The Princess Diaries

Going to stay in a smaller city can be sort of daunting if you are Vegan, because you don't really know where you will actually be able to eat (without having to do a whole grocery shop and cook from scratch) unless you have other Vegan friends in the area - which I don't. There is always  Happy Cow , but for Rotorua there weren't many entries and most of those were just Vegetarian. So here are a few places I discovered in Rotorua that were Vegan friendly. Night Markets Rotorua Night Markets run on Thursdays from 5pm, I found three different stalls selling Vegan food which was pretty surprising as I was not expecting there to be more than one! I had Seitan Nuggets (called Wicked Nippers) and a pulled pork style Vege Burger from a food truck called  Mr. Jacksons  which travels from Tauranga each week. Another option was El Cartel Mexicano who advertised Vegan options with there usual offerrings of quesadillas, burritos, nachos and tacos. A

My favourite thing about Rotorua is how close you are to nature.  On Boxing Day I went to The Redwoods National Park (Whakarewarewa Forest) to hike and spend some time in nature - it's only 10 minutes from my parents house.  I spent around 2 hours exploring the tracks, stopping in the Nursery Road area to have a snack and take some pictures from the look out. Of course I also got some typical white girl pictures, though if you are going to do this, I recommend wearing sunblock because I forgot and now my shoulders and back are burnt as f*ck. After the hike, I met my family back at Blue lake for another turn at paddle boarding before heading home (and grabbing some Pita Pit on the way). If you are planning on heading to Rotorua here are a few other interesting things you could try:  The Polynesian Spa Redwoods Tree Walk aMAZEme Rotorua Night Markets (thursday nights) Skyline Luge/Gondola's If you have a favourite spot in Rotorua that you

Everyone has different traditions for Christmas, for me it's all about family. This year our family Christmas was held at my parents new house in Rotorua, after we had our immediate family's gift exchange the food preparations begin for the huge family lunch that we have with all my Aunts, Uncles & Cousins. Of course I snuck in lots of accidentally vegan things into the shared table including garlic bread and a Chocolate Hazelnut & Boysenberry cake that I made myself. I used The Caker's mix for my base, they no longer stock the Chocolate Hazelnut mix but have other options in their online  store . I've also tried the Raspberry & Coconut mix, and the Lemon & Plum - which was my fave! The best part about these mixes is most of them are easily made vegan (I think only one mix includes dairy milk chocolate.) I decided to add boysenberries to make it more Christmas-y, so divided it into two layers and filled with a boysenberry sauce which I whippe

"love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind..." Last week I was fortunate enough to be gifted tickets to the Pop Up Globe's performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Right after Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer is my favourite Shakespeare play - though I hadn't read it again since high school when my English class studied it. It was awesome to see it reenacted with a Kiwi twist. Spoiler Alert: The Fairies in this version all speak Te Reo, so brush up before you go. " Oppressed by a brutal dictatorship, four lovers escape a death sentence by fleeing to an ancient forest. Elsewhere in the woods, a group of tradies secretly meet to indulge their love of amateur drama. But there’re more than just trees in this forest. Ancient creatures of myth and legend haunt the dark corners of the woods, and they love nothing more than causing trouble… " The artwork on the roof of the stage.  The Globe itself has an open roof, so as the n

This past weekend was full of firsts for me, which is why today, I need a coffee I.V! On Saturday, I had my first alcoholic beverage of the year, made my first beach trip of the summer, I went to town for the first time in over a year, had my first donut from the new Tart Bakery at St Kevin’s arcade, first Karaoke, and had my first yelling match on Queen Street (oops). Saturday was the Unofficial IPW end of year gathering, which is why I broke my dry spell and had alcohol for the first time this calendar year. Steph and Leilani came to chill at my house prior for girl time and pre-drinks, we headed out to mission bay in our bikini’s (but forgot towels, so didn’t swim) and took a stroll along the beach. We then went to St Kevin’s arcade on Karangahape Road to try the fresh fruit icecream that Tart Bakery had been advertising, unfortunately the shop had over heated and the machine wasn’t working! (We’ll go back another time).Instead I got a bright red iced

I’m currently in Wellington airport (Sunday morning) writing this after one of the best wrestling weekends I’ve ever had. I flew down here on Saturday morning to join All Commonwealth Pro Wrestling in their debut show in Porirua. I’m happy to report back that it was an awesome show! The crowd were so filled with energy and the card was stacked with amazing talent from NZ and Australia. Not a single dull moment. I stayed in Lyall Bay along the waterfront with Britenay and it was beautiful. We took an early morning walk and went to The Botanist for brunch and coffee (shout out to my Auckland brunch bunch, I miss you). I chose the buckwheat pancakes, with lavender poached fruit and coconut yogurt.  After brunch we did a little sight seeing and went up to the Brooklyn wind turbine and looked out over Owhiro Bay before driving to Porirua to set up the wrestling ring for the show.  Photo's from the show are available  here. I