Anyway, i've been meaning to blog about this since two weeks ago, but i've never been thaaat bored to actually bother to write on the trip that my friends and I went on right after our final examinations ended. Two days after finals ended, Hui Wei came all the way from Melbourne to visit (and bring Krispy Kreme YAY haha). We spent 2 whole days in Wellington, mostly sleeping and eating. Went to the harbour, Cuba Street and all that. On the third day of her in Wellington, we rented a car and drove all the way to Castle Point, which was located about an hour from Wellington Central (where we lived). Original plan was to sand surf on the sand dunes, have a picnic and swim in the ocean. But sadly, all three plans as above didn't happen because:
- We couldn't even find the sand dunes
- We couldn't find a place for the perfect picnic (plus we forgot to bring a mat)
- It was too cold and windy for a swim.
So...instead we walked along a beach, climbed the rocks for a pretty view (no, we were all not wearing climbing rocks appropriate shoes), and went uphill + up the stairs to get to the lighthouse. It was super windy, but Hui Wei and I thought we were smart to wear beach-appropriate clothing (imagine, shorts). So we were kinda dying, but it was all good. Decided to have that picnic in the car, next to a Spark wifi booth LOL. We (minus Nadz) still wanted to find a nice beach to swim in so we drove till we reached this tiny beach. Sadly, it was still windy and cold as hell so they boys decided that they didn't even want to get out of the car. But, using Hui Wei and I's good persuasive skills (& a little blackmail), Teo, Afiq, Azeez, Hui Wei and I changed into our swimwear and decided to do the unthinkable. Jengjengjengggg. We ran and jumped into the freezing sea (it was 9 degrees, mind you), golek golek, screamed and ran back out. Almost died from hypothermia but was definitely a good story to be recorded in the "To-tell-my-grandchildren-before-they-go-to-bed" book :) After that, we stopped at yet another beach and headed back home. (No, we did not change and sat in the car in our wet swimwear for 2 hours - oh the joy!)
The first beach we went to - the lighthouse
That night (read: 3am), we went to room 352 to discuss on our plans for the following day. Decided to drive 6 hours up north to Rotorua, and booked our accommodation, and some of our activities. Original plan was to wake up at 8am, and get going.....but lol who were we kidding. Started the journey at around 11.30am, and then decided that we were all hungry. Stopped at McDonalds for food, and assigned Teo and Azeez to do the buying while we sat in the car. I guess boys will be boys cause they totally went overload on the whole food thing. They bought 2 large family share boxes for FIVE people....(ps a family share box is supposed to be for 4 people). So, we ended up with 4 quarter pounders, 6 cheeseburgers, 12 packets of fries and 8 drinks...and yes progressively we did finish the food all up haha. Stopped at Huka Falls on the way to Rotorua and it was nothing but beautiful. To see the clear blue water flowing aggressively, leading to nowhere in sight, I couldn't help but to decide that this was going to be my go-to if I decide that life is not worth living, and I should commit suicide instead. (LOL jokes). Took pictures, admired the lake in awe, and continued our journey to our final destination.
lolol
my handsome friends (notice their bandanas) (they thought they looked cool)
Reached Rotorua when it was almost dark.....oh how I wish it was already dark so we wouldn't need to see the place properly lol. It was literally a campsite. I don't know how or why Azeez found and booked this place, but he did HAHA. Speaking of the booking, Azeez did a really cumil move. When we reached that place, Afiq and Azeez went out to the reception to get the keys for the accommodation. When they got there and asked about it, the lady was confused as she was unable to find the booking in the database for that day, or even the next. After around 10 minutes, she finally found it....but....it was for....NEXT YEAR. Yes, Azeez booked the accommodation for NEXT YEAR. Hahahahahah thankfully the people there were super understanding and allowed us to change our booking to that night instead, without any additional charges.
As we stepped outside the car, we sniffed something very pungent. The cold, still air smelled of rotten eggs due to the sulphur (or hydrogen sulphide) from geothermal hot pools, which were abundant in Rotorua. After a while, we kinda got used to it and stopped complaining, haha. When we finally got the keys into our accommodation...we were shocked...lol totally not what we expected haha! There were three rooms, with six beds, a tiny kitchen, & a table. Toilets were a two minute walking distance from the rooms, yikes. Went to the grocery store nearby, bought steak and vegetables to cook for dinner. As it was already late, we decided to chill in the hot pool at the campsite (lolol). I swear my friends and I are mermaids cos we can spend hours and hours in water till someone (98% of the time, Afiq) complains about being hungry. Accidentally left my necklace by the pool...went back the next day and it was already gone :( After an hour or so in the pool, we Afiq got hungry, so we cooked (yes, basah basah) steak, broccoli and mushrooms. Chilled for awhile, and decided to go ~stargazing~. Didn't know where to actually stargaze, so we went to a nearby park. Sadly, it wasn't pitch black, and there were lights everywhere so we couldn't take nice pictures at all. Haha. But it was nice to just lie on the ground doing nothing, look at the beautiful stars and take NZNTM pictures LOL.
Super super blurry pictures that do not in any way justify what we saw.
Went back, watched South Park (stupid show, what were we doing with our lives haha), bought... tickets(??) for activities the next day and slept.
