In this post I am going to talk about Rotorua, Napier, Hamilton and everything in between! We stayed in YHA Napier, Four Canoes Motel in Rotorua and YHA Waikato (June's Hall). My favourite is the June's Hall since it is a farm stay.

Little lamb at June's Hall backpackers


The North Island is famous for it's volcanoes and the seismic activity. Another thing that is famous or shine in the North is the culture. I am talking about the Maori people, the people of New Zealand. The North is an amazing place to learn about the Maori culture.

This is why we are going to talk about Rotorua. Rotorua is famous for it's geyser, mud pool and Maori villages. We can see a lot of Maori culture pieces all over in new Zealand but it is much more intensified in Rotorua itself. Since we got the discount from our Arrivals magazine, we went to the Whakarhewarewa Maori village. It is a legitimate living Maori village where real people still lives there. 

I am a Malay girl and Malays genealogy are the same as the Maori people. Our genes are directly under the Pacific Islander cluster. That explains why Malays and Maoris look so much alike! We were told that there have been 7 generations living in the village and the Maori people usually lives by the thermal pools for heat and energy source. They even cooked using the hot thermal pools in the village. 
Yep, that is a thermal pool


The Haka Dance

We were entertained by a cultural show by the Maori people in the village. We are free to roam around the village and see what the villagers do. This is a modern village, they do have electricity, cable, cars etc. But they do keep their culture intact. Interesting enough, I met one of my colleagues who is actually on holiday with her family.

We went to a free thermal pool in the city. Most pool charges you but since this one is government own, it is free. Ooh, when you enter Rotorua, you can smell the Sulfur overtime you breath.
Rotorua Lake
We did went to the Rotorua lake to enjoy the scenery and we detour a bit to see the Huka Falls. The sheer amount of water is just amazing. When in Rotorua, do not forget to visit the Te Puia Thermal Wonderland. They have the Lady Knox geyser and several thermal pools. Funny story, the discovered the geyser because some inmates were washing clothes by it and the geyser force flew the clothes by a couple of hundreds meter in the air.
Lady Knox geyser

Champagne Pool

The Devil's Bath

Huka Falls

We do explore to a lesser known site called Craters if the Moon. It is like a massive field with lots and lots of craters created by the small geysers and seismic activity. It was getting warm this time around and we did not enjoy the Craters of the Moon as much as we'd hope for.

Another famous filming location is the Mount Ruapehu which is Mount Doom in the Lord of The Rings. We actually wanted to do the Tongariro Alpine Trek but time is just not enough. The total time for the trek is 8 hours so you will need to spent at least 2 nights in the area to conquer this trek. Maybe next time! The next city is Napier. It is a laid back town by the coast. Of course, famous for it's fresh seafood. We just linger around the town and visited the Te Mata peak or as the called it the Sleeping Giant.
Te Mata Peak

Te Mata Peak - there is a trail starting from here

Napier town centre

Pacific Ocean

Mount Ruapehu/ Mount Doom/ Mordor

The final destination in North Island is the Waitomo Glow Worm Cave. Please go here. I could not emphasize enough on how this is the underdog attraction in North island. The glow worm is just amazing! It is like a trip to a milky way and I was surprise why this is not one of the wonders of the World. You will be guide through a cave, explaining the formation and you will be placed on a boat into the darkest cave you ever been in to witness the beauty this glow worm creates.



In this post I'm going to talk about the Auckland City, The Hobbiton and Coromandel Cove. I will cover the rest in Part 2!

We decided to spend around 1 week in each part of New Zealand. Honestly, I think this 2 weeks journey is just not enough to fully enjoy New Zealand. We landed in Auckland and I can say we spent a total of 3 nights in Auckland. Auckland is a big and busy city, like Kuala Lumpur itself. There is traffic everywhere. We stayed in 3 hostel/hotel in Auckland - Jucy Hostel, Ibis Airport and Haka Lodge - all received good reviews from myself.

