Welly I love you (2)

To be honest, I've only spent ONE DAY at Wellington. Just one day to explore as much as I can. Like that's enough? heck. NO!


My only regrets so far is not being able to spend more time in Wellington. I wholeheartedly believed that Wellington has so much more to offer than Auckland. Seriously, after I had been to Welly, I love it so much more compared to Auckland.


Welly has more architectural buildings to feast the eyes. Welly has more art and cultural places to satisfy my interest. Welly has more places for shopping to excite me. Welly is so beautiful that I love it at first sight. I really wished I'd had more time to explore Wellington. I'm sure it would be fun!



In my short stay here, I managed to go to The Beehive a.k.a. the Parliament House! I took the tour inside NZ parliament house which was really beautiful however we were not allowed to take any photos or videos due to security reasons. Therefore, I can only keep my experience to myself^^


When you are in Wellington, Te Papa Museum is NOT to be missed for sure. You have not been to Wellington if you had not been to Te Papa Museum I tell you! The entrance is FREE anyway!


Te Papa Museum is the best place for you to learn about NZ history and progress throughout the years. It is the most interactive museum I have ever been in my life. Although I am no museum fan, but I think Te Papa Museum can even attract non-museum goer such as myself to liked it!



See? how great Te Papa Museum is! It is really very interactive and you won't get boring at all. For once, I think museum is not so bad after all. Provided that ALL museums are as good as Te Papa^^


Museum of City & Sea is also a very nice place to go. It is a smaller scale compared to Te Papa but it is just as fascinating. It focuses more on the sea and freight development in NZ. Again, the best part would be = FREE ENTRANCE!!!!!


I didn't get to go to Botanical Garden nor take the cable car though due to limited time on hand. However, since it's winter so I don't think I'll missed much. Most of the trees ad flower shrubs probably are barren anyway ;p The cable car ride is roughly about NZD3.00 one way I think.



Lampton Quay!!! Shopping paradise!!!!! High-end shopping heaven for all! Not that I have that kind of money to splurge hahahaha~ I personally think that you'll see the most people walking in Lampton Quay. Buying power in NZ is quite promising I should say ;p


I wished I had that kind of money though. I wanna go shopping too~ Retail therapy is really a girl's best friend! And I have had not had my therapy for quite some time already~~~



Besides those places I have mentioned above, Welly has a lot more arts and theaters you can visit. Welly is really an art and cultural place I would say.



Apart from arts, Welly is also the capital city of NZ. That means you'll not run short of night life entertainment here. Welly has a thriving nightlife smacked right in the middle of the city. It is usually within walking distance from many backpackers or motels. You can get any types of clubs or bars to suit your taste.


You can even get some adult entertainment if you so wish^^

Welly I love you~

On our way to Wellington, we made a stop at Palmerston North because it's a-must for Godzilla. It's been on her list since forever and she never can stop reminding us about it. Reason being is because there's a shop there selling genuine silver LOTR necklace. Yup, THE Arwen Evenstar Necklace.


It's not cheap though but it's special. Especially holdｓ dear by LOTR fans. It holds even dearer meaning to Godzilla too^^


Just a quick stop therefore I can't really explore Palmerston North but at a quick glance, it is bigger than I expected. In fact, it was actually quite a nice town. Kinda feels like a shopping heaven to all. I see nice big malls around^^ But that's about it. I don't know anything else beyond it.


The drive to Wellington was uneventful. We reached after dark and we've been searching high and low for a place to stay. Most of the backpackers are full and some that aren't were charging exorbitant rate that makes us gulping like a fish. The wind was strong and cold and we were hungry as we have not had our dinner yet. It really feels suck! Probably because it's Friday night (read: weekend) so a lot people are there staying in town.


Finally we stayed at the first backpackers that we surveyed on. The rate was not cheap, but given the situation and other prices been quoted to us, yeah it suddenly felt reasonable. The fact that it is located at a hill is not a biggie. But the fact that our room is at the 3rd floor, yeah that's a real biggie.


Imaging lugging all our heavy luggages up the stairs, oh my God that is a nightmare! Luckily the receptionist girl was kind enough to allow us to store our unused luggages in their store room. We understand that this is not allowed, but she's just a dear as she let us do it. That really helps alot. Or we will be sore all over.


The stay at Rosemeade Backpackers was not bad really. Albeit the stair climbing. It has got free continental breakfast provided daily from 7-9am. Free tea, coffee and hot chocolate for all!


Weeeee~~~ me love hot chocolate!!!!

