It's been a few months since I returned from New Zealand, but travelogue has been in debt. The delivery of the new house plus the change of work is too turbulent in the heart, and it is really not suitable for code words. However, the recent smoggy days in Hangzhou have made me miss the pure sky on the other side of the globe.
After the trip, there are always some images and fragments that will settle in the bottom of the heart, scattered in the mud and sand of memory, fine and warm. They enrich your entire life and jump out at certain moments, transforming into a smile on your lips and a glint in the corner of your eye.
For more than ten days, I traveled through cities, villages, beaches, and grasslands in foreign countries, feeling the tension of life under the bright or gloomy sky. Occasionally, I think about questions outside of travel, about myself, life, happiness, meaning, and so on. Countless days and nights after my return, my mind flashed back to certain moments of that journey, when I was lying on the edge of the Polynesian Spa pool and looking at the sunset-shrouded lake Rotorua; when I marveled at Kaiteriteri's silence as if I could hear nothing but birds; when I waited for the sunset in the cold wind on Lake Tekapo When I stand at the summit of Remarkable Mountain overlooking the whole of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu at my feet; when I jump from the 55-meter bungee platform and my heart tightens; when I accidentally harvest a big rainbow at Kaka point. Thank you for always standing next to me in every moment of throbbing heart, imagining that in the depths of your heart, just like me - because of the scene in front of you, around me, and the heart is touched and beautiful!
Gorgeous dividing line ********************
The strategy part will be updated on the first floor, you have something you want to know, you can reply to the following post.
Travelogue will be updated in the reply post.
★ Itinerary:
D1 September 27 Hangzhou-Guangzhou
D2 September 28 Guangzhou-Auckland
D3 September 29 Auckland - North Island Bay - Auckland
D4 September 30 Auckland – Matamata – Rotorua
D5 October 1 Rotorua – Lake Taupo – Wellington
D6 October 2 Wellington – Picton – Nelson – Kaiteriteri
D7 October 3 Kaiteriteri – Westport – Greymouth
D8 October 4 Greymouth – Hokitika-Fox Glacier
D9 October 5 Fox Glacier - Greymouth - Lake Tekapo - Queenstown
D10-D11 Oct 6 - Oct 7 Queenstown
D12 October 8 Queenstown - Wanaka - Te Anau
D13 October 9 Te Anau – Milford Sound – Stirling Point – Invercargill
D14 October 10 Invercargil – Waipapa Point – Long Point – Nugget Point – Kaka Point – Dunedin.
D15 October 11 Dunedin – Christchurch – Lake Tekapo
D16 October 12 Lake Tekapo – Christchurch – Auckland
D17 October 13 Guangzhou-Hangzhou
road map:
North Island Roadmap:
South Island Route Map:
First play the video: 17 days around the south and north islands of New Zealand
【Hit by happiness - pie in the sky】
In the Qingming Dynasty of 2013, in the small town of Thames in Shanghai, our conversation about travel plans finally reached an impasse. At the end of the year, the new house was delivered, I didn't want to rely too much on my parents, I needed to prepare a large amount of decoration money; I wanted to upgrade the camera, Dragon Dance wanted to buy a new lens; I didn't want to stop walking. We have to choose and balance between daily life and travel. As a result, places like New Zealand that spend more than 2W per capita can undoubtedly only be placed after the new house is occupied.
Shortly after returning from Shanghai, I accidentally saw an advertisement for the "New Zealand Adventure wonderland" campaign on a website, and I clicked on the New Zealand video of Li Backpack and Du Xiaochu on the Ant Honeycomb. To be honest, the enticing "Win Double Round Trip Ticket" on the promotional link didn't excite me at the time, because in my opinion, it was as unreal as the lottery's $5 million. The reason I spent a few minutes completing that little game was because it showed you the real scenery based on the name of the place you chose. After completion, weibo as required, and then forget it quickly. Two days later, we agreed on an eleven itinerary and purchased a round-trip ticket to Thailand.
