Beautiful East Coast Weekend Getaway

Amazing

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East Coast

Hot Sunny Day

Beautiful Quiet Beaches

Just Perfect

Seafood Galore

Buster

Lou

Lou & Buster
Father & Son

Mother & Son
Poppy & Buster

Lou

Poppy & Buster

Fantastic Signs

Just before Christmas we sold our caravan as it was to small and brought another larger one, we hadn't had a chance to use it over Christmas so we thought we'd take advantage of the long weekend and go down Opotiki way, travelling along the beautiful east coast.
It is so lovely there, beautiful quiet beaches that never end, and plenty of shellfish to eat, the tranquil beaches are just so breathtaking so if you are looking to get away and have some quiet time without the hassle of busy beaches then you should definitely go to Opotiki... the town is alot bigger than i expected and they have everything there that you could ever need, the locals are friendly and the town is so clean.
We stayed in a camping ground just out of Opotiki and i would never, ever, stay there again.
When we booked we made sure it was pet friendly and explained that we had 3 dogs, the owners said it was fine to bring them as dogs were to be on leads at all times, that was just fine with us as ours would definitely be on leads, when we got there dogs were roaming everywhere,loads of them, big and little, there was dog crap everywhere, even outside our caravan door in the morning when we woke up, all along the path to the beach and even on the beach it was so disgusting.
The camp owners neglected to tell us there was a hot rod convention on and they had basically taken over the camp as there were hundreds of them staying there with their super noisy cars that came and went all night, not to mention the live band they had playing there till the early hours of the morning that kept the little baby in the next caravan over up all night, and it screamed non stop, the place was fully booked and there were 4 women's toilets for the whole camp so you had quite a wait each time you needed to go which was ridiculous.
The other people there were really rude, except for 1 other couple in their 70s they were very friendly and talked to us and told us what was on in the area and all about the place which was really nice.
The 2 caravans next to us were horrid, we thought they must be a little racist as they seemed to dislike Maori people quite a lot, which made my husband feel very uncomfortable as he is Maori, they managed a smile every now and then directed only at me but spent the whole time scowling at my husband, as they also did with our elderly neighbours as she was Maori also, when you get people like that within earshot it tends to ruin your holiday a bit...
So all in all the area was fantastic, the beaches beautiful, our little dogs behaved themselves wonderfully and we spent the whole time eluding our neighbours so it wasn't all bad, we didn't get much sleep and came home extremely tired, but we still managed to have a nice getaway and i even managed to get my jeans and hoodie wearing daughter (she wears these clothes in summer too) to wear shorts and tshirts so it was worth it...
We will definitely be going  back that way again but will be avoiding that crappy holiday park that's for sure... we have already found a better one that we will be staying at this coming weekend as it is another long weekend too...cant wait.

Valentines Cupcakes & Ice Cream Slice Soaps

These are the latest editions to my foodie soaps, just in time for Valentines Day.
I just love the way my cupcakes turned out they are so cute, i think out of all the cupcake soaps i have ever made these would have to be my favourite...
I also added a new batch of ice cream slices to the collection,they smell so yummy... like decadent, rich, dark chocolate, then sweet juicy sunripened berries and a hint of vanilla,it is topped with a pink soap heart and little sprinkles shaped like hearts... these make me feel hungry just smelling them...
Back to the soap making... i have some new desserts waiting to be decorated...

Soaps for the New Year

I Hope you all had a safe and hHappy New Year, mine was a quiet one spent at home.

We usually go camping this time of year but i am so glad that we didn't this year as the weather has been awful with non stop rain and hardly any sunny days at all, most of the time we have been wearing our warm winter clothes instead of the summer clothes that we should be wearing this time of year, it's just crazy weather..

So because i have spent the whole of the Christmas holidays at home i was able to make plenty of delicious new soaps, as my supplies had run very low due to Christmas shopping.

I have decided to bring out more natural soaps as alot more people are asking for them, it's what i originally made when i fist started out making soaps, only this time i have more experience so the soaps are alot nicer and the lather is more luxurious than it used to be...

I tried my hand at making salt bars, i wasn't quite sure what to expect, but i just love the way mine turned out, you would think that they would be scratchy bars with the added salt, but instead they are beautiful and smooth and extremely creamy and the lather is amazing, rich, thick and delicious...i will be selling these at my next market so i am hoping that my customers will love them as much as i do, they may not look as pretty as my usual soaps but they are divine.

As you can see from my pics i have made some lovely soap bars using clays, these turned out beautifully, the lather on these is wonderful as they are made with coconut cream, as are most of my soap bars now, the lather that you get using the coconut cream is just fantastic, like shaving foam...

I think my fav soap from the latest batches i have made would have to be the coconut and papaya, it smells like a tropical dream and feels like silk on your skin, i am sure that my customers will love this too, so my household will be using this soap till i get sick of it and want to try something else

Well i finally got another phone charger as i managed to misplace mine and was without my phone for 10 days, so when i charged it up i had a load of messages, now i will have to phone my family  and explain why i didn't return there calls/texts..

I will be sending some of my latest soaps to my mum as she likes the more natural soaps and not to highly fragranced soaps, she's not to keen on foodie smelling soaps either so i am sure there will be some of my latest soaps that she will enjoy, i made the lily soap just for her, so mum if you are reading this(I'm sure you are) i will be posting some to you shortly.

Well i guess that's all my soapie news for now, back to the soap making.