Posts Tagged Travel

New Zealand Day 6 Pancake Rocks

Posted by blurcheryl in Holidays, New Zealand on January 5, 2012

We were well informed that on Day 6 is a rainy day but didn’t expect it to rain the whole day unlike during our Spring visit to Melbourne, Australia.

New Zealand weather report says: Showers means real Shower, its like a rainy day in Malaysia, whole day raining non stop without thunders but the weather’s chilly.

We drove 4 hrs from Nelson to Punakaiki, 274Kms away. Previous stop was at Buller Gorge, Buller River and we reached Punakaiki at around 12-1pm.

Its raining so what?

Since we are here, we made a stop at the i-centre and take a 30 minutes walk to look at the beautiful Pancake Rocks formation.

Wah I look so slim in this photo? Right? Right? Right? (Self denial) I still carry my small Furla backpack eventhough its raining, its waterproof!!

Closer look at the rocks formation. Looks like pancake huh? Who says Pancake rock not worth a visit? Who? Who?

My photo again.

There is a long board way walk, or sometimes have to climb a few stairs of rocks to view the scenery, its not dangerous at all, you can even bring stroller along if its not too troublesome for parents.

This place reminds me of my visit to Melbourne, Australia the 12 Apostles / Great Ocean Road.

More pics.

Ada lagi..

Habis..

Holiday, New Zealand, Pancake rocks, Travel, Travel blog

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New Zealand Day 6 Buller Gorge

Posted by blurcheryl in Holidays, New Zealand on December 30, 2011

We woke up early on day 6 to prepare breakfast before we start the longest drive ever the whole trip in NZ.

Excuse my messy hair coz I dont comb my hair even after wash hahahha

Our plan for Day 6 was to drive close to 500 Kms that takes a minumum of 8 hours at least to reach our destination, Franz Josef.

20 Nov	274kms	4 hr	Nelson	Punakaiki
	44kms	40 min	Punakaiki	Greymouth
	44kms	40 min	Greymouth	Hokitika
	136kms	2 hr	Hokitika	Franz Josef

Sound pretty scary huh.

I asked for advise on tripadvisor some time back.

Some says its do-able.

Some says its dangerous as the driver would be too tired and suggest to stop at Westport or Greymouth for the night before continue to Franz Josef.

In our case, due to we have 2 primary designated driver we went ahead with the long journey. All you need to prepare are:

Feed the drivers with snack, sweets of many kinds
Feed the drivers with Caffeine; Strong C O F F E E
Have a Reliable Co-Driver who can keep the driver entertained, talk non stop, read signs, read GPS and full of energy

If you still want an answer If its safe to drive so far in one day?

The answer is YES YES YES and dont forget to stop at several tourist spot along the journey!! Its is do-able YES YES YES and I never regret this plan at all. We reached Franz Josef at night and there’s nothing much to do there anyway.. as it is located in a quite remote place which is near to National Park.

First stop of the day, at Buller Gorge alongside State Highway 6, gorge that flows from the Buller River between Murchison and Westport. We decided to stop and play at the New Zealand’s longest swingbridge at the Upper Buller Gorge.

First we cross the hanging bridge and admire the beautiful blue-green colour of the Buller River.

Then we stop somewhere and took a picture. (P/S: Jynn is that where Laksa touch your leg?)

After that we masuk hutan.

Go for Bushwalk, so beautiful

Love the colours and the sight of so much flowers, must take photo.

After the bushwalk, its time to play!!

Can see the Swingbridge Tower?

Hubby was the first one to play coz he have to get to the opposite site and take our photos. So here I am without his knowledge took a photo with this cute boy. (can see his tahi hidung but I didn’t tell him)

I am the last one to play too as I need to snap photos of the others.

Okay the Swingbridge was fun but not scary at all.

buller, buller gorge, hanging bridge, Holiday, New Zealand, river, swingbridge, Travel, Travel blog

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New Zealand Day 5 Stay at Nelson

Posted by blurcheryl in Holidays, New Zealand on December 29, 2011

From Havelock after we filled our tummy with good food, we drove straight to Nelson and planned to make it for some Wine Trail Experience. We reached one Wine & Cafe Restaurant but they were too busy to entertain us, so we head to another one not far away from Nelson on State Highway 6.

We reach the Vineyard (opens daily) like 3pm but nobody is there so we left the place without a drop of wine and head to the place we stay.

We stayed at thebug backpackers and love it there because

Its Clean
The room’s cozy and chic
Double Room Ensuite is available
Triple Room is available
Free Coffee and Tea
Free Wifi
Conveniently located within walking distance to town *30 minutes walk

Here’s how our room looks like

Spacious Triple Room

After settling down, we walk to the town saw this dog inside a truck, I thought he is going to jump out. Its so cute btw.

