21 day trip in New Zealand

Some people may ask how New Zealand got its name. For a long time, I wondered the same thing. Until I spent 21 days in New Zealand, where I learnt many things and had my questions about the island country answered. For the record, like all other places with "New" in it, New York, New Jersey etc., New Zealand was found by a sailor by the name of Captain Cook. He named it after a place in Holland called Zealand.

We(my family and I), arrived in Christchurch on the 6th of December. From there, we picked up our campervan, which we would be living in for the next few weeks, and drove around to get groceries after a short tour inside. It was our first time in a campervan so we were quite excited. One of the many things I learnt there was that New Zealand was very advanced and built up (well, at least Christchurch was anyway). There were many holiday parks around so we just picked one to spend the night in. Such holiday parks could be found all around New Zealand, and I thought that pretty cool.

The next morning, we made our way South for 200+ km to Oamaru where we spent our 2nd night in. there wasn't much to see except for big fields and farm animals. On the 3rd day, we drove further South for almost the same distance to Kaka point where we spent the 3rd night. Again there was not much to see but some good views of mountains and hills. We then headed West the next day Queenstown, which is a city built on hills, a very modern and urban place. We did loads of shopping and buying souvenirs.

Our trip was very coastal and we got to see a lot of sand and sea. We headed up North once we were West and carried on with many tours to Milford Sound and all. After 2 weeks, we took a ferry to the North island (with our campervan! we drove it on board) 2 days earlier than scheduled so that we could spend more time in the North island where I could visit my old classmate, Jonathan Chan, who has been living there for almost a year and my mum's old secondary school friend.

We arrived in Wellington at 1am but I was asleep so I didn't quite know what was going on. It took us 2 or 3 days to reach Auckland where both my mum's and my friend were living as we had to rest somehow. Auckland was great and we spent a day and a half with my friend, where he showed us around Auckland,and slightly longer with my mum's.

So after 3 weeks in New Zealand it was a plane back to Singapore. We're planning to go back again in 2011 if possible.

the end is nigh...(for the holidays, i mean)

holidays are almost over now. almost time to go back to school. almost done almost all my homework. almost wished the holidays wouldn't end but it's almost comforting to know that i've survived almost half the year. it's also almost the competition period. i want this year to end SOON!

hammies...again

when i first bought the hamsters, I was thrilled. now I can't wait to get rid of them...well just some of them. some of them are really starting to piss me off. they kick away the bedding, fight with each other etc etc. I only wish to keep some, like 12. so now we have erm...er...um...fifty...er...six? which means 44 have to go. those who are reading this by chance or, well mostly by chance, want any hamster please send your comments to us. thx

"Teamwork"...or something like that

As I prepare for the canoeing competition in July, I begin to wonder: Did I make a mistake in joining the team? After spending a very long while(two minutes) thinking, I finally decided no. At times, it may suck. At other times it may suck bad. Sometimes, I feel that canoeing stinks. Then I realised, that even though the training is tough and tiring, even though I may feel like crap during or after training, I would be letting my team down if I quit. I would be running away from my problems, not facing them. I am quite sure my fellow canoeists save a few also think that training is harsh. However, I learnt that though the racing events permit only a few(10 to 15 maybe) one or two man boats to participate for the 'C' division, canoeing is like many other sports, a team sport. Sure, we may row in different events, but we still train as a team, cheer for each other, spur each other on to do better. We aren't going to win the title again if only one person participates. It takes the whole team, and I feel pretty lucky to be in this team. Like my captain says,"Training is good for you...it helps build the team spirit". Those words were kind of meaningful, but it doesn't change the fact that training sucks. (:p)

new year resolution

the year of 2007 is approaching and this is a time for thinking up of new resolutions and throwing the old ones out (unless you don't wanna). my new year's resolution is to do better academically and in sports, to be open to try new things that life has to offer, make new friends and to be able to communicate better with people so that there will be lesser misunderstandings leading to fights or quarrels.

Bintan

we went to bintan after a one week rest when we came back from genting. we stayed at bintan lagoon resort for five days. we had to leave the hammies, especially the 7 newborns, in the care of kakak. it was a fun trip as we tried many different activities(snorkelling, go-karting etc. etc.). we came back expecting the 7 newborns to be all grown up. instead, it turned out that the mother had eaten 6 babies and there was still one baby left, but not without injury. the baby was visibly traumatised and was wary of anything that moved. we decided to put the baby with the 1st batch of babies and they seemed to get along after a few minutes but when we woke up the next day, we found that the baby had no face. it was bloodied and torn. we think it was killed by one of the firsties because it was diseased.then, we found out that the two hamsters that we separated (because they attacked Lazy) were male and female and given birth to at least four babies. we now know to separate the babies as soon as they start eating solid food or eelse the parent might eat them up like the mother did.

2nd batch of baby hammies in action

the new batch of babies have grown fur and opened their eyes. the seven of them are kept in the same cage with only each other and their biological mother for company. they are cute but are not big enough to live solely on solid foodstuff. 2 of them are black while 5 are white. like their parents they have a dark streak down their backs. the 1st batch of baby hammies are growing well and are the size of the 1st 7 when we first bought them. hopefully we don't grow so attached to it that we would gaze forlornly at their cage as it is passed to the pet shop owner or asst.

genting trip

on the 7-9/11/06, dad brought the 3 of us to Genting Highlands for a holiday. mom had to work so dad bought only 4 tix. the trip lasted for 3 days, 2 days spent on travelling from s'pore to m'sia. it was fun as now we were all considerably taller and could ride more of the genting rides the theme park has to offer. but paul was not tall enough to ride the go-karts as the minimum height requirement was 153cm (paul is currently 146...or is it 148?). but he had the time of his life when he sat on the 'space shot'. for people who unaware that Genting Theme Park has this ride, never heard of it, never been to Genting Highlands or have not been told about it, you would be happy to know that the ride starts of by elevating the riders to a height of 25-30 stories. at the top, the carriage would hang for about 13 seconds before plunging to the ground. the thrill the riders feel is the momentary weightlessness as they fall.after our go-kart race,we decided to go on a ride with paul on the 'space-shot'. our fun was short-lived as the ride is only 40-50 seconds long. nevertheless, we had a great time dsuring our stay and came home on the 10/11/06.