CAMPERVAN ROAD TRIP KE NEW ZEALAND, DAY 1 - ARRIVAL & CAMPERVAN PICKUP

Arrival - Christchurch & Campervan Pickup & Groceries Shopping

Previous post: ONE DAY IN MELBOURNE

Assalamualaikum.

Alhamdulillah. I made it here. 

Flight kami dengan Jetstar dari Melbourne ke Christchurch mengambil masa 3 jam. I would like to advise untuk masuk awal ke departure hall sebab dia punya queue untuk cop passport sangat panjang, and security check also very strict. 

Masa tu both of us memang super letih. Maklumlah tidur tak cukup, tak mandi. Ditambah dengan cuaca sejuk pulak.

Masa kat departure hall, kami dah tersengguk sengguk. Then masuk je dalam perut kapal, duduk pastu tuuuuuuuutttttttttttttttttttt.......

Rupanya tertidur. Sedar saja dari tidur, arrival card diselit kat meja lipat tu. Masa bila kapal tu berlepas, kami dua dua tak sedar langsung. MashaAllah, punya letih kan. Masa isi arrival card tu macam mamai mamai. I tried to wake my husband but he cant even open his eyes. Then, I surrender, selit balik kad and sambung tidur. Almost dekat nak sampai, tersedar baru isi. And of course tak ada gambar arrival card nya tapi lebih kurang macam Aussie jugak.

Kalau jam Australia 2 jam lebih cepat dari Malaysia, New Zealand pulak 4 jam lebih cepat. Kami sampai Christchurch Airport pukul 4.30 am. Alhamdulillah, syukur Ya Allah. 

Bahasa Maori kata, Kia Ora (Welcome) to Christchurch. hihi.

Benda pertama kami fikir ialah declaration. Makanan kami, apa nasibnya? Memandangkan kami lepas Australia pya check dengan lancar, kurang sikit kerisauan kami sebab dah boleh agak apa yang kami akan lalui. Cuba kat New Zealand berbeza sikit. Bila dah ambil luggage, officer akan tanya soalan yang sama jugak, ada apa apa nak declare. Jawapannya, YES. Dia tak buka beg, dia just tanya and kami bagitahu apa apa. Yang tolong check ialah anjing pengesan.

Officer akan bawa anjing dia hidu hidu beg kita. Jangan terkejut ya.....Lepas anjing tu bau bau, sekali dia duduk daaaaaaa....Then baru officer tu suruh bukak. Dia pun cek cek. I told her,

'Probably it is because of the mackerel.' , she replied, 'Ya, maybe. I think so too.' 

Kami ada bawa sardin jugak 2 tin yang kecil tu je. Alhamdulillah, kami pun lepas.....Berakhirlah sudah segala terkejut nampak anjing besaq gila dok cium cium beg kami.  haha.

Berjalan keluar dari that area, hati ni tak payah cakap macam mana happynya, bersyukur, rasa macam nak sujud kat situ jugak. Allahuakbar!

Kami rehat rehat dulu and lelap sekejap sebab masih awal kan. Nak keluar pun gelap lagi, nak ambil vehicle pun, office belum bukak. Kat airport Christchurch ada lounge untuk tidur tidur, kena bayar tak silap NZD 5.00 kot tapi lounge tu open dari 8.30 pm until 5.30 am saja. Tapi kami sampai and keluar dari custom check pun dah hampir 5.30 am, so buat apa kan. Kami just baring2 kat kerusi yang ada. 

 Then, mission seterusnya ialah cari toilet untuk mandi. Kami tahu yang memang ada tempat mandi kat situ cause pernah baca kat blog. Tapi tengok gaya toilet dia macam tak boleh mandi. Pusing pusing cari and tanya orang, rupanya, tempat mandi ialah di toilet disable tu. Boleh mandi kat situ. Masa tu ada satu group sekawan dari Malaysia jugak. Diaorg pun tercari cari mana boleh mandi. So sambil lepak sembang sembang kat charging area tu, kami pun gilir gilir la pergi mandi. Ada beberapa toilet disable kat sana. Yang kami guna ni kat tepi cafe bahagian arrival tu. 

Bak kata husband, lepas mandi rasa macam orang baru. haha. Hot shower pulak tu, punyala nikmat. Lepas tu tunggu sekejap sampai cerah sikit sambil charge segala apa yang patut. Kami nak beli simcard tapi masa tu kedai operator yang kami nak beli tu belum bukak. Yang ada cuma vodafone, tapi husband tak prefer guna vodafone based on his study pasal telco ni, Spark and 2degree (tips) yang bagus. Then, kami decide untuk beli kemudian setelah keluar dari airport. 

Untuk para pengemar sukan berbasikal, kat sini disediakan tempat untuk assemble basikal

Kami guna free phone untuk call operator vehicle kami, Wendekreisen nak tanya office dah bukak ke belum. Kebanyakan company vehicle ni guna nombor free phone, which mean kita call guna public phone airport, free. Macam toll free tu kot. 