On May 10th, the day after Dragon Dance's birthday, I was resting at home. The mobile phone prompts Weibo private message, pick it up to see a winning message - alas, another liar! A few minutes later, I picked up my phone again – I seemed to see "New Zealand Wonderland"? I still have some impressions of that event. Read the private message back and forth twice, restrain my inner ecstasy, and use the computer to click on the other party's Weibo. The other party's self-introduction is "Tourism New Zealand's official Weibo", Sina-certified Blue V users, have a very large fan base, the signature has the official website of Tourism New Zealand, and several small and famous travelers I follow have also paid attention to this Weibo. Numerous messages show me: the other party is not a liar! So, I wouldn't be dreaming, would I? I burst out laughing at home alone (because I thought that if I suddenly heard a loud noise in a dream, I would be awakened), which caused Nana, Jiajia, and Mao Mao (the three cat princesses in the house) to look at me in amazement. Then I found myself not waking up – which means I wasn't dreaming! I actually! Seems true! Became the first big winner of this event! I danced back and forth between the living room and bedroom with cheerful steps, humming a pleasant rhythm in my mouth and expressing incomparable excitement. I seemed to be laughing all the time, unable to restrain myself, looking out the window at the soft sunset, happy like a child!
【From Thailand to New Zealand】
Ann told me on the phone that she would give me the contact details of the contact persons of China Southern Airlines and the other 5 free projects, so that I could determine the travel time and itinerary myself, completely self-help. This certainly makes me happy and more certain that they are a reliable institution.
As I said before, we had booked our round-trip tickets to Eleven Thailand and wanted to spend 10 days in Chiang Mai's PAI and Koh Samui. But now that they have suddenly won the prize, Thailand and New Zealand have become fish and bear paws. One is because of the time, read a few New Zealand travelogues /guides, the country takes at least half a month, such a long holiday generally needs to be with the statutory 7 days long holiday; second, because of the money, the previous plan for this year's large travel budget is Thailand, and before leaving to get a new camera and lens. Now that it's New Zealand, it's such a beautiful place, and the budget for new cameras and lenses must not be cut, but even if Tourism New Zealand provides so many resources, the cost of New Zealand is still much higher than that of Thailand.
Happily refund the round-trip ticket to Thailand, although the handling fee still makes us a little sad. Prepare for your trip to New Zealand with peace of mind, confirm your itinerary, buy a plane ticket, book accommodation, translate your driver's license, apply for a visa, and expand the team to 4 people (the two mothers couldn't resist the temptation to join us). At the end of August, we received a passport from the embassy and issued a visa smoothly, so that a hanging heart was finally put down. New Zealand, at last, has become as tangible as it is. The grasslands, the oceans, the islands, the cattle and sheep all seemed to be smiling and waving at us in the southern hemisphere sun.
[Language is not a survival instinct]
First, introduce the basic situation of the mothers of the two non-team members: Dragon Dance Mother: the eldest sister in the family, with greater courage, strong independence, and has not stepped out of the country; Beaver Mother: timid and playful, more dependent on people, has been out of the country several times, but is with the group and with brothers and sisters or friends. The only self-guided tour was to go to Sanya with the beaver, but the beaver was responsible for taking care of everything, and she only cared about eating, drinking and playing pose. Neither mom spoke English.
China Southern Airlines provided me and Dragon Dance with round-trip tickets from Hangzhou to Auckland (excluding tax) and allowed us to use them during the eleventh period. Because of the language problems of the two mothers, it is natural to buy a flight with us, but the fare of China Southern Airlines is greatly affected by domestic holidays, and the fare of the time period we choose is really ridiculously expensive, and the staff of China Southern Airlines really let me go to see the tickets of other airlines. In the end, we decided to abandon China Southern Airlines, and the outbound Cathay Pacific flight departed earlier than China Southern Airlines, needed to connect in Hong Kong, and arrived in Auckland 4 hours earlier than us. In other words, the two of them had to set off on their own and join us in Auckland. Not only to transit independently, but more importantly: to enter Auckland independently – through Customs and the so-called extremely strict Agriculture and Forestry Service.
I prepared a cross-reference table of common questions in both English and Chinese, and wrote a self-introduction as my mother, detailing our flight numbers and arrival times. I am afraid that in case they encounter a situation that cannot be communicated during the entry process, they can take out the paper and show it to the other party, so that the other party can understand their basic situation and the purpose of the trip, and wait for us to solve the problem.
