...in search of Kiwi

1^st Sept 2012, about 7.40 am New Zealand time, somewhere in the air between Auckland and Melbourne on DJ165 Virgin Australia flight. The first day of spring but still very cold. We had some good weather while in Auckland, cold but sunny, with a little bit of overcast sky and some very light shower.

It was really a “flying visit”, just four nights, arriving late in the evening on a Tuesday.
We stayed at a 2-bedroom apartment on Albert Street right in the CBD, 10 minutes walk from the waterfront. “Where are all the people?”, Jillian had wondered as we walked the North Pier after dinner. The restaurants scarcely had any diners and hardly anyone was walking around (it was just too cold, even for the locals?). Shops close at 6 pm and they chase you out on the dot – “you can come back tomorrow”, they tell you nicely. Don't worry if you need beer and bananas, there are convenience shops everywhere amd "bottle shops".

Well, that was tuesday night. Last night was different. Last night was friday and friday is when the locals come out to party. There were even screams and laughter from one of the apartments on our 15th floor (still going on at 3.30 am when we left the apartment for the airport). New Zealanders are like their Aussie neighbours – they drink a lot. And they stay up all night. We checked out of the apartment at 3.30 am this morning to catch the 6.30 am flight and saw groups of people walking around- saw a young chappy without his shirt, crying on the phone and walking outside in the cold; saw an Asian lady and her boyfriend come in, she in party dress without a coat. Yah, some of these girls are really into the partying thing – we had three layers of clothes and still felt cold but these girls had thin skimpy mini-dresses and were walking around like it was midnite in Penang. Alcohol consumption is a problem and the signs are obvious. Along some streets, there are signs on the lampposts warning severe penalties for drinking on those streets – liquor ban is enforced on certain streets – hmm, we don't even have to do that in Malaysia, not that the locals in Penang or KL don't drink like crazy. Of course they do, but they do it in the coffeeshops (for the cheap version) or pubs and then they drive themselves home, once in a while crashing. Huey tells me that in Melbourne the Booze Patrol would randomly stop motorists on the highways to take the breathe test. Here in Auckland, we saw cabs all lined up on the streets, especially near nightclubs and pubs, waiting to take the happy drunkards home. The legal age limit is 20 years to drink (or buy alcohol) and the New Zealanders just defeated a proposal to reduce it to 18 years. They even check for ID at restaurants that serve alcohol. They didn't check Jillian's çause she was with parents. Oh, but don't get this idea that you will see who bunch of drunkards walking around in the middle of the night. I think most drinkers are well behaved.

What does this say of Auckland? It's a nice city of more than a million people, though the newer architecture isn't stunning. It's very clean and the air is absolutely fresh. It isn't very touristy, meaning, tourists won't find many things to do, unless you like gambling then you have the SkyCity casinos, full of old and young. We lost $8 on the 2 cents slot machines – and got bored (or cold feet). It's a lovely city to just relax and walk. We visited the Auckland Art Gallery and loved the architecture of the modern wing and a few of the exhibits. We visited the Auckland Domain with a museum set in a very nice park with a winter garden. The natural history section of the museum is nice but can't beat the one in Chicago – but still, it's nice. Locals go in for free. Everyone else is asked to pay a suggested $10 donation. There were three of us. The lady hinted “it's just a donation” - and then asked “$30 or $20” - what would you say?

Enjoying the exuberance of spring in Albert Park, Auckland

We paid homage to the usual suggested places, including a walk along Parnell Road, an old suburb revitalised and we loved some of the spaces around the old buildings and had a lovely Japanese lunch. We then hopped on the Green Bus (the Green Line, really) and paid $1.90 to get to K-Road to check out the fuss. Lots of restaurants and shops, but just another shopping street, that's all. We then walked to the SkyCity bus terminal to book our day trip to Rotorua. Then walked to the Victoria Market – eh, if you are going the next couple of months, forget it, its under major restoration and the few shops there are not worth the long walk. For dinner that night, we wondered over to the Britomart area. Claims about many shops in the recently restored heritage area attracted us but they looked unappealing … so, we ended up in a Chinese Restaurant. The roast duck was good so was the vegetarian hot pot but the char siew was flat (the style is similar to Australia; not charred enough). The restaurant got an obnoxious sign on the door which says “cash only” and to leave no doubts what they mean, it says “No cash out”. Maybe it's a cultural thing – probably perfectly normal in China. {But we had small debate in Melbourne with Huey and others about what it really means}

So, that's it. That's everything you would want to do in Auckland city.