Ini telefonnya....Terus dial saja number yang diberi.

Untuk pengetahuan, ada company yang datang pickup kat airport, tapi ada yang kena pergi sendiri naik teksi tapi boleh claim. So, tipsnya simpan elok elok resit teksi tu and claim semula dengan company. Mereka akan bayar balik masuk dalam credit card kita.

Cuaca memang sejuk sungguh, dalam 5 degree pagi tu. Phew, berasap asap mulut den. Location company tak jauh, dalam 10 minit je dah sampai office Wendekresien. Setelah sampai, orang tu pun dah tau siapa kita. Dia akan mintak lesen, copy card credit kita depan belakang as guarantee. In case ada saman, accident kemek mana mana, dia akan terus tolak dari kad kredit kita. Masa pulang nanti dia akan pulangkan balik copy kad kita tu. Make sure. koyak koyakkan, or bakar je terus supaya tak jatuh ke tangan org lain ya.

Tips: boleh guna lesen Malaysia saja. Lesen yang baru rupa macam IC tu dah dual language, English and BM, so tak perlu translate lagi. Tak payah jugak susah susah pergi buat international license semua ya. New Zealand pun right hand drive jugak. So, nothing to worry!

Lepas tu, dia akan bawak kita p kat van, tnjuk cara penggunaan, and ada satu kertas, dia akan tanda kat parts kenderaan yang ada kemek or calar. Kalau masa return, ada kemek or calar kat bahagian yang dia tak ada tanda, itu memang masalah namanya. Kalau sikit sikit tu, katanya, diaorang tak kisah sangat unless kalau kemek yang obvious, and calar yang dalam sampai keluar cat

. 

Cuba untuk snap gambar bahagian bahagian luar kereta, in case ada yang dia tak tanda dalam kertas dia, at least boleh jadikan bukti nanti. 

Sebab husband yang drive, bayar pun guna credit card husband, dia yang kena sign semua. Wife tolong booking and sudah sampai kita duduk sebelah je.

Ambil gambar apa yang patut.

Mereka cuma tunjuk cara teori saja, praktikalnya sendiri test macam mana nak handle campervan tu. Husband awal awal lagi dah tengok kat youtube macam mana nak handle. Tak susah pun. Easy like nut. hehe. Saya sekali pun tak buang waste and isi air. Kira ok jugak kami tak ada toilet, tak payah fikir nak buang hasil hasil laburan tu semua. Tapi kalau ada laki bagus, time free camping, tak yah risau mana nak melabur. Ikut suka la kan, nak macam mana. huhu.
Portable toilet yang diberi tu kami sekali pun tak guna. kahkahkahkah.. Tak sanggup eden..

Interior cabin belakang. Kerusi tu nanti transform jadi katil Meja tu kena cabut and simpan kayu dia.

Ini ha portable toilet diaaaa...kikiki. Kalau nak guna make sure tuang chemical yang disediakan, kalau tak harum bau satu van. Kami tak guna! Public toilet sudehhhh..

Plug untuk connect ke power supply. Masuk campsite baru boleh guna. 14 hari kat sna, kami cuma masuk proper campsite, 5 kali saja, 3 powered campsite, lagi 2 non powered. Yang lain semua free camping. Ada bran....??

Selesai semua, letak bag semua, terus jalan cari supermarket and beli sim card. First kami terjumpa New World and terus singgah untuk grocery shopping. Kami beli sayur, bawang bagai, beras, biskut, roti, kopi, jem and others yang diperlukan. Kat sana, jenama Pams yang paling murah. Roti, gula, jem, garam, mostly from Pams. haha. Tetapi kat New World tak ada ayam Brinks! For info, kat sana, ada jual ayam halal, iaitu dengan jenama Brinks. Alkisahnya, kat Pak N Save sajok yang adoo.. 

Main letak dulu. Later baru unpack. huhu.

Ini parking style apa ni? Well, driver amateur katanya, tak biasa bawak keta panjang dan besar. Ini kalau bawak RV, tak tau leeeee........kkikikikiki

Nak tak nak, kena la cari Pak N Save. Dengan tak ada GPS, phone belum boleh guna, kami main pusing pusing je. Yes, kami kat sana cuma berpandukan sign board and sekali dua kala saja guna waze. Itupun nak cari specific road saja. Signboard depa, excellent!!!

Then, sekali jumpa kedai serbaneka, and beli simcard Spark kat situ dengan harga NZD 29, with 750 MB data and ada la call and sms apa benda semua. Yang penting bagi kami ialah data tu!!! Terus tanya awek cashier, kat mana Pak N Save, sekali rupanya, dekat saja. Kami pun akhirnya, dapat halal chicken. Kami beli seekor terus, senang! Cukup saja seekor tu makan dua minggu. of course la bukan ayam saja, ada la salmon, trout bagai. Tapi hari first memang ayam saja yang kami beli dulu.

