New Zealand 2011–Christchurch (Day 1)

The 10 hours flight wasn’t so bad… especially since it was on Singapore Airlines. The last time was on Air New Zealand and it was sheer boredom without any real inflight entertainment.

We arrived in the morning and planned a night’s stay in Christchurch mainly to sort out the rest of the travel plans… or rather, to get on to the planning. One of the first things was to get in touch with the car rental company Apex. The nice guys at Apex have already given me their contact but the airport’s information counter was kind to help as well.

Unless you were with Avis or Hertz, where the rental cars are parked right at the airport and you just need to pick them up from there, the other companies provide courtesy pick-up to fetch you to their office to sort out the documents and collect the car. We opted for a Rav4 but we got a Subaru Forester… excellent ride.

First of business was to check in. It was an easy drive to where we were staying. We brought our own GPS which was really useful in the city areas. However, due to the major reconstruction in Christchurch, the GPS was pretty useless.

As usual, we were lost as to what to do or where to go after we checked in. Unfortunately, it was only 2pm and sun doesn’t set till maybe 9pm. So we decided to do some grocery shopping up before bumming around Avon River for a bit but really, it wasn’t quite worth the trip.

So we started looking at the map and place called Lyttelton came up. It is a port town some 20km away from Christchurch and we thought it would be nice to take the car out of the city to have dinner. Of course, the immediate concern was if we were able to make it back before night falls since we wanted to avoid driving at night. Concerns aside, we went ahead anyway.

Driving to Lyttelton gave us the first taste of what it was like to be driving in NZ. The landscape changed rapidly from built-up areas with traffic lights to two-way winding roads with extensive hills on the side.

Lyttelton houses the city’s container port and this stems from the town’s history as a harbour town where the first Europeans landed. Despite being a port town, it pretty much retains the small town quaint and charm. 

Unfortunately, traces of destruction from the February quake were evident everywhere throughout the town. Since we could not find any restaurants (probably we didn’t look hard enough), we decided to drive further down the road to Governor’s Bay.

Being on a hillside, the road to Governor’s Bay was pretty narrow and winding. However, it also offers fantastic view of the bay area.

Governor’s Bay is but a small settlement with probably two noticeable landmarks – the school and the historic Governor’s Bay Hotel.

Dinner was at Governor’s Bay Hotel. No doubt small but it has got a homely feeling. Definitely a great place to celebrate a wedding engagement or family gathering.

Not wanting to drive in the dark, we finished dinner and were off to the hotel before 9pm. In any case, Christchurch’s pretty dead by the time night fell.

New Zealand 2011–Pre Trip/Post Trip

We spent some time over two weeks in December for our honeymoon.

We were quite sure we wanted to do a self drive and NZ seemed like a easy choice. Unfortunately, we were quite ill prepared due to the proximity to our wedding and work commitments thereafter. At least we managed to get air tickets, albeit slightly more expensive due to bad timing (after natas fair).

Having had no plan, we took the more expensive full fare which allowed the flexibility of flight change. Luckily we did because we did change our flight – instead of flying into Auckland and ex Christchurch, we did a Christchurch return. Yes, we never liked to rush our vacations.

Given the short time to plan and unfamiliarity with the geography of South Island, I got lazy and tried to get someone over the internet to do the planning. That way, we just needed to pay the money. It turns out that the savings wasn’t as much and it was too much hassle waiting for each other’s replies. We went about planning our own trip in the end with less than two weeks to spare.

For those who are interested, this was our itinerary. We deliberately arranged for a mix of accommodation for the experience. Most motels were ok, homestays were the best, holiday houses not too bad and hotels, felt like hotels.

