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Nordic Wanderings

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Some people spend copious amounts of time searching the internet for the best places to travel. This trip was not like that. Erin and I booked it on a whim. We had been chatting about meeting up in July and briefly looked at flights. Then one evening I found a deal I couldn’t pass up. A return trip to Europe, first class, for $182! I would have to use all of my points, but honestly, I was planning on ditching the credit card anyways. “I booked it!” I told Erin excitedly, and that was that, we were going. Our first travel day was filled with long layovers, sickness, flight delays, train station closures and cell phone issues. But when we finally reunited in the wee hours of the morning in Copenhagen, the relief and excitement was palpable. We quickly jumped in an Uber and headed to our hostel, eager to get some shut eye.  The next day we slept in and had a lovely breakfast by the water. The rest of the day was spent exploring Copenhagen, wandering the streets, eating pastries and he...
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Attitude of Gratitude

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"Your attention please, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, please remember to..." The day we travelled to Cape Reigna was a hard one and subsequently so were the days that followed. Up until this point, we had not really been phased by the impending "Coronavirus", as we were confident we could just wait it out in NZ as we had planned to be there for around four months. However, once we learned that our health insurance had been reneged and that hospitals were refusing to treat foreign nationals, (with Corona symptoms or otherwise), we knew it was time to book a flight home. Trying to get an airline ticket was not an easy task, however we thankfully managed to secure a spot on a flight in three days time. Grateful to have purchased the flight, we dropped Jenny off to catch her original flight home and headed to Coromandel to try and take our minds off the stressful situation. However with each new day came additional worries. When we finally made i...
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Sunshine on the Coast

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On March 11th, I discovered something new about myself; I like surfing. The way the water feels against the board, the movement of the waves, paddling and actually standing up, all took a bit of getting used to. But the excitement you get when you realize you're "riding the wave" is pretty addicting! Erin was a great teacher and was super patient with me as I slowly began to learn the ropes. I definitely had my fair share of wipeouts, but standing up for a second at the end made them all worth it. That evening we watched the most beautiful sunset and said our final farewell to a city that has stolen my heart. The next day we stopped in Waipu on our way to the Bay of Islands. This a small village in Northern New Zealand inhabited by descendants of settlers from Cape Breton, NS. It was such a neat connection to be made, especially since Erin's family is also from Cape Breton. While there, we even met a girl from Port Hood, which is only about ten minutes ...
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First Look At New Zealand

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It’s been about two weeks now since I left for New Zealand. Time has just flown by, yet at the same time it seems like I’ve been here forever. This country reminds me so much of home. The landscape is somewhat similar to NL with its rolling hills and the people are all so friendly - could listen to their accents all day. I’ve also been trying to learn some slang, maybe I’ll do a post on it later. Something I wasn’t quite prepared for was driving on the other side of the road. This has been interesting, and I’m still getting used to the concept. I’m sure it will get easier with time. My days have been filled with all kinds of adventuring. I was lucky enough to spend the first few days in NZ with my lovely friend Jane. We explored northern Thailand together in the fall and it was so nice to get to see her again. This time she was able to show me around her hometown, which brought great views, hiking, cable cars, a planetarium, markets, festivals, waterfront strolls, wine tours and win...
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