It’s all about South Island (5): Riding the Luge all day long (I wish)
new zealand December 03, 2016
10th July 2015
Today plans were playing Luge in the Skyline Queenstown and head to Milford Sound.
9th July 2015
It was the second day in Queenstown. The plan for that day was to explore Queenstown, visit Arrowtown, trying out the famous burger in the town and enjoying the view of Lake Wakatipu.
8th July 2015
It’s unfortunate that one of our friends had to return earlier. We couldn’t wander around and wasting time anymore. We had to drive directly to Queenstown airport and catch the international flight to Australia.
It was an unfortunate condition. It ruined the plan for the whole day. No one wanted this happen. Bad things happen all the time; we just have to be ready. It takes 2 hours and 40 mins from Lake Pukaki to Queenstown. Then, since we were catching an international flight, we had to be there at least 2 hours before the flight.
We packed our things and drove as fast as we can to reach the airport before the time.
Queenstown, we’re coming!
7th July 2015
Rise and shine, good morning Lake Tekapo!
So ready to continue the trip.
On the second day, we planned to explore two places: Lake Pukaki and Mt. Cook. The distance between one place and to another is not that far, but we have to spare more times for picture time. A picture is the most important thing while travelling. It is the return ticket to the memory in the past.
A throwback to June, it was fasting month (Ramadhan), and winter season. I am not really a fan of travelling during winter nor Ramadhan. But I was daring enough to have it try travelling during those times. I thought, “why not?”
One month later, I packed my bags and ready to enjoy my winter wonderland trip. I planned to explore South Island for a week, from Christchurch to Dunedin. It’s going to be a long trip and I can’t wait to share the beauty of the island.
After drove around one hour and a half, we reached the lodge. We stayed in Travers-Sabine Lodge for one night. It is really close to the lake, only around 5-10 minutes walks. We were really tired when we got there, we missed the lodge and keep driving. It was so dark and we tired, we didn't catch the lodge sign on the left, and suddenly we found a sign "Nelson Lakes National Park". We panicked for a while. We thought we're stray. We checked the map again and we're in the right place. Then we turned around and drive slowly. Finally, we found the lodge! It's time to have a good sleep.
A misty morning views in Lake Rotoiti.
This is still the same road trip as the previous post. Actually, I was thinking to put the title as "Road Trip to the South of the North feat. the North of the South". Then, I realized, it is too long. So, I make it short into the current title.
We arrived in South Island in the super early morning. The car that we rent was already in the parking lot, we're just picking up the key from the receptionist in the port. It was so convenience for us. We already booked a package for paddle boarding in the Abel Tasman National Park at 10 AM, so we had to reach there before the time. It needs around 3 hours to reach there by driving from the ferry port in Picton. Thanks to the driver, Mr. B, we got there just almost the time.
It was my first time doing paddle board. A paddle board is different from a kayak. The correct way doing paddle board is to stand in the board and paddle. And if the wave is coming, just wait until it passes our paddle. Don't fight the wave, because it will make you suffer and the paddle is going backward. We have to wait and if we let the wave pass our paddle, we will move forward. It also needs to keep it mind that we have to do paddling in the opposite of the wind direction. If we go in the same direction as the wind, it will push as to keep forward. It is dangerous because it can lead us to go too further from the shore.
On the third day, we drove to the capital city of New Zealand, Wellington. We were going to return the car to the rental, meet another friend (which later became my boyfriend), and take the earliest ferry to South Island.
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand, but I feel it less crowded than Auckland. Indeed, there are a lot of shops, big buildings, and the transportation is more friendly than Auckland. But still, I prefer Auckland. The wind in Wellington is super duper not friendly. When I was there, I couldn't stand the wind, so freaking strong!
The highlight of this road trip was to visit Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Tongariro National Park. It is the oldest national park in New Zealand. It was my first time ever climbing up the real mountain in New Zealand. The plan is to go up to Emerald Lakes from Mangatepopo Hut. According to the website, it takes around 6 hours from Mangatepopo Hut to Emerald Lakes and return. It was my first time ever climbing up the real mountain in New Zealand. We were going to meet with another team in the lodge and going together in the early morning.
