Month: December 2014

The picturesque 1,250 acre sheep farm and Hobbiton Movie Set in Matamata, New Zealand are by far one of the most beautiful places I have visited, next to the Great War Of China in Beijing. My girls are indeed lucky to be able to visit such a beautiful country at such a young age!

We set out to travel to the Hobbiton Movie Set very early in the morning. After a 2-hour road trip by car, we stopped at Matamata for lunch. We bought some fast food and stopped at a park to have a quickie. Then headed to the Hobbiton Movie Set, featured in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films.

As the bus drove us up to the Hobbiton movie set, we were all gushing over the adorable little lambs wandering around the idyllic rolling green countryside. The bright  blue skies along with the vastly lush green farms spread on both sides of the road were a sight to behold.  I could not believe what I was seeing and where I was. It was so surreal.  The entire farm and the Hobbiton Movie set were just magnificent.

 

 

While waiting for the bus to arrive to bring us to the movie set, I quickly snapped a picture of the cafe and the bus waiting area…

 

 

 

The below two picture were taken on the bus, on our way up to the movie set,  through the glass window.    The white dots all over the green farm are fluffy white sheep. There are over 13,000 of them in the private farm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a 15-minute bus ride, we reached the Hobbiton movie set.  We were lucky again.  It had been raining everyday since we reached Auckland but the day we went to Rangitoto Island and again when we went to Hobbiton, it was bright, clear and sunny!  But it was far too sunny for me.  Again, I had to open up an umbrella (provided by Hobbiton) and carried it with me throughout the 2-hour tour. Very troublesome indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every part of the movie set has an awesome view.

 

One of the trees here is a fake one, created by film director, Sir Peter Jackson.  I’ll let you know which one later…

 

 

 

 

There were also pear and apple trees in the movie set.  The one below is a pear tree.  It was my first time seeing a pear tree in real life!

 

 

The tree below, known as the party tree was created by the film director.  According to the tour guide, when the tree was completed in the first round, Peter Jackson did not like the color of the leaves.  He ordered the leaves to be repainted – every single one of them!

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite scenes – the lake and the meadows, with beautiful colorful flowers and loads of lush greenery everywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This was yet another outdoor adventure for the girls, including the adults, during our stay in Auckland – a grueling 2 hours 45 minutes hike up and down Rangitoto Island!

Sitting majestically just off the Auckland coast, Rangitoto Island is a 600-year old volcano. It boasts a unique landscape of rugged lava crops, lush native bush and sandy coves. We hiked to the summit for some spectacular 360 degree views of Auckland.

From the car park, we walked to the jetty to board a ferry. Along the way, we saw an animal activist volunteer and the kids pleaded with us to donate some money to help save animals from cruelty…

 

In the ferry, on our way to Rangitoto Island.  It was chilly in the morning and we were wishful that it would not rain as it rained every day ever since we arrived in Auckland.  Thank God, luck was with us and the day we went to Rangitoto, the weather was good – sunny and hot.  I wished it were cooler as we sweated quite a bit under the hot sun for almost 3 hours.

 

The kids snacking in the ferry…

 

The ferry was superbly clean unlike those in our country.  Healthy snacks and juices were sold inside the ferry.

 

Our hot, long and gruelling hike up to Rangitoto Summit.  Notice the black volcano rocks surrounding us…

Before the hike…

 

Walking on black lava soil throughout the path up to Rangitoto Summit.  The reddish stuff on the ground are flowers from the New Zealand Christmas trees that grow wildly in the jungle.  It was very hot and the puteri lilin you see here had to use an umbrella *coughs*

 

 

Beautiful flowers from the New Zealand Christmas tree…

 

 

 

 

After an hour of hike, our prize was the breathtaking view of Auckland…

 

 

 

 

 

We could see the city of Auckland opposite us…

 

 

From the Rangitoto Summit, the kids were ambitious enough to venture out further to the Rangitoto Lava Cave. And we had to take another 20-minute hike down a steep ravine to the cave.  When we were at the entrance of the cave, the kids were raring to crawl inside the cave to check out what’s inside!  I stayed outside with Sarah just in case…

 

 

After our 2-hour 45 minute hike up and down Rangitoto Summit, we were all exhausted.  Alycia had to change into her shorts as her jeans had blood stains from her fall.  Cass fell too and had cuts and grazes on her chest, tummy, palm, knees and arms.  But my girls are tough soldiers and they did not shed a drop of tear!  Sherilyn  had to use my umbrella to support her hike down the hill and she broke the umbrella.  As expected la, from the Drama Queen.

