Christmas, New Years and my birthday all fall within 10 days. It’s hectic. It’s been a hard year so the promise of beach escapes, trips to new islands and doing nothing for a couple of months was a blessing.
Christmas is my favorite time of the year, eating, drinking and spending time with the extended family – Decorating the house and dressing the table to the nines is standard in my household and I spent the month of December scouring for beautiful decorations. I kept it traditional, white and silver. We ate beef filet, vol-au-vent and scallops and drank a lot of Pinot Grigio.
New Year’s is always so exciting, you’re finally recovering from Christmas and ready to see where the new year will take you. Myself and a couple of friends road tripped down to Rhythm & Vines Festival which by the name is a 3 day Music Festival in the middle of a huge Vineyard. The festival starts off with numerous pool parties, headlined by Chance the Rapper it’s the first place in the world to welcome the sunrise of the new year. I love spontaneity, at 11pm on the 31st my best friend and I decided we wanted to spend the countdown in a different city. A local drove us out to the tiny airport and we jumped on the last flight out of Rhythm & Vines. We spent New Years on the deck of a skyscraper watching the endless fireworks light up Auckland City. 2017
Forward a few days and It’s my Birthday. A bundle of my closest friends booked out an incredible house on the beach on Waiheke Island for the weekend. Waiheke is only accessible by boat or helicopter and is home to some of our best vineyards and properties. We spent our time wandering along beaches and vineyards, tasting local wines and grazing on local produce; Te Matuku Bay oysters and line caught crispy skinned fish. Even after tasting a hundred wines one stood out, Stonyridge’s 2016 Fallen Angel Rosé. It really is glorious.
The holiday season in New Zealand cannot be beaten. The ocean is cool, the weather is hot and the drinks cold and the food and wine is something else. I spent the rest of January down at the beach house in Mt Maunganui, this glorious stretch of golden sand has been voted the best beach in the country. There’s not a place I feel more myself than barefoot at the beach with our dog Lucy padding by my feet. Home
Homemade charcuterie boards
Y-3 cap, Dior sunglasses, Stussy polo, Zara bag, Larsson Jennings watch
Luggage – Herschel Supply Co.
Arriving in Gisborne for Rhythm and Vines Festival.
Rhythm & Vines Festival at Waiohika Estate
Veuve Clicquot & Festival Media Passes
Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf
Native New Zealand Tuatara’s.
The Ovation of the Seas cruise liner dwarfing Pilot Bay, Mount Maunganui.
The Mount Maunganui Beach House
Tua Tua’s caught 10 meters into the surf and grilled on the bbq with butter, garlic and parsley.
Looking over Mt Maunganui from Mauao Mountain
Special thanks to Rhythm & Vines Festival, Waiheke Island Tourism , Herschel Luggage, my wonderful parents and all my incredible friends for making this summer exceptional.
The Grr 