Wednesday, 10 August 2016

Paradise Valley Lodge



Paradise Valley Lodge位于Mt Ngongotaha，距离Rotorua市中心约十分钟车程，我选择住在这儿是为了那迷人郊区景色，更为了避开Rotorua的sulphur ‘香气’。


我们到达Paradise Valley Lodge时，天已经转黑。屋主就住在我们self-contained小屋的隔壁，她很友善地给我们介绍了屋内种种后就回家睡觉了。

屋内有三间设计一模一样的睡房，都是简简单单两张双层床，正适合我们这么一大组人。我最爱它的浴室设计，两间隔开的淋浴房（都有照暖灯）、两间隔开的厕所、洁白明亮的洗手台有两个洗脸盆，反正安排得当就不至于抢用浴室。这儿有个洗衣机，晾衣处还是heater，真是太让人满意了。

客厅、饭厅和开放式厨房非常开阔， fire place就在客厅一角。反正，即使是无所事事，这里也特别温馨和暖。



这里由于是郊区，几乎无光害。走到户外一抬头，漫天星光点缀着记忆。也就这一晚，我终于拍了我生平第一张银河照。




隔天睡醒，终于看清楚了Paradise Valley Lodge。屋主在半英亩的空地上种了许多花草，倒不负paradise之名。






再往下走，就是我最爱的清幽小径。穿过了小小蕨林，就到了鳟鱼聚居的小溪。小溪旁有供野餐的桌椅，爱钓鱼的人必定会爱上这地方。





看见鳟鱼了吗？


马儿都有寒衣穿
清晨，四周围农庄里的动物快乐歌唱。我在大自然的歌声中醒来，从睡床开窗往外看，羊呀、绵羊呀、乳牛呀都开始活动了。

我踩着朝露在四周打了一转，一种“众人皆睡我独醒”的童趣，特别惬意。





通往Rotorua的蜿蜒小路

我们的小邮箱


我们喜欢煮了早餐就到院子里用餐，难得大家住在一块儿，正可天南地北的。要不，在一片绿意中悠闲地享受静谧时光也真不错。

我们买了附近新鲜农作物，各种蔬果肉类，搞了个BBQ晚餐。由于食材新鲜，在微凉的夜里围着烤炉，肉类滋滋作响，香气漫溢……那一餐，是我们大家在纽西兰之旅最难忘的一餐。

如果你要到Rotorua游玩，不介意那十分钟的车程，那我真的要建议你到这Paradise Valley Lodge住上几晚，享受最安逸的时光……



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Friday, 5 August 2016

From Wellington to Rotorua

This is the longest drive of our New Zealand self-drive trip. Along the route we chose, we passed by a small stretch of west coastline, villages, farms and national parks. I enjoyed my drive. 



The distance from Wellington to Rotorua is about 460km and it takes about 5.5 hours without stopping. We, however, stopped as frequent as we wish. It took us almost 8 hours. These are some of the reasons you must stop from time to time:


We also passed by the Tongariro National Park via Desert Road. (Tongariro National Park was home to the Mordor). Mt Ngauruhoe in the Tongariro National Park was digitally altered to appear as Mount Doom but too bad there was no place for us to stop for photo session. Mount Ruapehu is good enough for me though.
Mount Ruapehu from State Highway 1

This is how a road trip should feel like


We had a brief stop at Lake Taupo before we stopped at Taupo town. I couldn't resist. It was so blue and the weather was great that day!


After taking tons of photos and lots of stretching at the lake side, finally we decided to head to Taupo Town and have late lunch at the Coolest McD in the World. Really, who doesn't want to have a meal in an aeroplane? And who can resist the "create-your-taste" burger!?





After lunch, we headed to Huka Falls as out final stop before we check in to Paradise Valley Lodge. Huka Falls is just a few minutes drive outside of Taupo town. You can hear the thundering sound even before you reach the entrance of the park.
Fun fact: The sheer volume of water flowing through the rock face of the mighty Waikato River amounts to 220,000 litres per second; enough to fill one Olympic sized swimming pool in 11 seconds!

We love the crystal clear blue! We love how the water roar and rumble! Standing at the foot bridge, you can witness the frightening display of Huka Falls power.





LOTR迷小贴士：Tongariro National Park was home to the Mordor, and much of Frodo and Sam's journey into the land of Sauron was filmed on and around the Tongariro National Park; Mt Ngauruhoe was digitally altered to appear as Mt Doom; Ithilien Camp was filmed near Mangawhero Falls; Rangipo Desert was the Mordor/Blackgate.



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Tuesday, 2 August 2016

Coolest Mc Donald in the World

I don't usually go McD. Fast food only comes into picture when the hygiene of that place is really in question, or when no one else is operating a restaurant at that hours (siesta / after 5pm / before 10am etc at various countries around the world!). However, during our recent New Zealand trip, I purposely planned a stop at Taupo for lunch, because, who doesn't want to sit inside a vintage plane and have a meal?
The plane, a Douglas DC3 aircraft, was built in 1943 and was one of three used by South Pacific Airlines of New Zealand from 1961 to 1966. 


