Ken@Japan

Since I was tired from the forest walk in Waiheke Island, I overslept on my fourth day in Auckland, so I decided to take a short trip in Auckland city. Firstly, I went to i-site, a tourist information center in Sky-city Auckland to book my travel to Matamata area by a coach. Matamata is a place where a Hollywood movie crew shot a mega-hit movie series called "Lord of the ring" and "The hobbit". Matamata is used for filming the Hobbits' village (Hobbiton) called the Shire. From Auckland, getting a highway coach was the best way to get there, so I went to i-site for the booking. A lady at i-site was very friendly. When I asked to book the coach to Matamata, she realized that I was going to Hobbiton, and she explained to me that booking should be made before going to Matamata and $75 per person was required as its admission fee. Including the admission booking, she kindly arranged my Hobbiton travel by a coach at $129! It was such a reasonable deal! In...

Waiheke Island is an island near from Auckland and famous for wineries and beautiful sights. It is quite accessible from Auckland by a ferry. I was looking for something natural, wanted to expose myself to the country's wildness. When I got a brochure about the island at the hostel's reception, I thought that was it. Therefore, I decided to go to the island on my third day. The city's port "Queens Wharf" is located at the end of the city's main street called "Queens Street" and along  Quay Street. I went down the Queens Street in the middle people commuting to their office and reached to the port early in the morning. There was some time to catch the ferry, so I dropped by a convenience store to get a morning snack (usually I don't have a breakfast in Japan, but I thought it was better to eat something before my wildness experience in the island). I got a minced-beef pie with some cheese and 1.5ml bottled mineral water. There was a bench i...

Since I'd had a long flight, I slept very well that night. It was really "GOOD morning" when I got up. On my second day, I decided to follow my travel habit; to go to museum firstly. Wherever I go, the first place to visit is the place's museum to get close to its local culture. My travel isn't tourism but more "journey" to touch something different. To me, museum is a juke box letting me take a look at the local culture and ask anything to curators. Following this habit, I walked to Auckland museum located in Auckland Domain-a public park. After 40-minute walk, I got to the museum's main entrance and I was overwhelmed at the building.. It looks a palace! Certainly, New Zealand is under British commonwealth, so there is no palace for royal somebody to live, but it looks like a palace on a hill. How wonderful it looks. Getting inside, there is a huge hall and foyer, and the reception desks are placed in its front. I approached to one of the...

In Japan, it is one of its holiday seasons from the end of April to 1st week of May, called "Golden Week". Every year, I spend my vacation in foreign countries during this season and I chose New Zealand this time.  Why New Zealand? Actually no specific reasons. It seemed that I can buy a cheap air ticket if I go to New Zealand. On top of that, New Zealand appears in some big Hollywood movies as the fields, especially in my favorite fantasy movies.  I would have liked to take a look at the beautiful natural sites in my eyes. Furthermore, I was interested in the country's native Maori culture. In sum, Cheap ticket+Movie sets+Maori-these items motivated me to visit the country. A cheap air ticket means a long flight including a long-wait transit. This time, I took a flight served by one of the Chinese big carriers, China Southern. The flight took me from Osaka to Guangzhou, a city in the southern china, then to Auckland after 7-hour wait for transit there based on ...