The Unbalanced Libra..

After having our breakfast in a very crowded kitchen, we checked out of “Tailor Made” backpackers and started the day with a drive up to Mt. John university observatory. We saw some decent snow for the first time since we came to NZ, and took plenty of photos. I had a cup of “Orgasmic Organic” chocolate ice cream, while K had a cup of hot cappuccino and a slice of carrot cake. We all sat on the bench outdoors with the beautiful view. It was sooo nice!!





K drove the 3 hour leg to Lake Wanaka. We reached there around 230pm and started searching for accommodation. Went to the i-site to collect a few brochures, started calling up a few motels, drove down to a few more to see the actual rooms, and finally settled with a 4- bed studio unit at Fairway Motel, which is just 5 mins drive from the small town center. By the time we finished unloading our stuff, it was already 3plus and I was so hungry. We drove to the town center, parked and started walking around in search for food. After walking for about 5 mins, we finally settled on Da Vinci's pizza, and ordered 3 large pizzas to share. The very hungry 4 of us managed to gobble up 19 slices of pizza altogether.. = )

After lunch, we headed back to the i-site to collect brochures and information on the ski slopes for our trip up tomorrow. I learnt from the lady there that there were no snow tubing or snow sleds on the slopes, which meant I couldn't do anything tomorrow except watch the rest of them ski and snow board. That upset me quite a lot. We had walked over from the pizza place to the i-site while K went to collect the car. We were done in a jifffy, and ended up having to look for K in the cold wind, which kinda pissed me off even more. K arrived a few minutes later. Turns out he had been driving around for a look see while we were searching for him.. By then, I wasn't really in the best of moods. The 4 of us drove around Wanaka to see if we could do anymore sightseeing or touristy stuff.

It was already 5pm, so a lot of the places were closed. The 3 of them ended up taking pictures at this place called “Puzzling World” while I stayed in the car and waited. I was in no mood at all to take pictures or do anything else for that matter. And being the ever so “transparent” me, my emotions showed. K asked what I was upset about, but I didn't reply.

After “Puzzling World” and another 10 minutes of aimless driving, we finally decided to go to the supermarket to buy ingredients for our dinner. After much deliberation, we settled on EK and S making spaghetti for dinner. Again, I wasn't in the mood for the whole supermarket shopping either. And EK and S kept asking me what food to buy and what I wanna eat, cause K was outside parking the car. But I wasn't in the mood at all to think about what to eat, so I just asked them to decide.

Dinner was simple but delicious. Spaghetti with minced chicken in tomato sauce and melted mozzarella cheese. = )

We went through the ski brochures during dinner, and when we finally had some time alone, I burst and told K what I was upset about. I know it's really silly to be upset over the fact that I won't get to ski / snowboard tomorrow cause I am pregnant. But I couldn't help it. At that point, I was totally pissed off at my pregnancy and the baby, cause it has caused me so much inconvenience, and because of it, I am missing out on all the fun stuff.. Sigh.. Crazy right!

Anyway, I felt so guilty for blaming the baby after that that I apologized to it before I slept that night. I hope it doesn't feel unwanted.. = (

I had some problems with my key deposit after checking out of Cokers this morning. The stupid lady kept insisting that it was written in their log book that only $20 was collected, but I had paid $40 for 2 keys. I told her a guy named Chris had taken the money from me when we checked in. But she told me there's no such person. I was dead sure the guy's name was Chris. So I described the guy to her. She said she knew who I was talking about but his name wasn't Chris. So I asked her to go and check with this guy. Then she said the guy is too drunk to remember anything so early in the morning. Wah Lau!! I just kept repeating my stand and gave her this “don't bully a pregnant woman” look, and she finally relented and went upstairs to check with the guy. And I got my money back. = )

After we left Cokers, we went back to West Field mall because EK had left the light soy and chilli sauce at the ASB bank. We encountered more irritating people there. There were already staff loitering around inside the bank when we arrived, but they had insisted we come back half an hour later at 10am cause that's their opening hours. That was despite us having told them that we just want to collect something we left behind, not do banking transactions.. We ended up wasting 30 mins hanging around and waiting outside the bank. Sigh.. Why are these people SOOO freakin rigid??

