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There is something extremely romantic about road tripping through the Coromandel Peninsula. Narrow piece of land (40 km at its broadest point!), surrounded by ocean, makes you feel like being lost in the middle of nowhere even if you know for sure where exactly you are going.

Over 400 rooms of interiors so dazzling and magnificent and art so precious your eyes literally hurt and you forget how to breath – that is Winter Palace, one of six buildings of the gargantuan Hermitage museum in Saint Petersburg (Russia).

Exploring new destinations makes our heart beat faster. But let’s be honest, no matter how beautiful, extraordinary and unusual is what we’re about to see, it’s not only the final destination that makes us happy and free. The road, the anticipation can be equally sweet and uplifting. Be it those precious hours on a plane, when you’re disconnected from the rest of the world and all you can think about is how you’ll land on an unknown territory in a few hours. Or a wonderful road trip with the warm wind in your hair, endless snacks in a car and your favourite music playing so loud you can’t even hear ourself singing.

New Zealand might be green and blossoming all year round, but there’s that unique magic in Spring, when you can literally feel the nature waking up. And fragile, very feminine and delicate beauty of the blossoming cherry trees is definitely a highlight of the season.

You know I’m the biggest beautyholic out there – I enjoy discovering new brands, top-notch products and extremely unusual, but highly effective ingredients. Sometimes I find something so cool, I really want to share it with you, but honestly, writing a traditional ‘beauty review’ feels a bit boring, don’t you think so? So, that’s how I ended up sitting in front of my laptop and three gorgeous little bottles of Tailor ‘Glow Pots’ recently. ‘What should I do with you, guys?’ I asked… And here it was! A funny solution that I personally absolutely love – if I can talk to beauty products in real life, why don’t I talk to them on blog? As if it was a real interview, only with a lipstick, perfume or face serum instead of a person. I can use my concerns and worries as questions and my honest opinion after using them as their answers. Seriously, so much fun!

Rachelle Duffy (founder of The Little Big Events) is one of those people doing incredible things for our community and our region. Weekend markets, annual festivals and even monthly magazine is what brings Tauranga to life. I first had a pleasure to talk to her about a year ago, while interviewing Rachelle for focus magazine. Though she just gave Birth to her second baby and was certainly extremely busy being a mum of a newborn, she found time for a long and very interesting phone talk. A year later, and we finally meet in person at the opening day of Our Place, new container village in Tauranga CBD, bringing old market favs and some new brands to the Downtown.

New Zealand is a pure visual inspiration. Bloggers across the globe travel to remote destinations to capture nature’s wonders in the most breathtaking ways, while we’re lucky to live in a country with epic views, lush greens, glacier lakes, black sand beaches, volcanoes and colossal mountains. Most often we don’t even have to go further than our own backyard to create content, causing major travel envy on Instagram.

I must admit, looking at the enormous captions Alex is posting on Instagram lately, I start feeling a bit guilty. Seriously, not all my blog posts are that long!.. Wait a minute! But doesn’t it mean his captions can make a great post? Well, we’re about to find out, as I’m posting his latest Instagram update here. Right now. As a real blog post. Call me lazy, or call me creative (cause I still did an effort to pick photos!), but it’s happening. Because these 15 places to see in Moscow are so epic, you definitely should know them!

Tauranga lures tourists in with its magnificent beaches; Rotorua boasts extraordinary mud pools, geysers and colourful steamy lakes; Taupo relies on its giant lake as a great source of activities for tourists all year round… It might seem that despite being New Zealand’s fourth largest city, landlocked Hamilton will never be that attractive to visitors. But don’t be fooled by the first impression! It’s proximity to Hobbiton is definitely not the only reason to visit Hamilton.

What can one do in under three hours? Well, I can write a short article, for example. Or bake a cake! Or travel from Tauranga to Napier. But can one explore an entire city in three hours? That’s what Alex and I decided to check out on our layover in Qatar back in May.