Terus terang cakap, kami dua dua letih tapi semangat tu entah datang dari mana, kami gagahkan jugak sebab kami punya plan, apa cara pun, hari tu kena keluar dari Christchurch. 

First time guna self payment counter. Sekali balik Malaysia, kat Tesco dah ada. huhu.

I guess thats all for now. Next post kita akan update our journey to Lake Tekapo where we spent our first night in New Zealand kat sana. Sejuk gedi weyyyy.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy it.

Lots of love.

Those who want to book Wendekreisen campervan ke, kereta ke, RV ke, you may do so by clicking below link and send inquiry form. So easy, just select which campervan you want and send. They will reply you with Quotation and from they point you will be assisted on how to proceed to the next step for payment and etc.

ONE DAY IN MELBOURNE

Assalamualaikum.

Baru nak mula hari pertama. Ada 16 hari weyy..panjang ceritanya. InsyaAllah, akan cuba share as many tips yang terlintas dalam kepala kat sini.

PREVIOUS POST:  ROAD TRIP TO SOUTH ISLAND NEW ZEALAND - MELBOURNE TRANSIT

So, hari ini kita ada satu hari untuk tour Melbourne. Kalau uols ada extra duit boleh la jalan dua sekali, seminggu kat Melbourne, seminggu kt NZ. Act, seminggu kat NZ tak cukup. hehe.

 Well, untuk memudahkan kami berjalan jalan Melbourne CBD, kami simpan beg di Smart Carte. Just right lepas keluar dari ke International Arrival, belah kiri. dekat pintu nak keluar. Dia ada rates harga yang tetap. Sy terlupa nak snap dia punya rates but ours kena AUD 27.00 untuk dua bag. Mahal weyy tapi apakan daya. We got no other choice. Agak terasa sebab ini trip super budget, so every penny counts!

Selesai semua simpan bag kami proceed beli tiket SkyBus untuk ke Melbourne city, AUD 18 per person which is bagi kami mahal memandangkan currency AUD yang tinggi.. Direct bas untuk ke city centre, yang hanya 20 min agak tak worth. Tapi tak silap ada bas lain lagi tapi kami tak check masa tu. Kami gerak dari airport masih gelap. Dengan suasana sejuk amat, kami pasrah saja. SkyBus memang ada terang tangtang kat luar aiport and operate sampai lewat malam and start awal pagi. Boleh check kat website. 

Kaunter SkyBus

Ini basnya. Panjang, ibarat dua bas disambung menjadi satu bas.

Bus akan drop passengers dekat Southern Cross Station. Kami awal2 pagi dah jadi tourists. Orang local pun usha satu macam. Semangat aih!

Aktiviti kami kat city memang aktiviti redah since kami tak study sangat. Idea asal nak pergi Brigthon Beach yang ada colourful bathing box tu dibatalkan sebab nak save budget. Tak berbaloi nak habiskan duit beli MyKi pass and guna satu hari saja. 

From Southern Cross Station, kami decide jalan kaki saja sampai Flinders Street. Cara lain boleh naik train tapi kami kat sana memang pakai kaki and naik free tram saja. What a cheapskate!..Dalam 10-15 minit berjalan untuk sampai Flinders Street and since berjalan dalam sejuk, tak ada la terasa sangat. 

Awal pagi. Semangat!

Serius cakap, masa ni memang excited gila sebab dah sampai dgn selamat kat Melbourne.

Jalan punya jalan, tanya orang sana sini, sampai la kami ke Flinders Street. Kenapa Flinders Street? Sebab dari sini lah senang untuk korang start tour Melbourne CBD. Tarikan utama city semuanya next to this station. Not much saya boleh cerita pasal Melbourne sebab kami hanya tour city sahaja, jalan kaki and naik free tram. Tak susah nak cari free tram ni, tram dia yang old skool warna hijau maroon and ada tulis no.35 kat depan train. Its free! Tram ni akan bawak anda pusing city centre and stop dekat station yang merupakan tarikan utama kat sana. So easy and save your money. Tak perlu naik train berbayar! Sila enjoy gambar gambar berikut.

City Tram Map. 

Kami naik free tram dari Flinder Street Station and pusing pusing city stop, turun, jalan jalan dan naik lagi. Walaupun free tapi sangat efficient and one of the best way to tour the city. Indeed. 

Enjoy the photos. 

Study map kononnya. 

Flinders Street Station

Dalam tram

Free City Tram

Degraves Street, tempat lepak lepak makan makan and byk cafe kat are sini.

