Life in Wellington Part 1

The inital settling in part was quite fast. Got to know my room mates, and registered my courses. The registration part was quite troublesome cause everything was done manually and not computerized. So was kinda irritating. Nevertheless, got it done in 2 days and everything was fine.

Life in general is quite slow here in NZ. I wanted to take 4 courses, and was initially discouraged by the office as they were afraid it was too heavy. Apparently the norm here is 3 mods per sem. Haha but even with 4 mods, I already felt it was so slack. Managed to get at least a B+ for all of the assignments and tests. And I didn't even do much. Like some essays the students spend 2 weeks researching and writing it. And I only spent 1 day researching and 1 day writing. Haha tests were all studied for the day before. If only SMU courses were so easy too!

While I was there, I joined the Canoe Club and the Badminton Club. I actually wanted to join the Trekking Club also, but didn't in the end as most of the trips clashed with kayaking. So decided to focus on kayaking instead. Anyway the Trekking club people didn't come across as very friendly. OK la I don't think they were unfriendly, just not very sociable, or maybe just shy to new people. But anyway, I rather kayaked since I can always go for treks on my own if I really wanted to I guess.

Other than that, spent the weekdays hanging out, watching movies and drinking. Wah I think the Europeans really party very hard. After a few weeks, I didn't really join the partying much already. Haha guess I wasn't really much of a party-er. Other than that, weekdays were spent walking around town, chatting online, movies, visiting cafes and playing badminton. Weekends were generally for kayaking and exploring the region.

Welly Town

To transport my car over to Wellington, I had to drive up my car onto the boat. Reminded my of the boat we took to Lombok island when we were going to Rinjani. Haha except this time the boat is much better, and I was the one driving up the boat.

Anyway, the ferry ride is about 4 hours long. For a boat of its size, it was surprisingly empty. Not many travelers around, mainly families. So didn't really have anyone to talk to. One of the downsides of travelling alone I guess. You do get bouts of boredom. One is when doing outdoor activities. I mean not really outdoor. Imagine going to a theme park alone. Haha, ultimate boredom I think.

I was killed time by alternating between watching some stupid movie they were filming, reading a book and playing my PSP. Finally, after 3 hours like that, we saw land again!! Hooray! I thought we were going to reach soon. Turned out distance was very deceiving. Haha it was about 1.5 hours again before I actually touched land again.

The Marlborough Sounds at the beginning of the boat trip

Far view of Wellington

First commercial building I see in NZ!!

Love the location of that flat man

Wellinton is by far the crampest city in NZ. It is also super driver unfriendly. Lots of 1 way streets, narrow roads, and worst of all. Street name boards are virtually non-existent. And when there are boards, their locations tend to be soooo hard to spot, making it useless. Like there was this board which was blocked by this gigantic signboard giving directions to the State Highway. Super bad planning. Haha or maybe I'm just too spoilt to the organised Singapore streets. It took me about half an hour to find my school la! Damn irritating. Haha bravo LTA!

Administratively, it was surprisingly efficient for my room. It was all prepared for me, and all I had to do was sign a few documents and tada! I was shown to my room. Here are a couple pics of my empty room. Haha it was a total mess once its filled with my stuff. Oh incidentally, I only cleaned my room twice in 4 months. Super dirty I know, but its not as bad as what you might think. There is barely any dust there, plus I'm rarely in my room. So no big deal I guess.

Overall, it was a really nice and pleasant room. Pretty spacious too. I was half expecting some cramped up room, maybe is the image of the SMU hostel ba. I was housed with a German guy doing architecture, a Korean lady doing her degree in linguistics, and an American lady doing media and theater.

My hostel is catered more for international students, so we actually get a wide mix of different people. Not many kiwis though. But nevertheless, it was great fun getting to know and talking to so many people of different nationalities. Besides, this is probably the hostel with the highest number of exchange students.

