The days without check-in luggage

(Latest update: We received our final luggage on 18 Dec at 410 pm)

Because we really do not know when our luggage will arrive, so we decide to live day by day and buy the essentials/clothes needed for the next day or next 2 days.

29 Nov: Clothes from KMART: $107.75

30 Nov: Kids' underwear from Ella Kids: $59.98

30 Nov: Toothpaste from Four Square: $2.99

1 Dec: Clothes, hp charger and car mount for hp from Every Little Thing: $58.00

1 Dec: Nasal drop from Chemist Warehouse: $6.50

1 Dec: Clothes and suitcase from KMART: $315.00

3 Dec: Hoodies for the kids from Global Culture Kaikoura: $98.00

(No need to buy any more clothes liao because our Airbnb got washing machine and dryer)

5 Dec: HP charger from Naturally NZ Gifts Tekapo: $51.90 (because the HP charger bought from Every Little Thing was spoilt)

Total damage: NZD$700.12 = SGD$614.14

Our claim from travel insurance for the delayed baggage: SGD$1000.00

Amount spent on travel insurance: SGD$224.00

Ok lah, from this luggage mishap, we still earned a "profit" of SGD$162.00. 安慰自己一下。

New Zealand Day 9

Woke up at 6 am thinking to myself: how the hell did we survive the night?!

Was super hungry, breakfast only starts at 8 am so I went to the car to grab a cup of instant noodles that I bought previously and cooked it for breakfast. 

Prepared some more hot water bottles to bring to the dome because the hot water bottles from the previous night has turned cold. Patrick, the owner of Valleyviews Glamping, appeared at the kitchen to prepare breakfast, and taught me how to optimize the hot water bottles. 

Although a simple breakfast, I actually like this experience. I cooked sunny side eggs on my own for the family. 

Unfortunately it was still drizzling, so we decided to check out Valleyviews Glamping early, so we can reach Christchurch in time to return the rental car. 

If it didn't rain, we will sit on these deck chairs and soak in the awesome views. 

That's Patrick, the owner. 

On the drive out of Valleyviews Glamping, we encountered a very special experience, that is a herd of cows crossing the road right in front of us. 

So if I am not wrong, they are supposed to go to another grassland that is further ahead, but they suddenly uturn back and go back to the same place that they came out from. The guide told us that they are afraid of the bridge, and the guide told us to drive the car forward very slowly and the cows will give away and we can resume our drive. 

We drove up to Timaru, and although is summer, it is still quite cold. We wanted to do some shopping here, but because of the cold weather, we dropped the idea and just had lunch here. 

Lunch was at Naruwan Taiwanese Restaurant, food and service is good, the Taiwan scallion pancakes are legit, but do not go for their dim sum that is quite a failure. 

After lunch it was a long drive up to Christchurch. 

Our final night's accommodation is Airport Gateway Motel. I chose this motel is because is 5 min drive away from the airport, because our flight is at 8 am the next day. And this motel provides 24 hour complimentary airport shuttle. Luckily the car rental place is 1 km away from the motel, so I can walk back to the motel after returning the car. 

And although it is a motel, whereby people have the perception that motel is a run down place with sleazy connections, this Airport Gateway Motel is nothing of that kind. I chose a 2 bedroom suite, and it is really not bad, exceeded my expectations for the price that I paid (NZD$299).

We went to Christchurch city centre to explore and also to buy some souvenirs for our family and friends. 

We wanted to take the Christchurch tram but we were too late. The last tram departs at 5 pm. So we can only take photos with the tram. 

We ate dinner at this sushi conveyor belt restaurant, standard is so-so, Kumo is much better.

Oh yes I need to share that we took Uber to the city centre and took Uber back, and omg is so expensive. Is about 15 to 20 minutes ride, and it costs NZD25 per trip. However it is very convenient, and the vehicle arrives very fast to pick us up. 

