THERE WE GO ! NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

 BLOG POST 10

We began our first day of travel in Auckland, Tony started with a Kia Ora and made us practice it several times till our ears started ringing with the sound and then there were several ground rules laid down by him

First was adherence to time, the 6,7 and 8 formula as we used to call it ,6 AM wake up call, 7 AM bags out and 8 AM start of journey after having breakfast ,lunch would be whenever and wherever we stopped which was usually around 12 noon or 1 pm, we had to feed ourselves ,name badges were compulsory as they were the proofs for entry into all places.

Evening 6 to 7 pm were happy hours where the tourists would get drinks at slightly discounted rates in the restaurant of whichever hotel we would put up for that night, the happy hours were relatively unhappy hours for us as I don’t drink liquor and my husband was a very light drinker, after 7 pm we would all go in for dinner everyday which would be buffet sometimes and 3 courses menu  served at the table some nights

The most important rule was that , while we were seated in the bus we had to compulsorily wear seat belts even in the last row as, if we are found without a seat belt the fine would be 150 dollars, Tony said it was up to us if we wanted to spend our entire tour money on paying fines !

The next rule was that we had to follow the leader that is the tour guide and be on time whenever we stop anywhere, delay by one member would lead to complete disruption of the schedule for entire day

Tony would also regularly give us weather report of next day so that we would be geared up in proper attire as New Zealand is well known for its changing weather conditions ,Tony also said that he would be with us through out the tour and be responsible for  behind the scenes’ nuts and bolts’ which was indeed very assuring for all of us

As the bus started I could see excitement on everyone’ s faces ,we were the only Indians ,others were mostly from Australia ,2 couples from U.K and one couple from Canada, everyone were middle aged and we were sure we would form a good team quickly.

As the bus went along Tony and Megan pointed out the most important land mark of Auckland the sky tower,few of our members had come 1 or 2 days prior and could do sky walk which they said was very exciting ,Tony circulated the optional tour booking sheet as he said it would get very crowded next day

The first stop was Parry Kauri Park,

As soon as we got off our bus, we could see a magnificent Kauri tree standing proudly erect –this was the McKinney Kauri about 800 years old,we all walked along the wooden  walkways as instructed and had a look at the Kauri tree, surroundings were so serene ,not many tourists around ,could hear birds singing a welcome song for us

Those who had time for a guided nature trail, could do it on elevated walkway, circle around trees from the west end to the east end,armed with with signage and a pamphlet about the bush plants. In the forest were numerous small Kauri seedlings, only a few feet tall.

There was a small Museum with displays of the Kauri digging implements, photographs of gum-digging, giant pieces of Kauri gum, saws, native timber, bushman’s hut and other items connected with the gum digging days. On the far side of the car park there was a “whim”, which was used to haul the log

There is was a second large Kauri a few yards west of the McKinney Kauri, named Simpson Kauri, after the second owner of the property. 

 Kauri trees once covered large expanses of New Zealand and were known as "the kings of the forest". Agathisaustralis, commonly known by its Māori name Kauri, is a coniferous tree of Araucariaceae,found in New Zealand's North Island

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 Maori used large trees to carve out their’ wakas ‘ or war canoes which could hold in excess of 100 warriors, carving and for building houses.The trunk of mature trees rise straight with very little taper to the upper relatively small canopy and can be more than 18 metres to the first branches, Gum was used as a fire starter and for chewing  like bubble gum(after it had been soaked in water and mixed with the milk of the puha plant).

When Europeans first arrived in the Northland, they found  lush forests of kauri trees that blanketed the hills leading down to shoreline. Entire trees were tragically felled for ship masts, everything from homes to ornate furniture was constructed from kauri hardwood. . They also discovered that the tree produced a valuable gum resin, which was exported and used for high grade varnishes and linolium

Alas! harvest began and when it was over, the kauri forests and the land were decimated.  In the 1800s, kauri timber and gum built Auckland, Whangarei and was also exported to rebuild San Francisco after the earthquake. Stripped land was turned into farmland and soon agriculture overtook the kauri as New Zealand’s main export.

