sooyindotcom

Rotorua - Taupo

Hubby awoke extremely early in the morning and rushed out to the lakeside to take photos of the sunrise…now THAT is passion. Yours truly refused to move and remained asleep under the duvet for another 30 minutes…hehe…=)

After I finally dragged myself out of bed, showered and changed, we drove to the Rotorua Museum and Bathhouse to take some photos before heading off to McDs for breakfast. They have similar items on the menu as M’sia, just that their Sausage McMuffin tastes a tad bit different. Nice, but different. As soon as we finished brekkie, we hopped into the car and drove to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland which was about 20 minutes away to watch the Lady Knox Geyser erupt (10.15am every morning). The road to Wai-O-Tapu is just off the highway, and it curves and joins back to the highway further up. Again, we had to purchase the tix at the main office, then drive to the site of the geyser, and we got so lost that we actually went one round and ended back at the highway! Luckily, we finally managed to find the spot in time and hurriedly parked our car and walked into the viewing area.

We found ourselves a good seat at the viewing area (it’s a semi-circle with wooden planks on the floor for people to sit on) and watched other tourists trickling in. Tick tock tick tock…it was near to 10.15am yet no trembling of the ground, no emission of steam, etc. *puzzled* A few minutes before the geyser was due to erupt, one of the staff walked up to the geyser and started giving us a short explanation about how geysers work, etc. For a moment, I was worried that he was getting to close…I mean, what if it erupts and he gets boiled in hot water?!? Well, guess what? The geyser eruption is human-matic. After he finished his explanation, the brave fella unwrapped a bar of soap and threw it into the hole. Sheesh…there goes all the mystery and wonder about hot water shooting out from a hole in the ground at 10.15am sharp everyday. What happens is that the bar of soap breaks the surface tension between the cold water on top and the hot water below, which then causes the hot water to bubble up and shoot out into the air. It really isn’t as dramatic as you would think…first, some foam started bubbling out, then a low jet of water, which then gets higher and higher. And that’s it. Ok, I know I sound cynical, but really, I did expect the ground to shake or something like that…*grin*

From the Lady Knox Geyser, we proceeded to the Mud Pools. A note of advice to any of you who goes there…don’t stand to near to the railing cause when the mud bubbles and pops, it can actually splash far enough to hit you. The smell was awful…total sulphur! But it was fun taking photos, though, as we were trying to take a series of photos showing how the mud bubbles up.

We spent about 10 minutes at the Mud Pools before driving back to the main office and entrance to the Thermal Wonderland. There are three main walking paths in the volcanic area, and we decided to follow the first and second one (takes about 50 minutes). Most of the attractions are large collapsed craters formed several years ago but the two famous ones is the Champagne Pool with it’s orange coloured sinter ledge and the Primrose Terraces. Now, these two are really interesting to photograph. You’ll be amazed when you look at the Primrose Terraces up close…it looks like layer cake! The terraces have been forming over the last 700 years and are regarded as being very fragile, so no stepping on it, ya? It was abit hard to photograph the Champagne Pool coz we couldn’t get too close, but we did manage to get some nice shots in the end…=)

After leaving Wai-O-Tapu, we drove further down to the Huka Prawn Park. Yes, you read correctly…P.R.A.W.N. P.A.R.K. Their tagline is “Meet Em, Greet Em, Eat Em”, which is literally what we did! We arrived just in time to catch their 30 minute tour around the farm. We learnt that the first batch of prawns were apparently brought in from M’sia, fancy that! We were shown the different growth stages of the prawns, from baby to adult, and we got the chance to feed the baby prawns as well! It was quite weird, actually. The guide gave us the prawn food (which looks exactly like fish food), and we had to cup our hand and gently lower it into the water. And these tiny tiny prawns (think tadpoles and you’ll get the size about right) come swimming up to your palm after some time, and I assume they take the food cause they dart away really fast once they touch your palm. After the feeding session, the guide took us to the actual farm where the prawns are cultivated…it’s huge dug-out pools in the ground, and many of them too! At the end of the tour, we were each given a freshly cooked prawn and taught how to peel them properly.

The prawn park has an adjoining restaurant that serves, well, prawns, so hubby and I decided to have lunch there. We got a table outside, right next to the river, and ordered lobster bisque (or was it prawn bisque? I can’t remember!) and a plate of fresh prawns with seafood and aioli sauce. There were lots of sparrows flying around, and one naughty bird actually stole hubby’s marshmallow that came with his hot chocolate. While waiting for our food to arrive, we watched people having fun on the nearby Huka Jetboat ride. The driver was trying his best to get everyone on the boat wet by making 360 degree turns…I felt dizzy just watching! Finally, our food arrived, and boy, the prawns looked so absolutely fresh. And trust me, they taste great…literally plump and juicy! We quickly dug in and finished our meal in no time. Sated from lunch, I started scattering leftover breadcrumbs for the sparrows, and after some time, actually managed to get one or two to eat from my hands!

