PR and NZ

It's official. We are "visa-ed" to stay in oz indefinitely. Heh. And guess what, I'm going back to school next week ! Kinda nervous but let's give it another go. This time, I'm taking it slow. Only one subject. Then maybe two the following semester. All at local rates. :)


Anyhoo, I'm "supposed" to give the full account of our NZ trip but having just recovered from the damning fever and still battling with the annoying sore throat, I shall let the pictures speak more. I'll try to post them in sequence but if they are not, you'll have to bear with me.

Day 1:

The first thing we did was to pick up the car. Actually, this pic was taken on the 3rd or 4th night but according to the order of events, this was what we did the minute we touched down in Auckland. Ok, next pic ...

Of course, the next logical thing would be to check in. We booked an ensuite room at this backpackers' lodge - 'Surf n Snow', and ended up regretting but I'll tell you why later.

Joe checking out the loo. The room was actually pretty decent. It's not big but it's clean and located right in the heart of the city. Unfortunately ...

...it started raining...through the lights!!!

And onto the bed!!! And the whole room was flooded after 10 mins of rain. The funny thing is, Joe went down to the reception immediately to report the "leakage" and the receptionist thought he was complaining about rain spattering through the windows but when he insisted that she come and see for herself, she went like,"Oooooooooh mmmmmmmmy gaaaaawwwwwwwwwd!!!!!" A pity I didn't dare to snap a shot of that face - it was priceless. Haha.

Needless to say, we were given another room but I wouldn't recommend anyone who's going to Auckland to stay there because, faulty roof aside, the place was noisy as hell. Mainly because the walls are so hollow you can hear this joker showering in the adjacent room for over an hour (Joe said he/she hadn't showered in a year, you know, yi4 nian2 mei2 you3 chong1 liang2). Plus they had to call in the contractors to fix the roof at 11pm and the racket they created could be heard all over the building. By the time I dozed off, it's time to wake up.

Day 2:

After 5.5 hrs on the road (and with undereye rings that were blacker than black), we finally reached Whakapapa. It was really cold. Something like -2 degrees and the wind was howling away.

Another view of the snowcapped mountains.

At last, the whakapapa ski field. This is Happy Valley - the slopes for beginners where all the kids and novices like me hang out/fall down.

The chair lifts. It was bitingly cold. The first day we were there, they shut down most of the lifts because the winds were too strong and we were confined to the T-bars only.

Lo ! Brand new ski jacket, beanie and goggles for me ! And I didn't even know how to ski ! :P Still, I had such a great time there. I didn't think I'd enjoy the ski trip THAT much but I did because: 1) the ski lesson was excellent - almost like a private one because there were only 2 learners (I was lucky because that afternoon session happened to be quite sparse). 2) I finally learnt to not fall down too many times!

That's my instructress on the right (with the red ski jacket). She's from Austria and travels to where the season takes her. Apparently, she was in Michigan the week before and had just flown in to NZ. A globetrotting full time professional skier - how cool is that?

Lesson in progress. Look closely and you'll be able to catch me goofing up there. :P

Joe with his snowboard. He's pretty good with that thing although he claims that he still has to master the "parallel-glide-down" stunt. I have no idea.

And that's me (again) trying to act cool. Surprisingly, skiing isn't that scary. Initially, it was, I must admit, and of course, there's the occasional freaking out when you start to gain speed but once you are more comfortable with the snow plowing, each meter down the slope was a tad more bearable than before. Also, the constant help and encouragement from Joe and my instructor helped a great deal. And after a while, the euphoria sets in and you can't bear to leave your skis behind when it's time to go.

End of 1st ski day where we retire to a nice cosy motel - Discover Lodge - some 9km from the ski field. Joe's pretty pleased with the dry roof and quiet environment. So was I. :)


Day 3:

Off to the snow again. It's foggier than the previous day but all the lifts were opened.

Unlike the 1st day where we could drive in freely, there's a long queue for snowchains on the 2nd day because the roads were a little icy. We must've wasted like an hour waiting for the fitting to be done.

