Weather juz not right for swim wear... Plenty of Bay !
After a few rainy days in Auckland, my house-mate and a few other friends praying hard to a clear day today. It's the end of Winter, the weather seem to be colder and chilling, even though it's not snowing in Auckland.
A journey of two and a half hours from Auckland, we reached Tauranga, located along the "Bay of Plenty", which has everthing we need for a ultimate holiday. From the sun, surf and seaside, hiking through magnificient native bush and the heart of Tauranga Town.

Along the journey, me and my housemates we amazed by the idyllic scenery and beautiful country side. Being a nature lover like me, this is mesmerizing... you will never seen this in Malaysia (farms, hills, rivers and fruits plantation everywhere).
But to the New Zealanders, you will never Malaysia's scenery here too.

Tauranga is one of the largest/busiest export port in NZ and it's the centre of NZ's principal kiwi fruit region. The kiwi season is normally between May to June, and too bad that we've missed it this time!

After we've checked-in for our accomodation, we head our way to Fernland Hot Spring. We immediately start up the fire and prepare our BBQ Lunch as we hardly bear the hunger although we had our breakfast before we starts our journey. All the marination was prepared by Janice & Nelson (they're really nice couple), this time our menu will be all meat, yes we wanna be carnivores this time. All I could said is "Perfect", the taste, the environment and the weather... Once we finished with the BBQ I cant wait to change to my trunks soak myself into the hot springs pool.

The following day, everyone woke up so early and pack-up things. By 10.30am we started our journey and stop by the tourist spot along the way back from Tauranga. Kiwiland at Te Puke, KatiKati (thinking of going to the Bird Garden but the luck wasn't on our side coz, it was closed), Ngatea & Paeroa (the small town that produce L&P, one of the famous Lemonade softdrink in NZ).



Mt Maunganui (the name means "Large Mountain")

It's a volcanic formation, stands at the foot of the 232m hill NZ "Surf City".It affords views of Tauranga and the surrounding area. Near the foot of the hill are fine beaches and saltwater pools. (The above photos, Left : view of the Mount from Moturiki Island, Right : view from the top of Mt Maunganui.)

Waihi Beach.....

Along the way back to Auckland we made several stops. One of it is the Waihi town, which sparkles with 100km of white sand, an enticing blue ocen and this place has held irresistible charm for us.

For more info check out this site:

• http://www.tauranga.co.nz/
• http://www.bayofplentynz.com/

Peace & Plenty - Devonport.

15 minutes of excitement in the ferry... not bcoz i've not been to ferry b4, but i'm heading my way to discover Devonport - a seaside village of historic architecture, volcanoes and landmarks as well as galleries and cafes, shops and restaurants. Oh yeah... talking bout food, we had a try of the most famous Fish & Chip in this island.

We trek our way up to Mt Victoria (maori called it Tauranguu), which gives us unobstructed views of downtown Auckland an across the harbour to the eastern bays. I was told there a tunnel in Devonport which can link to the other North Head (located less than 5km away). Sometime ago it was open for tourist to visit, several haunted experience was claimed and due to the high maintainance it was close there after. Almost reaching the top of Mt Victoria, the sky doesn't show a good sign to us, however we've almost reached to the peak so we thought must as well carry on with a few more foot steps.

It was so windy and chilling with drizzling weather, as normal reaction we just look for someplace for a shade. Guess what we saw??? A small solid steel gate which have a spiral stair case... right away silent between us! This might be the eerie tunnel which everyone been talking about. A minute later we just left and made our way down from the hill.

The peak and upper slopes have housed a signal station for shipping, artillery emplacements and various concrete army bunkers. One bunker now serves as the venue for the Devonport Folk Club.

North from Devonport coastline is an endless procession of sheltered coves and white-sand beaches which start out as suburban and become steadily more spectacular all the way to the tip of the North Island.

For more details, please visit: http://www.devonport.co.nz/

30th August - Let's Maungawhau.....

Maungawhau/Mount Eden is the highest of the volcanoes in Auckland City, 196 metres high. Being centrally located, it is both a prominent feature of the Auckland scene and a suitable vantage point from which to view the city and the other cones.
The Maori name for the mountain, "Maungawhau", means "Mountain of the Whau tree". Whau (entelea arborescens) is a small tree which occurs in coastal forests. Mount Eden Domain is protected from damage, as an archaeological site, by the Historic Places Act 1980. One significant feature is the large, well preserved crater, some 50 metres deep, contained within the summit cone.

A Journey with Purpose!

The purpose of life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your hapiness. Some may feel that it's their career or even their wildest dreams and ambitious, in which most of the time i did! However for me it's none other than your family. We all born with a purpose in life, some might still puzzled with it for their whole life. That's because some of us typically begins at the wrong starting point.