In the beginning of the month April 2015:
- Got pointed as the International Student Ambassador for Auckland (the story about it can be found here)
- Lost in direction for my research, didn't know what to do and how to do it
- Super duper tired struggling between research and part time job
- Need a vacation but don't have that much money
In the middle of the month, my friend asked me to join her and her fiance to their road trip in the end of the month. I wanted to go, but I didn't have that much money. My friend kept persuade me to join them. She mentioned the itinerary, including the budget that I have to prepare. I read over and over until finally I said yes. It was a great opportunity and it came in the right time when I was really tired of everything and I need some break.
In the end of the month, I joined the road trip to the south part of the north island with my friends. In total, there were five of us. and I was the only one who had an experience driving in this country. I had to teach the guys from Auckland to our first destination, Te Puia. Thankfully, they are a fast learner.
Te Puia
New Zealand is pretty much well known with their geothermal resource. And Te Puia is one of the best destination to getting more knowledge about the geothermal. It is a geothermal valley with their geyser. It is located in Rotorua, around 3 hours drive from Auckland. They offer different kinds of tours: guided and non-guided. It is including the Maori culture performance.
We planned to join the guided tour with enjoying Maori culture performance. But, it was unfortunate when we reached there, the tour already began and we didn't have time to wait for the next performance. We decided to wander by our self. The good side, two of us are studying geothermal. We have our own tour guide!
Pohutu Geyser on the left and Blue Lake on the right
Historically speaking, according to Maori culture, Pohutu are viewed as gifts from the gods. It is said that the Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley, which is located of Pohutu geyser, was formed when tow sisters Te Pupu and Te Hoata (the Goddesses of Fire), traveled below the earth while looking for their brother. As they got closer to the brother, the sisters would lift their heads above the surface, which creates the geysers and other geothermal hotspots along their way (source: tepuia.com).
Scientifically speaking, it is a complex plumbing system. The process begins when rainwater starts to boil and create steam. Why is it boiling? It happens because of the heat from molten rock underground. The pressure from underground forces its way upward through the geyser vent and the eruption happens. It can be erupting to 30 m (100 feet) up to 20 times a day. Such an active geyser.
Okay, I think I should stop explaining the geyser. I am not the expert about it, so I better to stop.
Our next destination for the first day was Lake Taupo.
Not my first time went to Lake Taupo, but it was my first-time cruising the lake.
Lake Taupo is one of the biggest lakes in New Zealand. It is same big as Singapore. So, if I said that I cruised the lake for two hours, it can be said that I explored Singapore for two hours. We joined the 2-hours cruise by Ernest Kemp Replica Steamboat. The main point joins the cruise was so we can see the Maori rock carvings. Super duper grateful that the weather was really cooperative on that day. It was a bit cloudy, but as long as it was not raining, we're happy.
This is the famous of Maori Rock carvings, the icon of Lake Taupo. It was made by carver Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell and Jonathan Randell in the late 1970s. They were on a boat trip around the Western Bays when they saw the cliff. They decided to use it as a canvas for their Taupo artwork, and viollaa!
There are some others of their artworks around the cliff, but unfortunately, I couldn't get the good picture. This was my best shot.
Before heading to our next stop, we ate our late lunch. Tempe kering, rendang, and rice for our meal. We cooked it in Auckland. It was really simple, but we loved it because it was delicious and we shared it with friends.
That's all our journey for the first day. I will continue writing up the road trip.
Stay tuned peeps!
Hello! It has been couple months since the last time I posted in this blog. I am really sorry that I couldn't be able to post it for such a long time. I have been busy with my research (wish me lot of luck to finish it on time), and I have a big announcement to make!! So recently I have been pointed as an ambassador for international student in Auckland.
With the Mayor of Auckland during the ceremony.
Then, the next question is what I am supposed to do?? Basically it's pretty simple, I have to enjoy Auckland and write a blog about it. But, the truth is never that easy. It's quite hard for me, jumping from dealing with my research, my part-time job, and the ambassador activities. However, I love this opportunity and I want to make it to be wonderful memory in my life time.
You can read more about me and other ambassador in here, and about my self in this page. This is the story when I watched the Blues rugby match: my first ever watch the rugby game.
I will try to update more in the future.
Cheers!
