Lake Tekapo

I believe Lake Tekapo is one of the most beautiful place in New Zealand. If you were here in south island especially, you should not give this a miss. Definitely most come.

Lake Tekapo is famous for its powdery blue water lake. It's in that colour due to the minerals in the water and rocks and stuff. To know more about the geology, you may google it;p The Good Sheperd Church and the Coolie Dog statue were probably the most photographed too.

For a simple minded girl like me, Lake Tekapo is fascinating due to its unusual colour and also the scenic background of southern Alps. Snow capped southern Alps in the winter is really a view to behold.

Of course, nearby, there's also quite a few beautiful lakes such as Lake Pukaki, Lake Alexandrina and Lake McGregor.

One of the biggest attraction in Lake Tekapo is the Earth & Sky Observatory in Mt John. This is the best place to view stars and moon and galaxies and also the aurora. If you are lucky, you may get to see Aurora Australis!

Well, I wasn't that lucky. I only managed to see the moon surface, and some zodiacs stars, some unique constellations...and also the milky way! Not too bad ay? Their powerful telescope is really amazing as it allows us to see stars that are a few million light years away.

Apart from that, if you have some cool DSLR cameras, they will also help you to take beautiful pictures of the milky way and moon. Truly amazing when your own camera can capture such beautiful view. Too bad mine is just a normal digital camera. Can't do that lol ;p

Besides the observatory, I have had the most sashimi in my life here in Mt Cook, slightly further from Lake Tekapo. The Alpine Salmon farm sells the freshest salmon sashimi, smoked salmon and fresh salmon fillets to all. Previously, I hardly take raw fish but this sashimi was different. It was so fresh so tender that it practically melt in your mouth! It was absolutely delicious!

If it come out from someone who don't eat sashimi, I bet you can take my word on it ^^v

After filling our tummy, we went to Mt Cook to take a look at the famous Tasman Glacier. A short walk of Tasman Walk will lead to the river with glaciers floating around in the powdery blue water. Not a bad sight! Not like we get to see glaciers everyday lol.

We just snap snap snap away to our heart content ^^v

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^^

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!

Waitomo Black Water Rafting

Since I don't know when I can get by free internet again so i thought I will drop by and write a short entry or something just to keep everyone updated on my current status ^.^v

After our trip to Hamilton Garden, we head down to Waitomo Cave for cave trekking! No, I'm just kidding horhorhor. As you remember from my previous post I mentioned that we left Hamilton Garden as the sun sets hence how can I explore Waitomo Cave? We just went to Waitomo to book the trip and also looking for accomodation.

The sky is pitched black when we reached Raft, Rap & Rock. Everyone's tired and no one wants to look elsewhere for accomodation so we decided to stay at the hostel there since the price is really not too bad and we have coupon for discount! Seriously, this is one of the few time that we actually remembers to use discount coupons that we had. Most of the time, we won't remember and ended up paying for much more-.-"

We were practically squealing when the owner said the bed comes with electric blanket and a heater. ELECTRIC BLANKET!!!!! I have never use one and I really don't mind trying it;p

The place was really very tidy and clean. A charming house that consist of 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 toilet, dining hall and living room. We stayed there for 2 nights and on the second night, we practically have the whole house to ourselves! Isn't great???? Seriously, I think the rating on BBH on that place is way below par. I think it deserve so much better than 68%.

Apart from accomodation, we signed up the black water rafting at 9am. I like the fact that they organise small group only. Max is 6pax and we have nicely 6 people (plus UK couple). Our guide, Simon, was really a fun and fantastic guide. We couldn't ask for a better one. He's funny and interactive and he knows his stuff well.

The ride to the cave is bout 15 minutes, then we reached their hub where we get our wet suits and don it before we start the expedition. Seriously, donning the wetsuit is quite challenging. It's so tight that it fits snugly on your body which is good to keep you warm. But at the same time, wearing it is quite an art itself. Being a first timer, let's just say I don't think I look pretty wearing it. In fact, I quite think that I resemble some poor penguins-.-"

Anyhow, after donning the wetsuits and boots, we head to the cave. Before we enter the cave hole, we were given a lesson in correct way of tying the ropes and also all the safety rules to adhere. When this is done, here we go.

