Travel

Anti-chafing shorts: Say bye to chub rub

Chub rub shorts. Anti-chafing shorts – basically shorts that save your inner thighs from getting chafed from chub when wearing skirts and dresses. Such preventative measures mean you don’t walk around on holiday walking like a cowboy e.g. putting a big downer on life. A lot of the places online focus more on shorts for men for holidays, like those you can see here, but having these during such times can be a real lifesaver.

As a curvy girl, ahead of a work trip to India & Singapore (Delhi would be 40+ degrees) I needed anti-chafing shorts. I got some and road tested ’em. Here’s my findings.

Background – Anti Chafing Shorts

I put the call out a few months back and put out the call on Facebook and Instagram: “I’m going away to a very hot climate and don’t want chub rub. I need some anti-chafing shorts: What do you recommend?” Bugger me, this struck a chord: I got quite the response!

Armed with All the Intel, I set off to Tauranga and Mt Maunganui with my dear friend Portia (and her son – he joined in helping!) on an Anti-Chafing Shorts Shopping Mission. I didn’t bother to look in Rotorua, frankly, we are limited for shopping options – let’s not go there. Suffice to say there are one thousand reasons people should visit Rotorua (check out this blog post), but shopping is not on that list!

Here’s the suggestions I received for anti-chafing shorts:

anti-chafing shorts

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Bali Blog: Where to stay

Villa Desa Roro
Villa Desa Roro

I’d been to Bali on various business trips, coming in on a Business Visa Bali but never as a tourist! I figured it was about time I enjoyed the Island for it’s most well-known features. So, last July we took off to Bali with friends: 7 nights at a fancy villa, then another week, just hubby and I: No kid. Just us… Bali bliss. This villa wasn’t exactly like the luxurious beachfront villas you would find on Isle Blue, but it definitely had everything we needed for a relaxing time. We enjoyed our holiday so much we are going back to Bali in August, this time with our boy, for a week. Since that holiday I’ve had so many people reach out asking for tips and recommendations. Questions include ‘where to stay?’ Or, ‘do we choose a villa or a hotel?’ are key FAQs. There’s an abundance of accommodation options in Bali and trying to decide where to stay can be mind-boggling – I know, I’ve been there! So, here’s a post that I hope might help if you are trying to navigate how to holiday in Bali.

Where to stay? What location?

Firstly, a disclaimer, I don’t have all the answers. We were in Bali for just under two weeks and we stayed in four different locations, three different places in Seminyak and at a resort in Ubud. There are a whole heap more locations in Bali that you could stay, including plenty of budget accommodation options – but I can’t tell you about these: I haven’t been there yet.

With that out of the way, knowing what I know now about Bali if this is your first trip I’d recommend staying half of your time in Seminyak or Canguu, then heading northeast into the cooler climes of the mountain town of Ubud.

What’s the deal with each location? Here’s a breakdown – of the only four locations I know! (more…)

Top Things to Do in Rotorua

Seeing as I’m a (proud) local, I’m frequently contacted and asked about the top things to do in Rotorua. Many people are interested after going on other experiences for vacations from providers like Global Basecamps and similar groups. Ahead of an influx of visitors over the upcoming holidays, here’s my personal list of Top Things to Do in Rotorua. There’s a mix of freebie activities here as well as paid favourites: I’m mindful a visit to this gorgeous town could require a second mortgage, but that doesn’t need to be the case – so I’ve mixed it up!

Lastly, a disclaimer, I haven’t visited all of the local attractions and activities we have on our doorstep so apologies if there’s a Must Do I’ve inadvertently missed off… Isn’t that often the case, we can be a bit ‘rats’ at exploring our own backyard?! Feel free to leave a comment with your Top Tips though, help a visitor out.

Redwoods Tree walk

I’ve written a whole blog post on the Redwoods Tree Walk, the elevated walkway through Rotorua’s iconic Redwood Forest. Since I wrote the post, I’ve been back and visited this attraction four times – and I’ll go again, happily: It’s that good.

Our local forest was already stunning and somewhat magical before some clever buggers put in an elevated walkway. Now, in the form of a suspended 30 minute ecological walk, you get a stunning birds eye perspective of this gorgeous forest. Geez, talk about take the forest to the Next Level! When’s the best time to do the walk? Day or night? Tricky one: Both are good for their own reasons. That said, a walk at night-time is uniquely spectacular as there’s lit up David Trubridge lanterns scattered throughout the forest, as well as a magical light display. My tip is: Go before sunset, kid bedtime allowing, to get the best of both worlds. The beauty of the trees will have you wanting to look at log cabins for sale to recreate your own nature stay at home.

Visit Redwoods Treewalk website here. (more…)

Delhi Hut Rotorua – Review

Delhi Hut Rotorua

We had date night last night. The Boy stayed over at a mate’s place, which, when you have an ‘only’ means you are home, alone, in one easy sweep. Boom, easy! We thought we’d treat ourselves and go out for dinner (we haven’t done that for months) and go out to a movie. However, the weather was foul, I’d been complaining I was cold all day and the offering at the movies was ‘bah’. “What about takeout from Delhi Hut, that newish veggie Indian place we keep hearing about?” Offered hubby.

Wait, he’s offering to eat vegetarian? And Indian? Two of my favourite ways to eat (but not his?). Done. “Oooh, can we eat in front of the TV and watch a movie?” I countered? Done. Sold. We are old, but happy. Off we went to Rotorua’s Delhi Hut. We got a park straight outside. Off to a good start. I did have gumboots and track pants on just in case we had to walk a long way in the crapola weather:  I’m an old school puddle jumper. I over dressed.

Delhi Hut Rotorua

As quick background, Delhi Hut keeps sneaking up in my Facebook feed. This is always a good sign.  My buddy Cam, our slightly mad, enthusiastic, food-loving vegetarian friend, has been raving about their kai, as have a few other foodie friends. Frankly, I’m ashamed this was our first visit, we should have pulled our fingers out ages ago.

Exec Summary:  The food is fantastic, the service top notch, and, you know what a lover of a good deal I am: We got all of this food for $32 and it’ll feed us again for dinner tonight! So that’s $8 per head for four people (if your maths is a bit pants). Wowser. Last time we got takeaways, it was a Chinese takeout feast (amazeballs, but it was $75 for four peeps: That’s almost dine in bloody prices – so long as everyone drinks water). (more…)

Hawke’s Bay Farmers Market – A Foodie Paradise

Hawkes Bay Farmers Market Our recent summer holiday saw us doing a huge roadie around parts of the North Island (i.e. Rotorua-Masterton-Wellington-Napier-Mahia-Cape Runaway-Rotorua-Napier-Rotorua. I lost track of how many kilometres we travelled. At last count it was over 2000km in 10 days. It’s been great from the perspective of the stunning scenery, tip top weather and catching up with friends, some of whom we haven’t seen in a long time. It’s ended up being a summer holiday I’ll remember for crayfish, gourmet salads, fantastic coffee, craft beer, lots of giggles and good books. I read for a large chunk of the roadie. I am extremely grateful to be able to read in the car: No travel sickness has ever been experienced by this wanderluster!

Anyway, last weekend, on our last few days of holiday we ended up in my hometown of Napier and we boosted it to the Hawke’s Bay Farmers Market. Wow. So wow in fact, I took a heap of photos on my trusty Samsung S7 to share with you. Out of all of the things we saw and did on holiday, this was one of the best experiences. And I’ve been to this market plenty of times. (more…)