Welcome to part 2 of my New Zealand and China adventure!
Day 10 Arrowtown
I tried to have another sleep in today, but one of the guys in my dorm was up early to go skiing, and left the bathroom light on while he got ready, which has an in-built fan. I went and grabbed breakfast, then came back to my room and had breakfast in bed. I got an apple crumble porridge and my usual coffee.
In the coffee shop, the girl was the same as the one from the other day, and she told me she decided to book some ski lessons after our conversation the other day. The guy in there also told me that he thought there were a lot of speeding skiers/boarders last night, far more than normal, and he is an experienced skier. I’m glad it was just me feeling that!
Then I had to pack. I sorted out my things and got my suitcases to exactly 23kg. My backpack is going to be heavy on my journey home!
I planned to go to Arrowtown today. It is a nearby town that has a historic part, which is very popular. It is only a 30min bus trip and costs $2 so why not. It was a nice day too! My first stop was a coffee roaster called Wolf. I got a coffee then walked up and down the main street. I checked some places for lunch, then had a look in some shops.
I chose a restaurant and had a carbonara benedict. It was smashed potato with bacon, poached eggs, wilted kale and carbonara sauce. I was intrigued and it was extremely delicious! I might try making it at home one day!
I went to the historic Chinese settlement and looked at some of the old houses, then walked along the river for a bit. I decided to buy a bag of coffee beans that had been processed by ice fermentation. Something different & hopefully nice!
At 3pm I got the bus back to Queenstown and went back to my hostel. I talked to the Irish teachers for a bit and wrote my blog from yesterday. Then I went for some dinner before my evening treat.
I had been told that the Beech Tree had decent food, and there were advertising a chicken parma with bacon, so I went there. They also have a ton of craft beer. I was about to order a Coke Zero when I saw the tap in front of me said ‘hazy raspberry lemonade’. I was about to change my mind thinking it was alcoholic raspberry lemonade when the bartender said it was a sour beer. The flavours of beers these days seems to be unlimited! Coke Zero it was! My chicken parma was nice for a Kiwi version.
After tea, I decided to go to Perky’s floating bar, which is a permanently moored boat in the lake out the front of my hostel. I decided on a coconut espresso martini, which was lovely, and sat on the front of the boat watching the world go by for a while.
At 7pm, I changed into bathers and went to catch the bus to the spa. Turns out, I was the only passenger! I chatted to the driver, a young Japanese lady, the whole trip, which was nice. At the spa, I was checked in and had to wait my turn as I was early. When you arrive, you select a drink & snack to have in the spa with you, and then you fill out a form, selecting a drink for after the massage. I chose a NZ sparkling with Whittaker’s milk chocolate, followed by apple boysenberry juice.
I had the serenity package, which was a 45min spa followed by 1hr massage. I was taken to my spa which is in a small room that opens to the world. During the day you would see the valley, and by night, I was hoping to see the stars. It was beautifully setup, with a scented candle and scented bath salts. It was cloudy tonight, but I could still see the lights in the valley. The water is heated to 38.5oC although it felt much warmer than that. It was lovely to have to the jets and soaking in the hot water.
When your time is up, the bubbles stop and the bath automatically begins to drain. I was already out and ready as I really needed to pee. They give you a towel, robe and slippers, then take you to the massage room (via the toilet if needed). Then you get settled in for the massage. I chose the relaxation one. It was wonderful! Just what was needed after a week of skiing!
After the massage, I was served my juice and a snack, then I had to get an Uber back to town as the buses had finished and their free shuttle was full. It was a great way to end my time in Queenstown!
Day 11 Queenstown to Rotorua via Auckland
The guy below me was up early this morning as he also was checking out, but he was also skiing today. I tried to doze after he left, but couldn’t, so I got up, dressed and went in search of breakfast. I decided to get a breakfast burger at Ferg Burger, which was quiet with no queue. I chose the Dawn Horn, which was egg, bacon, lettuce, tomato, hash brown, beetroot, onion, cheese, mayo and seeded mustard. It only took 5mins to get the food, which was awesome. Then I got a coffee from my local coffee shop and headed back to my hostel to eat. I ate in the kitchen with a view over the lake. It was delicious.