First thing to do is to abseil 27m down into the cave. I was really looking forward to abseiling because I have never tried it before. 27m seems quite short a distance as I managed to go down without a hitch. In fact, it was not what I expected. It was much easier than I thought!

Once everyone is down, we walked in the water into the cave and see glowworms, then black water rafting in the currents and rock climbing back up the same way we got down. The glowworms are really beautiful. It kinda like watching stars at night.

As for the black water rafting, it isn't anything that's super challenging like the white water rafting really. It's just tubing in the water. Since it's a cave, hence its dark so the name "black". It doesn't have any rapids, just water flowing by. But it was really fun though. I really like tubing.

Everyone is given a rubber tube like a tyre and sit on it then flow with the water. I always started last but somehow I always ended up first to reach! I have no idea why as I wanted to enjoy the experience more but I kept emerging at the finishing line way too quick-.-"

Climbing back to the top is not too hard as well. Even for people who doesn't have much stamina can do it so I don't think anyone will have any problem doing it. Once done, we went back to the hub to have a quick shower at their basic bathroom before heading back to the office to view the photos and drank complimentary soup.

The whole trip wasn't too bad. In fact, i quite enjoyed it. It was pretty fun. What surprises me the most during the whole trip is the camera. The camera that our guide uses to snaps photos of us. That camera is like, sooo ancient! Who else uses those kind of camera these days????? The fact that that camera is water proof is great but then the photo quality is not really up to our standard. Photos taken were not really crisp and clear hence we thought this is kinda a waste.

Then again, it's better than none right? We shared with the UK couple for a copy of the photos and this save us some dollar. It was then only I know that we can all share a copy to save some pennies. Not bad considering as a backpackers, we need to be frugal at all time!

Hehehehe so this is my experience on the Waitomo Black Water Rafting.

Hamilton Garden

When our business is done in Auckland, we headed down south. We made a stop in Hamilton and visited the famous Hamilton Garden. Hamilton Garden is a very huge park actually and it consist of many gardens. The most famous one has got to be the landscaped garden that features 6 different type of garden concept.

As I have mentioned that Hamilton Garden is a huge park, we kinda got lost. Well, I didn’t expect it to be so big that Landscaped garden was just a PART of it! It was getting dark as sunset in winter is much earlier than usual and we were walking around the park looking for the landscaped garden.

We accidentally covered a few other garden such as Rose Garden; which barely has any roses due to wrong season of the year and also we walked to the Waikato River, which is practically a dead end. We had to retraced our steps to find other routes that can lead us to the Landscaped garden.

Finally, we found it! By then, the sun has practically set so we had to rushed to all 6 garden and take photos in record time. They had the Chinese Scholarstic Garden, Japanese Garden, English Garden, American Modern Garden, Italian Garden and Indian Garden.

Each of the garden is beautifully designed and photo worthy. Finally the guard has to shoo us off as its getting really dark already. And the most foolish thing is, we realized that the Landscaped Garden was located just at the left of the Main Entrance. We missed it because we took a right turn at the entrance and we walked, circled the big pond with duckies in it!

That wrong turn actually wasted our precious time to be in the Landscaped Garden. Not that it was not beautiful along the way, it is. Just that we were pretty late reaching there hence limit is a factor to us. All in all, we still get to see what we wanted to albeit the short time. So, can’t complain.

If I get to visit Hamilton again, this time I will go there early and spend a couple of hours walking leisurely and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Trust me, it is really well worth a trip there again. The greenery will definitely appeal to you, even if you are not a nature person.

I know, because I am not too! ^^v

I might be wrong, but I think it is best to visit Hamilton Garden in the Spring. Spring is when all flowers are blooming so you get to enjoy the Rose Garden at its most glorious. Since I went in the winter, the Rose Garden was practically barren with only one or two miserable roses.

