while we were in hawkes bay, we went to opera kitchen for a quick after-church coffee. while the coffee wasn’t half as good as groove kitchen espresso, it was still a really cute place with a great atmosphere! it is next to the Hawke’s Bay Opera House which is so beautiful and modern. though i loved napier, this area was my favorite part of hastings, napier’s sister city.
napier is a darling little beach town on the east coast of new zealand. the hills reminded me of laguna beach, the main street of santa monica and the beach of moonstone beach in cambria. i should probably stop comparing new zealand to california so much but i can’t help it! though the beach was freezing, it was so refreshing to breathe in the fresh salty air while enjoying some honey and passionfruit ice cream from rush munros.
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