A lazy week

This is probably the most unfortunate week for me here in NZ. After the ski in Mt Ruapehu, I fall sick immediately. Must be the cold and snow, my body cannot keep up with the extreme temperature hence it decided to give up on me.

It is really horrible to travel when your head feels heavy and hot. Your whole body felt like weighed a ton and your energy just seeps away. All you want to do is just to sleep and will the fever to go away. Not just fever, I even caught the cough virus. Double trouble!

Seriously, I took nearly a week time to recuperate. Not just me, Dinosaur and Godzilla too succumbed to sickness. Our room was like a viral quarantine room where all are patients. Only Twister who's immune system is strong enough to counter any germs and virus. She even survived nearly scratch-less having been living together with 3 sick patients. Thumbs up to Twister!

The fever was not the worse case. I could just lie on bed and sleept. The worst would be cough.

In. The. Middle. Of. The. Night.

Numerous night I woke myself up due to sudden cough. It was so bad that I can't sleep and keeps me awake. To avoid waking others up too, I had no choice but to eat a sweet every night the moment I started to cough badly. Probably not so good for my dental hygiene, but at that moment I couldn't care much.

In between sleep, I also managed to explore the town of Hastings, Napier and Havelock North. Briefly.

Maybe because we were all sick, we really haven't got much enthusiasm to explore our surroundings. Personally, I think Hastings is nothing to shout about. Nothing much worth exploring here. The only exception is the Rush Monro's Ice Cream Parlour.

For your information, Rush Monro's is a premium ice cream here in NZ. The first ever ice cream parlour is here in Hastings. A charming little place but the operating hours in winter is short! Thank god we were right on time hence we got ourselves a nice tub of banana ice cream.

oooh la laaa~ It was heavenly! I absolutely loves it. It's rich creamy texture with the wonderful aroma of bananas are heavenly. I wouldn't mind finishing the whole tub myself ngek ngek ngek;p

Next, we went to Napier. Not what I expected either. Apart from walking at the beach coast, which was lovely by the way, we wanted to go visit the old prison. However, the charges were exorbitant thus we decided not to enter after all. A visit to Napier is not complete with some wine sampling^^

We tried wine sampling at two different winery estates and the experience is really quite nice. From here we learn a little bit more about wine making and stuff like that. Some wines we liked, some we don't.

After some tasting, I finally understood my preference in wine. I prefer midly sweet wine like chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. I don't quite fancy dry, sour wine like merlot. However, there's an exception though. There's a wine that mixes merlot and something else's which I quite like.

As for white wine or red wine, I think I prefer white wine and champagne. Call it sparkling wine if you like^^

Lastly, we visited Havelock North for the Arataki Honey Centre (the honeys are real cheap here! can't beat the price anywhere else's in NZ I reckon) and Te Mata Peak.

Te Mata Peak was really unbelievable. The wind I mean. The wind was so strong that it almost blew me off. If people says Wellington has really strong winds, wait til they are at Te Mata Peak. The wind here is 10x stronger than Welly's. I'm serious when I said I almost got blown away. In fact, you can see cars are shaking from the wind itself. The gushes of cold strong wind are definitely a force to reckoned with.

So that's it. That's the sum of my lousiest week in NZ. My health I mean.

Ski! Snow! I Like!

When we talked about winter, the first thing that come to mind would be snow and Christmas. Growing up in Malaysia means that I have not have the opportunity to experience four season in a year. I have only known summer in my entire life therefore you can imagine how ecstatic I was when I get to see snow for the first time.

On the drive from Taupo to Ohakune the view of the snow capped Mt Ruapehu was awesome. The faraway mountain gets closer and closer as I drove, the snow gets clearer and clearer. The weather was absolutely perfect hence the view of Mt Ruapehu was perfect. Absolutely gorgeous!

The main reason we went there is to ski. And touch snow of course. Not forgeting snowman ;p We stayed two nights at Arawa Lodge and its probably one of the wisest choice we have made. The host, Jo is a great lady. She's very nice and friendly that she made us feel right at home immediately.

Knowing that we have never skied before, she gave us a lot of pointers like appropriate clothing, which location is best for beginners, and if that is not enough, she even personally inspect each of us to see if we are good to go to ski.

Unfortunately, none of us were. In fact, we never knew that we were so ill equipped until then. We seriously realized that we are not prepared for snowing type of winter at all. It is really a reality check for us lolz.

Jo is ever the nice lady, she even loaned us her ski jackets, thermal wear, numerous wool sweaters and stuff. She taught us to pile up our clothing with only wool material in order to keep us warm. Absolutely no cotton and jeans as it will get wet. Fleece is still alright but thermal wear is a must, then layered with 2 or 3 wool shirts/sweaters.

