Sabrina Montagnoli

Bribird

Sabrina Montagnoli



I started this blog to record my adventure of living and travelling around New Zealand for 10 months. Sadly this chapter of my adventure is now closed but the book of adventures I hope is not. I am now in Italy for the next 2 months to spend time with my husbands family and hopefully to improve my Italian. I know would like to record my small traverses here and hopefully beyond in the future. You never know what travel adventures the future holds. This is not a review but a simple way to treasure my experiences. Please feel free to leave your comments.



Europe » Italy » Trentino Alto Adige July 14th 2010

The mountains of Italy are lovely in the summer and the winter. You can go on lovely walks and sample some great food in the summer or skiing and walking with snow shoes still sampling some great food in the winter. This weekend I had the opportunity to go walking in url=http://www.villnoess.com/en/summer/our-valley/Holiday-Val-di-Funes-Valle-Isarco-Alto-Adige-Dolomiti.aspVal di Funes in the Puez-Geisler Nature Park. Our walk started through a forest along a stream, I believe to be called Brogles Brook, with continuous and beautiful views to the Giesler Peaks or Gruppo delle Odle, depending on whether you fancy speaking German or Italian. Our intended destination was to go straight to Giesler-Alm/Rifugio delle Odle (never mind that the sign clearly pointed in the other direction) but we took a wrong turn (or the longer way depending on how you want to look ... read more
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Europe » Italy July 13th 2010

So hubby went off for a whole week to Zurich and left me alone with parents...eek. I did manage to survive thankfully and we had a rather entertaining time without him. Actually we were out and about a lot more than when he is at home. Flying Crazy So hubby's dad is big into airoplanes as he worked at the military airbase when he was younger. So when I showed interest in going to see the Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale:Frecce Tricolori we were off. It was all happening on Lake Garda in Bardolino. We decided to go to La Rocco di Garda, as they were expecting over 20,000 people to be there, which has beatiful views over the lake to Bardolino on one side and Garda on the other. We parked at the bottom and it took ... read more
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Europe » Italy » Veneto » Verona July 13th 2010

So it only took 27 hours of flying...lots of inflight entertainment...little sleep on the plane...and an overnight in London to get us safely to Italy. What a treat for us to land in Verona with BA instead of Bergamo with Ryan Air. It cut out that hour and a half drive which was a rather pleasant relief after all the travelling we had done. So I am not used to writing about my time in Italy so I have unfortunately been lax with my blog so this is some serious catch up time. I seriously will not attempt to write it all down in one go as I find reading long entries can get rather tedious...anyway...here goes... So one of the highlights of this trip is arriving in summer when all the trees seem to be ... read more
Cutting the peaches
Fruttapec
Boiling the peaches

Oceania » New Zealand June 21st 2010

I have been working for a few days on this post and it will probably be a long one. It is time to say goodbye, even though secretly I hope it is see you later, to New Zealand and there is so much to reflect on as it has been a most amazing experience. My very first impression about New Zealand was how friendly people where! How easy it was to get settled into life here. We have really experienced the most welcoming and amazing service. The country is beautiful with the most amazing places to see. They really know how to take care of their country. I love their brand of tourism and being able to access all areas. Even with mass tourism there is no sign of these grand hotels impinging on the landscape. ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island June 14th 2010

So we had originally just bought tickets to go and see the All Blacks in New Plymouth but we don't do anything in half measures. I officially have one week left and well we were going to make the best of our last jaunt out of Auckland. So we figured we could do a tour stopping at Waitomo Caves before the game in New Plymouth and then head to Rotorua for a night or two. It's winter and quieter so a lot easier to organise everything last minute. Except for the game in New Plymouth actually where we spent the whole morning trying to find a place to stay. We only just found a place to stay because a hostel decided to open especially for us....whew Waitomo Caves It was a bit of a rainy so ... read more
Stalactites
Limestone Formations
Curtains

Oceania » Cook Islands » Rarotonga June 2nd 2010

No I did not get to live a whole year in Rarotonga (oh how I am dreaming now) we celebrated one whole year of marriage there. We have just got back from a beautiful extra long weekend, an extra long weekend that just was not long enough. Packing list T-shirt Shorts Swimsuit Suntan lotion Sunglasses Insect repellent (they have some pretty big beasts) Raincoat/umbrella (it will rain at some point!) KIA ORANA It started with a warm welcome on arrival at the airport. It starts with a local gentleman singing while you go through customs. We were dutifully pointed to the transport to get to our hotel where you are given the traditional lei, garland of flowers around your neck. The driver tells you a bit about the town as you drive through and so you ... read more
Motu
Muri Beach
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Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland May 19th 2010

Well I have not written in a while but I guess my recent experiences have been very Auckland based and I guess not necessarily that exciting. Summer has slowly slipped away and we are now entering winter. If this is winter though I can definitely manage as the sun is still shining! So this week I decided to take advantage and discover some of the parks that Auckland has to offer and I have not really been disappointed. It has also been an opportunity to get the camera out which I have not done in such a long time I nearly forgot the joy I get when I get in that picture taking zone. Auckland can get harsh reviews but I find it a great place to live. I guess the experience of living here for ... read more
Maungawhau
Western Springs

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland » Mount Eden March 20th 2010

So I guess no trip to New Zealand is complete without watching a bit of Rugby. We have actually managed to secure ourselves tickets to watch the All Blacks vs Ireland in June which I am very excited about. Finally I get to see the Haka live done by the team! We were not sure about getting these tickets and trust me it was a fight on the website as soon as they went on sale. Sooooo just in case we had decided that as it was Super 14 time we should get tickets to go and see the blues play at home at Mount Eden. Actually getting to the event is a cinch as there is a free bus service which leaves from Queen Street just outside the City Hall. We expect a lot of ... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland » Devonport March 14th 2010

So I pretty much have been working every weekend since I came back from my holiday to the South Island. No real surprises there! I have not been doing much with my days off during the week as hubby has been busy with a paper he is working on and well we are trying to save a little bit now. Well last Thursday the weather was great so I took the opportunity to head to Devonport as I actually had not checked it out as yet and well I could not forget Devonport. It is only a 12 minute ferry ride away! I had the usual guided walk from a leaflet that I had picked up from the tourist information office in Auckland. My walk started along the waterfront, along King Edward Parade past the Devonport ... read more
Devonport Yacht Club
View to North Head
City view

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Hokitika March 6th 2010

So we wake up really really really early this time as it is a long drive back to Christchurch. The plan is to be able to arrive by 3ish to return the van. We tried to be quiet as we left the camp site but that can actually be quite difficult with a noisy van but well we will never know if we woke anyone up. It was supposed to take us 2 and half hours to get to Hokitika where we planned to have breakfast and do some shopping as it is home to New Zealand's best Pounamu (jade) and hopefully be out of there by 12. So it was a little to my surprise when we arrived just after 8! Even more to my surprise was that all the shops were pretty much open. ... read more
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