Australia & New Zealand

 well, i am back from my trip! i actually came back about two months ago, but i just haven't blogged until now! i really need to get back into blogging...

anyways, it was an amazing trip. so much happened & i felt so many things on this trip. it was a much needed getaway.

although, i won't go into too much detail (because fitting two weeks of vacation into one blogpost is a scary thought!), i'd like to share little details with you through photos : )

 i got to meet (& stay with!) two of my blogger friends! first i stayed with sarah. she was so loving & i thoroughly enjoyed my time with her. i got to meet her caring family & tour her family's business. & she took me to kikki k!! i loved kikki k. i stocked up on so much stationary goodies.

then i stayed with katyha in sydney! we went on a great little adventure in sydney, walking to all of the places i wanted to see. i got to see the opera house, which was a big highlight! we also caught a glimpse of mia wasikowska while we were out for the night at bills eating pavlova. (i love pavlova now!!!)

then i hopped on a plane & met with my sister for the first time in eight months. it was such a great feeling to have my sister again.

 in auckland, raquel & i ate good food at the food truck garage as recommended by amanda of here comes the sun & visited the auckland art gallery. fun fact - my instagram photo of the veggie burger was regrammed by the food truck garage instagram : )

after spending a few days in auckland, raquel & i started our road trip around the north island of new zealand! we drove on the left side of the road on the right side of the car...& i drove for a bit as well! i didn't like it...

 after spending some time at the hot water beach, we made it to matamata aka hobbiton! seeing hobbiton was a dream come true.

after a surreal experience in matamata, we hit the road again to the tongariro alpine crossing aka mt. doom. i have an amazing story of how we hiked the tongariro crossing, but i will just say that it was 7.5 hours of almost nonstop walking in extreme weather conditions (the shuttles were even cancelled because of the bad weather), high winds, high altitude (hard to breath!), & up steep mountainsides for over 12 miles. i still can't believe that i did it. the views were incredible. it's an experience i will never forget.

 after our hike, i could barely walk & woke up in pain many times that night. the next day i downed pain killers & went caving - glowworm caving. it was incredible.

during our road trip around new zealand, we stayed at many hostels (backpackers) & airbnbs. this one was really cute.

 it was a fantastic trip & i was sad to leave my sister. she is coming to visit in september though (on her way to india!) & i am so happy about that. i miss her.