Yay...Welcome to read my second post of the year *feeling guilty*... What have i done in these months... :'(
Let's start talking about my New Zealand trip because this is gonna be a long long post, perhaps i'll make a Part 2 or even 3 for it...
Ok...You know people now constantly share their budget trip oversea included their itinerary and expenses i wanted to do that too, but this trip was already way over budget and my itinerary wasn't very ideal for reference so.... I'll just share some of the expenses, as for itinerary, i'm going to tell anyway since i'm blogging about it already haha...
I planned everything, like everything... It was a 11 days trip but the flight took 12 hours technically we only spent 9 days in that beautiful country... At first i was gonna cover just North island hence the 9 days & i didn't have 100 days annual leave, so 9 days... Then i read a lot of articles about South island they said South is way more beautiful, but i didn't wanna give up North, *being contradicting is every girl's nature, haha*
After a few days of serious consideration and struggle, i did some cancellation and alteration to squeeze out 3 days for South, haha... Wonder what i gave up in North? Its Bay of Island where our dolphin tour was supposed to be (i signed up for another tour in Auckland) & Wellington...
Everyone told me 9 days couldn't be enough to explore New Zealand and believe me, i knew i really did but at least i got to visit the main attractions in both islands that's enough for me... I can always plan another vacation to NZ & after my stay i know i sure will return because NZ is charming like that...
Let's cover day 1 to day 3 in this entry, day 4 to 6 the next & leave South island to part 3... I'll provide some useful info before i start my long-winded story...
Flight: Airasia X
Domestic flight between North & South : Jetstar *not so recommended will tell in Part 2*
Accommodation: Airbnb *highly recommended, a perfect chance to experience a Kiwi life*
Car rental : Apex
Simcard : I used Spark, Fluffy used Vodafone *both were ok but mine seemed to have better signal*
Time difference : 4 hours ahead of M'sia *Sun set at 5.30pm in Autumn, 6pm is night time already*
Day 1 22/4 Saturday 18 degree celsius
Schedule for the day : Simply wandering around *failed haha*
We took Airasia X midnight flight from KLIA2, a transit in Australia Gold Coast *no you do not need an Australia Visa since you're not leaving the immigration but i applied just in case, dear since we have Australia Visa might as well go there within a year, don't waste the visa you know haha*, touched down in Auckland at around 4pm...
I had a hard time adapting my mood because this was my first time travelling to an AngMoh country & the furthest i've been from home... Once we claimed our luggage, we waited for our rental car company to pick us up to get our rented car... I chose Apex because they don't charge a bond if you pay by credit card & its much affordable compare to other car rental company...
The process was smooth we managed to get our car within half an hour, its a red Toyota Yaris... Went straight to check in we had no problem finding the house because i called the host & he went out to the roadside as an indication for us... His name is XiaoMing, comes from ShangHai where we'll go on September, woohoo... He studies in NZ & he rents rooms of his rented house through Airbnb to cover his rental, *smart wey...*
After we settled down, we went to this place called Elliott Stables for dinner... It costs mostly around 20NZD to 30NZD per meal, we rarely ordered drinks because plain water's always provided...
Elliot Stables is like a high class food court where you can sit anywhere you like & order from any restaurants they have there... You can find Japanese, Italian, Mexican, French, Indian, etc... The place was crowded of people, some having dinner, some having a drink chilling out...
Spot him...
Spot me...
Called the day off watching Hobbits in bed before sleep... This girl was trying to catch up the story for the Hobbiton adventure in Day 4, haha...
Day 2 23/4 Sunday 18 degree celsius
Schedule of the day: Auckland Domain → Hamilton → Waitomo glowworm cave
Admission fee : Waitomo glowworm cave (50NZD per person)
Rise & shine! I woke up 10 in the morning which was way behind schedule, haha... Its so difficult to get out of bed with that kind of temperature you know... Auckland domain is just beside of the Auckland war museum so you can visit both at the same time...
