<< Looking back [#] `-
Friday, December 10, 2004
:: NZ trip 2004. =) im back.( warning:: reali long post)
im back!! home still feels most comfy after all. =p
well..so here's e post-holiday post(get it?? its a pun..=p) tt all of uv been askin for!
new zealand basically jus rocks!
first day, we had a 9pm flight. we planned to be 30min early b4 check-in time. we were ready n evrythn, after hectically clearing up the house after renovation. my dad, however, forgot to turn of e dryer n rushed back..apparently he said he rushed..n came back 15min later. >.<
New Zealand was strangely..cool..if u noe wat i mean..
for summer, it was most of e time just a single digit degree??We arrived in Auckland arnd 10plus in e morning..immigrations there were considerably fast..as compared to korea's which practically took forever. We took e airport shuttle to the domestic flight terminal. it was pretty..small...bt wel..e shops were reali nice, especially the book store..n we had lunch at this cafe called.." The Bach" . =) my parents had a hard time adjusting to e new zealanders' accent..so they sent me to buy food almost evrytime. The system there's real different. u pay for e drink, n u jus go to e fridge n take it out urself..makes me wonder if they find an extra few bottles missing each day..
we boarded the flight to Christchurch at abt 1pm..it was a smaller plane..cos it was a domestic flight..with ppl in green instead of ppl in blue..n e air-stewardess's were in heels..i wonder how they balance...cos SIA stewardess's are in traditional slippers..=)
Christchurch has a big nice park n a big nice cathedral..we stored our baggage at e airport n then went to willowbank reserve in a shuttle..the driver was Mr McTaggart n he was a reali nice 60plus man who came back to e reserve to send us to e airport to get our baggage, followed by back to e motel we were staying in.willowbank was full of cute animals! all sorts of birds like e kea, kiwi, blue heron, emu, geese, pigeons, turtledoves, peacocks etc..e llamas,horses,deer,goats,salmon,trouts,wallabies,rabbits...n of course... ducks, ducks n more ducks!!! Then we went to e motel..arena motel. e motels in nz are reali places with abt 10 hotel units. The units are so well-furnished n well-equipped, they arnt exactly..motels. we stayed there for e night n then e nex day, we travelled to Greymouth by rail.
E train was called "Tranzscenic rail"..n it boy was it scenic. we went past farmlands, mountains, valleys filled with lupins, rushing rivers, creeks, brooks, with sheep, cows, horses n deer everywher. =) took lots of pics in e open air viewing gallery. the food in e train was awesome too! e train was delayed however..n we arrived at e station late..a good thing the train n e coach we were going to take were under e same company, so e coach was still waiting there for us. we took e coach to fox glacier, via hokitika( place famous for jade..) n Franz Josef. Fox glacier was reali cold..cos it was lik..a glacier..?! =p..this motel here..Sunset motels..was like e BEST among ALL e motels in fox glacier, n among all e motels i stayed at in nz.great view, great design, great facilities. they had an indoor BBQ set. =) we wanted to go to e glowworm caves..bt apparently it started hailing..>.<..so we had dinner first by BBQ-ing ham and sausages. Afterwhich, we decided to head to e glowworm caves again in e cold weather since it stopped hailing..bt then..when we had jus walked lik a few metres, it started raining. >.<