In the motel at about 8 pm, I received a call from an unknown number that states is from Wellington. So here's the thing, I am using the Singtel GOMO app, I can use data roaming, but I cannot make calls and receive calls when I am overseas. I only realized that when I tried calling the NZ baggage office using my phone at Josh's house. And upon realizing that, I keep praying that nothing will happen to our car (break down or accident or whatever shit), if not I have to ask my sister or my friends to help me call the relevant personnel in NZ. So lesson learnt, next time if we go overseas, I have to buy a sim card at the country so I can make phone calls or receive phone calls. 

Anyway, I went to the lobby and ask if I can use the phone to call back the number, but unfortunately it links me back to the Wellington baggage office number where I heard the same thing all over again, where they are experiencing high call volume, ask me to wait on the line, blah blah blah. So I heck it and it is our last night in NZ anyway, the next time we can see our luggage is back in Singapore. 

That's the end of our NZ trip. 

Will I go NZ again? Yes definitely. There are so many places that we have not explore, for example Queenstown, Wanaka, Milford Sound, Hobbiton, the LOTR places. 

Will I fly by Air NZ again? DEFINITELY NOT. Honestly speaking their in-flight service and food is not bad, but their flight cancellation and customer service is horrendous.

I must mention that although this is Yuanyi's first time travelling overseas, he is like a seasoned traveller, super chill on the plane, never cry and never experience any motion sickness. 

Both Yuanze and Yuanyi are very different individuals. For example, to make Yuanze buy him toys. For Yuanyi, he is not that interested in toys, buy him sweets will do. Hahahahaha. 

All right, looking forward to our next overseas experience!    

(Latest update: We received ONE luggage on 17 Dec at 8 pm at our house. The other luggage is still tracing.) 

New Zealand Day 8

Today we are going a few places before checking in at Valleyviews Glamping. 

These places are a comfortable drive of about 30 minutes to 1 hour, and time passes very fast as compared to previous road trips where it can go up to 3 hours. Even Yuanze can tell the difference and told us that he prefers it this way. 

We check out of our Airbnb and proceed to our first destination, NZ Alpine Lavender. We thought we could see a sea of purple but unfortunately the lavender is not in full bloom. Nevertheless we spent quite some time here eating the super delicious vanilla ice cream with lavender bits and drinking hot ginger honey lemon tea, as well as taking photos. 

That's the delicious vanilla ice cream

Weather was still quite cold and Yuanze still can wear slippers

This Yuanze take photos really got his own style

This is the purple lavender that we can see

Next we drove to Twizel. Found this Jake's Hardware shop that sells toys with very good reviews so we let the kids choose a toy there. 

Yuanze posing with the chicken replica outside the shop

Was supposed to eat lunch at Jasmine Thai Restaurant, and so sway it has to close during the lunch hour due to some emergency situation. So we randomly walked into this cafe called Mint Folk & Co because Yuanze told us he likes this place. I went to order the food and omg, the food was really good! Service was very good as well. I went to google maps to see their reviews, omg is 4.8 out of 5. What a gem!

The French toast especially, so so good!

We received an update from Wellington baggage office, saying that our luggage will reach Wellington today from Sydney airport, and they will try their very best to send us the luggage tonight but cannot guarantee as there are many luggage as well. I told them to send the luggage on the flight that we are taking from Auckland to Singapore as we are nearing the end of our trip. Honestly we are able to survive this long because the Airbnb at Kaikoura and Tekapo has washing machine and dryer. Therefore, pro tip: Choose Airbnb that has washing machine and dryer, you also no need to pack that many clothes for your trip. 

Next destination is High Country Salmon, a salmon farm that has a cafe specializing in salmon dishes. The kids had a fun time feeding the salmon. 

Yuanze feeding the salmon and the ducks. 

Fresh salmon sashimi

Yuanyi keep looking intensely at the salmon sashimi and his eyes literally follow the sashimi from the tray to my mouth. 

This is what I meant hahahahahaha. 

And finally, to Valleyviews Glamping, that is 1 hour drive from High Country Salmon. 