However William Roy McGregor (1894-1977) from Auckland University in 1952 came in the form of savior for the trees and successfully campaigned and created the Waipoua Forest Sanctuary,

Once-thriving kauri industry left remnants of the kauri dams. Kauri driving dams were built by loggers to drive large quantities of kauri logs downstream from remote areas. It was so astonishing to hear from Megan that to avoid transporting of these huge timber, dams were built which were able to withstand the pressure of tonnes of water and kauri logs which were swept through with tremendous force when the dam was tripped.

Now these magnificent  Kauri are facing a new threat. Kauri  die back is a fungus-type of disease, which has no cure but its spread can be reduced by cleaning boots and equipment and avoiding stepping on Kauri tree roots

LET US GET STARTED ! -NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

BLOG POST 9

The wake up call came promptly at 6 am and we saw a message slip from our tour guide Mr Tony with details of our tour for that day, we got ready and pinned on our personal name badges, our baggage with luggage label tags were put out promptly at 7 am otherwise we had to get them into the bus ourselves so putting out the bags was done very diligently by all of us all through the tour, we then went down for breakfast

For the entire tour we had no problem with breakfast as it was a lavish buffet,  with a lot  of items to chose from - eggs with crisp streaky bacon, baked  beans, grilled tomato, hash brown, mushrooms and sausages, tomato avocado , corn fritters  with bacon, English muffin with poached eggs, cinnamon French toast, maple syrup, grilled bacon and banana pancake stack , fresh pancakes, whipped cream, omelettes , selection of breads, house-made cereals, yoghurt & sweet pastries.

 Filter coffee, freshly brewed coffee, decaffeinated coffee and a selection of teas and chilled fresh juices - Freshly cut fruit - Assorted cereals and grains - Natural yoghurt - oven fresh baked croissants & rolls - Danish pastries ,choice of toast, white or wholemeal - assorted cold cut meats - assorted cheese

We used to prefer omelettes, hash browns,corn flakes , muffins ,pan cakes, fresh fruits and yoghurt was our favorite,yummy with so many flavors !

Coffee and tea were taken cold by most of the people without milk, most places milk used to be cold and we  who preferred coffee steaming hot had to make do with hot water and creamer

As we sat having our first Kiwi breakfast I was looking around to see if we could trace any of our tour mates with whom we were going to spend  next 19 days going around the entire country, I could see few people wearing our tour badge.

We went up to our room to get our small bags and came down to our bus as instructed by Mr Tony, Lo ! the bus was waiting ,my pride that I am usually the first to arrive at any place took a heavy fall as we could see most of the tourists already seated in the bus

Our tour guide Mr Tony came ahead and welcomed us, later during the course of our journey we came to know that he is an Australian who has worked as a tour guide for 19 years after spending 21 years in the New South Wales Police Force,firstly in Canada/ Alaska, South America and China and for the last 9 years in New Zealand for Grand Pacific Tours.

 He accompanied us throughout the tour and made everyone feel welcome, relaxed and ensured that our holiday was a memorable experience. He was full of energy and concern ,never spared an effort to make us feel comfortable

 Our coach captain was Ms Megan a Kiwi who has experience driving coaches in Australia and New Zealand for a number of years and is now based out of Auckland.  she had  expert knowledge and extensive driving experience ,she had in depth knowledge about the Maori culture ,told us a lot about the North Island and assisted us with every aspect of the tour, handling heavy luggage .

 We enjoyed her professional commentary with numerous facts and figures, myths, legends and many laughs along the way.

Although our coach could take 48 passengers we were only 24 luckily, we found that we were the only Indian tourists ,Tony later told us that he thought these two poor Indians just landed ,had only few hours sleep ,how they could cope with the day journey ,he was pleasantly surprised when he found us as fresh as daisies all through the day !

We were allotted our seat numbers quite in the front for the first day, unlike other tours where we used to shift either to front or back by one seat everyday ,here our  seat numbers were arranged in a seat rotation policy in such a way that everyone got a chance to sit in the front which had a better view, the last row was called the naughty corner for obvious reasons!