The next day, we headed to..Queenstown! ok. fine. i was nauseating alot on e way there. up and down e hills n valleys.we took so many of those " oh my tian" routes..as my bro n i called them. bt it was a nice journey, stopping over at waterfalls, salmon farms etc..n nice little towns.Queenstown literally n figuratively rocked. there were huge rocks in e ocean where waves crashed upon..n of course..there were loads of fun stuff which made e place rock!! it was pretty late in e evening by e time we got to Queenstown, so we went to our motel first, alexisqueenstown motel..which had..two floors n a great view of lake wakatipu!!! then we rushed to e skyline restaurant which was a REALI cool place. u take a gondola up to e top of e hill..which looks more like a mountain to us singaporeans actually..n then there's a big buffet restaurant at e top with great views. u can actually stand at e edge of a mountain peak if u walk up e route they have from e souvenir shop.btw..there were these super-sheep tt were balancing themselves like totally slanted on e slope of e hill, grazing. i hv a picture of them..ul see it in e online album soon..after a great meal..of lots of cold dishes plus this section of maori-style cooked food, and roasted parsnips plus roasted gourmet potatoes, we went to e souvenir shop where i bought my darling A.F paua shell pieces!!! n reali nice postcards if i say so myself. =) i wanted to buy our dearest kinonn/kimberly from e sisterhood some kiwi sweets as he requested, there..bt they were kinda ex so i waited til later in e journey. u noe e souvenir shop has lots of hilarious stuf?they have stuffed toy sheep hanging from a stretchable string..supposedly bungy sheep, tt can be pulled down n then released..n when they are released...they go..."baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."haha. yup. ok then we went back to our motel where i admired e paua shell pendants and ring with a paua shell as e stone tt my mum had bought.n sorted out e paua shell pieces for e A.F =)The next day...Queenstown again. we walked arnd the town centre which was reali calm n pleasant..there were market places selling nice souvenirs n handicrafts..including a clay flute tt looked lik an ocarina. bt it was reali ex..50 sing dollars..so..oh well..=s.they had ducks walking up n down e steps of e harbour..n e rest bobbing up n down in e water..we wandered arnd for awhile..then we went for e kawarau river jet boat ride! it was majorly fun! 700 horse power to play with..as e driver said..wad can u expect manz! i tink his name was erm..craig?? i cant quite remember..bt if i were to get chermaine her Mr Cute from nz..haha..i wld hv brought him. seriously.bt no. no Mr Cute for chermaine..tsk tsk...how cud u even tink of tt chermaine?? =pok..apart from e cuteness. he did lots of 360 degress spins with e boat which totally wet us all bt was REALI awesome! then he drove closely past trees..n tried to scare us by steering straight into a rock n then swerving away at e last second. so yea..thrill maximum. we then got off at e deer park heights pick up point where a cute little bus came over n brought us to e deer park heights which was on a mountain.it was just wonderful. sheep, goats, cows, bison, deer, scottish cattle roaming all around. minature horses, pigs n boars for u to hand feed...=)..jus wonderful. i played with the goat kids alot..e goats were reali friendly..if u ran up a hill where all of them were, n ran down again, they wld follow u down. one goat tried to get into e bus..n another goat kid actually went onto e driver's seat while e driver was leading us up a route to e peak of e mountain which was top scenic. u cud see e whole of queenstown n a huge part of lake wakatipu from there..ok..maybe it's not a HUGE part of lake wakatipu..cos...although i did see like a part of wakatipu tt could measure up to a few times of e singapore river, lake wakatipu..runs..86km!
ok..then we went back to e motel after buying food at e supermarket! we bought frankfurters, ham, potatoes, cup soup, bacon, mussels, mushrooms etc. we cooked. or rather..i cooked. =p..except for dad flipping a piece or two of bacon..n my bro frying his first ever egg! he got so excited lor..cos my dad said it was nice. n he asked my mum to rate my egg n his egg..haha..silly boy..n now..he loves frying eggs. he's been frying them evryday. i wasn evn tt enthu when i fried my first egg. wel..it is nice..bt gosh..think of all those cholesterol..anyways..i gues he'll get bored soon if we make him do it evryday..=p. then we went to bed after a nice bath.