If you are not warm, then your ski experience will be a miserable one because you can't enjoy it due to the cold. She also suggested that for beginner, we should take the Whakapapa Track whereas for the more experience ones they can go to Turoa.

At Whakapapa, we signed up for the beginner's ski lesson and we learned basic ski skill for like, an hour? or maybe two, can't really keep track. We were taught how to position our body correctly to ski, how to stop and how to walk? Yeah basically is how to ski and how to stop.

Skiing is not as easy as I thought. It's harder, but with the poles for leverage, I think it's easier than ice skating. Kinda gives me more security? Anyway, surfice to say I've fell on my side, bum numerous time that day. I have accidentally clashed with other people and also being crashed into as well. Quite a dangerous zone to me, the beginner ski field. Although it is a gentle slope, but still, plenty of people there. It really felt crampy. Everywhere you turn, there's people, young and old.

Before we head back Arawa Lodge, it started to snow. OMG! It's snowing! Damn cold lor the wind. Snow flakes are really really tiny that it's not too much difference from raining actually. The snow texture are like those snowflakes we eat at dessert stall. Really similar.

Anyway, I was really happy to be able to experience it. i can proclaimed that I knew how to ski *a lousy skier*My only regret is not having the proper ski gloves or leather gloves on therefore I can't make snowman cuz my knitted gloves will get wet if I handled the snow for period of time. I can't play snow fights either due to the high human traffic there. It'll look really silly to have snow fights in a ski field where everyone else's were skiing or trying to.

But that only spur up my determination to ski for another time. This time, I will have the appropriate clothing that's for sure. And a leather gloves too!

Adrenaline Rush in Taupo

For those who likes to challenge death itself would definitely know where to go, where not to be missed. Adrenaline junkies will definitely direct you to Taupo without a doubt. For those who doesn't know, Taupo is a place where all the extreme sports can be found practically under one roof.

Sky dive, bungy jump, cliff hanger, jet boating, paragliding, you name it. Of course, not forgetting the iconic Lake Taupo, which is practically the size of Singapore. Yes! It is THAT huge! Lake Taupo is great for trout fishing too but you need a license though.

As we were there, we definitely cannot missed visiting the crystal clear water of the famous Huka Falls and Aratiatia Dam. The rapids are a sight to behold. The water were clear with greenish colour to it. Aratiatia Dam will open the door to release water everyday at 10am, 12pm and 2pm. It last bout half an hour. It's really quite a nice view too when you see the clear calm water of Waikato River (the longest river in NZ) where you can see the bottom of it. And the next minute when the door was open, water gushing into the river disrupting the calm water.

Definitely a sight to behold. And it's free entertainment too^^

I went to Huka Honey Hive too to sampled their honeys and also their infamous fudges and premium honey ice cream^^ Gosh the Puhutukawa Honey Ice Cream was definitely sinful!!!! It was absolutely delicious that you felt like you were in heaven! Absolutely amazing! It was slightly expensive though for a single scoop (small) it's NZD4.00 . But then again, bear in mind that this is a premium ice cream that's home made everyday. You can't get it anywhere else! Definitely worth a try if you are there.

Their honeys weren't cheap though. Pretty expensive actually. However, they do have other special honeyed stuff such as honey mead and honey alcohol. I didn't managed to sampled any though as the staff there were busy serving "adults". We probably looked too young in her eyes to have any alcohol. So I can't vouch how it tasted like, sorry guys^^

Other than sight seeing and food tasting, we did do some extreme stuff. Most of us paid a lump sum to terrify ourselves with crazy activities such as skydiving and bungy jumping. Yeah I know, we are a bunch of crazy tourist ;p

Initially, I was adamant to just jump off from plane at 12,000ft only. I mean after all, it's just for an experience right? So I don't really have to fork out another 100 bucks to jump at 15,000 ft right? RIGHT??

But then, my friends all took a combo package for bungy and skydive and their package was at 15,000 ft. DAMN!!!! How? how?? should I just jump alone or should I upgrade my package to 15,000ft as well in order to be able to jump with them????

Damn dilemma lor. I really don't want to be alone as it starts to feel pretty scary the whole sky diving thing. Finally, I upgraded my package to 15,000ft as well to "be with them". At least until the last moment? What the heck, if I wanna die, I might as well die properly.

The people at I-Site said that people here in Taupo is more friendly and attentive compared to South Island so we decided to jump here. And it's slightly cheaper too. But heck, not really lor. The people at the counter IS friendly, but our tandem instructor weren't THAT friendly and attentive lor.

