♥ Hunnymoon in mehmeh land ♥

T R A V E L O G U E 🐑 

NEW ZEALAND 16D Summer Self Drive Adventure - Feb to Mar 2017 🚗

Finally got down to writing on our honeymoon in NZ after our wedding. If you ask me how was it, the best way to tell you is probably through the pictures below!

Look-out otw to Mt.Cook, Lake Pukaki. All photos taken with IPhone 6S.

NORTH ISLAND   

(Auckland > Matamata > Lake Taupo > Auckland)

Day 1 (Auckland): Uber to Ramada Auckland Federal St from Auckland Airport @ NZD 54 as compared to cabbing for NZD 60-80.

Hotel is well equipped even with washing machine and dryer in the toilet 🚽

                                     Dinner @ Orphan's Kitchen 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 #acquiredtaste

Dinner was at Orphan's Kitchen which prides itself on serving simple, quality dishes out of NZ's available food resources. As such, expect some creative (unconventional) use of ingredients and unique combination of flavours. Ingredient quality is top-notched but I would say the final products were more of acquired tastes that may get some getting used too. Of course, they serve fresh oysters and those were heavenly for seafood lovers like us!

Day 2 (Auckland/Matamata): Collect Car from Apex (downtown) and head off to MUST TRY Best Ugly Bagels just right off the corner @ downtown Auckland. If you love bagels + fresh ingredients you definitely must try this. Their coffee was pretty good too!

King Salmon Bagel 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Mean Joe Green 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Shopping time in Downtown Auckland before we start our roadtrip to Matamata... Parked at Downtown Carpark - pay machine parking (ground level, level 1B and 3) - $2 per hour to a maximum of $10 per day

Auckland Sky Tower

 

Nothing much to shop except buying shades from Cotton On. Spoilt in SG.

 Some construction of MRT going on...
 

 We went to the Crab Shack near the wharf and was surprised by their big ass lala (clams) and mussels. Those clams were as huge as the mussels and were sooooo juicy! We are shellfish lovers and these are as fresh and juicy as you can find in NZ!
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 #forseafoodlovers

Next, we headed to Matamata (2.5 hrs drive) and were surprised by the many stopovers for toilet breaks/food&drinks/petrol at the start of the journey.. How convenient for the toilet queen me.. 🚽👑

 I really really love our Matamata accommodation at Firth Street Mews B&B! It's so chio with the lush greenery facing the luxurious king size bed!

The owners, Kate & Graeme were great hosts and prepared a huge bowl of yummy sliced fruits to welcome us!

The shower is really clean and spacious! Nice hot strong water 🛀
Self-service breakfast from the pantry above the fridge.

Roaming about the small town center to eat dinner...

Dinner @ The Redoubt Bar and Eatery 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 

#RadlerFishnchips #longtimejack&cokePorkRibs

Dinner was at The Redoubt Bar and Eatery which serves NZ dishes so expect to find usual "western" food like fish and chips, steak and ribs. Overall, food quality was above average with good portions. This place is ranked 3rd out of 29 restaurants in Matamata so it's probably one of the best around.

Day 3 (Matamata/Huka Falls/Lake Taupo) : We're off on an adventure... to Hobbiton!!!
#plsbookinadvance #parkingatpickuppoint

 

It's difficult to get a nice picture of the houses on the hills as there are throngs of tourists coming in groups as you can see above..

Complimentary beer served at The Green Dragon Inn where the hobbits were dancing merrily on the table in the movie 🍺

The Hobbiton bus brought us back to Matamata's small town center. We had lunch back at Osteria Da Gino and I really love the food served here.. Pizza bread is da bombz ~ It was really packed though! 

Soup of the day 🍅 and a seafood platter to share - Antipasti di Mare 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

After a fulfilling yummy lunch, we started our 2 hr drive to Huka Falls then a short drive to Lake Taupo! The journey there was pretty scary to me as there was humongous trailers that were travelling at pretty fast speed on these one lane roads.. #Optimusprimes

 Huka Falls

Hotel @ Hilton Lake Taupo

 Super big toilet! 🛀🏻

 Super big room! TQ for complimentary upgrade! 😁

Love the view of Lake Taupo from the balcony.. 