Christchurch	City Centre Motel	S$160
Kaikoura	Holiday House	S$280 (2 nights)
Punakaiki	Havenz	S$170
Fox Glacier	Lake Matheson Motel	S$140
Wanaka	Berry Farm	NZD 180
Queenstown	St Moritz	S$ 505 (3 nights, suite)
Te Anau	Amber Court	S$150
Milford Sound	Overnight Cruise	S$ 1000 (1 night, 2 pax)
Dunedin	Chapel Apartments	S$380 (2 nights)
Lake Tekapo	Parkbrae Estate	S$540 (2 nights)
Christchurch	The George	S$270 (1 night)

 

Would recommend Apex Car Rentals, rather fuss free and decent, clean cars. Do opt for the full insurance coverage – believe me, I know when I say it’s worth the extra fee.

Noticed that we are doing the pre/post trip on the same post. Work’s been piling so less time to blog. But we will do an update again.

Maldives 2011–Goodbye Velassaru

All good things must come to an end and after 5 days of total relaxation, it was time to go.

Checking out was fuss free. The day before, they will drop a letter in your room stating your return flight number and time. The proposed check out time was also indicated – we were slated for 0930hrs check-out with the boat leaving at 1030hrs.

All that was required was to pay for any chargeable items at the lobby and wait for the ferry to be ready. The bags were picked up by the bell service direct from the rooms so we won’t see it until we got to the airport.

So that leaves us time to horse around.

Some last shots with the polaroid.

And why didn’t we spot this coconut tree earlier?

And then it was really time to go… the head of guest relations and staff members stood by the jetty, waving goodbyes until our boat was far out across the horizon. Heart warming, as much as it was cruel. lol.

Long queue to enter the airport. The difference between their airport and ours … it is restricted area the moment you enter. I would recommend doing the online check-in like we did because the other queues were pretty long. Most of them probably forgot to settle the little admin stuff amidst the fun in their resorts.

The airport wasn’t as dead as I thought it would be. Plenty of souvenir shops but seriously, what meaning souvenir could we buy. Stuff ranged from souvenirs, to electronics and dive equipment (Scubapro). Oh, there was a Dome cafe and …

… the aptly named Departure Restaurant. Talk about having a last meal before your flight.

There was very little to do and so we went to our gate like the rest.

Our ride home was prepped and raring to go. We, on the other hand were of the opposite sentiment.

Joyce takes stock of her polaroid exploits and before long, it was time to board. Maybe the ground staff sensed our boredom. Being the typical singaporeans, we took snapshots.

And that concludes our Maldives trip.

Which we will remember for a long long time. It was a trip that wasn’t planned for but materialised anyway. It was a location which we always thought were out of reach but went ahead anyway…

… and it was a location just 4.5hrs away from Singapore. tmd, so fast reach home.

Maldives 2011–Dive Velassaru

It One of the things we wanted to do was to dive. Unfortunately, Joyce is not certified so we got her the Discover Scuba and I accompanied her by signing for the Scuba Review, which I didn’t really need.

We initially signed up to dive on the 2nd day so that we can leave the 3rd day to do other stuff (like snorkelling trip!). But just 1 hr before the dive…

… looks like not every day is Sunday. A storm came and so we postponed the dive to the next day… and it stopped as fast as it came. Unfortunately, it was too late to reverse our decision and so we stuck with the postponed proposal. But the staff at Immersion were flexible enough to let watch the video first so that we could go straight for the dive the next day.

It was a morning to look forward to – I have not been diving for some time and it was interesting to see how Joyce would handle the dive. Plus, I was really curious about what people did at Discover Scuba.

So basically, it was just 3 drills they needed to learn at shallow depths:

- Replacing the regulator

- Retrieving the regulator

- Mask clearing

 

And we were good to go!

They allowed Joyce to swim underwater on her own, so that was great for a first timer. Imagine how boring it would have been if she was held on all the time.

Because it was Discover Scuba, the depth limitation was 10m. The area was largely sandy bottom so initially there were only coral clusters but we began to see the reef cliff which was a bit more interesting.

For me, discovering underwater photography was the fun part.

And it was sure harder than terrestrial photography. So difficult to fiddle with the controls, i gave up and shot on Auto.

