10 Days in New Zealand : Itinerary Part 2

So here we are, part 2 of my New Zealand trip. If you haven't read my previous post, here's 10 Days in New Zealand : Itinerary Part 1.

Jump: Itinerary Part 1, Motorhome, Accommodation.

Day 6: BUNGY JUMPING!!
Another highlight to my trip! Called a day before to make a reservation for the 10.30 am slot so by 9 am I started my way up the skyline. Yup, I decided to hike up the Tiki Trail. I'm no hiker, not at all a fan of hiking. But I'm not at all a fan of the crazy gondola fare either. Wahi didn't want to do the bungy jump so I hiked up myself. I read in some blogs it was an easy hike. So why not?

THEY LIED! IT WAS NOT EASY! I ALMOST DIED ALONE!

Took me a full 1 hour but I made it to the top and that all that matters. Didn't stop so yeah feeling all wonderwoman-y.

Make that wonderwoman + batman-y

After the bungy I walked around the skyline admiring the view. Bought a cute NZ button pin for Zaid at a souvenir shop (which he lost it within a week. Grrr...).

At noon, I went down to the base and met with Wahi at our campervan. Then we were off to Te Anau. Arrived Te Anau Lakeview Holiday Park just before dark.

Day 7: Milford Sound + Glowworm Cave Tour

We decided to have a day off driving by taking a tour to Milford Sound. We got the coach + cruise for cheap via Bookme.co.nz. While waiting for the coach to pick us up, we decided to extend our stay there and book a Glowworm tour at the counter. We were picked up at 8-ish am and by 8.30 we were off to Milford Sound. It was raining that day but that didn't hinder our mood. The bus stopped at several places and by 11 am we arrived at the port.

Some small temporary waterfalls from the rain

Got soaked!

Lunch included. Got myself a falafel wrap.

The tour took about 2 hours. Then we headed back to Te Anau. Stopped at a few more places. We reached our accommodation a little after 4 pm. Freshen up then at 8 pm we walked to a small pier near the lake for our Glowworm Cave tour. A little overpriced for a short tour but it was interesting to see the glowworms. No photos allowed though.

Day 8: Dunedin - Moeraki - Oamaru

Checked out early and headed to Dunedin. Our first stop was the Cadbury Factory. We weren't interested in the tour so we went there to buy some cheap Cadbury chocolates (Wahi did, I'm not much of a fan of chocolates).

Next, we went to Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world (or so they say).

We left as soon as a large crowd came. We stopped by Moeraki to see the boulders. My take? A beautiful nature occurring sight tarnished by overcrowding tourists. I could hardly admire its beauty for a mere minute before someone 'enter framed' with their butt towards me. 

It was still a beautiful sight, though. Just make sure you arrive before the tour buses do. Overnight: Waitaki Waters Holiday Park.

Day 9: Waitaki Beach - Timaru - Christchurch

The accommodation we stayed was a secluded one and close to a beach. So we headed there for a while to have a look. The sand was not sand-sand but pebbles-sand which is new to me. Along the way there were cow farms which we stopped by to say hi.

We then started our journey back to Christchurch. Since we had plenty of time we tried to find something to do at Ashburton. Wahi suggested a local museum but it was closed when we arrived.

With a heavy heart, we reached Christchurch city. Returned the campervan and signed off the remaining documents. Duncan drove us into the city and dropped us off at At the Right Place hostel for my stay that night. We walked around the city for awhile before Wahi left to the airport for her early flight the next morning.

Day 10: Depart from Christchurch to Melbourne

I woke up early in the morning to go for a walk around the city. I covered quite a distance; from the Botanic Garden to the Cathedral Square to the 185 Empty Chairs on Madras St. 

Some pond at the Botanic Garden

The World Peace Bell

Art Center

Re:Start Mall

185 Empty Chairs to commemorate the 2011 earthquake 

Cathedral Church

By noon my legs were sore so I headed back to the hostel to pick up my bags. Took a bus to the airport (again, drop off just before the airport). I asked the help desk of any quiet place I could perform my prayers. One of the staff came and offered me the first aid room. Sweet!

So there you have it! I bet you wonder, who was my travel partner and why is she not in any of my photos? Well, to be frank there were very few photos of us together. Each time I asked her to join in, she declined. But here's one:

P/S: I was standing on a fence hence why I look humongous.

**Update: DONE! Here's the link to my itinerary in PDF format. Feel free to use it as a guidance.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9TLVPsYvtTbLUhSbGpEM1JRU1E/view?usp=sharing

If you still have questions, contact me at aida.nordin7@gmail.com.

Read More »

10 Days in New Zealand : Itinerary Part 1

Jump: Itinerary Part 2, Accommodation, Motorhome.

