two weeks in!

Dear reader,

This has been a very exciting week! We have been in the town of Hamilton for a housesitting job we found on this app called trusted housesitters. We’ve been taking care of this adorable cat called Slinky who is both so sweet but slightly terrifying. This is our first house sitting job (that's not family) and it is slightly daunting, we are staying in a strangers house taking care of their pet, watering their plants, and eating their food (with permission!). It’s a strange concept but it's mutually beneficial to both parties - we get a place to stay for free and they have their home and pet taken care of by two strangers that are terrified of disappointing them. Now that we’re in Hamilton we’ve been doing tons of exploring around this area!

In terms of travel this week, we’ve been exploring the city, as well as heading further afield. Hamilton feels like a relatively quiet city (despite it being the 4th biggest in the country!) so there’s a nice pace here. We’ve spent our time visiting lots of op shops (charity shops/thrift stores) which is always fun! If you’re into that kind of thing, the Op Shop for Breast Cancer is absolutely the best that we’ve found. Everyone working there has been truly so lovely, although that can actually be said about almost everyone we’ve interacted with since arriving in New Zealand! There are lots of amazing quality clothes, shoes, vintage pieces, home goods, plus more. Definitely check it out if you’re in the area and love to thrift.

Somewhere else we’ve tried here in Hamilton (and returned to since) is Duck Island Ice Cream. There are a few locations across the country and I think it is absolutely worth trying. They have some pretty unique flavours and incredible quality - for a pretty low price, too! The first time we went, we each got two flavours and it was NZ$16 in total, which is only about £7! I’m honestly still thinking about the toasted marshmallow flavour I tried and I absolutely will be getting it again and again during our time in New Zealand.

We headed on a short drive to a nearby town called Cambridge. It’s not far at all, maybe about 20 minutes from Hamilton, and is a small, cute town to wander around. We didn’t time it too well and unfortunately almost all of the coffee shops were closing when we got there (around 2/3pm) so I would recommend going there in the morning, or at least earlier in the afternoon! Even though there is not much to do here, it was a nice change of scenery for us and we really enjoyed it.

Now, outside of Hamilton is where the fun really started. I did a simple search for the best beaches to visit in the area and one of the first ones to come up was Raglan. So off we went! Before heading to the beach, we stopped at Bridal Veil Falls. It’s an incredible waterfall, free to visit, and pretty accessible if you don’t want to walk down to the bottom. There are a few different lookout points, so you can definitely cater this walk to your own abilities. Another must-do, in my opinion. In total, it took us about 40 minutes to get to Raglan in the car, and as soon as we arrived in the town, we could instantly see the appeal. The town itself is so cute and feels like a real beachy place! Raglan is known for surfing, but unfortunately, neither of us know how to surf (yet, hehe), so we headed down to the popular area for swimming instead. It certainly did not disappoint! The water was SO blue and even though it was super busy (we went on a Sunday so maybe head there mid-week), it still felt peaceful as we were surrounded by rolling green hills. This should be a must-do if you’re nearby. The scenery is so breathtakingly beautiful and it actually had the warmest water of all the beaches we had tried!

Another one of the best beaches nearby is Maunganui. Also surrounded by beautiful scenery, it was just as amazing as Raglan, but it was a much longer drive to get there. It took us about 1 hour 40 minutes, but it was definitely worth the trek. We went on a Friday and there were a few food trucks lined up along the beach, but I’m unsure if they are there every other day. They all smelled so yum but we just went for some shaved ice! It was NZ$14 for two large cups, which isn’t too much and it tasted great! You could also add your own syrups! Niamh likes a lot of syrup, while I don't, it was nice to control your own syrup levels and a lot of fun too! I noticed a lot of signs for surf lessons so if that’s something you want to do then it seems like there are a lot of options in this area! Both of these beaches had free parking, which is always a bonus, especially when working on a budget.

