Auckland 181217 Part 1
Our first day in NZ! Rise and shine, we did. We were off at 10 past 7am, which in itself, was a record! Tho Adik was still in his pjs hihi.. we walked across back to the international airport, and waited at a designated waiting post where car rentals companies are supposed to pick up their customers. However, there was must have been a miscommunication cause till 7:30am, we were still waiting2 waiting forever! After calling Apex to enquire when they are sending over a van to pick us up, eventually an Apex 12-seater came along and even then, another party of 5 + 1 had mistakenly boarded our ride first. Thankfully, there were just enough seats left for the five of us. We did not reach the car rental base until nearly 8 am. And it was quite far from the airport. It puzzled us that the best local rental car is not given priority over the international car rental companies. Maybe the big international boys can afford the more expensive sites nearer to the airport. Maybe lah...
So, then the episode with Apex continued rather not as smooth as expected. The type of car that we booked was not available! We were instead offered a Toyota Fielder which purportedly is similar in size! Hmmph! Okay, so I gave it a go. Loaded everyone in plus all our bags and backpacks. There is hardly any room left to move in the back seats between me, Kak Cik and Adik in his car seat. The bags also completely blocked the rear view, making it impossible to drive other than depending on the side mirrors. And horrors, the car seat available could not be secured safely. Okay, those were enough reason for me to "influence" or insist on a better car, albeit at a higher price. Comfort and more importantly, safety should prevail over money forgone, especially if one can afford it. After asking around on cars available, we settled for a Toyota Highlander. Much, much better, we can move comfortably at the back, our stuff can fit well in the car without obstructing the rear view and I managed to be persistent enough to insist on another staff to ensure Adik's car seat was securely installed. Huh! Tolonglah jangan bermain dengan nyawa orang. There should not be any compromise on safety especially in a foreign land, notorious for its small winding roads, narrow bridges, roads with cliffs, mountains, mighty lakes etc etc no matter how careful, courteous and proper other drivers on the roads are. Nope! Especially if you know the person who drives like to speed and tend to be sleepy after meals. No, no, no ... not gonna happen in my watch. Ok enough nagging. Moving on, heh..
We drove towards the first item on our highly ambitious itinerary, Takapuna Beach with the view of Rangitoto Island, the largest volcanic island in NZ. We crossed the Auckland bridge on our way there and saw Auckland's skyline while doing so. It was a misty and slightly wet morning with a bit of a drizzle. So we reckon the city skyline would not be clearly visible from Davenport, and so decided to skip it entirely (no breakfast pastries tho, sobs). Plus, we were definitely behind schedule due to the hiccups experienced in Apex. My personal view: stick with the big boys like Budget or Avis, smooth-sailing so far AND within the airport vincinity too. Okay!2 I will drop the Apex thingy. For now, that is.
Back to Takapuna and Rangitoto. We reached around 9:30am and managed to spend 30 minutes there, soaking in our first taste of NZ's unique nature. It was low tide, I think because the rocks with living reefs on them are visible, as explained by the sign. The black coastal rocks on the bay are actually solidified lava. Rangitoto's eruptions started thousands of years ago, the most recent was 600 years ago. Subhanallah. Of course, the pictures did not do justice to the magnificence of Allah's creations. The beach seemed peppered with black sand. I imagined Piha Beach, which we scratched off from our itinerary must be pure black coz Takapuna's pun dah nampak hitam2 pasir dia. Those with time to spare, can take a ferry to the island and walk the popular Rangitoto Summit Track. As for us, we came for the view of the volcano island, not to be on the volcano island itself and see other things from there ;p .. This is also the reason why we did not choose to go up the Eiffel Tower and the likes, with the exception of Umeda in Osaka. Tu pasal layan persistent local guide hahahh!