I mean, for first timer, I'm sure you can imagine our apprehension and fear. Not only that, we have no knowledge whatsoever so we definitely need people to guide us right? Of the three of us who signed up, ONLY Twister's tandem master was really nice and attentive. She, yes SHE gaves pointers and tips for Twister which I stayed nearby to eavesdropped blatantly. Reason being was because I can't locate MY tandem master yet. He's out there jumping off a plane.

Yup, apparently pretty much all the tandem masters and cameramen were jumping off the plane again and again and again. Over and over again ever hour, depending on the crowd.

So when my tandem master touched the ground, my camera man introduced him to me and we barely exchange pleasantries, he already lead me to the plane. Damn I just had to be sitting nearest to the door. Means I will be the first to jump off.

Gosh it was really quite a scary ride in my life but my tandem master was singing and making jokes like we were taking a stroll in the park. My cameraman was even eating snacks! Talk about nonchalant!!!! Here I was fearing for my life and cursing myself for doing this, there they were goofing around and eating. Seriously, if they offered me food, I wouldn't be taking it either for fearing I'll throw up due to nervousness.

Finally at 12,000ft, some people jumped off the plane and I get to see it right in front of my eyes. That didn't allay my fear at all. If possible, I get even more nervous. When you see the ground from 12,000ft in the air, AND you think you'll be jumping off a plane - utter madness!

Despite I have always said that I wanted to skydive over and over again. When I'm on the plane, I can feel that my bravery has deserted me little by little. The higher we get the more anxious I get. My tandem master did have small chats with me but I think its not enough still. I actually hoped to be able to bond with him so that I will feel less nervous but alas, I probably hoped too much.

After all, these people jumped off the plane over and over again. They probably jumped 15x a day so what's my jump matter to them? It matters greatly to me because it's my first but them? it's their everyday thing-.-" My tandem master did give me some pointers and instruct me this and that, well all basic simple stuff. I think I'm still lucky though because Dinosaur's tandem master barely even spoke to him. I think his bond with his tandem master is almost zero.

The moment he said, "this is it, let's go!" I was like, SHIT!!! WHAT??? SO FAST???? ME FIRST??? WHY????? GOD I'M SCARED!!!!!! HELP!!!! MOMMY!!!!!!!!

Of course, all these are played in my mind only. I didn't utter a single embarrassing words like that ok? But I seriously am feeling that. Paiseh to say that hurhurhur. When we take exit photo before we jump, I was really really nervous especially I know I'm strapped to my tandem master only and I'm hanging in the air literally.

Trying to maintain my cool and smile for the camera, once it clicked suddenly I felt a push and I'm floating in the air!!!!!! WHAT????? I've jumped off the plane and now falling at 200mph down to earth!!! WTF!!!!!

According to Twister's TM, 60 seconds of freefall is photography time so have to look out for the cameraman and capture as many photos as possible whereas once the parachute is released, then it's time for sight seeing. Things like this my TM didn't mentioned to me, luckily i eavesdropped on Twister lolz.

So, eventhough I'm scared shitless, I still have to try and maintain my cool and look at the camera and smile, goddammit! When the lady strapped on my harness gear on the ground, she mentioned that if we smile then our photos will turn out better as our cheek wouldn't be wobbly due to the strong wind. And I took her words to heart and smiled throughout my freefall.

Except that when the photos were released, I doesn't looked like I was smiling. Instead, I looked like an idiot with my mouth open which barely resembles a smile. I looked silly. When I showed my photos to my friends that night, they laughed like there's no tomorrow -.-" It is bad enough that the photos does not resemble me I don't know why but it's true, Dinosaur actually commented that I looked like a chipmunk-.-"

My life is ruined. My photos were ruined. My video is darn stupid. My whole experience captured on camera looks like a joke. I feel so damn depressed actually. I paid a hefty fortune but i felt like I was at the end of a joke. This was supposed to be a proud moment to shared with others but instead, I can't bring myself to show mine to anyone. It's just too ugly. Mad hideous!!! No, I won't show you my photos or videos! Don't even think of it

That apart, once the parachute was released, finally I get the time to take a view of my surroundings. The view was breathtaking. The lake looked gorgeous from up above and the snow capped mountains. It was really brilliant and the weather was perfect. That's when I said to myself, "I can't believe I did that! I did it and I am so proud of myself."

I used to think that this is an exciting experience which I will not missed it for the world and will attempt it with gusto.