Rotorua was another one of our day trips! From Hamilton, it took us about 1 hour 30 minutes to get to the town (but over 2 hours to get back so avoid rush hour!) and since we chose to head to Te Wairoa, it added another 20 minutes on top. Te Wairoa is a village that was buried when a volcano erupted in 1886. There is a small museum here, as well as the excavated sites that have been uncovered and opened to tourists! It costs NZ$30 to get in if you’re not a New Zealand citizen or resident and takes about an hour to walk around, but there is the option to extend this if you want to head to the waterfall that is close by. We didn’t do the waterfall due to a time restriction (Slinky needed his dinner) but we were told that it was definitely a must! But there was a lookout point towards the end of the walk that was incredible! The story of this village is really sad but definitely worth the visit to learn a little part of New Zealand history. After Te Wairoa, we headed to the Redwood forest. This place is SUPER cool - huge trees everywhere with the option to walk amongst the treetops! You have to pay if you want to head up there so we decided to keep our feet firmly on the ground and did a short, 30 minute walk through the forest. There are lots of different options for walks, treks and hikes depending on what you’re looking for, and there were even a lot of elderly couples, fit hiker types, and families with children running around so it seems like there is something for everyone there! The small gift shop near the car park has some really cute things in it, from tote bags to magnets to postcards, so if you have the time, take a quick look inside. There is also an ice cream stand there with a ton of flavours but it was a bit pricey so we didn’t go for it. But if you want a sweet treat to cool down after a hike and have the budget for it, we definitely recommend it.

Of course, we had to go to the Waitomo glowworm caves! About an hour south of Hamilton, this trip involved a walking tour through the cave by one of the guides before heading on a boat to see the glowworms in the dark. Tickets to get in cost us NZ$79, so a little more than we’ve been spending on other excursions but SO worth it. You’re not allowed to take pictures inside the cave so you are just going to have to trust us on this one, but you absolutely have to make the trip! The boat part of the tour is almost silent and completely in the dark, so you’re just surrounded by these little lights coming from the glowworms across the cave walls. It’s such a surreal experience that I think everyone should try! The pictures below are the only ones we were permitted to take. The middle picture are the actual glow worms! It's very blurry because we were given short notice that we could take pictures before the cave opened up also we were on a moving boat! But as you can (kind of) see they're actually quite bright!

The final trip I’ll mention in this week’s blog may be my favourite of all: Te Waihou Blue Springs. I don’t even know where to start with this one! I have never seen such beautiful, clear water and the surrounding nature, the sound of the little insects chirping away, made it such a peaceful and tranquil experience. If heaven exists, I think it would look like this. I loved this place and I think that it would be my number one recommended place to visit if you are in the area. There were quite a few other tourists there but there was a lot of free parking and the paths are wide so it doesn’t feel too busy!

This past week has been super busy but we have loved every second of it! We’re learning how to balance seeing as much as possible whilst also taking some time for ourselves to just chill out, so there have been some days where we do more, and some where we really don’t do much at all, and it really works for us! Everybody’s schedules are different but just make sure to prioritise yourselves - it’s important not to exhaust yourself whilst travelling. In an attempt to keep ourselves healthy, both physically and mentally, we’ve signed up for a gym membership. I did lots of research to find one that fit our needs and ended up just going with CityFitness. It’s a chain with lots of locations across both the North and South Islands, which was a requirement for us. The weekly membership fee is NZ$13.99 for the black membership level, which allows each member to bring a guest every time they come, so for now we’re just using the one account! There is a cheaper option which is limited to only one specific location, rather than having access to all of them, which is a very affordable NZ$6.99 a week. The Hamilton location is busy but there are lots of pieces of equipment so there’s always something to do! There are also daily classes, if that’s more your thing. One thing of note to mention about CityFitness is that, so far, we have not felt unsafe as a gay couple there! If the gym is something you are considering whilst in New Zealand, do the necessary research to make sure that whichever one you choose fits all of your requirements. We’ll let you know how our fitness journey goes over the next few months, but the priority is to keep ourselves healthy!

Anyway, next week, we head south to Wellington, which we are both so incredibly excited for. I can’t wait to update you all on what we get up to there!

Talk to you all soon.

Lots of love,

Limei and Niamh

P.S - We have discovered the amazing New Zealand/Australian snack known as TimTams! we are obsessed! I think about them before I go to sleep at night and right when I wake up in the morning. if you are coming to NZ or going to Australia, we definitely recommend trying them out!!!