Thursday 11 August 2016

Rotorua的一天两夜

滚动跳跃的泥潭
（你没看错题目，的确是一天两夜。首天到达已是傍晚，我们除了去采购食材，就只是呆在Paradise Valley Lodge。第二天全天在Rotorua观光。第三天还是呆在Paradise Valley Lodge，直到启程出发往Hobbiton驶去）


我选择Rotorua为我们在北岛的休息站。在这儿的一天两夜，当然也要见识一下滚动跳跃的泥潭、壮观的間歇泉和纽西兰独有的毛利文化Maori culture。

我们首先到市中心的Kuirau Park，这儿漫天硫磺味道，滚动的泥潭处处，倒是特别。想要见识纽西兰地热活动又想省钱的朋友真的可以考虑到Kuirau Park打一转。我们在Kuirau Park免费泡一泡脚后就到Rotorua Government Gardens，由于大家对这博物馆没有太大兴趣，我们就直接到Lake Rotorua享受悠游时光了。
Rotorua Government Gardens

Lake Rotorua湖畔静谧风光

黑天鹅处处

我们在Lakeside Cafe & Crafts选了个阴凉角落，在和煦日光中欣赏远处粼粼波光。虽然是旅游区，但食物意外的不错，价钱也合理。我们最爱的就是那一碗seafood chowder了，好香浓的！
(Address: Memorial Dr, Rotorua； Phone: +64 7-349 2626；Hours: Open daily: 8AM–4PM)







午餐后到Te Puia当游客去。下定决心要让人家好好的哄你开心，必定可以好好享受在Te Puia的时光。我们运气很好，Pohutu Geyser喷得起劲呢！


在Te Puia饱受硫磺味折磨后我们就‘回家’BBQ去。原本我是想象大家在户外热闹热闹的，但毕竟是秋天，夜里冷风吹来还是入骨。最后，怕冷的只好负责在屋内准备，不怕冷的就在外头烤。食材太新鲜了，怎么做怎么好吃。我爸甚至觉得在纽西兰十多天里，吃过最好吃的一餐就是我们这些非专业‘厨师’搞出来的烤肉烤菇烤菜！

大家要是到纽西兰游玩，好好的搞几场烧烤大会吧。



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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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