As it was already 10am, off we went for our next item, appointment with the Gentoo and King Penguins at Kelly Tarlton's SEALIFE Aquarium. At this point, Kak Ngah dah start lapor and cari snacks. So we munched on a box of Arnott's Shape BBQ (or was it Pizza?) biscuits on the way. In my mind, I was regretting not getting her a McD breakfast earlier on as she is used to taking early breakfast. Waste of precious time, kan. I remembered hoping that she would be okay coz dia ni spesis tak boleh perut kosong and masuk angin huhu
TBC
So, then the episode with Apex continued rather not as smooth as expected. The type of car that we booked was not available! We were instead offered a Toyota Fielder which purportedly is similar in size! Hmmph! Okay, so I gave it a go. Loaded everyone in plus all our bags and backpacks. There is hardly any room left to move in the back seats between me, Kak Cik and Adik in his car seat. The bags also completely blocked the rear view, making it impossible to drive other than depending on the side mirrors. And horrors, the car seat available could not be secured safely. Okay, those were enough reason for me to "influence" or insist on a better car, albeit at a higher price. Comfort and more importantly, safety should prevail over money forgone, especially if one can afford it. After asking around on cars available, we settled for a Toyota Highlander. Much, much better, we can move comfortably at the back, our stuff can fit well in the car without obstructing the rear view and I managed to be persistent enough to insist on another staff to ensure Adik's car seat was securely installed. Huh! Tolonglah jangan bermain dengan nyawa orang. There should not be any compromise on safety especially in a foreign land, notorious for its small winding roads, narrow bridges, roads with cliffs, mountains, mighty lakes etc etc no matter how careful, courteous and proper other drivers on the roads are. Nope! Especially if you know the person who drives like to speed and tend to be sleepy after meals. No, no, no ... not gonna happen in my watch. Ok enough nagging. Moving on, heh..
We drove towards the first item on our highly ambitious itinerary, Takapuna Beach with the view of Rangitoto Island, the largest volcanic island in NZ. We crossed the Auckland bridge on our way there and saw Auckland's skyline while doing so. It was a misty and slightly wet morning with a bit of a drizzle. So we reckon the city skyline would not be clearly visible from Davenport, and so decided to skip it entirely (no breakfast pastries tho, sobs). Plus, we were definitely behind schedule due to the hiccups experienced in Apex. My personal view: stick with the big boys like Budget or Avis, smooth-sailing so far AND within the airport vincinity too. Okay!2 I will drop the Apex thingy. For now, that is.
Back to Takapuna and Rangitoto. We reached around 9:30am and managed to spend 30 minutes there, soaking in our first taste of NZ's unique nature. It was low tide, I think because the rocks with living reefs on them are visible, as explained by the sign. The black coastal rocks on the bay are actually solidified lava. Rangitoto's eruptions started thousands of years ago, the most recent was 600 years ago. Subhanallah. Of course, the pictures did not do justice to the magnificence of Allah's creations. The beach seemed peppered with black sand. I imagined Piha Beach, which we scratched off from our itinerary must be pure black coz Takapuna's pun dah nampak hitam2 pasir dia. Those with time to spare, can take a ferry to the island and walk the popular Rangitoto Summit Track. As for us, we came for the view of the volcano island, not to be on the volcano island itself and see other things from there ;p .. This is also the reason why we did not choose to go up the Eiffel Tower and the likes, with the exception of Umeda in Osaka. Tu pasal layan persistent local guide hahahh!
As it was already 10am, off we went for our next item, appointment with the Gentoo and King Penguins at Kelly Tarlton's SEALIFE Aquarium. At this point, Kak Ngah dah start lapor and cari snacks. So we munched on a box of Arnott's Shape BBQ (or was it Pizza?) biscuits on the way. In my mind, I was regretting not getting her a McD breakfast earlier on as she is used to taking early breakfast. Waste of precious time, kan. I remembered hoping that she would be okay coz dia ni spesis tak boleh perut kosong and masuk angin huhu
TBC
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