Saturday, 31 March 2012

New Zealand- part2

continuing from where i've left out in Sep 2011 :S

Day4 of my New Zealand-North Island trip was the most unforgettable moment!

We went skiing for the first time :D

We arrived at the National Park the night before & had a nice stay in Pleatue lodge that is located 15 minutes’ drive from the UNESCO World Heritage listed Tongariro National Park, and skiing in Whakapapa.

The place is pretty decent, clean & cozy.
Great for getting a good rest before heading up the snow mountain, since its only 15mins away.

we started the day earlier & rented some gears for skiing just before going to the ski field.

i managed to squeeze myself into a one piece teen suit -size12! probably helped to saved about NZ$ 3-5? can't remember how much exactly but anyway, i prefer to get a one piece suit.

The one piece suit kinda look like a racing suit.

that's a pic of me looking like a racer heehee ^^

and a picture of us
after renting the gears, we drove up to the ski field.

along the way, we get to see the snow-mountain from the bottom.
i think its magnificent!


it was my first snow experience.
even by looking at the signboard, i got excited :D

we bought group lesson package which includes the shoes and ski board.
you may find out more about the fee in the following url
http://www.mtruapehu.com/


Being a first timer, i was overly excited yet worried that i might fall.

But that didn't stop me from trying. :)

this is our coach.i think he was from Sweden.


The group class has about 5 of us.

For started, the coach got us to wear only one side of the ski board & try walking around with it.
Once we get a little bit comfortable with it, we got both ski on.
It takes quite a bit of energy to move around with the ski board.
All the exercise was what kept me warm.

The class is 45mins long & we had ski down the hill at some beginners area for few times.
It was good fun & i am happy that i did not fall on my ass :D

then I had my first experience on a ski lift.
the ski lift brought us to even better view from the top.
the view is breathtaking.

snow mountains
icicles

definitely a best place to chill and have a cup of hot chocolate!

After all the ski workout, i lay down on a bed of snow.

make a lil snow angel

play with the snow


& created my own mini frosty, the snowman...
had so much fun just lying down

i would want to go back there someday :)

Sunday, 27 November 2011

WE ‘R’ MALAYSIA – THERE IS HOPE

I like musical...my favourite so far is Annie :" tomorrow, tomorrow.. i love ya tomorrow..you always.. a day aaaaaway"
Coming up We R Malaysia the musical this Sunday. 4 December 2011, 8.00pm @ Dewan Lee San Choon, Wisma MCA, 163 Jalan Ampang Kuala Lumpur.

See facebook page, facebook.com/wrmmusical2011
OR visit blog, http://wrmmusical.blogspot.com/ for more information.

See you there :)

Saturday, 10 September 2011

New Zealand- part1

Haven't been updating my blog since march. It's been so long that i've forgotten my login password. hehe.

2011 has been a great journey.

Four major holidays for the year: Hong Kong, Successfully climbed Mount Kinabalu, New Zealand (most recently) and soon Beijing.

In between, i've escaped to Singapore for weekends and local beaches like Port Dickson.

Other than traveling is of course work...occupying most my time. But i guess, it isnt too bad.

Anyway, i flew to Auckland on 29th Aug, good timing for a long holiday as it falls on Raya period, so that i dont have to apply too many days annual leave.

We spent a total of 10 days in New Zealand- since the land is so huge...10 days isn't a lot to cover the country but we still manage to cover the north island.


We rented a Sunny Nissan (aka Nissan Sentra in Malaysia) from GoRentals and drove around north island, from:
Auckland-Hamilton-Rotorua-Taupo-Mt Ruapehu-Wanganui-Wellington-Napier-Tauranga-Auckland.

Quite effective aye? but can be quite tiring. We rented the car for about NZ$ 30 per day, of course the more days you rent the cheaper the price will be and if you are wondering how much is the petrol prices, average is about NZ$ 2.04 for a litre. But i think its best way to move around if you are not traveling alone; if not the buses are not bad too.

We spent the first night at Rotorua, nearby there this nice lake

cold & misty
visited the Rainbow Springs Kiwi Wildlife Park-where you get to see local birds; Kiwi, Kea, Tui and etc. But i think the park is quite small...only manage to see two Kiwi Birds... quite disappointing. Nearby there is also the Tamaki Village where you can get to experience the Maori Culture...but it is very pricey, so we decided not to go.

Day2, we moved quickly for some fun activity.
The New Zealand RiverJet

we went on a weekday, so there isn't anyone besides us.

Our personal tour-guide
its a high speed jet boat where we speed down the spectacular Waikato River.
It was freezing cold btw.

Stopped by Orakei Korako, the beautiful thermal reserve in New Zealand for a walk.
Here are some pictures from Orakei Korako


the elephant rock

the boiling mud pool


At last, we get to experience the world famous jet boating action including the 360-degree spins.

Then we went to checkout the huka falls, the largest waterfall on the Waikato River.

The hukajet might be a good option as it goes very near to the falls and you get the same 360' spin experience

the huka falls is really magnificent, i've never seen anything as blue before!passby the Volcano Activity Centre

and the Lava Glass Studio
saw the making of Lava Glass

we end the day 2 with a beautiful sunset by @ Lake Taupo.


Day3: Waitomo Caves...famous for black water rafting


We went for Ruakuri Cave tour & Waitamo glowworm cave

Outside Ruakuri

Forgotten how many feet below...

the natural stalactite and stalagmite formation is beautiful.
its like chandelier


& these blue little dots are lights from the glowworms.
interesting little creature.

those fine lines/chains are glowworms' saliva...to trap food!
it was cold in the cave

Later of the day, we went for a Kiwi Culture Show @ Woodlyn Park
the seating is quite cool but very antic.
lots of sharp tools stuck on the wall for deco
what if any of it fall off the wall??? kinda scary..
The whole show was quite raw... its all done by one person only but I think its still pretty amazing for a one man show.

the show covers from the history of men using different techniques chopping off trees...to sheep shaving and many more animals...

Possum was one of the many cute animal we saw
Some pictures in Woolyn Park

love these flowers
nice place with different room concept...

train motel

plane tail



ship concept

movable toilet?
& finally, room for hobbits!

That's all for Day1.2&3.more updates next time.