On September 25, Dragon Dance Mother flew to Hangzhou in advance to meet my mother. We checked their luggage to make sure there were no contraband. Prepare copies of all their documents, insurance policies, and reservations for the first night's stay (if our plane is delayed, the moms can take a taxi to the hotel with the address on the reservation form instead of being silly at the airport) and enough New Zealand dollar cash. After everything you can think of, the biggest concern is still language. So, I conveyed to them over and over again that language is not a survival instinct, but an acquired life skill, not to rely too much on it, to mobilize other organs of the body to try to communicate. So many people who travel the world can't learn the languages of all countries, but they still walk on the road all year round.
Before the afternoon and evening rush hour on the 27th, we were speeding on the airport highway, and the mood was the same as the car, full of happiness. Dad called and said moms had gone through security and asked us to pay attention to safety or something. To be honest, there is still some concern about the two mothers, first, they have never flown for more than 10 hours in a row, I don't know if their bodies will be overwhelmed; second, after they get off the plane in Auckland, they will encounter any trouble if they can't understand or understand. But this fear could not be resolved, and it was eventually buried in my excitement for the trip.
【Inexplicable work and rest time of the crew】
China Southern Airlines domestic flights to Auckland are all transiting in Guangzhou, and when Hangzhou Airport printed the boarding pass, it directly typed out both flight segments, and also confirmed with the airport staff of China Southern Airlines that Guangzhou transfer did not need to take baggage. Outside the window of the waiting hall, only the afterglow of the setting sun remains. And tonight, for us, it's just getting started.
Guangzhou airport transfer, at the fork in the road to international flights and domestic flights, Dragon Dance asked me if I wanted to transfer, I said no, go straight in. Follow the crowd through the checkpoints, and then I thought, although my mother did not have a tour guide, and I couldn't figure out what the difference between security, customs, and border inspection was, but as long as I found the right place, I should not be able to make a mistake with others.
When I checked in Hangzhou, I heard Dragon Dance say that my mother's plane was late, thinking that they should be sitting on the plane to Auckland waiting to take off, so I took out my mobile phone and called my mother. Knowing that they had already boarded the plane and that everything was fine, he hung up the phone after explaining a few words about the arrival of Auckland. The two men wandered around the duty-free shop at the Guangzhou airport, bought a few bottles of skin care products, and then obediently went to the boarding gate to wait.
Nearly 0 o'clock, boarding on time, the brain struggles between excitement and drowsiness. The aircraft was clean and the seats were spacious. I opened the blanket and put it on my body, planning to wait for the plane to fly together and go to bed, sleep it for seven or eight hours, almost tomorrow at 8 o'clock in the morning, 12 noon New Zealand time, and then get up to eat something, watch a movie, pack up and almost get off the plane. As a result, my beautiful plan was beaten to pieces by the flight attendants. When I first took off, the radio kept talking non-stop, and I squinted my eyes, thinking that when the safety tips were finished, I would naturally turn off the lights and turn off the radio to let us sleep. Unexpectedly, this flight that took off in the middle of the night to fly for 10 hours did not consider that our biological clock was already going to sleep, and it was not related to the meaning of lights after taking off for 1 hour. Not only did they not turn off the lights, the flight attendants actually pushed the dining car to deliver us drinks, and what was more exaggerated was that they immediately delivered meals to us after delivering drinks. At this time, it was about 2 a.m. Beijing time and 6 a.m. New Zealand time, and I really didn't know whether I was eating supper or breakfast. I squinted my eyes at the unattractive airplane meal and complained why the staff didn't turn off the lights and let us sleep. Who came up with this point to eat and drink? Dragon Dance comforted me by saying that this was helping us adjust the jet lag, and I looked at him in horror: "It's early morning New Zealand time, is this the breakfast for me, don't they plan to let us sleep, are they?" "Probably..."
