You are an explorer

You are an explorer

This mood board is pretty much exactly my mood the last two weeks.

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of art journaling, scrapbooking, collaging… whatever it’s called.

It’s been a meditative thing for me to do daily; rummaging through my piles of scraps, stickers, and clippings, and the simple act of gluing, taping, and arranging it on my traveler’s notebook in a way that feels ikigai for me.

It makes me feel like I’m traveling through my everyday life in a new explorative way.

Wherever you are, hope you’re well, healthy, and getting fresh air and sunshine whenever you can.

xoxo, Nerelle

What we did in Uluwatu

What we did in Uluwatu

My internal alarm clock went off and I was wide awake 2 hours before the sun would come up. I wish I was more of an early bird usually. I used those hours to catch up on my travel journal – I’ve been slacking on it.

Scootered over to Padang Padang Beach to check out the Impossibles surf break. It was barely 7am and there were at least 15 people out already. An hour and 2 other surf spots later, we stopped for breakfast at Cempaka Cafe.

We had the whole day ahead of us, but we needed to see one more break – Bingin beach. It looked big everywhere. Ian concentrated on the waves and I fell asleep on the beach. About 2 hours later, I was burnt out. I needed to move around.

We refueled our scooter and checked out Nyang Nyang beach. Our taxi driver told us it was a sweet spot but after having to pay a toll to enter and discovering halfway that we would have to descend a quarter mile on slippery limestone to the unshaded beach, we realized we were getting hot and hangry.

So we doubled back to Padang Padang beach, where we passed through a temple with macaques running around everywhere, and walked through a corridor in the 200-foot cliffs. It was high noon and the beach was packed. I’m still in a state of culture shock over the density of tourists here! We strategically placed our things next to a big group of suntanning“bule” or white foreigners (lol), and cooled off in the cool Indian Ocean. Ian also got chicken satay skewers from a tiny beach vendor, and we couldn’t help but buy souvenirs to remind us of this place.

After the beach we stopped by Dedari Theory, a treetop bar which caught my eye when we zipped by earlier.

It had the chillest vibes, and we were the only ones there! How can this be?! Such a sweet little spot.

Got to the cabin and jumped in the pool right away for the next hour or so.

The sun was about to go down, and Ian and I rushed to the Uluwatu Temple. Again, there were macaques everywhere. I’m honestly scared of them – whenever they would look at me, I’d look away and pretend I was minding my own business. They definitely look mischievous.

We hoped to catch the Kecak Fire Dance but by the time we got there, it was sold out. There were a LOT of people there, so we sat around for a bit and all watched the clouds lose their luminance and the sun fall behind the horizon.

But the night was not over yet!

We zipped off to Padang Padang again for some amazzzzzing yellowfin and salmon poke bowls at Coco & Poké, and dancing at the famous Single Fin bar. The scene was bustling. Surfers and non-surfers, bloggers, business people, drifters, young and old travelers of every age and nationality. Just dancing to some funky tunes.
We got home before midnight to rest our tired bones.

Field of Lavender Dreams: NZ Road Trip Day 1

Field of Lavender Dreams: NZ Road Trip Day 1

10

JAN 2017

It’s New Years Eve and I’m on the road, leaving hectic Queenstown and its hordes of tourists behind in search of a nice quiet campsite close to Arthur’s Pass. We’ve just embarked on our road trip – destination: Auckland! But the road is long and we have 5 days to explore the roadside wonders in the beautiful countryside.

This particular day was overcast and rainy but there was lots to see… sheep, mountains, glacial rivers, and my favorite–pockets of lavender fields!

Here are some photos from our first day on the road.