Month in Review: April 2023

“There is no glory in star or blossom till looked upon by a loving eye. There is no fragrance in April breezes till breathed with joy as they wander by.” ― William Cullen Bryant

With lots of stars, blossoms and breezes this month, I had a pretty joyful April and I am so excited to share it with you. So let’s dive right in!

Highlights

The first week of April was busy as I finished up as many work projects as possible before our big trip. We did make time for two Easter dinners with our families, which were delicious and the perfect send-off.

Then it was onto three weeks in New Zealand! I have so many highlights to share (which I’m sure I will in future blog posts) but for now I’ll just mention a few:

• Learning about New Zealand and Māori culture at the War Memorial Museum during a day in Auckland
• Exploring geothermal areas in Rotorua
• Seeing glow worms in the middle of a pitch black cave
• Sailing through the stunning Milford and Doubtful Sounds
• Completing the picturesque Hooker Valley Track in Aoraki Mt Cook!

Plus, we were blessed with the most gorgeous views every time we got in the car and perfect weather. It was warm and sunny almost the entire three weeks we were in Aotearoa (the te reo Māori word for New Zealand meaning long white cloud).

April also marks Colin and my 8th dating anniversary. We didn’t do anything special for it but did enjoy our day in Rotorua and ended it with Vietnamese food in bed watching Downton Abbey. So a pretty perfect celebration in my book!

Lowlights

Right before we left for our trip our ceiling started leaking! It was 10pm and we heard a drip, so stood up to investigate. A few minutes later, water was pouring out from behind our laundry unit and dripping from multiple places along the ceiling.

Turns out a washing machine on the 4th floor was causing leaks all the way down to our ground floor apartment. The washer was turned off, landlords were called and that seems to have been the end of it. But after having to leave our last place early due to water damage, we’re crossing our fingers that doesn’t happen again!

While our New Zealand trip was amazing, there were a few rough moments. The flights to Auckland and back (with a stop in Fiji) were long and I definitely felt a little motion sick. Sadly that caught up with me again on our Doubtful Sound sailing trip when we went out to the rocky Tasman Sea. My skin also didn’t seem to love the South Island as I was covered in sandfly bites, breakouts and dry skin.

Last but not least….we got a speeding ticket! Definite lowlight 🙁

Best watch

After finishing up Downton Abbey (including the two movies), Colin and I turned our attention to season four of Love Is Blind. Luckily we were a few weeks delayed so we didn’t have to sit through the failed live reunion like everyone else!

We also started watching Race Across the World and The Traitors US this month. Both have been fun watches so far! No spoilers please as we’re a bit behind.

What’s cooking?

I could spend an entire post listing all of the yummy things we ate this month! But some favourites include:

• Shrimp pasta and tuna salad that my mom served for Easter dinner
• A passionfruit cronut from the Ciabatta Cafe in Rotorua
• Dan dan noodles from the Dumpling House in Hamilton
• The famous Fergburgers in Queenstown!
• Whitakers chocolate bars (particularly the caramel flavour)
• And delicious meat pies all over Aotearoa (venison and plum, and salmon and bacon were two standouts!)

Posts from this month

This month on Teaspoon of Adventure I published:

• Traveller of the Month: Riana from Teaspoon of Adventure (It’s Me!)
• The 38 Best Travel Books for Readers with Wanderlust

Only two posts this month as I was too busy exploring New Zealand to write more. But do check them out if you missed them!

For my throwback post of the month, I’m going back to April 2019: My 8 Biggest Packing Mistakes – And How to Avoid Them. With temperatures ranging from 3-23 degrees Celsius, from cities to mountains to overnight boats, and from museums to hiking trails, our Aotearoa trip really was tough to pack for. I think I did all right, but probably could’ve swapped out a few items (like a thermal long sleeve I only wore once for 10 minutes!).

Reads

I thought April was going to be a big reading month for me. But after mostly listening to podcasts on the plane and being too tired to read after each full day of adventure, I actually didn’t finish any books in New Zealand. All of the books below I finished before we left. I did start a few new books, but didn’t love any of them, which also contributed to me not reading as much this month.

This month, I’ve finished reading:

A Trip of One’s Own by Kate Wills
A travel writer dives into solo travel and reflects on her life of travel in the aftermath of her divorce while weaving in historical accounts of female solo travellers and solo travel tips. I really enjoyed this one! Some of the covid stuff felt dated but I loved Kate’s travel reflections.

The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw
I loved reading Ruth’s story of her adventurous, and often difficult, life growing up in New Zealand and travelling around Oceania. This was interspersed with stories of her current life, running the Two Wee Bookshops in small town Manapouri. We actually stopped by her bookstore on our trip but sadly, Ruth was closed for the season.

Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q. Sutanto
The sequel to Dial A for Aunties follows Meddy and Nathan as they attempt to make it down the aisle while mystery and hijinks ensue. I didn’t love this one as much as the first book (and found some of the romance really cringe-y) but did enjoy the characters and the mystery element once it got going.

Travels

This month we travelled to Aotearoa New Zealand! I’ve had New Zealand on my bucket list forever and almost went a couple of times. It was so exciting to finally visit this country and be just as wowed as I thought I would be. The landscapes were so diverse but always so beautiful, the people were kind, the food was tasty, and there was so much to see and do. I can’t wait to go back and explore more!

Where we have travelled in April:

• April 2014: While studying abroad I went to Italy in April with my good friend Nabil. We explored ruins in Rome and Pompeii, ferried out to Capri, and ate the best pizza in Naples. I then continued on solo for a few days in beautiful Positano on the Amalfi Coast.
• April 2016: Back in 2016 I found incredible $63 round trip tickets from Vancouver to Los Angeles. Colin, his mom and I went down to LA to see a hockey game and a basketball game, hang on Venice Beach, and cry tears of joy in front of Hogwarts at Universal Studios (we didn’t think it would be open yet so were shocked when it was).
• April 2018: Colin and I went on the first big trip of our relationship to Ireland in 2018. We spent 10 days in Ireland exploring Dublin, Belfast, Galway and Cork. We then followed it up a week or so later with a quick trip to Austin, Texas to take in street art and eat delicious BBQ!

Gratitude

A huge thank you to my mom for watching Ellie while we were away. We are so lucky to have someone who is willing to take Ellie for three weeks and who Ellie loves spending time with. I’m also very grateful to Colin for doing all of the driving in New Zealand – especially since it was on the lefthand side of the road!

Coming up next

I don’t have any big plans for May besides catching up on work and starting to enjoy the warmer weather (fingers crossed!). I’m hoping we’ll be able to start using our patio this month and do some more planning for our summer and fall travels.

Plus, I’m sure I’ll be spending lots of May writing posts about New Zealand and putting together a photo book of our travels – one of my favourite ways to look back on a trip.

I hope you had a wonderful April and wishing you an even better May!