Evening stroll along Lake Taupo

Dinner at Dixie Browns and we had it for brunch the next day! 🍴

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Day 4 (Lake Taupo/Hamilton/Auckland/Christchurch): Drove back to Auckland Airport (4 Hr drive) and stopped for some shopping at Hamilton. kekeke~ Couldn't wait for the adrenaline RUSH in South Island! 😎

Rmb to prepare a nice playlist for your roadtrip!! 🎵🎤

 Seafood Udon dinner at Airport (taste similar to umisushi)

 Hotel @ Sudima Hotel near Christchurch Airport

SOUTH ISLAND   

(Christchurch > Greymouth >  Fox Glacier >  Wanaka > Queenstown > Cromwell > Mt. Cook > Lake Tekapo > Christchurch)

Day 5 (Christchurch/Arthur's Pass/Greymouth): We were supposed to take the scenic Tranzalpine Train from Christchurch to Greymouth but there was a fire that destroyed parts of the train track. 😭😭 So we drove for 4hrs to Greymouth instead and stopped by Arthur's Pass (2hrs drive) for lunch.

Breakfast at the Coffee Club near Sudima Hotel 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 

Rmb to buy water from the supermart next door as it will be a long long drive..

 Stopped at some random restaurant in the middle of no where for toilet break.. Be alert for signs!

Super bored on the mountainous terrain so played the "Balance Totoro on my head game"~

 Arthur's Pass! The breathtaking view behind!

 

 A chapel near Arthur's Pass National Park Visitor Centre

 We chose the slackest hike route and it led us to this small waterfall..

 Lunch @ Wobbly Kea 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Stopped by Moana to absorb in this breathtaking view of Lake Brunner

Finally at Greymouth! There are not many hotels in this small town but more of motels as most tourists will take the Tranzalpine train here to collect their rental car and rest for the night.

 Checked in to Sundowner Motel.. 还好而已咯~ Complimentary milk 🥛

Jalan Jalan along the Greymouth Flood Wall

Beef steak dinner at The Speight's Ale House... not as good as I expected (hard to chew). Mr Kim can cook way better steaks! They have a wide selection of craft beer though! 👍🏻👍🏻

Was really happy to have The Warehouse for shopping nearby. It's a hypermart that sells groceries to clothing to electronics and even house deco. They have a great selection of affordable CUTE baby clothes that I bought for my friend and the feedback from her was that they are really good! We also bought some house deco hahaha.

Day 6 (Greymouth/Fox Glacier): Onward!! To Fox Glacier for our Helihike! 🚁 Its a 3 Hrs drive and we later stopped by Franz Josef Glacier for a toilet break..

 But first, coffee & a heavy breakkie before we set off! 

Really loved the DP1 Cafe food, coffee and arty farty deco! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Toilet break at Franz Josef Glacier (PEE QUICKLY!! as the door will auto open one)

Quick lunch @ the Last Kitchen 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

The Helihike is very weather dependent.. SO it may get cancelled (which happens often).. We were lucky it was a clear bright and sunny day! 🌞🌞🌞

Mr. Kim looking at a Moulin, be careful not to drop in! 

 

                                        

SO CHIOOOOOO, I KENNUT BELIEVE I WAS THERE~~~~ 

Can start to sing, "Let it gooooooooo~~ Let it gooooooooo"

The temperature up there during summer was not as cold as we thought! We were both comfortable wearing 2 layers of thin long sleeve top so we reckon it's about high 10 plus Deg Celsius. Some Ang Mohs just wore tank top and shorts. However, you should check with the guides at the visitor centre on the actual wind and temperature before going for the hike.

Lamb Shank & Roast Pork Dinner @ The White Pub 

Good recommendation by our glacier guide 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

 Checked in Westhaven Motel @ Fox Glacier也还好而已咯~

DAY 7 (Fox Glacier/Haast/Wanaka): So Mr. Kim had been driving all this while.. Today, I boldly volunteered to drive 2 Hrs + to Haast (lunch stop) before Wanaka! Ha! OMG I LOVE DRIVING IN NZ! Just follow the rules, be alert, it will be ok! Easier to drive on the mountains there than SG..

 

 Breakfast @ pretty Lake Matheson Cafe 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

(you can see Fox Glacier frm here if the sky is clear) 

Stopped by Lake Matheson also known as Mirror Lake before leaving Fox Glacier Township

As it was super cloudy, you cannot see Fox Glacier behind unlike the photo below from Wiki.

