When ever you plan to go away for a year it somehow always seems like such a long time and in theory I guess it is, but having now spent 3 separate years on working holidays around the globe, I know just how fast it really can go. New Zealand was on my agenda back in 2010 but when things didn't work out, I ended up opting to spend time in Canada. Looking back I realise that everything happens when the times right and this year in NZ has been the perfect time for me. I've worked for 9 months with Greenpeace NZ who have taught me so much and quite literally changed my life and it was the right time for that to happen. I've become a much more outdoorsy and active person having lived here for so long and even though I've done a lot of adventure sports and hiking around the world, I have somehow grown even more excited by it in these beautiful surroundings.

My life here has been so incredible that a blog post is not going to sum up everything nice felt since being here but what I know is that I have felt so many different emotions over this year and it had shaped me into the girl who I am now. It's not often you can say that the majority of the past year has been filled with incredible happiness and anything that felt crappy at the time now seems so ridiculous! That's the way life is!

I've followed my heart through all situations here and have come out stronger than ever with heaps of incredible friends around me. At the end of it all, I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to have crossed paths with in NZ, whether it be my work mates, old friends reunited, new friends in hostels, family and even those inspirational Kiwis I met in small towns around NZ just telling me to keep doing a good job! Those people have shaped my whole impression of NZ even more than I dreamt of. I'm so excited for anyone due to arrive here or currently on a journey here because it's not just a physical journey to Aotearoa it is most definitely a life changing one.

Kia Ora NZ

I most definitely will be back!

<3

Milford sound

A 13 hour return journey yesterday was what it took for me to tick off one of the most visited places in New Zealand. Incredibly, It is even said that the road there alone, is the best road in the world to drive, and I could definitely see why. I took the trip with Jucy Cruizes who really looked after us and provided us with plenty of funny stories, fun facts and scenic stop offs along the way. The journey was 10 hours each way with a 90 minute Milford Sound Cruise inbetween, but with lunch and scenic stops along the way it made it a tad longer. I have no problems with long journeys so for me this was great and the stops we made along the way blew my mind.

We left at 8:15am and stopped in Te Anau for lunch before carrying on to Milford Road and stopping at various waterfalls, crystal clear rivers (the waters so pure, our guide told us to fill our water bottles from it, and it was beautiful), scenic snow capped mountains and quirky small towns along the way. I could have did the whole journey with my eyes closed and still known how beautiful it was, if the oohs and ahhhs from passengers were anything to go by! People were nearly on the verge of tears including me at some points of the trip because as cliche as it sounds, the scenery was breathtaking like nothing I've seen before. And that's what sums up New Zealand! It goes for anywhere in the country that if you go on a road trip, you're guaranteed to see heaps of different landscapes along the way which keeps the intrepid traveller on their toes constantly.

When we arrived we took the cruise out into the fiords (not actually sounds as we were told) and the weather was definitely on our side. I placed myself in a Titanic position at the front of the boat (not so dramatic) for the entire journey apart from the moment the captain soaked us under a waterfall. It was the perfect view. It reminded me a lot of HaLong Bay, just off the coast of Hanoi, Vietnam but still you could tell you were in New Zealand.

I felt my heart break slightly on the way back passed all this beauty, and knowing that this was the very end of my sightseeing time in New Zealand made me well up. I have done a lot of amazing walks in New Zealand but when I come back here I'll be sure to fit in the Milford Track among other great walks to complete my NZ experience! What an amazing day it was overall 13 hours and all, it was truly incredible.

Kia Ora NZ!