#nadiagoingplaces: Roadtrip

Showing posts with label Roadtrip. Show all posts

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.

You know what this is.

I have been dreaming to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando. I used to made remarks of going here and here I am, standing in front of the Hogwart's Castle. It was the first for everything. This was my first Solo Trip in my life.

As a lot of you may have read my post on Tips for Solo Female Traveller, I choose to go to Orlando for my trip. I was initially planning to go to San Francisco, but the flight tickets were so high,I could not even afford it (costs $770 return, on a budget airline).

From Houston, I parked my car at the EcoPark at IAH paying $12. Went there at 5 since my flight is at 7 am. They provide free shuttle to each terminals and they will give you a coupon stating your parking lot (keep it so they can take you straight to your car). This was my first domestic flight in the US. The flight will took 2 hours and the airline I chose was Spirit. Spirit is a low cost airline that charged you for you cabin carry-on. Seriously? I just packed a small bag pack inside my Longchamp since I was staying for 1 night. I, now appreciate Air Asia after my Spirit experience.

Well, security of US airports were a hassle. There was a very long line to the Homeland and Security counter (they just check your boarding pass and ID). Then, it was the harrowing X-ray scanner, metal detector and full body scan. I always prepared so I did not wear layers or shoes that are hard to take off when I fly. The plane was normal, but the seat pitch was bigger that AA, I would say same as EasyJet in EU.

Landing at the airport, I finally told my mother I was in Florida. She was shocked and didn't believe me, so I send her the photo I took of the Florida beaches from the plane. Queue was long at the car rental counter. Walk across the road for car rental and I got a Mitsubishi Lancer (here, it was considered as compact car). I thought I finished downloading my Here Offline Maps so I venture out of the airport to the highway. The highway has too many intersection, it was confusing. I followed the sign and then my GPS kicked off. I set the GPS to bring me to Universal Resort and reaching 30 minutes of my drive, the place looks weird and I saw the sign of Tampa.

My heart dropped. I know I was lost! I felt weird the GPS brought me so close to Tampa. Then it instructed me to exit the highway and after 20 minutes I reached Universal Resort, which is a local resort named Universal. NOT UNIVERSAL STUDIO. I was horrified. I on my mobile data, but there is no data received and I thought it was a connection problem initially. I almost CRY alone in the car in the middle of a strange town. I stopped at Shell, wishing there was wifi but there was none. I decided to go back to the airport.

I saw a Walmart and immediately stop near the entrance to get the Free WiFi. Walmart save my life that day. I finally located myself near Tampa, far from Orlando. I reset the GPS to the airport since my GPS failed to recognise Universal Studio or any other landmarks. I was 1.5 hours away from Orlando and I want to cry. Calculating properly, I would reach Universal Studio around 1pm because of traffic . HALF DAY GONE just like that. I quickly exited the highway and follow the Airport sign. The traffic was bad and reaching at the airport, I followed the sign to Universal Studio. The thing was, there was not many sign at the highway. After 30 minutes, I finally saw the Exit to Disney World and Universal Studio. Yeay!!!

It was odd that the theme parks were located in the middle of the town. Then, I saw the Universal Boulevard and I reached Universal Studio safe and sound at 12.30 pm. I keep my positivity up and don't give up.

Later that day, I found out Celcom actually barred my line because I exceeded the max limit of RM150. I remember I called TWICE to raised my credit limit to RM500 and clearly that failed. Can you imagine if something bad happen during the trip and I could not communicate to the outside world? Celcom is so irresponsible and I do not trust them at all point forward. I regretted I did not purchase the US sim card and trust Celcom instead. I was lucky that day that everything was smooth and I got to be at the place I want to be.

It was definitely a lesson learnt. Make sure map is correctly downloaded and don't trust Celcom.

Small Rodeo show by Cowboys at George's Ranch

What kind of Texas road trip it is without being in a ranch?! Everytime I mentioned Texas, a Cowboy will crossed through everyone's mind. From the famous blogger hannahonearth , most Cowboys are seen in Dallas. Well, RR and I spent a lot of time researching on ranch that we can visit and saw cows and cowboys.

RR found a working ranch called George's Ranch located in Richmond, which is about 1.5 hours drive from Houston. What makes it perfect is not only it was enrolee to Austin but the ranch is actually a real working ranch! So, real cowboys here!

Richmond is a small town and going to the ranch, we go through some small roads. The ranch was one of the largest ranch here and what makes it interesting, the ranch was owned by 4 generations of women, not men.

How they live in 1830s

Mr Jones actor re-enacting shooting at the yard

The 1st occupants of this ranch got their land from the government where back in the late 1800s, before Texas was in USA, the government gave it's people land to do some farming or ranching for free. Basically Mr Jones work on the land, and later on expand this land in the coming years. Mr and Mrs Jones has 12 kids and they passed the ranch to the eldest daughter who marry a Ryon. Ryon's daughter inherit this and marry a Davis and passed it to her daughter. Then this daughter married a George and this is where the family line ends.

Ryon's house. Where the Butter Churning is happening

Peek into Ryon's family routine

Ryon's house

It was a big complex and the ranch consists of a cattle farm, rodeo stands and the 4 houses of each generation - Jones, Ryon, Davis and George. Each inheritor own their own house on the land. The oldest hoist was dated back in 1830 which was the Jones' house. It looks like a shed and the Park worker kept all belongings of the family dated back to 1830. They even have actors which will re-enact how they lived in 1830s. It was a very interesting experience seeing on how people lived in that era. It was just a shed with outdoor cooking area. Very simple beds made with hay.