We always ask ourselve these questions:
1) What do you wanna be?
2) What shoulds i do with my life?
3) What are my dreams for my future?

All these were self centered question, focusing ourself. But at the end of the day, it's everyones wish to have a happy family and everyone together in unity. Some people might be filty rich but having lots of problems with the family members. To some people is poor but their are much happier with their family, and the hapiness here refers to something that money cant buy!

Weekend get away! Auckland Zoo....
24th August everyone of us got excited preparing ourself for another journey. In my heart i was singing, "Let's go to the.... ZOO". Just about 15 minutes journey, we reached to the entrance of Auckland Zoo. We spent around 2 hours exploring the area. It's not huge as compare to the one in Malaysia, however its has spacious, natural compounds. Primate exhibit is well done, and the African animal's enclosure, Pridelands, is excellent, as is the meerkat domain, which can be explored through tunnels. The most amaze was the nocturnal house with the ative birds i.e. Kiwi, but they are hard to see.
For more info checkout at www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/fotz

Tamaki Makau Rau.... Auckland - The City of 100 lovers!

Imagine an urban environment where everyone lives within half an hour of beautiful beaches, hiking trails and a dozen enchanted holiday islands. Add a sunny climate, a background rhythm of Polynesian culture and a passion for outstanding food, wine and shopping – you’re beginning to get the picture of Auckland.

Auckland's Hauraki Gulf is home to a multitude of islands, each with its own distinctive character, including the larger Waiheke Island and Great Barrier Island. Auckland's blend of landscape, Polynesian culture, glistening harbours and modern city environment creates an unbelievable lifestyle ranked amongst the best in the world. Discover why Auckland is one of the best places in the world to live - and visit.

Having meal together (All home cook food!)

Cook together, Eat together!

We sometime gather around during weekend, outing and prepare dinner at home. Above are some of the assumptious meal we prepare with my housemates since the day i came to NZ.

Need the recipe for the Auckland Jumbo Burger??? Get it from Clement! As for the Famous Ban Mien in town, it's a secret recipe from Soo Chin.....

Most of the meals looks GOOD? Frankly speaking, its really taste good too! This is why it's so great about this apartment, everything fully furnished together with kitchen utensils, it's just lovely and it's facing the seaview, from the balcony (as you may seen below).

A New Chapter of Life

13th Aug 2006 - The day has comes!
Can you imagine how excited I am??? Sitting in the flight number Q511! And yes, the flight to New Zealand… The flight was long though, but the excitement keeps me stay awake throughout the journey! I then transit from Brisbane, Australia to NZ. Auckland here I come! Around 2.30pm, we touch down the airport of Auckland, immediately when i checked-out from the airport, I can merely feel the chilling breeze of NZ greeting & welcome my arrival. I then head to get a Airport Taxi, to ferry myself and not to be missed my backpack and luggage down to the city. I put up a night at Ponsonby Backpackers Lodge, it’s cozy, a slightly tatty colonial-style backpackers with a beautiful garden. The time when i reach NZ it's 14th (Monday afternoon) At night I was so drowsy, uneasy and a combination of different feelings that I ever could describe. Is that what they called Jet-lag??? My gosh…. I got Jet Lag? I was so tired, but can sleep at all. May be because it’s still noon time in Malaysia (the time different is 4hours). The night is so cold, so much colder that I could imagine! I just on the heater, and sleep soundlessly till the next morning.

15th Aug 2006 - A day to explore around the city of Auckland. We’ve got a list things to do i.e. opening a bank account, applying for IRD, shopping for some groceries and looking for accommodation. Our friend SooJen which the one who brought us around. We went to several places, which we had short-listed, however none of it meet our expectation. Either it’s too far, dirty, transportation problem etc. Soon the night catch up and it’s time for dinner, we went to a food court full of Asian cuisine. Didn’t we missed Malaysian food? Not really or perhaps not yet! Food here are pretty expensive, an average of NZ$ 7.00 equivalent of RM 16.00 per meal).

Tips for ordering : When you wanna order something, it's good that you have friend with you... pactically every meal comes to us in enormous portion, most of the time not being able to finish and have to force it down or just pack-away.

16th Aug 2006 - Looking for a home sweet home..... Aptitude - Kingston Street, there’s where our appointment was, to view another house (apartment). It’s not that big though but just nice for three person to stay. The moment I step forward to the balcony, I straight away agreed that this will be the place we gonna put up for the next six month. The balcony was just facing sea view and yatch harbor, the other side of the corridor were just facing the busy town area directly near the Sky City Tower. This place is so convenient, so much so that I can just walk to work, down the road to the city center and public transport everywhere the corner of the street. Immediately after we got out documentation done for the rental, we rush up to shop for more groceries. I just got myself a comforter and some basic food stuffs.