Across the ditch a.k.a Australia

My Sydney Shopping Trip

So over the past week and a half I have been inhabiting Australia, I have been mostly in Sydney and for four days in Melbourne. Australia for me is like a second home that you visit on a yearly basis. My uncle and first cousins live there so I don't need to worry about accommodation while I am over there.

This time round I stayed with a friend for free in Wollongong which is south of Sydney about 1 1/2 give or take depending on what direction you are coming from.  

One of the beaches in Wollongong

Wollongong reminds me a little bit of Whangamata in New Zealand, a small town where people are friendly and the city just plods along. I was really impressed with the free bus service they had, it saved me a lot of money and it got me where I needed to go! I also watched my friend play in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament,it didn't take me too long to figure out the rules and seemed like a lot of fun, even when i did get smacked in the face with the Frisbee. If you are looking to get into a sport that is not to overwhelming I would recommend ultimate Frisbee, so check it out!

On a side note, Wollongong is a coastal town so there is plenty of beaches to surf and swim at. A bit of a sleepy town but I definitely got my r and r in.

Pancake Parlour in Melbourne, one word, AMAZING!

Now Melbourne, that is another story, the city is huge! It took us 90 minutes to get our hotel from the airport!! However there was so much to see, I went to the Melbourne National Museum and the Victoria National Gallery to see the Monet exhibition, Impressionism has always been my favourite type of art and the fact it was all based around Monet was pure heaven for me! I did go into the city for a night on the town, it was great, we ended up staying at one bar that played current and old school music; definitely had a few sing a longs to some old hits. Visually I did find that Melbourne was lacking something, maybe it was the mix of old and new buildings didn't seem to fit in my eyes, though the old buildings I saw there were very beautiful. Sadly to say I did not get a chance to hit the shops and see what kind of places Melbourne had to offer as my friend I went with did not like to shop, boo! annoying boys...

My carry on luggage for my trip back home!

With this holiday I did manage to travel quite a lot within Australia, I used the Sydney Railway to get around and found that they were spot on every time. I would recommend using the trains as you can get day, weekly and fortnightly passes, plus the trains go to most places; I took a train from South Sydney to North Sydney to see my Uncle and that in the end was 3 1/2 hours! For my domestic flight from Sydney to Melbourne and back I used Tiger Airways, overall, not impressed; both my flights were delayed and there service was appalling. To be honest though I guess that this was Murphy's law really about only just wanting to get the cheapest flight and mentally having to end up paying for it!

Other than that, I had a pretty fun holiday! Hanging with friends and family, getting a little bit of shopping in and overall just relaxing. Perfect! I hope this little review might interest you in visiting Australia or even just giving yourself a bit of a holiday, we all need it you know.

Some purchases before I even left Auckland, oh dear...

Peace Out

Z

The next chapter!!

Photo from Pinterest

Well the weekend flew by in a crazy wonderful mess, I stayed up till the morning watching the day start on the new chapter of my life. Yes it is a bit cliché in the way it sounds, but I believe there needs to be some symbolism in ones life, because how are you going to recognise growth if you don't make momentous occasions?!

This post was going to be about preparing for a party such as a birthday, this was more in the material sense of what you can do to make things work and look fabulous to your ideal. However I am now feel that with my party that has been, I want to share with you about certain occasion where preparing mentally is just as important as physically.

There are always going to be moments in your life that you build up to, mine is my graduation due in August and the fact that I have turned 25! I planned my birthday 2 months in advance, a bit excessive for some people, but for me it is a natural thing I like to do. When I say plan, I looked at venues, decoration, what I was going to wear and who would possibly come. What I can pass on to you is keep your expectations realistic, I have come across many people who at their party are freaking out that something is not right, like did they provide enough food or will many people come? It made me realise when I was planning my birthday that those concerns are not relevant, at the end of the day you are having a party for you! if no one comes to your birthday then you truly know some of your friends are not really there for you.

Now you say "what do you mean those things are not relevant"?!, yes, having a good amount of food and people show up to your party are factors in making an unforgettable night. If you are consistent in your planning, then you should not have to be concerned about those two factors; when I mean consistent I mean you have to notify people in advance, say 1 month and then send a reminder a week out just before the event. Therefore no one can claim that they did not know about your upcoming events, in today's society, being so busy a couple of reminders do not go a stray and are not on the border of harassment.