We left the prawn park after lunch and for the first time since we reached NZ, I drove! For a grand total of 5 minutes…hehe…to the Honey Hive and Meadery shop down the road. I’d been searching for honey sweets that I tried ages ago when an ex-colleague visited NZ, and I finally found them here! I went crazy stocking up on those, and also bought two boxes of honeycomb for M (first time I’ve seen honeycomb being sold!), and hubby bought honey chocolates and a scoop of honey ice-cream.

From the Honey Hive, we drove back out to the highway in search for our last stop before Taupo: Huka Falls. The earlier jetboat ride that we saw actually takes the passengers all the way up to Huka Falls for a close up look at the waterfalls. For the rest of the do-not-like-to-get-wet people, we get to view the waterfalls from a small bridge across the river. It’s amazing to watch the water gush down the narrow gorge, and the water is extremely clear. No muddy Klang River water for you to see here! =) We spent quite some time playing with our camera settings, and finally left as the sun had set and it was getting quite dark.

We drove straight to Lake Taupo and found our motel, The Lake, easily. We’d both been looking forward to staying at this motel as it looks great from the website, and we weren’t disappointed. The suite had a small kitchen, dining and living room, and a separate bedroom and a large bathroom. It was so clean, and the kitchen even had pots, pans and utensils if you want to do a spot of cooking!! Naturally, we couldn’t resist taking photos of the place…hehe…=)

After a short rest, we drove out to the town center for a look around, and also in search for dinner! After two nights of Western food, our tummies were practically begging for Asian cuisine. Since we had a dining table and all, we decided to ta pau dinner instead of eating out, and ended up buying Sweet and Sour Chicken, Roast Pork Fried Rice, Mutton Madras and Peshwari Naan to bring back to our suite…err…not from the same shop, of course…*grin*

The rest of the night was spent, as usual, downloading and backing up photos we took for the day. Ohh…and I must add that the water pressure of the shower is so strong that it’s almost painful! Coupled with the hot water, it was perfect to relax those muscles after a long day of driving sitting in the car…=) Anyways, we ended the day with a great episode of CSI…perfect ending to a great day!

PS: Check out our photos here!

Hamilton - Waitomo - Rotorua

We awoke early in the morning (yawn!), packed and checked out of the hotel (saw a hot-air balloon floating in the distant mountains!) as we had a full day ahead of us. We’d originally planned to reach Waitomo Caves by 9am to catch the Glowworm Tour at 9.30am, but we ended up just missed the 9.30am tour cause I was rainbow chasing (unsuccessfully!). Since we were already late, we took the opportunity to stop by a small town to buy breakfast (ham and tomato sandwich for me, roast pork sandwich + brownies + cream donuts for hubby) as well…hehe…=)

The Glowworm Caves is situated about 5 minutes from the main office (you have to purchase the tix from the main office, then drive further down to the caves), and it’s a steep but mercifully short climb from the car park to the cave entrance. The tour takes about 45 minutes where you are taken into the caves by a guide who will explain to you about the cave history, etc. Because it was all enclosed and rather dark, I did feel quite claustrophobic even though I don’t usually fear small and enclosed spaces. Anyways, the tour ended with a VERY SHORT boat ride where you can see the glowworms…urm…glowing…in the dark. I know I’ll probably get shot for saying this, but frankly, I felt that the tour wasn’t worth the admission price. NZ$30 ok?!? Don’t pray pray. I personally found it neither awe-inspiring nor breathtaking. Sure, it’s old, it’s a hole in the ground, and the glowworm glows. I suppose I’m just not a nature-type of person, plus, I hate insects. Anyways, maybe it’s just one of those things you have to do in NZ…but I wouldn’t go back again. Oh yeah, I didn’t dare to open my mouth while staring up at the glowworms lest I swallow one…*grin*

On the way back out to the highway, we made a quick stop at the Shearing Shed…rabbit, not sheep shearing, that is! Now, THAT was worth going…and it’s free!