Back to Auckland Again

At one point, it started to feel that each time we were in Auckland, we surely made at least a trip to the car workshop. It was always one problem or the other. This time, I think we made three trips to the workshop to fix this and that.

At the same time, we renewed the WOF (Warrant of Fitness). WOF is compulsory in order for the car to remain on the road. It’s kinda like Road Tax in Malaysia, except that in Malaysia, we can renew our Road Tax yearly easily whereas WOF required the car to be inspected and certified fit on the road before WOF is issued. If I am not mistaken, WOF is done twice a year.

This time around, our stay in Auckland is pretty much free and easy. We spent most of the time shopping, eating and working on the car. Finally, I get the opportunity to visit the most happening shopping centre in Auckland – Silvia Park.

Well, it was nothing much to shout really. Malaysia definitely has much bigger malls everywhere. However, I think malls this size are norm in NZ. It’s not bad really. Apart from Silvia Park, we went to Dressmart too.

Honestly, Dressmart is my fav! It’s kinda like factory outlet stores where quite a few major brands – local or international brand will sell of out of season clothes or stock clearance stuff at dirt cheap prices. Big names that I’m sure everyone will recognize are such as Levi’s, Lacoste, Pumpkin Patch, Esprit and so on.

If you dig deep enough, you will get quite some great stuff that’s selling at a fraction of the original price. This is what I call great buy! Since haggling is not practiced in NZ, buying good quality stuff at a low price is the next best thing for me. However, the only downside is that the shop closes at 5pm.

It kinda limit your shopping time. Over here, shopping is done early as most shop closes at 5pm or so. In smaller town, shops does not even operate on weekends! Time like this make me missed my hometown all the more. Back at home, I can go shopping all day till nightfall.

On one fine Saturday, I managed to visit the biggest flea market in Auckland – Otara Flea Market. It was quite big and happening with live band and singings going on in the central court. The flea market consist of everything you’ll ever need. They sell from vegetables, fruits to clothes and souvenirs. They even sell business suits too, no kidding!

Watching movie in NZ is a luxury affair as well. Cinema in big city charges NZD15.00 for a movie whereas in smaller town charges varies from NZD10.00 – NZD15.00.

I am not sure if I have mentioned this before but parking in Auckland will really cost you a bomb! Parking fees are so so so expensive that you’ll cringe at the amount and probably curse the day you ever thought of driving and parking in the town. They charges exorbitant fee on hourly rate. The parking rate here will put KLCC’s rate pale in comparison.

If you want to save money, my advice is don’t even dream of driving to town. Better take the bus or walk if you don’t mind walking.

Still in North Island

Hi all!

Good greetings from New Zealand!

I have been spending the last two weeks traveling part of North Island here and currently stopping at Auckland again. After this, we will head down to Waitomo for black water rafting. After that, we will head to city of sulphur - Rotorua and continues to Taupo.

In the past few weeks, we managed to cover:

1) White Island - the only active volcanic island in NZ.

2) we went to East Cape lighthouse - to see the beautiful sunrise. East Cape is the the most easterly place in the earth.

3) We went to Gisborne - the first town on earth to receive sunlight in the morning.

4) Coromandel Region - we went to Hot Water Beach to soak our feet, we went to Coromandel town to eat fresh oyster and mussels. It was really delicious albeit a little expensive.

5) Northland - we went to visit the most interesting loos in land - Kawakawa. Also, we ate the world's famous fish & chips in Mangonui. For sure, we went to Cape Reinga and 90 miles beach. Cape Reinga is the most northen part of NZ^^ IT is also where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collides.

Yup, that's about all. We will continue our journey and I shall update my travel log as soon as I get the chance. Well, as you know, internet is a luxury here so whenever I can online I'm like on cloud nine!!!! Trust me, I'm really that happy to get internet connection!!!

okay people, time for me to go sleep already as tomorrow will be a long day. Will keep you post soon!

