Sep 25: home coming and last trip before leaving NZ

9 months passed too fast, I m back to Malaysia for good.

Take bus and ferry instead of flying directly- From Tasman Bay Backpackers to Picton, interisland ferry from Picton to Wellington, stop overnight at Wellington then the next evening took overnight bus from Wellington to Auckland (2 hours bus, 3.5 hours ferry and 12 hours bus). From Auckland to Kuala Lumpur should take 11 hours, but due to the insufficient of petrol in Auckland it took extra 4 hours in order to stop at Melbourne to get refuel.

Not totally is for cost saving, but more like I was too lazy to make my way to Nelson airport from the city then go to Auckland airport and transfer to city and back airport to fly back.

And there is also a bit of risky if I take the exact same date to fly from Nelson airport to Auckland then back to Malaysia due to the past experiences of flight/ferry got cancelled due to weather or simply no reason.

Yesterday was a bit out of control. I thought to go to KL to visit my friends, so  drive my way up after lunch and had my SIM card changed. The mobile service told me to wait for 2 hours for my line to be activated. So I thought by the time I reached KL my phone shall be ready for GPS. But count too accurate and then not everything is as planned.

No GPS in KL means I can go no where. So found a mall and decided to enter to steal some WIFI before I gone too far. Inform Sue Anne and we decided to meet there.

After that I decided to go home directly as at least I can follow the signboard to go home. Reach home at 12am (NZ time 5am!). Sleep straight without inform my dearest friends. Sorry for making them worry.

Anyway, good to be home to do cleaning for my stuffs as I left a big mess when come to NZ. More cleaning to be done. But just out for lunch and settle for my mobile phone. - they thought to help me to switch to 4G but my previous one already does that. So it was supposed to be 2 min task to cut my SIM card to nano size.

Phew! Settled. Thanks to that one mistakes I been left out to all the previous group chat. Good for moving forward without keep looking at the past? As all my contacts were also missing.

Chose Wellington as the last stop it was not bad at all! Thanks to the good timing for Spring! Tulips festival at the Botanic Garden, Sunday Market, Wellington Underground Market open on Sun during the World of Wearable Art show (WOW) and visited Wellington Museum. Fully utilized my last day in NZ.


1. Wellington Botanic Garden: I recalled before I come NZ for he flower blooming season in NZ. Sometimes the surprise came without planning!

I was able to witness the Lupine in Feb (season from Oct to Dec) without going to Lake Tekapo at Arrowtown when we go for a small walk after the cherry season ends.

And then this one! LED Tulips were quite famous sometime ago in Malaysia but I never go as for me they were not real. Really excited when I saw the brochure introducing the festival before take the interisland ferry!

2. Wellington Underground Market was there to support the local art, thanks to my full luggage I have to stop buying stuff!

There is one cute stall doing all things in a mini size. And one weird Barbie's hand earrings.

3. Wellington Sunday Market: Eat my breakfast there and feel the wind at the waterfront. Thousands of thoughts passed through my mind for the short time frame.

4. Some designs for the WOW that show cast in different areas (WOW entrance, Art Gallery, and Te Papa Museum).

I did not enter to see the show as it needs to pay.

5. The Wellington Museum- what make me feel interesting was there is a few pieces without knowing the true version of history, so they have make people to vote for the versions.

Only one down side for this trip , the overnight bus need to be upgraded to a more comfort seat! I was expecting a flat seat but end up in the common double deck and surprisingly a lot of people taking it so someone was sitting next to me. Big guy, so less space for me. >.<

So, tell Papa that I am coming home! And I am glad the old man ( my car) survived through the period of 9 months, thanks to the student who stay at my sis house! Old man is still handsome and run smooth from my way going from Melaka to KL and return! Need some service and a clean wash though.

July to Sep: Wet Fish Processing, Work Exchange and Farewell

I was quite surprised for my last 3 months in NZ, I thought I will have no idea how to end my working holiday. But it ended up just perfectly occupied, with all the new experiences and good time.

After the kiwi fruit season, it was already 6 months of me in NZ, there is only 3 months left for me to try it here.

I have thoughts of all different ways: working in a restaurant, work exchange accommodation to keep traveling, and even found a job advertisements looking for Chinese speakers for a wine attendant.

I ended up come to Nelson with my other two roommates for the job interview in a fish company. I was lucky though, they need people to do the process monitor, so I got the job quite early compared to the others waiting for weeks or months after the interview.

Things get easier than the first time work as QC in the cherry packhouse, it only takes 1-2 days for the training and then started the daily routines checking all the fish fillets and mince.

But there comes another challenge, after a month working, my other two friends left Nelson for different interests. I decided to stay as I quite like the people at the job, and I have quite a freedom at work. I can walk around, have my own planning on the task given and help around when I feel needed.

Only that I need to find a new accommodation after leaving our lovely home for a month.

It is when there is door closed up, another one will be open for you. I found a backpackers hostel is looking for work exchange worker and the one highly recommended by the others. My friend ask me to contact them right away before everyone else does.

And then I moved into the hostel before my friends leave the city. It was really cool experience, meeting the 3 woofers, Jade, Zane and Claire, before they leave the hostel. And also their 3-month old baby, the handmade CATAN!

And as soon as they leave, new people come and go, Liz, Ricardo, Megumi, Yu Jung, and Ayska.

Another farewell was with my little baby, the car. It was name after Sofiah as agreed by her, so her name is Che Kiah. Bought her in Apr using the money I earned from the Kiwi Berries. I was quite worry I can't get a good price letting her go but yeah, the lucky stars are always around, from getting the visa, got my first job even before I came to NZ, got the kiwi berries job before the kiwi fruit season, got a good handy car that drove me from the north island to south island, met awesome people along the ways, and sold my car just the right timing after I decided to come back again if I am not able to sell it.

After sold my car, I still have to go to work! I thought of to take bicycle to work but my friends advised not to as the weather is still quite cold and we are working till late night. Lucky me, one friend has offer a ride!

Last Fri, I finally told my supervisor that it will be my last day, all them give me a big hug. Erica, Lisa and Siang.

I never really deal with Erica directly except for the overtime or resignation, but appreciate her not getting mad of me keep changing my last day of work and still give me a big hug and appreciate my work. I will miss the fun with Lisa and Siang, both always tease one another while at work, as one have to make sure all the compliance and another one work on the line. The two parties will be always against each other similar to the previous company that I work for, the target on quality and another one on the yield. With my little corner here, I would like to thank them for all the fun and also opportunities given.

Had enough of time working at the factory this time in NZ, I might be only seeing a little part of it, but trust that it will be more handy when I go back to my work in the future.

And here left my last week in NZ before I go back to my home country, at the end of the trip, I decided not to travel much but just continue doing the work exchange at the backpackers hostel and then take the long journey back to north as my common way in Malaysia (Johor -> Melaka -> Kuala Lumpur --> Penang) and now Nelson to Picton to Wellington and lastly take the flight from Auckland.