After getting settled in, I spent the next few days rushing around to get enrolled. The system there is rather bad, as there is no one central place for us to register for our courses. It's like there are 8 steps in the enrolment process. And each individual step has to be done at a different office. So I have to travel from point to point to get it done. And what's worse is that some of them are really far! One part of the school is actually about 20 min walk away. So, all in all, it was an extremely tiring affair. But still got it done, and just in time for the start of school too!

Rainy West Coast

The weather after the glaciers was absolutely horrible man!! The west coast really is region with the highest rainfall. I was originally planning to head up to Arthur's pass and do the Avalanche Peak day walk, which was reputed to be really really good. But, due to shitty weather, I could not do it! Damn sian cos that was the trek which I was really very interested in doing. And due to the high altitude, I cannot do it in the winter too.

So after driving all the way there, I found out that the weather forecast is going to be bad for the rest of the week. I realised that when it rains in NZ, it just goes on and on for a week or so, and then it will be sunny again. There don't seem to be such a thing as one day rain. Oh well. I ended up driving all the way to Christchurch, and had to spend the day there as I was very tired out from driving already.

What I forgot was that Christchurch is one of the major gateways to NZ, and bookings for hostels are essential!! After trying out tons of hostels without availability for dorm beds, we had no choice but to pay twice the amount and stay in a twin room. Super sianz....but no choice.

The next day, drove out of Christchurch first thing in the morning, and headed to Picton for the ferry ride over to Wellington. Along the way, I stopped by Kaikoura for lunch. Kaikoura is the Maori name for crayfish, which is a delicacy here in NZ. I initially wanted to try, until I realised 1 crayfish costs about $50+!! OMG that's damn ex. But it's not the size of what we have in Singapore, but is at least 3 times larger. Looks more like a lobster to me.

Anyway, Kaikoura is also really famous for whale watching and swimming with dolphins. I initially wanted to go swim with the dolphins there, but since I already did it for free down at the Catlins, I decided to save money and give it a miss. So on to Picton and took a ferry down to Wellington.

A bit lazy now, so will post pictures of the trip to Wellington the next time ba.

Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers

OK after months later, I decided to continue the blog on my exchange. Mainly is because I would really like to have somewhere to post all my nice memories and pictures, before I forget them.

To pick up where I last left, my last and final place before heading up to Wellington was the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers. These 2 glaciers are actually very near one another, like a half hour drive away. When we arrived at Fox Glaciers first, we had to make 2 decisions. Which glacier should we visit, and when to do the walk.

We didn't want to spend so much on both glaciers, which we felt would be about the same. So we asked around and most of the locals said that the Franz Josef had a more challenging terrain, whilst the Fox was slightly more scenic. With that, it was Fox for us then.

When we arrived, the weather was turning bad, and after checking the weather forecast, we found out that it was predicted to rain very heavily the next day, and will be cloudy the following day. In the end, we decided to drive on down to Franz Josef first and do a day walk to see it from a distance.

The walk turned out to be super boring!!! We had to walk over a very rocky path, with a few small streams of melted ice flowing out. Also, we did not really see much as the glacier was quite a distance away and there was a barricade stopping people from going nearer due to rock falls. Apparently, many tourists frequently ignored the warning and went ahead. Because of that, there have been cases of tourists being killed from falling rocks and ice.

Glacier from as close as I could

As it was getting late, we had to stay at Franz Josef for the day. We decided to trust the weather, and go for the walk the day after. That left 1 day free for us. I decided to try out the indoor ice climbing wall that day, as I doubt I will have much chance to do so since I don't foresee myself going for any ice mountain treks in the near future. As I was the only customer, I had the luxury of having a one to one instructor. He taught be the basics of climbing using crampons and ice axes. And off I went!

