The New Zealand West Coast is known for its glaciers and is therefore often called ‘glacier country’. Thousands of years ago the glaciers were way larger and when they retreated they left lakes behind, formed by the glacier water.

I really wanted to kayak on one of those glacier lakes. I found a Kayak Glacier and Walk Experience via Koru Enterprises, which offers heaps of fun activities in New Zealand. Lake Mapourika was the lucky lake. It’s close to Franz Josef and has the best reflections.

There I was, ready and geared up to kayak in New Zealand and break those reflections. I was a bit wary when we slid into the water, because it had been a while and my kayak partner had never done this before. After a few seconds we realised we were not going to capsize. Yay!

A big plus for me was that the activity was in a small group. It makes such a difference. We were only with four people plus guide.

Our guide was Zak, happy 25-year-old English chap with awesome hair that had a life on its own. It was his birthday, but that didn’t change much for him. He was all-in for this tour.

Because I chose the morning kayak activity the lake was still and the reflections were going on.

Tip: there is a bigger chance on reflections in the morning as opposed to the afternoon.

We kayaked an hour and then docked on land at the Okarito Forest. We did a little walk through the bush, which is home to the native kiwi bird! I was very impressed by Zak’s knowledge of plants. He gave tons of information and don’t be surprised if he asks you to eat some plants!

Zak also shared a Maori legend and told us that Lake Mapourika means ‘Flower of the Dawn’. It was named after a Maori chief’s daughter, because she was very pretty, and the lake was prettiest in the morning. I totally agree. After our walk and a cup of tea we went back on the water.

When you kayak in New Zealand, and definitely at the West Coast, you are surrounded by mountains and forest the entire trip. The weather was nice and I just didn’t want to go back on shore. Time always goes too fast when you’re having fun!

Disclosure: Koru Enterprises hosted me on this glacier kayak trip. All opinions are, as always my own. 

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Are you feeling a bit lazy today? Great! Stay in bed and get smart at the same time!

Having a bachelor and two masters, I can say I’ve had my fair share of studying. But with getting older (and forgetting 50% of what I learned at Uni), I sometimes feel the need to learn a bit more and develop my skills. For those moments I’m grateful the internet exists.

There is YouTube, with its millions of tutorials – which I love. Thank you people for taking the time to explain a new product, software or passion. But if you want to go a bit more professional, hook these sites below up. They are my favourites and help you to broaden your skill set and get smart (again). Easy lifelong education!

1. Creative Live
First of all I love the simplistic lay-out, but that’s not why I visit this site. The classes are great. They have experts who give workshops on photography, video, design, business, audio and music. The courses are divided in five subjects: Photo&Video, Art&Design, Music&Audio, Craft&Maker and Money&Life. As their business name tells, it is a lot about the creative side in life.

The live classes are free, but to download the classes and course material on your computer, you pay. For me the live classes work just fine, if you really want you can take notes. To check which classes are on at the moment, click on the top of the page “Watch now for free”. The workshops are in the US, so the timing isn’t always convenient. I speak from personal experience.. Because I live in New Zealand, I once had to get up at 4am for a course. As you see, there has to be some dedication on your side.

So far, I’ve attended 2 workshops, one about blogging (it was 4 days long) and one about shooting video documentary (6 hours long) and loved it. It is super detailed, it is interactive and the speakers are super motivated and their excitement rubs off on you.

Interested? https://www.creativelive.com/

2. Coursera
Coursera has a huge catalog of courses. It is an educational platform that partners up with top universities and organisations worldwide. The courses are free, but if you want an official certificate you do pay money, from 50 to 150 dollars.

I followed a course on the History of Rock (I love rock), and learned a lot. It is more ‘schoolish’ than Creative Life, but also very detailed and interesting.

Interested? https://www.coursera.org

3. EdX
“Experience the best courses, whenever and wherever you want”, that’s what they preach. EdX offers interactive online classes and MOOCs(Massive Open Online Course) from the world’s best universities, colleges and organisations. They have an extensive list of courses, going from Math in Sports to Marketing for Non-Marketeers and The Greatest Unsolved Mysteries of the Earth.

On each course page you find a small box with important details. It gives you the level, length and effort for the course. I have the feeling the commitment level is a bit higher than on the other sites.

Interested? www.edx.org

So if you’ve always wanted to learn a bit more about a topic or you want to impress your friends on the next diner with some smart facts, hook one of these sites up! You keep on learning, wherever and whenever you want. Even in your pyjamas in bed!

ps: those weird colourful pants I’m wearing are called PolyPros and are super popular in New Zealand. I couldn’t miss out on this trend, right?

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