New Zealand Trip
I welcome you to New Zealand,
the home of rainbows (you shall see),
the land where sheeps outnumber the people,
the country where you can just oops-i-accidentally-pressed-the-shutter-but-oh-look-at-the-fabulous-photo-it-turned-out-to-be.
When I first came to Japan I decided that I should travel the countries near Japan to make full use of my location. So even though i have traveled to a number of countries before (or so i feel), New Zealand is actually my first ang moh country. *excited* d(*・ω・*)b♪.
These are the members. From left: Tang Yii, Joann, me :), and dear Joyce. All three of them are my course's 2 year older seniors.
Here's a representative photo of New Zealand. Mountainous, very fresh looking green grass, and of course, sheep.... everywhere. BUT i did NOT see any pretty black-and-white cows as advertised in tvs ever since i was little. Fernleaf, you LIAR! *sobs*
It took me 1.5 days to actually reach Auckland from Japan . It's not supposed to take this long but I chose the cheapest flight which consisted of 2 transfer, one at Taipei and another at Sydney (i only found out on the plane). But what I thought would be a painfully long flight turned out to be quite pleasant.
First of all, i was lucky enough to stumble across an extremely wonderful transfer lounge at Taoyuan Airport. It had couches where you can just lie down and sleep (and no one will scold you), lots of power outlets for you to charge your stuff, free water, a corner with computers where you can sit down comfortably (you have to stand at other lounges when you use the computers), a dark area with a movie playing on the screen anddddd.... free shower rooms!
I think the free shower saved me. i felt a lot more genki after refreshing myself. All you have to do is ask for the key at the nearby cafe and they will even give you a clean towel and a set of kiehls' samples! I have heard of kiehls before but i thought it was a guy's brand and i never paid much attention to it but i really liked it! Note that the shower room had a dressing room big enough for you to bring your luggage with you!
fyi it's located at Terminal 1.
Aaaand secondly, i really enjoyed the movies in the plane. It probably has been a year since i watched any. Not to mention the food was decent. I have been travelling with low cost airline for so long that i have forgotten how it is with normal airlines.
I met a few people on the way. There was a very good-natured but gepo Taiwan aunty sitting beside me who kept dishing out useless advice. And during the transfer at Sydney airport, another taiwan aunty got stopped at the scan place because she had a thermos with water in it. The customs people told her to either drink all the water or throw it. She looked absolutely shocked because there was almost a liter there and the thermos was brand new so she couldn't do either one. She panicked and a few Taiwanese around her tried to help but they all couldn't really speak English so i intervened a bit. And the aunty got to throw away the water in the toilet and come back. The whole thing was actually just a very small thing but the aunty looked absolutely traumatized.
"Where's my bag??? The customs people still has my bag!!"
"It's okay. Don't worry. They will give back de."
Poor thing. Makes me think that my own mum would have probably panicked like that, too. Oh well, my good deed for the day. Yay! A middle-aged American man also spoke to me when i was eating at the food court. He taught me a few things about life (which i have forgotten by now). Travelling alone really makes one a lot approachable.
I haven't reached my destination yet but i already feel like i'm on an adventure lol.
So... here i am in Auckland! Didn't feel any exuberant joy that i thought i would experience.
I changed just 5000yen at the airport because the rate was bad. Travelex (a money exchange company) was the worst and i managed to find this shop where the person was decent and didn't give me cold looks for only changing so little.
The airport bus was NZ$16 btw. And i regret not buying the return ticket which only costed NZ$28. Save NZ$4.
The woman at the bus ticket booth told me which stop i should get off so i found my way to the hostel quite easily. Being in an english-speaking country really calm my nerves a lot.
A harbour. Our hostel is located at the city center so all of these are within 10mins of walk.
Britomart Station. The main station for trains and bus(?). It was closed already but there was a corner with lots of brochures on travelling in nz :).
A bunch of policemen who were jaywalking to the other side of the road when the traffic lights were red. Then one of them suddenly turned back and approached me and i was like "Oh my god, did they catch me taking a picture of them? Did i break any rules already?" The guy then suddenly held out his arm.. as in signalling me to hold it =.=
Now that i think back, maybe they were just a bunch of people cosplaying for clubbing or something lol.
Everything closed around 7pm even at the heart of the city. It was 9pm when i started my stroll so it wasn't long before i returned to my hostel.
Joyce reached at midnight. We had a nice long chat until i know if i keep her up any longer she will fall asleep on the spot XD.
Joann and Tang Yii are reaching tomorrow morning!
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