I blogged T.O.D.A.Y @ 20:34

Ops KIWI (27/8 - 9/9)

Ops KIWI, as its name clearly implies, is an ops carried out by 4 NSFs in one of the islands in the pacific region, ie. NZ. finally i have managed to finish compiling my afterthoughts. Sorry for the wait, cos i was quite busy past days. Pardon me if it sounds too dry, cos it was written diary-like. This is actually the censored version (cos i have actually included more stuff, but sth can't be shared and i will probably be scolded by my fellow tourmates if they read it!). Anyway, here it goes... photos to follow later.


Prelude

Finally my ORD is drawing near (on 27 Oct) and a group of us, namely greg, xianjie, chengjie and myself have decided to have a driving trip round the south island of New Zealand as part of the celebration. Probably there won’t be such chance anymore where all of us can synchronise and take 14 days of leave together.


Preparation

This is the first time that I am going to travel during winter (well actually it is like end winter early spring during this period, but the weather forecast has stated that temperature ranges from 2 to 10 deg). Hence I need to do a lot of preparation!
1) Exchanged currency: S$1.12 = NZ$1, I exchanged for NZ$1600.
2) Bought travel insurance at S$57 per head.
3) Bought my winter clothings – namely a parka, a pair of long johns, beanie, gloves and scarf.
4) Booked the hostel for the first night; the farmstay for the second night; and the hotel for the last night


Day 0 (27/8/07 Monday): Singapore

I reached Changi Airport Terminal 2 at around 6 pm; our flight is SQ297 at 1950 hours and NZ is 4 hours ahead of us. I called this Day 0, because we spent the time on the plane. The flight was around 9 hours, and we reached Christchurch airport at around 9.30 am (NZ time). On board, I slept, ate 2 meals (Thai fish curry and salty egg omelette), watched Shrek 3 and 200 pound beauty.


Day 1 (28/8/07 Tuesday): Christchurch

It was very cold in Christchurch, temperature was probably around 10 deg!! Cannot tahan in my thin wind-breaker. The first thing we did at the airport was to find ourselves wheels. Tried for a couple of car rental company but either it was too expensive or they dun have the car we wanted. Eventually managed to find one cheap from “Quality Rental Service”. We settled for a Nissan Bluebird which is probably ten years old (it would have been scrapped in SG!!) It was not optimal – it does not have a CD player! Damn... there goes all the CDs which i have brought and intended to play while driving. The boot space wasn't too big – we could barely squeeze in all our luggages. I guess the only satisfactory part was the price – 33 bucks per day (+10 bucks to increase the insurance cover), giving a total of 516 bucks.

The next thing we did was to top up the fuel in preparation for the long ride ahead, followed by lunch at this japanese eatery in City Square with hot miso soup. It was surprisingly quiet here in the city; probably it was still early. Then we walked around and stopped by the Cathedral (which is one of the landmark in Christchurch) and the enormous chess set We checked in to our first pre-designated hostel “Old country house” (27 per head and 2 dollars extra for the blankets, which, in retrospect, didn't really help us much...). It was sparsely occupied (it was the non-peak season anyway – late winter early spring), but the place was quite cosy and colourful. We have to share the bathroom with other occupants (it was like a dorm), but since there weren't many people, it was like our own bathroom haha.

Did some grocery shopping – bread, bread-spread, milk, orange juice, wine, sweets, etc; and went to the botanic garden which was 5-minute drive away. Also toured the museum there. Dinner wise, we bought fish-and-chips from a take-away catery and i must say it sucked big time!!


Day 2 (29/8/07 Wednesday): Christchurch – Kurow

We woke up at around 7 am. Long drive today to reach the Glenmac farm. We drove from Christchurch to Geraldine to Fairlie to Lake Tekapo to Twizel and to Omarama and eventually reached Kurow where Glenmac farm is. Reached there at around 3.15pm. Along the journey we had lunch at this eatery near Lake Tekapo and i had chicken burger and hot chocolate. There was a slight drizzle today.