Historically speaking, Waitangi Day is when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, 6th February 1840. It becomes a public holiday in New Zealand. This year, the day was on Friday, so we had a long weekend in down here. Therefore, me, in the middle of writing my research, I went to do my field research, accompanied by two of my friends. One of my friend, who has a car, lives in Pukekohe, the south-est part of Auckland City. So, me and my another friend took a train to Pukekohe on Friday morning. It took almost two hours from city center to Pukekohe. We started our weekend gate-away from Pukekohe.
Our first stop was Kaimai Cheese Factory, in Kaimai close to Matamata town, part of Matamata Piako District. We had lovely lunch over there.
Kaimai Steak Sandwich for $19.50. Indeed it is a big portion, but it made me full for the next eight hours.
After that, we continued to Matamata. My friends joined the tour to Hobbiton Movie Set. Meanwhile me, walking around the city center to do some research. It's a small town, so the city of the town is so small.
The coolest I-Site ever in New Zealand that I ever seen so far, the I-Site of Matamata.
Since the tour took three hours to finish, we decided to stay one night in the town and decide what to do in the next morning. Short story, we decided to just explore the town on Saturday morning, before we go back to Auckland.
We had our breakfast at Drew Drop Inn cafe, just cross the I-Site building. The must try menu is their Hobbit Pie, it is the best! We had great time during our breakfast, had some chat with the owner. She is a lovely lady. Don't forget to stop by in her cafe while visiting the town. Because you'll get more 'real-journey' to the middle earth.
We went to Wairere Falls after that. It is 22km away from the town center. This is the tallest water falls in North Island, New Zealand, 153m. It takes 45 minutes to reach the lookout, and it takes 90 minutes to reach the submit. We had no idea that the path was quite hard to do without any preparation. We only could reach the lookout. Maybe next time I will come back, to reach the summit. I want to see, how to look out everything from there.
When we went back to the parking lot, we're really tired and starving. It was almost 2 pm when we got back. Because we still wanted to spend some time in the Hamilton, we decided to have our late lunch in Hamilton.
Dear Auckland, Happy Birthday!
Happy 175th anniversary, Auckland.
Yup, 26th January is Auckland's birthday. Bunch of entertainments, exhibitions, and events were being held in the town. It became long weekend in Auckland, no school, no work on Monday. I went to the some of the events on Sunday. It was really awesome celebration for me.
I started my Sunday with going to Stardome in One Tree Hill. I went to the planetarium and joined the trip to Jupiter for 15 minutes only. So fast isn't? It was my first time go to a planetarium and I was amazed with all the information and the shows over there. Usually, visitor need to pay $10 for the show and $25 for the special show, but I only pay $2 yesterday. Because it was a special occasion due to Auckland's birthday. I did some groceries after that. Since, there is a big supermarket with cheap prices close to the planetarium. I don't want to miss it, buying what I need (I ran out shampoo and sausage) with cheaper prices. I continued my day with scrolling around the city center, shopping some stuffs, checking on the clothing prices, trying my luck to find a good price of cloth.
Anyway, back to the celebration of Auckland, I went to the port, queens wharf after that. They decorate the port into some play ground with the beautiful gate welcoming us.
The Gate
I listened to the story telling about Auckland and the country at the queens wharf. There are also some exhibitions over there. Some of them exhibit handmade cloth, painting, and other crafts. I didn't buy anything from there, except postcard limited edition.
Then, I spent my afternoon in Viaduct (10 minutes walk from the port), enjoying my ice cream while watching some kids playing around. Such a lovely. However, since it was really crowded and I have been out since the morning, I walked around looking for a spot where I can take a rest. Thankfully I found a bench where I can put my ass and have some rest.
But, guess what, the area where I sit was actually an area for a performance. It turned out that there are three street performances who's going to perform in the area.So I ended up watching the show for the rest of my afternoon. Then without realizing, it's already 9 pm, 30 minutes left before the fireworks. The fireworks is my main reason to go out on Sunday. I want to watch the firework from the good spot. So, me and my friends look for the best spot to watch it.