Famous Hosier Lane

Then, bila dah penat jalan jalan, kami naik lagi Free Tram untuk ke Queen Victoria Market. Kat sini khabarnya boleh dapatkan souvenir dengan harga berpatutan. Ianya 'market', bukan shopping mall ya. Tapi market bersih, terharu den tengok. Punya bersih. Kami yang in budget ini just jalan jalan tengok apa yang murah. Niat di hati nak la beli souvenir untuk diri sendiri. Sungguhpun tak mampu beli kat orang, at least nak beli untuk kenangan peribadi. Discuss punya discuss, kira kira duit, kami pun beli la t-shirt sorang satu dgn harga AUD 5.00 and fridge magnet untuk peti ais kat rumah, 5 pcs pada harga AUD 10.00. 

Tetiba teringat, dengan cuaca Melbourne yang sedang sedang sejuk pun kami dah terketar ketar, tak boleh nak bayang macam mana kat NZ nanti. Kami dua dua tak ada prepare thermal pant. So, husband risau takut nanti kat NZ saya tak tahan sejuk sebab saya ni memang allergik dengan sejuk, dia pun suggest suruh beli thermal and snow cap. Again bincang and tengok budget, husband cakap beli lah sementara dah ada kat sini. 

Then saya pun beli untuk saya. Husband kata dia tak perlukan thermal tu. Dia boleh tahan katanya... So gitu la cerita dia macam mana saya tiba2 ada snow cap warna putih yang saya semedang pakai masa kat NZ. Bayangkan tidur pun pakai snow cap!. 

Perut pun dah lapar. Gila tak lapar, last makan masa dalam flight dari KL nak ke Melbourne. Masa tu pun dah pukul 1 pm so, at Queen Victoria Market, we had nasi beriani. The only food we eaten, itulah lunch, itulah dinner. 

Nanti malam flight ke New Zealand, tak ada nasi dalam flight. Kemungkinan nak dapat makan nanti dah sampai, ambil campervan and end of the day baru dpat makan lagi. Kita tunggu next post ya. Kami terjumpa restoran India halal kat dalam foodcourt Victoria Market and before that kami beli satu bekas strawberry. So sedap and sweet macam gula! Gituuuuu....

Queen Victoria Market (souvenir area)

Queen Victoria Market

Sedap and kenyangss!

Yarra River

Kasi can laaaa....

Mujur ada bawa tripod, ada jugak gambar berdua. Ya, semua gambar kami yg berdua, kami guna tripod je. Easy!

Selesai jalan jalan, kaki pun dah almost give up, kami pun jalan balik ke Southern Cross Station lalu tepi Yarra River. Naik SkyBus jugak untuk balik ke airport. Hati semakin melonjak gembira masa tu sebab dah hampir hampir sangat nak sampai New Zealand. Flight kami ke Christchurh pukul 11.30 pm, ya, lewat sangat. Sebab inilah yang menjadikan kami 2 hari tak tidur dan tak mandi. 

Letih tak payah cakap. Alhamdulillah we both doing great, sebab dua dua dah biasa. Kami berkenalan masa naik Gunung Bubu. Husband lebih active, dia dah tawan banyak gunung berbanding saya. hihi. Senior katakan. Kat gunung jauh lebih leceh dari tripk kami ni, toilet nak melabur kena korek lubang sendiri pakai parang. Tidur pakai ground saja, bantal pun tadah pakai plastik baju. So, setakat mcm ni leceh, we managed to get over it. 
Eh.. tersasul cerita pulak. Ampun.  

End of story for our Melbourne tour city trip. Next post saya akan update pasal NEW ZEALAND...Yeyyyy!! InsyaAllah.

Here ada sikit video kami berdua. hehehehehe...

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy it.

Lots of love.

Next Post Click Here

ROAD TRIP TO SOUTH ISLAND NEW ZEALAND - MELBOURNE TRANSIT

Assalamualaikum.

Seperti yang dijanjikan from last post, I will write about the whole journey from day 1 until end in a separate post. InsyaAllah. Will try my best to finish it very soon. I wish that this will help anyone of you who plan to visit beautiful New Zealand. Nak ikut! ehhh...

Previous post:

INTRO: CAMPERVAN ROAD TRIP KE SOUTH ISLAND NEW ZEALAND - WINTER 2015

KUL TO MELBOURNE  VIA AIR ASIA

Seminggu sebelum depart kami dah pun packing baju baju kami. Maklumlah, winter kan bajunya tebal tebal. Since we only have 20kg for checked in luggage, deifinitely  we need to carefully budget its weight for our backpack. We packed everything into our 55 litre Karrimor backpack and weighs it. Alhamdulillah, 12 kg saja. Satu lagi carry on bag yang packable berisi kasut dan foods stok. Baru teringat, tak senonoh letak kasut dgn makanan. Tapi kasut baru lah. Tak payah nak skema sgt eh. All foods were pack in a proper plastic wrap. so? OK jeeee..

Its unbelievable to see clothes for 2 peoples for 14 days can fit into one backpack and its winter. Dengan down jacket yg tebal, 3 in jacket yang gedobos. But we did it. Percayalah, travel tak semestinya kena bawak baju sampai berdozen dozen. Cerita dia, trip mcm ni bukan masanya nak melawa dan mencantik. 

