Staying at Island Escape by Burasari

November 22, 2021 Jasmine TamokAsia

I did promise myself that I would still blog every few months. I guess that work and life just get in the way of that and it’s so easy to find other hobbies instead. However, I’m currently on sabbatical and inspiration just hit! So, may as well do some blogging. If you like to travel in Asia, feel free to check out my other blog posts. We decided to go to Thailand and stayed at Island Escape by Burasari for our first week here.

Why did inspiration hit? Daniel and I are staying at a SHA+ Hotel on Coconut Island, Phuket called Island Escape by Burasari. When I tried to look up the hotel online, I couldn’t find any blog posts about the hotel. I love to plan (that’s the understatement of the year), so I thought there must be others like me who love to plan and have tried to google blogs to get more information about the hotel but have failed just as I did. So, here is a blog post to help amend that problem!

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4 Days Hiking the Tongariro Northern Circuit

June 20, 2019June 20, 2019 Jasmine TamokOceania

Returning to “normal life” has been a huge adjustment and I have been so swamped and overwhelmed with starting a new job that 6 months without making a single blog post just flew by. I have had this blog post about our 4-day hike in Tongariro National Park half-written for a while. It feels good that I can finally take some time to blog about the travels we have done and hopefully I can even write a bit more about my life as an expat in Sweden.

Danne and I finished up our trip in January where we flew from New Zealand to Fiji. Fiji was exciting for us since we ended up getting engaged! Woohoo! After leaving Fiji, we flew to Hong Kong to break up our long trip home on Saturday. Anyways, last time I wrote, I wrote about our 2-day stay in Rotorua (click on the link to read about it!). After Rotorua, we drove to Tongariro National Park to start our 4-day hiking adventure. I love to do day hikes; however, I had never done a multi-day hike before. I think it is always a good idea to try new things while travelling. There are many hikes in Tongariro National Park, but I booked the Great Walk Tongariro Nothern Circuit back in July. I booked it with very little research and we did the hike in 4 days, which was plenty of time.

Beautiful view on day 4 of the Mount Tongariro Northern Circuit — *As you can see, the views you encounter on this hike are beautiful–just make sure you take the additional side trips for the best views!*

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Top 5 Things To Do in Rotorua

January 6, 2019January 6, 2019 Jasmine TamokRotorua

Another rainy day in Fiji, another blog post. After Danne and I explored Hobbiton (click on the link to read about it!) we drove to Rotorua. We stayed there only 2 nights to see some of the Maori culture within New Zealand and also prepare a bit for our 4-day hike on the Tongariro Northern Circuit. Rotorua has a very nice vibe, so I can imagine that others could easily stay longer and explore all of the geothermal locations nearby.

*A natural lake near Whakarewarewa Village*

Rotorua is famous for its geothermal attractions such as geysers, hot springs, and hot mud pools. The tourism industry is quite big here. However, I found it had great opportunities to learn about the Maori culture. If you are not familiar with the history of New Zealand, it was the last major landmass that was settled by humans. Pretty cool, right? Polynesians found New Zealand only 700 years ago! These Polynesian became the indigenous people of New Zealand known as Maori.

Then, of course, Europeans came. This lead to many problems between Maori and Europeans. A treaty was signed between the British Empire and the Maori. Not all of these agreements were honoured and the New Zealand government is still working on accomplishing this. Rotorua has a rich history of Maori culture. There are cultural villages and shows within the cities open to tourists. I definitely recommend visiting Rotorua since there is a lot to do there.

So, what do I recommend to do in Rotorua?

Here is a list of my top 5 things to do in Rotorua!

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What It Is Like to Visit Hobbiton

January 5, 2019January 5, 2019 Jasmine TamokOceania

Fans of Lord of the Rings from all over the world visit New Zealand with one must-do on their itinerary: visit Hobbiton. It’s no surprise really that it is one of the top tourist attractions in the country. The Hobbiton Movie Set Tour is very impressive and it’s rare to have the opportunity to explore an entire movie set.

*Me loving all of the cute hobbit holes*

General Information

The Hobbiton Movie Tour is located near the small New Zealand town called Matamata. It is free to park at the general office.

The Movie Set Tour costs $84.00 NZD (76 CAD/507 SEK) per person and it needs to be booked online before arriving. We booked only a few days before and we there were not a lot of time slots available, so book early to avoid disappointment. There are other tours available (for example, those including food), but I think that the regular tour is more than worth it. It is already quite an expensive activity to do if you are a budget traveller. The tour takes about 2 hours.