Earlier this month my Mum and I decided to head up to Auckland for a few days to refresh and unwind! For those of you who don’t know Auckland is located near the top of the North Island – one hour away from Wellington via plane; a pretty quick flight! Whilst we were up there I decided to blog and try to take as many photos as possible and I’ve come home only to realize that all of the photos are pretty much food related – typical. I hope you enjoy this little follow me around – let me know in the comments below!

Tuesday:
We had booked an early flight just so we could make the most of the day up in Auckland which meant waking up at SIX IN THE MORNING – I was not pleased. We mooched around the Wellington Airport for at least an hour; looking at doughnuts & eating said doughnuts before boarding our flight up to Auckland.

Once we landed in Auckland we booked into our favourite hotel – the cheapest hotel in all of Auckland that’s pretty clean and  central. We went over to the Elliot Stables for lunch and I must say it was pretty gorgeous for a food court layout; speedy service, a variety of food and the place was clean! There is nothing worse than going to a food court with dirty dishes and weird sauces on the tables, I just CAN’T.
After eating too many fries we rolled ourselves back to the hotel just to have some chill time before I had my photo-shoot. This was when I realized that I hadn’t packed any of my hair tools – it was a total disaster but it all worked out in the end!

I met up with the lovely Katherine from The Undefined Photography in the late afternoon for a photo shoot. I want to write a separate post about my experience so you will have to wait until then to hear about it! I will say now that it was a magical experience and I am so pleased I got the opportunity to be photographed by her! By the way if you’re looking for some new fashion inspo check out her new blog The Wardrobe and her Instagram!

Here’s one sneaky preview!
Katherine also made me this incredible hair flower and you can check out her shop here!

Wednesday:
On the Wednesday I was so tired, there’s something about travelling and the fact that it’s quite a few degrees hotter in Auckland that can make a girl really tired. I didn’t do much at all this day but I did make sure I visited K-Rd (K-Rd is notorious for it’s vintage/repro shops) I popped into Vixen (vintage clothing GALORE), I can’t remember the name but it was filled with 50-70s homewares and  Rita Sue Clothing.
I had a lovely chat with Miss Creepcake and left with the most adorable pink banned apparel cardigan and it was on sale! I headed back to the hotel and chilled out for the rest of day, we then went out for dinner at Elliot Stables (again)!

OOTD:

Thursday:
The last day! I woke up early as we had to check out of our hotel by 10am and we wanted to check out New Market – I’m so glad we did. New Market is a 10-15 minute trip from central and it’s completely different from the hustle and bustle of the city – it’s so relaxed and filled with beautiful old homes. Next time I go back I will for sure stay in New Market!

OOTD:

Dress & belt: Hellbunny
Flower: K-mart

Around lunchtime I met up with the lovely Katherine from The Wardrobe and she showed me one of her favourite cafes – The Chocolate Boutique in Parnell – it.was.incredible. With your first steps into the boutique your nose will be filled chocolate aromas – dark, rich and nutty. Boxes of chocolates are everywhere and the walls are lined with old fashioned candy jars – it was like walking in the Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. I decided to go with the maple waffles as I had never had homemade waffles before and I am so glad I did. The hot waffle was topped with vanilla ice-cream and maple syrup – it was absolutely amazing and I now want a waffle maker of my own! From there we looked at a few different shops and chatted about blog stuff (it was so nice) – I love chatting about blogging but there isn’t too much of a community down in Wellington.

I had an amazing trip and I’m so glad I met up with so many cool people even if it was only for three days. I can’t wait to head up there again – I may even go to Beach Hop this year (and I will definitely blog about that!) A huge thanks to Katherine for making my trip extra special.

What are some of your favourite places in Auckland? And what are some of your favourite little towns in New Zealand? I would love to go on some mini road trips in Summer so I need some suggestions!