By air, by land, by water- Dunedin to Rotorua (and Auckland)

I've been listening to Gone to soon over and oba again. Wonderful song. Anyways,briefly- my flight took almost 10 hours from Brunei to Auckland. From Auckland, i took a domestic flight to Dunedin Via wellington. I stayed at Amal's and her house mates were very very friendly. The first three days, we woke up late and went around Dunedin visiting gardens, museums, streets (shops). The fourth day, we went to Larnach castle and Portobello- somewhere along the Otago peninsula.. Amal drove us. I liked the peninsula. Beautiful place, there was blue water every where!

Pictures could not be taken inside the castle. Hehe Di luar saja.

The next day we went by bus to Christchurch. I can't remember exactly, but i guess its around 6 hours by bus. It was late in the afternoon by the time we got there and shops were closing -except Starbucks =p

We stayed in a hostel.

Makan maggi. haha desperate. And yeah behind me is a bunk bed.

Anyway, the next day, we headed off to Wellington by train and ferry. From Christchurch to Picton, we took a train, but the train crashed into something or someone, delaying our journey, so halfway through the route, we used a bus. No one got hurt. Especially us. Haha. We were eating and drinking complimentary hot chocolate while complaining about the delay. The complimentary drinks were given because of the delay- they shut us up with hot chocolate. We missed our supposed ferry at picton and they retimed it. Sigh. If we didn't missed it we could see the beautiful waters. But we were rescheduled to take the night ferry. By the time we arrived at picton, it was around 3 + and the next ferry is at 6- plenty of time to go around a bit.

I really liked Picton. It is so serene- i feel so carefree, just like in Lancelin, WA. hehe Like i said, i have this thing for fishing village and water. It took 3 hours for the ferry (hey it was more like a cruise. Huge ferry) to reach wellington. We arrived late in the evening. Again we stayed at a backpackers or youth hostel or whatever you call it. Yea, that means we shared bathroom and toilet and kitchen with other people. We had the whole day to go around wellington, the next day, so we went to the waterfront, lambton quay (shopping place ;p) and Te Papa museum just for a bit. Btw, most of the museums, are FREE. Including their national museum =D

The largest squid ever found-collossal squid. Preserved at Te Papa. Haha cute. They say, it has eyes the size of a football.

The trip to Rotorua took 8 hours from Wellington, by bus. We had 2 full days in Rotorua. That's where we did a lot of crazy things

I like thermal village and Rotorua.

After all, we don't think. Just do it. Haha

From Rotorua, we headed back to Wellington for the night and the next day, the others took plane to Dunedin in the morning, while i took the plane to Auckland. The flight only took 1 hour so i had the whole afternoon to spend, ALONE, which is so boring. My flight was 3oclock in the morning the next day. Apparently, its easy to get to the city (mahal saja). Auckland in surprisingly, a city. Rupanya, according to mum, Auckland is the international gateway of NZ. I decided to go to the sky tower since, it was in the city. spend like 2 hours at the top, the view is nice and watching people jump from 192 m is exciting. Seriously, these people, they like adrenaline pumping activities.

Sky tower.

I ate and went back to the airport by 6pm. Basically, from 6pm till 3 subuh- i try to entertain myself and i ended up falling asleep until 1am. Baik jua tebangun. hehe.

I do want to go there again, because there's still lots of things we haven't done and seen. When you go to some place new, you'll just realize that there is so much to learn and you want to learn it all. When you don't have that much time to do so, you'll want to go there, again. When you see their mirror-like blue waters from above, you'd wish that you stay longer. However, there is just this funny feeling when you see the disgustingly brownish meandering river of Brunei- the feeling of relief that you're home. hmm. Do you get that too?

Thanks god for the wonderful things i saw and experience

Home.

I've been back home for a couple of days now. And i haven't adjust my sleeping time. The first day home, i woke up at 3pm because in NZ time, its morning already. The good thing is, now i wake up early everyday. I would say i really had fun in NZ and at some point it feels so sad to go home just because there's a lot of things i have yet to experience. For example exploring the whole Te Papa national museum in Wellington, or watch an Albatross in Dunedin, explore Christchurch more, water rafting or just stay longer in Rotorua. Unfortunately, my full days in those cities aren't as long as it seems. I only had 4 full days in Dunedin, One quarter of a day in Christchurch, one full day in wellington and two full days in wellington. The rest of the days were spent mostly on 6-8 hours journey from a place to another by bus, or train and ferry. Most of the time when we reached a place after a day in the bus (sleeping because we took traveling pills), its already dark. Nevertheless, there were a lot of things worth remembering and i feel blessed to have seen the places and things i've seen.