Bus was a modern coach featuring panoramic windows, had superior suspension for comfort, air conditioning, reclining seats , CD and DVD player, entertainment system, intercom systems, air bag suspension, restroom which we never used  even once as the coach stopped every 2 hours at a comfort stop , two door access and cold water storage where we could put in 3 dollars in the money box and take a cool water bottle by ourselves ,there was a rubbish bin and hand sanitizer at the entrances

AT FIRST GLANCE ! -NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

BLOG POST 8

We disembarked from the flight and strode into the lounge, we saw a beautiful Maori carving adorning the walkway at the Auckland’s airport and as we proceeded there were sensors which when we walked illuminated the walls around us , with our every step they showed interesting facts and pictures about the country.
There were ominous looking sign boards asking the passengers to declare or dispose off forbidden goods or be fined  400 dollars

We then went for immigration check with our passport and passenger arrival card which we had completed on the plane.
 A young boy in a tight fitting suit obviously newly stitched was standing ahead of us in the queue, his looks aroused all my maternal instincts which remembered our son who had gone to US at the tender age of 21 (tender for his mother) I asked him his details and assured him that he would be fine, he was whisked through the passport control point quite fast and disappeared from our sight
What is the purpose of your trip? was the question asked ,we answered to tour, and lo behold ! the Immigration officer stamped our passport.
We then marched ahead to the carousel where our bags were anxiously waiting for us and then had to wait in a long queue for immigration check where our passenger arrival cards were checked, it went on well because of all the care we took while packing in India 
We came out of the airport and waiting patiently for us we found the Grand Pacific Tours Representative holding the tour sign

Though he must have picked up quite a lot of passengers from airport that day ,he greeted us cheerfully and was chatting with us.He went and got his van ,we piled up the luggage and plonked ourselves in the seats ,after a drive for nearly half an hour during which time we saw quite a lot of roads being serviced as it was now almost 3 am .
Our driver waited patiently at all the traffic signals ,I was thinking of our country and traffic sense of some of our people and thought the less said the better ,he dropped us at our hotel the Grand Millenium ( however we were in no state to see whether it was grand or not)

 At the reception desk we were given our room key and a big bundle of the tour documents,oh no ! I thought ,we were trying to travel as lightly as we could and this extra luggage now was like the final straw on the camel’s back .It contained

·        Durable travel bag

·        Toiletry wet pack

·        Personal name badge

·        Laundry bag

·        Luggage label

·        Ticket wallet

·        Personalised itinerary

·        Optional tours directory

·        General Information & FAQ booklet

·        Customs required re sealable plastic bag

·        Postcard

·        Touring map

We were given one of these each and we had to bear them all through our journey but they were very useful and my husband paid no attention to my timid suggestion that we could leave the travel bags in the hotel room (I am very much used to load shedding)

As soon as we checked into the room we looked into the next day program, it was wake up call at 6 am, bags outside the room at 7 am ,breakfast from 7 am and departing hotel at 8 am, some of our co travellers in this tour would later say that normally they get up late and only on paid  holidays like this they get up at such unearthly hours L.O.L !
We were left with just 3 hours of sleep, my husband is indeed blessed to be able to sleep soundly as soon as he hits the bed whereas poor me was trying in vain to sleep which eluded me

 

 

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UP ABOVE THE WORLD SO HIGH ! -NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

BLOG POST 7

The Flight attendants or cabin crew (also known as  stewards/ stewardesses , air hosts/hostesses, cabin attendants) arrived ,apparently one flight attendant per 50 passenger seats is needed as per regulations, after some time the boarding announcement was made, slowly all of us  gathered our luggage together.  

Passengers with small children and business class were allowed to board first ,later we were called as per seat numbers, the last seats called first to avoid crowding in the aisles, though we found many clustering near the gate entry trying to get in first, "gate lice –a slang word for people who try to crash in "

The seats though economy class were quite comfortable and had adequate leg and knee room, we had head phones , big, fluffy pillows and blankets placed on the seats, adjustable personal reading light, large personal LCD monitor , and handheld control unit and  in seat power supply was provided. We were welcomed with  refreshing wet towels to freshen up.

Kris World Singapore Airlines’ award-winning in flight entertainment system  offered us the latest selection of programming and games. We were handed individual toothbrush, toothpaste and knitted sock packs..