EK drove the 3 hrs leg to Lake Tekapo today. Along the way, we were stopped by a traffic jam caused by some sheep being chased along by a sheep dog while we followed close behind. This was a first time for all of us and we were all totally amused by it. The sheep are all so obedient and so cute!




We stopped for lunch at a small town called Geraldine. Had lousy smoked chicken and mushroom fettuccine, while K had lamb that tasted like liver. Only S's fish and chips were good. We finally reached Lake Tekapo around 3pm and started looking for accommodation in the very cold wind! Finally decided on “Tailor Made Backpackers”.

There weren't anybody staying there when we checked in, so we kinda had everything to ourselves. The place even had free minestrone soup in the kitchen! I wanted to drink some but K was in a hurry to make use of the sunlight so he told me to drink when we come back in the evening. So after checking in and unloading our luggage, we drove to the lake for some breath taking scenery. I was overwhelmed by the gorgeous view of snow capped mountains and pine trees surrounding the clear and serene blue lake. The whole view looks so fake I felt like I was in a postcard! Just standing there made me feel so happy and peaceful. There and then, I fully understood the meaning of “picturesque”..= )




After that, the 4 of us drove to this Ski Park and explored around. We saw kids snow tubing and people ice skating and having hot spas. I had terrible contractions (or whatever it was) while walking downhill back to our car from the ski park. Think these are the worse ones so far. It's like I am having really bad stitches but below my tummy.

In the evening, we headed to a small “4 Square” supermarket and bought chicken and fish fillets for dinner. We cooked mee sua and instant noodles with fish fillets for dinner. When we got back to the backpackers, a lot of people had checked in, and there was no more soup! I was so sad cause I had been looking forward to it. We played Monopoly and listened to classical music in the lounge after dinner. EK emerged the winner with the most money and most number of houses on the board. We ended the game at 930pm, bathed in the common bathroom and then turned in for the night...

Our day started with a trip to the ASB bank at West Field Mall so EK and S can open a bank account. While waiting for them, K and I walked around the mall, and discussed about the whole confinement lady and baby stuff. As a result of the discussion, plus our past few discussions regarding the baby and my confinement, I ended up totally upset, so K brought me to this chocolate cafe for some aphrodisiac to cheer me up. K bought me chocolate and bananas Belgian waffles. We talked more and I ended up crying at the cafe... Not because I was upset, more because I wanted to just let it out. Really hope everything will turn out well for my baby..

After EK and S were done, we went to this Korean supermarket and bought light soy sauce and chili sauce. We chatted with the cashier working there and he ended up giving us some Chinese newspapers with job adverts. After that, we had lunch at a Korean restaurant (recommended by the supermarket cashier). We had very spicy Tofu and Kim chi steam pot and some side dishes. The lady boss had a bit of an attitude problem. She seemed pissed when she took our orders and realized the 4 of us were only ordering 2 meals.

After lunch, we visited the Royal New Zealand Air Force museum. There, we learnt about the history of the air force, saw plenty of exhibits and model air planes, and watched a film on the Air Force. We got bored after 5 mins and left the theatre.. = )

Me sexually harassing one of the RNZAF pilots = )

After our last breakfast in Nelson this morning at 630am, we packed up and left the sunny town. Ayelet and Brett had woken up specially to see us off, so we had a chat over breakfast and that kinda delayed everything. We finally said our goodbyes and hugged. While Brett and I moved forward to hug each other, I accidentally stepped on Brett's toe with my boots! Haha.. Brett's such a nice guy, good cook and very gentlemanly. Once, he even opened and closed the car door for me. He also gave me and baby a lot of attention during our 3 day stay with them. I will miss both of them and their good company.

