Friday, March 28, 2008

My First Trip

1:52 PM

So here it is finally. Was there an anticipation as thick as glaze on Krispy Kreme donuts then?? LOL. Who am I kidding?? Here's a debut of the update on my first ever trip in New Zealand.... I've separated it into 3 different days coz blogging about all three days in one go is gonna be super exhausting and I am still in the midst of collecting pictures from 3 different people (...which will make that one million pictures in total).... Some of them have already been posted on my facebook profile so please, feel free to explore at your own leisure.....

Day One - The Beginning

I had no idea the map was going to appear that small but if you look at it closely, the arrows in purple ink indicate our tracks from Auckland to the Bay of Islands or north part of the North Island......



Here's Trish and I, standing in front of the rented car that was going to be our mode of transportation up north for the next three days..... It was my first ever all girl trip.....


Random pictures which I took from the rear seat of the car..... the sky was SO blue and SO clear!!!
And there were hills and valleys.... it was so invigorating to be out of the city for the first time.

I slept soundly for most of the journey although I didn't want to coz the view was spectacular but I was just too tired. Took this one when I woke up abruptly for some reason and then went back to sleep, Lin Hui laughed at the pecularity of it all..........


This was our first stop of the day, somewhere near Paihia, the clear water and rocky beach called out for our attention. From left, Trish, Lin Hui, Rini and Me

I can't remember what we were trying to do here.....



No, I didn't simply decide to take pictures of the stones.... The water's crystal clear so u can see right past it!!! Almost transparent eh?

Our second stop for the day was where they signed the treaty called Waitangi Treaty Grounds....


Huge tree trunk behind us, I think it was a Kauri tree.....



This was the super huge canoe used in ancient Maori times.....

And so, like every other tourist there, we decided to take a picture next to it.....


And in front of it.....

and... on the other side of it......



Somewhere near the canoe, we decided to pose with the effigies.........

This was taken in front of the Marae where the Maori people used to have their meetings.... You have to take off ur shoes to get in....


Inside the Marae, the walls are adorned with these figures.... had a very wood-y feel to it...



A chair in the Marae


View from canoe site.........

Sitting just outside the house where the treaty was signed.......


Posing for the camera before the start of the visual performance at one of the theatres.... Yes. We were all coincidental camwhores..... (esp Rini who, i must say, might just give angelicassie a run for her money.. LOL)


Our next stop was Haruru Falls which had the most amazing view ever!! erm, it was at Waitangi


There's the four of us......

... and me and Trish


and me alone, i took multiple individual shots coz I was so overwhelmed by the scenery!!

And I saw this amazing random rainbow not far from the waterfall (....i actually spotted it and the rest didn't even realize it was there)... It was like a vision out of a picture book or something!!!


After a bit of driving, we stopped at yet another beach at Paihia just to watch the sunset... Trish took a video of the moon emerging from behind the mountains, it was the fastest (and closest) i'd ever seen the moon move before..........

There's the moon behind us...... with the sunset in front of us...


Being silly......

And, our final stop for the day...... backpackers..... Had a good sleep that night........

Exhausted! I'll save day two for later. I took 2 whole days to update these pix btw, with internet disconnections and whatnots.........

You know you love me!

xoxo

4 comments:

Leeza said...

the influx of pictures remind me that you have a lot of pictures in your camera of the DRC and the genting trip and goodness knows what else. i want! send me thru gmail la... since u are online when i am not... heheh

mike said...

soo nicee the picsss.. and yes i admit that new zealands landscape and nature is nicer than aussielands! i need a cameraaa!!

Cassie said...

waaaaaaaaaaaaaa dme i miss you *sob sob* can't beleive u're having fun without me..blub HAHA

can't wait for day 2 and 3

Dimi said...

leeza : tell u what, i'll gv em to u when i come back to malaysia... uploading pix is like a super huge hassle itself n u want me to sift n send em to u?? siiiiiigh.

mike : thk God u like em, or else all the waiting n waiting n waiting n wa..... would be all for nothing... the pix don't do ne of it justice btw, if u were here u'd b stumped for words!!

Cassie : I miss u TOO!!! U want me to be miserable all the time is it? LOL... Day 2 n 3 will come, soon I hope. With my connection, u nv know... Sigh.

Miss u guys!!!