Packing

 Ada tips untuk shopping murah winter gear. Saya and husband kaki selam bundle, semua yang untuk winter kami hanya dapatkan di bundle sahaja. Berbulan bulan sebelum kami dah start menyelam.

Tak perlu kot beli yang brand new mahal mahal semua. Nama pun budget! kalau hampa memang ada duit tak apa, silakan. Seronok wey, dapat 3 in 1 jacket yang lawa gila, brand Eddie Bauer hanya RM 10. hehe..Belanja ikut kemampuan ya. I do believe there are many ways to save money to enable yourself to go out and travel. Yang baru hanyalah weather tite boots from Karrimor, beli time promotion, RM 229 sahaja. Kasut yang sangat berguna, it keep us warm masa kat sana. 

Kalau ikut cara beli yang baru, silap haribulan shopping barang winter sahaja boleh cecah ribu ringgit. Well, apapun terpulang pada individu.

Foods? Kami masak hari hari kat sana. Terima kasih kepada Pak Brahim's. Kami hanya bawa perencah Brahim's cukup cukup untuk 14 hari, sebungkus kecil serbuk kunyit dan kiub ayam maggi. Yang lain such as beras, gula, garam and others beli di sana.

Please take note untuk declare semua makanan yang hampa bawak ye. Boleh baca my previous posts.

Flight kami ke Melbourne pada 19 August 2015 pukul 1.35 pm. Sebab kami parking kereta di Putrajaya Sentarl, kami decide keluar rumah awal takut nanti tak ada parking. Alhamdulillah, parking banyak kosong pulak hari tu. By the way for information if ramai yang belum tahu, kat Putrajaya Sentral ada 'park and ride'. Boleh park kereta and naik train KLIA transit ke KLIA2 pada harga RM 6.20 saja one way. Kadar parking untuk overnight ialah RM 4 satu malam. Murah kan???? Naik teksi lagi mahal kot, rasanya teksi ke KLIA dari rumah saya tak silap RM 70-80 one way.Total kami bayar parking untuk 16 hari di Putrajaya Sentral, RM 66. Wow! Murah.

Dalam flight sesungguhnya tak boleh tidur sebab excited sangat kot. Tak tahulah. Flight 8 jam diisi dengan borak borak dan tengok Running Man dalam iPad. 

Membunuh masa.......

Kami landed Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne pukul 11.45 pm local time. Waktu Australia, 2 jam ahead Malaysia. Dah lewat, kami tak ada ambil apa-apa accomodation untuk malam tu so hanya lepak airport sahaja. Dalam arrival card kami siap siap tulis hanya transit sahaja. Selalunya kastam akan tanya next flight pukul berapa tapi kami ni tak ditanya. Mungkin dah lewat, depa pun tak larat dah nak bersoal jawab. 

Arrival card. if unsure, please tick 'YES'.

Arrival card.

Makanan semua lepas. Apa yang saya dengar orang cakap Australia strict bagai tu ada betulnya dan ada yang exaggerate ja kot. Tak tahulah. Masa keluar dari cop passport sudah ada first fliter oleh officer. Dia akan mintak arrival card and tanya, 

Officer: Do you have anything to declare?

Us: Yes.

Officer: What did you have?

Us: Food paste for cooking and we have shoes, but its new. Never used before. 

Officer tu tanda kat card and kami pun jalan. Then ada satu lagi lorong, ada kaunter kaunter. Sebelum lalu lorong tu, ada pegawai tengok kad kita, kalau ada tanda huruf apa ntah, dia suruh kita masuk lorong yang ada kaunter. Kalau ada cop hijau, kita boleh terus keluar. Kami of course kena lalu lorong ada kaunter. 

Proses kami berjalan lancar. Cuma husband tersalah cakap kami bawak meat padahal bukan meat, tapi paste rendang untuk masak meat. Sekali bukak beg, tunjuk, officer tu tengok sekilas terus dia kata, OK BYE!. Eh?

Maybe dia dah selalu sangat tengok Brahim's kot. Hermm.. Alhamdulillah, lega, lepas satu cerita.

Yang pertama kami cari ialah KOPI. Uhuuuu... Melbourne coffee is the best babeh. They claimed they have the best coffee in the world. Ya, indeed. Walaupun depa tak produce biji kopi pun, mungkin cara buat tu kot yg jadikannya sedap. Plus, murah sangat!!!! You will never get it in Malaysia.

Maka selepas itu, kami pusing pusing airport cari tempat lepak dan terjumpa prayer room. Ada group gadis gadis Malaysia jugak kat situ. Sembang punya sembang mcm dah kenal lama. Gitu...

Well, tak dapat tidur lena jugak sebab sejuk ya amat even kat dalam surau. Tak tau celah mana datang angin. heerrr..Actually, tidur sekitar kawasan dalam airport yang ada tempat duduk way warmer dari dalam surau. Kami dah test masa balik dari New Zealand di mana kami terpaksa spent tidur lagi satu malam kat airport Melbourne before fly ke KL. haha.

