NZ Part 4 : The North Island

This is our NZ trip route. On a whim I decided to chart this out..

Sangat letih buat route ni (there are moments I thought why do I bother. Tapi dah start, jadi I forged ahead). I could have been more productive elsewhere (sigh).

Nevertheless. You may want to use this route if you are going to NZ.. (walaupun saya agak 2 minggu agak cram. 3 weeks would be better for this I think. Lebih santai. And more time to explore). Depends on what you want to see and do actually.


In total we travelled more than 3,300km in two weeks. Fyi driving from JB to Arau is about 810 km. Hmm, tak jauh sangat pulak our NZ journey when putting it that way.

Apa2 pun tetap letih memandu (not that I drove that much) dan travel.

Namun tetap awesome. No question about this.

Semua orang kata tak ada apa sangat di North Island compared to the South. Sebenarnya cantik. I think the farms are more scenic than the south. Of course there are hundreds of miles of farms. And I am sure the beaches are more beautiful than here. Although kami tak pergi. Tak sempat.

In fact we didnt really do Auckland. We went to the mall to get food supplies. Then we were going to One Tree Hill but the road is so narrow dan mendaki (we were on our first day on the camper van after all). We decided to stop and have lunch at a park half way up the hill instead.

The park is shaded. We stopped at the end of a quiet street along the park where children walked home from school (if I were young again, I would love to go to school here).

Solat dan lunch under the cool trees. Auckland is lovely. Still in mild, beautiful summer weather.

That is our camper. It is a bit on the long side, I would say. We were at the mall and parked at the end of the parking lot sebab panjang sangat camper van tu.

After lunch we head out south. We had tickets to Hobbiton the next morning already booked for 10:00am. Jadi nak tak nak memang kena pergi ke Matamata where Hobbiton is; more or less 2 hours drive from AKL. The road was busy at Akl (a 3-lane highway) but then ease out and became smaller when we got out of the city limits.

The view was soothing and calming. Miles upon miles of green hills with sheep and cattle. And farms that welcome you selling fruits from their orchards, fresh veg and ice cream.

Sebenarnya we didnt do any camp site booking from Msia walaupun ada list yang kami dah prepare dan bawa. Kata anak2 we go there and call/walk-in. Which we did. And anyway the camper van came with an app called CamperMate that gives you all you need to know about travelling in NZ. Armed with these je lah kami cari camp sites throughout our holiday.

The first nite, confident with our self contained camper, we did freedom camping at a DOC site which is FOC. It was by the serene Lake Karapiro in Keeley's Reserve near Cambridge. Maghrib pun masih ada yang bermain bot. There was only toilet at the camp ground. No shower and no drinking water. Which was ok.

But the toilet was DARK at night. In fact the whole camp ground was very dark at night (save for the light from our camper). And there were only maybe 5 other vehicles on the camping ground. And later that evening our bathroom flooded. Hmmphf. We later figured out that happened because too much water was used.. We became smarter with the quirkiness of the camper van after that. More cautious. Kami terlupa tiada indahwater dalam camper van..

There was an owl that hooted that night (dan saya memang penakut!) haha.

Morning view. Kayaks on the lake first thing in the morning.

 The only other campers that night.

Breakfast was cereal and milk. Bread with peanut butter and jelly. And hot coffee and milo. Nothing tasted better.

We left the camp site after breakfast. Looking for a dump station (for our flooded bathroom) and to catch the 10am Hobbiton tour. Kata Waze, Hobbiton is only 15 mins away from our camp site and kata CampMate, there is a dump station in Matamata (relief!)

Hobbiton will be in the next post. Because it is too beautiful. Too cute. Enchanting.





~ xoxo

NZ Part 3 : Familiarizing the Unfamiliar @ Camper Van (OMG!)

(OMG di post title tu sebab tak percaya we made it after all ~ travelling in a camper van!)

Mencari camper van tak susah sebenarnye sebab banyak company yang offer all types of camper vans in NZ. Tapi rumit. Banyak nak kena compare. Macam jugak mencari tiket kapalterbang. But then again, mungkin tiket flight lebih mudah. We waited a long time for MAS to have a sale and then bought tickets. Theirs is a direct flight from KUL into AKL. Jimat masa.