Auckland city form Mount Eden

The Mount Eden lookout

The main place to go in Auckland is the famous Queen Street which is a typical business district. They do have some cute cafes for cafe hopping and you can try to enjoy the wharf and the Auckland Tower. We did ventured out a bit to the best look out point in the city which is Mount Eden. There is a parking space near the summit where you can park your car and walk to the top. 
Author at Giappo
This is the highest point in Auckland and you can have the best sunset here overlooking the Auckland city. One place we did managed to visit is the famous Giappo Ice Cream Parlour. The price is hefty but it provides an unforgettable ice cream experience you will ever have. Their concept is that you will choose the ice cream based on taste rather than the visual effect we are used to every time we visit Baskin Robbins. Do take note that Hokey Pokey is not halal since it has gelatine in it. The ice cream is presented gourmet style, so pleasing to your eyes and you bet, it tasted amazing as well!

The next destination I am going to talk about is The Hobbiton. The place that shot to fame because of it being the filming location for both The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit series. The filming location is located in a small town called Matamata which is not far from Hamilton. The drive to Matamata took 3 hours from Auckland.


Bilbo is not home today

We booked our slot prior to driving, but you can just walk in to the Shire's Rest cafe to purchase the tickets on that same day. We opt to drive to The Hobbiton, which is an extra by 10 minutes from the Matamata i-Site. If you are the books' or movies' fans, by all means, please come here. The set in Hobitton will make you lose yourself wandering in the Tolkien world. I looks so realistic and the rolling hills are just beautiful.



Free drinks at The Green Dragon Inn

You will be on a guided tour and there is not much time for photography. Everything is a touch-n-go so you would have to be quick to get that killer instafamous shot that will make your friends back home die of jealousy. They do offer free drinks at The Green dragon Inn which is of course a pub in the movies. They offered a non-alcoholic beverage too in the options.

New Zealand is mainly famous for it's beauty and because of that a lot of movies had New Zealand in their filming locations. The next one is both and Instagram famous spot and a filming location. It is the Cathedral Cove in Coromandel. It was way further south from Auckland and took around 3-4 hours drive. The drive was full with S bents and curves. 

This location is used in the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, where the 4 characters arrived in Narnia from the London train station. To get to the cove, you will need to walk/trek for about 45 minutes. This is not a flat walk since there are inclination and stairs involved. It is doable for my standards - both of us walk in our normal clothes, for sure you can do it.
Yep, got my instafamous shot 
Beautiful cove

Parking space is very limited at the top and the beach will get crowded in the afternoon. Nevertheless, that fantastic walk-through cave was as I imagined and the waters are so blue. Sometimes, to get a good photo, you have to go through hell first. It was worthwhile. We then went to the next location famous to an unconventional beach.

Lots of people seeking heat from the cold wind
The reason I said unconventional is because the beach is situated on an active seismic activity plate. Which in turns, make the sand hot. It is like you will have a personal hot tub by the beach. It is call the Hot Water Beach on Mercury Bay. If you are interested in having your own jacuzzi, please bring your own shovel to dig up the sand to let the heated water comes to the surface.

On our way to Napier and Rotorua, we did passed through plenty of small towns that offers great FnC. I think the North Island is the best place to have fish and chips because the fish are fresh and the price is really good with the portion that we had. Till next time folks for Part 2!

Date: 19 October - 2 November
Type: Leisure Backpacking

Land of the long white clouds
Visiting New Zealand is one of the items in my bucket list. Ever since I went to Swiss, I have put New Zealand as my must-do list. I am embarking on a typical road trip journey with 2 friends - one who actually had been to New Zealand back in 2012! I am sorry guys, if you expected this blog post would be titled as "2 weeks in New Zealand for just RM XXXX", because it is not. If you have been reading my blog lately, you would notice that I rarely share on how low I can go for a particular trip. I mainly share on what is the experience and how to optimise your time and also tips on saving some cash for ones place.

Sure, budget is very important but please, do not make an impossible paper thin budget that you will loose the excitement and pleasure of having the fun of your life. Nuff said, I have been eyeing the flight tickets to NZ since 2015. When AA announced they would re-establish the KL-NZ route, I was so excited.  When should we go to New Zealand? Anytime. New Zealand is beautiful in every single season. The main plan we had - 2 weeks to spent in both North and South of New Zealand.