And even though the rabbit shearing demo was scheduled later at 12.45pm, there were enough people there for them to put on an impromptu demo…yayy! But first, the rabbits. The Shearing Shed is the only place in the world where angora rabbits are shorn for their fine hair. The rabbits are HUGE and they are especially bred for their fine and soft fur (it grows back in about three months, so don’t worry, the rabbits don’t freeze to death in winter!). I got to pat one, and mannnn….the fur was super duper soft. But the way they were sheared was hilarious. Firstly, the rabbit’s paws are trussed up so that the rabbit won’t struggle during the shearing process (think of a horizontal kebab…hehe…). Then, the shearing begins. And trust me, they get sheared everywhere! What’s left of their fur after the shearing process is not much, but at least they don’t shear them all the way down to their sensitive skin. Anyways, the poor rabbit looked so pissed off…I still laugh when I see the pics hubby took.

From Waitomo, we backtracked to Cambridge and took a turn off highway 3 towards Rotorua. We stopped at Tirau for lunch where I had a huge hamburger…beef somemore (I haven’t eaten beef for more than 10 years)! Hubby had McCain potato wedges which were really nice. Took some photos of the iSite office there…it was situated in a building made to look like a sheep and a dog…so cute! The weather at Tirau was bright and sunny when we arrived, but by the time we finished lunch, dark clouds were rolling in!

We also made a quick stop at the Agrodome which is situated about 15-20 minutes from Rotorua. Before the trip, I’d found the Agrodome website and decided that we were going to try Zorbing! Yes, that see-through ball thingy where you squeeze yourself in and roll down a gently-inclined hill. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the Dry Zorb, and since we didn’t fancy getting wet in the cold weather, we had to give it a miss…=(

They say that you can tell when you’ve reached Rotorua…just sniff the air. And yup…sulfur, alright!! Ewww….!! Luckily, the hotel we stayed in had good air circulation even though it was situated right next to Lake Rotorua…no rotten eggs smell at all. Phew! After checking in, we drove to Whakarewarewa, a Maori Thermal Village, where we joined the short tour around the village. We were shown their thermal pools, a nearby geyser, the tombs, bathing and cooking areas and their ancestral meeting house. They still cook their meals in the ground, and you’ll be amazed at how warm the ground temperature is…I sat on the ground and I could feel the heat through my jeans! Pretty nice, actually, during winter. Can’t imagine walking barefoot during summer though…=)

We’d originally planned to attend the Maori performance and Hangi dinner at our hotel, but it was fully booked! Luckily, the lady at the reception found us another hotel that had a similar performance, so we decided to go there instead as it was less than 5 minutes away. The Maori performance started in the lobby of the hotel where the guests were invited to go into the cultural theatre built specially for this performance. While the performance was interesting, with lots of singing and dancing, and also audience participation where some of the men were taught the haka, I can’t say the same thing for the dinner. The food was bland and tasteless with very little variety. The desserts were not much better. Oh well, that’s two nights in a row of not-so-nice food.

Back at the hotel, we watched another ’show’ where a couple of (probably drunk) Taiwanese men made a huge ruckus right outside our room. They were yelling and shouting and slamming doors…what’s worse, they were smoking on a non-smoking floor! At one point, one gwai-mui shouted from her room, asking them to “effing shut up”…but to no avail. We were equally fed-up as we were trying to get a good night’s rest, and I was prepared to call the hotel manager, but someone else beat me to it. From the peephole, hubby saw the hotel manager go into their room only to be ignored! Finally, he just left and shut their door. At least that helped, abit. But five minutes after the hotel manager left, they started up again. That was when I shouted from our room to ask them to shut up…well, ok, I actually said ’shut the eff up’ as well…*grin* We also ended up stuffing towels at the bottom of the door to prevent the ciggie smoke from wafting in. Talking about literally being in hell that night…hehe…complete with the smell too! =P

PS: Check out our photos here!

KL - Auckland - Hamilton

After spending days researching, compiling, packing…it was finally time to leave! The flight to Singapore was uneventful…and we even managed to sneak the extra 8kgs through…phew! After landing at Changi and getting our boarding passes for the next flight, we ended up at Genki Sushi for dinner. I had Gindara Teriyaki, my favourite, while hubby tried some weird scallop cheesy thingy. Trying to kill some time, we browsed around some of the shops at the terminal where I found some absolutely lovely dried oranges coated with dark chocolate. After taking some pics (and looking like total tourists…*eeek*), we finally ended up going back to the flight transfer area to find a comfy place to seat. Despite the noise from the kids playpen area, I settled down to start on my storybook (The Historian) while hubby puzzled over which magazine to read first.