Camper van is another matter entirely. You want to see what make. How many berths. The cc. The length (this determines how much you will pay for the inter-island ferry. Lagi panjang, lagi mahal). How many km travelled. If it is self-contained (ie comes with toilet, shower). Does it have a heater. Can we return the camper to any city. Blah.. blah..

(camper van breakfast. One of the NZ photos I really, really love)

And of course the price is always the determining factor. We didnt want anything that is too much below par. Nanti jalan entah berapa jauh dah break down pulak. Atau absorber yang dah haus, we know roads tend to get bumpy.

(The camper should be self contained - and must have this sticker - if you want to do freedom parking. And fyi freedom parking does not mean you can freely park anywhere. It means you can park at designated grounds that do not have full facilities.)

Also we considered the insurance coverage. And on the road support if anything amiss happens. And penalties for anything at all. Pening lah berminggu sebelum buat decision. And the risk you are taking because payment is 100% due 30 days prior to booking start date!

In the end, we settled for this 3 year old, 5 berth Mercedes Sprinter (I told hubs, your gambar here is like a page out of the promotion brochure! Its is so bright and so clear and so cantik).

Alhamdulillah, bagus camper van tu. Setinggi2 bukit di panjat nye dan beribu km kami drive tak ada masalah apa. Enjin cukup baik. Nikmat Allah.

Namun.

Our bathroom was flooded the first night (dengan mandi bagai kan). Penat kami pikir kenapa. Nak tel provider pun dah malam. We later figured that tak sama orang putih dan orang Melayu guna toilet (itu dah sedia maklum). Dan kita ambil wudhu'. Water consumption isnt the same. So after that we use the bathroom stringently; for emergency cases only. And strictly no shower in the tiny bathroom. Dan Alhamdulillah we had no further problems with it.

(this is late afternoon at Mount Cook. See how many vehicles there are. Campers, MPVs and cars. Those in cars camp dalam tent. Sejuk2 tu; orang putih kan..)

And yes, there is a stove for cooking in the camper van. And comfy sleeping area for 5. Or even 6 if you must. Semua orang minta tunjuk gambar inside of the camper. But I dont have that many.

The interior. The sink and stove have lids that you need to close when driving. The kitchen drawers all have locks too. The seats at the back converts into a king bed that comfortably sleeps three. During meals, boleh pasang meja di belakang dan juga another table di depan.

The other double bed is above the driver's seat. Unfortunately I dont have a photo of that. The passenger seat can also be converted into a single bed. And the (tiny) toilet is opposite the sink. It is in fact very efficiently equipped. And with lots of storage area.

And all the windows have blinds. Including the front windshield (in case you wonder nak salin baju camne.. hehe)

And this is how you get power on any powered sites.

And how you dispose of the grey water (water from your sink and shower). Look for that blue campervan and down arrow signage for dump locations. The first time was the hardest. Luckily there was a van in front of us so the boys said, kita usha dia buat macamana. The water leaked during disposal. The pakcik behind us said, you should get that fixed. Kami ngomel, macamana kita punya hose boleh leak. After the third day we found out that we were using the wrong end of the hose. Oops (sheepish)..

And that is how fresh water is added to the camper.

And how black water (from the toilet) is disposed. Thankfully, that is the boys' department. After many eeewws! the cleanup was done. Enough said.

We always park our camper towards the qiblat (or closest that we can). Jadinye camper kami selalu tak lurus ikut camping lot (namun masih dalam kotak yang disediakan - of course). Orang putih selalu pandang macam tertanya kenapa senget. Mornings on the South Island are always too cold nak solat di luar.

Macam best je drive; when in fact I drove for about half an hour only (on the State Highway around Lake Taupo) out of the hundreds of km traveled. I thought the camper was too high, too wide and too long. And given that the State Highway is only as good as our trunk road, I drove too slow. There were too many cars following behind me.

Nevertheless. You must travel on the camper van if you are ever in NZ. It is the best experience. Bila tanya anak2 bila balik, what's the best part of the vacation? They said travelling in the camper van. And I simply cant imagine doing the journey in a car or even an MPV. This has got to be the best vacation ever. Hands down.

