Was counting down to 10 more days and already excited for touring NZ. Only 12 nights with so much to explore, i knew very well that it was not enough to cover the whole North Island. Hope we could have more days available but since elder son's college has started for second semester by the end of our trip, that was the best that we could have. Kia Ora NZ, here we come!
We departed from KLIA for Auckland by Malaysia Airlines 8.45 am flight on 22 May 2014, a 10 hours flight arrived 10.30 pm on the same day. New Zealand, 4 hours ahead of us. We were picked up from airport by our friend, Calvin, stayed over at his house at Manuka Heights, 20 minutes away from the airport for that night. Calvin's wife, Lisa greeted us with homecooked yummylicious chicken porridge and dessert to welcome us, a group of 7, me and husband and 2 teenage sons, my mom and my two nieces age 7 and 10.
At 10 am next morning, Calvin took us to collect our rented Toyota Previa from Apex Car Rental at their depot which was just 5 minutes away from airport. It cost us NZD1,152.76 for 11 days rental for NZD957, GPS Hire with full insurance cover NZD74.80 and option for fuel pre-purchase at 20% discount for NZD120.96.
After we have collected all our luggage from Calvin's house, we started our journey to Kaimanawa Lodge at Turangi which took us 4 hours. Turangi is located at the other end of Lake Taupo. We stopped by Huntly for lunch at Hot Roast Meal and bought some chicken, vegetables and fruits from Fruits King for our dinner. Kaimanawa Lodge, 2 bedrooms unit was a self contained accommodation, clean and well maintained. We have been cooking dinner every night since we prefered home cooked chinese food. By 4.30 pm we stopped at Taupo for a coffee break. By the time we reached our resort, it was dark as by 5.30 pm already sunset.
Turangi is world
famous for trout fishing, set at the southern end of Lake Taupo on
the banks of the Tongariro River, and is the second largest town in the Taupo district.
On our 3rd day in NZ, we explored Taupo, a 40 minutes drive from our resort. First thing in the morning, we went to Saturday Farmers market situated at Riverside Park, which was adjacent to Waikato river. Had fruit juice, another round of morning breakfast, bought raw honey, fruits, vegetables and local crafts.
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| For sales at Riverside Farmers Market |
Then we proceeded to Huka Falls,
taking the spectacular view of massive rapids from the platforms, or you may get a closer look and join the othe tourists on Hukafalls Jet boat cost NZD100 per person. Cheaper version, you may take the 1 hours 20 minutes river cruise on NZ's longest river.
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| Somewhere over the rainbow - at Huka Falls |
We explored Taupo town and had our lunch at McDonalds. Next, Orakei Korako Cave & Thermal Park (Hidden Valley). If driving from Taupo,
head north on State Highway 1 in the direction of Hamilton. The turnoff to Orakei Korako is
14kms from the junction of State Highways 1 and 5 at Wairakei. Turn right on to
Tutukau Rd,
travel 9kms then turn left onto Orakei
Korako Rd, travel 5kms to the end of the road.
Approximate driving time from Taupo is 25 minutes. We spent about an hour there admiring the scenery of geysers, land formations, boiling mud coming out of the ground.
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| Orakei Korako |
On the 4th day, we travelled about 2 hours to Otorohanga for Waitomo Glowworm Caves and Ruakuri Cave. We glided silently under thousand of glowworms by boat in the world famous Glowworm Caves. We then had lunch at their cafe before our 1.30 pm tour to Ruakuri Cave, NZ's longest guided underground walking tour, a journey down spectacular spiral entrance.
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| Waitomo Glowworm Cave |
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| Ruakuri Caves |
Day 5, our journey took us to Rotorua, an 1.5 hours drive. First stop, we escaped into the beautiful Whakarewarewa
Forest, one of Rotorua’s
most spectacular natural assets. Famous for its magnificent stands of towering
Californian Coastal Redwoods. We planned to have a relaxation at Waikite Valley Thermal Pools but since the weather was cold, we changed our itinerary and visited Te Puia instead, NZ's premier Moari cultural centre and home of world famous Pohutu geyser and a Kiwi house too.