We were blessed with very good weather from Day 1 to Day 7, and so unfortunately for today, it was raining non stop at Kurau. The temperature dropped to 5 degrees Celsius at night, and it was so so cold. We slept with our jackets, pants and socks, and under many layers of blankets. Darling and I were so worried for the kids. But thank god we all survived. The kids definitely become more resilient after this. 

But overall, Valleyviews Glamping was a good experience, it will be perfect if it never rain. The dome is also very pretty. At night when is dark, the fairy lights are turned on, is really magical. 

This is our dome, Station Peak dome, that is the largest dome, can sleep 4 pax and has an ensuite bathroom, and the only dome that has bathtubs outside. 

Toilet bowl has no flushing system. There is a box of composites beside the toilet bowl, if we do our big business, we just scoop the composite and put on top of the poop and the smell will go away. Of course we do not dare to try. Hahahahaha. 

This two chaps really so brave to try the bath tubs when it was still drizzling and the weather was really cold. #YOLO

Dinner was self prepared by us, we stopped by at the Foursquare supermarket at Twizel to buy some food. 

 

Our dinner! Nutritious with proteins and veggies!

At night we spent the coldest night ever throughout our whole trip, with no heater. We can only make do with hot water bottles. 

But it was one hell of an experience. If I have the chance, I will want to come here again, but only when the temperature is warmer. 

So this is our second last night of the trip. Tomorrow we are driving up to Christchurch where we spend our final night in NZ. I am proud to say, we survived this whole trip without our check-in luggage. 

But I am sad to say, right until now that is 16 Dec, we still have not get back our luggage. OMG this is totally unacceptable. 

New Zealand Day 7

I will let the pictures do all the talking. :)

First destination: Air Safaris @ Lake Tekapo

We chose the 45 minute helicopter ride, NZD550 per adult and NZD450 per child (3 years old to 12 years old). I initially paid for Yuanyi because he is 3 years old, but once we reach there, they close one eye and regard Yuanyi as below 3 years old and refunded me the money for Yuanyi. 

Highlights include:

• Seeing the turquoise blue water of beautiful Lake Tekapo and the local rivers that fed into the lake.
• Mt John Observatory.
• Glenmore & Godley Peaks High Country Sheep Stations.
• Wind your way through the steep, rugged mountains and passes of the Cass, Fork and Jollie Valleys, home to the merino sheep. Your pilot will tell you all about how these sheep are farmed and show you the remote musterers huts.
• Look down into dense milky waters of the Tasman Terminal lake at the bottom of the Tasman Glacier.
• Marvel at the large icebergs below an the Tasman river formed by the melting ice as it flows down into Lake Pukaki.
• Wonderful panoramic views across towards Aoraki Mount Cook & Mount Tasman.
• Cross the lower part of the Murchison glacier to the Liebig Range.
• Experience a wonderful alpine snow landing on Liebig Dome at 7700′ (landing location can change depending on weather conditions – your pilot will advise on the day) to get the chance to get out and take in panorama views of Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, or if you prefer take the totally unique opportunity to land at one of the remote musterers huts in the Cass Valley on Glenmore Sheep Station. Snow may be limited in the middle of summer from Feb – March. (THIS IS THE MAIN HIGHLIGHT)
• Lake Alexandrina with it’s fresh spring fed water contrasting starkly with glacial fed Lake Tekapo.
• Ancient glacial deposits including massive “erractics” left behind as ice melted during the last ice-age.

The pilot, Mr Tim. 

Second destination: Tekapo Springs

Tekapo Springs has 4 pools, 1 pool is a cold pool and the other 3 are hot pools with varying temperature. 

Pikachu swimming costume set bought from KMart. 

This pool is the most shiok, water at 40 degrees Celsius. 

This pool is meant for kids, temperature at 35 degrees Celsius. 

Third destination: Lake Tekapo, for them to throw stones 

LOL yuanze is such a creative poser

A very fun-filled day. Both of them did not nap. And they both KO-ed at 8 pm. Hahahahaha. 

Tomorrow we are leaving Tekapo, and heading to a place that we all are looking forward to, Valleyviews Glamping.