Glenmac farm – actually this was quite a disappointment. Firstly it was one of the pre-planned trip we had and the travelling time took us almost half a day just for the farmstay. Unfortunately, we didn't really get to do much stuff. The sheeps and cows are homo-phobic; we didn't get to milk the cows, we didn't get to play with the sheepdogs etc. In other words, we just stayed in a place with cattle around us that's all. We climbed up a sloppy grass-field where they herd their cattles, walked around and chased some sheeps and cows. The hosts (kaye and family), well, they were friendly and hospitable, and they cooked dinner (frozen chicken drumsticks, whipped potatoes, rice!, beef which i dun eat, greens) and breakfast for us as a package. The bed was comfortable with electric blankets, and there was heater in the bathroom. Total cost was 70 dollars per head. Hmm, i wonder why Glenmac farm was recommended by people over the internet. Probably it is the wrong season? Anyway i thought the money could be better spent elsewhere; and during the drive, there were actually quite a lot of farmstays available!


Day 3 (30/8/07 Thursday): Kurow - Dunedin

We bid farewell to Kaye and family after our breakfast (scrambled eggs, bread, cereal). Sat off at 8.30am to our next destination – Dunedin. En-route, we stopped at Oamaru to visit the Moeraki boulders which is 30 km south of Oamaru. We were initially told by Lonely-planets that the entrance fee of 2 dollars is optional, but guess what, when we tried to enter without paying, we were stopped by the keeper. So damn malu for our typical singaporean behaviour!! The guide books need to be updated since payment now is compulsory. Took some photos of the boulders and stones.

We reached Dunedin at about 1 pm and it was cold with drizzle again! The first thing we did at Dunedin was to look for our accomodation. Our intended plan was to stay at this place called “Hogwarts” (so that we can take a photo later and boasted that we have been to the school of magic =p) but it was under renovation! Eventually we stayed at YHA Stafford fields in a dorm of 4 beds – 2 singles and 1 double). We settled our lunch at this restaurant, served by a japanese lady who sells some crepe-like stuff. Not too bad! Perhaps we were hungry and cold...

It was quite a fruitful day in Dunedin. In retrospect we should have stayed here for 2 days. It is something like Chinatown in Singapore, which is buzzing with activities! We visited the Calbury Chocolate factory to see how the chocolates are made and bought a lot of chocolates at cheap rates! We were brought around by this guide called Coleen, which, well, is pretty annoying... Saw a couple of fellow singaporean too there.

Following that, we visited Speights Beer Brewery, which is their most famous brewery in NZ i think. Quite a boring tour though, cos it is mainly talking by the guide in front of some non-functioning machinery. The best part is that we get to try some of their beers at the end of the tour. CJ, who dun really like to drink, decided to drink lemonade instead and omg, he actually toppled it and caused a mini-explosion which attracted some sneering glares from the rest. So sia suay...

We had dinner at a japanese restaurant (again!), cos by the time we came out of the brewery, it was late and dark and only a few stores remained open. Went back to YHA for sleep and bath; and we read that this place was rumoured to have ghosts! i think it's fake.


Day 4 (31/8/07 Friday): Dunedin – Te Anau

Woke up at 8 am; had breakfast and checked out at 9.15am. We proceeded to the “World's Steepest street” - Baldwin street. Yup it was really steep and brisk walking made us pant! Tried to capture some moments through the camera but it doesn't really reflect well on the gradient. It will definitely improve my 2.4 timing to sub 9 if i run up and down everyday haha.

We continued the drive to our next destination at Royal Abastross Centre (Abastross is a kind of bird which is found mainly in NZ and hence an attraction in NZ). A rather winding and mountaineous route. Reached there at around 11.30am. Guess what, XJ actually left the car key inside!!! omg, and we dun have any spare keys, and we were so far away from Christchurch. But fortunately, there was one mechanic from the Abastross Centre who managed to open our car using a wire. Wow. He can probably pick some cars for a living! This has to be one of the most unforgetable moment of the trip.