Send me more meals at 2 a.m.:
Fortunately, it was not said by the crow mouth of the dragon dance, and when everyone was full of food and drink, finally the cabin was also dimmed and ready to let everyone sleep, the window was dark and cold, only the lights on the plane flashed, I used a blanket to wrap myself tightly as much as possible, and fell asleep. But I didn't sleep soundly, as if I woke up not long ago. There are people who wake up one after another asking about the time, asking and then going to sleep, sleeping for a while and waking up before asking. Flight attendants always have to determine first: "Beijing time?" In fact, what I want to know more is: "Where am I now?" Crossing the equator? ”
It is almost noon in New Zealand, the sun is already shining outside the window, but the cabin is still creating a sleeping atmosphere in the dark, and the passengers are also wandering between sleep and wake-up. Someone tried to pull up the window blackout, but was stopped by the flight attendant, saying that it could not affect the sleep of others. I looked at the Dragon Dance in surprise: "What time is it?" Also sleep! Can't adjust the time difference? ”
As the time from the past flight attendants was delayed a little, the surrounding area slowly became lively. Pull up the blackout board, the bright and dangling sun outside made me feel shocked when I didn't have enough sleep, and I hope that Auckland can also have such a good weather. The second in-flight meal came, which I understood to be a lunch in Oakland time, and the food seemed to be better than the domestic flight, at least more variety. Fill in the immigration card and think about my mother, they have arrived now, are they all right? Holding the camera to shoot the clouds and the sea, I also recorded a few videos, eagerly looking forward to the moment of landing, but also slightly worried about my mothers.
A touch of emerald green:
This meal is still relatively normal:
It's almost here, and it's so beautiful here:
【Gang of Four SuccessfulLy Met】
The first glimpse I saw of New Zealand through the window as the plane descended slowly did not disappoint me. Thinking about the next ten days of travel, it is even more exciting. I got off the plane with the big troops, and at the same time called my mother, and learned that their entry was very smooth, and they were already waiting for us in the lobby outside, and finally put their minds at ease.
In the past, when I was a volunteer at the Beijing Human and Animal Environmental Protection Science Popularization Center, I was deeply impressed by the two retired anti-drug dogs inside, and later read "Baghdad Has Love" written by a us lieutenant colonel, and I admired the good quality and upbringing of working dogs. After doing our homework and knowing that there were working dogs in both customs and agriculture and forestry, we began to search for dogs after passing the border check. A handsome young man appeared in front of him leading a dog with a blue leash, which was customs. The handsome customs guy motioned for us to put our backpacks down for the dog to check, and I watched with curiosity as it carefully checked our luggage. Then ask customs, can we take a picture of it? The handsome man agreed and cooperatively asked the dog to sit down.
Only to find out that the signs along the way were in Chinese and English, which shows how many Chinese abroad now:
It is recommended that when you pass through here, you take a copy of "ARRIVAL", free, there are discount coupons for many attractions in New Zealand, we have taken a total of four copies, one for each person, and the tickets are used later.
Customs working dog, I think it is Labrador, Dragon Dance said no, who raises Lara, come and recognize it~
Then came the legendary Extremely Strict Agriculture and Forestry Department, because I had a disagreement with Dragon Dance about the English interpretation on the immigration card — he thought that the common medicines we carried didn't need to be declared, but I thought all drugs were required to be declared. So, we all filled out our respective immigration cards according to our own understanding - I ticked the medicine item, he did not. But Dragon Dance declared the hiking boots on his feet. The staff of the Agriculture and Forestry Department looked at our immigration card and said that we wanted to see Dragon Dance's hiking boots, and we pointed to Dragon Dance's feet and said that they were wearing them, and then he asked Dragon Dance to lift the soles of both shoes for him to check, and Dragon Dance did the same. The dog was as dedicated as the customs just now, trying to smell our luggage and then let us pass.
When I went outside, I saw that the Dragon Dance Mother was already there waiting. All four of them entered the country smoothly, and everyone had a sense of accomplishment. At i-SITE I took a translation of my driver's license for Dragon Dance and we needed to use it. According to the introduction on the LP, I found an affordable super shuttle to go to the hotel. Visit the supermarket in the evening, buy oil, salt and vinegar, food, drinks and then go back to the hotel to cook together. Travel, do not have to stay in a high-end hotel, eat mountain treasures and seafood, it can be completely embedded with chai rice oil and salt. The trivial affairs of daily life will become interesting because of the open-mindedness of the journey.