We have quite alot of time today and not rushing anywhere. Too bad shops closes at 5pm. The Nelson Provincial Museum.. Missed!! Its close.

Walk to Selwyn Place looking at the Clock Tower accross the street.

Quite a number of bar and restaurant here though.

Indecisive whether we should dine out or cook, we ended up grocery shopping again. In NZ they have self check-out counter. Amazing!

Here’s the food we bought. Saw that Fantastic Instant Noodle or not. Damn nice!

We had our dinner at the wooden deck outside, I prefer to sit at the Garden but the weather’s too cold to even venture a few more steps out there.

This Yakuza Handsome guy sit behind me inside the living room, so I sneakily snap a photo of him but forgot to turn off the flash!! So malu.. Aiyo he too handsome!! I like his eyebrows, his nose so cute, his sideburn so cute, he eat also look so cute.

Next day a loooooooooong trip ahead.

Food, Holiday, nelson, New Zealand, the bug, Travel, Travel blog

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New Zealand Day 5 Mussels Town Havelock

Posted by blurcheryl in Holidays, New Zealand on December 28, 2011

What a quiet and quaint town this is, we arrive at the NZ Famous Mussel Town, HAVELOCK.

Havelock located about 70KMs away from Picton, 45 minutes drive.

After several days of budget food, buying Fantastic instant noodle to cook, making sandwiches, and sandwiches, and roti, more Fantastic instant noodles, its time to feast! We set our GPS to go directly to The Mussel Pot wahahahha

This place is highly recommended so its a must-try!!

The blue colour interior doesn’t look indian at all. Why ah?

We ordered Mussels platter cooked in different ways, fried, white wine steam, with thai chilli sauce, mussels bisque, etc. I like the steam one the best!!

Yummilicious Mussels!!! Slurp Slurp

Scallops and Salad!

The best Fried Calamari Rings I’ve ever had. The best in FLAVOURS and TEXTURE, so FRESH!!!!

Stupid Yeobo make Funny Face! ^^ I like…

After lunch, we had a short stroll around town, there’s a really tiny museum here which we didn’t bother to get in. (Have to pay)

Backyard sale. Okay, not.. Museum Fundraiser sale that we didn’t see any soul at all.

Next.. heading to Nelson

Food, havelock, Holiday, mussels, New Zealand, Travel

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Kampung Koh go to New Zealand

Posted by blurcheryl in Holidays, New Zealand on December 26, 2011

Malaysians will always be Malaysians and Malaysian Chinese do loves chilli sauce. So we brought one to NZ our beloved Kampung Koh Chilli sauce with garlic for satisfy our appetites.

Made sandwich for brunch while sailing & yes, you can bring food on board.

Oh.. I didn’t mentioned in previous post, I experienced a slight feeling of seasick for a while, and I got a cup of coffee to reduce the need of vomiting.

I dont usually have problem with sailing, but I guess the sea was rough and I can feel it when I am sitting inside the cabin. Later on, I went to the outdoor deck and sit under the sun and had a cat nap. I did not care to cover myself from the mighty sun as I was so happy that the sunlight shining bright on me and keeps me warm from the cool breeze outside.

No wonder Angmo loves sunlight so much.

chilli, Food, Holiday, kampung koh, New Zealand, sauce, Travel, Travel blog

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New Zealand Day 5 Bluebridge Ferry to Picton

Posted by blurcheryl in Holidays, New Zealand on December 23, 2011

On Day 5, we travelled from North Island to South Island by Bluebridge Ferry and will be staying over at Nelson.

We woke up at 5.30AM that day to shower, pack our clothes, wear our clothes, went downstair for breakfast and to prepare for our lunch onboard the ferry. At 6.30AM we left Moana Lodge at Plimmerton and drove to Wellington, 30 minutes away.

On the way towards Wellington, this stretch of road have the highest Speeding Ticket generated due to the downward slope of the highway. So make sure you abide to the traffic rules and do not ignore your GPS warning.

From Plimmerton to Wellington Ferry Terminal, the GPS will guide you to the city road, however if you would like to skip the the more complicated city road drive, look out for the road sign to Aotea Quay Waterfront. You will see about 3 or more tall building of silos and that is when you should keep left and turn to the waterfront road which leads you direct to the Terminal or Wellington Harbour Front.