Don't get me wrong, I still think that this is an exciting experience that I would not trade it for anything in this world. I'm very proud that I did it and at 15,000ft some more at that. However, I think crazy things like this once is enough. Don't think I'll ever attempt it again though. My heart isn't that strong I think. lolz

True to my words then and now, I will attempy sky dive but not bungy. I did not try bungy. Even though many people said "hye, since you jumped 15,000ft already, what's a couple hundred feets means to you?" I know, bungy should look pale in comparison to sky dive but I still can't make myself to do it. Looking down from the cliff suddenly that couple hundreds of feets is so damn high.

I'm proud of them who did it though. I wished I could be braver and attempt it but alas, I'm not that brave. Too bad^^

City of Sulphur

Hello there...I'm back again^^v


Continued from my previous post, today I'll share with you my experience in Rotorua - the city of sulphur. I dubbed it the City of Sulphur because it smelt of sulphur pretty much most of the time. It is famous for its geothermal activities due to its strategic location in volcanic area I suppose.


If you head to Kuirau Park, you'll get to see mud pools and hot pools for free. Most other places will charge you an arm and a leg for to see almost the same thing, but probably bigger version. For example, Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland charge NZD32.50 per adult to see their hot pools, mud pools and craters etc.


Personally, after awhile, all geothermal spots kinda look the same already. It no longer held the wow effect. Especially when you paid to see the same thing over and over again. I have been to Rotorua twice afterall.


The weather was not really promising for us as it keeps raining. Raining means no outdoor activities for us. Luckily in between showers, we managed to squeezed in some activities still.


Despite the weather, we managed to go to Rainbow Springs to see kiwi and their nocturnal life at night. Besides Rainbow Springs, we also experienced the Skyline Rotorua - the gondola and luge ride. Luge is really fun and it's so simple really. You just sit there and hold the bar to manuevre left right speed and stop. Simpler than driving automated transmission car I tell you!


We even hold a illegal racing among the four of us and I came in second! Hahahaha I mentioned it's illegal because the sign there written no racing ;p Guess we just can't follow the rules to the dot afterall.


We also went to Wai=O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland to see more geothermal spots and geyser. We wanted to see the infamous Lady Knox Geyser which erupts daily at 10:30am. Fascinated isn't? Why 10:30am daily? Without fail? How do you do that?????


The answer is pretty simple really. Because it's controlled by human that's why. And how can human control such thing? Simple. Because long long time ago, some human accidently found out that the geyser will erupt when you throw a soap into it. The stories goes back to dunno how long ago, some people are doing their washing there and accidently dropped a soap which triggered the geyser to erupt.


There, the secret for the geyser to erupt at 10:30am is out now. It smelled wonderful too. Rotten egg smell -.-"



The rest of the trip in Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland was to see more and more of geothermal spot, hole, pool etc. And it rained too. Damn we had to carry an umbrella with us all the time. Such inconvenience!


We also went to Kerosene Creek, which is free natural hot pool for public. It's located in a secluded area in between Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland and Rotorua town *the same highway to Taupo, I can't recalled which SH though*


It's really beautiful there as the nature beauty is untouched by civilization. The hot vapour from the creek gives the place a magical feeling. Like you were in some magical place faraway and out of this world. Truly exquite. You can dip your feet in the hot water or bettter still, you can just soak your weary, tired body there.



Too bad we can't as we went unprepared. We did not have our bathing suits with us and we didn't even had proper shoes on either. So we just take a look at it and go. Oh, and we even get to see a fantastic rainbow too. Really clear, full rainbow! Totally awesome!



One week in Rotorua come and go. In between rain showers, we even managed to do some shopping spree! I tell you, I think I spent the most here in Rotorua than in anywhere else in NZ. I think I bought the most things here.


Rotorua is also a place to pamper one self. We went to Hell Gate for their infamous mud spa. Trust me, this is really not to be missed! If I ever go to Rotorua again, Hell Gate will definitely be on my list. The top on my to-do list.


On our last day, we were really lucky to be able to experience white water rafting in Kaituna River - which were really popular for it's 7m waterfall. The adventure trip was really exhilirating and I don't even know where to begin. We were given wet suits and briefing before we reached the river and the next thing I know, I'm in the boat, paddling towards the waterfall!



I'll never forget my first ever water rafting experience for a long long time. I wished the whole adventure will last longer though. An hour in the water is way to short a time.



I think this summarizes my second trip to Rotorua. I didn't do the zorb though, although it's originated here in Taupo. I didn't visit the Maori's cultural village too as it's really very very the expensive and I can't really afford it. I'll probably regret not able to eat hangi *Maori's traditional meal cook in earth oven* but well, moolah IS a factor here baby!