1. FLIGHTS

2 bookings: KL-Auckland and Auckland-Christchurch. We took Air Asia X for the KL-Auckland leg and we were a bit lucky for the 30% Raya Sale. As for the domestic flight, we took Air New Zealand which costs $59 with 10kg luggage.
TIPS: We get the Air NZ tickets via grabaseat.co.nz which is the partner of Air New Zealand. They usually have promo seats for every 3 months. Do check for Jetstar promo as well.

 2. ACCOMMODATION

As usual, we fixed a budget max of $30-40 per person per night. Our accommodation options are mainly YHAs, Holiday Homes and Hostel. Based on experience, the hostel/backpackers in New Zealand offer a comfortable, clean facilities to their guests. We did not have any horror story from YHA or ant hostels in new Zealand. We rebooked every accommodation except the one in Waitomo where we just walk in. List of places we stayed:

Auckland - Jucy Hostel, Ibis Budget Airport and Haka Lodge
Franz Josef - YHA Franz Josef
Queenstown - YHA Lakefront Queenstown
Te Anau - Kiwi Holiday Park Te Anau
Aoraki/Mount Cook - Glentanner Holiday Park
Lake Tekapo - Tekapo Holiday Park & Motel
Christchurch - YHA Christchurch
Rotorua - Four Canoes Motel
Napier - YHA Napier
Waitomo - YHA Waitomo (June's Hall Backpackers)

3. CAR RENTAL & FUEL

 We rented from Jucy Rental for the entire trip where we had 3 separate bookings. Jucy do give out discounts for repeating customers. We email the Jucy HQ on the side and managed to get a deal for free GPS for our entire trip. The car rental costs around $600 for 2 weeks which includes a full coverage insurance. Please do not skip the insurance as you will be driving in multiple road condition and anything can happen.

Fuel is definitely expensive in New Zealand and prices varies from place to place. While we were there, Mobil actually have a promotion where you will get 6 cents off every liter if you spent fill up more that certain amount of liter. Total fuel for 2 weeks is around $550 - hefty right?

4. ACTIVITIES - COUPONS, COUPONS, COUPONS

 Most of the attraction in New Zealand are free and the only one we booked before arrival is the tickets for Hobbiton since they have scheduled time and the Milford Sound cruise. Other activities that required payment, we just bought it on the spot. Please took a copy of the Arrival magazine as it contains a lot of discount coupons for the paid attractions in New Zealand. We got discounts for NZone, Jucy Cruise, Wai-o-Tapu Wonderland, Whakarewarewa Maori Village, Waitomo Glow Worm Cave and FREE UBER!

From the list of accommodations above, you can pretty much guessed our itinerary for this trip. We visited a lot of places - really and I could not possibly lists everything. So below are the summary of start-end point location for each leg. We will discuss the legs in detail on separate blog post below.

NORTH ISLAND:
Leg 1 - Auckland-Hamilton-Auckland
Leg 9 - Auckland - Rotorua
Leg 10 - Rotorua - Napier
Leg 11 - Auckland

SOUTH ISLAND:
Leg 2 - Christchurch-Franz Josef
Leg 3 - Franz Josef - Queenstown
Leg 4 - Queenstown - Te Anau
Leg 5 - Te Anau - Queenstown
Leg 6 - Queenstown - Mount Cook
Leg 7 - Mount Cook - Tekapo
Leg 8 - Christchurch

5. FOOD

 We brought 3 packets of Brahim's instant rice, 1 box of Tom Yum cubes and M brought a homemade sambal ikon bills. Don't forget to make a list for food and medicine for easy custom clearance. Food was relatively easy to find in New Zealand. Lots of halal joints in the cities - kebabs, Indian food, fish &chips (F&C). Burger fuel have halal burgers too!

We rarely cook, but we bought our grocery supply from Pak'nSave or Countdown. Our staple stocks are milk, cereal, eggs snacks, fruits, water. Please try the Lewis Road Whittaker milk - it is to die for!

6. DOCUMENTS

 No visa required to enter New Zealand and you don't need to apply for Australia visa for the short transit. Our driving license works fine in new Zealand, so you don't have to apply for the International Driving License Permit. And, most cashier terminals employ the Pin&Pay, so get your card sorted out before flying.

7. CLOTHING AND SIMCARD

 We went during Spring-Summer transition, so the temperature fluctuate a lot. DO NOT underestimate New Zealand's weather as they can change rapidly. The lowest temperature we encountered was -1 degC and the warmest day was 18 degC. The wind can be violent at some places. Bring your thermal wear, fleece and 3-in-1 jacket for contingency.

