Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Day 6.

15 photos for 15 days in Queenstown



















My ride home from work. Going home on the water taxi is a probably the best way I will ever get home from a job. Night time journeys are pretty awesome/terrifying! It goes pretty fast, quite like the famous shotover jet which tourists love. At night all the lights from the houses on the hill reflect in the water which looks so lovely. You can never really have that bad of a day at work when this is your ride home.


Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Day 5

15 photos for 15 days in Queenstown. 

I was nannying again today, but thankfully it was a far better day. Way less tears. So many people work as Au Pairs whilst travelling, but I never realised how physically and emotionally demanding this job is!  We spent the morning in the library, lunch at starbucks... love getting a free lunch, and then spent the morning here in Queenstown park feeding the ducks. Feeding the ducks seems to be a major tourist attraction in Queesnstown. I'm not so good with birds, the ducks I can handle, but when the seagulls start joining in its not so fun. 

Monday, July 29, 2013

Day 4

15 photos for 15 days in Queenstown.
Today was a bad day. I had a nannying job, and the child threw tantrums the whole day. Joys. So my photo for today isn't very good. But this is where I spent my evening unwinding with mulled wine! Awesome bar, with really cheap drinks :) Queenstown is actually really good for cheap drinks, probably because of all the competition.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Day 3.

15 photos for 15 days in Queenstown

Apologise for the bad quality photo, I only had my crappy blackberry camera on me. This is where I spent my afternoon after working at the crèche on the mountain. In Queenstown I managed to get a pretty good job where I work for three hours in the morning, then can ski for the rest of the day.  It would be amazing if that didn't include crying children, nappy changing, and all the glamorous things that come with working with children. There can't be many nurseries in the world which have a view like this!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Perfect NZ night in!

My favourite finds in New Zealand so far have been a Sauvignon Blanc wine called The Pass, and the fudge from the Remarkable Sweet Shop. This fudge is amazing, I literally haven't tried anything like it before! The creme brulee is beautiful, but last time we thought we would try something different and went for the red velvet which was equally gorgeous! 























15 photos for 15 days.

Day 2. Eating lemon and pepper seasoned fish and chips with a view of Lake Wakatipu and The Remarkables.  


Friday, July 26, 2013

5 lovely things about this week...

1. Monday: Our new prince was born! I felt the royal love even on the other side of the world! But there is nothing better than a lovely sunny day in England full of royal excitement, wish I could of been there :)

Image courtesy of http://www.thehindu.com
2. Tuesday: My boyfriend baked a gorgeous caramel, apple cheescake. Unfortunately it was half-devoured before I got a chance to take some photos of our attempt, but here is what it would of looked like if we were pro bakers. You can find the recipe on this website.


3. All week: sunny and warm winter days. Its been no good for the snow, but the sunshine has been lovely! We had a picnic of pizza breads and alioli dip on Fernhill viewpoint on Tuesday. Being able to have picnics in the middle of winter is such a nice change!


4.All week: Dog walking :) I have had dogs all my life, and living in NZ is the longest I have gone without having a dog. However, me and my boyfriend have advertised ourselves throughout Queenstown as dogwalkers for some little extra money. This week we have been walking two Pitbulls crossed with Staffordshire Bull Terriers. I have never had or walked dogs of this breed, and was a bit dubious if they would be aggressive. But they were lovely and friendly, and it was great to have some dogs for company on our little walks around Fernhill, and Queenstown. 

My gorgeous dog Indie who is back in England with my parents.
5. Saturday: my trip to the library. My life really is this wild. But I had a whole morning to myself, and I thought I would go a search through Queenstown Library. I love taking my time choosing books. After rushing through so many books whilst completing my English Literature degree its so nice to take my time choosing and reading a book. I choose What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander, and Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell :)

Image Sourced on Pinterest.

Hitch-hiking Queenstown!

Image courtesy of http://www.stuff.co.nz
What I will take away from Queenstown when I leave in September is how friendly this place is. The main example I can give is my hitch-hiking escapades. Arriving in NZ I wouldn't of dreamt of hitch-hiking. It just not the English thing to do. I love England, but that is just not what we do, at least where I are from. Its not really safe for one, and appears a little bit cheeky, why should someone give me a lift? However, that doesn't seem to be the attitude over here. I often hitch hike up the mountain, and its such a nice way to meet people. I am met by smiles, and get so much helpful information on where to go in New Zealand, or where to visit in Australia! I have met people from all over the world! Its so nice that someone will go out of their way to help a stranger out. I arrived back in Queenstown today after finishing my shift up the mountain, and I realised what I had really enjoyed about my day was meeting the lovely people who were willing to go out of there way to help me out! Me and my boyfriend were once walking along the road from Queenstown to Arthur's Point (completely underestimating the distance we would have to walk), and a lovely old man pulled over and told us he was heading to Arthur's Point, and would we like a lift. On arriving in Arthur's Point he told us some of the history of the bridge over the river. Its so nice to learn about the town from local people. I am buying a car in the next couple of weeks, and plan on making sure I help out other hitch hikers. I will really miss this wonderful and friendly part of the world!

