Rangitata: River from the sky

So many trips to update, so many pics to upload yet so little time and so lazy I am..

Dear Blog of mine, I just came back from Christchurch. New Zealand and it was a blast!!! I wished I could stay there longer and that I had more money.. hahaha...

The first day when I touched down, I went crazy in the local hypermart.. One of the crew brought me there and some of their things are really cheap compared to buying them in Singapore or Malaysia..

Part of the reason I went crazy was this also..

I've never seen a brand with my name on it.. Can u see it? PAM'S!!!

I was so happy and excited, I bought so many boxes of energy bars just because they have my name on it...

These are just part of the things I bought and seriously, the energy bars there are super cheap!! I would buy more of them next time if I have the chance to go there again!
These are the PRODUCTS that I have bought on that day! I even bought their MILO as according to my friend, their milo tasted different compared to our local ones.. I bought 2 packets, 1 for me, another 1 for my family to try..

On the 2nd day, which is the BESTEST part, me and 3 other crews went for water rafting!!! 4 of us are all females!! Girl power man!!

A bus came to the hotel to pick us up.. and we were suppose to go to this this river called Rangitata which means River from the Sky.. I liked the sound of it.. Rangitata..

From the heart of Christchurch to Rangitata, it took us about 2 and a half hour to reach there..

So, I decided to took some pictures because I was too excited and I can't rest at all in the bus!!
The one beside me is Emily, she's from Malaysia too.. and dont be deceived by her baby look.. she's not as young as she looks.. Good maintainance.. We talked throughout the way and she's super nice..

Some pictures that I took from the bus when we were travelling.. The scenery of Christchurch is so beautiful that it took my breath away! Have you seen so many cows in your life? I've never!!! MOo MOo..

The river is so clean that I just feel like drinking it.. Hardly see blue water river in most parts of the world nowadays and NZ still have them!

Grass so green sky so blue.. Nature.. Gods creation!!

After 2 and a half long hours of bus ride, we finally reached the Rangitata Water Raft house!

And I spotted this unique chair..

So cute that me and emily nearly wanna steal it.. but its impossible to take it back to Singapore..

I walked around the house while the rest were having light lunch.. I love the view..

This is the Water Raft house which accepts tourists to stay in before the activity.. But I'm not sure of the price though.. There were more than 20 people altogether that day that joined the water rafting!

One of the guide briefed us through how to 'dress' up for our activity of the day.. So many layers!! First we have to wear wet suit, then a long sleeve thermal, then red jacket and life jacket.. Oh, not forgetting the helmet and also wet shoe.. He's really funny but I was having quite a tough time trying to catch his slang..

The 4 us half 'dressed' up! The thermal is '1 size fits all'.. that's why we looked so shabby.. From left: Me, Emily, Qian Hwei and Kimberly..

One of the guides took the opportunity to take picture with us.. hahaha.. he has very nice blue eyes..

After some cam-whore and last briefing.. we were sent by bus again to the river.. On our way, we saw so many BAa BAas...

SHEEPS!! SO CUTE!! They have big butts and when they run they looked so cute!!!

Breathtaking view.. I can't breath!

According to the guides, usually the river is brown in colour during this time of the year and it was just few days ago that the water became clean! I guess we were really blessed to have such clear water to raft on!

This is Rangitata!

My team-mates of the day.. Kimberly, Qian Hwei, Emily, ME, our faithful funny guide- Cam, Gamma and Steve..

All excited and pumped up for rafting!!! WEEEEEEEE....

Before the thrill begans.. still water.. (mind you, these pictures were taken by one of the guide and it cost us 40NZ dollar to have the cd of our pictures..)

Then, it warms up slowly.. Rapids Grade 1, Grade 2 then Grade 5! (In water rafting, Grade 5 is the most dangerous rapid but its considered the most exciting..)

Row row, row your boat ROUGHLY down the stream..

THis was taken when we were on RAPID 5.. as you can see.. we looked like we are swallowed by the water.. but dont worry.. we weren't.. But it was very very SYIOK!!! I have never encounter a grade 5 rapid.. my adrenalin was up to my maximum point man!!!!

Can you spot me?