The next day, we woke up super early in hopes to ride the water jet in which we purchased seats the night before. Sadly, it rained heavily, super weird as opposed to the rain in Wellington (more like drizzles everyday!). We didn't know what to do, so we did what we do (second) best aka eat! (first is sleeping/being mermaids). Went to a nearby shopping centre since we didn't know anywhere else with food, and bought our meals. As it was still raining after that, and anything outdoor-y was a total no-no, we decided to head to the Polynesian Spa for hot springs, hehe. Compared to the first hot springs we went to during our last South Island trip, (yet to be blogged about haha), it was more expensive at $49 for just the hot springs. But no complains about that, there were a total of six pools, ranging from alkaline to acidic pools, with temperatures starting from 36 celsius up to 42 celcius! It was lovely, imagine soaking yourself in warm water after a cold and wet day. After awhile, it did get too hot to the extent of us not being able to breathe, but all we had to do was to stand up for 20 seconds, freeze, and sit right back in haha. The only downside of it was the smell....which, yes, smelt of rotten eggs. After five whole hours being mermaids and talking about every single thing in life, we headed to the grocery store, bought more meat, vege and pasta for dinner and went back to our accommodation. We were zonked (from chilling for 5 hours HAHA), but still managed to cook a pleasant meal together, which consisted of lamb, vegetables, and carbonara with salmon and prawns.
The third (and last) day was the most fruitful, as compared to the other two days in Rotorua. Started the day super early, to go for the water jet ride we went the day before. The sun was shining, and air felt crisp and clean, a perfect day for activities! (Yes very good, on the day we decide to go back). The water jet was.....painful. HAHA. Imagine ice cold water hitting your face and getting into your eyeballs at a speed of 80 km/h, ouch. I swear our contact lenses felt as though they were about to rip in our eyes. Haha but nevertheless, it was fun and somewhat educational. Learnt about the history of a few islands surrounding the lake in a span of 30 minutes....which of course already hilang from my brain by now LOL. After that, we headed down to Agroventures, for none other than...jengjengjenggg...the swoop! We basically stood in sacks, and were dropped from 141ft above, at a speed of 130km/h. It was kinda like bungee jumping....in a safer environment (aka bungee jumping for loser :( ) .Went on it with Hui Wei, and we screamed like dying animals. Azeez rode it with Teo, and Afiq was too scared to try, hehe. Saw yaks, and that made my whole day! Haha looked exactly like the YikYak logo HAHAHA.
fkn jakuns HAHAHA
Wanted to do something else before making our way back to Wellington, so we stopped at Hamurana Springs. That was by far, the prettiest reserve i've ever been to. Everything was so...green..and blue it felt so serene and blissful. The water was so clear, we could see fishes swimming. Walked, took pictures, fed ducks expired bread (haha) and started our journey back home :(
Luke, The Creator.
Plot twist: The boys decided to go-kart before actually heading back. Hui Wei and I sat on the bleachers, supporting them. (aka stuff our faces with red velvet TimTams and Kool Aid).
The journey back home took around 6 hours. Hui Wei and I slept the entire journey LOL no regrets hehe. Reached Wellington at night, had Maggi, Skyped with Neesha and slept.
Woke up late the next day, and since we had a car, decided to ""explore"" Wellington, instead of the usual Lambton Quay, Willis, Cuba & Courtenay route we go through every week. Drove up Mt. Vic (cos we cbf to hike hehe), and viewed the whole of Wellington from the top. Was expecting something spectacular...but nah I guess it was just the average Wellington view which we honestly can see from Kelburn campus in uni AHAHA. Had lunch at a new burger place we found off Zomato. Hehe +10 points for the restaurant for playing Purity Ring! Lol.
The best view in Wellington hehe.
dem burgerz
Hui Wei and I decided to dye our hair at 6.30pm that night, right before her flight. Bleached our hair (AND TEO'S LOLOLOL) twice. However, the colour didn't come out the way we wanted it to be (super white so the turquoise dye would actually be....turquoise)...and we ran out of bleach. Shops closed at 11pm, so at 10.30pm, Hui Wei, Teo and I uber-ed to the nearest New World to get bleach...in our PJ's and aluminium foils in our hair haha. People were staring but it's all good, no one knew us anyway! Haha. Got home, bleached our hair for the third and last time, and then started dyeing our hair turquoise (twice). The colour didn't come out that good, as expected, despite us bleaching thrice, since our hair only turned a karat golden brown after bleaching. Finished the whole process at around 3am, when Hui Wei was leaving at 3.30am! Haha.
More green than turquoise zz
Imagine us going out like this (+ aluminium foils in our hair haha).
abang jual vape HAHAHA
Then, Hui Wei's ride came, said our goodbyes and left for Melbourne :( All in all, it was a super relaxed trip I enjoyed. Not because of the activities we did and paid for, but for the times we bonded and chilled over the littlest things, for the long hours we spent in the car, for the songs we karaoke-d to, and for the stupid things we did (*cough* yoga *cough*). Wouldn't have wanted to go through the camp site and shared toilets with anyone else, if not Hui Wei and the boys. Looking forward to our next trip....hehehe. Before I end this blog post, here is a beautiful picture of Hui Wei sleeping. Love you!
Till then!
xx
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