Christchurch and Queenstown Trip (25/12/12-2/1/13) – Part 1

After christmas service in the morning, I headed home to do some last minute household chores and packing. Then off to airport I went.

Flew Jetstar. The return trip cost me almost AUD1000. Very expensive but what to do? At least it’s still cheaper than flying from Malaysia when I go home for good even after conversion.

Left: Flew from Adelaide to Melbourne and waited at the airport for 8 hours to fly to Christchurch.

Right: Arrived Christchurch at about 5am in the morning. Went around to look for breakfast and killing my time. Came across Burger King. It’s been a long time not seeing this name. In Australia, it’s known as Hungry Jack’s.

Left: Had my breakfast, bacon and egg muffin with hot chocolate.

Right: Waited with the others in airport. I went to my accommodation using Super Shuttle, much cheaper than using taxi. I waited until 7.30am since nothing out there before that. Paid NZD24 for the shuttle.

YMCA at Christhurch (12 Hereford Street). It took me ages to find an accommodation in Christchurch. Not easy at all! Many fully booked else many still not in operation due to the earthquake almost 2 years ago.

My friend and I secured the standard double room (NZD80/night) without ensuite one month before the trip. We had to share the bathroom with others. The room wasn’t bad for the price we paid but I just don’t like sharing bathroom with so many strangers. Luckily it’s just next to our room. We didn’t have to go far for toilet or shower. Very inconvenient and rather eeky -.-” It’s just me. In fact, it’s really good already if comparing it to other backpacker accommodations that my friend stayed before in Melbourne. The location of the place is very good! Near to many places. Luckily we only spent one night here as we were supposed to spend our final 3 night in Christchurch in the same type of room but we decided to fork out a bit more and asked the reception about availability of deluxe double room ($110/night) so that we can have our own bathroom and more privacy. Hehehe… Girls… Luckily! They managed to arrange us a room for that period of time. Phew… How happy!

After I got there and freshen up myself, we headed out for Boxing Day shopping! First we went to Dress Smart at Hornby where we found a number of outlets. Didn’t plan to buy anything but ended up bought a handbag (NZD10, it’s AU10 in Australia, so I got it cheaper in NZ), a pair of sunglasses (NZD10), and a dress (NZD3.50, amazing! The cheapest dress ever! We were shocked to find that it’s this cheap when the price tag wasn’t displaying it instead displaying different prices such as NZD12, NZD7, and NZD6 for the same last 3 dresses. We both bought it and one last one left on the rack). That’s all I bought for boxing day hahaha… No plan to shop actually, didn’t allocated the fund for it but it’s just too hard to resist.

Left: After shopping, we went to KFC for lunch. The lunch deal was great! NZD5 only! I had the Colonel burger + Chicken + coleslaw + mashed potato set. Where can you get this cheap?!?! Definitely cannot find it in Australia, even the cheapest also need to pay almost AUD6. I reserved the burger as my dinner.

Right: Next, we went to Westfield Riccarton and guess what?!?! We only bought a container of mix nuts in K-mart for NZD6 which was on offer and there’s no way to find this price in Australia even if they have sale for it.

After that, we called it a day and went back to our accommodation to prepare for the next day 12-hour Christchurch-Queenstown tour. So tired…

P/S: Ignore the extra “/12” in the photos hahaha… Too many “12” until I got myself confused.