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November 11, 2017

The New Zealand trip

Before my memories fade away and I got even lazier, I'd better put down some pictures and jot down bits and pieces of my recent NZ trip.

The trip took around 12 days including travelling time. We had a quick 2 days transit at Sydney because Wany never been there and wanted to have a quick stroll. Wah quick stroll kate kau. Since the air fare worked rather well with that route instead of direct KUL-AKL KUL, we agreed. We took Malaysian Airlines from KUL - SYD and returned from AKL-KUL. Total around 1800 which is quite  reasonable since the ticket price for AA is 1300 return excluding of baggage, food and other charges.


Nothing much been done in Sydney, we went to the fish market, took a ferry and went to Bondi beach before we caught a flight to Christchurch.


Reached Christchurch very late at night, decided to just check in at the airport hotel - JUCY Snooze since we are going for a roadtrip the next morning. Couldn't really sleep that night I even popped in a loratadine. Only managed to sleep at around 4++am and by 8am we had to get up and get prepared for the journey.


That morning we had our breakfast at Subway with the slowest server in the world. We were getting restless dahlah kitorang a bit rushing boleh pulak dia buat relax budak ni. Kahh..Did our groceries shopping at Countdown and started the journey with our rented car.


Our first stop was Rakaia River for jetboating. It was sunny throughout our stay in South Island which was a blessing because once it get gloomy, nothing much can be done. The jetboat took around 45 minutes and the view was mesmerizing. I wish I could take a video but that would mean risking my phone being thrown into the water 😅 There were points where the driver took a sharp turn and tossed us all in the boat banging to the sides. Sampai lebam pun ada la terkena tepi boat tu. Kahkah..but it was fun nonetheless..the cost is 49Nzd from Bookme website.

The view around Rakaia River. The driver stopped at a few places for us to take pictures. 

After Rakaia Gorge, we headed over to Lake Tekapo to spend a night over there. Nothing much was done there. Took a stroll around the lake. Cooked our first meal - udang masak sambal, kari ayam, and telur dadar.   We were kind of recovering from the late night sleep but it was sure refreshing to wake up with this view..


The ever beautiful and untouched Lake Tekapo. Patutnya boleh pergi  stargazing tapi sebab semua malas so tak pergi at the point. Kahh..

The next morning we continued our journey down south. Had a pit stop at Mount Cook (itu pun after much convincing Wami to drive there. Hahah susah sikit nak nego dengan si Wami ni)

It was already spring close to summer when we go so the snow has melted at Munt Cook. Dapat tengok sipi-sipi pun jadila.


Had another pitstop at Lake Wanaka, another mesmerizing lake in South Island. A little bit busier than Lake Tekapo though. Had our lunch at Turki Kebab over there..


Wami decided to go with his beloved GPS and we took a mountain road (Cadrona) to get through our next destination - Queenstown.  Had a few nervewrecking moments as he took sharp turns. Dah pening nak muntah dah. We had a pitstop and one of the lookout point because the milk we brought spilled to the carpet. Habis kereta bau and si penama penyewa dah menggelabah takut cc dia kena charge lebih sebab kereta berbau. Kahhh



Our view along the journey from Wanaka to Queenstown. 

Finally reached Queenstown around 2++. Checked in at St James Apartment. After Asar, we went for gondola and luge ride. Costed us 59Nzd for return gondola ride (up and down) and 7 luge rides. Gotta admit, I hate heights but turned out it was not too bad. The luge ride was fun too tapi sebab aku ada fear of terpelanting bila turun bukit, I was being extra careful and pull a break a lot of time sebab cuak..

Gondola ride - gayat oiii

Merempit with the luge


All the rides (gondola and luge) while overlooking Lake Wakatipu. Wataktipu memang cantik gila!



The next day was the highlight of the trip as I was about to attempt the most adrenaline pumping activity, as far as I can go. We went for a zipride at Kawarau River. Well, it was not as extreme as bungy jumping but it was still enough to make me go pale face before the ride. Costed us 37Nzd for the zipride and additional of 40Nzd for the pictures and video. It was fun and distressing at the same moment but I'm glad I did it anyway. I'd probably come again for bungy jumping or skydiving. Probably..haha we'll never know bila masa aku akan buang tebiat kan.

Place where they do bungy jumping. You can opt to have yourself dipped in the water or not. Celup sikit je la bukan rendam terus.



Me going superman! You can choose any kind of style for the zipride  and I chose this one because most of my bodyparts are secured. Haha..

We continued our journey to Te Anau to spend a night before going to Milford Sound the next day. Milford Sound is a 2 hour journey from Te Anau. A fiord is formed in between high cliffs, macam atas gunung ada glacier, glacier cair dia gabung dengan air laut, jadila macam perairan kecik gitu la tak tau macammana nak explain. Went for a 1.5 hour cruise to witness such a beautiful God's creation. We were lucky enough because our cruise was accompanied by a cute dolphin!

Te Anau

After the cruise, we started our ambitious 6 hour journey to Dunedin. I took charge of the planning and was kinda reluctant to insert Dunedin in our roadtrip but kind of glad to do it anyway. Dunedin reminded us so much of Dublin/Cork. Finally get to see a bit of city life in New Zealand. Checked in at Leith Valley Holiday Home. We settled in a Malaysian restaurant for our dinner after failed to find a more suitable restaurant. Ordered a black pepper beef and I wasn't disappointed as it tasted soooo good.

Went to Tunnel beach and another St Kilda beach after dinner before we went back home to rest.

Tunnel Beach. There's a tunnel at the end of the walkaway tapi sebab baru dinner we did not finish the walk. It took one hour return walk trip masing-masing tak larat. Pergi halfway pun dah mengah nak panjat balik sebab yes, kena panjat jalan berbukit ye

The next morning we left Dunedin for Queenstown and checked in at Queenstown Lakeview Motel and Holiday Park. Just a quick pitstop before we catch a flight from Queenstown to Auckland. Finally get my me time to find souvenirs without having anyone to rush me. Kahkahkah.


Took a flight to Auckland and reached there around 6pm. We went to Matamata and spent 2 nights at Tower Road Motel. The weather was gloomy throughout our stay in Auckland. Reached our motel that night, cooked and had a rest. Had only 1 full day to spend in Auckland. I wanted to go for hiking initially but the rain deterred us from doing so. So we ended up going to Te Puia to watch traditional Maori village and geyser. The maori dance performance was interesting nasibla hujan kan kalau tak maybe tak pergi tengok the culture-y part of New Zealand! I especially enjoyed the traditonal Maori love song - Pokarekare Ana.

The performers showed us some Maori warrior moves



The geyser that erupts every 1 hour. We did not stay and wait for it to erupt because the rain got heavier.


Had our last minute shopping at Rotorua and went back to the motel to pack. The next day we took our flight back home.

All in all it was a very much needed trip as I have not had a long holiday for a while. I've always wanted to go to New Zealand sebab aku kan acah-acah gila rugby. Even dulu before dapat scholarship pun siap doa dapat pergi UK or New Zealand. Sampai sana rasa everything All-Blacks rasa nak beli. Kahkah. Scenery wise, memang NZ sangat cantik. Ireland pun cantik but parts of it hasn't been explored more for tourism kot. NZ banyak gunung sungai so they turn the place to be more touristy with activities like jetboating, bungy jumping, zipride, zorbing, gondola ride etc.

Will there be another NZ trip for me? Maybe. Maybe for bungy jumping and skydiving ke ape ke kan. Who knows one day.

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