It is said that the fireworks will be off from two different places, the sky tower (top picture) and queens wharf (bottom picture). I was thinking it will be better if I could see both of them, so I decided to see it from viaduct. Thankfully I made the right decision, I could see both of the fireworks! The fireworks was better than during New Year's Eve, yet it will be better if they do it in different times. Oh well, even though it happened like that, I still love it. Overall it was lovely Sunday, I could watch bunch of performances, taking a lot of pictures, ate good food, and enjoying both of the fireworks.
Once again, happy birthday Auckland. I wish the town will be better in every aspects in the next future. See you next time!
Welcome to 2015!!
So many things happen in 2014, some of my close friends got married, some of them had a child, some of them got a better job, some of them travel more than before, some of them got prettier, and so on. Sometimes when I look around me, I felt that I haven't done anything yet for the past year. Yet, when I looked back into my past, I know that I did a lot and I learned so many things too in 2014.
My 2014,
I moved twice in less than six months, in March and May.
met new friends, which some of them become my very close friend.
got dumped while looking a part time job.
got a new job.
started my one year research, things became complicated and I have to keep fighting to finish it.
back to market again, I mean being single again.
lastly, I traveled more than before.
Well, everything happens for a reason and indeed I learned from those things. Let's not make the same mistake again in 2015. My wish for 2015?
I want my 2015,
finish my study and graduate in winter graduation.
get a full time job, which can support me living in this world.
meet a lot of new friends.
travel more, to South Island, to the north-est place in the North Island.
go back to Indonesia.
meet my parents and my siblings.
going to some particular place, to settle some unfinished business.
lastly, meet and know someone, who I can trust.
Let's working on it and have a wonderful year ahead everyone!
For everyone who reads the books or/and watches the trilogy of the Lord of the Rings or the trilogy of the Hobbit will definitely dreams to visit the shire. The shire is a region where the hobbit lives. It can be defined as Hobbiton village. The shire is originally a fictional place, until being built for real for the purpose of the movie in 1998.
Peter Jackson (the director of LotR ) and his team used several places in New Zealand for the movie. Yet, the one and only place that still remains until today is only the shire. The shire or more famous as Hobbiton village is located in Matamata, New Zealand. It takes 2 hours drive from Auckland and the tour takes 3 hours. I went there several months ago as part of my research and I need to go back again soon.
Oh well, here's the picture that I took during my visit. Enjoy!
It was such a good lovely weather on that day. Actually, the village built and surrounded by dairy farms that owned by Alexander Family. The family still owns the farms until today and the Hobbiton movie set is being managed by them as well, together with the New Line Company (the movie production company).
I feel like I want to try to live over there for just one day.
Knock, knock, knock! Overall there are 37 hobbit holes in the village.
The famous house in the movies, the house of Bilbo Baggins. Did you know that the tree on top of the house is a dead tree with fake leaves? The tree was cut down and brought in from near the village, Matamata. Therefore, the leaves were made in and imported from Taiwan.
The village built in March 1999, and in December, they started to use if for the movie. The movie set is now being an icon for not only the town, Matamata, but for the country as well. Even though some people said that it is not worth to pay a visit to the site, because of the price and the size of the village. Yet, for me, everything was awesome. One thing that I can learn after discussed and read about peoples' experiences coming there, don't expect too much. Because, expecting too much lead into disappointed.
That's all from my one day trip, Auckland - Matamata with naked bus . Until next time, Mate!
After staying for one night in Taupo, me and my friends continued to drive to our next destination. Our next destination is Huka Falls. Turns out that the water from the Huka falls drains to Lake Taupo across the Waikato River. Whenever I go to fall in New Zealand, I always amazed. I don't know why, it always makes me think how beautiful and amazing it is. In my opinion, fall is the second most amazing God's creation in this universe under the category of landscape.
It is not only that, I also amazed with how the way New Zealand government organize and maintain the site. As a visitor, we don't need to pay anything to enjoy the view. So wonderful.
The view from far away. Looks, how stunning the view. I always fall in love with this kind of view. I am grateful that I can enjoy it.
It looks like I am standing above the fall to take the picture. In reality, I was standing on the bridge above the fall.
And now, the view of the fall from another perspective. It is so gorgeous!
Before heading to Auckland, we stopped by at Tongariro National Park. We planned to hike up to Mt. Ruapehu. But unfortunately, due to the heavy rain + wind and a little bit of snow, we couldn't go up.
