Category Archives: Travel

Wine Talk: Champagne Faucheron Gavroy (Champagne, France)

Posted on May 6, 2018 by juliamenn

Getting to visit a Grand Cru classé Champagne House was definitely the highlight of my brief stop in Champagne, France. Of the 100+ villages in Champagne, only 17 are considered Grand Cru territory, and each year the individual Houses need … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Travel, Uncategorized, wine | Tagged bottle, bottle aging, bubbles, Cellar, Champagne, Champagne Houses, chardonnay, disgorgement, Epernay, Europe, Faucheron Gavroy, France, Grand cru, hectares, lees, oak, oak aging, pinot noir, produce, sparkling wine, sur lie, tour, villages, vineyards, wine, wine tour, Winery | Leave a comment

Edoras and the Pelennor Fields

Posted on April 25, 2018 by juliamenn

Ok, this is going to be a full on geeky fangirl post. I’ve already shared quite a bit about visiting Lord of the Rings film sites, and there was NO WAY I was going to miss two of the biggest, … Continue reading →

Posted in new zealand, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged battle, canterbury, david wenham, death, edoras, eowyn, golden hall, horse lords, lord of the rings, lotr, mount sunday, new zealand, pelennor fields, peter jackson, props, ringwraith, rohan, rohirrim, sword, tour, twizel, twizel tours | Leave a comment

Queenstown Letdown and Discovering Mount Cook

Posted on April 11, 2018 by juliamenn

From Wanaka, I made my way down to Queenstown, Tourist Central and Home of Adventure Sports such as skiing, boating, sky-diving, and a really big swing. Before I got there, I took a brief detour to Arrowtown, a small village … Continue reading →

Posted in new zealand, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged adventure sports, amisfield, aoraki, arrowtown, arwen, avalanche, burger, chenin blanc, fergburger, film location, glacier, lord of the rings, lotr, mount cook, mountain, new zealand, queenstown, river, sky diving, south island, tourist, trek, wine, wine tasting | Leave a comment

A Brief Service Announcement

Posted on December 16, 2017 by juliamenn

It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure I proudly present my latest itinerary on this crazy crash-bang, whirlwind adventure of mine…

Posted in china, Ireland, Thailand, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged Adventure, chengdu, china, hangzhou, Ireland, levitate, maglev, new year's eve, nye, opportunity, seal, seal rescue ireland, shanghai, Thailand, train, Travel, volunteer | Leave a comment

A Brief Sojourn in Wanaka

Posted on December 14, 2017 by juliamenn

Maybe it’s because the weather cleared up, maybe it’s because the Fall colours were on full display, maybe it’s because I FINALLY got to do some adventure sports – but I freaking LOVED Wanaka!

Posted in new zealand, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged aerobatics, aeronautics, aeroplane, airplane, anxiety, church, cocktail, comfort zone, easter, empath, fall, fly, flying, nature, new zealand, snoopy, soul, south island, that wanaka tree, trick flying, u-fly, wanaka, wine tasting | Leave a comment

Let Me Count the Ways

Posted on October 22, 2017 by juliamenn

As I’ve mentioned, unfortunately my work visa for New Zealand didn’t pan out, and the past month and a half has been an utter whirlwind as I tried to sort out my path forward. I was waking up every morning … Continue reading →

Posted in new zealand, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged air asia, airport, auckland, Change, china, currency, flights, fly, hong kong, insurance, life, lifestyle, moving, new zealand, nz, passport, plan, question, sell, solo female travel, transferwise, Travel, visa, wellington, work | 2 Comments

Plot Twist!

Posted on September 26, 2017 by juliamenn

Well, in an unpleasant turn of events, my New Zealand work visa has fallen through. I had been so hopeful that somehow things would work out so I’d get to stay here in this beautiful city I’ve made my home, … Continue reading →

Posted in Musings, new zealand, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged action, america, beach, china, clouds, comfort, difficult, fight, fish and chips, hard, hurt, love, new zealand, paths, persevere, perspective, stability, Travel, usa, visa, wellington, weta, wisconsin, working | 1 Comment

Exploring Abel Tasman

Posted on August 20, 2017 by juliamenn

On what turned out to be the last day of good weather for quite some time, I did my first proper tramp – a chunk of the Abel Tasman Track; from Torrent Bay back down to Sandy Bay I drove … Continue reading →

Posted in new zealand, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged abel tasman, beach, cleopatra's pool, golden sand, new zealand, pool, queen charlotte sound, sand, sandy bay, south island, tasman bay, torrent bay, tramp, trek, walk | 1 Comment

North Island Road Trip – Part 2

Posted on June 18, 2017 by juliamenn

After leaving the redwood forests and thermal springs of Rotorua behind, I headed East. New Zealand is a wonderful country for many reasons, not least of which is the long roads and beautiful scenery. I love to drive, and NZ … Continue reading →

Posted in new zealand, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged art deco, fur seal, gisborne, hawkes bay, lake, lord of the rings, martinborough, napier, new zealand, north island, wairarapa, wine, wine tasting | Leave a comment

Once in a Lifetime

Posted on May 28, 2017 by juliamenn

When I traveled to Asia for four months back in 2015, my mother kept saying it was a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” My combative nature and I were like, “Why does it have to be once in a lifetime? … Continue reading →

Posted in new zealand, SEA, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged beach, cellar door, Island, job, new zealand, obsidian, oysters, sailing, summer, sunset, waiheke, waiheke island, wine, wine tasting, work | 5 Comments