Eyeshades and ear plugs were also provided on request to help customers sleep more comfortably, Complimentary Singapore Airlines postcards, playing cards and writing kits were available on a request basis, young travellers below the age of 12 were also treated to exclusive Cartoon Network collectible items

"Crotch Watch’ was performed  another slang word used for the moment when the flight attendants walk down the aisle making sure our seat belts are fastened "

After the safety announcements were made to which most of the passengers paid no heed to as usual, the flight took off on time

I settled down to watch from my window seat the beautiful Hyderabad city by night and had a literal bird’s eye view, oh how beautiful is my city I thought, looking like a bride decked up in a sari with zardosi embroidery. As we had to spend 4 1/2 hrs on the flight to Singapore we tried to see what we could watch in the on flight entertainment.

Travel, whether it is by air, train or by road is a good chance for one to catch up on reading and movies .Before we could even choose the films the dinner was served pretty fast and we had the privilege of getting served first as we had ordered Non Vegetarian Hindu meal ,other options were, Baby Meal, Post-Weaning Meal, Child Meal, , Muslim,  Vegetarian Raw Meal,  Vegetarian Indian meal,  Vegetarian  Jain Meal,  Vegetarian Oriental Meal,  Western meals. 

The meal was wholesome and had chicken curry, fried rice, salads ,a sweet and cookies, food was well cooked and spicy ,only disadvantage was that we had no choice of other items like fish.

There was a vast choice of beverages with meals - red wine, white wine, spirits, juices, soft drinks, water and plenty of the non-alcoholic drinks which were being continuously offered during the entire flight too, flight attendants came around often to offer drinks at regular intervals, there was a snack service with a choice of fruits, sandwiches and chips.

I found the cabin crew very courteous and friendly, I found many of the passengers asking for water apparently to rehydrate themselves , lavatories had mouthwash, skin moisturisers, cologne and after-shave lotions to keep us fresh  and also were kept very clean ,I was quite sympathetic towards the tirelessly working cabin crew who had smiling faces throughout the flight

In 4 hrs 40 minutes we reached Singapore ,local time was 6.15 in the morning, distance to Singapore from Hyderabad is 2052 miles / 3302.37 km / 1783.14 nautical miles and we had gone over the Indian ocean. The time had just flown along with the flight, we were not able to sleep though we tried to doze.

I sat imagining myself outside the plane with outside temperature varying from -24°C at 20,000 ft to -57°C at 40,000 ft, no amount of safety precautions would suffice if there was an air crash were my morbid thoughts! It did not matter that we had paid for travel insurance, what was glaring at me was coverage for hijack which was maximum of 500 dollars for 5 days, what if the hijack extended for more days I thought cautiously!

As our check in luggage would be transferred to the next flight which was run by Air New Zealand ,we walked out into the terminal 2 of Singapore Changi airport which was positively glittering with the Christmas decorations and colourful shops took a few snaps at some of the spots and by the complimentary sky train went to terminal 3 for onward journey to Auckland ,we did a mistake of going very early to this terminal where there was not much shopping or entertainment .

We freshened up and waited looking around, many of the passengers were stretching themselves on the comfortable couches in the lounges ,we were in a state of limbo due to the changing time zones ,security check for the gate was very strict and we could see a lot of shampoos ,tooth pastes and deodorants accumulating in the bins

After a long drowsy wait we got a call for boarding the flight to Auckland , by now the no of Indians had become a trickle and we could see  a whole lot of people from various other countries in the lounge. 

Once we got into the flight we settled down for our 6.1/2 hrs journey ,immediately after the plane took off and seat belt sign was switched off ,the breakfast was served, by now our hunger was suppressed as our body clock said plaintively how are you going to eat breakfast so early but we had to sustain ourselves ,so we ate sparingly, slept partly, read few books and saw some more movies.

I managed to see many movies during the air travel but I particularly liked the Kannada movie Ondu Motteya Kathe,( the bald and the beautiful) which impressed me a lot, the hero is a bald man looking out for brides ,wants a beautiful girl ,the film focuses on body shaming and the imperfections, it was very close to reality, it had a positive ending where the hero gets a suitable bride for himself, the other films I liked was the Intern played by Robert De Niro and the 101 Dalmatians which I watched for  second time

It was 11.45 pm by the time the flight landed in Auckland ,we had now very little time to check out of the airport and find our Pacific tour person waiting for us ,go to our hotel, have a wink for few hours and then start our tour.

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