Day 1: Rotorua, New Zealand

Chinese Version / 中文版本

This trip to New Zealand was decided on impulse. My companion was informed by me in the last minute that we were not going to Egypt when I bought the flight tickets. In such short notice, she didn't oppose to my suggestion, despite she knew nothing about New Zealand. As a result, Egypt trip was adjourned indefinitely, and New Zealand, here we go!

Before going on this trip, I had planned several itineraries to fit our 10-day schedule. However, the fewer days we have, the more places we want to visit. Eventually, I made a road map after doing some research and our routine would be focused more on the South Island as: Hong Kong - Rotorua - Auckland - Christchurch - Lake Tekapo - Milford Sound - Queenstown - Franz Josef - Greymouth - Christchurch - Hong Kong

My first A380 experience

After landing in Auckland's airport, we immediately rented a car for our 10-day journey. The car rental company was so helpful that we could directly clear all procedures for both North and South Island, meaning we would not need to rent a new car all over again on our arrival at Christchurch airport few days later. 

Driving a car in New Zealand is quite a challenge for me, as I get used to driving on the left side in the states. Moreover, I rarely drive in Hong Kong. Therefore, it was pretty hard for me to adapt to the right wheel driving in New Zealand for the first few hours. The whole day of today was just for driving. Luckily, the highways of New Zealand are not very complicated, we ended up spending 4 hours to drive to Rotorua from Auckland's airport without a GPS.

On the way to Rotorua

All we did at once was to check in for the hostel, then we briskly go to the main destination of today - Polynesian Spa, since I am the biggest fan of hot-spring. Indulging myself in the soothing hot-spring on the first day of this trip might sound a bit extravagant, but soaking in the hot-spring could certainly loosen myself up from the stressful work, which I needed very much. Also, the hot-spring can energize my body, so that I will be fully charged in the coming days to be a 10-day driver. I couldn't even think of one reason for not coming to this marvelous place.

Rainbow - reward after 4-hour drive

As expected, the hot-spring was wonderful, although some of the pool contained some weird pieces as if someone was scrubbing foot in the water. In the dark, I couldn't see it clearly, hence I would rather say those were the minerals of the hot-spring, in order not to ruin the moment. 

After such amazing activity, we called it a night and headed back to the hostel. We will have a more hectic day for tomorrow, can't wait!