Airport i-SITE
Super shuttle: See that little tow box in the back of the car? The luggage is in there.
Hotels opened by Indians:
Remember your childhood daylight saving time? 】
Daylight Saving Time (DST) is a system that artificially sets local time in order to save energy, and the uniform time used during the implementation of this system is called daylight saving time. Generally in the early morning of summer, people will advance the time by one hour, which can make people get up early and go to bed early, reduce the amount of lighting, and make full use of light resources, thereby saving lighting electricity. Specific rules vary from country to country that adopts daylight saving time. Our country applied six years of daylight saving time throughout the country between 1986 and 1991. (Excerpt from Baidu Encyclopedia)
On 29 September, New Zealand introduced daylight saving time, an hour ahead of non-daylight saving time. That is to say, after we fall asleep on the evening of the 28th, the time will be "stolen" for 1 hour, so that we have not yet had time to adjust the time difference for another hour of time difference. Before going to bed, we set the alarm clock on our mobile phones, and we both made a fool of ourselves:
"You say the phone will automatically change to daylight saving time?" Does it have this feature? ”
"I don't know, maybe?"
"Are you sure?" If it doesn't change it itself, then we'll get up late tomorrow."
"Huh? Then you should still set it a little earlier. ”
"Oh!"
Waking up in the middle of the night to look at the phone, making sure it was 1 hour faster than the electronic clock in the room, quickly reported to the dragon dance, and praised the intelligence of the mobile phone.
Seeing the driver adjust the time of the electronic clock hanging on the top of the bus on the bus to the Bay of Islands seemed to touch one of my nerves. Before we had our own opinions on the domestic daylight saving time when we were young, I said that the daylight saving time when we were young did not need to change the watch time, but people's work and rest time changed, the lunch break time became longer, and the end of work/school time became late. Dragon Dance insisted that when they were young, the people of the whole country adjusted the display time of watches and clocks together. At this moment, I watched the time on the electronic clock being advanced, and suddenly felt that this scene was very familiar, and then I was sure that the dragon dance's memory of daylight saving time should be correct.
【Good morning, Auckland!】 】
Tourism New Zealand offered me and Dragon Dance a free day trip to the Bay of Islands and we put it on September 29th, the day after we arrived in New Zealand. Moms travel together at their own expense. At 7am, just about to go out, the front desk called and told us that the driver was already waiting at the front desk.
It's still early (if it's a day earlier, it's only 6 o'clock at this time), and as the driver picks up people everywhere, looking out the window in a novel way, the sun rises little by little, and the city gradually wakes up. Auckland is not a big city, many of the roads are at a certain angle to the sea level, and the houses are exquisite and beautiful. The sea breeze and the occasional seabird skimming the roof show the gentleness and liveliness of a coastal city. How does an oncoming car appear to my right? The brain didn't react for a moment – it was retrograde, no, our car was retrograde too! Oh, and this is New Zealand! Then I leaned against the window and laughed to myself...
The city of Auckland is waking up:
The driver in charge of hotel pick-up dropped us off at the bus departure station and was assigned to the corresponding bus according to the respective reported route. The bus driver was an uncle who, as soon as he saw our family of four, took us directly to a row of seats and let the four of us sit there. I looked at the sparse passengers and thought to myself, why not specify which position we were sitting in. Just feeling strange, the uncle picked up the headphones on the seat and told us that there were Chinese explanations here, and also taught us how to use them. It occurred to me that Judy, the contact person in charge of the Bay of Islands event, had indeed mentioned to me in the email that he would help us apply for Chinese headphones. I thanked him profusely and began to praise the foreigner's service (or rather, the handover of their work) – he didn't ask us any questions, and he knew who we were and what we needed at a glance. In China, when you go to do something, you often have to talk to different people in the same unit countless times, which annoys you so much that your ears are cocooned.
