New Zealand

This vacation that I took when I was in form four was extra special because this time I had the chance to share my adventures oversea with my best friend, Shila. In fact, she was the one who told me about the trip. I just passed along the message to my mum and the next thing I knew the two of us were at KLIA together waiting for the Singapore Airlines plane to take us New Zealand!

Our first stop was CHRISTCHURCH and the moment I taste the cool air on my face I knew that I was in love. Christchurch is such a lovely place with its cool weather and simple town. We had our dinner of nasi beriyani and naan (which became our main meal for the rest of our journey) at a Muslim Indian restaurant in town. Christchurch was supposed to be just a pit stop for us before we head off to Queenstown. But some of them were already very eager to start shopping for souvenirs at a shop next to the restaurant. What a coincidence that my brother stumbled upon his university-mate who was working there.

After having a hearty breakfast we started our long bus ride to QUEENSTOWN, a famous place for tourists especially to those who adores extreme sports (read: me). On the way there we stopped at various places but the most interesting stop the bus driver made was by the roadside on a snowy mountain for us to play in the snow! Everyone, regardless of age, was having a blast! Obviously I didn't miss the chance to have snow fights with my brother, my aunt, and Shila of course! After the tiring fights we continued our journey and finally arrived at Queenstown at night. Again, we had nasi beriyani and naan for dinner. The next morning we left Queenstown early in the morning because we had a cruise to catch. I don't remember where exactly we took the cruise but the most important thing was that dolphins were swimming right in front of my eyes all around the cruise! To say that it was a beautiful sight is an understatement. After getting our tummy full we head back to Queenstown. Our driver was grumpy on the way back but he explained later that it was because the police was on his heels for being on the road for more than eight hours. We had a late morning the next day because we had the morning off. My family and I took a walk around town and took many pictures. To
understand why Queenstown is the most popular tourist spot in New Zealand you have to go there yourself. I simply can't describe the beauty of the place. In the afternoon our bus started to move to Dunedin but on the way there it stopped just outside of Queenstown at the site I experienced the best thing in my life so far. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

In DUNEDIN the following day we just went to Larnach Castle. For me the castle does not hold much of a significance compared to the Schonbrunn Palace. It was just one of the many castles in New Zealand that used to be owned by a wealthy family. We finished up our round of visiting in the South Island and made our way to the North Island via Christchurch.

Our plane landed in ROTORUA where it is popular for its Maori population living there. We went to the Maori Art & Craft Institute where they showed us how these natives of New Zealand used to survive before the arrival of the Whites. This institute is located at a geyser where it smelled really 'nice' of phosphorous. But we enjoyed the sight of the geyser shooting hot underground water every ten minutes or so. Besides that, we also went to the Rainbow Spring Limited where the supposed attraction are the Kiwi birds. Unfortunately these birds love the dark so we had to go inside a dark room where they kept the bird in a glass cage. I think I caught a glimpse of it but I can't never be sure :( After that we went to a farm nearby and I experienced my second sheep shearing :) It was also in Rotorua that I discovered a new interesting ride - the Luge! It is like a race car except that it works on gravity and has nothing else but a brake :D

On the last day before heading back home we were taken to AUCKLAND, New Zealand's capital. We didn't have much time to spend there except during the night when the bus driver showed us around. He basically told us that Auckland is like any other city in the world except that it has a very small number of people living there. The next morning he continued showing us around the harbor before sending us back to the airport.

New Zealand was a very special trip and I know that everyone had an amazing time there. However, that did not stop me from discovering other wonders of the world and therefore I continued to my next trip, Bangkok!