New Zealand: Seafood dinner at Squids Bar

We were starving by dinner time as we didn't have lunch prior to kayaking. Following our dinner the night before at FISH, we continued the theme and dined at Squids Bar & Restaurant. Squids are near Whitianga Marina, we walked here from our accommodation, Shearwater on the Estuary. It is spacious and comfortable. Squids was cheaper than FISH but with good food. Definitely happier tummy here.

Managed some photos before it gets too dark.. haha

Here are the food!

MMC and I shared The Dark Side, NZD 10

12 Coromandel Oysters, NZD 30 (3 oysters per person)

We all shared this smoked seafood platter of smoked fish, mussels and pate, NZD 19

Little P had the Coromandel Greenshell mussels which was served with tortilla chips, NZD 25

MMC and I shared this Waikura Valley Angus Scotch Steak, NZD 33

We also shared this fried squid, NZD 19

MMC and I shared this dessert - knickerbocker glory  which was ice-cream, choc & raspberry sauce, cream, nuts and wafer, NZD 6

Little P and Y shared banana wrapped in spring rolls served with toffee sauce. I took a photo but it was extremely blur... so I won't post it up. Haha. MMC dislikes bananas and I dislike caramel so that would not be our choice.

We were all very pleased with our food, so I recommend this Squids Bar if you are in the neighbourhood. :)


Side note: Ice-cream... yummmm

New Zealand: Digging a small pool at Hot Water Beach

Hot Water Beach is exactly like its name - hot water beach. At low tide, one can expect thermal water bubbling just beneath the surface of the sand. I didn't know about the low tide part though because we didn't check any timing but basically dropped by as it was  nearby Hahei Beach where we ended our kayaking activity.

By the time we reached back to Hahei Beach from kayaking, it was past 5 pm but we proceeded as it was just 10 minutes away. There is a car park that charges $2 per hour but I think if you continued on, you would be able to find free parking area.

Spot the crowd at the far left!

MMC and I walked towards the crowd and started digging with the shovel that we brought (on loan from the accommodation) but no hot water. We thought it was a myth. Then we decided to move nearer to the crowd and dipped our feet into a deserted 'pool' and it was warm! So we continued digging through the small pool and buried our feet beneath the sands. We didn't stay long as we have been looking out for Little P and Y as we have lost them. Lost as in when we turned back to see, they were no longer strolling behind us.

You'll actually see this before the Hot Water Beach :P

Side note: What? End of the month already! Less than a month to Lunar New Year @_@

New Zealand: Kayaking to Cathedral Cove

Kayaking. It sounded fun and looked cool on paper. I totally forgot that the last open water kayaking I attempted at Halong Bay wasn't very successful. Grin.

Just hours prior to arriving at Hahei Beach, Little P mentioned that our kayak tour was 3 hours with paddling time of 2 to 2.5 hours. Then only it hit me that we would be kayaking for a couple of hours in open water. Ahem. No turning back because it was fully paid. The only consolation was that families are welcome, which means if kids could do it, then it won't be too scary I guess.

The Coromandel Peninsula is on the north-east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. There is a small town of the same name, Coromandel but the accommodation we booked was in Whitianga, the second biggest town (Thames is the biggest town, according to wikivoyage). We started our kayak journey from Hahei Beach and all the way to Cathedral Cove.

Cathedral Cove, complete with its gigantic stone arch, is also accessible by foot. If takes about 70 minutes to walk from Hahei Beach to Cathedral Cove. Other options are water taxi, beach bus or kayak. We opted the last transport option. Little P signed us up with Cathedral Cove Kayak Tours, on the Cathedral Cove Classic Tour.

Cathedral Cove Kayak Tours which is the only kayaking company licensed to land daily at Cathedral Cove. Our guide was Ash and he was excellent. I don't know how he does it, especially when no one puts up their hand to his question of, "Who has done kayaking before?". Umm.. and no, the Halong Bay incident above doesn't count, and another time was not in open water and I was more of a passenger.

He started off by briefing us on the kayak, and the one who sits behind is the navigator as they would be the one who step on a paddle to determine whether the kayak turn left or right, how to hold the paddle and paddle, steps to wear our safety gear, how to use the dry bag, etc. Briefing took about half an hour and off we went.

I was a bit nervous but as MMC and I got our paddling rhythm, it was absolutely fun! Ash also gave some information of the area when we grouped midway kayaking, and we also spotted some fishes and stingrays!

When we arrived at Cathedral Cove, we were given some time to walkabout, probably about 20 minutes while Ash prepared our drinks. Actually we were told to come back to grab our drinks before continuing walking around... but I think everybody got distracted with the view. We were given option of cappuccino, long black, latte, flat white and hot chocolate! When we came back, we were treated to this.