K drove 5 hours in the rain to Christchurch after we leave. There wasn't much scenery on the way cause we took the inland route. We did see some snow mountains though. Initially, we had planned to take the coastal route where we will get to see seals, but we forgot to pump petrol the night before, so had to go to the petrol station this morning, and the inland route was more convenient from the petrol station.

After 5 hours of driving, we finally reached Christchurch around 1230pm, and started to search for Cokers Backpackers in the slow Christchurch city traffic. After about 10-15 minutes, we found the place, checked in and unloaded one round of luggage before rushing to the airport to pick up EK and S. They were supposed to give us a missed call when they landed, but we only reached the airport an hour AFTER we got their missed call.. It was so difficult to find our way around the airport! There was renovation work going on, and only one exit for both domestic and international flights. And no differentiation between arrival and departures.! What a lousy airport.

After picking up EK and S, the 4 of us headed straight to Cokers to unload, then went straight to explore the town center. EK and S registered for their IRD tax number and tried to open a bank account. But the bank didn't have anyone to attend to them, which I thought was totally ridiculous. After that, we headed to the Cathedral Square, where the Winter Festival / Carnival was going on and lots of people were there. Along the way, S and I bought some delicious looking doughnuts from this Japanese bakery. It tasted nice, just that it was cold. For dinner, we fried bee hoon in the huge common kitchen. We didn't have any light soya sauce so the outcome was not that nice. After dinner, we headed back to our room, and re-packed our luggage for our trip further South in the next 2 weeks. We simply didn't have space in the boot for all of our luggage, so we had decided to leave some at Cokers and collect it before K and I fly back from Christchurch. We slept quite late that night after all the packing. Both K and EK snored a lot that night!

Our next 2 days in Nelson was really a nice way of ending the last of our free stays in New Zealand before we head back to Singapore. Yesterday, K and I drove out to the Abel Tasman National Park and did a bit of walking and sight seeing. That's a very pregnant me walking along the tracks with my face all covered up like a Arabic girl..

After our short nature walk, we went to the Richmond shopping mall, which is really a small mall with the most 15 shops. There, we had a muffin and spinach quiche, and did some supermarket shopping for ingredients for dinner. Brett was going to make Phai Thai for us! And K was going to fry some chicken with indian sauce and make some chinese soup. We reached the house just when the sun was setting, and snapped the photo below from the driveway.. gorgeous isn't it!

We drove home after dinner, and chatted a bit again, this time about photography. Brett showed us photos of their trip in India, and it was amazing. All his photos looked like something you get out of National Geographic!

I'm actually quite sad that we are leaving tomorrow cause K and I are in love with their house, the sunny weather in Nelson and also the company we have had for the past 3 days. We have been discussing a lot these days about moving to New Zealand for good when our baby is born, and Nelson might just be the place for us to stay in!

Tomorrow we have to wake up at 6am again, this time to drive 6 hours to Christchurch to pick up EK and S at the airport. So looking forward to seeing them again! Won't have internet access for the next few days though.. so will post blog again prob when i get back to Singapore! = )

K and I woke up at 6am today, and started loading our luggage in the car. It was still dark, and we had to re-experience the whole lugging bags in the dark up the stairs and slopes process.

We reached the ferry terminal at 7am, checked in our car and ourselves, then went inside the ferry terminal center and got ourselves a cup of disgusting hot chocolate.

About 15 minutes later, the gates opened, and we were the first car to drive and park inside the ferry. The whole journey to the South Island took about 3 hours. On board the ferry, we had our peanut butter sandwiches, read through some tourist brochures on Christchurch and Queenstown, and watched "The Golden Compass" on the big screen TV. We also had brunch at the cafe around 10am: Baked beans, eggs, hash browns, bacon and sausage. With free bread and coffee. It was delicious. K and I also went outside to the deck for a while just to enjoy the breeze and beautiful scenery. I was half hoping to see some whales or dolphins though, but didn't..




