the first thing we did when we were in hawkes bay was go to the top of te mata peak in havelock north. the view was breathtakingly beautiful. it reminded me of the rolling green hills in ireland, only alot higher. it was a lovely way to start a great weekend.
wherever i go, i love to try different local cafes and coffeeshops. no starbucks or chain coffee shops for this girl, besides the starbucks in rotorua because 1) its the only coffee shop in town and 2) my awesome friend from church works there but anyways… while in napier, i went to groove kitchen espresso for coffee and lunch and it was fantastic! maybe the best coffee i have ever had (sorry intellegensia). the atmosphere was so chill and the cafe doubles as a disco club at night so they have a really sweet dj set up right next to where the coffee is made. overall, this cafe was an epic find!
on our drive from rotorua to hawks bay, we stopped in a small lake town called taupo for dinner at burger fuel (best veggie burger ever) and this was the view we were greeted with. the pictures truly do it no justice! the sky looked like it was on fire and it reflected every color imaginable. God is such a beautiful artist.
i finally made it to australia! i’m here till saturday on an outreach trip with a few people from my school to work at a family camp on an island off melborne, to help around the local church and to see this beautiful country! even though getting here was a bit interesting (first time i’ve spent the night in an airport!), we made it here in one piece and we were greeted by sweet people, amazing food and the australian footie finals on tv, which btw is a game i didn’t even know existed till we got here… i’m so out of the loop! so blessed to be in this gorgeous place so far from home and looking forward to an awesome week! remember to keep me and my outreach team in prayer! g’day, mate
this past weekend, i road tripped with a some friends to my roommates town for a few days. i had a great time seeing new places and meeting new people. it was so nice to decompress from school and get away to the shore. i’m sure my friends were sick of my constant comparison with hawkes bay to california but it really did remind me of home and my family trips to normal. i’m so glad i got to visit at this time of year because all the flowers were in bloom and the sun was shining. i’ve been so blessed to get two beautiful, but very different, springs this year: one in ohio and one here in new zealand. i still can’t believe my time at cedarville was just 5 months ago. it seems like years and worlds away.
{more beautiful architecture}
{ducklings in the botanical garden}
{poppies everywhere!}
there are a few trampolines on our campus and they are definitely my new favorite workout. seriously doing dance moves in the air while burning off my extra coffee energy is a total win in my book because the more i exercise, the more cookies i can eat! am i right or am i right?