When I got back to my room, the Irish couple were up and about to leave for their skiing day. I said goodbye, then set about finishing my packing. It took a little while to juggle my things to get my 2 big bags under 23kg. Gosh I hope my carry on does not get weighed! I ended up getting a slightly earlier bus to the airport since I was ready, but bag drop was already open so this was not a problem. I was done and dusted and waiting at my gate 2hrs before departure. Typical me!
It was super busy in the tiny terminal with nowhere to sit until a big Auckland flight left, then it was empty. There were only 3 gates in here and 1 café. Nothing else. Queenstown is definitely a small airport! I just did my puzzle book and waited.
The flight was good, with amazing views of the mountains again. I was tracking our flight on Google Maps, so I could see where we were. We flew over Cardrona ski resort, Treble Cone and past Aoraki/Mt Cook. I could see the icebergs on the Blue Lake and the glacier that feeds into the lake, which was awesome. It’s only a short flight, 1.5hrs, but we still got a drink & snack. Water & a choc chunk cookie for me.
When I got to Auckland, I collected my bags and headed for my rental car shuttle pick up. I’m off on a road trip! The shuttle was waiting for me, and my rental car was waiting with the boot open ready for luggage. I was ready to go in no time! I connected my phone, turned on the maps and set off for Rotorua. It’s about a 2.5hr drive so not too bad. I had a new Corolla, which was nice to drive. The roads were lovely and wide with scenic countryside views so I had a good run.
I checked into my accommodation, a holiday park like Big 4, dropped my toilet back, then immediately went into town for tea. I parked near the lake and went to a place called Ambrosia. I was super lucky as I was in time for their 2 course set menu for $30. I had truffle arancini for entrée followed by lamp rump for main. Th arancini was really good, but the lamb rump was superb. It has pumpkin puree, roasted baby carrots & beetroot, feta and mint jelly, and it was so tender I could cut it with a normal dinner knife. It was absolutely delicious! It was also a great deal, since the arancini is $19 and the lamb rump was $36 on their own.
I had a quick walk to the lake afterwards, and found a big boat in a glass box. Not sure what that’s about! It is also extremely stinky here. It permanently smells of farts and rotten eggs. You must get used to it if you live here but boy does it stink!
I stopped at the massive Woolworths on the way back and got some snacks for tomorrow. I won’t have a lot of time to get food during the day tomorrow as I am on tight deadlines, so I got an apple, chocolate, chips and lollies. All the essentials for a day out!
When I got back to my room, the other person in there was already in bed. It was 8.10pm! I went to the shower block to have a shower, then sat in my bed and wrote this. I am going to be up early, about 7am tomorrow to get started on my day. I have the geothermal park and Hobbiton, all before my flight to China tomorrow evening! Big day!
Day 12 Rotorua to Auckland
I woke up at 3am today and couldn’t get back to sleep for a very long time. It was very hot in the cabin, which didn’t help. I eventually managed to get a bit more sleep, then woke up again at 7am. I got dressed, put my stuff in the car, then went to the toilet block to do the bathroom stuff. After packing my things back into my suitcase, I checked out and went on my way.
First stop was a coffee shop at the roundabout just down the road, to get a coffee for the drive. It was nice, but a bit hot so took me a while to drink. The drive to Wai-O-Tapu was only 27mins, and it was a lovely drive. I arrived right on opening time at 8.30am.
This is the most well-known geothermal area and features in all the advertising. There are 3 walking routes, each extending the last one. I did the first route, which is the shortest. It takes about 45mins, depending on your speed and time at each location. You follow the one-way path and there are signs at each point. The first few are mud pools and you can see and hear them bubbling away. Then you get to some water pools that you can see bubbling. The whole place stinks like rotten eggs but the views make up for it. Eventually you get to Champagne Pool, which is the one I really wanted to see. It is a large pool of boiling water, with many different colours. Around the edge you get oranges and yellows, and the water appears in blues and greens, depending on the light. It was producing a lot of stinky steam!
I made my way back to the entry and to my car, having completed the loop. It was great! It took me about 40mins and I was on my way by 9.20am. I decided to go back to Rotorua and find a souvenir shop to buy a shot glass. I found some free parking, which wasn’t hard, given how empty the streets were, then walked to a nearby shop. My mission was a success and in 10mins, I was back on the road.
