Baby It's Cold Outside // Taupō, New Zealand

Hey Friends!

I hope you saw my latest video. I felt I had shared enough in words and hoped a video might be able to express my five weeks away. If you haven't seen it head over to my YouTube and tell me what you think!

The last month has been BUSY! It's taken me alot longer to get back into routine then I had hoped. Not only have I started a new job but study has also gotten a lot busier. I guess thats what happens when you come back from holiday only to realise you totally forgot to do an assignment and had an extra paper this semester. Whoops! Add to that, every weekend since being back something has gone on and I have gone alone with it. This weekend, I finally feel like I'm getting ontop of things.

Or so it seems, we'll see how long it lasts.

This weekend we had a family birthday. After my weekly acupuncture, Nathan, Marie and I headed south to Taupō. If you've ever googled New Zealand, its highly likely this Waikato town has popped up. Besides being a town built on the edge of a lake created by a volcanic eruption, it is home of one of New Zealand great walks and the beginning of New Zealand's longest river - which also happens to flow north (Blowing minds, I know, I know). Its also home to Nathan's family, so Taupō has a special place in our hearts. Not that we needed one, its freaking gorgeous!

Anyway, we made our way there and headed to the local bar to celebrate the birthday boy. I had the pleasure of being the sober driver and just held a baby next to a fire while eating cob-loaf so I really couldn't complain! As for the rest of them, there was many laughs to be had and the morning was a bit slower then normal.

Initially I had planned to walk a section of Mount Ruapehu. Of course, after a week spent in an office feeling the warm sunshine stream through the window, it rained. This deterred all pervious plans to see snow. Literally all I wanted was to see snow. It is so pretty but I don't enjoy doing much in it, especially after hearing that one of the ski hills is called rock valley. This Canadian may not be the best snowboarder but I know enough that snow shouldn't be rocky.

Instead, I spent the day lounging around. We did venture into town to have a look as I love going into Taupo. As a tourist destination, this place is full of cute cafes and interesting shops. In the summer time though this is the last place I want to be so instead I wander around in the winter. Instead of snow hunting, we decided that we would look for cool pieces of street art. This place has alot of it! I was sad when we figured out that one of my favourite pieces had been covered over but we still we able to find pieces that added colour into an otherwise dreary day. A special thank you to Dawn and Marie who got soaked for the blog, you the real MVPs. When we finally headed back to get the farm, Love Island was on TV and basically thats how the rest of the day went. Let me say that I am hoooooooked! Thanks Gaye for adding another trash TV show to the list! Is anyone else late to the love train?

The next morning, we were oh-so-Kiwi and watched the Women's Rugby World Cup while eating breakfast. Once that was done, there was humming and haring about what we should do as once again, it was raining (inconsistently). I decided that I wanted to at-least adventure one place I haven't been to before and so we did just that. So we headed to the Pureoru Forest looking for a lagoon.

By now you should all know that Nathan is usually dragged along to all these places. This was no different and I want to apologise to his baby, Scooby the Subi, for the journey that he endured. Let me make this clear, google did not prepare us for the dirt road that lay ahead. As we turn off SH 32 we were greeted by a cattle guard, dirt and half of a jaw - which I believe originally belonged to a horse. Further down the pothole ridden road (again, I apologise Scooby) there was a pelt left on a fence. Half a jaw, a pelt and a very bad dirt road made me feel as though I was driving out to the 'horror' part of a horror movie.

If you do decide to venture out, don't feel like your trespassing and just keep going, eventually you hit a second sign and quickly come across the car park. Some google searches will tell you that Waihora Lagoon is a 3km dirt road when in actuality its 7km. The road is also not well kept and so this can feel like the longest 7km of your life, adding to the horror movie feel.

In stark contrast to the road, the trail to the lagoon is well marked and paved. As I've become accustomed to with New Zealand trails, this walk was heavily covered in forest with very mature then most with trees towering around us. When the rain decided to come and go as it pleased, we welcomed the canopy as it sheltered us from the rain.

Within 10 minutes we hit the board-walk and arrive at our destination - Waihora Lagoon. Probably better described as a swamp, Waihora Lagoon is a rain fed pond full of rare plants. Due to all the rain, the water was at the level of the boards but during a dry summer it has been known to dry up. There are no fish in the lagoon but we did see tadpoles. Conveniently, there is a sign that also describes the rare plant-life found in and around the lagoon. If you have never been to New Zealand, you would not know how intense customs is with regards to biosecurity, this place is a reason why. You'd probably get bored if I explained why so I'll just show you and say respect mother nature and she will respect you.

The jury is still out on whether or not the lagoon is worth the dirt but it was pretty! Especially when the rain cleared and the lagoon became glass. It was also nice that we didn't see another soul until we were on a way out, something that is rare in New Zealand. Aside from the rather eerie feeling of the trip, standing out there in the rain listening to the birds sing was very peaceful.

If you do make it out there, let me know how you fare!

Ps. You found Lydia xx