After 2 grade 5 rapids.. the river started to calm down abit.. but there were more to come.. just no grade 5s anymore.. *sad*

The power of nature.. We can never fight nature.. the water was so powerful we can hardly control our raft..

Fear of too little pictures taken of us, we tried to get the attention of the camera man.. and we succeed!!

One of the guide briefing us on the safe way to jump of the cliff.. Not suicide k..

Me jumping off the cliff.. my heart was pumping real hard.. the cliff was quite high and pls dont tell my parents I did this k.. they will kill me.. hahahaha..

*splash* and I drank like 1 litre of water.. *burp*

We were talking about our lives on the raft.. Gamma is a teacher and Steve is from UK..

this is what we called 'tako-wrap' where the raft just folded like tat.. squeezing all of us in the middle.. very fun!! Something new to me...

Grade 3 rapid.. instead of fear, we were happy.. call us insane nut case..

We thought we did not get enough attention from the photographer, so we waved again..

As the water became still.. we know our journey was almost ending..

And we have to say goodbye to Rangitata..

After our awesome rafting, we went back to the house and washed up.. There were no seperate shower rooms for us but 1 big room with 4 shower poles for the women.. We were abit shy to go naked in front of the Caucasion ladies and we just briefly rinse ourselves with our wet suit on.. but, the most of the caucasion ladies just stripped themselves and showered like theres no tomorrow.. I had a serious culture shock!! I've never seen a naked adult lady in my life!!!

AND WHEN I SAY NAKED MEANS NO CLOTHES OR EVEN A NECKLACE ON!!

Tired and hungry, we took a picture on how shag we looked before proceeding for our lunch..

WE ARE STEW-Ardess..

Lunch with the nature by your side.. something you can hardly do in Singapore..

You can even sit on the grass and enjoy the sun while eating your sandwich.. In malaysia, sure got ants attack your butt!

The tiny little kitchen that brought us not enough food to fill the hungry wolves! I was still hungry after the so called lunch.. the only bad thing bout this whole trip was, the food is so little..

Something I spotted in the house..

Memories..

A group picture before we head home..

Always young at heart.. I wonder when I can go back there again..

Overall, I really had a great time in Christchurch although I only have 1 and a half day there.. I can't wait to go back there again and the friends I have made through this trip are just priceless..

The whole water rafting trip cost me 195 NZ dollar and they are only open from September to May as they will close for winter.. If you ever have the chance to go Christchurch and wants to do some water rafting, you may go to their website to check it out.. www.rafts.co.nz.. The guides are friendly and the whole experience is just awesome!!!

To end this post, my dear blog, I have something to share with you which I spotted in one of the 24-hour mart near the hotel I stayed:

LOL!!!

p/s: Due to work related issue, I wont be able to go back for CNY.. *sob sob* Missed Christmas with family last year and now CNY!!! But will be back in klang on 1st feb k!!! Pls meet me!!!!

A late Happy new year...

2008 is really a drama-mama 1 for me.. I've changed so much throughout the year and experienced so many things..

I thank God for giving me chance to live till this moment.. I thank God for my supportive family as well.. without God and family, I wont be here accomplishing my dreams..

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I thank my papa.. for constantly believing and trusting me.. for his guidance and wisdom throughout the years..

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I thank my mama.. for her love and care.. for being there as my 'bestest' friend and all her comforting words when i'm down and emo..

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I thank my 2 sisters.. for all the handmade cards with some sarcastic remarks and for keeping me grounded.. for all the lovely times we spent chatting and gossiping about everyone in the world..

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I thank all my friends.. Yound and old, big and small, fat and thin, white and black.. all of you who are willing to share your time with me and just being there for me.. and of course for taking some time reading my rantings in this blog..

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I thank all those that talked to me in msn.. Especially Jiangz, Ivy, Gabriel bro, Eric, Teck and others.. a simple Hi from you all makes my day shining bright..

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Thank God that I even have a job now..

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Thank you and hope we 'll all have a wonderful recession-less splendid 2009!!!

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p/s: will update my trips real soon.. Will be going to Christchurch, New Zealand very soon.. Water rafting or sky-diving? so hard to choose...