It’s 1hr to Hobbiton through mostly main roads, but then some country roads. I was really looking forward to this! I actually got there very early, so they put me in an earlier group. Hobbiton is a completely guided tour. From the main check-in building, you board a bus with your time group and are driven about 15mins to the village. It is located on private property, owned by the Alexander family, so there is no public access. Once you arrive, your guide leads you through the village stopping at set places and telling you about the set. The village was actually a temporary build for Lord of the Rings. The farm owners told Peter Jackson that they could use their farm, but everything must be put back to how it was. However, when they asked about coming back to film The Hobbit, the farm owners realized how popular the series was and told them to make everything permanent.
The set designers also came back in 2023 and built 2 new hobbit homes that were fully complete so people could do inside. Hobbiton now makes $45 million NZD for the Alexander family each year. In addition to farming the cows and sheep (13,000 of them during lambing season!), they are certainly living the dream!
At the end of the tour, you go to the Green Dragon Inn, which was featured in the movies (outside only) and given a free drink. I chose the apple cider. Then after 20mins of free time, you continue a little more walking, then head back to the bus, and back to the main check-in building. I highly recommend doing the tour, even if you aren’t a huge LoR fan. The things they did for the different perspectives (giant Gandalf, tiny hobbits etc) is really fascinating.
I began my drive back to Auckland airport after the tour. I was hungry, so I stopped at a service centre and got Maccas. They have the chicken big mac at the moment, so that’s what I had, and it was great.
I ended up getting back to the airport at
4.30pm, but by the time I had gone to find fuel and got back to the car rental
agency, it was 5pm. Unfortunately, check in was 6.30pm, so I went to the food
area and had a seat for a while. By the time I got back downstairs, a huge
queue had formed and check in wasn’t even open yet! It took about 45mins to get
checked in, then I went straight through security. There were hardly any food
options in this terminal, so I ended up choosing stir-fried noodles from a
Vietnamese place. It was really nice, although quite oily.
Boarding was quick and easy, and I ended up having an older Chinese couple sit next to me. I wanted to sleep on this flight as it is an overnight flight. I watched Lord of the Rings while we took off and had dinner. Then took my contacts out and tried to sleep. I ended up napping for short periods of time, as I could not get comfortable. We were lucky enough to get a little amenities pack with ear plugs, mask, toothbrush and toothpaste, and the ear plugs & eye mask were great.
Day 13 Guangzhou, China, to London
3hrs before landing we were woken up, served a drink and then breakfast. We landed in Guangzhou early, at 4.45am. I got my sim card working while waiting to disembark. I also signed into my VPN straight away and got all my social media loaded and Google Maps too. VPNs are an excellent way to get around the great Chinese firewall!
At the airport, I was going to ask someone about whether I still needed to get the temp transit visa or if I could just go to the arrivals queue, but there were no humans to speak to. Annoying, so I ended up just joining the arrivals queue. There was a change in entry requirements, effective 1st July, that gives Aussies & Kiwis visa-free entry to China for 15 days. I just filled out the entry form and was stamped through. Woohoo! I got a stamp in my new passport, and it was easy!
Next was to find luggage storage to leave most of my carry-on belongings so I didn’t have to lug them around all day. By now, I was dripping in sweat, and my jeans were sticky, as it was 31oC and 92% humidity, and there was no air con in the airport. I eventually found a place and was given free storage as I was transiting with China Southern.
Then it was time to brave the metro into the city. I found a ticket machine and worked out how to buy a ticket, and I used the Alipay app on my phone to pay for it. Cash and credit cards are rarely used & accepted. Payments are mostly made with the WeChat and Alipay apps instead. China is very mobile phone based. My ticket was a plastic green token. I had to take 2 trains to get to Cultural Park, and it took me 1.25hrs. The train had limited seating, with most people having to stand. They have markings on the ground at the stations, indicating for people to allow all passengers to get off BEFORE trying to board. Same as we do in London and general courtesy. Well, this is NOT something the locals do. The moment the doors open, they barge onto the train, stopping people from being able to get off. The train itself was very clean and sterile, but the navigation system is excellent. I had no trouble whatsoever.
At Cultural Park, I walked to Shamiandao Island. This is an island that has been built with European architecture. You definitely cannot tell you are in China when you walk around here! Everything was shut. I know it is early, but it’s a work day. Not a single café or restaurant was open until I got to the other end and found a Starbucks. I ended up having an iced latte since it was so humid and gross outside. Unfortunately, they did not have a toilet though, so that was frustrating. It’s a huge place, how can they not have a toilet?! I was directed to a nearby hotel somewhere but that felt weird so I just waited.