The grass always seems greener on the other side, Auckland Domain

So, next day, we took the ferry to Waiheke Island. It was that or Rangitoto Island where the only thing you do is climb a tiny volcano. Waiheke is wine country. People go there to relax, taste some wine, eat some fish and chips and walk on the beach. You will need to take the bus or join the tours – the island is quite big. We spent some time at Oneroa, a tiny town, chilling out on the very cold beach (funny, huh?) and then coffee and fish and chips and some soup and corn fritters and, very important, free WiFi. There's lots of restaurants with views of the ocean here but not much to shop. Waiheke is famous for its Chardonnay so we headed further in, on the bus (to a place near the museum about 20 minutes away), to see what the fuss is all about. The first surprise is that if you want to taste wine, you don't just stand around and the staff will start pouring your free flow of wine. They give you a wine list with prices on it. $3 per tasting for most, $5 for the more expensive ones. We bought a Chardonnay for dinner in Melbourne tonight - $45 a bottle, a reasonably expensive wine, I should think, to welcome us back to Melbourne are 11 years. {Unfortunately the pizza place we had dinner did not allow BYOB, bring you own wine, so it came back with us to Penang}

The grass is still greener here, Waiheke Island wineyard

 Then we asked the waitress what time is the next bus? She looked at her watch - “Now”. I stared at her.  “In 10 minutes”. Bus after that? “In one hour. You better run. But if you miss the bus you can come back for more wine”. So, we practically ran to the bus stop, just in time as the bus pulled up. Lesson learnt? Next time, ask the bus driver for the next bus going back. The return ferry fare was $35 each.

For dinner we took a bus from Britomart (the new transport centre for Auckland) to Mission Bay. It's something like Gurney Drive without the hawkers and congestion and super-condos. There must about 20 or so restaurants with a wide range of food. We chose a Belgian restaurant, mainly because I was having a moment about mussels. It offered a variety of mussels and I was telling my travelling mates about a dinner in Halifax where you order a main course and for appertiser you can eat as much steamed mussels as you like, with your choice of dips. So we ordered one kilo of mussels, a lamb shank, caesar salad without the chicken, and chowder. Plus cocktails, a ladies beer and a couple of man's beer! And we also finished all the food. It's the cold weather which gives you more appetite. If we had ordered half a kilo of mussels, it would have been just nice but I was a little bit kiasu (half a kilo of mussel is $17 while one kilo is a bargain at $23; how much would you order?). Dinner was followed by Swiss ice-cream and a walk along the waterfront. And then the bus back, only the three of us all the way to town, about 20 or 30 minutes away.

We did the city. We did the islands and ferries. So next was the mountains and rolling hills. We booked a guided tour after debating whether to rent a car or just take the bus (without the tour). If you want our advice, take the tour. You get running commentary – not just on history and culture but investment, buying a house in New Zealand, politics and much more. I think three quarters of the time we were not listening to the continuous chattering (and the driver knows it, and asked whether he should shut up; we said to chatter on). The bus takes on a country road with very nice rolling green hills with the obligatory sheeps and cows. The weather was beautiful – clear sky with some clouds for special effects, bright and sunny, cold but not wet. The driver said the previous day it was pouring. We were given muffins for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch with an apple, and then another sandwich just before the return trip. The last sandwich was cold but delicious.

The first stop was the world famous (I bet they are world famous) Glowworms at Waitomo limestone caves. The limestone formation wasn't that impressive (nice but not stunning). The worms was worth the very short boat ride. They are a little like the fireflies but they glow not to attract mates. They are only 3 mm long and secrete long strings (of saliva?) to trap insects attracted by the lights (in a totally dark cave) and then pull the insects in to enjoy a hearty meal. When they are adults (looks like a mosquito) they live for only 2 days, solely to have sex. Yah, okay, to propagate the species. they don't even have a mouth. How many are there in the caves? I asked the guide. Millions, I ventured. According to the guide, just 4,000 in that particular cave. About 20,000 in the whole area. I was a little concerned about over population so I asked about predators. Spiders, the guide said. And other insects. I wanted to ask about inbreeding, you know, because they seemed to be confined to a dark cave, but thought, hmm, probably not a problem for this prehistoric creatures.

The great news is that the government has returned the land on which the caves are located to the original tribal people and many of the staff are descendants of these ancestors. What about excavation and extraction of minerals from the caves? Strictly prohibited, even though the land owners also own what is beneath the surface, including the caves. It's good to know we did our small part to keep natural resources in the ground. Entrance fees are pricey, like $70 - $90. Visiting the caves is only one of the adventures awaiting – whitewater rafting, exploring caves … next visit! BTW, Waitomo means "water entering a hole in the ground" - that's in Maori.

