Category: Travel – 2019

We were lucky enough to be given a gift of travel to New Zealand, how spoilt are we?

So perhaps not a country that is on top of our bucket list, we were going to arrive with no expectations. (Which I think is the best way to do things going forward)

We arrived in Auckland late at night, it was dark and we could not see a thing, we checked into a air bnb for the night and went to sleep. The next morning we woke up, had a lazy morning and then head off into the city of Auckland. Decided to see the city on the hop on hop off bus, which you can purchase tickets near the ferry terminal downtown. Included with our 24hour bus pass we got a ticket on the ferry to Davonport included, which is a 12 minute ferry ride across the bay.

The town of Devonport is so beautiful, its quaint, the old buildings have been maintained and offers tourists everything and I highly recommend everyone to check this place out.

Not having breakfast, and being now lunch time we decided to share a seafood platter at a great road side cafe. It had everything from oysters (which i tried for the first time) to fish, mussels, roast potatoes and ciabatta. YUM!

After our bellies were full we walked up our first extinct valcano, called mount Victoria. I very quickly realized how unfit I was and huffed and puffed all the way up the hill.

We made it to the top and the views were spectacular! Well worth the walk. 360 degree views across the bay. If its a warmer day I recommend you pick up some lunch and picnic up Mount Victoria and enjoy watching the boats glide across the bay and the views of SkyTower.

Oh and for the less fit people out there, the walk is very do-able, slow pace you should get up in about 20 minutes, so go on, do it!

By the time we left Davonport, it was starting to get late, so we jumped on the ferry back to Auckland then jumped on the bus and cruised around without getting off for the next hour. There are great places to stop, some you pay to gain entrance and others you can enjoy for free. Check out their website for more info https://www.explorerbus.co.nz/

So this was our first day in Auckland, it was beautiful, lush and green. The people were so friendly, the food was delicious and we could not wait to see what the rest of New Zealand had to offer us.

So huge news, we are moving to Australia!!!

We decided to make a holiday out of our stop-over in Dubai, probably not everyone’s cup of tea, we we just had the most amazing time in Dubai. From the weather everyday to the people, public transport and the beautiful dessert, we defiantly gave Dubai the thumbs up as a stop-over destination.

So after almost 2 years of paperwork and planning we received our visa for Australia, YAY!! When we went ahead and used Pentravel to book our flights, we realized how long the journey to Australia would be from South Africa, so we decided to make our stop over a holiday, after all there is always time to take a holiday.

After weeks of packing we hit the skies! Landed in Dubai in the early hours of the morning and set off for our hotel. The hotel was great we had this amazing roof top pool which had amazing views over Dubai, we were close to the train station so access to anywhere in Dubai was so easy.  And we were walking distance to the mall of Emirates.

The highlight was the dessert safari that we did.  First day we arrived, we were picked up at our hotel in the afternoon and driven to the dessert (approx 60min drive). It was beautiful the sun was out,  and the sand looked so inviting. Cruising through the dessert was wild, fast and exhilarating at times. How we didn’t flip the vehicle I have no idea. We arrived at our dinner spot where we enjoyed camel rides and a fantastic buffet dinner, henna tattoos, and a show of belly dancing, flame throwing and so much more! Our evening was fabulous! You have to experience this when you’re next in Dubai!!!

Any of your hotels would be able to arrange an book a Dessert Safari for you.

Breakfast was well earned as we were off to explore. We walked around the beautiful marina, filled with fancy yatchs and high rise glass buildings, then we were told to head to the observatory in The Marriott Hotel to enjoy a beverage and watch over The Palms. Our afternoon we spent on a beach with The Burj Al Arab as our backdrop. Our day was almost complete, but we had to make one last stop, the singing fountain at The Mall of Dubai! It did not disappoint, there were hundreds of people surrounding the dam, Whitney Houston started to sing through the speakers and the water rose into the air, it was incredible, this was one of my highlights of our trip, although don’t be late, its one song and thats it, if you miss the show you have to wait until the next show in 30mins. There is also a cool aquarium inside the mall which is a must see, you can either pay to walk through the aquarium or just enjoy it whilst walking by the mall. We ate dinner at the mall which was very expensive, so make sure you choose wisely.

Our last day in Dubai we decided to have a lazy day up on the roof around the pool, we ordered lunch and swam and enjoyed the warm winter sun on our bodies. Then we headed to the airport and caught a 2am flight to Adelaide, Australia.

Dubai has a lot

of attractions to offer, I recommend 3 nights near the city, we stayed in Jumeirah area as its close to everything and considered one of the nicer areas to stay. Winter is the best time of year to visit which is December through to March.

Enjoy xxx