There is a big pedestrian street mall that I wanted to go to, hoping they might have some good shops (souvenirs particularly) to look in and good places to eat. It took about 10mins to walk there, and I passed loads of little shop fronts, many selling meat. Some were multi-tasking. A car mechanic who also sells meat, or a barber that is also a restaurant. Weird.
The pedestrian mall was completely closed when I got there. Not a single shop was open. Turns out, most shops don’t open until 10am apparently.
I was hungry and I really wanted proper Chinese food, and I came across a 24hr restaurant selling dim sum. I decided to eat there, and the lady took me upstairs. It was a huge restaurant, and very busy with locals. I was the only white girl there and got so many stares. They served me Chinese black tea to start, and I ordered prawn dumplings and BBQ pork buns. It took a long time for the food, over 20mins, but both were absolutely delicious. The prawn dumplings were so full of prawn. Nearly golf ball sized amounts of prawn in them! Far more than I have ever had before. The pork buns were so soft and fluffy, and the filling was really nice. I was quite full after eating those, and drank most of the tea. It cost me £7 for the lot, which is about $14 AUD. Very good price. The only toilets they had were squat over a hole in the floor ones, not something I can do in skinny jeans, so I had to keep waiting.
I stopped at a bakery afterwards and bought these things that Google Translate told me were a peach snow meringue and mango snow meringue. I wasn’t sure what to expect but they were a bit weird. They were a cakey/biscuity piece for the base, whipped cream on top with a chunk of fruit, all wrapped in mochi dough. I ended up eating most then throwing the rest of them out.
By now, I was very sweaty, sticky, hot, tired and slightly worried about missing my flight, so I walked back to the metro station, visiting the Cultural Park on the way. To get onto the metro, you have to go through x-ray scanners so I had to do that, and they make you take a drink from your water bottle to prove it is drinkable. The trip back to the airport was very busy but easy.
At the airport, everyone has to go through bomb screening before entering the airport, then I finally got to go to the toilet. I collected my backpack & coat, then went through customs, security and immigration. It took a while as it seems to take a long time at the immigration desk, and prior to x-ray scanning, all boarding passes and passports are checked and stamped as well. Once clear, I went in search of souvenirs. Every airport I have every been to sells souvenirs. Every. Single. One. Except this one. There is not a single Guangzhou or China tacky trashy souvenir in the entire terminal. Given how crazy Asians go in the souvenir shops when they travel, this greatly surprised me. I did not see a single one in the city either. I was so disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to get my shot glass. I found a couple of panda keyrings so I got one of those as a souvenir instead.
I got another iced coffee at Starbucks, then discovered my flight was boarding early, so I joined the queue. It was a big queue so it took me a while to board. I have the same seat on all 4 of my flights, so I knew where to go. This time, I have 2 young guys next to me.
I watched Wonka while we had dinner, and then put The Martian on while I wrote this. It’s a 12hr flight and I plan to stay awake the whole time because we land in London at 7pm. This means I will get home, shower and go straight to bed and hopefully sleep well.
Our plane landed 30mins early, which was great. The e-gate queue was huge when I got there, but it moved quickly. What did take a long time, however, was the checked luggage. When I got to the carousel, it wasn’t moving yet, and it started around 7pm. There must have been a HUGE number of suitcases because it took about 1.5hrs for my luggage to come out! The plane was a standard 65-ish rows, and yes it was full, but there were so many people who were still waiting for luggage when I left. I don’t think I have ever had to wait 1.5hrs before!
I made my way to the underground and took the Piccadilly line to Hammersmith. I had a decision to make: change to the District line and get off at the station behind my house, then carry my 2 suitcases down all the stairs OR take the train straight to Hammersmith and walk 10mins home. I ended up going to Hammersmith and walking home. The only thing I did when I got home was to have a long shower to wash my hair and then go to bed.
I really enjoyed my time back home. It didn’t feel different, or any culture shock like some people feel. It just felt like I was home. I also enjoyed New Zealand. Beautiful country. Highly recommend. Might even go back next July and convince some friends to join me!