Esok paginya satu hari kami tour Melbourne city. Badan tak cukup tidur, penat tapi semangat yang datang entah dari mana, kami gagah jugak berjalan keesokannya. huhu.  

Saya sambung next post pasal jalan jalan Melbourne CBD. InsyaAllah.

Many thanks for reading and see ya.

Lots of love.

PREPARATION: CAMPERVAN ROAD TRIP KE SOUTH ISLAND NEW ZEALAND - WINTER 2015

Assalamualaikum.

Those yang follow my IG and facebook may aware that I have been to New Zealand recently for my honeymoon adventure for 14 days. We covered whole south island and it was the best journey in my life ever. The adventure was beyond awesome and I never regret to get a big hole in my pocket and wallet!.. kahkahkah.

In regards of sharing my road trip to South Island of New Zealand recently, I decided to come back to my humble blog to pin up the whole story from A to Z. InsyaAllah. I promise it wont be the same like previous posts when I went to Korea. Ended up with just one post as previously I was super busy with Master study and working at the same time. 

Now? I am a wife and of course still makan gaji but I guess I have more free and ample time to write on this wall. I tied the knot to a man of my dreams on last 24th July 2015. Alhamdulillah. It been the most wonderful one month together. Well, many months and years to come,  means more wonderful and adventure to come. InsyaAllah. Amin.

Lets get started.

The idea was from my husband. He is the master mind and one yang eagerly nak pergi New Zealand. Katanya, it is number one country that he wanted to go since he was a kid. Yo yo ja..Kecik kecik dah kenai New Zealand. haha.

We talked about honeymoon location long ago before we even decide nak kawin lagi. He even yet met my father, kami sudah pun bercakap pasal honeymoon. Apa punya berangan pun tak tau lah. Alhamdulillah, angan angan jadi kenyataan, segala urusan dipermudahkan. Started with riki riki flight ticket, bincang punya bincang, sembang kencang, kemaih semua ada. heh!

FLIGHT TICKETS

Berapa kali on-off pun tak tahu, sat nak p, sat tak nak p sampai la satu tahap, dia punya turning point when Air Asia buat promo pergi Melbourne. Early January this year, kami purchase ticket return for two of us from KUL to Melbourne dengan jarak 16 hari dari tarikh pergi. It costs us RM 1924.00 return for two. At this particular time, we both still indecisive pasal nak pegi New Zealand. Apa pun perangai pun tak tau. What are we going to do for 16 days if tak jadi p New Zealand. Of course limitation kami adalah financial. I got to choose one only! Ended up...........

Then, tiap hari we browse for cheap ticket from Melbourne to Christchurch. Everyday! Alhamdulillah we secured return ticket, dengan pilih seat sendiri, with one checked in luggage 20 kg return at AUD 693.88 with Jetstar. All my bonus salary and saving selama satu tahun jagung bekerja goes to the tickets. Worth it!! I tell you...Divided by two, it was RM 1877.00 for each of us.

Ada flight lain lagi untuk ke Christchurch seperti Qantas, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand. You all can check and pilih harga yang paling competitive. Besides stop kat Melbourne boleh jugak tukar di Sydney, or ambil direct flight from KUL tp usually transit di Singapore and Australia jugak if not mistaken. Or, MAS ada flight direct tapi ke Auckland, North Island. So, if you all ada plan to tour both North and South, boleh la naik MAS. Boleh try ya. Tapi harga jangan cakap la mahal.

Sebab tu kami ambil different airlines macam ni, due to cost saving!

REMINDER: Our trip adalah super budget trip. No mewah mewah things. If you find it not comfortable for you to follow, you can always get better than this. Please do not judge. Sekian. 

CAMPERVAN SELECTION

Perbincangan diteruskan dengan accomodation di New Zealand. Kami memilih untuk hire campervan with self contained. Tips nya kenapa campervan sebab lebih jimat bila hire campervan, tak payah check in motel. Kira punya kira, yes, it is. Indeed. Bila ada campervan yang self contained (meaning, ada toilet and water supply for kitchen), we can freedom camping tapi ada kaedahnya juga nak freedom camping. 

Rules were a bit complicated. I will explain along the way in the story. Tapi freedom camping definitely tak akan dapat power supply. New Zealand sememangnya famous dengan kaedah travel menggunakan campervan, and RV. There have lots of powered sites for these vehicles. Kekdahnya, kena bayar lah. Bayarannya around NZD 1 - 22.00 per person untuk powered campsite. Per person hokey! Yang murah tu adalah DOC campsites with just basic facilities. 