A+ effort for barista level beverages and the hot choc was good!

I think it was quite obvious that everybody was much more confident on the way back. It was absolutely fun and I personally think that this is the best way to get to Cathedral Cove ;)


Side note: A long weekend. Yay!

New Zealand: A day in Auckland, almost

MMC and I arrived Auckland before 6 in the morning. Little P and husband (who I shall refer as Y from here on) didn't want to take the overnight flight, so they arrived the night before and spent 2 nights in Auckland. Upon reaching Auckland, the eating duo (aka MMC and I) had KFC for breakfast in the airport. Yes, KFC that I have not had since moon ago. I don't even remember when was the last time I had KFC prior to having it in Auckland Airport. Anyway, nothing exciting and then we took a Skybus to Auckland city. Note that if you pre-purchase the ticket online, you get NZD 1 discount and pay NZD 17 (one way, return is NZD 32) as opposed to buying it at the counter. In addition, you get to claim some velocity points. You can also search the nearest stop to your hotel online. There were a few stops and they were clearly indicated on an electronic board. The driver made clear announcements too. 

Err... yes, this was before Christmas last year too..

The hotel we stayed in Auckland, Ibis Budget Auckland Central is located at a good location and the staffs were friendly. Anyone who checked me in at 8ish in the morning and actually gave me a room gets heaps of gratitude. I probably looked very sleepy despite I fell asleep even before the flight took off but it was a short flight from Melbourne. The flight duration was only 3 hours 35 minutes. Anyway, the room itself wasn't memorable. Aside from the two points above, I won't recommend it. 

Usually I would drop my bag and out of the door right after. Little P and Y had a poor night sleep and slept in, so MMC and I decided to get some shut eye too. We got up at about noon time and went next door to have lunch because it was an easy choice and we get a 10% discount for staying in Ibis next door. The cafe was The Coffee Club. 

After feeding ourselves, we walkabout a little but mainly towards Maritime Museum. One can also enjoy sailing out to the Waitemata Harbour in heritage vessels offered by the museum but we missed the timing. Entrance fee: NZD 17 (after discount with the coupon in the Auckland Official Guide book, so remember to pick one up before leaving the airport).

I saw this folklore on North Island in the Maritime Museum. As many Polynesian folklore, Māui is the hero of the story. 

Māui was a miscarried foetus set afloat upon the upon by his mother, Taranga. He survived and was cared for by Tangaroa, the guardian of the sea, the sun and winds. He later returned to his people. One day he went fishing with his brothers, after using some magic (because his brother refused to give him a hook), Māui caught a large fish. Māui wanted to offer the fish to thank the Gods but his brother chopped up the fish. The fish heaved into mountains, cliffs and gorges hence the unevenness of the land today. When Māui returned, his fish was dead. The new fish land was the North Island of New Zealand. Māui named it the Fish of Māui, i.e Te Ika a Māui. The head at Wellington, and one of the eyes, Lake Wairarapa. Fins are Taranaki and East Coast, tail in Northland. Heart is Lake Taupo or some said Urewera Mountains, and Māui's fish hook is Cape Kidnappers. 

Thereafter, we left and walked back to the hotel as the parking time was up. So up to Mount Eden we went. For some reason when we googled Mount Eden, it didn't bring us up to the lookout or parking area. We ended up at a residential area which needed a little trek up. 

We hiked up from here and did not meet anyone hiking up or down, or even at where we parked our car, so this was probably not the usual route. The path was a little steep but short.

After we were done taking hundreds of photos, we proceed to our next stop - dinner at FISH. Little P read some reviews and Fish was recommended as place to dine in Auckland. She made reservation prior and off we went. What we didn't realise until we googled for the address was that Fish was actually located inside Hilton Auckland.

So our first dinner in New Zealand was in Hilton. Upon finding out, we went back to Ibis and changed into a less shabby clothes, which was just out of shorts into jeans really.

Appetiser on the house

My main, which I shared with MMC - Duck leg risotto, farmers market beets, roasted shallots, parsley

There were two prices quoted, NZD 28 and NZD 38 - the difference between the two was the size. I took the smaller one.

Little P's slow cooked pork belly, kimchi, coriander oil, schezwan crackling, which she commented that was not crackled. NZD 37

Y's prawn salad, Baby gem lettuce, pancetta crumb, anchovy

This also come in two sizes, please note that the one above is supposed to be the main meal's portion, i.e. NZD 31

MMC's line caught ‘Fish n Chips’, chip shop chips, house ketchup, NZD 23, which I shared half. 