Waitomo cave, picture taken by the staff and superimposed.

Those strings are from the glowworms but we saw much shorter version. These must be enlarged for visibility.

 The second stop was the Agrodome – a working farm with real professional farmers but they put on a side show for tourists. Good money there with busloads of tourists. Tourism is the second must important industry in New Zealand after farming. It's quite a spectacle when our carriage pulled by a farm tractor approached the animals. All the chickens, and ducks and ostrich and sheeps and llamas run towards us quacking, bleating and making all the appropriate animals noises. The first time we saw it, we didn't know what was happening. To them, carriage-loads of tourists means happy days again. They probably do it many many times a day.

[4^th September 2012, Tuesday morning 10.30 am Malaysian time, on flight D7214 from Melbourne to KL. Had to stop the blogging when the batteries ran out on the plane]

{Firstly, a note about the catering on AirAsia. The one in KL is hopeless but the one in Melbourne does a fair good job. We finished all the three packs of food on this Melbourne-KL leg. I look out the window and see wide expanse of land, coloured brown with what looks like streams and very large water bodies. But there are no green, no vegetation. I wonder if they are natural and just very sparse or denuded by men from mining activities.}

The animal farm visit was good because it let us stretch and do things and the animals were more than obliging, eating out of our hands and leaving yucky stuff on them in appreciation. Then there's the show with the very disciplined and highly-trained shepherd's dog, rounding up the sheeps. And of course, the shearing of the sheep. The guy tried to be entertaining, and some times it was funny, like how he held the sheep quiet between his legs and tried to make the sheep look cute. When the sheep is sheared, it looks really naked. It seems that it's skin doubles in thickness within 24 hours to compensate. The coat grows back and is ready for another hairdo in 6 months. Some one mentioned that these sheeps now will not survive without the regular haircut (the body will get too warm).

The last stop was the Whakere, a Maori cultural centre plus hotspring with geysers. We thought the traditional welcome ceremony and dance was a little understated, mechanical and weird (says Jillian). Perhaps they are a little fatigued doing in many times a day.

Fortunately, we arrived just as the geyser (Prince of Wales) was just warming up for a show. It reminded me of the Old Faithful at the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming - we had sat there waiting for an hour but it gave us only a mediocre sprout. This one at Whakere did not disappoint and sprayed droplets quite a distance away – I thought it was starting to rain. Unfortunately, the guide was bugged by the driver to keep us marching as we had to make it back to Auckland by 8 pm. It would have been nice to just sit and watch the geyser for a while longer.

Prince of Wales geyser, Whakere, Rotorua

 Ah, but we did get to see the Kiwi. Actually, two of them. In captivity in a dark display area (I think they call it the Kiwi House). Kiwis are a small bird, the size of a small chicken, with round body, small head and a long beak. Before there were men on the islands of New Zealand, the Kiwis roamed freely without threat from predators. So, they were free as a bird, so to speak and adapted to the environment. Eventually, they lost their ability to fly – they got rid of their wings. But men came and preyed on them. And men brought other animals which also preyed on them. So, Kiwis are now considered an extinct species. You won't find them in the wild anymore.

To enjoy New Zealand, you really have to get out of the city. I would have loved to spend 2 weeks, travelling north to south. So, that's in the pipeline. When I retire.

Malaysians coming to New Zealand for short visits can get visa on arrival. The check-in clerk at the Melbourne Airport had warned us that the Immigration in Auckland would not allow us in if we cannot show proof of return flight ticket. Huh, immigration in Auckland was a breeze - the officer did not bother to ask fro evidence of return ticket. I think we were out of the airport in less than 10 minutes. The airport was really deserted. Where were the tourists?

Melbourne on the other hand is a busy busy busy airport. You need to allow about an hour to clear immigration, collect your check-in bags and then queue some more to clear customs. If you declare that you have brought in food stuff, you then queue again for snoopy to sniff you out.

We flew in to Melbourne, arrived about 8:30 in the morning and caught the flight out on Air New Zealand (coach-sharing with Virgin Australia) on the 11:45 am flight. There was enough time to connect comfortably. AirAsia does not allow you to check-through your luggage so we had to go through immigration (having to explain to the officer why), get the bag, clear customs and then check-in again, security, immigration … not much fun. So, poor Huey didn't get to eat Penang's famous tambun biscuit because we didn't want to be held up at customs for bringing food.

For more photos, visit my facebook album.