North Island Big Trip

9 -20 September 2010

After months of slaving away with work it was finally time for me to fly to New Zealand. Direct flights to Auckland are freakin expensive. MAS was like RM5200 and SIA RM4500 or sumthing. Found the cheapest way to travel. Thank God for AirAsia! Flight to Melbourne was bout RM1100 return and flew Melbourne - Auckland on Pacific Blue (Virgin's sis co) for bout RM1000. Not bad for the total cost huh? Only setback is that you gotta spend the night at Melbourne airport coz the flight reaches at midnight and the next flight out's at 10am the next morn. You can opt to stay at the airport hotel but that's another A$100 or more. Spent an uncomfortable but uneventful night on the food court's chairs.

Auckland's skyline

Auckland's pretty cool. Not as busy as KL but it has its own charms. Stayed at Jerry's sister Jane's place in New Lynn. Oh and met up with Shuk too! Elliot, Shuk's other half, cooked us beef rendang in conjunction with Hari Raya. So funny to have a gwailo cooking M'sian food haha.

As Jerry's Swiss friend Sandra was in NZ, we decided to wait for her and do a trip to Waiheke Island together. Waiheke's an island just a 40 min ferry ride from Auckland where rich people go to retire. Maybe like Bintan island is to Singapore?

Having Gluhwein at the backpackers

The weather's much better here than it was in rainy Auckland. Although it's so near, the sunny skies must have something to do with the protected coast or island weather. Did a few walks along the beach and to town. Visited a vinyard too.

The most memorable part of the trip was cooking a BBQ accompanied with Gluhwein (heated red wine mixed with spices) I brought from Germany. All the German girls said it smelt like Xmas. :)

The trip around the Coromandel was absolutely beautiful. I swear they have the best mussels in the world! Yumm!! Revisited places I went to when I did Kiwi Experience in 2005 such as the Cathedral Cove, Hot Water Beach and such but it was still good as I did it with Jerry this time. We even drove by Jerry's farm in Waihi which he sold a few years back (thank god! hahha it was in the middle of nowhere!)



Our trip from Auckland - Coromandel - Tauranga - Rotorua - Taupo



    

Coromandel Town, where the best mussels in the world are at

  

Revisiting Cathedral Cove

 

Jerry's old farm at Waihi

 

We headed up to Tauranga and Mt Maunganui next where Jerry's cousin Sandra stays. We came to see Jerry's Taupo soccer team play ?? damn can't remember. Anyway, Taupo won and the group photo with us in it came out in Taupo Times! Famous so fast hahha. After walking around the mountain seaside town, I realised I've been here before. Climbed the mount too. Stayed with Paul & Nise one night and Sandra's the next. Oh, and I went to my fist live rugby match - Bay of Plenty vs County Manukau. Bit dissapointed coz atmosphere was quite subdued. Maybe it was not that big a game. And it was sooo damn bloody cold! Bay of Plenty won anyways.  



My first live rugby match at Mt Maunganui



Evil smelling town of Rotorua

Quite enjoyed Mt Maunganui. Jerry was thinking to buy a house here coz of the surf. Poor boy, surf conditions were not on his side. Brought his surfboard all over but couldn't use it once.

Last part of our trip was to Rotorua - the evil smelling place hahha - coz of the sulphur in the air courtesy of its active geothermal activity. I was in Rotorua in 2001 & 2005 and damn have prices gone up! The geopark I went to in 2005 was bout NZ40. It's double now! Luge was NZ15. It's NZ35 now. What a rip off. Tourists will wise up soon then nobody will go to their exorbidantly priced attractions.



Didn't do much touristy stuff but we did walk the free geoparks to check out the boiling mud and all. Gardens look so beautiful with the spring flowers in bloom. They looked really pretty. Now this is what Spring is supposed to look like! Not the cold front I came into. Always liked Rotorua.

Colours of Spring 

Boiling mud pools & foul smelling steam

After more than a week on the road, we finally reached Taupo on 20 September 2010.