We departed at around 1pm, it was a 2 hour drive to Hamilton where we would spend our 2nd night... We did stop by at a R&R nearby & bought a Mcdonald set, chicken bacon something with chocolate shake, no longer thought spicy chicken Mcdelux with milo was the best, haha...
Their highway was so much different from M'sia one... They have no toll & just one lane each side, with breathtaking scenery everywhere you wouldn't want to sleep because you wouldn't wanna miss any of the view... Also, they don't have a lot of turns or crossroads or bridges like what we have in Msia it made it much easier to find your direction... You usually just need to change your direction at a roundabout now and then, go straight again then Tada, you've reached your destination...
2nd Airbnb host and hostess was Michael & Annika who live in a their own farmhouse, we were greeted by their lovely horses in the field just beside the driveway, then it was Annika who welcomed us & showed us around the place... Luggage were unloaded, time to visit the famous Waitomo Glowworm Cave...
I booked 5pm but by the time we arrived it was already 5.15pm, luckily we were able to join the last tour which departed at 5.30pm.. Photograph or video recording were not allowed during the trip to protect the little glowworms from the light...
I'll just show you pictures that i got from Google, haha... As we were told, there was 16k glowworms in the cave & nothing could have readied us for the sight that greeted us...
Our jaw dropped like its dislocated we've never seen something like this before... Spoiler ahead, when you thought nothing could've been more astonishing than this, look at the stars they have in the sky, haha... That's gonna stick in my mind forever...
There's a little disappointment though, the boat ride through the cave for glowworm observing was only 8 minutes, they spent 22 mins explaining the history... On the way back to Hamilton, it was only 6pm but it was already pitch black & the temperature started to drop to 12 degree celsius...
Dinner was ready once we got home, Michael did some BBQ beef, sausages and potato for us... We sat down around the table, enjoyed our meal while talked to each other little about ourselves... They are very lovely old couple who enjoy running their farmhouse & are about to go California for their son's wedding... The dinner was so good & it was my first time having a real talk with Angmoh, interesting...
Day 3 24/4 Monday
Schedule of the day: Mcdonald Taupo → Lake Taupo → Huka Fall → Rotorua → Wai O Tapu
Admission fee : Wai O Tapu (30++ NZD per person)
To be frank, i didn't know what day or what date it was when i was in NZ, mainly because i didn't wanna count down to the day when i had to come back to M'sia...
Annika went for work already while Michael stayed home busy renovating their new cottage located just beside of the main house for their daughter and granddaughter... Funny what i heard was that Angmoh don't have a very strong family value, but its totally opposite from what i experienced & saw in NZ...
Look at Michael and Annika, they have their family photos hanging all over the wall in the house, feeling excited for their daughter and granddaughter to move in... Oppss, sidetracked... Go back to the topic...
Breakfast prepared by Michael, we gave him some Mcdonald chili sauces we brought from M'sia *Weird they don't have chili sauce in NZ, not only NZ, Australia too, chili sauce is a must to dip fries with, why they don't have it i don't understand, haha* and he added into the baked beans to enhance the taste... After breakfast, we had a fun time visiting the cattle & feeding the horses, to blend in like a typical country Kiwi... It was a hard goodbye to Michael & Annika they were so hospitable & easy to get along with, sobs sobs...
最萌身高差... hahaha...
Fluffy, thanks for spoiling the photo, thanks... -_-
Hit the road & continued our journey... People there were super friendly they offered to help us take picture when they saw how we were struggling with the tripod, haha... & when i paid for the petrol, the cashier man saw how i was having problem finding the coins, he knew i wasn't local & asked if it was the first time i've been to Hamilton, then he recommended Hamilton Garden to me, said it was only few mins drive from the petrol station its worth a short visit... I felt so grateful i mean that's not a culture we practice back in M'sia...
We were on a tight schedule this day we didn't stay long in Hamilton Garden... Reason to visit Mcdonald Taupo : its the only Mcdonald in the world that includes a decommissioned DC3 plane as part of the store...