 

 

 

More snacking on our ferry ride back to Auckland…

 

Once back in Auckland, we walked to a nearly mall and had sushi for lunch…

 

Then had Movenpick ice cream to cool ourselves down…

 

 

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As I am typing this post using my mobile phone, the girls are now having a final round of play with their 3 cousins in the garden.  In 2 hours we will leave for the airport to catch a 1am flight. Yep a flight on Xmas Eve.

To summarize, these are the places that we covered over the past 5 days in Auckland:

1. 2-hour hike in Rangitoto Island

2. Trip to the Hobbiton Movie Set. View was super scenic. Totally breathtaking.

3. Puhoi Valley Cheese Store

4. Matakana Village Market

5. Pluck our own blueberries

6. Went to the movies today.

7. Honey Center

8. Mission Bay

Pictures to follow after my return to KL.

Time really flies. We have enjoyed ourselves tremendously during our 2-week stay in Auckland (3 weeks for Alycia and Sherilyn) but I do miss home! Safe flight to us!

 

 

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Today was museum touring day for us.  But we wasted quite a bit of time on the road as hubs lost data connection with the  Google Maps on his mobile phone half way along the drive to Auckland War Memorial Museum.  He stopped the car at a service area along the motorway to ask for directions.  Google Maps has not been very stable here and we kept losing data connection each time we are on the road.   Anyway, after over an hour, we finally reached our destination.  The kids cheered!  We were all famished!

We quickly headed to Columbus Coffee cafe inside the museum and ordered lunch for the kids.  Food was great!

 

 

The first activity was a Maori cultural show inside a theater.  Cass fell asleep in the theater haha!

 

Then we took pix with the Maori performers.

 

 

 

We watched how a volcano erupts in a specially designed room– everyone was startled when the room suddenly shook and trembled with lights turned off and on during the ‘volcano eruption’

 

 

 

The kids inserting coins into a vending machine to buy souvenirs.

Beautiful scenery overlooking the sea, outside the museum.

 

The kids ran round the park located just opposite the museum…

 

They even climbed up a tree…

 

 

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After we picked up the girls’ visiting grand uncle and grand aunt from Christchurch at the airport, we had dim sum lunch at a Chinese restaurant.  Then we adjourned to Mission Bay for sightseeing.  It was frrrrreakkkkking COLD at the bay with strong winds.  Now, what kinda of freezing cold summer is this in Auckland?!  We will definitely need 2 large luggage bags to lug some really thick winter wear along if we go to Auckland during the winter next!

See, the drama queen had 5 layers of clothing on!  I told you she is melodramatic!

 

 

From the Bay, we crossed the road over to the park for the girls to play at the playground.

 

 

 

Next, we headed to Kelly Tarlton’s Sea Life Aquarium.

The highlight of the aquarium for the girls were the super adorable and majestic penguins.   We spent a good 20 minutes filming the penguins and oohing and aahing over them.

 

 

 

Cass trying to kiss a baby penguin.

 

 

 

 

The girls touching some star fish and jelly fish.

 

From Mission Bay, hubs set  his Google Maps for direction to drive home but half way along the drive, the GPS was disconnected and we lost our way.  We spent over an hour on the road, resetting the Google Maps and finally reached home.  We had dinner at a Chinese eatery and then headed home.

 

 

 

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On the third day  in Auckland, the kids went to JUMP to jump on gigantic trampolines, indoor.  This is similar to Malaysia’s very own  Jump Street.

 

 

 

 

 

We played Dodge Ball with the locals. Yes, even I joined in!! 😀

 

 

 

See the tarzan girl!  She did countless rounds on it.

 

At Howick Village Market on Saturday morning…

Avocados are selling very cheaply everywhere (between 50 cents to a dollar each) and we have been buying and eating them by the kgs everyday! YUMS 🙂

 

 

 

Orange, yellow and purple carrots…

 

 

 

 

 

 

We bought some Amaize gourmet popcorns for the kids at NZD5 a punnet.