Stay tune! ^^v

Pipi Harvesting

We also went to hunt for pipi and cockles at the beach during low tides. Pipi is a local shellfish which is very much similar with our lala, but the pipis here is so much more tasty and the texture is chewy. To collect pipis, you need to go to the popular pipi spot/bed beach during low tide and dig the sand and feel for pipis. You’ll need to go at least knee deep in the water (yes, during low tide) and start digging. The bigger ones are usually in deeper water. Just dig under the stones especially and you’ll get plentiful easily.

You must go on clear days when the water is clean and calm for best result. Normally you will see the locals collecting pipis too. If you went to the right place and see no one, means it’s not a good time as there will be people collecting all the time. Ask the locals for the best spot (in our case it’s in Waiotahi Beach or the Ohiwa Beach). In fact, there’s a signboard confirming the pipi beds too. Per person you can collect 150 pipis and cockles a day. These is quite a big amount already. Only collect the bigger ones and leave the smaller ones back on the water to ensure the ecosystem is not harmed.

For cockles, you practically can find it littered on the beach. You’ll only need to go ankle-deep in the water to find it hidden in the sand. The bigger ones usually is hidden most deep inside the sand.

The cockles here are white fleshed, not red like what we had back at home. It’s still pretty tasty but I kinda prefer the ones we had back at home. Godzilla totally don’t fancy it as pipis are her favourite.

While harvesting pipis, we have to go in the water which is pretty cold. At the same time, we need to brace the winds that keeps blowing. Well, we are at the beach so definitely there’ll be winds but cold wind and cold water is really a challenge to your immune system.

The first time we went to harvest pipis, the wind was really cold and strong and Twister was not in her best state so we decided not to go in the water. But Dinosaur and Godzilla were really gung-ho to harvest pipis hence they went and harvest pipis while we wait at car. The weather was sunny but don’t underestimate the wind man! The wind will really freeze you to your bone!

After the harvesting, Dinosaur immediately felt a little unwell. I guess the heroic attempt at pipi harvest bare-chested is not without consequences. Luckily he recover fast enough after a nap.

The second time pipi harvesting, me and Twister decided to wet our feet and go in the water this time as we probably won’t be doing this anymore because the weather has turn colder day after day. The very next day I felt sick. I knew it then that I had caught a cold. Darn!

Thank god I recover the next day after taking medication. It would definitely be so unwise to fall sick and jeopardizes my work at the packhouse. I would hate to miss a work day and thus missed the pay cheque as well.

Since all these shellfishes are embedded in the sand, we had a hard time trying to clean it and

clear the sand away. This is mostly my job, but even after rinsing it in fresh water and changing water numerous time, there’s still sand in it! Gosh! How do you clean it???

First Trip to Rotorua

It is Godzilla’s birthday and we went to Rotorua as a treat^^ She’s eager to go so we decided to comply with our birthday girl^^ We made lots of calls for all the packages and things we can do there asking for prices and duration and stuff.


Turn out, we can’t really afford most of their popular activities such as Zorb, White Water Rafting, Geyser pool and so on. All of these are quite expensive especially to people that does not have regular job and income.


In order not to disappoint her, we decided to go still, but kinda more of a window trip. That is, we will go to all the places that are free for sightseeing in order to stretch our moolah hehehehe^^


Rotorua is famous for their geyser but we have not got the opportunity to see one yet. Instead, we visited the geothermal spot in Kuirau Park. The whole park is practically splattered with steams coming out from the mud pools or cracks on the earth. The boiling mud “lake” is really a sight to behold.


Rotorua is really not some town that you will forget easily. The whole town smells of sulphur (geyser, remember?) The wind carries the rotten egg smells everywhere. The time that we went it was rainy day so it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Perhaps the rain somehow reduces the smell I think.