We bought Vodafone Travel Sim at the Auckland duty free zone. There is a counter where you can buy the sim card for $45 which includes 3GB of data.

September 2016

The last time I dive was back in May, before fasting month. I wanted to dive at least twice a year or once every six months since it will keep my skills in check. I have always heard rave review on Tenggol Island as a diver's paradise. Particularly because it hosts the ever beautiful whale shark from August to October.

Since I am going with the parents, I decided to have a dive day trip instead of overnighting at the island. The island is small, unlike the famous Redang or Perhentian. My parents will be bored, stuck on the island for 3 days if we choose to overnight there. I searched and came across TenggolScuba101. A mouthful indeed.

They are the only dive centre that offers day trip from the Dungeon jetty. A day trip will consists of 3 dives and lunch at the island. I contacted them and set a date somewhere in August. They also have their own guesthouse at the jetty - so convenient. The cost:

RM480 per person for day dive trip: 3 dives and lunch
RM150 per night for the accommodation at the guesthouse

I must say the price seems a bit high compared to other places, but TS101 had their own catamaran, dive shop, guesthouse. A week before my trip, the management call saying they had to cancel the trip because there is a malfunction on their boat. I was disappointed, but I chose a September date instead. We made amendments to move my reservation to another date.

We push off from our house in KL and arrived at Dungun around 7 pm and went straight to the TS101 HQ located at the Dungun jetty. Arriving, we checked in and the receptionist said he could not find my reservation. He found my name on the list but there is no room left. Gosh, it was getting late and he made dozens of phone call to rectify the room situation. He suggested that we stayed at a nearby homestead since our room was occupied. I was tired and I don't want to argue.

We went to the nearby homestead by the beach. Arriving there, we settled for a room. It appears that the homestead owner and the dive shop admin did not speak on the terms. Everything was misalign, and we had to sort it out ourselves. We went to bed and I hope that the dive would be better.

After having breakfast at the dive centre, we had briefing. Wow, the crowd. There is this own private diving club organising dive trips. It seems I am few of the divers who did not belong to any club. There are 24 divers I guess. We head off to the island and for first timer, they took us to a shallow depth dive called Turtle Point. This was a check dive session. We saw 2 huge turtles swimming next to us, there is not mush coral and the visibility gets really poor towards the end.
Drift Diving

Turtle in Turtle Point

Our second site dive is called Tokong Timur. This was one of the spot to see whale shark. The visibility was perfect. It was crystal clear and there were plenty of marine life! This was my favourite dive site. The species in Tenggol is very diverse and the corals looks super healthy. Saw some nudis, sting rays, box fish and yellowtail.
Horace, my supporting dive buddy from USA

Blue Spot Sting Ray

Parrot fish

Yellowtails

Tokong Timur is surrounded by an island with a lighthouse. The current is strong here, so we did a drift dive towards the end of the dive. I can say, this current is really strong. I was moving so fast. This is the first time I enjoy drift dive after the incidental one I had in Redang last year. We we hopeful, but unfortunately there is no whale shark here.

I had severe sea sickness after the 2nd dive. After having lunch and chilling out, we headed off to the third site called Rajawali - another famous spot for whale shark. There was strong surface surge and the water was super cold. I wear a rash guard which is sufficient all these time and I started to shiver at the end of the dive. The visibility was okay, but there were not many fishes as in Tokong Timur, and no whale shark sightings. I surface up, thank god my dive guide was very attentive, sit in the boat trying to make the nausea go away. I slept all the way back to the jetty.
3 out of 6 cameras blocking my way


Yellowtail school

Busy day in Tokong Timur

I would dive again in Tenggol because it is beautiful and undisturbed. It has plenty to offer. However, I will stay in the resort and take the resort dive guide next time. TS101 was great - the owner and even my dive master was superb. For a diver or two, the crowd might be overwhelming. The dive club has 16 people and they just do whatever they want - they don't care who is the guide since they are good enough to dive without one (some of them are master diver). Well, not good for us, the private divers who need our guide because safety is important to me.