Luckily we also ordered a side of potatoes to share, but unfortunately they got our order wrong. We ordered glazed baby sweet potato, orange, chilli but what we were served was actually baby potato, horopito crème fraiche. We didn't send it back, though, maybe we should've...

Baby potato, horopito crème fraiche, NZD 8

The food was ok. In considering of the price and a restaurant in Hilton, I expect it to be better. Also, the prawn salad that Y had, that looked like entree portion, no?

We didn't have dessert in FISH but ended up grocery shopping snacks on our way back and ate in the room.

Walking back after dinner

Side note: CNY goodies are evil... need to hide them before I finish eating at one seating!

New Zealand: North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui

MMC wanted to go to NZ and proposed that we make a trip there. Both MMC and Little P have not been to NZ but I visited the South Island with my sister a few years back so am not keen on re-visiting the South Island when there is another whole island that I have not been to. Everybody were accommodating and so here's another 9 days itinerary, this time on north island, similar travel period too.

M = morning, A = afternoon, N = night

22/12, Day 00 - On flight*
23/12, Day 01 - Auckland* (Ibis Budget Auckland Central)
           [Auckland to Coromandel: ~2 hours 32 mins - 187.1 km]
24/12, Day 02 - Coromandel but overnight in Whitianga* (Shearwater on the Estuary)
           [Coromandel to Waitomo: ~ 3 hours 7 mins - 281.7 km]
25/12, Day 03 - Waitomo* (Waitomo Caves Hotel)
           [Waitomo to Rotorua: ~1 hour 50 mins, 138.7 km]
26/12, Day 04 - Rotorua* (Rotorua Hideaway Lodge)
27/12, Day 05 - Rotorua* (day trip to Hobbitton in Matamata)
           [Rotorua to Taupo: ~1 hour 1 min, 81 km]
28/12, Day 06 - Taupo* (Bella Vista Motel)
29/12, Day 07 - Taupo*
           [Taupo to Wellington: ~4 hours 42 mins, 371.6 km]
30/12, Day 08 - Wellington* (Quest on the Terrace Serviced Apartments)
31/12, Day 09 - Wellington, late afternoon flight out of Melbourne


Side note: It is to be noted that I have extremely little contribution to the trip... so much credit to Little P and her husband. 

Sydney: ... and some walking

We did walked a bit around Sydney but in no way it offsets the food intake. Regardless it made it easier to create an illusion that we could possibly justify all the indulgence. Haha.

It was just another week to Christmas when I was in Sydney so naturally the Christmas decorations were up. Heck, the supermarkets have now started selling hot cross just as we crossed to January 2018 when Easter is not till end of March.

This is the token tree at Martin Place, in the past the decorations were very similar every year but this one varies a bit more. Then of course, next up is the swarovski crystals decorated Christmas tree in Queen Victoria Building (QVB). The tree stood at 24 metres and goes across the three floors in QVB building. MMC walked passed it on ground floor and thought it was a bell. Haha.

The tree, of course, was always being some barrier which I assume is to prevent some curious hands accidentally took some along the way. It stands at 24 metres over three floors and apparently is Sydney's tallest Christmas tree.

Next to the famous and I dare say pricey Christmas tree, there was a dome looking thingy but the entrance was blocked off. Not sure if it was because we were there after regular opening hours.

Even without the Christmas tree, QVB is an impressive building and worth a visit. The shops are expensive but one don't need to do any shopping.

We then made our way St Mary's Cathedral to see The Light of Christmas, a light and sound show.

The show went on for about 10-15 minutes and then repeats itself. It started at 7:30 pm and continue all the way till midnight. I'm pretty sure this is a yearly event as I remember being at St Mary Cathedral for a light show when I was living in Sydney.

On our third day, we spent time at DFO Homebush after our breakfast and till past midday. After our Thai dinner at Chat Thai, we walked north to Milsons Point via the Cahill Walk / Harbour Bridge Walk.

Being 'overachiever' (more like walk to feel less stuffed of food), we walked the whole of Harbour Bridge and continued towards Luna Park.

It is still free to enter Luna Park Sydney (but the one in Melbourne is charging $2 now). Separate charges for rides. After walking around and stood around watching people screaming, we left. We were defeated and walked to Milsons Point train station. Haha. Not walking back.

 

In our very brief pockets of free time on day four, we walked to Broadway, cut through the Spice Alley and Chinatown.

We didn't eat at Spice Alley but the food options looked promising so next time when I am back in Sydney, I might make my way there to try it out.


Side note: Melbourne why are you  so hot lately? :|