And i keep on reminding my self, that it is impossible to explore everything in only a day or two. So for the next time in New Zealand, god willing, i need to save up again. When a dish cost 10-13 dollars each, just imagine how much i have spent on food in NZ. i also spent quite a lot on tshirts. I told you i seldom buy clothes but when i do i buy the one i think i feel most comfortable in. Ofcourse, its cheap since its sale season. I wouldn't bother buying clothes that cost 20-30+ one unless i have no choice. But the thing is, its cheaper than in Brunei and the material are so comfortable, that i find it amusing. =p So amusing, that i accidentally exceed the baggage allowance of 20kg. i am confused though. because i have plans for next year for another very far place and it'd take more than a year to collect enough money just to go there. Naah. At this point, i am a bit broke and i don't know how it'll be enough just to go visit my friends at the other end (before i turn 21, my once-a-year-free ticket privilege ends when i turn 21). I guess we'll just see how it goes.

Its impossible to tell everything in one blog post but NZ is not a shopping haven. Surprisingly, when you compare NZ cities even to KL or Hongkong, they are more city-like than in NZ. So its not the skylines or the city buzz that we are after, the the beauty- the scenery, the culture and the people. Auckland was a city though. I particularly like Picton- its so serene like Lancelin, WA. I guess i just have a thing for quiet fishing village with LOTS of water where you could just swim in. And Rotorua too. I do want to go there again, honestly.

Next blog post, i'll tell briefly about the trip. Just briefly, haha psl there's a lot to tell, i can't remember them all.

Back from Rotorua.

I just got back in welligton from rotorua.

We took the transcoastal train ride but our train crashed into something along the way but it was said that 'no one got hurt luckily'. Our ride was delayed and we reached picton late using a coach. We missed out VERY unferry-like ferry at picton. The ferry was more like a cruise and at night it just felt titanic-ish minus the jack dawson. But rotorua was hell lotsa fun. You can say we did crazy things in rotorua- all the adrenaline rush and the thermal bath in the rain.

And on my way to Wellington by the ferry, my mum called and told me that 5 of my cousins were quarantined. 2 went back home from brisbane but they were negative. their parents and siblings were positive. And thank god my mum didn't annoy me with all those wear your mask you'll get h1N1 things. My friends and i know what is happening in brunei- the H1N1 scare and all and it is fucking ridiculuous. Those people who died from it were suffering from other things when they caught it. And now a lot of fucking things were postpone just because of this scare. So i am fucking pissed. Paranoia will paralyse us you see. Everyone here agreed that people back there are ridiculously paranoid.

Just great.


I am at the end of my trip. Sadly. See ya.

Day 2- settlers museum. Octagon.

Melawat museum ku hari ani. Educational banar. =p aher bangun. Karau tangan ku kesajukan. kanyang ku sini. Makan segala yg nyaman2 srg amni masak kmarin. and amal masak. AMAL masak chocolate pudding! nyaman. Shupping ku tadi,. Kena dulur leh siah, si shopaholic ah. Sale sini.

Btw HADRI. kalau ku tecari jersi murah ku bali ah. mun inda syukurtah ada apa apa yg all blacks.


and UMMIIII BEBEHH~ I wanna liat transformer.. ticket sini sold out!!

Nauzubillah.

56 suspected cases of swine flu in NZ



Oh crap.


I am paranoid. Yeah. it feels dissapointing somehow. I should have just went on with the do-not-plan-any-trips rule.

I'm cursed.

All the way in NZ.

Is it just me, or has my darling Dr A lost a few kilos? My Babu looks sexy man. And that is just her first year. Imagine year 5- she'll be a bomb.;p

photo taken from ka mizah K

The photos on Ka M's site teared me up again. Siuk nyamu mal? You look like you had more fun there. She's on her way to become a dentist and we're still here, fighting our insecurities. All we want is just one chance to go to the place we want to just like her. Like him, i'm waiting for these clouds of doubts to dissapear. Maybe one day, we can all take pictures with lakes and winter coats and a size 7 body =p

For Amal

Aku pun kurus jua! =p HAHAHAHAHA. gila suka ku eh effect ah. Nda payah exercise pun kurus jua. Do you think i would be more beautiful in a skinny body or with a little fat under the skin?