You can only go to the aeroplane via the main building of the restaurant. Since there are no flight attendance serving food and drinks in the plane, this is only the logical arrangement.

Having fun!

This Mc Donald comes with the "create-your-taste" feature. You can go to the touchscreen and select EVERY INGREDIENTS that you wish to have in your burger. Though the process takes longer than normal, I really enjoyed the process. Selecting own ingredients made me feel like I'm the "designer" and I loved the outcome too.




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Sunday, 31 July 2016

多肉植物之砍头

我很爱给我的多肉植物砍头。我心理变态，不喜欢它们长太高太大，所以我时常修剪，砍头是个绝好的做法。（当然，如果你上网查一查，你会发觉我的方法不太正确。可是，我的“园艺宗旨”是活下来的证明它生命力强，活不下来娇生惯养我也不想种。哈哈！）

我的銘月长得不错，决定给它砍头。我向来懒惰，通常砍了头就直接把它插入泥土。这次想看看长根的速度，于是学人家放了一小盆水，砍头处的伤口不可碰及水面，就这样摆在一旁即可。


两个星期后就看见根了，看仔细些还有个小BB呢。



像铭月这般生命力强的多肉，砍头可以不按牌理出牌，就这么简单的又多了一棵呢。
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Saturday, 30 July 2016

YHA Wellington City和Celsius Coffee

YHA Wellington City的硬体设备并不像青年旅舍。外观和许多三星酒店没什么两样，房间设计相当宽广，感觉上比我们的budget hotel还好呢。七层楼的宿舍有两架电梯，带老人小孩都不怕。

虽说感觉像budget hotel，但只要一走到common area，立刻可以感受到青年旅舍特有的青春洋溢。来自世界各地的年轻人很惬意地游来晃去，很多交流呢！

厨房和饭厅很大，设备应有尽有。阅读区、电视区都设计得非常舒服。洗衣室在顶楼，可以看见Wellington海湾。

而我最喜欢的，就是楼下lobby旁那个小小的咖啡档口。

纽西兰人都以自己的咖啡为傲，而我在纽西兰这十三天，喝过最好喝的咖啡竟然就是一家youth hostel里小小的一个咖啡档口。

这小小咖啡档口叫做Celsius Coffee，只有一个小小吧台（拥挤一点可以坐5个人吧），YHA Wellington City的住户可以以NZD6买个早餐套餐（一杯咖啡和一个bagel）。

我们买了到YHA的饭厅边聊边吃，咖啡香浓，多添几分写意！

如果你打算到访Wellington，决定来个budget旅行，YHA Wellington City是个很好的选择。地点上佳（年轻人要走到Te Papa Museum也不是问题）、干净、设备好，最重要是，你一走下lobby就有咖啡飘香，买一杯到对面waterfront晃，多爽！

从我们房间可以看见日出哦！

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Friday, 29 July 2016

美丽首都Wellington


虽然我对于到城市旅行没有太热衷，但有时候在乡间呆久了，偶尔会想念城市的热闹。而Wellington，便是这样子喜欢上的。

Cuba Street
她也不特别热闹，但首都应有的商业区、购物区、旅游区、公园等她都有。可能有人会嫌弃Cuba Street浓浓的tourist trip的味道，但我可不介意。我喜欢这一区的浓浓人文气息，每个转角都有咖啡飘香、艺术家献艺……

我好爱这家二手书店

他歌声很好呢！

一晃间还以为真是古巴


我们在Cuba Street吃了一顿让我们难忘的午餐后，原想乘cable car上Wellington Botanical Garden，可是Waze把我们‘带到荷兰’去，只见购物区不见cable car station，于是我们决定直接驾车上山。山上泊车位有限，而且很陡，想来cable car还是最佳选择。公园很干净美观，偶尔有一两棵转黄的树提醒我们这是秋天。秋天的四五点，天已经快暗下来了，而且渐渐转冷，公园里除了我们没什么人踪，于是我们草草饶了一圈就到YHA报到去了。


宿舍附近都是酒吧、餐厅，热闹得很。宿舍后面有家人气很旺的Monsoon Poon，一伙人听我说是亚洲fusion，开开心心浩浩荡荡走去吃晚餐。原以为都是‘骗红毛’的玩意儿，没想到真的好吃，难怪高朋满座。吃了晚餐再到宿舍对面的New World 打个转，难得不必在六点过后就回房间，大家很满意呢。

这，总算有城市的味道……
LOTR迷小贴士：Mount Victoria上有一片森林是Hobbiton Woods拍摄地点。兴致高昂的可以驾车到Hutt River 看River Anduin；或到Harcourt Park看Gardens of Isengard；再远一点到Kaitoke Regional Park 就有Rivendell了。Wellington还有个Weta Workshop，但时间有限，我甚至不敢把这排在行程里。



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