Look like someone pissed me off, haha... :$
This time we had Angus classic bacon & cheese with chocolate shake, again, so good.... Had a stroll beside Lake Taupo, saw people sunbathing, playing skateboard, jogging around the lake, that kind of care free life...
Huka Fall for next... Ok, the following information i got them from Wikipedia, haha... The name Huka is the Maori word for "foam" as the falling water and rapids resembles foam... The sheer volume of water flowing over the falls amounts to 220,000 litres per second, which is enough to fill one Olympic sized swimming pool in 11 secs...
The work of nature, i was so in awe & touched at the same time... There's such magnificent place on earth, no artificial no architecture, i felt like i was so trapped i've never seen this side of earth & never knew the real scene could be a thousand more vivid & extravagant than the picture showed, now looking & writing about my NZ trip is so tugging my heartstrings...
water flowed so fast it was kinda terrifying yet impressive, imagine what happened if you accidentally fell... We clutched to our bags and camera so tight just in case, haha... It made you frightened you know...
Next stop, Rotorua... Rotorua is a town with active geothermal activities, it smells of sulphur almost everywhere in town i was like as if i don't smell enough in lab during my work, hehe... Wai O Tapu is a popular in Rotorua where you can observe various volcanic features... There's a Geyser fountain which it erupts up to 10-20 metres... It was my fault that i didn't do enough research online, the Geyser fountain only erupts at 10.15am every morning, means we missed it already... Cry hard hard... :(
When we were done with all the attractions, checked in to our 3rd Airbnb stay.. This time, we stayed at Sonia's place... It was like a private cottage with a private bathroom & a small pantry, the room was linked to their garage then only to the main house, so it felt like we had our own place all to ourselves... You know what's the best? Heater was provided we were so relieved to know we could finally have a warm night & a warm sleep, haha...
We unpacked our stuff, rested for awhile then headed out for dinner already... Oh yeap, forget to mention, New Zealand is nothing short of beautiful, everything is perfect but just one, their food... Perhaps its only me, I don't really fancy their food, Thai or Chinese or Japanese or Western or Italian, I think most of the restaurants in Msia could do a better job, no offense though... Ok, side-tracked again... :$
So... we had dinner at Eat Street in Rotorua town, like how it was introduced, its a street with lots of different restaurants lining both side of the central walkway... We chose Thai because this girl here wanted something spicy and she needed rice to sustain, haha... Like I said, the food was ordinary...
Had a stroll nearby & got into the car before it was getting too cold... We then went to their local supermarket Park'nSave (100% Kiwi owned and operated) for some groceries and snacks... We have Giant, Tesco, EcoSave, Carrefour, etc... So far I've only seen Park'nSave & Countdown in New Zealand...
Another funny thing we've realized was that they don't sell instant noodles or manufacture one... We were looking for instant noodles & surprisingly we saw Maggie like the Maggie we usually eat, & the Korean Shin ramyum, that's all...
We bought yoghurt which I forgot to eat and wasted, pizza which Fluffy had it in oven for too long the crust was hard like rock, chocolate powder which I found it tasted good but Fluffy disagreed, and a bottle of Feijoa drink (Feijoa is a kind of fruit, something like Kiwi but smaller, this fruit only grows in a few countries and New Zealand is one of them, its a NZ must try alright, very important so I bold it)...
Later one Fluffy went out to the front court to practice stars shooting, we had a mission, to hunt the milky way... He online did a lot of researches about the correct camera setting to shoot stars, it was 12 degree celsius outside & i was just about to stay inside, but when i saw my Fluffy was withstanding the cold i felt guilty, so i went out to be his little assistant, haha...
We saw milky way that night, we saw it!!! But we couldn't be able to capture it, something's wrong with the setting... Its ok, the successful one would be mentioned in the next post, haha...
This is what we captured, a bit lost of focus & it was too distant, but you can look at the amount of stars... I never thought a night sky could reach that extension of beauty...
Alright, seems like I type a lot... I think I will have to stop here... So that's all the my NZ trip Part 1.. Part 2 will be uploaded next week which covers from day 4 to 6... Stay tuned, Tata... :)
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