Information you may want to Know

There are 2 Passenger Ferry Companies to choose from to travel accross Wellington to Picton or vice versa, either on Interislander or Bluebridge.
If travelling with vehicle, make sure you arrive at the Terminal 1 hour before the departure time.
You will travel 3 to 3.5hrs by Ferry from Wellington to Picton or vice versa
Picton to Nelson is about 143Kms with 2 hours drive

Here’s our passes! 5 blue plastic tags for passenger and 1 black plastic tag for the vehicle. Its good that Kiwis use the plastic tag, its environmental friendly as they dont have to print on paper and turn to waste while cut more trees

Here, we wait in the car following the lanes the operator instruct us to queue.

We have to drive our car safely onboard the ferry. Dont worry, there’s plenty of space to turn and park and the ferry assistants are friendly.

After we have parked our car, we went inside the Ferry and you basically can choose wherever you want to seat. You can watch a movie at the indoor passenger cabin or come out and enjoy the freezing cold breeze on the observation deck outside.

Yeobo posing for me here.

The Cook Strait crossing is fun considering you get to see so many beautiful sceneries and this is one of the highly recommended activities if you travel to New Zealand too.

You shouldn’t miss this alright?

Nice?

Because I am onboard Bluebridge so I can take this beautiful pic of Interislander. Wahahahahha

Bluebridge vs Interislander

Bluebridge cater mostly for Kiwis who travel for work, not touristy
Bluebridge price is slightly cheaper
Bluebridge sailing time slightly earlier
Bluebridge ferry is smaller

Interislander

Touristy Ferry
More features with many cabins to choose
More comfortable and nicer, bigger, pretty
Why you want to continue? I never tried Interislander right..

Q: Why I chose Bluebridge?

A: Its because my car rental company provide Free Vehicle Transfer by Bluebridge.

Q: Why do I want to travel with vehicle onboard ferry?

A: So that I dont have to lug my backpacks, luggages, plastic bags, pillows, food, drinks, plastic bags, books, travel brochures, rubbish all over the ferry and the risk of Slip, Trip and Fall. TQVM

Tadaa!!

We reached Picton Terminal at 11.30AM and will head straight to Havelock.

Bluebridge, Ferry, Holiday, New Zealand, Picton, Travel, Travel blog, Wellington

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New Zealand Day 4 Wellington City

Posted by blurcheryl in Holidays, New Zealand on December 22, 2011

We decided to drive to go to Wellington a 30 minutes drive away from Plimmerton.

How can you missed Wellington for this?

We parked our car near to the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum (Free Admission) and take a walk at the harbour front.

Its Freezing Cold!!!

I actually enjoy the walk along this quaint harbour front with the backdrop view of hillside houses.

Some of the photos of the city… The YHA New Zealand in the heart of Wellington City Centre overlooking the harbour front with the New World Supermarket strategically just next to it.

We went to the family restaurant in Wellington for dinner at Fishermans Table which offers, Good View, Good Food, Reasonable Price. The restaurant is very busy, so reservation is recommended.

Hubby had ‘Waihau’ -Fish of the day.

Awesome!!!!

I had Steak with Garlic Butter. Yummy!!

After dinner, we drove up hill to Mount Victoria for a panoramic view of the Wellington at night.

This beautiful real panoramic view : Source from wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Victoria,_Wellington. I sucks at taking night view photos.

Lord of the Rings Connection

Mount Victoria was used twice as a location in Peter Jackson‘s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The very first footage on the project was shot off Alexandra Road on 11th October 1999 Called the “Get off the road” scene. Followed by the “Escape from the Nazgûl” scenes a few hundred metres to the North. Later an old quarry at the top end of Ellice Street was used as the Rohirrim camp at Dunharrow. ^[3]

Dining, FIshermans Table, Holiday, Mt Vic, New Zealand, Travel, Travel blog

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New Zealand Day 4 Stay at Plimmerton Seaside

Posted by blurcheryl in Holidays, New Zealand on December 21, 2011

Have I started to bore you? I am still writing on Day 4 … *yawn

Its really a long day for the drive from Taupo to Wellington, however the long drive does not tires me as I am not driving mah.. ngek ngek ngek..

After we left Tongariro we made a stop somewhere at the junction of Ohakune National Park on Highway 49 for a quick bite at Subway.

Due to some miscommunication which obviously the waitress was dreaming when we ordered our meal, my meal ended up with pork ribs and meatball 6 inch long Subway.

Luckily I shared this with Hubby…without the meatballs.

After lunch, we shop at the Countdown supermarket to get some food supplies for next day ferry ride.

After a short shopping trip, we drove straight to Plimmerton Beach where we spend the night at Moana Lodge a backpacker hostel highly recommended by Tripadvisor!!