New Zealand pt 2 — Arriving in NZ
Part 1: https://medium.com/@timothyteoh/new-zealand-pt-1-sydney-stopover-b20782dc0310
We headed to the airport in the morning and had breakfast there. Yup Subway is a lot more generous with their helpings outside Malaysia!
I also made it a point to have bacon with every meal I had on this trip. It usually costs AUD/NZD 1 which is relatively cheap.
We found this hilarious because Mimi goes by the “mimipie” handle.
She still had her braces on so this photo is quite unflattering (sorry!) but she looks much better now that she took them off. Well on the way to becoming the MILF she wants to be.
Air NZ is known for their quirky flight safety videos — the one that was running during our trip was a sketch-film featuring Melanie Lynskey from Two and a Half Men and Ed O’Neill from Modern Family. There were cameos from other famous people as well — I remember Julia Gillard being in it.
I wish we could have caught the “An Unexpected Briefing” safety video they released a month later to coincide with the release of the Hobbit though.
After touching down in NZ and picking up our rental car, we had dinner and headed for the hostel where we would be staying.
Does the gate seem a lil big to you?
(This is a picture taken from the next day) We actually chose to stay in Jailhouse Accommodation which used to be an actual jail. An entrepreneur decided it would be a good idea to buy it up and make it into a hostel.
The walkways between the rooms were narrow and the interior was spartan.
There was a spot to take mugshots or buy jailhouse shirts as well.
The actual dorms we were staying in were much bigger but they had set aside one of the original cells with the furnishings intact.
There was a book exchange corner where you can leave books for other travellers to take.
Whenever I see corners like this in hostels, they seem to always have Twilight books there. Not sure if people are trying to pass them on or trying to get rid of them.
The last picture I have of us together on this trip wtf. Jailhouse was relatively expensive so we went with a 6-bed dorm.
We went out to get some coffee and find something to do but everything seemed to be closed.
If you’ve been to NZ before you’ll know that there isn’t all that much to do in Christchurch — even the titular Church and much of the city centre was still being repaired following the earthquake of 2011, so it is pretty much just a gateway to the rest of NZ.
Chilled in the lounge area for a while before going to bed. Long road trip the next day!
Queenstown is the centre of activity on there South Island, and the best way to get there is the classic NZ road trip.
There are two popular routes: one is via the coast and the other through the middle of the island. We chose the latter as it is the shortest route, planning to use the coastal route on the return leg.
It was a clear day which made for great driving. We had rented a Camry so plenty of space for everyone and it had cruise control so it was easy to keep to the (very low) speed limit of 90km/h.
Karen was shotgun as Mimi was known for being able to fall asleep within minutes of getting into any vehicle.
We headed to Ashburton for breakfast (McD with bacon sides if you’re wondering).
Our next stop was at Lake Tekapo, one of the biggest lakes in NZ. It’s well known for its turquoise colour as it is is a glacial lake.
The Church of the Good Shepherd is the best known vantage point for this lake. It was closed though.
Only managed to take a picture of the keyhole.
The locals erected this monument of a sheepdog to pay tribute to its importance in their lives. Fun fact: NZ has more sheep than people!
A bit of camwhoring by the lake. The sky was quite overcast here so it was hard to take a good picture of the lake.
Karen took over the wheel as we continues the drive towards Queenstown.
After driving for a while we had to stop to make way for a sheep crossing. Not something you see every day! We waited about ten minutes for the owner and his dog to herd his sheep to the other side of the road.
Driving in New Zealand is like driving through a postcard — everything is picture perfect. The terrain is flat and the roads are great too.
We stopped by the road for a break because the scenery was so nice here. I think Toyota should use this for their next Camry ad 😉
You know you’re near Queenstown when you spot the beautiful Lake Wakatipu, the third largest in New Zealand.
The journey wasn’t over though — we still had to find our accommodation! I’ll continue that tomorrow as it’s a packed day for me today. It is an interesting story.
