necklace, and the gold went perfectly well with the detailing on the shoes, and the bag. 

My makeup was done using my favourite combination on colours from the Naked 1 palette from Urban Decay. This lipstick is so good!!! It's relatively cheap from Topshop Beauty, and comes like a lipgloss, but dries matt. I can't find the link on the Topshop website, but this colour is in every store I've been in. I found it not to smudge, and stay on really well throughout the night.