Day 2: Auckland, NZ

DAY 2: 15.09.2015 (Auckland, NZ)

Onboard flight menu were served around 11pm and 2 hours before the arrival time. Alhamdulillah we were safely arrived in Auckland at 11.50am local time (Malaysia time: 7.50am). Both kids were well behaved in the 10 hour flight (they slept for a good 8 hour straight and woke up for games and foods). The weather was 13’C when we arrived and we had to fill up the Arrival Card at the airport sebab MAS lupa nak sediakan! Pffft.

After claiming our luggage and went through the customs clearance (some friendly interview before last luggage screening to Arrival Hall), we quickly search for free phone booth to call our rental car (NZ free phone untuk call NZ free phone numbers). The luggage claim and customs clearance took about 1 hour 50 mins. Sebab kami kena isi Arrival card, masa tu sampai another flight from China so queue nak ke customs clearance pun dah panjang sob sob. They didn’t provide for any fast lane for family with children or for disability person macam di Australia. Sigh.

We went to Relay shop to buy our simcard (2 degrees) for NZD30 (NZD5 for the card and NZD25 for reload calls) and later baru jumpa Vodafone. Jadi beli another simcard for NZD49 with calls and 4GB data. Actually simcard 2 Degrees don’t come with data service unless kena call them to activate and they will deducted NZD16 for 1GB data activation.

Next, we went to gate 11 to wait for our shuttle (our rental car depot was just 11 minutes away and it provides for free shuttle service). Hubs sempat beli Mc Fillet for us sebab kena lunch on the go memandangkan kami dah lari dari scheduled time (flight delayed, long queue for customs clearance, kena isi Arrival Card etc) sebab nak ke Hobbiton. We rented out our car from Omega Rental Cars and bila sampai kat depot kena sign kertas kerja sikit, bayar balance of booking (they took 10% deposit when we did the online booking), check kereta inside and out, installed car seat and booster seat (they will help you to install those), set the GPS and we were good to go. Oh, when we booked the car online, kami pilih untuk return kat airport tapi bila diorang tahu yang kita will spend a night at Ibis Budget Auckland Airport Hotel, they suggested to just return it at the hotel and deducted NZD36 for ‘After Hour Return’ at the airport sebab Ibis bagi free parking, so yeay! The rental car (Mazda Demio Auto – compact car) costs us NZD132 per day rental, inclusive of day rental (NZD61), GPS rental (NZD12), After Hour Return NZD36 – deducted sebab kami return kat hotel and Drive Easy Premium Excess Car Cover insurance (NZD23). Shuttle service and both car seats adalah FOC, so yeay again!

*TIPS ON RENTAL CAR: adalah sangat penting to survey kereta sewa yang bagi kemudahan shuttle if their depot is outside the airport area (kebanyakan yang tersedia di airport itself harga mahal dari depot yang kat luar dan tak ada yang bagi FOC for car seats / booster seats sepanjang aku buat research), kena cari yang bagi sewa GPS and car seats (if you have kids with you) murah or affordable or FOC lagi bagus dan sila ambil full insurance to cover sebab if anything happens (nauzubillah), the excess cover jadi sangat mahal. Juga kena baca terms and conditions on ‘After Hour Pick Up and/or Drop Off’ if kita plan nak sewa kereta outside their working hour. Ada yang company charge mahal, ada company yang charge murah and ada company yang tak provide langsung on this particular policy. Initially kami pilih nak return pukul 11.30pm sebab tu ada fee on “After Hour Return” sebab kena bayar parking fee kat airport. A bond of NZD2,000 by credit card akan diremitkan masa nak ambil kereta and lasted for 3 months sebab diorang akan hantar saman kepada kita if any, and will deducted from the bond straightaway.  

Khayra with our rented car – Mazda Demio Auto (compact car)

Kami bertolak dari Omega Rental Cars depot to Hobbiton, Matamata NZ around 2.20pm and sangat sangat sangat berdebar sebab the journey will take about 1 hour 50 mins and the last tour adalah at 4.30pm. Kalau terlambat sikit atau salah masuk jalan, memang for sure kami tak sempat kejar the last tour of the day and the speed limits adalah 100km/h sahaja. Kalau laju sikit the GPS akan bagi signals on speed limits. Fuhh. The speed limits in town area adalah about 50km/h atau 80km/h sahaja, memang nak nangis dah masa tu. Haha. Oh kami lunch on the go je haritu and Alhamdulillah both kids sangat well behave. Agaknya berdebar tengok parents diorang cuak nak kejar masa dan nak ikut the traffic flow. We already have an email confirmation on Hobbiton Tour at 4.30pm dan sepanjang jalan berdoa je moga Allah permudahkan urusan kami. We reached at the Buckland Road around 4.10pm and nak mencari The Shire’s Rest Café pulak satu hal. *Nangis* Memang Hobbiton ni tempatnya masuk ke ladang yang jauhhh ke dalam and krik krik krik juga. Hehe. Akhirnya jumpa The Shire’s Rest Café at 4.20pm and hubs dropped me off kat depan café and dia pergi cari parking. Aku apa lagi buat mini marathon lari masuk dengan harapan they still can give us a chance to redeem our tour tickets based on the email confirmation.

Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah alhamdullillah they still accept our late check in dan tickets were then issued to us. The tour will start tepat jam 4.30pm (we were supposed to check in 15 mins before the tour departure, tapi Alhamdulillah rezeki kami haritu sebab still dapat check in). I went out to get my kids and hubs when suddenly I heard nama dipanggil.

“Wahidaaa, Wahidaaa!”

God. Macam mimpi ada orang kenal aku kat Hobbiton. Bahahaha :P

Rupa-rupanya Nik Fara! Apalagi kami berpelukan macam lama terpisah (memang tak pernah jumpa since we left Law School of UiTM in year 2005). Memang tak sangka jumpa dia kat situ sebab we plan to meet kat Southern Island kalau berjodoh. Then nampak my husband and my kids datang rasa nak peluk my husband cos we could make it to Hobbiton tours. Alhamdulillah *star jump* Haha. Sempatlah berbual sikit dan ambil gambar dengan Nik sekeluarga. Jodoh betul Allah temukan kami kat NZ walhal kat Malaysia tak jumpa langsung. 

With Nik Fara and her family at Hobbiton Movie Set, Matamata, NZ :D

Then bas Hobbiton Movie Set Tours datang tepat at 4.30pm and kena naik bas untuk ke movie set of The Shire, Hobbiton. Masa tu baru perasan husband tertinggal kasut Hafiya, apalagi memang kena dukung for the whole tours (about 2 hours) budak 14kg. Ticket tours adalah NZD75 per adult, NZD10 for child 5-9yo and FOC for infant 0-4yo. TIPS: Masa booking must state ada infant atau tak cos a ticket will also be issued even for infant.

Overall aku tak faham sangat (kahkah!) sebab tak pernah khatam cerita LOTR and The Hobbit (balik Malaysia baru buat DVD marathon, hish) tapi tengoklah sikit-sikit but I could feel that my husband was really enjoying the Tour sebab dia paling banyak bertanya (kahkah) to our tour guide yang memang very expert bab Hobbiton and LOTR movie. Part of his birthday treat lah kiranya ni and I’m glad that my husband was really enjoying it! :D The whole movie set was really nice macam nak nangis pun ada. Subhanallah. Hikmah kami ambil Tour at 4.30pm when we managed to experience the movie set (with a close up visit to all 39 Hobbit holes) juga pada masa hari dah gelap. So beautiful dengan tanglung dan lampu warna warni at 6pm.

Entrance to Hobbiton movie set

Samwise Gamgee’s hobbit hole *am a big fan!*

The Tour also includes a free flow drink (Ginger Beer – non alcoholics) at The Green Dragon Inn café. Rasa ginger tea yang ada gas. Bahaha. The Tour ended at 6.30pm and kami ke souvenir shop untuk beli souvenirs (the souvenir shop tunggu group kami sebelum tutup sebab group kami adalah the last tour of the day). Oh, masa tour tu kami sekumpulan dengan a few groups lain and ada berkenalan dengan a Chinese family group from Singapore. So bolehlah kita tolong menolong ambil gambar family masing-masing sebagaimana di atas. Hehehe.

Hafiya inside The Green Dragon Inn Cafe

The Hobbiton Movie set at 6.15pm during end of Winter

Next, our journey back to Auckland at night (around 7pm) and sampai Auckland kami kena refill minyak kereta (NZD44) and adalah disyaratkan isi minyak full tank before return kalau tak akan kena extra charge, bought mineral water from the convinient shop and balik ke hotel to check in at 9.15pm. Kami pilih Ibis Budget Hotel Auckland Airport ni sebab dekat dengan airport dan tak mahal sangat to stay for an overnight. Nama je budget tapi besar juga with king sized bed, toilet and shower and spacious room. Masa survey hotel ni ada juga komen kata kecik tapi bagi kami OK je, no complaints at all. The receptionists were very helpful and process nak check in pun laju je. Parking space available for FOC in front of the hotel, it takes 15 mins walk to the airport, and ada shuttle bus (Yellow Bus) right in front of the hotel mengikut scheduled time, what’s not to love kan? We got a pretty cheap deal for this hotel for RM181.00 and we booked through Agoda.com.

Malam tu kami dinner maggi, roti and waffles je sebab most kedai dah tutup at 9pm. Sebab tu berguna bawa maggi kalau travel. LOL. Malam tu juga I cooked fried rice untuk breakfast esok pagi guna traveller cooker tu. Mudah sangat, Alhamdulillah. Then kami rest and tidur even aku tak boleh tidur sebab time difference. Tsk.