NZ (22 Dec): Auckland

Weather: Sunny

Skipped breakfast and went for the buffet lunch (from 11.30am) at the Observatory, Sky Tower – NZD42/pax. The range was reasonably sufficient but we didn’t think the quality was worth boasting. In fact, we were glad we didn’t choose to do dinner as they served the same type of food but for NZD20/pax more. I wouldn’t recommend dining at the Observatory unless you are desperately dying to get an Auckland city view ;p

Sky Tower

Observatory

Dessert station

Savoury station

Starters/salads station

View from the Obtservatory

Bread served to all tables. Very tasty when warm!

Food..

Foood...

Fooood....

Foooood.....

Desserts.. forgettable

Ice-creams/sorbet

Did some last minute shopping – manuka and kiwi shortbread for colleagues. Sorry friends, there really wasn’t anything unique that I could buy as souvenirs for you all. In any case, I’ve more or less stopped buying souvenirs for friends – very stressful! Hahaa!!

Concluding the trip:
1. Most kiwi service staff was unfriendly, if not rude. Many just gave you a straight face, and were not sincere when they greet people. For this reason, my hubby said he doesn’t like NZ hahah!

2. NZ F&B was very expensive (more so than in Australia)! The cheapest and most decent meal one could get by would be Subway 6-inch “Sub of the Day” which cost NZD3.90. However, only the major cities offered “Sub of the Day”. Any other meal (whether western or asian cuisine) including fastfood cost minimum NZD10! Even a whole roast chicken in the supermarket easily cost an average NZD14!... See More

3. I’ve driven more windy mountainous roads in NZ than in Australia. Driving along their lakes was like driving along Australia's Great Ocean Road.

4. There were more road kills in South Island (mainly rabbits) than in the North Island (kiwis or possums).

5. Though Queenstown was buzzling mainly due to the varied range of activities offered, Auckland would be the best place for one to do shopping. Again, they weren't exactly cheaper than in Singapore.

NZ (21 Dec): Auckland

Weather: Sunny

We board the free shuttle to the factory outlet (20min drive away) and once again, returned empty-handed hahaha!! Frankly, there wasn’t anything particularly cheap that one couldn’t find in Singapore, so it wasn’t really worth carrying them all the way back ;p

Back in the city centre, we took the free City Circuit bus to the Sky City Tower, and made a reservation for buffet lunch on its Observatory. It was a treat for ourselves before we go back Singapore haha!!

Free City Circuit bus

Some Korean pancake stall we found in some alley haaha! Errr... taste like think yet soft roti prata.. filling - cheese, beef and can't remember what else ha! ;p

NZ (20 Dec): Christchurch-Auckland

Weather: Sunny & windy

We asked for late check-out and were given till 11.30am. After breakfast, we drove to Dress Smart, a factory outlet in Hornsby on the suburb of Christchurch. Unfortunately, we went away empty-handed.

Breakfast @ Hotel SO: Bagel with eggs, cheese and salmon. I love it!

Crispy bacon, bread and eggs

After we checked out, we returned the car at Apex Christchurch (near airport) and were given free shuttle to the airport terminal. Then we flew to our last destination, Auckland on Jetstar – NZD99/pax.

From the Auckland airport, one could purchase Airbus ticket (NZD23 return) which would bring passengers to city centre. The bus driver gave short commentaries when it reached city centre, as well as inform passengers the various stops to drop-off depending on where the passengers were going. We dropped off at Stop no. 5, at the end of Queen St and just walked 5min to our accommodation.

Accommodation:
Mercure Hotel (Customs St) – NZD79/night through wotif “Secret Deal”. Location was great! The harbour was just behind the hotel, the Westfield Shopping Centre (can give it a miss) was a stone’s throw away while the buzzling Queen St was round the corner. The Sky Tower was about 10min leisure walk from the hotel. The (free) City Circuit bus stop was on the next street (besides Britomart), while the (free) shuttle to Dress Smart (yes, another factory outlet in Auckland) was right in front of the hotel’s doorstep. Note that Mercure Hotel was the 2nd last stop for the Dress Smart shuttle bus and it could be full when it came by. Unfortunately, the Dress Smart shuttle ran only four return trips per day. The nearest supermarket called Countdown (24hrs) would need a little more walking – about 15-20min walk away.

We were in room 1107 which had street view. Room was spacious but furnishing looked a bit tired (slightly better than Kingsgate in Queenstown though). There was a guest lounge on the 1st floor of the hotel where guests could enjoy complimentary coffee/tea 24hrs a day. Hotel internet was not cheap – NZD10 for 2 hours, whereas the internet cafés around the area usually offered only NZD2 or NZD3 for an hour.

Exterior view

Room

King bed (actually combination of 2 super singles)

Bathroom

View from our room

Dinner:
Japanese food again ;p @ Daikoku, just across the street where Britomart was – we ordered Tonkontsu Ramen while hubby ordered the Spicy Ramen and Curry Don combo (thinking the ramen and rice portion would be small). The portion of the ramen was humongous! I was surprised I could finish it + half the curry rice. Jia lart, I’d definitely put on weight when I return home!! The food was quite delicious but we were thirsty after that ;( Anyway, those dishes cost NZD27.

Inside the restauant; open kitchen

Spicy ramen

Curry don

NZ (19 Dec): Tekapo-Christchurch

Weather: Sunny and windy

Left Tekapo for Christchurch and witness the awesome works of nature!

As mentioned earlier, enroute to Christchurch, we went to the quaint little town called Geraldine. It was a much bigger town compared to Lake Tekapo, much more vibrant especially with the presence of a weekend market ;) There, we bought the local jam products called Barker’s. The shop offered free tasting, not just for its jam products, but also sauces, juices and curds. Yummy!