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| Pohutu Geyser |
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| Whakarewarewa Forest |
Day 6, 27 May 2014, we travelled 3 hours and 45 minutes to Wellington, capital city of NZ. The route took us through Taihepe, Ruapehu, Bulls, Palmerston North, Foxton, Levin, Otaki, Paraparaumu. We were all excited as we saw snow for the very first time. About 10cm of snow fell on Mt Ruapehu, a welcome gift for the North Island’s two main ski fields, Turoa and Whakapapa, which are set for a 28 June opening. We stopped by the roadside and touched snow!
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| 10 cm snow on Mount Ruapehu |
Once we arrived at Wellington, we visited Te Papa Muzeum, located at Wellington's spectacular waterfront. Circa theatre was right opposite the muzeum. We had lunch at Parrot and Jigger, Station Village Complex before we checked into 2 bedroom units motel at Camellia Court, Lower Hutt for a night.
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| Circa Theatre |
Next morning, we checked out and went to Old St Paul's Catherdral, a simply stunning wooden church, built in 1866. Next, we viewed panoramic sights of the city from the top of Mount Victoria. Enroute back to Turangi, we stopped for lunch at Traffic Cafe, Arthur Street, Otaki. The pumpkin soup was good so was fish and chips. We reached our resort and had time for spa and games before our dinner.
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| Old St Paul's Cathedral |
Day 8, we relaxed at our resort, visited Tongariro National Trout Centre, just 5 minutes away from our resort. Cooked a simple lunch and dinner too. Tookanu Thermal Pool, just a 3 minutes away which we decided to skip.
On th 9th day, we checked out from Kaimanawa Lodge and proceeded with our journey to Matamata, for Hobbiton Movie Set from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film
trilogies. Since it was raining, we postponed our visit to Hobbiton from 11.00 am to 12.30 pm. We had early Thai food lunch at Star Food Cafe, so glad we finally have curries after so many days away from home. We took the shuttle from Matamata I site visitor centre, all in 3 hours tour, took many beautiful and lovely photos there.
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| Hobbit Home |
After the tour, we checked into one bedroom unit at Broadway Motel, 5 minutes away from the I site visitor centre. Our unit was facing the swimming pool and a children park with lots of pigeons. My two nieces was jumping away happily at the trampoline there.
The next morning, we were on our way back to Auckland, 1.5 hours away. First stop, Oratia Farmer Market at Artisan Wines in Oratia. We bought kebab, spring roll from a lady from Laos. She told us for 3 hours opening stall there, she needed to pay NZD40 for rental. My son bought cheese and my nieces bought bagel from the market there. Since it was still early for our check in to homestay at Mount Eden, we went to Western Springs Park, a wildlife sanctuary. We saw native orea (eel) trailing the swans and ducks. The Zoo is just next to this park.
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| Western Springs Park |
Our 3 days homestay at Mount Eden, 3 bedrooms unit had a fireplace where the kids enjoyed setting up the fire every night.
The very next day, we went to Avondale Sunday Market, Skytower, Parnell for Holy Trinity Cathedral and Rose Garden and finally One Tree Hill. Spectacular sunset view at One Tree Hil. At Skytower, if you are adventurous, try out the Skywalk or Skyjump.
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| Sunset at One Tree Hill |
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Skywalk
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The final day in Auckland, we drove 40 minutes to
Muriwai Beach, a blank sand beach where we saw a small colony of Gannets. About 1,200 pairs adult gannets nest here each summer and can be seen between August and March each year. As it was a public holiday, Queen's Birthday, we saw many surfer at the beach.
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| Muriwai Beach |
We wanted to have dim sum at a Chinese Restaurant down town but it was long queue as we were hungry, we picked another Chinese Restaurant at Newmarket, Crazy Noodle Bar. They served good Seafood Tom Yum and Wonton noodle soup.
We bought more chocolates and honey as souveniers for relatives and friends, packed up and was ready to fly home the next day.
Our flight was on 3 June 2014 at 1.15 pm and safely touched down KLIA at 8.30 pm on the same day. Home sweet home and more spicy food for us! The cost, yes it was cheaper compared to follow tour agent.
Note: Do indulge in Tip Top Hokey Pokey ice cream, so creamy and yummy!
