Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Brief Update

Just realized that i only have one post for the whole November. Time to put another one up before December sets in.

Currently I'm up in north island doing general practice attachment at this small town called Cambridge (not sure if it's related to the one in UK). Anyway, it's a nice place between Hamilton and Rotorua. Been there once while i was on my way to Rotorua few weeks ago.
Can't wait for the christmas holiday! Counting down...

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Auckland & Rotorua Trip

I had been planning for this trip few months ago before the final exam. Didn't really do a thorough and extensive research but i knew exactly what i wanted to do. Gladly everything went alright.

Spent 3 days 2 nights in Auckland and another 3 days 2 nights in Rotorua. Nothing much i could tell about Auckland since i had been there for numerous times. But Rotorua, gosh, it's the place you must visit. It's a quiet, self sufficient town with lots of pretty attractions like spa, thermal pools, zorbing, maori settlement and etc.


First stop was One Tree Hill. Thanks to Swarna who picked Jane and I up in the airport and spent half of the day with us.


Later, we went to Mission Bay. I still remembered the last time I was there when Caryn was here for elective. Flashing back good memories.... Oh, i just realized the island at the back was Rangitoto Island. Learn something new everyday, haha!




This is a snap shot of Polynesian Spa, Rotorua. It's a really nice place. We spent almost 4 hours dipping ourselves in those hot pools. However the admission was quite pricey. We paid $43 for the lake spa instead of $21 for the normal adult spa. Nonetheless, it's worth the price. Highly recommended if you want to have a relaxing time and smoothen up your skin.

Breath-taking scenary while having a nice time. Considering to bring my family here if they are visiting nz next year.





Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland, the main attarction of Rotorua. It's a vast reserve park of hot pools and geysers. Lots of nice scenary apart from the smelly sulfur vapour and smoldering weather. Admission fee: $32






Lady Knox Geyser, that explodes everyday at 10.15am. Luckily I collaborated this trip with Swarna so we managed to witness the 'explosion' on time.




The highlight of my trip, ZORBING.... I was in the ball by the way, haha! We got cheap deals from GrabOne, only paid $22 for each zorb.




All of us including Swarna's cousins and niece waiting in the jeep before they brought us uphill. Super excited!





Finished my solo zorb on the zig-zag track. It was so fun! That was a Zydro, which mean before i squeezed myself into the 'ball', they put in a few buckets of warm water inside and let me rolled with the water. They described this as a combination of roller coaster and washing machine. Pretty dizzy at first when i stepped out but it was tolerable. FUN! Super duper highly recommended! Random fact of the day: Zorbing was invented here in Rotorua!




What an awesome and exciting post exam vacation!