Some cows grazing near Lake Matheson Cafe

Stopped by the bottom of Fox Glacier

Otw to Haast

CrayPot for Lunch! Super Ex, place so ulu, drive there pretty dangerous, food ok only and lots of sandflies to keep you itching like forever 👍🏻👍🏻

Super Exxxxxx, for the same price can eat hotel buffet in SG ~ NZD 60 for the crayfish, plus we wasted time trying to find this super ulu place. #toomucheffort

Beach at Haast, be careful not to invite too many sandflies into your car

Haast Beach

  Otw to Wanaka, there's lots of scenic look-out for cars to park and take some pics!

 Glimpse of Lake Wanaka

Lake Hawea

Checked in to super big and nice Apartments at Upton, there's mountain view right from the bed! It's a modern and clean apartment which we strongly recommend!

Authentic Oiishi Japanese Food at Sasanoki Japanese Kitchen 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

DAY 8  (Wanaka/Cadrona): Chee Kok Chee Kok~~~  🐴🐴 riding time at Cardrona BackCountry Saddle Expedition!!
                                         

First, Jap Savoury Pancakes with Hashbrown for breakfast @ Urban Grind! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

This is definitely a must do activity! It was damn scary when they walked on the edge of the cliff (fun experience) but luckily the horses were super tame! This is my 3rd time horse riding~ Jeju's experience was as good but Johor's was bad, very bad.

 

 Green Lipped Mussels & Burger for lunch @ Lake Bar 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

 

Yummy Black Peak Gelato 🍦🍦

Rippon Valley Vineyard Wine Tasting (Free, walk-in)

Bought 1 bottle of red wine and 1 bottle of white wine 🍷🍷 ~NZD 25 each

Chilling by Lake Wanaka

 

Teabreak @ Charlie Brown Crepes! After buying groceries @ New World 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

打包 wood fired pizza for dinner陪酒! Shiok! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

DAY 9  (Wanaka/Queenstown): Travelled to Queenstown and took the super duper fun LUGE with such a beautiful view of the lake and mountains! #SGLugesuckscomparatively

Otw to Wanaka via Crowne Range Road.. Tough drive and slow down!

QUEENSTOWN!! Time to get your adrenaline pumped!

 We had some sad lunch at Kim's Korean.. Nobody eating there... Just us.. No Thumbsup for them..

 

 Take the Skyline Gondola Up for Luge!

 

 Super LONG Q for famous FERGBURGER for dinner! The burgers were huge and juicy and so worth it!!! 🍔🍟👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

     

Stayed at The Whistler's Apartment, abit old but the owners are Malaysians! Totally felt at home with them. 🏠

 DAY 10  (Queenstown): On this day, we took the world's largest swing! Nevis Swing! #notforthefainthearted 

Awesome Pancakes with fresh strawberry puree for Breakfast @ Bobs Weigh 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

 How to be not scared, you tell me lah~ #NevisSwing

                                                                脚软手软，全身软~~

Some snippets from our Nevis Swing video, which is too huge to upload.. REALLY DAMN MALU.. Only person who screamed.. But this is much more fun than sky diving (painful ears for me when I skydived) Definitely will do this again when I am back in NZ! :P
You can choose to hang upside down if you want~

 Spot us!

Minus 5 Ice Bar

 

  

Minus 5 Ice Bar with their super friendly Bartender who gave us a complimentary drink on the house to celebrate our marriage!

 

 Beef Steak Dinner @ Flame Bar & Grill
Really love it!  👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Chilling by the Wharf

Day 11 (Queenstown): We did the Kea 6 Line Tour to Zipline through the canopies! Really fun experience pretending to be Tarzan&Jane! (Need to use the Gondola to go up to the meeting point. On hindsight, we should have the Buffet Lunch first then Zipline so that we do not need to purchase the Gondola tickets twice. But we were lucky that a family from HK gave us some Luge+Gondola Tickets! Thank you!)

 Buffet Lunch at the Gondola Skyline 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Shotover Jet is a fun activity suitable for kids and adults 

After that, we just shopped around Queenstown, ate another Fergburger and was feeling YOLO so we went to book our Sky Dive for the next day at NZone Skydive.. I believe I can fly~~  🕊️🕊️

 Day 12 (Queenstown/Glenorchy/Cromwell): FREE FALL~ SIAO LIAO~ WHY DID WE EVEN?!

