NZ - The planning

I second that.

It was, and still is, an unbelievable experience. Like 14 days of heaven. On cloud nine. Over the moon. They say winter's too cold to do anything in New Zealand? I say winter makes New Zealand prettier and unforgettable. GO THERE IN WINTER YOU CAN DO EVERYTHING THERE IS TO DO DURING SUMMER AND ALSO THINGS YOU CAN'T DO DURING SUMMER. Snow skiing. Ice skating on a frozen pond. Puff out warm air and see the condensation. Accessorise with beanie and scarf. Slide down snowy slopes. Build snowmans. Carve out snow angels. Throw snowballs at one another. You have no idea the joy, ecstacy, delight and excitement we had, the first time we touched fluffy snow.

Back to as early as Feb, when we first planned, all of us have never been to this part of the world. We had zero idea of the weather, the landscape, the road conditions, the culture, the food etc. We started out with a map:

Having no idea of where to start planning from, we headed down to Natas Fair. Chan Brothers travel fair. Kop-ed brochures. Asked for quotations. Sourced for air ticket sales and deals. Asked friends and relatives for sample itinerary. Searched online for activities, accomodation, car rental and guided tours. We planned everything on just a map. Things fell in place and before we knew it, our homework bore fruit - our 14 day travel route was visualized.

Time flew. Our tickets were bought in Feb in a fluster, racing against time to catch the last minute SQ sales fares. We counted down to July. We met several times to discuss, plan and confirm. We booked, paid deposits and made online reservations. We were so detailed and paranoid, we had a Plan A, B and C for skydiving (lest the weather turns bad). We had an imba itinerary with information meticulously researched and noted down.

Before we knew it, our holiday was round the corner - just weeks to go! We stocked up on winter clothing, fleece jackets, beanies and scarves, and lotsa heat packs. The irony was that we were so eager and looking forward to the trip, but when the departure was days away, we felt like, "Am I really going already?"

1 July came. Terminal 3. And the rest, is beautiful history. =)