travel

Staglands Wildlife Reserve NZ

/ wanderingdaydreamer / Leave a comment

P1000985

Deer running down the hill for feed time — Staglands Wildlife Reserve

It was the Queen’s birthday long weekend and we ( me, my boyfriend and our close friend and flatmate) were thinking up stuff to do as we had another friend who was visiting us from out of town. I had been to Staglands Wildlife Reserve before and had enjoyed the experience so I brought that up with them as they haven’t been there yet and they all agreed to check it out.

On the day that we went, it took us about an hour by car from Wellington CBD to get to the reserve and we had to pass through some really windy and narrow (and a bit risky in my opinion) roads to get there… but the drive was worth it.

We payed 20NZD each to enter the reserve and we also bought a bag of Animal food for 2.50NZD. For more details on pricing, click this link: http://www.staglands.co.nz/wellington-attractions/hours-prices

The lovely lady at the counter also gave us a map of the place before we went in so that it was easier to walk our way through the reserve.

The first spot on the map just behind the entrance way was the picnic area. Here we could already see some ducks, geese and peacocks just milling around. We fed the ducks and geese some food and then continued on our way.

P1000860  P1000856

We then passed by some swans — they reminded me of the Ugly Duckling story. There were also black swans in another section of the reserve but I was just not able to take any photos of them. They’re quite more mean too those black ones. Ha.

P1000866

There is a section in the reserve where the Kune Kune pigs are. The big ones are inside an enclosure… but we found some baby kune kune pigs just walking around freely.

This is a photo of our friend with one of the baby pigs.

P1000890

This one is a photo of me 2 years earlier with some baby kune kune pigs as well during my first visit to Staglands.

IMG_1354

Another old photo of me at the stables 🙂

IMG_1364

Across the barn area of the reserve is this beautiful view… ❤ The barn area is where people can have picnics and use the bbq during summer time.

P1000875

Another highlight of Staglands is their trout pool which has both the brown and rainbow trouts.

P1000908
The fishes here are HUGE!!!

P1000909

Staglands also has different Aviaries spread out around the area where you can get to see birds of different kinds. Just like these ones at the bottom!

P1000925

P1000885

IMG_1299

And then… there’s the SECRET GARDEN, which is one of my favorite spots here. It just feels a bit like you’re entering a different world when you’re in here.

P1000928

There are some pretty cute bunnies in here too!

P1000936

We also had a bit of fun in the Old Bush Settlement where you get to see and experience how people lived in the past.

P1000956

This is me and the boyfriend playing around with some stuff :p

P1000968

And at the end… is the croft and the deer park.

P1000982

This little cow over here is a darling… cuddles up to you to get some food! Haha!

P1000985

The deer were freely roaming around in the deer park. They were quite shy animals though and generally moved away when we tried get quite close.

Within the deer farm, we noticed that there was a little path where we can hike up the hill a little bit. We went up there to get a little bit closer to the deer who were up the hill and also to have a good view of the ground below just like the photo at the bottom!

P1000987

 

Finding Inspiration

/ wanderingdaydreamer / Leave a comment

P1000612

Have been feeling a bit stressed and worn down by everyday life as of late that on some days I feel like I’m just dragging myself along merely to exist. Looking at this photo seems to give me a bit of temporary peace and has made me reflect that I should be grateful for all that I have and for all that I am right at this very moment.

*Photo taken in Mt. Victoria, Wellington NZ

Beautiful Sunset: Wairarapa NZ ❤️

/ wanderingdaydreamer / Leave a comment


Drove all the way to Wairarapa for the Balloon Festival event only to be disappointed as no hot air balloons could fly that night due to the strong winds.

Was tired… and grumpy… But hey, at least we got to see this!

Beautiful beautiful sunset! No filters used for these photos.

” Sunsets are proof that endings can be beautiful too”  – Beau Taplin


Nelson New Zealand: Interislander Ferry Views.❤️

/ wanderingdaydreamer / 3 Comments

Happy 2016 to all! This post will be part of a series of posts that I will be doing about our lovely summer Christmas holiday in Nelson. I was initially a bit confused on how I was going to go about writing this… in the end I decided to just break it into the different highlights of the trip rather than making very detailed and lengthy daily posts that might be a bit of a bore to read. If you think it’s a better idea to write down all that transpired from the start to the end of each day, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. New ideas or writing tips are always appreciated! Alright, on with the post!😊

Our trip officially started when went aboard the Interislander Ferry bound for Nelson on the morning of the 24th. We were taking the ferry as we had never tried riding the Interislander from Wellington to Picton before and we had heard stories from people we know that it’s one to try due to the views. The journey takes three hours and passes by Pencarrow Head, Cook Straight, Marlborough Sound, Tory Channel and Queen Charlotte Sound.