Barker's @ Geraldine, where we got our jam products

Weekend market in Geraldine. I bought a scarf from one of the stalls.. hehe..

Back @ Christchurch:
Guess which hotel we stayed when we reached Christchurch? Hotel SO again hahaha!! No doubt the room was small, we were happy with the cosy space, free wireless internet and convenient location.

Best thing was, through wotif (I swear by it!), Hotel SO offered "SO Festive Package" at NZD99/night which included 2 cocktail drinks and 2 breakfasts. Couldn’t ask for more! The cocktail drinks we ordered were worth NZD21, while the breakfast cost NZD35. We ordered coffee which wasn’t part of the package but upon check-out, as the beverages weren’t recorded in the system as yet, the reception staff offered the beverages complimentary! That was another NZD7 worth. So, NZD99 was well worth it! But we risked parking our car on the street (it was free mah hahaha!!). Otherwise, Hotel SO’s parking arrangement would cost NZD16 for 24hours.

Our cocktail drinks

NZ (18 Dec):Queenstown-Mt Cook-Lake Tekapo

Weather: Sunny

Stopped by a salmon farm on way to Tekapo. You can buy fresh sashimi on the spot but they are not cheap. However, the owners were very nice - they offered fish food to all to try feeding.

On the way to Mount Cook.. cloudy.. windy! Very very windy!! If I go any faster than 70km/hr, I could feel my car sway, as if we were going to be blown away!!! Scary leh!!

Quick bite at Mount Cook

The original plan was to stay 2 nights at Lake Tekapo and do a day trip to Mt Cook. However, we drove up to Mt Cook on the way to Lake Tekapo and thereafter realized Lake Tekapo was really just a tiny town, with nothing too much to offer ;p Nice lake definitely, but nothing to do lah haha! So we decided to just stay a night. Fortunately, the owner of the accommodation allowed us to shorten our stay without charging us hehe!

Lake Tekapo. There is an explanation on why the water is of that colour.. can't remember what I've read hahaha!!

The small historic chapel by Lake Tekapo

Accommodation:
Lake Tekapo Cottages – NZD85/night for its Pottingshed Studio. Cosy little resting place, the environment was quiet, yet only 5min walk to town and the iconic historic church.

Exterior view of Pottingshed Studio

Queen bed

Bathroom

Dinner:
Kohan Japanese restaurant recommended by the owner of the accommodation. We both had bento box – NZD22/pax. Not cheap but delicious food, fresh sashimi - probably from the salmon farm ;)

Inside the restaurant

Our bento box!

NZ (17 Dec): Queenstown-Arrowtown

Weather: Part cloud/windy

Did a day trip to Arrowtown. I think the one-way drive was about 50min or so. Interestingly, there is a Chinese settlement in Arrowtown many years ago!

One of the restored houses. The interior definitely doesn't look as good as the external facade.

Lunch:
There were many meal options, ranging from Japanese to Thai and Italian food. One would be spoilt for choices especially lunch as many of these restaurants offered NZD10 lunch special.We had thai food which wasn’t so great. Think we ordered the wrong dish lah.. the coconut soup was really cooked in coconut milk. A bit “ger-lart” after a while.

Tham Nai Thai Restaurant - give it a miss!

Coconut soup

Err... fried vege with rice


We had wanted to do jetboating and the cheapest option we found was Kawarau Jetboating, costing NZD95/pax for an hour of jetboating on Shotover River and Kawarau River. Quite expensive hoh?? Hahhaa!! Anyway, we didn’t do it, partly because of the cost while the other was because I thought jetboating was no longer unique ;p

Dinner:

Read about this reasonably-priced fish & chips hut by the seaside so we went to look for it and found the place!

The humble hut

I don't remember how much this cost. It is good for 2 persons. Think about NZD30.

NZ (16 Dec): Te Anau-Queenstown

Weather: Sunny yet windy in Queenstown!

Comparing the bigger cities such as Wellington and Christchurch, I liked Queenstown best! The compact downtown area of 1.5sqm was buzzling with people and activities which we didn’t see much of in the other cities. The warmth from the sun was definitely a plus ;)

Queenstown Mall

Seaside where all starts their jetboating activities

Accommodation:
Kingsgate Hotel – NZD70/night from wotif “Secret Deal”. We were given free upgrade to its top floor (4th floor) 2-storey 2-bedroom apartment. The bedrooms upstairs included a queen bed with ensuite (bath only) and 2 single beds with separate bath. There were 2 toilets, one upstairs (shared) and another in the common area downstairs. We were in Room 475 which had a great view of the mountains and lake! Though the room furnishing was old, it was clean and kitchen was well-equipped. The only thing missing in the apartment was the washing facility which one could do at the guest laundry for NZD3 per washing/drying load. The hotel was about 10min walk to downtown, and offered free parking, newspaper as well as spa pool (give it a miss). Though the price was well worth the amount we paid, I felt that the 2-bedroom apartment was too big for just 2 of us lah.. hehe

Hotel lobby

Exterior view

Living room with a balcony

View from the balcony

Master bedroom

Kitchenette

Master bedroom bathroom

Lunch:
Again, I read about an eating place, Fergburger which served NZ beef burgers priced NZD10 and up. Actually I forgot about it until I walked passed it and saw the place crowded with people! The burger was quite a huge one – good for sharing if you just want to snack. I love it! It was really delicious and juicy! The price of the burger was certainly not cheap, but definitely worth a try!

The huge burger!!

Dinner:

I realised I've omitted the blog entry for our dinner at that time and so I can't remember the name of the Japanese restaurant we went haha!!