We joined the tour in the abastross centre at 12 pm at 30 dollars each, basically bringing us up the hills to see the birds. Wanted to have some hot juicy lunch there, but they had a blackout!!! so we have to settle with some sandwiches. Sighz.

We continued our journey towards Te Anau; and en route we stopped at Gore to have some fried chicken for dinner. We have learnt from the “backpacker guidebook” that “Banyard backpackers' hostel” is one of the best around, with a rating of 83%. Quite difficult to find the place. Apparently it is at some wulu place along state highway 95 towards Mt York Road. Dark and quiet. It reminds me of some holiday chalet resort. Anyway, time was rather tight, so we just checked in, dumped all our stuff and drove down to Real-Journey office at Te Anau to book our trip to the Glow-worm caves that very night.

The Glow-worm cave visit cost around $54 per person. We hopped onto a cruise which took us to the cave 20 minutes ride away and wow it was damn freezing cold when the wind blew. Luckily i had my parka with hood on. On board were a huge group of japanese students, probably one of their educational tours. They were so vibrant and lively and loud. Wish i were young again heh... Well, glow worms are supposed to glow at night and when we entered the caves, all we could see was some sparkling, glowing dots on the roof of the cave. We also got to take a sampan boat into the cave. Hmm... like what we discussed earlier, we would never know whether those are real glow-worms or just some torches...

Back at Banyard Backpacker Hostel. OMG!!! I must conclude that this is the worst stay ever in my NZ trip!!! Firstly, it was cold and dark; secondly, the toilet and bathroom were attached together; thirdly, the drainage system of the bathroom was not working well (almost flooded after CJ bathed!!); fourthly, the water pressure after the first bath turned zero!! Gosh the rest of us couldn't bathe that day. Not to mention that there was this creeking sound when we slept. Initially we wanted to stay for 2 nights, but had decided to cut the stay short and look for another hostel for the next night. Quite a disappointment sighzzz.


Day 5 (1/9/07 Saturday): Te Anau

Today was essentially a slack day for us, cos the climate did not allow us to proceed with our initial plan. We were supposed to go Milford Sound today, but Milford road was closed to all vehicles due to bad weather. Damn!!! So we had to spend the whole day at Te Anau, which is a very small town which we could finish touring within a day. It is probably Kusu island equivalent. Anyway, we checked out Banyard at 10 am and drove around to replenish our grocery and check in at YHA Te Anau at 32 bucks per person. Rainy day... we spent the whole afternoon having burger at a restaurant and played bridges.

Since we were damn free, we had decided to cook for dinner! We bought some marinated chicken and lambs, vegetables, eggs, squid rings, instant noodles, garlic, onions, etc to cook and utilise the kitchen fully! As most would have known, i dun really have much cooking experience. In fact, i dun even know how to peel a garlic swiftly (i have learnt from my mum later heh...). But the show is ours, and not too bad, we managed to come up with some decent meals! I stirred fry the vegetables (spinach) and did the fu-rong eggs, while greg did the lambs and chickens. I must say that they smell nice and i am sure that the rest of the occupants must be green with envy haha!! Personally, i like the chicken the most, although some of them are undercooked. It was an enjoyable experience and luckily we didn't have any gastroenteritis after that, though the cleaning part sucks.


Day 6 (2/9/07 Sunday): Te Anau – Milford Sound - Queenstown

We have planned to wake up early today at 6.30am as we needed a 2 hour drive to Milford Sound, and luckily Milford road was opened today! Breakfast was bread with cheese and ham and cereal. The drive along Milford road was very scenic like what most travel guidebooks would say. We stopped by the Mirror lakes to take some shots (Supposedly to be nicer in the early morning or evening). The later part of the drive was quite mountaineous and required some good driving skills.

We took the Milford cruise, which lasted for around 2-3hours. Saw some waterfalls and mountains, caught some cool breeze and had lunch on-board (we brought some sandwiches with us, cos it cost more if we order food on-board). Nice scenery; and got discount of 20 bucks as we packaged it with the glow-worm cave tour.

