Windy Wellington

Hey guys, updates from Wellington city, where some say, the best little capital in the world!

It's pretty windy out here, and rainy, cloudy, basically, its 4 seasons in a day sometimes. I reach here at night, after 8 hours of bus ride from Rotorua. It was a tiring journey.. Im with Intercity NZ again @ only 35NZD! It's a pretty good deal..

had one of the most tiring walks ever to search for my accommodation, which i've prebooked with i-Site. I've decided to stay in Lodge in the City, located at Taranaki St. It's only 18NZD per night. Had to choose the cheapest one because i'm planning to stay here for a week before heading back to Auckland to catch my flight to Melbourne on the 28th.

The next morning, i head out to i-Site to meet up with Caroline and we went for walks around the town, botanical garden and Te Papa Museum. The museum is very interesting, with loads of information regarding NZ history, volcanic exhibits and such. It's was fun spending some times here.

There's a display of the colossal squid caught by some fisherman, and this one weights almost half a ton!

Traditional Maori boat

Maps of North and South Island of NZ on da floor

And we sign up for the Haka dance lesson too! It was a funny but interesting experience!

Ka Mate Ka Mate, Ka ora Ka ora

after the museum visit, we visited the shoreline of Wellington, such as along Jervois Quay. It was a beautiful place with beautiful view!

and we went for a Malaysian dinner, which was not a good experience for her as most of the foods were pretty spicy! Im sorry once again! There is Asam Laksa, Roti Canai and Nasi Lemak.. foods typically found in Msia. Not the best taste though.. It was prepared by a family from Seremban.

So, that's pretty much on the first day in Wellington.

* Caroline, wishes you an enjoyable travel and work on the South Island, hope to see you again next year :)

Rotorua

Finally im back into travelling, and this time, i've decided to head to Rotorua to see some volcanic and thermal activities. Took the Intercity again, which only cost me NZD35 from Manukau City to Rotorua. This is the non-refundable tickets, hence, the price. It tooks about 4 hours to get here, and man, it does smells bad here. Rotten eggs smells of sulphur fills the air of Rotorua. It was kinda spectacular to see steams coming out from the ground and water surface as the water/mud is practically boiling!

Managed to get my accomodation in Cactus Jack Backpackers @ 20NZD per night.. Not a very good backpackers place, with things pretty old and i dont feel secure here with my stuffs. Although Dan, the owner's son was pretty helpful with stuff and getting good deals. Anyway, this was one of the cheapest one, so, you decide! :P

Here's the Rotorua Museum @ Government Garden.

Didnt do much on the first few days.. hanging around the lake and some short trails in the city.. it was not a beautiful sights along the trails i can say :( Decided to visit Wai-O-Tapu and Waimangu Thermal Valley as planned, but the transport there is pretty expensive!! Got a deal of 110NZD for the shutter bus and entry tickets to both places. Not cheap but, i'm here already.. and not coming to Rotorua AGAIN!

First of all, the 'largest' mud pool in NZ is pretty disappointing.. small, and lack to bubbling actions.

And then we went to watch the Lady Knox Geyser, which is another sad case where it's not a natural erupting geyser i should say.. at the beginning, everyone was wondering, how can it erupt at precisely 10.15am each day? Well.. soon after we find our place to sit, one old man came, talk about some history of the geyser and then,... he added something to trigger the Geyser eruption! DUHHH!!

and we move on to the main entrance of Wai-O-Tapu where we have quite a limited time to visit the whole area, which makes it pretty tiring and unpleasant..

This is the famous Champagne Pool of Wai-O-Tapu

same goes to Waimangu Volcanic Valley, and the rain just makes it worst! It's been raining almost everyday in Rotorua for the whole week im there.. it's just sad sad thing..

The room i've stayed in was also pretty boring, as there is nobody in it except for a french guy. However, on the third day, it was a good day.. the room is filled with new friends from all over the world. I met a French girl, Caroline and we explore Rotorua for the next few days, mainly walking and hiking along the beautiful Red Wood forest and Mount Ngongataha. It was free, so, it's good.. both of us are pretty much on a tight budget and all these places makes it possible for us to explore and spend the days. It was a nice walks through all the trails with her.. she's active in sports and pretty much travel all across the world.. I think im the oldest guy during this backpacking trip to NZ who travels the LEAST! Sobzz... Everyone i met and talk to have a great experiences backpacking trip while me, i'm just started :P

Anyway, here's some photos from the walks along the Red Wood Forest

Mt. Maunganui!

Greetings from Mt Maunganui, Tauranga. After spending a night in Auckland, met Aunty Serena.. we went down to Tauranga, to my sis's house at Mt. Maunganui. It took 4 hours on a Intercity Bus from Sky City, Auckland to Tauranga town.

A view of Auckland city at night

Had my first Fish N Chip, from the most famous one of course. Fresh Fish Market @ Tauranga. They have loads of other seafood menus..but sadly..im so poor i cant even afford to buy one lemon for my fish n chip! LOL.. just kidding..just saving money and enjoy the natural taste and flavour of the fish itself..

I've done some walking around the town.. and took some shots.. so, here it is.. enjoy!

Now this is Mount Maunganui!

Look how clear is the water here! and how blue!!

There's so many sea shells on the shore!! And the famous one, were the Paua shells..for it's wonderful colors! Paua, or Abalone is a local delicacy here, but i havent got the chance to taste it yet..

There so many paua seeds along the shore.. look!

And i also tried the famous ice cream waffles, called Super Waffles @ 6.90NZD!

and more to come, as i've conquered Mount Maunganui in 30 min hikes.. so, stay tuned for more photos! :P

Franz Josef Glacier

Franz Josef Glacier was one of the nicest place i've been so far.. (well, it's only my first week.. i expect more :P) The photo above was taken at Peters Pool.

We managed to get hitch ride in Greymouth (and it was difficult!) and we were lucky as one couple stops to pick us up and guess what? He owns few backpackers house all round NZ! He's Cedric, and we had an agreement to stay at one of his place if he give us a ride..yeah, why not! We went to quite a places along the way, visiting few lakes, do some shopping at Hoikitika, buying greenstones, and finally reach Franz Josef around 5pm. We stay at Chateau Franz, cost 21NZD a night and we do woofing, working 2.5hours a day for a night accommodation free! sounds great isnt it? my sister got to work as cleaner while me, as a photographer of his place. Sounds not worth it but well, i'm ok with that..

We stayed a night, and plan to go for a full day hike but it's full.. so we stayed another night and went for the hike the next morning. It cost 180NZD for a full day hike, and all the equips are provided, plus a complimentary hot pools entry.

We join the Franz Josef Glacier Guides company and it was one of the good ones there!

It took about 20min to reach this restricted area (from the parking lot)

And the guides brief us for a little bit and divided us to 3 different groups

and here we go, up up here we come..

long long way to go.. the duration to get up there is about 4-5 hours!

after 10-15min walks.. here's the ice!

Such a magnificent crevices!

What a glacier formations.. it changes all the time throughout the year

Look at what we walking on! Blue blue glacier!

And the stairs were made of that too!

What a view...simply breathtaking!

Look at the tiny guide in the centre!

and he is building some stairs for us..

Oh man... so blue!

walking through tight spaces..crawling under the ice.. it was quite fun and slippery!

and that was pretty much the highest point we can go.. :(

Such a nice hike..tiring for me though.. im OLD... :( and legs full of blisters from stupid Hi-Tec shoes and hiking boots.. pains in every steps. SHIT! It was a great experience though, who get's to climb glacier easily? You.. YOU can! just come over to Franz Josef or Fox Glacier in South Island, New Zealand! :P