Thursday, December 28, 2017

#GalsNZ17: New Zealand Getaway Day #2

We had to wake up really early the next day since we had to catch an early morning flight to Christchurch. Our choice of airline was Air New Zealand, that introduced us to the most delicious cookies that they served on board.

Can't help taking loads of selfies once we hit the road because NZ is such a beautiful country!

It is not easy to locate a prayer room at the domestic terminal in Auckland Airport as it is really remote that even some staff had no clue of its whereabout. Eventually we managed to find the place to perform our Subuh prayer before we boarded our flight to Christchurch, phew!

The prayer area is just a small enclosure with no separate section for men and women so it's advisable to go there in a group

Alhamdulillah for the nikmat to perform prayers in a comfortable and private place

Tips: The prayer area is located just across the baggage drop off on the first floor. Walk past the public shower and then turn left until you reach the end of the corridor 

My sisters taking advantage of the free but limited airport WiFi to check on our travel arrangement once we reach Christchurch

While waiting for our flight to take off, we managed to cam-whore LOL!

Mom also want a photo of her boarding Air New Zealand flight

Vomit is vomit, no matter how you say it.

Landed at Christchurch Airport to be greeted by this really nice lighting that mimics starlights (coz stargazing is one of the things you must do in NZ)

Welcome to Christchurch!

In my brand new leather jacket, bought specifically for this adventure!

Another family photo outside Christchurch Airport

Selfie again while waiting for our shuttle van to Apex Car Rental. Loved the weather even though it's a bit chilly

When we reached Christchurch, we called the car rental company to pick us up at the airport. For our road trip in NZ, we decided to rent a sedan car (Toyota Corolla) from Apex Car Rentals. It was easy dealing with the car rental staff as they were all friendly and very helpful (they even changed our GPS navigation because it was lagging).

Useful info: For 8 days hire period in South Island only, the total cost is NZ$527.20 inclusive of GPS Navigation ($55.68), which includes Zero Excess, Unlimited KMs, Roadside Cover and 3 extra drivers for free. Minimum age of drivers is 21 years old. Drivers are not required to have international driving license but driving license issued by country must have English translation.

Before we hit the road, we stopped by PAK'nSAVE supermarket at Hornby to buy some food rations as we intended to prepare our own food (partly to save cost, and partly because we didn't know if we will come across halal eateries along the way).

Can't help getting ga-ga over fresh fruit and veggies in NZ (and they are cheap too!)

More fresh vegetables...

We went crazy and bought, like 3 packs of these strawberries and the chocolate dipping sauce. It was the best snack during our long car trip

Tips: There are a few brands selling halal chicken meat like Tegel, Brinks and Best Bird. Do browse their website to find out more. We tried Tegel chicken during our stay in NZ.

Will blog more about our road trip on our 2nd day in a second entry. Stay tuned!