Our North Island journey next.





~ xoxo

NZ Part 2 : Familiarizing the Unfamiliar @ Arrival

Semoga dipermudahkan Allah. Tiap2 hari sebelum dan semasa berada di NZ, itu saja yang saya doakan. Mana kan tidak. After all, we are travelling thousands of miles to a land we dont know anybody and which is totally alien to us. Apa yang ada semuanya dapat dari internet dan juga dengan bertanya sedikit dengan kawan2 yang sudah ke sana.

(the magnificent Mount Cook)

Alhamdulillah Allah permudahkan. Tiada daya tanpa pertolongan Allah. Hanya itu yang dapat saya ucapkan bila kembali dengan selamat ke KL.

NZ is sort of in the bucket list. It seem like a dream destination. Macam something so out of reach. A place worthwhile visiting. And indeed it is.

I am lucky sebab anak2 yang gagah2 pun travel sekali. MasyaaAllah. So, that sort of spread my worries out a bit.

(they are the enablers; in Auckland, on the way to One Tree Hill for a 360degree view of the city)

Saya terfikir juga nak ikut tour campervan kat internet tu - is it called  berjalan dengan kawan2? - something like that. Tapi macam tame lah pulak (we wanted to be wild I suppose!) Hmm.. mungkin kurang challenging. Dan that tour only does the South Island and does not cover all the places we wanted to go. This is after all my one and only trip to NZ so I have to do everything I want to do. Lagipun berjalan ramai2 tends to slow you down and restricts freedom. So that's that.

Dan ada juga yang bertanya, is it cheaper to travel on the campervan? I did some simple calculation before we fly. Entah betul ke tidak pun tak tahu. But it seem almost the same in terms of cost. Tak banyak beza (mungkin depends on the type of camper you take - high end or otherwise). But we consciously made the decision that we want to travel in a campervan. Bila lagi? Kalau travel masuk hotel, itu dah biasa buat pun. And we read that NZ is the friendliest campervan country. And so yeah, that was that.

(our first sunset in NZ; we did freedom parking at Lake Karapiro in Keeley's Reserve near Cambridge, 3 hours or so south of Auckland. It was dark, quite lonely with only a handful of other campers. The only facility we have is the toilet. It was FOC, of course!)

So much words! Tak suka menulis bila meleret. Reading is supposed to be interesting; a joy in fact (sebab itu saya selang-seli dengan gambar to make it seem like I have less words..J)

Masuk ke New Zealand amat senang. Tiada perlu visa (at the time of travel). Namun, they have the Declare or Dispose law.

They are very strict about bringing in food and other stuff into the country (baca habis2 di website dia). Kalau bawa makanan, declare saja lah. Sebab kalau tak declare and they find out about it (and believe me there is a high chance that they would. Sebab dia ada officer yang buka beg, mesin scan beg dan juga anjing penghidu di sekeliling airport), you will be slapped with an instant NZ$200 fine (kalilah dengan 2.86; ie lebih kurang RM600 dan makanan pulak dibuang). Paling senang letak semua makanan dalam satu beg. Jadi bila officer nak check bagitau je makanan semua di sini, tiada di dalam beg lain. They will give you two thumbs up and a relieved Cool! Dia pun tak ada keinginan nak buka beg kita dan selak semua jenis pakaian yang ada di beg (in my case at 1:00 in the morning).

Ada penumpang di hadapan kami diperiksa amat lama kerana semua beg terpaksa dibuka. Kami perhati saja semasa queue. Habis botol cili dibuka dan dihidu dan pakaian dalam diperiksa! Agak kecut perut menanti giliran.

The inspection officer took away my serunding daging yang dimasak kasar. Serunding daging yang disiat kecil dan serunding ikan dimasukkan semula ke dalam beg. Other food we have like bilis, sambal, sardin, spices and noodles are also put back into my case and declared save. Alhamdulillah.

(we had beautiful, fresh deep fried fish, scallops and Bluff oysters at this place in Kaikoura, north Canterbury. Tak pernah makan fish and chips sesedap itu rasanye)

We booked at the Ibis Budget hotel for the night. Hotel budget (sebab nama pun budget kan). Kata anak2, we should just spend the rest of the morning at the airport until the camper office opens. We parents are baby boomers and the idea to lepak, tidur and shower at the airport seem to be beyond us! Jadi kami mencari juga transport paling murah ke hotel (the budget hotel does not have shuttle service).