After all that it is important to reflect on ones standing when birthday's come round, I sat back and thought about what I had achieved in my 25 years; well I finished high school, went travelling around the world and meet amazing new people who I am privileged to call friends. Now I am writing in new goals that I want to obtain, having a time line is helpful but you have to be aware that there will be hurdles along the way, for me one of my new goals is to move to England and do my overseas experience (OE). I have set the date for my May 2014 but you never know I may end up going earlier due to prices being cheaper or I may end up going later because I am short a bit in funds. Also another goal is that I want to meet more people, preferably out on New Zealand and work toward improving my blogging, plus getting out there more in the workforce. These goals do not really have a specific date, but they are goals that are achievable and satisfying at the end of the day.

I hope after reading this that you are a bit inspired to set some new goals for yourself, why not grab a blank journal and write out what you have achieved and what you plan to do next? Make it pretty and stamp it with your own signature style, it will be a great reference point when you feel like you are losing direction in what you are doing in life. I will post up mine once I have finished!

Please let me know how you get on, I would love to hear from you!!

Peace Out

Z

Procrastination Wednesday 19th June

Dress from Cue

Happy Procrastination Wednesday!

It has been a long time since I have done this, Uni has been my main priority at the moment and I am almost finished! Super exciting really.. Below is some material I have picked up over the last few weeks, above is the dress I will be wearing for my 25th birthday! Cue does the most amazing prints and their styles fit well to my body shape. So enjoy the rest of your week and I will get something new out to you next week, probably will be birthday focused.

• This article really spoke to me about creating better habits in the workplace
• As I am getting into makeup more I thought it was essential to know how to clean your equipment
• What does your face say about you?
• It was an interesting article about happy people, do you agree with the writer?
• Once I have finished my last exam I will definitely be sorting out my email! it is a mess!
• This man's experiment was mind blowing and eye opening!
• Also I found this pretty sweet tutorial about how to apply fake eyelashes

Well that is me, I will see you all next week. 

Have a great weekend!

Peace out

Z

Beauty Review - Products Recently Used Up

Photo at Elephant Hill

What a world win the last two weeks have been for me! I took on a contract and it has been non stop for me since then, balancing two work loads and trying to find me time; which in the end I talk a small weekend trip away to regroup my bearings, got to love Napier!

Now in the process of these two week I managed to ruin my happy functioning eating plan, also let my room turn into a bomb site and fall behind on my blogging, the thing I am really enjoying the most. However there are priorities that do outweigh others and with contract work you have a limited time to complete the task set out for you and believe me that was the most important! 

I digress this beauty review was something I really wanted to share with you all, as a lot blogs that I read have reviews on a product but lack the lustre of what the product is actually suppose to do. So for this beauty review I am going tell you about two products that I have brought and used up and how I used them and what they are mean't to do. Being a novice in certain beauty areas myself I find that a good review has a description as to how they are used and why, then when I buy it I don't feel stupid in not knowing how to use  it.

So after that long winded spiel here are the products I used up:

Nivea Visage - Daily Essentials Refreshing Toner (Normal to Combination Skin)

I have been using this toner for years, it is light when you apply it and my skin feels refreshed, awake is the best way to describe it. Toner is designed as the in between of your cleansing and moisturising, it is suppose to ensure that when you clean away the dirt on your face, the toner top up any natural oils that have been stripped. What I have found is that some toners are too acidic and makes skin feel tight and can be itchy when moisturiser is not applied straight afterwards. I found the best way to distribute the toner is in a little spray bottle, I created in way a spritizer for my face, I spray the toner all over my face and neck then wipe away the residue.  The toner I found is a happy medium, there is no great result with this toner, it does its job but not to a brilliant effect; I recommend this as a staple in your beauty regime for a cheap effective toner that would go well with any routine.

Garnier - Clean Detox, Gentle Brightening Scrub

When I first used this product my skin can away slightly red, however I persevered and found that my skin did feel fresher. It claims to be a brightening scrub that clears away the dead cells and pollution from your face, however I was not sure that my skin looked fresher but it did feel it. I did used a face scrubber to help the scrub go into my pores, I think doing this helped the face product be more effective. This product I would use again but I want to find something better, this product needed extra products to make it effective on my face. I would not recommend this to beginners as the application is not easy and you need to be consciously aware of the affects it might have on your skin.

I hope this was helpful!

Expect more soon from me,

Peace Out

Z