wellington photo diary

hey friends! I went to Wellington for the day yesterday. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand (you know, parliament and all that stuff).

Wellington is known for its windy days so we were so lucky to have a beautiful fine day with no wind - though the temperature didn't get above freezing but it didn't stop us adventuring!

As my mum says, I'm the perfect tourist blogger - I took so many photos throughout the day, especially up the top of Mt Victoria at sunset which has the most magical view over the whole city!

The Wellington waterfront is beautiful and is all quite newly built and is very aesthetically pleasing (as you can see from the photos!!). I also loved the city, the streets are very narrow and cute to explore.

One of my favourite places I went to was the Six Barrell Soda Co showroom factory. This is a Wellington company that makes soda syrups and in their showroom you can try any flavour. I tried the raspberry lemon - which was amazing and really pretty!! Their showroom was up this narrow stairway in this old shoe factory building but was a beautiful open and light room - it was quite unexpected! I really recommend checking this out if you are ever in Wellington.

As with any travelling especially through airports, we had the normal chaos - especially when our flight was supposedly leaving 40 minutes early!! (they changed it to 30 minutes late after we were already in a massive panic!!) But having a day trip was really fun - the best part, not needing to unpack when I got home.

I hope you enjoyed the photo diary collage - I'm definitely going to do more posts like this, I love making them!
Lots of Love
Harri x

waiheke travel guide

A while ago I did an Auckland Travel Guide and mentioned Waiheke, which is a island in the Auckland Gulf that you can get to in 40 minutes from Downtown. I'm currently on holiday there until the end of January so I thought it would be a good time to do a Waiheke guide.

Eat // Island Gelato
This is just the best gelato place on the planet (well I'm pretty certain)!! It runs out of a shipping container in the main village of Oneroa and has the best flavours. My favourites are the honeycomb or the salted caramel and white chocolate.

Beach // Palm Beach
This is my favourite beach. The water is always crystal clear and it's a lovely small bay which we always go to for beach day trips. Close by is the store which is great for ice creams etc.

Explore // Man O' War Bay
Man O' War Bay is on the Eastern and less developed side of the Island so is a bit of a drive from where you mostly will find yourself. But it's a beautiful drive over the hills and the views are wonderful. Once you are in the bay, there's a cute little beach plus the vineyard's lunch place is quite a good place to stop and eat before you continue exploring.

Beach // Onetangi
Onetangi is another popular beach but is bigger than Palm and known as more of a surf beach. It's beautiful though and I love walking the length of it sometimes.

Eat // The Oytster Inn
The Oyster Inn is a restaurant which is also in Oneroa Village and is the most beautifully designed place, in my opinion. It has a seafood based menu which is mostly freshly caught off the island. It has beautiful views into Oneroa Bay and has great food!

Walk // Matitia to Church Bay
Waiheke is full of wonderful walks but this is one of my favourites. You begin it from the Ferry Terminal where you come in from Auckland and then it ends in Oneroa village. It's got breathtaking views which is the best part. Also, every second year an event called Sculpture on The Gulf is run on the walk where there are 50 different sculptures. One of them is in that photo above. That was from last year and each of those buckets had a different constellation pinned into the bottom and you could look up at it.

If you are ever going to Waiheke, send me an email and I can give you some more suggestions. But here are some of my favourites!
- Harri xx

auckland travel guide

Hello!
I thought it was about time I should show off my little city...Auckland, New Zealand.
For some background, Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand and makes up over a quarter of the population!

It's known as the city of sails because central Auckland is right on the water and everywhere you look, there is some kind of water and it's good for me because I love sailing.

If you ever come to to Auckland, there's all the tourist highlights like the Sky Tower, Harbour Bridge. I thought I would share with you a few of the less popular places, or those that you won't find a travel guide.

01 / Herne Bay
Herne Bay is a suburb at the waterside, near the Harbour Bridge. There's lots of little unpopulated beaches that are really fun to walk around. The streets provide a great walking route as well.

02 / Takapuna Beach
Takapuna Beach is a large beach that is 20 minutes north of Central Auckland on the North Shore. It's beautiful and sea water is beautiful there. It looks out to Rangitoto island and the Hauraki Gulf as well. If you aren't visiting in the summer season, it's beautiful for a walk as well.

03 / Ponsonby Central
Ponsonby Central is home to a wide variety of restaurants. There's a pizza place, a couple of little cafes and a ice cream shop - with the best ice cream sandwiches! There is also a burger place called Burger Burger (my personal favourite) and a noodle bar.

04 / Waterfront
Close to the city centre, is the waterfront and viaduct. A few years back they made it a great public area with lots of restaurants but still kept the marine feeling. You can look around at some of the old Americas Cup boats as the NZ Maritime Museum is right on the water.

05 / Rangitoto
Rangitoto is one of Auckland's 52 volcanoes and it's still active. Rangitoto is pretty iconic to Auckland and is symmetrical and looks identical wherever you look at it from. It's pretty cool and you can walk to the top for some pretty breathtaking views.

06 / Waiheke
Waiheke is a small island which is only a 40 minute ferry ride from Downtown Auckland. The island is full of vineyards, beautiful beaches and great scenery. If you do visit Waiheke, please make sure you visit Island Gelato Company. It's the most perfect gelato shop operating from a container in the main village. The gelato is amazing - My flavour recommendations are definitely salted caramel and white chocolate OR honeycomb (or get both!!).

07 / Devonport
Devonport is a historical village with a lovely beach. It located on the north shore is also accessible by ferry. Only a short walk along the waterfront is North Head which is the entry to the Waitemata Harbour and has great views. Devonport also holds our Navy Base and Naval Museum.

06 / Mission Bay 
Mission Bay is also a waterfront suburb (This is like the Auckland Beach guide really!). and is to the east of the main city. There are plenty of bays along this area but Mission Bay is the busiest. There's the beach, park, fountain and restaurants. Also a great plus is Kiwi Yo is right in the main shops!!

I really hope you enjoyed this post. I might do it for a couple of other places that I've been, in the future.

Also if you are ever visiting Auckland, shoot me an email and I'll send you some more recommendations.

- Harri xx