New Zealand - Firdaus Halal Meat, Hamilton

New Zealand - Auckland Airport Kiwi International Hotel

Info

Auckland Airport Kiwi International Hotel
150 McKenzie Road
Manukau Auckland
1010 New Zealand
phone no. : +64 92560046

Airport Shuttle
Visit the info booth (i site centre) located near to the arrival area, opposite McD.
There is a freephone available.
Choose No. 24 - No. 4 (free)
Direct dial to hotel : 0800 801919

New Zealand - Car Rental @ Jucy NZ

Some important information to share on renting a car while in Auckland.

Why we chose Jucy NZ

1- Discover from other blogger that they offer cheap / affordable rate
2- Near airport, so easy to pick up and return the car
3- Don't know about other rental agencies

Tips:
For peace of mind, chose package with insurance coverage with no excess / no bond.

Vehicle:
Since there were 4 of us, so we chose a Sedan car, Nissan Sunny. Plenty of spaces to load our luggage and still convenient to keep 4 adult comfortably through hours of journey.

Cost of rental:
Average daily rate = NZD27.25 per day x 8 days = RM218
Stress free cover = NZD17 per day x 8 days = NZD136

Amount to be paid when pick up the car.
Visa accepted.
Just make sure you bring your recent driving licence card (the one with photo like IC card)

If we going to return the car after office hour, the agency will ask the hirer to just leave the car outside their compound and drop the key at the key box. And dont forget to fuel up the tank.

Review:
Well, basically we rent a used car aged more than 10 years. But the car was well maintained. No breakdown occurred during the trip. Only 2 rim cap missing on our way back to Auckland. Luckily, they did not charge us anything. That's the good part of taking full coverage. You no need to worry about minor incident like missing a rim cap. Nevertheless, we still had an amazing trip across North Island, from Auckland to Wellington with this old car.

Jucy NZ Cars and Campas

Auckland Airport

5 Aintree Avenue

Mangere Auckland

5-min from International Airport

New Zealand - Random

Our souvenirs. Mostly honey based products for cosmetics, facials. Mug, tumbler, clothes, key chains, KK handbeg, a few pairs of boot, teddy sheep,

some of our food inventories. unfortunately, we had to let go the chips since it contained chicken ingredient.

Snacks from MAS

perfume. bought this at KLIA. RM200 for the Red Door and RM60 for the Green Tea. I'm a loyal fan of Arden. Tried almost all its range. 

free travel magazine for visitors reference

I think the Kiwi loves coffee. i discovered that there were plenty of homemade brewed coffee around North Island. Local coffee without attachment to any international brand. unfortunately, i just manage to grab 1 or 2 cups of coffee during my short trip. 

North Island, New Zealand in brief

Since, this is an overdue post and writing the whole experience will take me months to do, i decided to simplify it and summarised a few chapters into 1 post before i can write the details, someday.

The trip took place during winter from 24 July to 2 Aug 2014 and during end month of Ramadhan and early Eid Mubarak. this was the first time for all of us celebrating raya overseas. mat salleh style.

24 July 2014

Depart from KLIA at 9.30am
Arrived at Auckland International Airport, 11 pm
Break Fast in the flight around 4.15pm (Aussie time)
Rest at Hotel Kiwi

25 July 2014

Pick up our car at Jucy Rental and drive to Hamilton
Buy meat and chicken supply
Drive to Lake Taupo
Check in at Tapou Ika Nui

26 July 2014

Sight seeing around Tapou
(missed the Lake Tapou cruise)
Huka Fall view point
Aratiatia dam
Huka Fall cruise
Craters of the moon, geothermal walkaway
Huka Honey Hive

27 July 2014

Snow experience at Whakapapa village

28 July 2014

Eid Mubarak
Drive to Wellington
Rest at Hunterville, get coffee
Check in YHA Backpacker Hostel

29 July 2014

Sight seeing around Wellington
Cable car / museum / botanical garden
Lambton Quoy / shopping
Tepapa Museum

30 July 2014

Checkout and drive to Souvenir Factory Shop
Drive back to Lake Tapou

31 July 2014

Skyline at Rotorua
Hobbiton at Matamata

1 Aug 2014

Drive to Auckland
Sight seeing at one tree hill, crown hall park, queen street
return car at jucy rental
take taxi to Airport

2 Aug 2014

midnight flight to Kuala lumpur

=)

North Island, New Zealand - Pre Travel List

It's a last minute plan when my parents decided to visit New Zealand this year. So, we had a quick plan and preparation. bought ticket, booked hotels and car rental for a 10 days family vacation.

Some of pre travel preparation we made prior to our winter trip during Eid Mubarak this year (24 July to 2 Aug 2014)

1 - Foods 

(To declare during Customs check. Alhamdulillah, all our foods passed the Customs clearance. in fact the customs officer is an indian uncle from malaysia. still can speak Bahasa)

Anchovies Paste

Rice

Canned sardines

Canned peanut

instant cooking paste

instant noodles

instant mushroom soup

canned red beans

shrimp and anchovies fritter flour

chilies paste

3 in 1 coffee, milo

white pepper powder

instant friend rice

ketchup (soy soup)

2 - Medicines

panadol acti fast, extend, soluble

charcoal

dhamotil

revicon

paint killer

lipitor

cream fast heat 

3- toiletries 

4 - electrical items

charger camera / hp

international adapter

monopod

shutter bluetooth

camera slr

5-  Winter Attires

bubble jacket
leather jacket
inner heat wear / thermal wear (top and bottom)
gloves
wool socks
pashmina
suitable shoes
thick clothes

6- currency (NZD 1 = RM2.7) 

Overall, i spent about RM11000 for myself including airfares. Details as below:

Airfare (MH) = RM3500
Hotels at Wellington and Auckland = RM1050 (for 3 nights)
Hotel at Tapou (mom membership) = RM1200 (for 7 nights)
Food, Shopping = RM5500 (share with mom and dad also)
Rented car = RM1100 (share with dad)
Fuel = dad (NZD250 for 9 days trip)

7 - open mind and a big heart

Cheers!!!

Sweet September

September went too fast.. too many things happened in September. I have nothing much to say. No complaint at all. Just a millions thankful and grateful to Allah S.W.T for blessing me with everything in this world. I'm so thankful that after so many many years, Allah let me to him. I'm speechless. Everything happened in just a blink of eyes. i can't think much. i just go with the flow. He, the Almighty knows everything and He knows what best for me, at the right time and with the right person. If he is meant for me, he will be. Not too early and not too late. He is beyond my imagination. He is never been in my checklist, so called. But he was there, in front of me. Looking at me. Besides me. And i, no other than feel blessed and so blessed. Thank you Allah for this wonderful gift.

To u,
I love you b.