Finally, it was time to board the plane! As usual, once we found our seats, I started praying really hard that no one will seat in front of us. Or behind. Or next to us. And for once, my wish came true!! The flight to Auckland was surprisingly empty and hubby and I got a whole row of seats to ourselves, ie. I got one row, and he got another row…woohoo! First time ever!

I was too engrossed in my storybook to watch any of the inflight movies even though hubby kept bugging me to watch Failure To Launch. And coz he was sitting behind me, he kept poking his fingers through the space between the seats to disturb me and at one time, gave me an awful fright cause I was at the climatic part of my storybook…luckily I didn’t scream…wouldn’t want to be kicked out of the plane with a parachute now, would we?!?

Dinner was served about an hour after take-off. I found the airplane food to be better than MAS…and luckily, it was all white meat (fish or chicken), so no repeat dramas like the flight to Melbourne several months ago. After dinner, I settled down to sleep…ahhh…the comfort of being able to stretch my legs…=) Five hours later, I awoke to the sound of breakfast being served. Took a peek outside…the sky was a delightful array of reds and oranges…so pretty!

We touched down at Auckland International Airport ahead of schedule…the pilot must’ve been speeding, tsk tsk! Come to think of it…is it possible for an airplane to speed? *grin* The immigration department was mercifully empty…no queues! We collected our baggage, made a quick stop at iSite where I became super-kiasu and started taking all the brochures available, picked up the car keys from Hertz and walked to the exit….only to be blasted by a wave of icy cold air. Brrr…! Our car was an sky-blue Ford Fairmount (what happened to the sporty Ford Falcon we were supposed to get?!?), but heck, it’s just a car, right? Hubby loaded our bags into the car while I snapped a few pics of the airport surroundings…and away we went!

I’d collected plenty of maps from the iSite centre and Hertz, so we weren’t too worried about getting lost. Along the way to Hamilton, we wound down the car windows to breathe in the fresh fresh air (no haze, no smog!!)…and you can really tell the difference as the air is cool and crisp compared to the humid, heavy, exhaust-smoke-filled and the *cough*neighbouring-country’s-illegal-burning-asthma-inducing*cough* air in KL. One photostop, an emergency stop at McDs for food and two rainbow sightings later, we finally reached Hamilton and checked into the hotel at about 2pm. I wasn’t too impressed with the hotel room…it was decorated in a very English style, and oh-so-small. Reminds me of hotels in London, actually. But no worries, we’ll only be staying for one night…hehe…=) We, or rather, hubby, brought the bags up from the car, dumped it in the hotel room, and hurried out in search for a late lunch. After walking up and down the main street, we finally ended up at Embargo where we had bacon (*oinkoink*) and eggs and their Big Breakfast…yummy! Oh, and a hot hot cup of tea for me…hehe…=)

After lunch, we went back to the hotel to get the car and drove to Hamilton Gardens to take some photos before the sun sets. As we didn’t have time to walk the whole area, we only went to the Paradise Garden Collection which consisted of six different gardens designed in English, Chinese, American, Japanese, Indian and Italian style…absolutely lovely! My favourite is the Chinese Scholars Garden complete with a Chinese Pagoda, with the Japanese Garden of Contemplation coming a close second.

By the time we snapped the last pic, the sun had set and the sky was all dark and gloomy (the sun sets at about 5pm…that’s the only thing I don’t like about winter). We headed back to the hotel for a short nap before walking out again for dinner. We wanted to try the nearby Lone Star Restaurant, but it was so packed with people that we finally ended up in another restaurant that I had on my itinerary: Cafe Centrale. It’s a small Italian restaurant near the Waikato River banks and when we arrived, most of the tables were already filled up. But despite the good recommendations from the food review website, I found the food to be just average. We did have our first taste of Kumara Fries though…exactly like French Fries, just made with sweet potato!

By the end of dinner, I was feeling extremely tired from the lack of sleep and also the cold weather, so we went straight back to the hotel, took a hot shower, and it was lights out…!

PS: Check out our photos here (Day 0) and here (Day 1)!

After spending days and days searching for photo gallery plugins for Wordpress, I’ve finally given up. I just can’t find one that suits what I have in mind, so there goes my idea of creating a brand new photo gallery in Wordpress for our New Zealand photos.

Will be posting up photos and write-up of our trip day by day…so for those who have been asking to see the pics, come back soon! =)

Hamilton - Waitomo - Rotorua - Taupo - Turangi - Palmerston North - Wellington - Christchurch - Lake Tekapo - Twizel - Omarama - Lake Wanaka - Cromwell or Arrowtown - Queenstown - Milford Sound - Auckland.