Finally, up on the lifts and freezing our arses off.

And Joe again. Attached to the T-bar this time. I was inelegantly jealous because I fell down the moment I grabbed that thing between my groins and only after 3 successive (and klutzy) tries did I manage to keep my balance all the way uphill. Nevertheless, it was fun.


There are more photos of our skiing here if you're interested but for now, these'll do. And if those are not enough, I have uploaded a few short video clips of Joe snowboarding, me skiing (or trying to), him with a T-bar and me on one (eventually) if you have unlimited bandwidth and nothing better to do.

We didn't spend the whole of Day 3 skiing because we wanted to break the long journey back to Auckland so, we drove to Waitomo (which is like 2 hours from Auckland) to stay for the night. Waitomo is famous for their glowworms-inhabited caves so, we made an obligatory visit to said caves but before we did, we checked into Waitomo Cave Hotel - yes, hotel (because we are spoilt rotten and cannot tahan the hardship of backpackers' lodge and motels lor). Ironically, Joe's making us cup mee in the hotel room. Very high "crass" hor.

Front view of the Waitomo Cave Hotel. Quite nice, right? And it's supposed to be a "budget" trip. Heh.

The only shot they allow at the Waitomo Caves is at their entrance. They are very particular about copyrights and stuff so, strictly no photography of any form inside the caves but I bought postcards! :) Maybe if I'm really, really free (which I am right now), I might scan them in and post it here.

Day 4:

Back to Auckland ! This was a very exciting day for us because we were getting the permanant visa labels so, we set off rather early to beat the queue (which we did) but it turned out that the stupid lady at the counter wasn't sure how to go about with our case and had us go back there 6 hours later to collect our passports. From Joe's friend's experience, it should only take 15 mins but what the heck. We'd already waited 4 long months, what's 6 hours to us?

And so we roamed the city while we waited. That's Joe and Auckland's icon - the sky tower.

Joe and the sky tower again.

Er ... the sky tower and Joe?

Did I mention Joe luuurrrvvveeess the sky tower?

In fact, anything that had a remote resemblance to the tower (see also the waitomo cave pic) was a photo opportunity even though we didn't actually enter the maritime museum. That's how much he loves the architect.

I know. It's kinda like a fetish but hey, he just likes posing with them so, why do I care? He pose, I take lor!

Can u spot the adored structure here? Heh. :P

I'm not sure if I'm permitted to put this up since the sky tower is not in the backdrop but let's see if this photo disappears mysteriously along the way like some of the pics did in previous entries. ;)

Finally, after we got our PR, we checked into this place called the Oak Tree Lodge and I highly recommend this motel because: 1) the price is reasonable ($10 more than the backpackers' lodge and no faulty anything). 2) The service's very homey. 3) The location's great (though not in the city, it's close enough and very near to shops and eateries). 4) Facilities very new, has 3 heaters, comfy beds, sky TV, free parking, a kitchenette with fridge, microwave, kettle, etc.,. Best amongst the 4 rooms we stayed in NZ. :)

Judge for yourself. Not too shabby, eh?

Day 5:

And finally, our last day in Auckland was spent wandering through the Moari museum where the indigenous people performed some songs and dances like the Hakka (if you've seen All Blacks, you've seen the warrior dance they put up before each match). It was all very interesting.

Sometimes you get picked to go on stage to make a fool of yourself.

The handsome warrior with a slimy tougue.

We took a lot more pics in there but I'm running out of typing energy. So go to the pic link above if you want to see all the Maori artefacts and statues.

And finally, just before we hit the airport, a mandatory tour of One Tree Hill. I told Joe that it looked different because I seem to recall seeing a tree on top of the hill when I was there in 1999 but I could be wrong. Anyway, It's like fort canning, only more picturesque.


So there, all written out. Am going to check on Joe now. He caught my bug and was very ill last night but still insisted on going to work this morning. Stubborn mule. If you know him, please send a get well message to him, k? :)