The last day of 2021 had come, getting up early we prepared for our trip from Wellington to Turangi. I was so excited as I hadn't seen my friend for so long.
Our bus departed at 7:45 am so my partner and I needed to be there by 7:30 am. The weather in Wellington that morning was pleasant with light sunshine, chilly and no wind. I feel a little regret that I was not in Welly these days, it would certainly be a beautiful day to bathe in the sun and enjoy a swim in our pretty Oriental Bay. But that's okay, the place I visited is also very beautiful.
Because it was a long bus ride, we stopped at several places along the way. The first stop was Palmerston north, which is around a 2-hour drive from Wellington. We have 15 minutes to go to the toilet and stretch our legs. I took the time to walk around the park as it looks beautiful at that time of the day. On the way to the flowers' garden, I saw a rabbit that was bouncing around in the dense grass. Because it was so fast, I couldn't take a picture to share with you.
Bus stopped in a central park in the heart of Palmy city
Water was sprinkled in the flower garden, creating a wonderful effect with the sunlight
I love this place. I might spend a couple of days visiting this place in the future
Followed by a lunch stop at a roadside Farm Cafe, named Flat Hills. I wasn't originally going to order food here because we planned to have our lunch when we arrived at Turangi. However, after doing a bit of sightseeing I decided to stop and have a light meal with some salads and a mushroom quiche. It was so yummy that I forgot to take pictures.
This cafe is located right on a farm with pigs, alpacas, sheep, donkeys around. I read the instructions that said, "You can pat our animals but be careful as they might bite".
Pigs and Alpacas enjoying a summer morning
There's a cute donkey on the other side
Beautiful camp sites in the middle of the farm
Plenty of space for children to play
After 6.5 hours on the bus, we arrived at Turangi. Grabbed a light lunch at a popular bakery and wait for my friend to come down from Hamilton. We wanted to meet around 3 pm in Turangi town centre and then check-in together. After that, we would have a quick rest and prepare food for a Korean BBQ dinner party to say goodbye to 2021 and welcome the new year.
Turangi is a small town near NZ's largest freshwater lake named Taupo. The size of this lake is equal to the size of Singapore. I was so excited to learn about that. I have stopped in Turangi twice but have not had the opportunity to explore real-life experiences here. So this time I decided to spend 2 days going sightseeing around.
The first thing I wanted to do in Turangi was to watch the sun go down near the lake. Remembering the last time 4 years ago, my friends and I drove past here at dusk, the quiet scenery around the lake along with the excitement of the trip left a deep impression on me.
Started a short walk to a river near our accomodation
Waiting for the sunset, however, it was too early. The sun was still very high at 7:30 pm
Due to the long sunset time in the summer, we did not have enough time to wait until sunset as we need to prepare for the year-end party. Furthermore, we needed to rest early that night to regain our strength for the hard climb the next morning. So we finished the short walk around a river and then returned to our accommodation.
We were so lucky to rent a really nice place
Korean BBQ is quite easy to make. We used simple ingredients so no need to prepare much
Tada - didn't take long for us to start the party
The sun was still shining and birds were singing outside. While drinking my ginger beer and eating the BBQ, I could felt gentle and chill wind touching my face.
It was a perfect way to end 2021, good companies and good food. I am really happy to be able to have a quality time with my best friend and my partner. Even though it was a small party but we all felt warm and joyful.
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