 

 These were the humji faces we have before our skydive 😱😱

The pictures our tandem master took on their go pro when we freefall really sibeh ugly, looks like 如花(not sharing here). Lucky never pay additional for a camera man to dive with us.. For the beautiful view of the mountains and lakes, think ONCE in a lifetime. My ears were like so damn pain until my head wanna explode. 💣💣 It was so blocked for the rest of the day.. My tandem master taught me to "pop" my ears by squeezing my nose and blow very hard.. SO i was popping (not pooping) all the way down lol~

Before leaving Queenstown, we headed off to Glenorchy (LOTR had some scenes here)!

Love the view otw to Glenorchy!!!

 Scrambled Eggs with smoked salmon~ DAYUM! Huge serving! They had like 10 eggs in there?! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

 是你带我到另一个天堂~~~

Travelled to Cromwell, a really small town, to stop over and break up our long drive to Mount Cook. 

 Checked in to Parkview Bed and Breakfast, lovely owners whom are loving grandparents.. 

Everything was clean and comfy!

 

 Visited the "Old Cromwell Town" which shows its history from the gold rush in the 1800s. There were like dolls in the fake houses which really gave me the creeps. And we were like the only people there.. we made some donations and the dolls started to move and made scary sound... 👻👻 Being scared little kids, we ran off!

 

 Mr. Kim enjoying the sunset

 Sawadeeka!!! Thai food at @ Thai Crom #missingRICEsomuch 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

 Day 13 (Cromwell/Lake Pukaki/Mount Cook): SALMON SASHIMI LOVERS ALERT! Fresh from the farm salmon sashimi available for you to gobble down like a bear~  🐟🐻
                    

Journey to Mount Cook felt like we were in a desert~ 🌵🌵🌵

 Cute little fluffy cloud here~ ☁️

 1KG of SALMON for lunch!!!! BEARY SATISFIED! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

 If you are adventurous, you can climb through the boulders to touch the clear blue Lake Pukaki

 View of Mount Cook at the scenic look out area otw to Mount Cook 🏔️ We are coming!

蓝蓝的天空，懒懒的白云，浆美的~ 

 Reaching soon!!

 Checked into The Hermitage Hotel (Thank you for room upgrade for the newly weds!)

 Check out the stunning view from our room!!!!! 🏔️🏔️

Hermitage hotel is like the only hotel in the exclusive Mt Cook township, hence expect their price to be quite steep. If you are on a budget, there are some motels available just a couple mins drive away.

Before our delicious buffet dinner at the Hermitage (to book in advance and request for window seat), we went on the longest hike ever!! #hookervalley #sohotsocold #windsostrong #thensuddenlynowind #99729367428steps #cangocrazyone #butmuststilldo #hike3hoursnoproblem

 

When you see this huge rock, you are almost there...

 Ok, so at the end of the Hooker Valley hike, we see the glacier water here.. So tired.. So hungry.. Still need to walk back?!

 

 Sibeh shag hike but sure make you damn hungry and ready for hotel buffet  

Sadly, there weren't any slots available for stargazing activities.. Should have booked in advance! In the end, we just star gazed from our hotel room. Beware of insects flying in though!

Day 14 (Mount Cook/Astro Cafe/Lake Tekapo): Before we left Hermitage, we did the Tasman Valley 4 Wheel Drive Tour and it was super bumpy and fun! 

Breakfast at Hermitage - Add on $ (Nothing else to eat nearby)

The guide will ask you to climb a steep hill (tough climb for me) to check out this glacier lake..

 Taking pictures with Mount Cook which was hidden by the clouds..

Otw to Lake Tekapo, we dropped by the famous Astro Cafe! I daringly drove up this steep one lane two way road up the hill to Astro Cafe. (There's a guardhouse to collect entrance fee at the foot of the hill. Heard from him that the carrot cake is a must try but was sold out! 😢)

 

 

 Super strong winds up there, best not to sit outdoors! Can get really crowded in the small cafe..

 

Cute star-gazing spherical houses

Drive down carefully, it's a two way road!

 Yes, that's me driving! LOL at the straight back man.

We checked in to Lake Tekapo Holiday Homes and it's a huge ass home with like 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, a kitchen/dining area, and a living area?! They charge per pax and not by house so it's really cheap for a huge beautiful house! 🏠

 

We chose this room as it faces Lake Tekapo and the mountains. Can I live here forever please?

 

 

 

To explore the area, we rented bicycles from Tailor Made Tekapo Backpackers Hostel. 