nex day!! i woke up a little too high. i changed into my jeans from shorts. it was cold. out on e bed all nite wad..so i wore it..n i was like.." *blink blink.* like..Whaiy's e pants so coldd?!! n then i started tlkin to e mirror. i said..i dun mean wow e pants' so cold..i mean Whaiy's e pants' so cold. im asking a QUESTION here. someone answer me?!!!" then i kinda died down n jus took my toothbrush n headed for e bathroom. so yea..cold nights make u crazy. reali. then we left queenstown by coach. we were headed for christchurch where we wld spend e night b4 travelling on to picton. along e way, we went to mrs joan's fruit stall where i bought dried kiwis that are reali crispy, for e sisterhood! we bought all sorts of other dried fruits n nuts. n then we moved on. along e way..e driver said tt reports said it was snowing on mount cook! e snow on e top of other mountains was already unusual for summer there..as e driver had tld us..bt for us to actually see it snowing?? tt was phenomenal. we went up to mount cook..greeted by snow. e last time my mum had seen snow was like 20yrs ago..so she tot it was jus rain..haha. i got off..had fun in e snow..which froze my hands..i didn hv gloves on..n took a few pics here n there. it was super unfair k?! my bro was allowed to throw snowballs at me cos i had my windbreaker on which was water proof..bt i wasn allowed to throw any at him. >.< =(anyways..we went in n warmed up. then ate some stuf at e cafe above. we then left..n came to tekapu i tink..im kinda mixed up with e places..so wel..we stopped there for a toilet break n a quick snack. they had a souvenir shop there too! i bought this cute lamb soft toy for NZ$5. then we went to Geraldine. it's a town. we bought nice towels there. =) then later in e evening, we reached christchurch. we stayed at e chardonnay motor lodge. cool place too...jus tt e dishwasher started foaming and there was a big puddle of bubbles plus foam plus soap in front of it by 9pm. btw..if i didn mention it..e sun only starts setting at 9pm there. so at like 8pm..it looks like its jus 5pm. we had a junk food orientated meal..then went to bed.
e next day, we took a shuttle(which is more of like a big cab really) to e city area where we took e coach headed for picton. we stopped by kaikoura..where we had initially planned to stay at b4 we changed our mind a week b4 going on e holiday. there was whale watching there..n due to lack of time..we reluctantly decided not to go for it. n its a good thing we didn. cos..e sea was violently rough tt day..n it was not suitable weather condition for whale watching. so..phwee..=) we walked arnd..n we SO wanted to eat e crayfish there..a pity we only had 30min at kaikoura b4 e coach departed. so oh well. we reached picton at like..1pm. our interislander ferry to e wellington in e north island was at 6pm..so we wandered arnd picton. first we went for lunch..at e toot n whistle restaurant..haha..nice name really. the food was great. =) the fries were like..4 times as thick as mcdonald fries.then we walked arnd the area. i wasn very stable yet..from the super bumpy coach ride..so i was kinda..abt to faint? oh welz. oh yes..did i mention tt in e first cab ride tt i took, the radio was playing, " break away" =) ok..tt was out of point. as i was saying..we were abt to faint. wait no. i was abt to faint. so we quickly went to e super market to buy stuff for dinner on e ship..cos e food on board was reali ex. we bought cheese tomthumbs and i got myself a can of smoked tuna. dad insistently bought a can of lemon and ginger flavoured tuna. revolting i thought it. i tld him nt to..bt NO..he wldn listen..he said " I will eat it. and dun u ask me for a single bit later when u realize ur smoked tuna aint nice." i was like..fine. then we went to e aquarium beside e ferry terminal. there was this cool shop tt sold all types of rocks n minerals n fossils. bro n i were fascinating over agate, flourite, nautilus shells etc.. i bought a nice polished piece of rose quartz for jamie koh. haha..why? it's pink. ;) then we went to e terminal. boarded e ship. great view..great scenary..great everything. e wind was cool too. the waves rocked..=)when e ship started moving..we were like..wow. we could even lean forward on e deck and not fall with e wind supporting us by blowing against us. we stayed quite awhile on e deck..eating fries and "cheese n' onion" pringles. we then ate the cheese tomthumbs and the tuna. my dad tried e smoke one. then he ate his.then he asked me.." what flavour is tt ur eating again?" i tld him smoked..then he was like.."maybe i shd hv gotten smoked."haha. then i started nauseating. urgh. i puked an entire sick bag full of vomit while in e toilet. a nice member of e crew then asked me to go to e back of e ship cos it wldn be so rocky there. i saw these ppl lying horizontally on e floor there..i wondered why..until i tried lying horizontally. haha..it actually works..it makes u not nauseate..cos ur guts dun start bobbing up n down with e ship.ok..tt was seriously gross. forget it. in attempt to stop nauseating..i tried to focus on sumthn else. got to this souvenir machine tt wld melt ur 5 cent coin n make into a "interislander" coin with e name of e ship on it. in this case..aratere.nz's reali interesting. cos lik..in singapore..e street names r either english or malay. over there..e street names are either english or maori. so are the waterfalls, lakes, etc.
