Ultimate Coffee Date: September 2024

Welcome to the September’s Ultimate Coffee Date of the year! I have so much catching up to do…

Ultimate Coffee Date: September 2024

Enjoying some salmon from Mount Cook Alpine Salmon.. *-*

If we were having coffee/tea today, I’d tell you that…I’mmm back from my trip to Australia/Tonga/New Zealand! It was a ton of fun and I’ll be writing up some travel posts on em’ soon, but today is not that day. (I still need to get the GoPro footage from my brother for our dives + swims + horseback riding!)

We spent a week in Australia on a liveaboard over the Great Barrier Reef and went on 3 dives a day (there was the option of 4 but it was tiring and above all, cold, lol). I got officially certified for Advanced Open Water a few weeks prior to leaving, so I got to do a couple deep dives. It was gorgeous over there, and despite it being winter over there, the water was still 20 degrees warmer than in Monterey! Since all our days (minus 1) in Australia were spent in/on the water, we’re hoping to go back at some point to explore the land part as well, hehe.

A sunrise over the Great Barrier Reef on our liveaboard!

We spent about a week in Tonga so that we could go swimming with humpback whales!! It was an amazing experience + I never expected we’d ever get to get that close to them. <3

One of my favorite dishes in Tonga = ota ika (sorta similar to ceviche, but it’s marinated in citrus juice + coconut milk!)!

We spent our last week driving across South Island in New Zealand (from Christchurch to Queenstown)! It was definitely interesting learning to drive on the opposite side of the road, but we managed pretty well, and we were able to go on several hikes + check out a bunch of a little towns (I still yearn for the deliciousness that was our dinner at Silverstream Hotel)! :] I would absolutely love to go back someday in warmer weather to do more hiking/exploring!

From a hike on the Hooker Valley Track…

We also went horseback riding around an area where they filmed Lord of the Rings + X-Men Origins: Wolverine! Our guide let us canter several times. :D I’m hoping to eventually go back to taking lessons again (with the new scheduling thing we’re piloting at work starting today, this may actually be a possibility someday!). I used to volunteer at my college’s equestrian center in exchange for lessons once upon a time because I was too poor to afford em’ otherwise — definitely have been missing that a lot, especially as of late.

If we were having coffee/tea today, I’d tell you that…in an effort to promote wellness, my workplace has been having more events lately (yay for the wellness committee!) so I’ve been jumping at the opportunities because whyyy not! I got to go whitewater rafting/camping the weekend that I came back!

It looks quite cold/drizzly but it wasn’t too bad — I was one of the “lead paddlers” so I got absolutely drenched, but the wetsuits/splashguards definitely helped!

I also went to Color Me Mine last weekend with several other colleagues! I’ve never been to one before, but decided to make a mug since it’ll be useful either for drinks or for brushes (I’m attempting to teach myself watercolor via YouTube).

I was originally planning for a night forest scene of sorts, but underestimated the amount of time it’d take to put so many coats of paint on, haha.

Ombre it is! I actually kinda wish the colors would stay light like this, but I’ll find out next week how it looks!

See past ultimate coffee dates here!

(Link-up with Coco @ Running with Perseverance & Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner! Also linking up with Darlene, Michelle, Renee, Jenn and Zenaida, for Fit Five Friday.)

End-of-Month Recap

• This month’s My Month Is Booked is up, so if you’ve read anything lately and want to link up, or if you just want some book inspiration, come on by! :]