With 24 people aboard, there is lack of space underwater (funny right?). I got finned in my face 3 times. People are hogging over every single sea creature with their advanced cameras and did not give a chance to other divers to see it. I just don't like it. Maybe, this type of outing is not for me. I believe diving should be calm, exciting activity and never, ever I hogged a nudi or a turtle to get my shot and block other diver. The beauty of underwater world should be shared among all, not taken away for and instaworthy shot for your followers.

Aside from that, yeah Tenggol is beautiful. If you are a diver, please consider going here. The amount of marine life you see here is astonishing.
Girls Trip to Redang
May 2016

Well, this year, we are going to Wisana Village in Redang. A boutique, lavish and secluded piece of heaven. Wisana is not a big resort, it has few rooms that would accommodate 30 people in one time. They provided several packages and accomodation type.

We took the all inclusive package costs around RM570 per pax. It includes:
- 2 nights Accommodation in Superior Chalet (2 Queen Beds)
- Return boat ride to Merang Jetty
- Full board meals
- 3 snorkeling trips
- 1 hiking trip

We drove from KL to Kerteh and spend the night at CB's place. Initially we would want to take the 10 am boat but due to CB and D did not bring their sea sick pills, we postpone to the 1pm boat instead. The management staff was very understanding and very accommodating right from the first email, which is a bonus.

After having breakfast, we head of to Merang which takes 1.5 hour drive from Kerteh. Stopped by Burger King to buy light lunch. There is a new jetty in Merang where all the boat operator to Redang and Lang Tengah operates. The parking free was around RM20 for 2 nights. We boarded the same boat with a Singaporean family who is staying at the upscale Taaras Beach Resort.
Blue waters

The chalet
How you can say No to this?

Wisana is located at a protected bay of Redang. We stayed in Laguna last year and we found out that there is no access by foot to the Long Beach. From the boat, Wisana was very glorious, with it's clear blue water and zero crowd. Almost like a deserted island fantasy you have in mind.

Our room was more than enough. We had 2 queen beds, a/c and fan as well as the amenities. It was clean, comfortable and everyone in this resort has a beach view for no extra fee. The snorkelling trip was fun. They actually bring us to a private island called Pasir Mak Kepit. There was no one here except us and there were a lot of fish! We also get to explore a cave near by. The boat man was vigilant to avoid the crowds. Not once, we were in a crowded places. The last snorkelling spot was not the best, as there was strong current at the Pulau Ekor Tebu. Redang has the best snorkelling spots. Unfortunately we did not go to the Marine Park or the Long Beach. We did however, see the Laguna boats drift by our side.
Snorkeling trip

The cave

Look at the corals!

Fish

Myself and M decided to hike up the hill behind the resort. Well, review said it was easy climb for beginners. NO, IT IS NOT. Don't judge based on what you heard people. The entire journey was inclined, so if you have not hike before, do not do this. The jungle trekking took 30 minutes to the top. Well, I am not a climber and I struggled a bit. It was very slippery, so bring proper shoes and even hiking stick if you need to and WATER. There were a lot of leaves that made it very slippery. M almost slip on the way down and I hiked down looking like a crab. But the view.. Ooh, the magnificent million dollar view was worthwhile. You can see the whole Redang Island and it's neighbouring islands. So, beautiful.
The boulder next to the resort

Here's WHY YOU SHOULD STAY AT WISANA:

1. The privacy. A perfect place to unwind. I feel very relaxed and for the first time, it felt like a real vacation. Where you just do nothing and be amazed by the view. Not crowded, very quiet at night. It has a private island feel to it. We brought UNO card to kill our time.

2. The amazing view. Come on, where else can you have a patio where you can just stare and lost between the blue waters and the sound of waves with no interruptions?

3. The staff. Yes, they made you feel like family here. The staff are very friendly and they love to make jokes. They will accommodate everything to make your stay comfortable. The staff gave us a whole coconut from the coconut tree in front of the chalets.

4. The food. There is nothing better than a homemade food. Since the guest are in small groups, the food is really good. They serve local food with fresh seafood with a burst of flavour. Until today, I missed the Fried Kueh Teow I had in Wisana.