I really don't know how a blogger does it, but I can't seem to find the time to blog while travelling. Either I'll be too exhausted to write, or I'll be hanging out at the hostel lounge. I salute you, superbloggers!

So yeah, I'm back now after a two-week holiday in New Zealand and Australia. Touched down Malaysia on Saturday, back to work on Monday. No rest on Sunday though but surprisingly I was not as exhausted as on my previous trips. Boleh masuk Amazing Race nih.

New Zealand, where to start? No words can describe how beautiful New Zealand is. Even my photos don't do much justice. I'm just going to skip the babbles and go straight to the itinerary (Isn't that what you guys are here for anyway?). I've broken it down to two parts just so to make it a less lengthy post. I might also post another entry or two for those must go/do activities.

Before I start, a little bit of an intro about our trip. It was a 10-day trip in early April 2016 -- 1 1/2 days in North Island, the remaining in South Island. 2,184 km traveled. Two hot chicks. Overnight (overnighted? Overnaught?) in three backpackers hostels, and the rest in a 2-berth campervan. Our trip was mostly nature sightseeing. On our last day, I took a flight to Melbourne where else Wahi, my travel partner, went back to Kuala Lumpur.

Day 1: Arrive in Auckland
We arrived from Kuala Lumpur at 4:25 pm. Flight was smooth and the immigration went extremely well. Bought a Spark simcard at the Auckland airport for $25. Took a Skybus to Auckland City for $16 each (expensive! but that was the cheapest option). Checked in Nomads Fat Camel Backpackers. By night, we went out to the pier for some sight seeing.

Day 2: Auckland & Christchurch
Checked out at 9.30 am. Flight was at 5 pm so to kill time, we joined the Auckland Free Walking Tour.

Source: Auckland Free Walking Tours Facebook page

After the tour, we went back to our hostel to collect our bags and took a Skybus to the airport. Checking in was a breeze.

Arrived Christchurch Airport just after dark. Took bus no. 29 from Sudima Hotel to the bus interchange station. From the bus interchange, we then hopped on a bus along the Orange line to our hostel. Checked in Jailhouse Accommodation. Yup, a real (former) jail!

Money Saving Tips: Save more than half the bus fare by hopping on from Sudima Hotel instead of the airport -- $3.50 plus free 1 bus transfer within 2 hours vs $8 from the airport, no free transfer. It is only a 5 minute walk from the arrival terminal to the hotel. (Thanks to Poh-Guan for the awesome tips!)

Day 3: Pick up campervan - Lake Tekapo - Omarama
Checked out Jailhouse Accommodation at 9 am. Duncan, from Affordable Motorhome Rentals (AMR), picked us up to the depot. Signed all documents and off to do some groceries. We chose Countdown Supermarket because we received a discount card from AMR (score!).

By noon, we went off to Lake Tekapo.

The Church of the Good Shepherd

We didn't stay long before proceeded our way to Omarama. In between, we came across a really nice view of Mt Cook over Lake Pukaki. Had to stop for photos!

Lovely, isn't it?

Sunset

Ok, now we're really on our way to Omarama. First chosen accommodation: Omarama Top 10 Holiday Park.

It was our first time on a campervan and also on a powered site so we didn't quite know how powered sites work. So instead of plugging our van to the main switch (pictured above with cables jutting out from the power box), I accidentally switched off the one on the right that was powering a tent just next to us. Not sure what the occasion was but the music and chattering just went silent in a flash. Whoops, sorry guys! *lariiiikkkkk*

Day 4: Omarama - Lake Pukaki - Fox Glacier
The next day we decided to drive back to Lake Pukaki and have breakfast there while enjoying the view. Sadly it was gloomy that day and Mt Cook was hiding behind the clouds. It was still beautiful nevertheless.

Next, we stopped at a Salmon Farm for some fresh salmon. Bought myself a salmon bagel with cream cheese. Decided to save that for lunch, which we had at Lake Hawea.

Lake Hawea

We arrived Fox Glacier at night and checked in at Fox Glacier Holiday Park.

Day 5: SKYDIVE!!!
Ahh.. The highlight of our trip. Praise to God, after the heavy downpour the night before, that morning the sun was out and dancing! Perfect weather to skydive! Our pick: Fox Glacier Skydive. There is a more popular one in Franz Josef just 30 minutes away but we went for this because it's closer and cheaper ($299 for 13,000 ft).

Super(wo)man!!!!

Next we drove to Lake Matherson for a quick walk. Then we headed back to Wanaka and to Cardrona, where the bra fence is. After that, we went to Glenorchy but got off tracked for four hours searching for the willow trees. Because of the time, we had no time for pictures and headed straight to Queenstown.

Fantail Waterfall

I'm going to stop here for now. Look out for Part 2 soon....

Read More »