Daily Photo

15 photos for 15 days. A chance to celebrate all the amazing little things I see and do around Queenstown :)


This view is my inspiration to go for a run! My boyfriend, who hates running, went for a walk and he snapped this shot whilst I waited for him to catch up. I love how many sunny days we have here in Queenstown, something I am going to really miss when returning to England. 

Thursday, July 25, 2013

We're all mad here

In my third year of university I had to do a creative project inspired my Alice in Wonderland. I am no photographer, but loved doing this! Not sure my flat mate/ boyfriend (the models), enjoyed being dragged out on a freezing cold Lancaster Day.

 'We're all mad here'
'Pool of tears'
'Why is a raven like a writing desk'

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Street Photography

My boyfriend is a far more talented photographer than I am/ will ever be. These are the street photography shoots which he took throughout Asia. I think they are awesome.

C.Bowman photography.
Bangkok, Thailand.

C.Bowman photography.
Bangkok, Thailand.

C.Bowman photography.
Bangkok, Thailand.

C.Bowman photography.
Chiang Mai, Thailand.

C.Bowman photography.
Chiang Mai, Thailand.

C.Bowman photography.
Chiang Mai, Thailand.

C.Bowman photography.
Chiang Mai, Thailand.

C.Bowman photography.
Luang Nam Tha, Laos
C.Bowman photography.
Luang Nam Tha, Laos

C.Bowman photography.
Luang Prabang, Laos.

C.Bowman photography.
Luang Prabang, Laos.

C.Bowman photography.
Luang Prabang, Laos

C.Bowman photography.
Luang Prabang, Laos

C.Bowman photography.
Hanoi, Vietnam

C.Bowman photography.
Hanoi, Vietnam.

C.Bowman photography.
Hanoi, Vietnam

C.Bowman photography.
Hanoi, Vietnam.

C.Bowman photography.
Hanoi, Vietnam.

C.Bowman photography.
Hoi An, Vietnam.

C.Bowman photography.
Hoi An, Vietnam.

C.Bowman photography.
Hoi An, Vietnam.

C.Bowman photography.
Hoi An, Vietnam

C.Bowman photography.
Bangkok, Thailand.

Elephant Nature Park!

Elephant Nature Park is such an amazing place that I thought I would share with everyone the day I had here. The park rescues elephants from cruelty (i.e. logging, abusive elephant trekking companies, and street begging, etc etc). I was aware when I came out to Thailand that some companies who offer elephant rides are abusive and cruel, but I didn't realise how widely this abuse occurred. Traditional training methods involve putting elephants into a small pen, too small for them to move, and torturing them by beating them, using sharp instruments, and leaving them without food and water. This puts a bit of a dark side on all the holiday photos you constantly see on facebook of people attending elephant shows, and taking elephant rides. At Elephant Nature Park you are not allowed to ride the elephants, as they personally do not agree with this. But, I really don't think this takes away from the day at all! You get to see these animals in a happy, peaceful, and natural environment. So much better than every other elephant trekking park we drove past, where all the elephants are chained up!

Anyways, enough ranting over these are some photos from the amazing day we had here :)

We started the day with meeting and feeding these lovely animals. As well as meeting the Mahout who looks after the elephant, and literally spends all day with these elephants roaming the park. They are there to make sure that some elephant families stay away from the other families that they don't get on with, feed, and generally look after their well-being. A huge dedication from the Mahouts' and a sign of how much they love these animals. Most parks stops the fighting my chaining the elephants up.



You can see in the above photo that the elephant (Medo) is injured. This was originally caused from logging, where she broke one of the ankles, making her useless to the logging company. After failing to sell her to elephant camps, she was put into forced breeding. They chained her up, and she was forced to mate with a strong bull elephant. This was so bad she dislocated her back, and spent the rest of her days before Lek found her carrying small logs up the mountain. Such a heart breaking story when you meet these elephants, and see how much they love each other, and feel everything. 



After the meet and greet it was bath time. This was the best part of the day, and i'm sure the elephants enjoyed it too! 





We ended the day with a video about how the elephants are treated in Thailand, and the amazing work of Lek (the founder of the park). She really is an inspiring woman who has dedicated so much of her life to helping save these beautiful animals. To read more about elephant nature park and the work of Lek visit this website

Monday, July 22, 2013

Current fashion finds...

What I am love right now in the world of online shopping...

Warehouse embellished shoulder darted dress
Find it here


Warehouse Contrast Panal Car Coat (This one is on sale and is a bargain!)
Find it here
                                                                
ASOS jumpsuit with halter

Find it here

ASOS Pieces Ilona Snood

Find it here
Eleven Paris Aztec Peg Shorts with Embellished Waistband

Find it here