Lake Rotorua is also a beautiful scenic place to visit. A good spot for camwhoring I would say :p Then there’s a famous jade carving shop named Mountain Jade, It’s actually a shop selling all kinds of jade accessories and you can see the carving master doing their magic at the room behind the shop. It has glass windows for everyone to see. I think you can also go in and have a closer look if you ask the shopkeeper nicely J


Let’s see what else we’ve done there… Erm we tried their 3D Maze at somewhere outskirt of Rotorua. It cost us each NZD9 and truth to be told, it’s quite lame. It’s just a maze where you need to find your way to reach the four post at four corner and come out back to the same entrance that you entered earlier. Since it rained the day before, the maze is wet and puddle of water pools everywhere. Despite it being lame, it’s still some activity to kill time with. Seriously, not recommended. Don’t waste your time and money for it. Go for other activities, man.


We had our lunch at a buffet restaurant named Valentine’s. They had a special promotion where you don’t have to pay if it’s your birthday. The condition is that the minimum pax is four. Just nice since there’s four of us^^ The selections aren’t as extensive as some I’ve tried back in Malaysia, but the price is definitely quite affordable.


As for dinner, we had McD’s Dinner Set. (time limit is til 8:00pm) It cost about NZD29.90 and it comes with 2 cheeseburger, 1 Mighty Angus, 1 Grand Angus and four fries and drinks. The drinks is refillable. Yup, all are beef burgers but it really tasted very good. In fact, we all agreed that Mighty Angus is the best. It’s the champion of all^^


McD here don’t just serve burgers like back home. It also serves cakes and some pastries. We got Godzilla some chocolate cake as birthday cake. It taste really good and we finished it up despite being super full. A real satisfying meal I would say.


If you’ll like to know, it’s about 2 hours drive from Opotiki to Rotorua. Along the way, it’s pretty uneventful and the scene is just about the same as everywhere else. You see mountains, hills, orchards, small towns, cows, sheeps, yeah the usual.


We didn’t get to explore Rotorua to our heart content yet therefore you bet we will return again. We will definitely make another trip to Rotorua before we head to south. You can count on it^^

opotiki: Part 3

We have knocked on all three packhouses door in Opotiki but still, no job yet. Apparently, none of the packhouses has started operation yet due to the unusual warm weather they are experiencing hence the fruits not ready yet. Not really a good news for us. But nothing we can do except to wait for calls.

Speaking of calls, phone signals in Opotiki is pretty weak. Most of the time we will missed the calls due to lack of signal here and there. In fact, we have to find places where signals are stronger and angled our phone there. For example, we had to put our phones at the window sills as most of the time, signal there is slighter better.

Because of weak phone signal, we actually missed a job opportunity in Te Puke. When we received the SMS saying we had miscalled, immediately we called back but unfortunately, the person behind the phone said we were too late since we missed the call, they already called other people. Darn!

For that day, I was actually quite down lor…so sad that we actually missed a job opportunity. In uncertainty time like this, we cannot afford to miss job as our finance is getting low. However, since we already missed it, we have no choice but stay positive and hope for the best in Opotiki.

Thanks to Rachel, we managed to move 3 doors down the street from our backpacker to another backpacker, which is so much more better as we get to have the whole 3-room apartment to ourselves at the price 40.00 dollar cheaper than what we are paying now.

THIS IS A STEAL ISN’T?????

We spent a day to totally spring clean the whole apartment so that we will be comfortable there since it will be our hive for some time^^ Whatever is missing/needed we can always get it from the owner and she’s a kind lady that will provide us whatever we need. Not only that, we get to have the internet service for FREEEEEEEEEEE~~~~

This is what I call a bargain!!!!! When I heard that we can use the internet, I feel like I was on cloud nine! This is really too good to be true! We can finally connect to the world once again!

Our neighbour so happens is a Malaysian couple as well. Pretty interesting right how all Malaysian will meet each other one way or another. I was quite surprise that there’s quite a number of Malaysian in Opotiki actually as it’s a small town after all.

We were called to attend an induction by one of the packhouses here. An induction actually means a short briefing on the company dos and don’ts, the work process and procedures and finally a tour on the factory itself. It does not quaranty work, but it means you are put on “on-call list”. If they need people, they will ring you up.

