Saturday, September 12, 2015

New Zealand 2015 Part 1 - Singapore to Auckland

My trip to New Zealand was back in May 2015. It has been 3.5 months since I got back from NZ, I hope I will be able to recall at least 70% of the trip to share my experience. Photos always help. =) Hop on to my instagram @lynne_chua and search for #LCinOceania if you wish to view more updated pictures for the trip.

Day 1

Taking Air New Zealand from Singapore to Auckland, we arrived after 10pm NZ time at Auckland airport. The flight was 10 hours long..... The comfort, food, service of Air New Zealand was as expected of any legacy airline. 

Initially, we were seated at row 50 of the aircraft, a 3-seater row. However, 2 Indian passengers requested to change seats with us as they are the family of the other Indian woman sitting with us on the same row. We gladly changed seats with them to the last 2-seater row at the back of the aircraft. One negative point of switching the seats, we got served last for breakfast and they ran out of what we wanted. Oh well, at least it's our 二人世界 (two people's world) for the flight journey. 

SIN-AKL

Breakfast

Dinner

Upon arrival at the airport, we went to Vodafone to top up a SIM card that was kindly passed to me from my friend HP who just returned from NZ 1 week before our trip. I spent about NZD 20 for a total of ~1 GB of data and there's a remaining of 90+ minutes of call from HP. You may want to check out their prepaid plans at their website here.

After collecting our car, we drove to our first accommodation at Auckland City using my iPhone 6's Google Map. It's about a 15-20min drive. 

TIP: If you have a smart phone with good GPS and a Google Map app, you don't even need to rent a GPS from the car rental. Although some mountainous area of NZ do not have reception, as long as you've mapped it, GPS will STILL WORK. 


Auckland City Oaks Serviced Apartments
Address: 188 Hobson Street, Auckland City Center, Auckland, New Zealand
Contact : +64 9 337 5800

As we did not pre-book our parking slot (NZD 25 a night), we had to find a parking slot along the street. As long as it's within the white box/line, parking is free! =D We parked at the visitor slot in our apartment first, checked in and deposited our luggage before shifting the car to somewhere else. 

Living Room

Kitchen

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 2

Toilet

Washing machine

It's quite a big apartment for just the 2 of us. It would be cheaper if we have more travel companions. We rested for a while, and set off to Viaduct Harbour to witness the nightlife of Auckland after midnight.

As parking is free within the white lines, it's really not easy to find a parking slot! We parked pretty far away from the main attraction where all the pubs/clubs are. Good thing is that the weather and air were really good! We enjoyed the peaceful walk along the harbour. =)

My Canon S100 was getting really cranky, especially in low light, after dropping it at Alaska during my last trip to USA in April. If you are observant, you'll be able to tell from the photos in all my upcoming NZ blog posts. =( 








Nightlife at Viaduct Harbour, Auckland. Pretty similar to Clarke quay in Singapore. 


Popular club with long queue



Soul Bar and Bistro
Address: 16-18 Corner of Lower Hobson Street and Customs Street West, Auckland 1143, New Zealand
Contact: +64 9 356 7249

We settled down at Soul Bar and Bistro for supper and some drinks. There was only 1 table being occupied at the restaurant section, all the others were partying at the other side. The songs played did not appeal to us at all. Lol.




Fries was da yumz!

We will be leaving Auckland city the next morning, towards Matamata for Hobbiton Movie Tour then to our next accommodation at Taupo. Will update more in New Zealand 2015 Part 2.


New Zealand 2015 Posts:
Part 2 - Hobbiton and Taupo

10 comments:

  1. This looks incredible. I'm in Europe and have never travelled to Australasia or Asia before. Just around Europe the US and a brief foray into Egypt for me. I'd love to visit though and your pictures look great. That trusty Canon hasn't let you down. I haven't travelled abroad in years and this has inspired me to book something soon.

    Abraham @ ASIC

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  2. Thank you for the photos i have never been to New Zealand but i have been so inspired by your post i hope i should also put it on my travel list.

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    1. Yes please do! New Zealand is beyond beautiful. I have many more to share but really couldn't find the time to do it. South island of NZ is a must visit!

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  3. Thank you very much for sharing information that will be much helpful for making coursework my effective.

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  4. This makes me miss New Zealand, I lived there for a while. Where was your favourite place?

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    1. I love the South Island of New Zealand. It's so so beautiful!! Would love to get back there.

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  5. Nice Article..Thanks...One day i will visit all places...

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    1. Hello! Thanks! Yes please, New Zealand is really wonderful! :)

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  6. Nice write up, Lynne. Btw, if you get Spark prepaid plan, you will get free 1GB everyday thru their 1000 WIFI hotspot all over NZ. Practically they have many hotspots even in small towns. Only Spark provides this at the moment. I spent almost a year back 2016 traveling from North to South Island, did heaps of things. I even hitchiked in South Island from Blenheim to Westport, coast to coast. And queenstown was my favorite place! Wish I could go back there someday :)

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