Due to the weather, all facilities were closed on that day. Too bad. But the good side, I have a reason to come back again someday in the future.
Overall, even though I only spent two days and one night during this trip, I enjoyed so much. It was a lovely trip with lovely friends. Until next time mate!
Hello everyone! It has been a long time, since the last time I published my last post. I am so sorry that I have been gone and kind of forget to update my blog. But don't worry, I am back right now.
Anyway, I am going to continue my story from my last trip. On my last post, I mentioned that I was going to Lake Taupo. Indeed, we stayed at Taupo for one night. Lake Taupo is the second largest lake in New Zealand. It was my second time going to lake taupo . It was a rainy day during my first visit. I visited it last year, 2013.
Apparently on my second visit, it was already dark when we got there and to be honest, there was nothing that we could do except wandering around the lake.
Lake Taupo
Even though there was nothing that we can do, I spotted one unique activity. This is one of a rare activity, and I think it can only be found in Lake Taupo, New Zealand: trying Hole in One Challenge and if you are lucky, you can win $10,000. I forgot how much is the cost to try it out, but it was worth to try for once in a life time.
To be continued....
Our next stop was Kiwi 360, a famous kiwi farming. It is still located in the Bay of Plenty region, to be exact in Te Puke. It is only around 25 minutes drive from Tauranga. What we can do on this farm? We can join the tour, it's $20 for an adult and $18 for student. They have a specific time for the tour. Unfortunately, when we got there, the tour was already started. Then, we only took some pictures with the giant kiwi in the gate.
We also tried some kiwi inside, in the lobby and had some chat with the workers. They said that the soil around Te Puke is really good for Kiwi, because it is surrounded by volcanic areas. In the Bay of Plenty it there are more than 2,200 farms. The size of the farm is very variative, from only one hectare to more than hundred hectares. The Kiwi 360 is around 14 hectares.
From the giant kiwi, we continued to Rotorua district. But we stopped by a lake, Lake Rotoiti to have some snack. Here's some picture that I took over there,
Our next stop was a botanical garden in Rotorua. Because of rain, I didn't take any picture at all over there. I have some pictures and story about it in here. We had lunch as well in Rotorua. Then, we drove along to Taupo, for our next destination.
To be continued..
A month ago I went travelling with my friend to Bay of Plenty Region. It's located in the south part of Auckland. It takes around 4-5 hours by car. It was my second time to visit the region. I went there for the first time last year, during summer holiday. Unfortunately, my HD external broken and all the pictures are there. I couldn't post anything from that trip. Anyway, during this time, we went to Tauranga and Mount Manganui. Tauranga is the name of the suburban town in the region, and Mount Manganui is also the name of the suburban town. The name comes from the name of the mountain that located in that town.
Good Morning from Tauranga
There is a super delicious fish and chips restaurant in Tauranga, very close to the beach. Yet, when we got there, it's still closed. So we couldn't have tried. The good thing is, it can be a reason to go back to Tauranga again in the future :p
That mountain is Mount Manganui
Actually, the mount Manganui is a small mountain if compare to other mountain in the world, such as Krakatau Mountain in Indonesia. From the picture above, we can see that the mountain it's small. There are some options to hike up the mountain, by bike or by walking. Even, there are different paths that we can choose to hike up, the short or the long path. The short path needs around 30 minutes. The path is really easy to walk in, everyone can use it even for beginner. When I went there last year, during summer, a lot of people were jogging around using the short path and some of them bring their kids as well. It means, it's safe for everyone. However, most of the people got mistaken that Mount Manganui is part of Tauranga, because the location. Indeed, it is very close between Tauranga and Mount Manganui, but it is totally different area.
My breakfast, pancake and cup of tea
Since the restaurant that we want to go was still closed, me and my friends decided to have a breakfast in Mt. Manganui. There are a lot of small cafes in the seashore, and our choice fell on Dixie cafe. Most of the cafes only provide a beacon for the breakfast menu. Dixie provides other options, a pancake with an ice cream on top. I am not eating a beacon, so I choose pancake over that. It was really yummy and the tea was really good enough to warm up during winter.
It's a good start for our trip and I will post our next destination soon.