Means still no job yet. Still need to wait for phone calls. Still desperate. Still free and easy. Still can play mahjong whenever we want. Yes, mahjong. Yours truly has been corrupted by them to learn and play mahjong. Learnt the basic rules already but not very good at it yet. Most of the time I’m on draught season (losing). Luckily no money involves hahahahaha^^

PHONE FASTER RING AND JOB FASTER KNOCK ON OUR DOOR ANYTIME NOW PLEASE~ !!!

Opotiki:Part 2

One fine Sunday we decided to explore what Opotiki has to offer. We decided to take a walk at Hukutaia Domain. It’s a small jungle and you walk on the trail to see birds, trees, leaves, well you know, nature? It takes approximately 30 minutes or so. A very easy relaxing nature walk for all ages.

On our way there, we passed by a honey farm of some sort. Called Hikutaia Honey. On the back of my mind I was thinking, “can we visit it?” Should be fun isn’t it?

So once we were done with the Hukutaia Domain, I suggested to them, what about make a stop on Hikutaia Honey on our way back?

And this is the beginning of our good fortune. Really.

You see, we make a stop there and enquiring if we can have a look at the honey making process but unfortunately, it was Sunday and they are not open. They were actually cleaning up the place when we arrived. Small talks and we found out that the owner’s daughter-in-law is also from Malaysia! What a coincidence right?

You see, that’s kinda make a bridge you know, seeing that we are also from Malaysia kinda makes us feel more connected. In fact the owner, Allan said if we want to, we can drop by again on Monday, when the farm is in operation so we can see the whole process ourselves.

You bet we do return. We make a date at 10am on Monday, however we were ahem, a little late. Hahahaha typical Malaysian I know ;p *blushing*

Allan was saying how his daughter-in-law must be glad to see Msians so he called her up and she was there too to meet us. Her name’s Rachel and she’s from Sabah. A very sweet nice lady.

The day before, Allan did tour us around and explained the process to us already. However, hearing it and seeing it in operation is really kinda cool.

The process goes from this, collect honey from the hives, and the honey comb is separated from wax and honey. Then the honey on the honey comb is put into a centrifuge to distilled the “pure honey” and yada yada yada…Finally it’s packed in jars and ready for consumption.

Each batch of honey they keep some sample and also send it for tested in the lab. This is what we called quality controlled, people! Mainly, they sell their honeys in drums to big players in the field. The honey wax is not left for wasted as well. It’s compressed and packed in blocks and sold to people that makes candles, soaps, handcrafts etc.

I’ve seen the wax blocks in golden yellow and brown colour. And the honey also has different colours ranges from light clear golden liquid to dark brown. We were told that they import the honey queen from Japan (if I not mistaken) Also, we were enlightened on the process of “raising” a bee hives, how to keep them survives during the winter, texture of honey from liquid to crystallized and more.

Allan showed us the queen bee and frankly speaking, I was a little disappointed as I thought queen bee is gigantic in size but it turn out nahhh….it was just slighter bigger than the regular bees. That’s all. Not as gigantic as I imagined, but bigger than the average ones lar…

Before we left, Allan was so generous and gave us two jars of honey. Yippie!!! Honey for FREEEEEEE~~~~ That’s fortune number One.

Fortune Number Two:

Rachel invited us all to her house for dinner. At first this seems like a polite offer but gosh! She really meant it. You see, later that day we were all crowded at the public phone booth right outside our backpacker and suddenly a car stopped by and a man asked Dinosaur “are you Malaysians?”

We were like, Uh-oh, what had we done? What’s going on? Dinosaur was like, “yeah~” and the man introduced himself as Steve, Rachel’s husband.

Upon hearing that then only can we release our breath with relief! Whoosh! Steve extended the invitation from Rachel to have us as their guests for dinner tonight. He said Rachel will come and picked us up at six.

At six, Rachel’s right at the front of our backpacker in her white sport-ish car. A Commodore. The interior is sleek black and red leather. Real cool. A lady vroom vroom in that baby is real classy lor~ Gaya~~

Her house is a little outskirt and beautifully surrounded by trees and kiwi orchards. In fact right behind her house is an orchard already. We take a peek at the orchard of course as it’s probably our only chance to get into an orchard. Unless we work in orchard of course, but I hoped not! Everyone’s been telling me working in orchard is really hard work.