We drove back to Te Anau and proceeded to Queenstown, travelling along state highway 94 and 6, which took almost 2 hours and the driver needed a toilet break in between. Finally reached Queenstown at around 5.40pm. It is well-known that Queenstown is a tourist attraction and most of the stuff here are rather pricey. In fact, u can see quite a lot of Asians here (and we saw the Singaporean couple whom we saw at the Calbury tour). It is like Orchard Road in Singapore. We decided to stay in Queenstown for 2 nights, and the place was YHA Queenstown Central (254 bucks per night per room; with a double bed, 2 single beds, a television and an en-suite toilet). This is the best accommodation in our 13 nights in NZ!

Guess what we had for dinner – KFC!


Day 7 (3/9/07 Monday): Queenstown

Spent the whole day in Queenstown, cos wanted to plan for a lot of activities. Initially wanted to go for hang gliding but the weather dun permit again! So for the morning, we went for the gondola ride (i.e. Cable car) up the hill at 30 bucks which includes the cable car itself plus 2 luge rides. Luge rides are some solo-vehicle which u sit on and control it to allow it to glide down the slides. Quite fun! We heard for the ticket vendor that luge rides will be coming to Sentosa too. Had our lunch there too. I had this all-day breakfast which tastes quite delicious.

The other half of the afternoon, we were deciding between whitewater rafting and jet-boating. We settled for jet-boating cos rafting could be quite cold in this weather (although now i sort of regretted it cos the jet-boating, though quite thrilling, dun really worth the money. It was simply a 20 minute ride in a jet-boat, with an occasional 360 deg turn that wowed some people. I would probably not recommend this for future travellers.

Dinner was supposed to be at Cow restaurant, but it was too crowded. So we had it at a Thai restaurant instead, which had live music to accompany us through. I had the glass noodles which was not too bad. Not too spicy for me at least.


Day 8 (4/9/07 Tuesday): Queenstown – Gibbston Valley – Wanaka – Haast - Fox Glacier – Franz Josef Glacier

We woke up at 8 am; had cocopop for breakfast and checked out the hostel to proceed on towards FJ Glacier. Along the drive, we stopped by Gibbston Valley which contained a winery and cheesery factory. We had a tour at the winery and into the wine cave, and there were only 4 of us anyway. We had a chance to taste 3 different wines and bought some bottles as a result. I bought Pinot Gris 2006, which has a fruity taste.

The drive towards FJ Glacier was long, so en-route we stopped by Wanaka for lunch. It was raining quite heavily then, so we bought some take-away burgers to eat in the car. The whole journey probably took 5 hours, and along it, we drove past Haast (which is supposedly to be quite a dangerous drive on bad days), a salmon fish-farm (nothing too impressive here heh… all the salmons are well fed; and the café there was closed!) and Fox Glacier.

We stopped by Fox Glacier for a while since we were here already. It was already quite dark when we reached there, and it was really freezing cold!! luckily i got my beanie and gloves on. We only managed to walk along the floor of the glacier as we dun want to reach Franz Josef Glacier too late.

Finally reached FJ Glacier at around 7pm and checked in at YHA. It was rated 5 stars! Has sauna somemore. Probably our 3rd best accommodation. We booked a dorm for 4 which was quite small (2 x double-decker beds) and spent 2 nights here. Dinner was at some pricey Indian restaurant which helped, in a way, to bring back some warmth with the curry.


Day 9 (5/9/07 Wednesday): Franz Josef Glacier

Franz Josef Glacier, I reckon, is the coldest place we have visited so far. So cold that there was ice forming on top of the windscreen and car and it took a while for it to melt. Anyway, it was time to top up the groceries again.

This is one of the highlights of the trip – to get to the Glacier! There are quite a number of different packages – half day tour, 2 hour trip, heli-hike etc. We chose the heli-hike and this really cost us a bomb. Yup, it has made itself the most expensive part of the tour (340 bucks), and it is certainly worth the money. This is my first time up a helicopter which brought us all the way up to the midst of the Glacier and it did made the day.