Reaching to top of the 2nd climb

Almost at the top of the toughest wall they have

Climbing on crampons and ice axes really isn't easy at all. After 2 or 3 climbs, my arms were totally sore already. Thankfully I was the only person there, so I had lots of time to rest my arms and finally attempted the toughest segment. I was stuck at that spot in the previous picture for damn long, but then finally managed to reach the top after a few attempts. Kudos to the instructor there for being super patient and supportive all the way man.

After that, I spent the rest of the day watching some super old movies like Ghostbusters and Gladiator in the hostel. Have I mentioned that most of the hostels there still uses video?

The next day came finally, and I felt super cheated!!! The weather the previous day was superb in the first half, and drizzled slightly from the late afternoon on. But the day I signed up for the walk, it rained the entire day!!! In the end, I went for a glacier walk on a super cloudy, wet and cold day! It felt like I was just walking on ice the entire way with no scenery to say. And this was also the coldest I ever felt ever since coming to NZ. The 2nd day on the Routeburn was not as cold, though that was a lot more miserable cos I did not have any warm bed to look forward to at the end of the day. Oh well but I still did learn loads about glaciers, and also had the chance to walk around on a whole solid chunk of ice! So cannot really say it was a total waste. Anyway, did you know that the 2 glaciers here are actually advancing glaciers. Kinda ironic considering global warming and the fact that the ozone layer above NZ is very thin.

River crossing!!! With our cowboy guide helping us across

Fox glaciers from afar. Will be seeing it up close and personal soon.

The start of the glacier walk with dirty ice and my very wet camera

I look wet on the outside, but surprisingly dry on the inside. I love my waterproof gear!!

My travelmate with a tunnel in the glaciers. Look how blue it is inside!

A stream running under the ice

I find it odd that the ice, and the trees are at the same altitude

Early the next morning, we woke up early in the morning to visit this lake nearby, which is the most photographed lake in NZ for its super calm and reflective water surface. But to do so, we had to reach there at 7am as that is the time when it is at its calmest. Unfortunately for us, the weather was still not good and we could not get very good pictures of it at all.

Puzzling World

After the Rob Roy trek, I reached back my hostel in early afternoon. Since it was still early, decided to go check out this place called Puzzling World. It was highly recommended by one of the hostel people. It was a rather interesting place with a lot of models, pictures etc. There are also a lot of puzzles in the front with a café where you can play the games for free. I ended up spending a relaxing afternoon looking around there and quite enjoyed myself actually. Anyways here are some pictures of the things there.

We were told by the staff that the toilet is a must go in this place. Haha you can all see why.

PS: one of the people there are real

The following 2 pictures have multiple imagery in them

How many animals are there?

How many legs do you see?

That night, I met this Israeli girl called Gal who is staying that night in my bunk. After talking for a while, we decided to travel up to the glaciers together the next day. So, off we went. Oh and 1 more pictures to post. This was taken on the way there. Seriously, the scenery all over NZ is really damn fantastic!

Canyoning in Wanaka and Rob Roy Glaciers

I have been to almost every part of nz already so far, and Wanaka is still my favourite place here. Its situated beside a lake, and surrounded by super scenic snow capped-mountains all around it. Its not that small a town that makes it too quiet, but then also not so big that it becomes overcrowded. There are also lots of things to be doing in the area man. After going through Wanaka, I kinda regretted spending so much time in Te Anau. Should have spent more time here instead. But well, Te Anau was also a great place.

Woke up all excited for the upcoming canyoning trip. Unfortunately, it wasn't what I expected at all. It was basically just going through the canyon, and mainly rapelling down, a few slides and a couple of jumps. Oh and there was a flying fox at the end. It was still a good experience though. And the scenery was great!

As we were in the water most of the time, we were all wearing a 5mm thick wetsuit, with neo prene shoes and a hat too. After gearing up, really feel like a ba zhang. haha so hard to move around. But once in the water, it got better. And I'm really thankful for the wetsuit man. The water was super cold even though its in the summer.