Departure, the uncle also serves as a driver and tour guide, not long after the car left, the uncle began to work hard to popularize science education, the content combined with the location of the way, introducing the history of New Zealand, Maori culture and so on. Unfortunately, his accent was too heavy, and I was distracted when I listened to it. Put on Chinese headphones, but the recording in the headphones is obviously not as detailed as introduced by the uncle. But fortunately, the scenery outside the car window changed, attracting most of my attention, and I didn't bother to worry about whether I should listen to my uncle practice listening or listen to headphones to save energy.
At 9 o'clock, the bus stopped in front of a café, and those in need could go in and take a break. The café is next door to a souvenir shop, go in for a walk, the clerk does not deliberately sell, let people feel more comfortable. Dragon Dance went to buy coffee, I waited next to it, noticed a donation box from an animal rescue organization next to the cashier, and the MM who ordered it confirmed that the donation would be used to help stray cats and dogs, so I put some change in it.
Money in various denominations:
Small donation box:
【Russell】
After a nap, I went on the road again, the driver's uncle still explained hard, and I still listened to English for a while and listened to Chinese for a while. It was sunny and rainy outside the car window, the scenery was pleasant and the road was in good condition. Arriving at the pier at 11 o'clock, we had two options, one was to take a boat directly from here to see the dolphins, and the other was to take a boat from here to a place called Russell, and then take a boat from there to see the dolphins. We choose the second option.
Scenery on the road:
On the boat to Russell:
Russell is a quiet town with not many people. Afraid of missing the time to board the boat, I did not dare to go far, and only turned around the sea near the pier. Passing by a 21st century, I was a little surprised to see this yellow and black real estate agent actually meet it on the other side of the earth that crosses the equator, and my heart is filled with a slight joy. The glass windows are plastered with a lot of information about the rental and sale of houses, each with a photo. From a distance, it looks like a photo wall, vivid and beautiful. Unlike in China, the general intermediary will only set up a whiteboard at the door, which is densely listed with text information such as the name of the community, the area of the house, the rent/price, etc., and most of the words are written poorly, without any beauty to speak of.
Russell Town:
Global chain of 21st century real estate:
On a bench by the dock, a family of four was eating, surrounded by a large number of seabirds. When the little boy had finished eating almost everything, he began to feed the birds, and from time to time he grabbed a little bread from his hand and sprinkled it on the birds. As the little boy threw the bread, the birds flew up to grab the bread, and then landed on the ground, like a wave pushed by the wind. The little boy's younger brother, who was probably only a year or two old, also began to learn from the little brother, feeding the birds with bread. Such a scene can not help but make people feel warm, trance, as if back to childhood, a relative's big dog, by my cousin and I with ham sausages in turn feeding. At this time, they, at that time, the child's natural closeness to animals and nature, how many of them were well protected in our growth process? How many have been polished to the point of nothing left?
Grab it
beach:
Row stations, wait for bread:
Blind Shooting:
【Dolphin Rock Cave】
A few years ago, I saw an Oscar-winning documentary called Dolphin Bay, and the central character of the film, Richard M. Richard O'Barry is one of the world's top dolphin domestication experts, and he can be said to have developed the dolphin show as a ride. But just as he was making a name for himself and aquariums and dolphin shows were popping up all over the world, he took 35 years to destroy the entertainment industry he had built, and he continued to work on it. The documentary made us fall in love with this cute sea creature that smiles, and at the same time, we are adamantly resistant to the existence of the aquarium.
On the one hand, we want to see wildlife in nature, and we have heard that dolphins like to be close to humans to a certain extent; on the other hand, we are not sure whether we will disturb them and cause them trouble when we chase dolphins in a boat like this. In the end, we took this hesitation with us and boarded the boat to see the dolphins. When they reached the dolphin-infested waters, the boat slowed down, and passengers got up from their seats and looked out over the railings, looking for dolphins. The dolphins lived up to expectations, jumping and jumping in everyone's sight, and a few of them were almost next to the wall of the boat, and the side of the boat railing was full of tourists with cameras.
The children excitedly greeted each other to see the dolphins: "Look quickly, there is a baby dolphin over there" "Wow, so cute". Surprised to find that although these dolls were very excited, they all lowered their voices and spoke, as if they were holding a sleeping baby in their arms, afraid that if the sound was loud, they would wake them up.