Being the responsible dive buddy, I looked back often…

… looks like she’s pretty comfortable for her first time. Well, the total bottom time was around 45 mins.

The saddest part of the dive…

… and a job well done.

Now we are gonna get her certified after the wedding.

Maldives 2011– Snorkelling Velassaru

In my opinion, if you didn’t like water sports or even the Sun, the money will be better spent elsewhere. It was really puzzling to see individuals who appear around the resort in long sleeves and caps, nothing less. And even more so when I see them swim in the same attire, seriously, caps?!

Snorkelling and swimming are probably the most worthwhile activities since they are free.

Snorkelling gear is loaned out to you for free for your length of stay – just needa sign them out from the dive centre, Immersion. It was pretty decent gear compared to parts of South East Asia… and they gave fins.

The other favourite activity is doing nothing.

We requested for rooms on the western side of the island as it is nearer to the snorkelling area. The depth was a manageable 1m or so and the best time was probably in the morning when it was less choppy. Most of the time, we did it in the afternoon and evening – the currents were pretty strong and that stopped us from reaching out further to the barrier reef some distance out.

Otherwise you will see small clusters of corals.

Of course danger lurks with the presence of Titan Triggerfish nesting around the area. The current pushing me towards them wasn’t helping either. But there were bigger fishes too…

… which you see very often even when not snorkelling.

Overall, I think the snorkelling could be better if we ventured out further but we were too lazy to wake up earlier.

Alternatively, you could sign up for a snorkel trip to somewhere out there for 50 USD which I’m sure offered better sightings. Unfortunately the trip clashed with our diving schedule =(.

Maldives 2011–Around Velassaru

Velassaru Maldives themes its design around the minimal chic concept . This makes for interesting colour and shapes around the resort, providing loads of photo opportunities. Some for sharing:

The poolside was a favourite hangout place for many. The blue hues of the infinity pool and the ocean is only separated by a vast white sandy beach.

Great white beach.

There is always someone at the jetty end to welcome new guests.

The yacht that was always there. Almost postcard perfect.

The end of the infinity pool.

This is pretty much the view we wake up to. The beach is a mere 10-20 sec walk from our door step.

The view from the water villas.

Beautiful curves.

The dustbin that served well as my tripod.

Velassaru staff in their trademark white/turquoise sarong with blue top. Love these colour combinations.

Good evening Velassaru.

And hello, good morning again.

Maldives 2011–Eat @ Velassaru

We heard about how expensive the food was in Maldives and therefore we opted for the full board meal plan. The good thing is that you’d never have to fret over what to eat, the bad thing is that you are tied to just one restaurant throughout your stay – Vela.

This is also where you have breakfast for almost everyone who stayed with Velassaru. The breakfast spread is pretty in line with standard 5 star hotels – salads, cheese, omelettes, croissants, danishes, toasts, etc. If you are a late riser, have a good breakfast and skip lunch altogether.

The staff here were pretty impressive and meticulous. They made the effort to remember your room number and your brew preferences.

Tea was served in a pot and so was the coffee. You can also ask for specialty brews like cappuccino at no extra charge.

Since we were on full board, lunch was also served at Vela. The only difference is that the starters is buffet style and you order the mains off the menu.

Some of the mains we ordered over the course of our stay there:

The fish and chips was just passable.

The King Prawns were pretty good for quick bites.

The unexpected catch of the day yielded some deep sea fish which I have never heard of, it was not too bad.

The pasta was good according to my wife, i felt it tasted like SAF’s combat ration.

The wok fried noodles was simple but okay.

Overall, if I were to choose again, I would not opt for any meal plan because it gets a little bored eating at the same restaurant. Plus, if you had late breakfast, you would be too full for lunch too. Dinner buffet revolves around a different theme every night but still not exciting enough. I would love to try the other restaurants if not for the fact that they could not allow me to switch my meal plan, although food wasn’t a great concern for me.

Despite going full board, drinks were NOT inclusive, which defeats the purpose of going full board. A 1 litre bottle of water will cost you 5USD even though you have 2 same bottles given free everyday by the resort sitting in your room.

