starbuck1979

I arrived from Tongariro in Taupo after a really miserable bout of bad weather. Unfortunately, the bad weather seemed to follow us from Tongariro. We decide to put up in Rainbow Lodge instead of the much recommended (and top BBH rated), Blackcurrant Backpackers because it was a tad bit more pricey ($21 versus $24) and we thought it would not make too much a difference. Unfortunately, I felt Rainbow Lodge to be too large and a bit too busy for my liking. There are always people everywhere, lounge, TV room, kitchen, garden, etc. I did not think I ever had a quiet moment there. I think I prefer much smaller and more homey backpackers like Juno Hall and Colville Farm. With so many people, you have to jostle to use sinks, stoves, kitchen utensils and even ... read more

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is said to be one of New Zealand's best day hike and probably amongst the best in the world. We timed it such that we would attempt the hike on the day in which the weather according to Met (NZ national weather service) was the best. It was supposed to be cloudy in the morning and evening with occasional showers. The rest of the day was supposed to be fine. Unfortunately, my attempt at the Tongariro Alpine Crossing turned out to be the most wet, windy and miserable hike in NZ so far. It rained from the start of the hike and continued raining pretty much throughout all of the hike. The crossing passes by two mountains, Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Tongariro. It traverses many different types of terrain and that is ... read more

Finally the weather became really good, so Lie Wei, Lie Yee and Jie Min decide to attempt the supposedly gruelling Bream Head/Te Whara track which is said to take 10 hours roundtrip according to the NZ Department of Conservation (DOC). The distance one-way was 7.5km. http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/northland/whangarei-area/bream-head-te-whara-track/ The night before the hike, we did plenty of research and preparation as the DOC website said we need to have reasonable skill and fitness. Since it was going to be such a long hike, I made sure I prepared plenty of food, water as well as gear to cover for any weather conditions, e.g. waterproof jacket, headlamp, GPS watch. I even drew a copy of the map outlining the trail we were to take from the DOC website. We started our day very early, driving out from our homestay ... read more

We do A LOT of baking/cooking in NZ because we have a lot of free time after work and even if we do runs we still have time. Another reason for all this cooking/baking is that eating out is tremendously expensive here so whenever we have the craving to eat something, we most likely will have to do it ourselves. Plus, most of us have been here for more than a month and we are starting to miss Asian food and from time-to-time we do try to find the ingredients in the Asian supermarket in Auckland so we can by them back to Whangarei to cook them. We have tried our hand at roti canai, fried hokkien mee and shepherd's pie to name a few. We have also managed to whip up quite a few batches ... read more

I had so much fun sandboarding in Te Paki! It is hard work and you have to scale the huge sand dunes in order to sandboard down and scaling sand dunes is exhausting as each step you take, your foot just sinks deep into the soft sand. It takes a long time to get to the top, more like 2 steps forward, 1 step backward sort of cx... read more

Lie Wei and I finished work at around 3-ish pm on Monday and since weather forecast was going to be good on Tuesday, we (including her sis and Jie Min) decided to head to Cape Reinga, which is almost the most northen-most point in the North Island. The actual most northen point is actually Surville Cliff but Cape Reinga is probably more famous because it is the most scenic. It is about 280+ km north of Whangarei. Cape Reinga is a very sacred place to the Maori people. It is believed that the spirits of the dead travel to Cape Reinga on their journey to the afterlife to leap off the headland and climb the roots of the 800 year old Pohutukawa tree and descend to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland of Hawaiiki-a-nui, ... read more