There were 8 of us up to the glacier (the other was a family of 4), together with one girl guide. It was quite cold initially, but as we walked on (with our spikes/pants/raincoat and ice-pick), we started to sweat. Sigh should have brought my shades along cos it can be quite glaring looking at the glaciers. Anyway, it can be quite dangerous if you are not careful, as some seemingly thick ice is actually quite thin covering a deep hole. Luckily no one sustained any serious injures, except some scratches on the hands. The whole trip took us around 3 hours.

Dinner wise, we had it at “the landing café”, as recommended by lonely planet, though there weren’t much eateries to begin with cos FJ is quite a small town. The food is nice, but the serving damn big!! I had roasted pork while some had pork rib. Ate till very full… should have shared the food if we know beforehand. Rugby seems to be a very popular sport there cos they had it live on the tv, probably similar to soccer in sg.
Unfortunately we didn’t manage to use the sauna back in YHA. Guess we were just tired.


Day 10 (6/9/07 Thursday): Franz Josef Glacier – Hokitika – Arthur Pass - Christchurch

We had a new cereal for breakfast – some honey crusted snaps. Checked out at 10 am and proceeded towards our destination, which was back to Christchurch. En-route, we reached Hokitika, which is famous for its glass-blowing workshop and jade house. Quite pricey and not very suitable for us to buy cos fragile and bulky, and I dun think people will appreciate them as gifts anyway. We settled our lunch here at a café (chicken burger, pumpkin soup and coffee).

We drove past Arthur pass and stopped at some snowy area to take some scenic shots. It must have snowed the previous night. Continued the journey and eventually reached Christchurch. We tried to look for a hostel to accommodate us for 2 nights, and the guidebooks recommend the Dorset House. It was a 4-single bed dorm. On the surface it was quite nice, but was rather out of place and quiet at night. Our room was situated in another building which I believed we were the only occupants, and the door opened with some scary creeping sound. Kinda spooky man. The toilet was so misty after a hot bath cos the hot vapours/ water droplets were trapped in the room. But it was cheap – 25 bucks per night per head.

We had dinner at this Asian restaurant “Joyful restaurant” along Colombo street and this area is like a mini-chinatown. Saw quite a lot of Chinese. And yup, finally have a chance to eat Chinese food after so long. We ordered prawn egg omelette, roasted chicken, veg and tofu. We shopped around after that, and found a mega-supermarket (similar to Carrefour in sg) which sell products at rock-bottom prices. So we bought more chocolates and breakfast! And their paying counters were quite cool – there is this automated machine for u to scan and pay your own items. We also shopped around this street, and the souvenirs here are relatively cheaper compared to outside. Damn. Lugi quite a bit liao.


Day 11 (7/9/07 Friday): Chirstchurch

Had the milo-crunch cereal for breakfast, and drove down to the cathedral square to visit their art and crafts carnival-like thingy which was held every Friday I think. Nothing too impressive here. We also watched a performance by some idol-wannabe and greg (who was the vice-president of international chess club back then…) had a game with someone on the mega chess set in front of the cathedral. Did he win? Ask him!

Today was a day of souvenir shopping. We drove to this place called “Dress-Smart”, basically a 3-storey building selling clothes, of which 2 floors are car-parks. Something like IMM. We bought quite a lot of stuff, in particular, the stuff for my family. We also had our lunch here – Indian food again. But it was very impressive. I like the butter chicken curry a lot. Very tasty!

We drove back to Christchurch city square and shopped along the street. It was very different from the first day when we reached Christchurch. More vibrant and lively. We went to this 3-storey building selling souvenirs (yup, all 3 storeys are souvenirs-filled), and we continued to buy more souvenirs! I think altogether I had probably spent around 200 bucks on gifts alone.