Group photo

interesting rappel, cos you are supposed to rappel off the line

Short clip of a slide

Us having lunch

The unique lunch table

The hostel I stayed at (cannot remember the name) is damn nice. It comes with a mini-cinema in it and every night, they will play some movie on a large projecter screen. Very cosy place also. Talked with some other travellers who went to the Rob Roy glaciers that day, and decided to go for it after they told me how good it was.

So, I drove up the 30km to the starting point of the trek the next day. OMG it was the worst 30 km of driving man. Not only was it on gravel road, it was also super duper bumpy. I had to drive at like 20km/hr most of the time la. And even then, my car was jerking about so much I feel worried for it man. After 2/3 of the way through, I reached this massive ford. And it was half flooded with water. Biangz...I was about to turn back already man. You know if is dry not so bad, but with water, I think the car will just stall after a while man.

Just as I was about to turn back, this other car came by. His car is much bigger than mine so I think is ok to cross. Haha so what I did was to practice my Race 5 skills of hitchhiking! Lol so I just parked my car somewhere else and took his car in. Total driving time for the 30km was 1.5 hours.

Oh well, anyways the guy I hitchhiked with and me did the walk together. We had a very nice conversation together. He's a Swiss, working as a biologist, and also an avid mountaineer. Cool right. Haha he was telling me about his trips climbing the various mountains in the Swiss alps, and the difference between glaciers and ice etc. Really learnt a lot about mountaineering from him.

Anyways it was about 1.5hours walk to the viewing point. I didn't want to slow him down too much, so was walking at a pretty fast pace throughout. At the end, he still looked super fresh la. Haha I think it was just a stroll in the park for him loh. The viewing point is actually still quite a distance from the actual glacier itself, but the view is still very nice. Haha at least the car drive was worth it. And because we were early, there was barely anyone there at all. It was really very peaceful and quiet there, with all the majestic mountains and glaciers all around. Plus the weather was perfect too with a bright sun and blue skies.

After about half an hour, more and more people started coming to spoil the serenity of the place and we decided to go back. The car park when we came in was almost empty, but when we got there, it was almost full with 30-40 vehicles la! with 2 people on average in each car, the place had anywhere between 60-80 people in it. That's nz in the summer.

Touristy Queenstown

The next stop was Queenstown - the adventure city of the world! However, I wasn't impressed. Haha I mean its a nice city and all, but just too touristy for my taste. The entire place were filled with all the adventure rides and trips which were too expensive for my taste, and lots of bars and cafes. This was also the town where I first encountered an unfriendly kiwi at the I-site. I dunno, but the vibe I got from the lady felt kinda snobbish and she did not seem to be keen on helping me cos I don't look like the kind of tourist which Queenstown is looking for, meaning rich tourists to spend hundreds on the rides and entertainment.

Oh well...anyways I didn't stay the night at this town. The highlight for me for this town is the gondola + luge, and a buffet lunch. Gondola was cos it was highly recommended to me by Aik Soon. It was pretty good, with great views of the entire town and the surrounding from up there.

View down from the top of the gondola

hmm...I think this is from the look out point at the top

The buffet lunch I was going to go for is at the top of the gondola. Its pretty cheap with 6 courses including 2 meats, 2 seafood and 2 sides. But....when I got there and went to the restaurant, they were closed! Bloody hell, and the reason was because, not enough people made bookings, so they didn't open. Wah first time I heard of such a restaurant la! Meaning they only open if got enough bookings, otherwise they close. Weird business man.

Oh well, that was compensated for the luge! I originally intended to try it out once only, but ended up going on it twice cos it was too good! Haha the course is much longer than I expected, and incredibly fast! First time was on a slower course, but the second time I could go for the advance course, much like karting I suppose. Haha beats the Sentosa one hands down.

Part of the luge course

Great view while coming down the luge

Anyways, moved on to Wanaka after that, and went to sign up for a canyoning trip for the next day. Will post more on that again the next time ba.