Kalau ambil motel, definitely cost will be higher. I am not sure how much for motel. Freedom camping adalah free tapi bayangkan, during winter tak ada power supply, no heater, and no shower. Redah ja lah. Campervan kami cuma ada portable toilet which kami tak pernah guna sekali pun. Apa kisah, public toilet bersepah kat sana, ikut pandai adjust la bila nak melabur. Tips nya, vehicles tetap wajib masuk powered campsites 2 hari sekali untuk proses charge battery untuk mengelak berlakunya sebarang masalah teknikal. Memang secara teknikalnya, battery tu akan charges when vehicles on move tapi adalah part lain yang memerlukan vehicle charge guna direct power.

My husband was the one who did the research for campervan. Tips nya, jangan percaya dengan Google result. I am telling you all, result that came out from your seach are because these big companies did a lot of SEO (search engine optimization) and Google Adwards targeting Malaysia. Bukan sebab depa memang murah. Cuba try pergi Google 'campervan in new zealand'. Yang paling awal keluar ialah Jucy, Maui, Apollo, Britz and Mighty etc. These are giant operators in New Zealand and Australia but actually not that affordable for us yang dalam budget. Banyak hidden charges. We checked their quotation and studied, totally over our budget. So better than not going, we dont give up and study lagi sedalam dalamnya cari other operator yang memang ada provide budget package. 

It is OK if sedikit mahal but if terlalu mahal, itu melampau, mencekik darah namanya. But terpulang pada individu dengan penilaian masing masing.

I am not saying these big big companies tak bagus. They are all good in their own way, tapi if nak yang bajet mcm sya, tak dapat lah.

We did alot of study and we found this website, www.rankers.co.nz , recommended by many other travelers, Wendekreisen, www.wendekreisen.co.nz . A family business company. I tell you what, ada orang pilih company nak hire campervan just because their design yang cool and style. Of course not for us yang in bajet. As long as ada transportation merangkap tempat berteduh, more than enough. Katanya tak ramai orang Malaysia yang hire campervan dengan depa, dia pun tak boleh nak recall. Review yang kami jumpa dari rankers adalah memuaskan. Murah yang meyakinkan dan memuaskan. Alhamdulillah, 14 days travel with John Andrew (name we gave to our campervan), has no problem at all.


Step 1: Search and choose company/operator. Decide nak sewa kereta or campervan (with or without self contained or RV. RV will come with complete facilities, toilet and shower which mean it is self contained. Kindly take note, ada rule, if you hire RV does not mean you boleh bawak 10 orang naik. If it is 6 berth meaning to say, just for 6 people!. If 2 berth, only for 2 people. Rasanya 6 paling maximum if not mistaken.
Another tips, price may vary depending on what season you will be going. Summer and spring is peak season so you cannot bet to get a good price during this season. Not just for vehicles, others pun blh jadi extra expensive during peak season. So, plan wisely.
Step 2: Check price using their calculator or Get quote. 
Step 3: Book. Ours kena bayar 30% deposits upon booking. Balance akan due within 30days before travelling date. By 30 days before, company will send link for us to pay the balance. Payment by credit card only! Ceritanya, ada credit card, semua boleh jalan.
Step 4: Boleh pergi dah....

Wendekreisen campervans price

Wendekreisen Calculator can be used to calculate th estimate cost
 
CLICK BELOW TO BOOK DIRECT WITH WENDEKREISEN

The link will take you direct to Enquiry Form. Fill in form and click send. Wendekreisen will soon feedback to your booking Enquiry.
  

For family, you can hire RV instead, way bigger and comfortable. But there are limitations, RV adalah besar so sedikit slow nak bergerak, bigger to handle which mean susah nak parking plus limited designated parking. Ini orang kata, bukan saya. It is based on pembacaan from blogs. Depends, actually berlambak orang lain dah buat, elok ja. hehe. Dont think too much, just go with it! Or boleh sewa kereta and tidur motel or cabin which is way way comfortable. Siap duit saja! Depends.

I am not able to advise rates for RV since we hired campervan instead. Our John Andrew, Koru 2-Berth is a Budget Campervan from Wendekreisen costs,

NZD 546.00 (inclusive insurance) for 14 days.  
-Vehicles NZD 23.00/day.
-Insurance  (compulsory): kami ambil yang standard, NZD 16.00/ day. 
 
Please compare with yours found from Google. Maybe if there is any other company that is good and cheaper, please leave your comment, so others can have other option. It would be good to have more selection. Thank you!! 

Below is some details about our John Andrew. Condition was tip top! Alhamdulillah, for 14 days, we travel 3600 km all over South Island, he performed well. *claps*. Therefore, I would recommend you this company. Worth every penny! Ours was exactly same as below. Hihi. Warna cadar ja lain..OH! How I miss John Andrew. The vehicle is certified self contained in accordance with New Zealand standard. You can freedom camping for FREE!

Our John Andrew.

CAMPSITES

Next is campsites. Powered campsites is so easy to find but for freedom camping, or, in other words, CAMPING FOR FREE, you may need to do some research. Freedom camping in New Zealand, however, is not as simple as parking your camper van on the side of the road and pap done! Definitely hell no. 

