tranquility

Sometimes it seems that life is all too hectic, and you need to find a little bit of peace to rest your mind from the mental stress of everyday life. Here in New Zealand, it's all too easy to find somewhere beautiful and tranquil where you're the only person for miles. Last week, I ended up with a car full of travelers on our way to Matauri Bay in the Northland. It wasn't hard to find people willing to come with me for a daytime adventure; a quick scout around the hostel and a "hey, want a ride to the beach?" ended up with myself, a French couple, a Swedish guy and a German backpacker on our way to somewhere beautiful. We all spoke different languages, but communication isn't of great importance when we all share a common interest in discovering somewhere new. That's the beauty of traveling and meeting new people, I think.

As we approached the peak of the winding countryside road, the view of the bay presented itself as if it were screaming at you to appreciate it. I almost slowed to a halt as we all gasped in wonder. Continuing down the steep road, sharp corners gave way to even more breathtaking views and we were just itching to get out of the car and try to photograph the landscape to make it look as picture perfect as it did to the naked eye. We arrived at the bay, and we found that we were the only people on the beach except for one lone surfer. The sand was mostly untouched, golden in colour and hot between my toes. Looking out over the ocean, I had to take a moment to appreciate the turquoise water, waves crashing as they broke and eventually lapping at my feet.

Sometimes it's all too easy to become engrossed in your everyday routine, to constantly worry about the present and the future and the past, to meticulously over-think every single thing going on around you, to forget what it's like to have not a single worry in your mind. Take the time to stop, to find somewhere beautiful and forget about everything - even if it's just for an afternoon.

things have changed

View from Sky Tower, Auckland

Whilst this blog was once an outlet for everything beauty related, I seem to have lost the urge to hoard all things materialistic for the meantime. In fact, I'm currently in one of the most beautiful countries in the world and I have nothing to my name but the bag on my back. It's a nice feeling. Gone are the 3 bags of make-up (and 1 bag of hair stuff, body stuff... I could go on) and instead, I'm carrying around 5 items of make-up - essentials. And not the beauty blogger defined essentials, which is normally triple the amount of a normal person's essentials.

I am in New Zealand for a year, working and traveling with my boyfriend. I thought I could put this blog to good use again by using it as an outlet for what I've been up to, and almost a diary of my travel itinerary if you like. I'm afraid there will be little to no product reviews here (unless you're interested in mozzie spray or aloe vera gel?!) but I hope there will be lots of beautiful places to show you and exciting stories to tell.

I've actually already been here for a month. We left London on the 26th October, and arrived in Auckland on the 28th October. I can safely say that this was the first time I have had jet lag, and I would not wish it upon anyone. Standing in a cramped cubicle shower in an Auckland hostel, I had to hold myself up by the walls as the whole cubicle felt like it was moving just like an aeroplane toilet - horrible! We also flew the San Francisco way round, rather than the Asia way and the journey was one of the best flights I have ever had, hands down. I just love plane food, so it helps that the meals we had were actually really lovely.

As I write this, I'm currently in bed at a beautiful lodge in the remote area of the Northland listening to torrential rain battering the tin roof above my head. Strangely enough, I'm rather thankful for the rain as I'm suffering from the worst sunburn I have ever had at the moment. Four days later and it still bloody hurts. I have lots to show and tell you guys, but I'll save Auckland for another post.

xo