Here is a link from the Interislander website that will show you a more detailed look about the voyage —->  https://www.interislander.co.nz/The-Voyage/Index.aspx#content

I experienced a bit of sea sickness in the middle of our journey, however, I was able to take some anti-nausea medicine (which was available in the ferry store) so I was still able to enjoy most of my time on the boat especially once we entered Marlborough Sound going to Queen Charlotte Sound. The site that greeted us was amazing!❤️




 

img_0177

Beautiful right? For those of you who haven’t tried the ferry trip from Wellington to Picton yet, I definitely recommend giving it a go (even if it’s just once if you really are not a boat person). It would be a nice tick off your bucket list 😉

Note: I left the photos unedited because I seem to like looking at them “untouched” and natural at the moment 🙂

New Year Camping!❤️

/ wanderingdaydreamer / 2 Comments

It’s been a hectic last few days of the year… Travelling down to Nelson for Christmas and now drove all the way up to New Plymouth to welcome the New Year! 

Long and proper posts on said trips when I settle back to my routine when I get back home. Just doing this post to say Happy New Year to everybody! Wishing all of us a great year ahead! Cheers! Xoxo ❤️

  

* New Year’s Eve camping feast! Ushering in the new year with a full belly and great company. Enjoy 2016 everyone! *

Abel Tasman Coastal Track: The view to Bark Bay ❤️

/ wanderingdaydreamer / 3 Comments

My Friends and I decided to do a short walk and beach trip on the famous Abel Tasman Coastal Track in Nelson on Christmas day. 

This post is just a little photo teaser until I’m able to start writing about our whole Nelson trip. Just a little too excited here to share how beautiful this place is that I just had to do one quick post! Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas as well!😊❤️

  
The photo above is of one of the many incredible views we passed by on our walk to Bark Bay. Nelson and New Zealand is just absolutely beautiful.❤️

 

Ten quotes that got me through my first move abroad ♥

/ wanderingdaydreamer / Leave a comment

Around two (almost three now) years ago, I made one of the biggest decisions I ever had to make in my then twenty-five years of existence. I decided to leave everything I knew and loved behind, for a chance at a much better life than what was available for me back home.

Initially, the anticipation and excitement of being somewhere new and experiencing new things was there… but then slowly everything just began to be a little bit overwhelming until most of what I felt was just fear, doubt and an extreme bout of homesickness.

I was lucky enough to have people in my life who were always there for me and who were always willing to listen when I felt sad and disappointed… Still, there were days when I still felt so down even after venting out all my frustrations to anyone willing to listen within my social circle. To try to pick myself up during those tough times, I turned to reading inspirational and motivaional quotes on the internet to help get me motivated and going and it helped heaps.

Today, I just wanted to share some of those quotes here in the hopes that it will also help inspire other people who are going through some challenges now. Here are ten of those quotes that helped me during my first few tough months when I moved abroad and hopefully it will be helpful to you too 🙂

1.
image

2.
image

3.
image

4.
image

5.
image

6.
image

7.
image

8.
image

9.
image

10.
image

Wellington Waterfront: Day and Night

/ wanderingdaydreamer / 9 Comments

I was browsing through old photos for my next blog post when I stumbled upon these and thought that I would post them instead.

TePapaviewingdeckday     TePapaviewingdecknight 

These are photos that I took from the viewing deck of Te Papa Museum Wellington. They’re not the best of quality as I only took them with my Iphone at the time but I just find it amusing that I was able to take a “day photo” and an “evening photo” of more or less the same angle on totally different days without even realizing until now. I guess that just shows how much I like coming here!

The viewing deck is located on the top most floor of the museum. Go to the lifts located near the information area and then head up to the sixth floor. When you go out the glass doors, you will be greeted with a fantastic view of the waterfront.

This place is one of my few favorite spots here in Wellington. The view from up here is beautiful and whenever I’m showing a friend around who’s in the city for the first time, I always bring them up here when doing the mandatory trip to Te Papa Museum.

What about you? Any special spots in your city you want to share?😊

Find Yourself

/ wanderingdaydreamer / Leave a comment

Untitled design

Stumbled upon this quote on Facebook and for someone who has been living abroad for a few years now, I found myself relating to it quite a bit. Flying thousands of miles away from home and moving to a new country is one great roller coaster ride. It will bring you out of your comfort zone and scare you. The unknown will make you anxious and nervous and make your stomach do flip flops. Wonderful new experiences will excite and exhilarate you. There are days when you question why you are doing what you are doing and days you wake up feeling so proud of how far you have come. It is one big adventure that will change you without you realizing. It is one great journey of conquering fears, chasing dreams and finding oneself.