George's House. Interesting.

We visited the Ryon and George's house as well. You can see the difference in living condition for each house which is very interesting. It was a walk in living museum. During our visit, there was a Butter Churning demo in the Ryon's house. It was mind blowing seeing how people made butter back in those days. Such hard work. I wouldn't do it if I have to. lol. Remember I told you the line ends at George's? The George's only son and child died during infancy. They raised their niece, Nancy and she would then become the heir. Unfortunately, she was killed in an automobile accident at a very young age, around her early 20s. At that time, Nancy, the last surviving heir was pregnant with her first child. With no heritage line continue, the extended family set up a George Foundation which kept the ranch running until today and later transform this land to a Historical Park.

The house was a typical ranch house - like RR like to point out, she felt like we were in the film The Notebook. The house was huge and of course creepy. Each house has their own guide which dressed and talk like the house's era. Well, I find the George's house the creepiest since the setting reminds me of the house in The Conjuring. My God.

Doc, the horse

We also visited the ranch show. First, the cowboys will show us some rodeo skills. We are one of the first so one of the head cowboys introduced us to it's horse called Doc. So cute, but RR was scared of animals. Sigh. We talked with the Cowboy and we were surprised when he greeted us with "Selamat Pagi". He told us he was a marine and actually went to Malaysia for 1 year to train with our Army. What a small world indeed. We talked a lot about KL and Malaysia.

The cowboys showed us the famous Longhorn. Owh my God, the horns are soooo long and it does not seem happy. LOL. The cowboys then demonstrates on how they disinfect cows and cattles in the farm. Well, the new stock will come to a stable in a line, injected and then the cows fly into a small pool of disinfectant. Yes, flying cows.

Overall, it was such a great experience for me and RR. We had so much fun walking around the beautiful ranch, learn on the ranch history and even get to see the living experience of several different eras. I truly recommend you go here if you are ever in Houston.

Author at Texas State Capitol

Percutian ke San Antonio & Austin

March 2016

It has been a while since I wrote something, well work caught up as well as other things. Minta maaf ban yak-banyak. Janji nak tulis pasal pengalaman di USA sampan habis.

One of the favourite type of vacation is a road trip (it was my favourite at least). I can tell that not all places are suitable for road trip , I mean people don't road trip across Europe do they? Or at least in congested city like Paris even somewhere close to Malaysia which is Singapore or Indonesia. You need resources (car rental can be hefty, fuels) and willing drivers. One of the country which is perfect for road trip is USA. My parents did the USA East-West Coast road trip back in their college years and trust me, it will be something you'll remember forever.

I too, dream of road trip while I'm in USA, but for a couple of months' trip, I can only do Texas. Texas is big y'all. It will take 3 hours or more just to cross Texas borders. I found my road trip buddy, RR which turns out to be a very close friend. (being on the road bring people together, need I say more?). We're gonna do 3 cities and agreed on our stops in this short road trip. Being on the same page as your trip buddy is important! Learn to share, respect and give and take to each others' needs. Don't be a selfish organiser. Road trip is all about partnership and fun of course.

Our stops: Richmond, Austin, San Antonio and San Marcos (of course)

Today, I'm gonna talk about the capital city of Texas. Yes, many of you thought it's Houston, but NO. Come on, Houston is being popularised due to it's significant role as a NASA base. The capital of Texas, kids, is Austin.

Austin is located about 3 hours drive Noth-East side from Houston. Like many capital city in USA, Austin has it's own State Capitol Building. It is a replica of the State Capitol Building in Washington DC. Austin is special because unlike other Texas state, the metropolitan area is situated around series of lakes, which is huge! The lakes are part of a river called the Colorado River. Not to be confused the same river in Arizona.

To me, Austin is more laid back and it certainly has a metropolitan feel to it. Well, the entrance to Texas State Capitol is free but there is no parking nearby (same as Houston). We choose to park at a parking building 2 blocks away from the Capitol. When we reached Austin, it was already in the evening around 5pm.

The centre of the Capitol dome from top floor. Around it are the paintings of US presidents.

They erected several memorials around the Capitol. Funny story is that, we didn't plan to go inside the Capitol building. We went in because RR need to use the bathroom. As usual for government building, there will be security screening at the entrance. It was a Saturday so there is no proceeding inside the Capitol and there are quite number of visitors inside.

After the toilet break, we wander off and visited the top floor to the bottom. Inside, there's a dome and around this dome at each floor, the hang the paintings of US previous and current President. We spotted Abe Lincoln, Adams, Bush and Obama here. It's like their own hall of fame. You can go freely inside the Capitol except the proceeding room where they conduct the session.

The building is simply stunning inside and out. It was our first time entering any State Capitol in the US and we learn something about their politics. Thanks to RR of course. If she didn't have that bathroom break, we will missed out.

Austin Skyline from lady Bird Lake

Our last location in Austin before heading to San Antonio is Lady Bird Lake. Well, I researched on photo spots and this came up. Since the Lake/river is huge, they had constructed a boardwalk on the river across Austin downtown. This is where you can actually the see the Austin skyline from across the lake. There was no proper parking but people park on the side road. We just followed and park our car there. Thankfully there is no police and we are quick.

Boardwalk along Lady Bird Lake/ Colorado River

The river bank hosts some private houses and jogging track. We also see some people canoeing in the river/lake. I can tell that I like Austin more than Houston. The environment is different and the city is beautiful. Next story is about Texas Ranch. On to the next post.

About Me

Adventures

Quick Launch to Posts

Contact Form

Labels

Popular Posts

Archive