Kia Ora Finland!!

11 February 2019

For those who haven't been following on Facebook, I made it to Finland! Thanks to your help and support my dreams are coming true, starting with my first taste of a Northern Hemisphere ski season.

To start things off, I am beyond stoked to announce being apart of the Sportive NZ whanau! I secured a sponsorship with Sportive NZ which includes a contract to represent a few of my favorite brands. You can catch me on the slopes this year representing K2 Skis, Full Tilt Boots, Smith Optics and Neff Headwear accessories! So thankful for this opportunity. A week before leaving, my order of new gear arrived. My skis and boots were on their last legs, and this package includes my FIRST EVER brand new pair of ski boots!! Along with some new K2 skis, Smith goggles and helmet. What a blessing.

The day after my gear arrived, my Mum, younger brother Noah and I drove down to Ohakune especially to see TCB Ski Board and Bike to get all my new gear ready for Europe. My family have been coming here since I was little and the TCB crew has shown nothing but love, support and outstanding service all these years. So thank you to Ben and TCB for sorting my gear to top standard and always believing in me. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Taking Flight -

The amazing Brox Ltd sponsored the payment of my flights and that is truly what got me here, literally ;). I am forever thankful to them and their beautiful whanau for this blessing.

On the morning of Waitangi day (6th Feb) I shared a delicious breakfast surrounded by my closest friends and family, it was the perfect send off and totally my style - wonderful people, great music and even better food. Once at the airport the bags were checked, boarding passes collected, lunch eaten and it was all go...

I traveled over 2 days on 4 flights. Auckland to Bangkok, 10 hour flight. Bangkok to Frankfurt, 11 hour flight. Frankfurt to Helsinki, 3 hour flight. I stayed the night in Helsinki at a beautiful Scandinavian hotel by the airport, ate a yummy dinner and had a very confused body clock. The final flight was a short and sweet 1.5 hour flight from Helsinki to Kuusamo - my new home for the next 2 months.

Travelling alone was hard at times, finding my way around new airports, different countries, different languages etc... But it's all apart of the experience and i'm really proud of myself for stepping into this journey.

Now in Kuusamo, Finland, everything is covered in a fluffy white blanket and looks truly magical. I have never seen this much snow in my life, but I cant get enough!! My apartment is lovely, although, now 3 days in, i'm still not sleeping right, gotta love jet lag ;). The first night I woke up every hour and when I did, I looked out my window at the picturesque postcard scene just to reassure my self this was real. I'm not dreaming, I'm really here!!

Thank you to everyone who has donated to this page, this is a MASSIVE help to me and way more than I ever imagined. Thank you, thank you, thank you and Kiitos, as the locals say.