 

 Floodgate linking to Lake Tekapo

 Famous Church of the Good Shepherd being overwhelmed by tourists coming in buses

 

 

For dinner, we ordered takeaway from a super popular Japanese restaurant, Kohan. Better to make reservation to avoid disappointment!

 

 Terriyaki don plus Miso Soup! OIISHIIIII! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Preparing to stargaze from the balcony ⭐

Day 15 (Lake Tekapo/Christchurch): 3 Hr drive to Christchurch...

Breakfast @ Mackenzies Cafe Bar & Grill  👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

 Spot the dog!

 Free coffee at the lobby of chic Hotel 115 @ Christchurch

 

 Room and toilet was very spacious and clean! 

 Exploring Christchurch

Head off to Restart mall (temporary place for retailers who were impacted by the earthquake)

 

 Love Asian FOOD!! #dumplings #phadthai 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

We didn't do much in Christchurch other than shopping for home deco at The Warehouse. Bought a cute lamp and a chalkboard. Next time, we will check out the farmers markets there! A colleague brought back the fruits to SG and they were deliciously sweet! 🍒🍓🍈

 Dinner @ Flint Restaurant & Bar👍🏻👍🏻

Day 16 (Christchurch/SG): Home bound!!

Meal @ Burger King Christchurch Airport 👍🏻

Bought lots of gifts from the Airport, think the best is Whittaker's Chocolates with really yummy flavors like Wellington Roasted Supreme Coffee, Fijian Ginger and Kerikeri Mandarin!

- END of Trip😢-

If you want my detailed 16D15N New Zealand Itinerary, do drop your email in the comment section below. We didn't cover everything planned in the itinerary but 90% of it.

Some Value For Money (VFM)/travel tips as me & Mr. Kim progress to the auntie & uncle stage.. :X

- In all your bookings, state that you are on honeymoon! :)

- Book air tickets/hotels via SHOPBACK to get cash rebates

We booked SQ air tix via Expedia and hotels via Agoda through Shopback. Do follow the Shopback instructions for your bookings to be entitled to the cash rebates. Some of them take up to 60days after your trip/hotel stay to be credited to your account but it is all worth it! 

#effortmuch #butsavedfewhundreds 

Sign up for SHOPBACK via Mr.Kim's referral link: https://www.shopback.sg/?raf=JTfF8n

- Use credit cards with cashback/discounts for online booking. 

We used SCB Manhattan card (up to 3% for spending above $3k per month, capped at $200 cashback per quarter) and Amex cashback card (3% for first $5k, unlimited 1.5% for subsequent spending). Both cashback programs are fuss-free and really convenient! #takenoteofthecap

- Exchanging SGD to NZD 

Keep track of any major news on monetary policies (what the?!) or current affairs news that might impact the strength of NZD. Constantly check out the SELL rates, SGD/NZD, less than 1 is a good deal. Change in small amounts, e.g. SGD500, each time to average the impact of the FX flux. 

#mrkimofficeisjustabovearcadesocankeepchecking

- Check your statements to ensure those bookings you paid are reflected as paid

As ex-auditors, checking of our bank statements is like 职业病.. And we found an error where a hotel booking reflected unpaid though payment was made! We emailed Agoda and ensured that they issue us an email to indicate that payment was made and kept the hotel in the loop. Otherwise, the hotel staff may insist payment when we are there/we may unknowingly pay double if we didn't check against our bank statement. Indicate clearly in your itinerary what is paid and you can also plan how much cash to bring for those vendors that do not accept online payment.

#kiasusingaporeans

- Continue to monitor prices of hotels/car rentals after booking

Nearer to our trip, we found out that the rates of our Toyota RAV 4 dropped for the same booking period. We emailed Apex if they were able to revise the price for us (payment was not yet made). Apex was kind enough to charge us the lower price despite having no obligation to do so at all! Strongly recommend renting your cars through Apex! On top of their excellent customer service, they are the cheapest with insurance fully covered - zero excess (unlike their competitors which is more expensive & need to add $ for fully covered insurance/extra driver). Slight con might be collection point is located outside the airport (instead of at the airport) but they provide regular free shuttle buses which were totally convenient! thumbs up for cost savings! :D

Our hotel, Hermitage, was also kind enough to refund us the price difference! Furthermore, they gave us a complimentary room upgrade to a room with better view of Mt. Cook. 

Bon voyage~ ✈️✈️✈️