New Zealand: Lake Rotorua, Westport, Cape Foulwind, Punakaiki Pancake Rocks Blowholes (Day 6)

If you don't already know, our itinerary is planned rather tight as we want to cover both north and south of New Zealand, hence we changed many accommodations throughout the trip. We took turns to drive so that it wasn't too tiring and most towns were small, so we were not missing out on a lot. Time management was also very important, before this trip, the boy & I planned the route out, how long it took from one destination to the next, what time we had to leave, etc. 

Woke up to this beautiful view right outside our motel in Nelson.

We drove to Lake Rotorua, as I wanted to photography the instagram-worthy jetty. These ducklings came to greet us as soon as we stepped out of the car, too cute!

One thing to note at Lake Rotorua: There are many sandflies, so please dress yourself in long pants/jeans.

Decided to get dressy today. #OOTD

Along our way to Westport, we saw a glider landing. Totally reminded me of Fifty Shades of Grey. Now, I have Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do playing in my head.

 Cape Foulwind.

 What I was most excited about, the seal colony near Tauranga Bay.

We spotted seals chilling on the rocks, even baby ones.

It was raining very heavily when we arrived at the Pancake Rocks Blowholes, Punakaiki. We braved the rain in ugly raincoats.

These amazing limestone formations are a spectacular must-see along the west coast. 

Mother nature at its very best.

We arrived in Franz Josef at dusk and checked into Alpine Glacier Motel.

Settled our dinner at a nearby restaurant, Alice May, which also serves 3 course meals. Would you look at that portion for one?

The sky turned into a beautiful midnight blue when we finished our meal. A perfect ending to a wonderful day.

New Zealand: Wellington, Picton, Nelson (Day 5)

We arrived in Wellington at about 10pm and checked into James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor. We woke up bright and early to roam around Wellington and we had a big breakfast.

The streets of Wellington looking similar to Plymouth in UK.

Our ferry ride to Picton was at 1.30pm. The ride lasted till 5pm. This was kinda exciting as our car was going on the ferry too. We traveled via Bluebridge, for more information, https://www.bluebridge.co.nz/

Walked around Wellington after checking in, to get our lunch. They have food on board too, which are quite reasonably priced, but I was craving for some asian food.

After parking our car on board, we spotted many crates of sheeps on board too.

They have seats at the outdoor area, so if you want to enjoy the view you can check out this space.

I love Japanese food in New Zealand. They have such a huge variety and in large portions too. They taste even better than most sushi joints in Singapore. We bought this sushi from one of the shops in Wellington before we boarded the ferry and it was so good. We regretted not ordering more.

 We managed to get a window seat, it's free seating by the way, so do remember to grab your seats first before you start exploring the ferry.

Arrived in Picton and we drove down South to Nelson, by the time we arrived at our accommodation, the sky had already turned dark and some restaurants were already closed. We stayed at Gladstone Motel Nelson and the friendly manager, who waited for us to arrive, gave us some recommendations. We headed to Three Rooms (which was highly recommended on Tripadvisor), they offer NZD$35 for a 3 course meal. Like I said before, you can trust Tripadvisor when it comes to food recommendations in New Zealand. The places that we have tried did not disappoint.

Service was impeccable, the interior design was beautiful and the food was two thumbs up, worth every penny. My daddy said that the best steak of the trip goes to this restaurant, so I would highly recommend it if you're in the area.

Stay tuned for more.