We got off e ship at like 9 plus. only to be horrified. we took a free shuttle to the "downtown backpackers inn". it was e cheapest tt we had booked..cos my mum wanted to jus give e backpackers inn a try. guess wad they had? an unfriendly reception, two cranky lifts tt looked lik they wld crumble any sec, a sleazy pub on e 2nd floor. in e room, two double decked beds, one tt shook everytime i turned, n e other made squeaky noises. e toilet stinked, n there was something blackish under the foam tt stil remained in e bathtub. the sink was yellowish, n the toilet paper was SUPER thin. i MEAN thin.anyways...so well..i decided not to bath tt day..so did e rest..lik..seriously..dun u tink we'd be cleaner if we didn bath..=s..n in e middle of night, there were guys shouting as they walked down e corridor " ladies..u alone?" i was like..*slaps face* tt was wellington. n we actually booked a backpackers inn for auckland too, which we wld be travelling to by train e next day..bt we just HAD to change it..cos e nex one was worse. they didn hv toilets in e room. they had shared toilets.>.<
Nex day! woke up, went to e shopping mall, Two Double 7 and ate Mc breakfast. e cab driver from e previous nite tld us we cud by EVRYTHN we needed there. bt like..how to? tt place's smaller than half of jurong point. =(
so we went to e victoria park mall by busES, notice e plural. tt place rocked! it was full of cool stuf. there was another rocks n minerals shop there which so excited my bro. i bought another sheep, pendants for suern n jamie chin each, n mum bought lanolin hand cream. it reali works. then we TRIED to get back to e motel to get our baggage. we got lost. so e cab driver whose cab we had booked had to come down n drive us back to e motel before going to e airport. at e airport, we did loads of last minute shopping at e duty free shops. got stuf for most of e guys there. including kiwi sweets for kinonn/kimberly.=p.
on e plane, it was so great to hear e singaporean accent again. =) n see stacks of straits times. =) i had fun watching movies all e time..amazing time flew. n there was this moment when an apple rolled thru e curtain( i was sitting at e front row, jus in front of e kitchen). i caught it..n then after awhile an air stewardess popped her head out, giggling and apologizing. she was so cute. haha..wel..when i got off..boy was i high. i started laughing at EVRYTHN. i tink e airport staff guy, who had a SUPER singaporean accent, who started shouting for " passengers transiting to jakarta", triggered it off. evryone was lik looking at me..=p
got back, had a bathe, felt comfy at home. then i checked my email. *shock shock horror horror* new assignments from heymath.>.<..did one of e assignments, then slept. wel, tt was my holiday! it was great. n btw, during one of e meals at mac, i noticed this on e paper on e tray:
Mcdonald's cooperation with the new zealand traffic police ( Nga Pirihimana Aotearoa)
Make it click TM
Kids you must remember
When your in the car
It doesnt make a difference if ur going near or far
If ur in e front seat
or if r in e back
Click goes ur seatbelt,
before you hit the track
Click goes ur seatbelt
Click,click,click!
When you take a ride you gotta belt up quick
Tell your famililes and your friends that that's the trick
Click goes your seat belt.
Make it Click!
cute isnt it?
i love new zealand..bt singapore's stil e most comfy of all..
ps.i noe tt was a REALI long post. u cant blame me k? it's 8 days of almost-pure fun! =p..jus kiddin..i noe i m lor sor. sori!
btw..here's e link to the online album..only uploaded 1/3 of it cos e bandwidth's REALI big..so until i upload e rest..here's e url. it'll be e same throughout. http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAN2bNkybtW7g4
love ya dearies loads!! *hugssss*
<< *take my hand*
9:11 AM
back to the past; *
- ~*~*~*~-