5. The beach. It has boulders where you can climb and the beach has gentle baby waves perfect for swimming. In the morning, you can actually spot a turtle who's a regular visitor of the beach. I can easily fool anyone by saying I'm in Maldives. 

7. Stargazing. Yes, because of less artificial light, you can clearly see the stars while sitting on the beach or lying down in the hammock.

8. Quick Getaway. A perfect weekend trip from the hassle of KL city. It does not costs a fortune to get a million dollar worth of vacation.

To Wisana team, thank you for making our stay memorable and I fell in love with Wisana the moment I stepped my foot on it's white sandy beach. I will definitely come again.



No. of Dives: 4
Dive Center: Turtle Bay Divers, Perhentian Kecil.
Accommodation: The Barat Perhentian, Perhentian Besar
Date: End of April 2016

This would be my first dive trip of 2016. Well, coming home from US, makes me longing to be underwater again. As usual, my parents are tagging along for my dive trip. And, because of that, I had to choose a suitable and decent accommodation in Perhentian. 

I choose The Barat for good reviews and it's location on the quieter area of Perhentian Besar. We booked the Garden Family Room, costing RM280 per night. This room has 24 hr electricity, with fan, A/C, hot shower, small fridge, safe deposit box and hair dryer. The room has a Queen bed with a bunk bed (4 adults). Boat ride costs RM 60 per pax for return journey.

Well, there was a lot of huge mosquitoes on the island, so we come prepared. We bought some mosquito repellant incense. The beach right in front of the resort was not suitable for swimming. Go to right side, where the Coral Bay was located. It was much nicer to snorkel and swim here. There were plenty restaurants next to The Barat. We ate at the in house restaurant as well as went to Mama's Restaurant next door. 

Turtle Bay Divers (TBD) were located nest to Panorama and both dive centre are the best in Perhentian. Bridget from TBD arranged my transport to and from the Big island for free. The dive shop is big, pretty crowded during surface intervals. The staff are friendly and very helpful. The dive group were small, consists of 4 divers max (pretty much common in Panorama too) with an alternating dive schedule. The price was the same as any dive shop on the island, but they charged extra for T3 and Tokong Laut.

I dived with Pascale, Daniel and Manu over the 2 days and met new friends. The equipment was well maintained and the boat was okay. As usual, if you're diving in Perhentian, please work out for your upper body strength to climb the boat after the dive. No ladder available, people. Well, let see where I dived this time:

D'Lagoon - last time I was here, this was my favourite dive spot due to it's amazing visibility. It does not disappoint this time too. Visibility was around 8 meters, I dived for 50 minutes with max depth of 11.9 meters. Spotted 2 huge Jenkin's Whip ray (It was so early on the dive, by the time I turn on my camera, they disappear to under the rocks). Saw small rays, blacktop reef shark, barracudas, batfish and of course a lot of corals.

Something weird

Anemone Fish


Tokong Laut - dream spot of everyone. The English translation is Temple of The Sea. It was famous for it's diverse marine life and amazing coral garden. Turns out to be the worst dive in my diving experience due to very very strong current and bad visibility. The visibility was around 4 metres and we lasted less than 30 minutes underwater at 18 meters depth. I managed to spot ray, treavlly and yellow tail. The vis gets worse at the end of the dive. So, I might repeat this next year since I'm not happy with this one.

Vis was bad. too bad it's a pretty site

T3 or Terumbu Tiga (maybe T2 as well)  - famous due to huge boulders laying on top of each other that creates a cave like dive to diver. Saw Flabellina nudi, Joruna nudi, glass shrimp, some reef fish. Nudi's are a lot here especially in the critters. Depth was 12.5 meters with 47 minutes dive time.

Nudibrancs

Goby Fish


Shark Point - Ironically I saw no sharks at all. LOL. Saw Hawkbill turtles, parrot fish. The visibility was poor also for this dive. The surface surge was bad, that I actually feel seasick while waiting on diver to climb the boat.



Overall, I will dive with TBD again. They are fun and very informative divers. We actually took the time to go over each other skills and how to improve them. If you have any concerns, they will help you to work on your skill - buoyancy, finning etc. For me, my problem recently was that I float during my 3 meter safety stop. I realised, I forgot to deflate once my air reached 80 bar. The resort was pleasant and I would stay here again for sure. See you next time, Perhentian!

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