Where you can and cannot camp is pretty well-regulated, and if you park somewhere you're not supposed to be, you'll very likely have to pay when get fined by the authority. Police may not around, but their local are so friendly with the police. You vehicle number can easily be spread to the whole island. You surely cannot run away. Dia punya denda, NZD 200.00. Hang nak bayaq? Baik buat bungy jumping noks! 

Different district has different rules for freedom camping at their town. Many towns and cities have "no freedom camping" policies in place. You'll usually see signs that say "freedom camping zone ends here" as you enter the town which strictly no freedom camping unless there is designated area for freedom camping. When you enter town in Queenstown heading towards Arrowtown, there is a sign said something likely, 'Self contained freedom camping zone starts here', means you can almost park everywhere within the zone but I would advise you to be careful. Because, not all local people would be happy with our existence in front of their house. That sign was seen in Queenstown and Franz Josef up to Haast if not mistaken. Sebab the sign was too small and hardly to spot, so I couldnt remember how many I have seen it. 

There were designated area yang di buat khas for campers to park for free. Some with toilets but some don't. So, here is an apps you can download to your mobile and use it. I used Camping NZ by rankers. It shows well where is the location for you to camp. It clearly show you a 'FREE' sign in green font.  Thats how we survive to get free campsites to park and sleep peacefully. But remember, freedom camping only for self-contained vehicles only.

Ada lagi satu apps iaitu CamperMate but I found it not friendly enough for me but you can try. Actually, CamperMate is even more complete but well, if too many information sometimes will be hard to handle and digest. hihi

Camping NZ.

Self contained sign at the back of your vehicles. Kena ada ni baru boleh freedom camp!

Example of the sign. Here is at Lake Hayes. That is motorhome from KEA.

ROUTES

Planning the routes for your road trip is essential. A little bit of study will be much help. Better than lost yourself on the road kan. Since our mission is to conquer whole South, we choose route as below. It depends on how many days you have too. There is actually a lot of routes recommendation you can find online. Ini route adalah based on multiple studies and conclude all the places we wanted to go. Yes, kami tak lalu the most scenic highway in New Zealand which are Arthur Pass and Lindiss Pass. Refer back to the mission!! It did not allow us to do so. Many of others went there for one weeks lalu Arthur Pass as it connecting Greymouth to Christchurch. Those who did not travel up to West akan cross Arthur Pass (State Highway 73) untuk balik ke Christchurch. I tell you, from picture I found from Google itself, Arthur Pass were beautifullllsssss! Tolong lalu if ada kesempatan, unfortunately, not for us.

I had no idea how to use tools on MyMaps but I managed to get it done in amateur way! Hope you get the picture. If not, please buzz me if you want to know more. I will be more than happy to share with uolss. Gitu.. 

Our route - Total 3600 ++ km.

State Highway 73 - Arthur Pass (Credit Photo: Google Images)

FOODS DECLARATION

Tak sure if ramai yang sudah tahu. Setiap makanan yand dibawa haruslah declare semasa nak keluar dari airport Australia dan New Zealand. Macam mana nak declare? 

Masa dalam flight, akan diedarkan arrival card. Kat dalam card tulah kita tick apa2 yang nak declare.

Berdasarkan beberapa tips yang kami dapat, mereka advise buat list. Kami dengan rajinnya buat list. Mujur makanan yang kami bawa tak banyak. Dalam list letak nama makanan dan ingredient. In case officer kat sna nak cek, boleh terus bagi. Proses kami di airport Melbourne and New Zealand berjalan lancar. Tipsnya ialah bertenang dan cool down. My advise, declare saja semua, tak susah pun. Rather than kena cekup and bayar denda yang super mahal. Jangan risau ini semua sekadar procedure biasa. InsyaAllah semua akan OK.

Di Australia, kasut pun kena declare but not too strict la. At first filter dia akan tanya siap2. Kalau kita kata ada kasut, kita bagitahu it is clean shoes, depa akan OK saja. 

VISA FOR AUSTRALIA 

Well, nak masuk Australia kena ada visa. Nak apply, make sure passport valid and ada lebih dari 6 bulan sebelum tarikh expire and flight itinerary. Tiket pergi dan balik.

Kami apply visa secara online dengan agent. Cuma bayar RM20.00 sja untuk satu visa. Boleh email ke, eta.australia@yahoo.com (Ms. Yusza). Selepas visa approve, sila buat bayaran  yea.

MUDAH, boleh siap dalam masa sehari saja. 

New Zealand? Tak perlu. Depa sporting!

Note that I will share all the total expenses for this trip at the end of the posts, maksudnya lepas habis cerita 16 hari. kehkehkeh. Jangan terkejut sebab ini budget trip. As I told earlier, you can always get better than this. 

So, I guess thats all for now. I will be back to update day to day activities and more tips to come. Hope you enjoy reading!

Many thanks for interest and dropping by. See ya. 

Lots of love.