I always find it fascinating to see how people spend their days. For ages, I’ve wanted to take a photo every hour for a day, and then post it here. I didn’t quite manage that, but here are some snapshots from a day last week!

I woke up in my hometown of Wellington, New Zealand. It’s not a huge city by any stretch of the imagination: the population hovers at around 400,000… And it feels like it, too. Truly, everyone knows everyone.

When I visit, I stay with my parents in their house which takes — ahem — exactly 17 minutes to drive to from the central city. In addition to timing things(!), my father also has an extremely green thumb. Wellington is very windy and exposed, so I have no idea how he manages to keep these yellow roses alive, but I love them. You can see the city in the distance.

You probably know what a gym bunny I am, but when I travel, despite my best intentions, my workout schedule goes out the window. When we’re teaching Blogcademy, we’re lucky to have two free days in a city, and they’re usually packed to the gills with activities and outings.

Well, since I had five days off in Wellington, a friend offered to take me through a workout (and also get me into his gym). I was so excited!

I had a few sachets of Aloha Premium Protein with me, because it makes a good meal replacement and I never travel without emergency back-up snacks! I’m also totally militant about eating before I go to the gym: without ample food, I can’t get through a workout with the ferocity I demand! Haha.

I love Aloha Premium Protein because it’s vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free, and it’s not gritty (which is a problem most protein powders really suffer from). It tastes good enough that you don’t have to disguise the flavour, either. It’s perfect for travelling, because you don’t need to add 100 ingredients into the mix. I blended the Vanilla flavour with almond milk and some ice, chugged it down, and headed into the city.

After a quick tour of the gym, I met my friend, and we got cracking. The workout was relatively simple. We did exactly 8 minutes of cardio, some stretching to warm up, and then two sets of between 10 and 12 reps for each exercise. Even though it wasn’t super-intense, after a few minutes, I felt so happy! Working out really does keep me sane. The best way to describe it would be to say that it helps me maintain a constant undercurrent of joy in my life.

It was so funny going to the gym in Wellington, because there were literally only 3 other people using the weight machines. My friend had to wait approximately 30 seconds to use the pull-up bar, and equated that with the gym being busier than usual! It was amazing. When I go to the gym in NYC, I have to work in with other people on machines every single time!

There were no women to be seen, either. When I went back into the locker room after taking a sauna, it was completely empty. I danced naked in front of the mirror, because, you know… I could!

Before I headed down to the waterfront to meet my parents and have dinner, I couldn’t resist taking a peek in Karen Walker and The Service Depot. (I ended up snagging a few things, and telling myself I was doing my part to help the New Zealand economy!)

When I met up with my parents, we decided to take a walk along the waterfront before dinner. The waterfront in Wellington is loaded with art: there are statues, sculpture, and installations everywhere.

This is the back view of the statue from the top of the post. I love how he leans into the wind (Wellington’s trademark).

There’s a smattering of love lockets along one of the bridges, in the grand tradition of Pont des Arts (and many others). It’s still early days, but even though the collection is a little sparse right now, I still love it.

Heart-shaped locket! One of my favourites.

Small one + tall one. We love this harbour wall. Married in Wellington NZ, 01/10/2013. A new adventure.

Once we’d worked up an appetite, we had dinner at The Crab Shack. They do this cajun catch of the day with a potato hash that should be illegal, and chipotle coleslaw that blew my socks off. It was my last night in town before I flew home, so it was really nice to go out for a meal together as a family.

Despite working out, I couldn’t get through my entire meal. The portion was enormous! But eating leftovers is what fathers are for, right?!

Before heading home, we went for a drive to the top of Mt Victoria so we could look out at the city. My dad just got a selfie stick and he’s obsessed. We took a bunch of shots together, laughing the whole time. It’s so much fun to play tourist in your own city.

Oh, Wellington! You’re so moody and so beautiful. I can’t lie: I was really sad to leave. I had such a wonderful time, and I can’t wait to go back soon.

Love always,

This post was made possible by the babes at Aloha!

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