 

Strawberries are in season now and we have been munching on them as snacks everyday!  Oh BLISS!! 😀

 

 

 

Aunt Krystle from HK gave the kids each some money and they could buy anything that they want except for food from a bookstore. Here they are reading their books while waiting for the adults to shop at the market.

 

With aunt Krystle and aunt Sarah…

 

 

 

No. of times viewed = 254

For the first time in our lives, we experienced a mega Christmas In The Park  party yesterday. The event was held at One Tree Hill Domain, adjacent to Cornwall Park.

We had to take a 15-minute hike up a hill to the park from the car park.  That was not a problem as the weather was cold but what dampened the mood a little was the drizzle.  Throughout the evening, it drizzled.   Everyone had to put on their hoodies.   For the kids, it was a real jungle trekking adventure, made even more adventurous with the drizzle and freaking cold weather.  Temperature was about 11-12C.

 

The kids posing with a unique looking gigantic tree at the park.   It was drizzling and the tree branches were wet and slippery but the kids were not at all perturbed by the wet weather. They wanted to climb up the tree!  Kids, they just wanna have fun!

 

Can you spot us?  We were seated next to an orange tent.

Lesson learnt : buy a tent and bring really warm clothing if we ever attend such events again in a cold country.

 

 

It was also the girls’ first experience (mine too) using mobile loos and gawd, they were really narrow and squeezy inside!

The hubs bought hotdogs, nuggets, hot chocolate, coffee, fries, candy floss and a whole bunch of junk food for the kids!  I just had to close both eyes and let it go since it’s a HOLIDAY and I am not supposed to pour cold water on everyone. 😀

While waiting for the show to begin, we brought the girls and their twin cousins to play at the funfair.

 

Going up the haunted house.  In less than 2 minutes, the supposedly scary tour was over and they said “not scared at all!!  It was only dark inside there!”  There goes our NZD18!

Kids on the Dragon Boat ride.

We left the event early as the drizzle did not stop and boy was it freezing cold!  The wind was strong and the rain water made it worst.  We were all damp over all and had to hike down the hill to the car park, carrying our backpacks and 2 portable chairs.  What an experience was it for all of us.

 

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After our jog back from the park on day 2, we had a lovely lunch of beef brisket noodles with radish soup cooked by the MIL.

Later we followed the girls’ cousin, A to her aerobic gymnastics class to watch her train for a while.

Then we had coffee and cakes at a nearby shopping mall cafe.   That night, we traveled to Bombay to have a sumptuous dinner at Bracu, a fine dine countryside restaurant in the Simunovich Olive Estate.  Let me settle down later and get hold of the pix of the food that we had that night and I will post them here.

Day 3 – A & S followed their twin cuzs to school and attended class for a day.

While the 4 cousins were in school, hubs, MIL, youngest SIL, Cass and I had breakfast at Little And Friday.

Then we went to Cornwall Park to have a nice stroll in the cool weather.  For the first time, we saw fig trees with figs on them, sakura trees and sakura flowers.  Cass saw fresh mushrooms on the ground, cows and sheep grazing grass in the meadow.  It was an eye-opening experience for my city girl 😀

We saw ducks and ducklings by the pond and Cass was so excited!

 

Cass climbed trees for the first time in her life!

Cass picked up some cones, figs and unique flowers for her  2 che ches to see when they get back from school later.

We had homecooked dinner at home on day 3.  SIL grilled lamb and made fennel salad.

 

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It was a smooth-cruising of 11 hours on the plane for everyone.  When we touched down Auckland airport at 12:15am, everyone on the plane clapped their hands! LOL!

Here is Cass enjoying her dinner  37,000 feet in the air, somewhere above the Tasman Sea while enjoying the sunset view outside. The beautiful sunset colors of red, orange, grey, blue along with grey was just splendid!

We arrived Auckland past midnight Auckland time.

Cass enjoying her breakfast of fresh cherries and playing Minion Rush on the iPad, while her 2 che ches have gone out to the market with grandma and aunt Sarah.

Later I jogged to the park (while hubs cycled and Cass and Sherilyn rode on the skooter) in the 12 noon sun. But the wind was chilly, just perfect for moi! 🙂

Admiring the Mandarin ducks in the pond at the park that we jogged to.

 

No. of times viewed = 353