Dinner was at this Japanese restaurant along the street. Had miso ramen… yea, throughout my trip, it has always been my craving to have something hot and soupy (damn I am feeling hungry now while typing this). We thought it should be good, cos quite a lot of Japanese were there dining. But a bit disappointed…

Day 12 (8/9/07 Saturday): Christchurch (Lyttleton, Akaroa)

We woke up at 8.30am and had milo crunch and cooked instant noodles for breakfast (cos we thought this is probably the last chance to cook). The first activity was to visit the Riccarton market which was held on the first sat every month for people to show-case and sell their natural products. Quite small-scale. The only thing that impresses me was the dog and babies that most families brought along haha…

The second destination was Lyttleton (half hour drive from Christchurch) which also had an open market, but larger version and more happening. Here we bought the honey. After that, we checked in Heritage HOTEL at around 12 pm, room 612. This was one of the pre-booked accommodations, and we wanted something luxurious on the last day in NZ. 188 bucks per room.

Our third destination was Akaroa, which was 1.5 hours drive out. It is renowned for its French cottage-like atmosphere and people there act like they are so… classy. The drive there was rather winding and in retrospect, I dun think it is worth the trip here. Might as well visit France. We had lunch here at “The pepper tree” restaurant, and I had 4 miserable scallops which didn’t even manage to fill up a quarter of my stomach. Sighz sighz… the most unsatisfying meal. We also visited this shop selling fudge (some chocolate sweets), only to be entertained by some horizontally-challenged b***h. Damn rude.

By the time we drove back to Chirstchurch, it was already 6 pm. En-route, we drove past a Cheese factory and stopped by for a while. We wanted a grand dinner in the last night. From the opinion of the hoteliers and views from the guidebooks, we shortlisted a few and eventually had it at “Liquidity” along Oxford tce. A very long wait!! And worse still it didn’t worth the wait. The grilled swordfish that I had was too dry.


Day 13 (9/9/07 Sunday): Christchurch - Singapore

Checked out hotel at 8.30am, drove towards Quality Rental Services and finally back to Christchurch airport to take the 10.50am flight SQ298 and reached back Singapore at 5.30 pm. Had 2 meals on board – stewed chicken and pork sausage. And since it was September, SQ has new movies. I watched Mr Bean the holiday, Fantastic four rise of the silver surfer, Surf up (but I slept half-way), 10 mins of inferno affairs3, one Italian movie about a woman who wanted to investigate the cause of death of her sister, one cheena movie on mahjong.


The Aftermath.

I must admit that 13 days is quite exhausting, especially we spent quite a lot of time travelling in the car, but it was all fun and enjoyable experience. I will definitely remember this trip, cos it bears some significance in my life (i.e. my pre-ORD trip) and makes the many firsts in my life. First time to NZ; first time seeing so many sheep and cows; first time driving overseas, etc. It is probably the only time u can synchronise timing with fellow colleagues-cum-friends cos where else can you take 14 continuous days of leave? Thanks for the moment, fellow tour-mates. =)

Probably not the most optimal time for me to take overseas leave (cos I had like 3 days to hand over the more important stuff to my understudy), yet it was a nice break after so long. And I did make it back by turning up for work immediately following the week I touched down (in fact it was the next day). Like what major activities (we called it OPS), we should have a AAR (after action review), so that subsequent trips can be better; and fellow mates going to NZ next time can learn from the mistakes.

AAR:
1) Should have booked the vehicle over the internet well in advance to avoid disappointment
2) Should have an extra car key
3) Should visit NZ in late spring so that there will be lesser rainy days for us to take undergo those thrilling activities
4) Shouldn’t spend so many days in Chirstchurch (i.e: we should have spent more days in Dunedin)
5) Must remember to bring shades, trunks and towels

At the end of the trip, I finished spending my 1600 NZ dollars (equivalent to 1800 SGD with 2.50 left), I charged 360 to my credit card, I owed 55 SGD for the hotel, but I get back 80 SGD from SCJ who borrowed from me. So all in all, I have spent probably around 3700 SGD.