Shortly after our brunch, we reached Picton, and everyone got off the ferry. This ferry is really just a cargo ferry, with no proper passageway for passengers to alight. So cars and passengers on foot got off the same exit. So funny..

We drove around Picton and explored a bit since it was still early. Then we headed to Nelson and the towns nearby. We visited the Christchurch Cathedral, which was really nice, and walked along the shops in the streets. Then we had a late lunch at around 3pm at Subway. Lunch was a foot long meatball sandwich with 2 soft cookies and a cup of coke. After lunch, we walked around for a bit more. We went into a shop that makes and sells glass ware, and to a ring shopr that claims its ring makers made the rings for the movie "Lord of the Rings". We saw the original "One Ring" used in the movie, and other rings worn by the other characters like Aragon and Legolas.



We arrived at our host's house before the sun set around 5pm. Ayelet and Brett were our hosts for the next 3 days. Ayelet had given me very detailed directions to get to their house, but no address. And we understood why. Cause their house was up on the hill (again!) and very difficult to find. We couldn't even see the street name or house number. So having the address wouldn't have helped. K complained and asked me why I had to find all "ulu" and deserted houses on top of mountains. We had drive to uphill and then up a narrow slope before we reached the house.

But when we stepped into the house, it was a whole different story. K and i totally fell in love with it. Ayelet is Israeli and Brett Kiwi, and they both traveled a lot, backpacking around the world. So their house is full of interesting paintings and decorations. Plus it has an amazing view of the sea. And it's warm and cosy. And we had a cosy bedroom with a very comfortable bed and a view of the sea as well. In fact, the bed is so comfortable i didn't have backaches any more when i wake up in the morning. And because we are around the same age (they are in their early or mid thirties), we had plenty talk about. And so far, out of all the hosts we have stayed with, they are the most easy going. And very casual. Can joke with them and talk cok. Brett and K talked so much about cars and photography and business. Brett is so much into photography. And he is an amazing and talented photography. Check out his website: http://www.brettfleming.com/home.html

Ayelet works from home for an MLM company selling vitamins and supplements. And she is very into subjects like running businesses and financial freedom etc. Which is K's kind of stuff too. So we basically talked ALOT..

That night, Brett made dinner for us: Fried udon with lotsa ingredients. It was delicious. He's a good cook too apparently!

We went to bed pretty late that night. K turned in early, whilst i surfed the net until about 1am in the morning.. Last 3 days of free internet before we moved to Christchurch!

Today is our last day in Wellington.

I woke up with a backache due to the soft bed, and a weird feeling inside my tummy. Like something is pulling inside. Really uncomfortable. At first, i thought it's the food i had the day before. But K had the exact same thing as me for the whole day, and he was fine. Then i began to wonder if it was just the baby moving..

We had invited Phil for lunch today, and he chose the dim sum place. So K and I had dim sum again today.

Before that, we drove to a tourist attraction called Weta Caves, where the production house for Lord of The Rings, King Kong etc. were located. The place had all kinds of collectible items, and also screened a 20 minute video on the team of people behind the scenes and what they do..

After our dim sum lunch with Phil, we headed for a 1 hour guided tour at the Wellington Parliament House, washed the car, and drive down to explore the South coast of Wellington. The tour at the Parliament House was pretty lame, cause it was too short for such a huge place, and we didn't really get to see much. We went into the Speaker's room, where discussions are held to decide on laws to be passed, and we also went into the huge room where Parliament is held, and got to see where John Keys (PM of NZ) sits.

We had the same stuff for dinner again today at Hebe restaurant. This time the yaki udon was not as nice leh, don't know why.. too bad lah..

After dinner, we headed back for an early night. Tomorrow we leave at 630am to catch our ferry to South Island.. So when we got home, i prepared peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast so we can eat along the way. Damn sian that i have to wake up so early tomorrow, the sun won't even be up yet!