On a side note, if you have high water intake and 2 large bottles of water is not enough for you, I would recommend you bringing along maybe 2 or 3 bottles from your home country. We did that but they were hardly touched as the 2 daily complimentary bottles were more or less sufficient.

Maldives 2011–Velassaru Maldives

We picked our stay at Velassaru Maldives because it was reasonably priced and the webpage looked presentable. But really, we picked it because we liked the turquoise theme on the web site. Haha.

June is probably the lull period over there presumably due to the weather. But we got more than enough sunshine than we bargained for. We only experienced one passing shower on our 3rd day – yes, passing shower as in a 5 min downpour and it was over. Probably the only cloudy day but hey, the sea is still blue and the view’s great.

The atoll which Velassaru sits on is surrounded by sandy bottom which is probably 1m deep even if you venture out 50m out to sea. That was great for snorkelling.

Accomodation wise, we took the Deluxe Bungalow, which was the lower range of rooms. Still, it was super near to the beach, like maybe a 5 sec walk to reach the beach. We opted for rooms on the western end of the island since that was the better snorkelling site away from boat traffic near the jetty.

Anyway, that’s our humble Maldivian home, fully furnished with outdoor couch.

The bedroom area sits on the upper deck of the hut while the living area is one step down.

You also get a full glass panel with a great view of your own sandy garden.

The bathroom area is actually outdoor themed with a mini garden. Apart from the bath tub, there is also an outdoor shower area.

There’s no need to jostle for the beach chairs because every room comes with 2 dedicated ones at the beach.

Feel free to leave your stuff lying around as well. Nobody will pick them no matter how valuable anyway. Everyone’s too slack to do anything else but to slack.

Maldives 2011– Part 1

Raring to go and Norman offered to send us off to the airport.

Arrival at Male was pretty late at night. The flight was not as turbulent as some some drama queen described on the forums, we had worse en route Hong Kong.

And as expected, no aerobridges for such small airports. And they were pretty lax about taking photos on the tarmac, plus everyone did it. You may also want to note that the plane positions itself portside to the terminal so if you like to have photos of the airport, get a seat on the port side.

Immigration clearance was pretty… slow. But then again, no one is in a hurry.

Once out, the respective representatives from the resorts will be there to pick up the guests. Well, we couldn’t find ours but everyone was glad to help. Seeing that we were lost, this guy from another resort showed us to our resort counter. The rep from Velassaru took our details and our bags while we did nothing.

Because the airport sits on an island itself, everyone had to either take a boat or the seaplane. But anyway, 25 mins later, we were at the resort jetty, greeted by a welcome drink and a nice cold towel. A short 5 min orientation was conducted by the staff and ended at the reception area for check in.

Once again, fuss free check in and we were driven to our bungalow on a buggy. The room has been prepped for our arrival with the lights switched on and the air conditioning as well.  There again, the staff gave a presentation of the room to tell where the things are and stuff like that.

Notice that we have not touched our baggage since we arrived at Male Airport? It arrived in our room shortly after we did. That was truly door to door service.

By then it was late and probably close to 1am Singapore time.

Maldives 2011–Pre Trip

We are going Maldives!

Once again the idea was derived from a series of indecisiveness and was really a long shot from the original plan of doing Siem Reap and then beach out at Krabi.

The connections were too complicated and involved too many transfers. To cut the chase, the wife suggested Maldives and the more we read about it, the more enticing it got.

So there we will be for 5 days of fuss free holidays.

The itinerary is like so:

Day 1	Depart SIN, Arrive Male at 2215hrs, 20 min boat ride, Check In
Day 2	Beach out
Day 3	Beach out
Day 4	Beach out
Day 5	Depart Male at 1230hrs, Arrive SIN at 2030hrs

 

So it will be 4 Nights stay. Of course there are certain days which departs SIN in the morning but our schedule could not meet since it was too last minute.