Rachel and Steve’s house is charming and the view from it is even better. When we entered her house, we see many miniature aircrafts and helicopters model in a glass cabinet. Then we found out that Steve’s a helicopter pilot. That explains the models^^

Not only we had delicious dinner, we met their delightful daughter, Mia too. It’s really great to feel that you have friends in foreign land like this. It feels like you found some extended family members.

While we were chilling out at her place, we see some video clips on venison hunting made by Rachel with Steve as the pilot. Before we left, Steve gave us some venison meat and salami to sample.

All these good fortunes befall ever since we stepped into Hikutaia Honey Farm. It really feels like lady luck is indeed beaming down at us.

God bless!

Opotiki: Part 1

We stopped at Whakatane for just a day or two. Then we head further down to another smaller town: Opotiki.

Opotiki is so small a town that everyone practically knows everyone else’s business. It’s practically only few rows of shops in the town and that’s about it. It’s charming though how such small town is self sufficient. You’ll have almost everything you need here so you don’t have to go elsewhere. Almost.

Except the fact that we are Asian and we loved our Asian food the most, so we kinda lack of certain Chinese seasonings here in Opotiki supermarket, New World. Having said that, it’s still not bad here but of course as it is a small town, not much choices is available but heck, beggar can’t be chooser!

Personally, I don’t think New World is all that cheap as I kinda prefer Countdown. However, Opotiki only have New World and 4Square… so I guess it’s the lesser devil we know!

We spent the first week in a backpacker here; Central Oasis. It’s relatively cheaper compared to Auckland and Whakatane and they have “special price” for weekly rate. Maybe it’s because it’s a small town hence the rate is cheaper but it’s good news no?

The people at Central Oasis are very nice and friendly. In fact, we met a few nice people that stayed there too. In between dinners, we managed to get a few pointers and tips from them. From them I realized that many people in the world do travel around the world just like that. Like me, everyone put their life, career, family etc on hold and go explore the world. Some came from as far as Austria and Italy.

Opotiki is very near the beach therefore on our free days, we go explored the nearby attraction. We went to Snell Beach, Waiotahi Beach and also Ohiwa Beach. One of the things we realized here is that generally people don’t sell fishes here. Even if they do, it cost a bomb!

From the owner of the backpackers, we found out that people here normally catches their own fish. In fact, people here are so nice that if they caught more than they need, they will give away the rest to friends and neighbours. No money exchanged.

Sweet isn’t?

Godzilla was adamant wanted to try fishing but too bad we don’t have any fishing rod. Buying one would be ridiculous as its expensive and God! Where are we gonna store it? Our car is packed to the brim as it is already. Add more things? Oh NO! This is catastrophe man!

Frankly speaking, staying here in Central Oasis is not exactly the best I had experienced so far. However it is the only backpackers listed in BBH so… not exactly much choice for us. Our room is relatively bigger with 2 mini wardrobes for me and Twister. Dinosaur and Godzilla’s room is smaller but comfier, prettier.

Our room is located near the back of the house so not much sunlight can get it therefore personally I think the air smells a little musty. I can’t stand the odor therefore I ended up purchased a bottle of air freshener to “freshen” up the room. Apart from that, I accidently found out that the room is not very clean as near the bed headboard, there’s cobweb! GROSS to the max I tell you when my hand accidently touches it!

Err the pillow is damn thin and lumpy and I practically felt like I slept without one. Since our room is next to the owner’s kitchen, each night when I go bath I felt that my towel smells of cooking. Haiz

Again, this is just my personally opinion and experience. The rest of my friends doesn’t seems to be affected by it. Other than the few I have mentioned above, I don’t have much complain already.

Right at the garden of our backpacker, there’s an apple tree that grows full of apples. In fact apples practically dropped to the ground everywhere and no one picks it up. Finally the owner picks it up and offers it to all.

Apples for FREEEEEEEE~~~~~ wee~~~