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

tell the world i'm coming home

 

Well, I'm home. The summer of a lifetime has flown by and before I knew it, 3 months were up and I was boarding my flight at JFK airport. I've met the most amazing people and made plenty of unforgettable memories! Summer camp was a strange experience. It was exhilarating yet exhausting and by the end of the summer, I felt physically drained of all energy. But as soon as I left to go traveling, I missed every little aspect of camp - seeing your friends all day every day, singing songs round the camp fire, kids saying little things that would absolutely make your day. It was hard work. I was generally working from 9am until 8pm every day and even once your day was over, there was always something going on that you should be involved in - hosting sneak outs for the kids, working on duty until 1am, or simply taking the time to socialize with people. As hard as the work was at times, I loved every part of camp. You're living and working with the same people 24/7, it's hard to not feel like you're part of a little family away from home - it's an amazing atmosphere.

After spending 10 weeks working at camp in Wisconsin, it was time to start the real adventure - traveling. If it hadn't been for lack of both time and funds, I would have spent longer traveling and visited a lot more places. But I made the most of what I had! Straight from camp I headed to Chicago and spent 10 days there exploring the city. Chicago is definitely one of my favourite cities - it's pretty chilled out for a city which I loved. The sheer contrast of metropolitan city to the picturesque beach on the lake is something I adore - you can lay on the beach with the huge Lake Michigan lapping at your feet, then turn your head and see the Chicago skyline towering behind you. It's pretty surreal. I spent my 21st birthday there at the beach before enjoying a legal drink!

From Chicago I jumped on a plane to Pennsylvania and stayed with my friend there for a further 9 days. I have to admit, this was one of the craziest and most amazing weeks of my life. I started talking to my best friend online when we were both 11 and from then, we sent each other emails containing 1000s of words several times daily. We wrote each other letters, web chatted, talked on the phone. We pretty much grew up together in a really dysfunctional way. And this summer, I met her for the first time. The whole experience was crazy - it would take me far too long to consolidate it into words without writing an entire book.

Finally, I spent 2 days in New York City before heading back to Scotland. In all honesty, I was a little underwhelmed by NYC. Maybe I was expecting too much, maybe I'd watched too many films and I was expecting something unrealistic. It was too hectic and crazy and I just never felt at home there. Some parts were very cool and I would go back to visit because I didn't get to see half of the things that I wanted to, but it's not somewhere that I felt an urgency to explore. Perhaps it didn't help that NYC was my last pitstop before home and by that point, I was shattered, skint and ready to go home. I can't wait to get back into blogging and show you my USA beauty purchases and share more of my summer stories with you! I'm also pleased to say that I lost almost a stone and a half whilst I was in the USA (around 20lbs) so I might be delving into the world of outfit posts in the near future because I'm feeling 100 times more confident now...

So here I am! Back in sunny Scotland and in approximately 6 hours, I'll be hopping on a sleeper train down to Bournemouth where I'll be making my new home for the next 3 years. It's been a crazy few months, but I'm feeling ready to get settled and get back into a normal routine. Who knows what the next year has to offer...

London Calling

My first trip to London was indescribable, but I'll try my best. I didn't manage to do half of the things I'd planned to, despite accidentally having to stay another night. I arrived at Kings Cross late Wednesday night, jumped in a black cab and headed off to my hotel which was pretty much across the road from Spitalfields market. The next day, I braved the London Underground and hopped on the central line to Bond Street where I was overwhelmed by designer boutiques and important looking people in suits. I traipsed around Mayfair feeling sorely out of place in my scruffy jeans and baggy hoodie, but it was snowing and miserable so I was more concerned about that. I spent around 40 minutes trying to navigate my way to the US Embassy, which was the primary reason for my trip to London. Around 30 minutes later, I emerged from the embassy having been officially granted a US visa for the summer - cue one very happy, if slightly bedraggled from the weather, Scottish girl dancing her way on to the tube at Green Park station.

I headed back to the hotel and was all set to take a nap, but I decided instead to jump back on the tube and head down to Oxford Street. I was feeling all pro with this tube business, I even managed to help a woman catch the right one! I think I've managed to perfect my "I'm not a tourist, I get these trains all the time" non-expressive face whilst being squashed like a sardine in the tiny capsule trains. Although, it was clear that I was indeed a tourist since I must have squealed 'sorry, excuse me' around 10 times every journey. People in London seem to find it strange if a stranger acknowledges them, everyone appears to be in their own little bubble and I couldn't quite grasp that concept.

I only spent around 2 hours shopping, by which time I'd had enough of the bustling streets, queues and being shoved out of the way everywhere I went. Having grown up in a rural area, I'm not exactly used to seeing famous people, like ever. So when Scott from last year's Big Brother walked past me on Regent Street, I had to try my absolute hardest not to scream. I phoned my mum squealing down the phone that I'd just seen a 'celebrity', and she didn't exactly sound impressed when I revealed said celebrity was an ex-BB contestant. It was a big deal, alright!

One of the main things I wanted to see when I was in London was the famous Tower Bridge, but I stupidly got mixed up between that and London Bridge. I made my way down there on Friday evening just as the sun was going down, and I ended up at London Bridge. It didn't take me long to realise that I was in fact at the wrong bridge, but at least it gave me an opportunity to take some photos of Tower Bridge. I also kept catching glimpses of the 'pickle' as I had been affectionately referring to it as, until I was eventually corrected (rather embarrassing) and informed that it was the Gherkin. Tourists, eh...

I was supposed to head home at lunch time on Saturday, but I missed my train by about 10 seconds. I ran around Kings Cross like a headless chicken for a bit, trying not to cry or have a meltdown. I eventually ended up staying an extra night at a Premier Inn in North London (was cheaper than staying another night in central!) and catching an 8am train the next day. I can honestly say that I didn't want to leave. Despite the crowds, the complete culture shock and the city stress, I think London has stolen a little piece of my heart. I'm so, so excited to be moving closer this year and even more excited at the prospect of eventually working and living in this city. I only wish I'd had more time there last week to do more exploring and adventuring. There is so much to see and I don't think I'll ever have enough time.