Independent shuttle service we asked wants NZ$15 for each person (kiralah untuk 5 orang dalam RM. Itu je lah kerja kami bila nak hulur duit). We thought we would walk. Kata internet, hotel cuma 5 minit dari airport (entah berjalan kaki, naik kereta atau roket). That was the reason why I chose the hotel. Kata the friendly cafe attendant, it isnt that far, maybe 15 minutes walk. But with the luggage and all you should take the yellow bus.

(Aww -- hate too many words!)

(Hobbiton; kalau dah sampai ke Auckland jangan tak pergi ke Matamata dan visit Hobbiton. Amat rugi kalau tak pergi. Serious!)

Yellow bus? We were determined to walk; tapi jalan yang ditunjuk waze agak2 jauh. And it is close to 2am after all. Dalam mencari2, tiba2 dari jauh ternampak yellow bus. Kata driver, I have to leave on the hour (at 02:00) and the next bus is at 430am. You should hurry and take this bus. Do you have change, tanya saya. I only have big notes and the machine does not return any change. Driver keghabat turun dari bus. Minta credit card saya dan swipe card di card reader. Oh, naik bus pun pakai credit card rupanye. Tidak lah saya tahu.. (sheepish) We made it safely to the hotel. Memang dekat sebenarnye. Tapi kalau jalan dengan beg bagai entah berapa lama.

Bilik hotel kecil tapi amat bersih. That's one of the many things I admire in NZ, everything is so clean and perfect. I will continue (yawn).





~ xoxo

NZ Part 1 @ Bucket List Checked!

Hi Darlings!

I know things have been very quiet on the blog, but we have been away on a holiday. Long deserved, I would say (and maybe the trip of a lifetime too).

Entah bila terpasang niat untuk ke New Zealand. I only knew I wanted to go somewhere worthwhile. It was either Scotland (I love the lonely hills as in Skyfall), or NZ (the beautiful scenery), or Wales (Celtic charms, maybe?) and well.. a few other places too.

And NZ somehow won the battle. Which now, in retrospect, I thought was the most accurate decision we could have made.

We were there for a couple of weeks, visiting both the North and South Island. We rented a campervan and eat, sleep and travel in that from Auckland down to the southern tip of NZ and then up again to the land of the glaciers and across the Southern Alps into Christchurch. From there we flew back to Auckland and then continued to KUL on an MH flight.

Letih. It was literary driving everyday sebab kalau tidak we will miss any of the major attractions we had planned to visit. But keletihan yang amat berbaloi.

Please bear with me, but I suppose this journey deserves more than a couple of posts. For now I share some of the awesome photos (pardon me for saying so) that I have.

The campervan - our house and vehicle for the 2 weeks stay.

 We were at Hobbiton. No regrets. And I assure you, everyone must visit this.

Fun photos on the serene Kaikoura beach in the late afternoon (ps - I go absolutely crazy over the sky!)

And ride on the quaint Christchurch tram.

That's Mount Cook at the end of the road. I said, do you have to take photos in the middle of the road (the road wasnt that busy, fyi). They said, ni la cool ma. I thought the view of the mountain is outrageously cool.

We stopped at a lookout point at Lake Wakatipu outside of Queenstown. It was windy, sunny and the view across the lake was stunning. We were heading up towards the glaciers.

 There was a lavender farm in Wanaka, some distance from Queenstown that I saw on the net. But didnt think we have time for it. Coincidently we passed by it and I said we have to stop here. And indeed, it was a worthwhile stop.

 Fed and petted sheep.

 I was in pursuit of the reds of pulasan ranum, oren bagai pinang masak and yellow as ripen water lily mangoes of fall colors on the mountains. But we were a teeny bit early. There were some colors, but not yet in its full autumn glory.

I knew the flowers are almost all gone, but there are some roses left. And hydrangeas in purple and red and other brave species.

And made it to the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers.

It was a long and a truly fabulous trip. One that I would do over and over if I can.





~ xoxo