特色小镇之 Tirau ~ A Unique Small Town

Tirau 是个很漂亮的小镇，根据网络资料，镇上只有大概700多人，以农业为主（Tirau在毛利语里为‘一个很多朱蕉的地方’。
波纹铁是这里的特色，从旅游咨询中心到餐厅小店，都可以看到他们用这特别的波纹铁做招牌或装饰。我们在这里荡了好一会儿，还买了件特价寒衣呢！记载以下，在这里，看到好多小朋友都不爱穿鞋子的。。。
Tirau, a very small but beautiful town. According to the information from internet, the town has approximately 700++ populations, and basically its a farming town. In Maori, Tirau means "place of many cabbage trees (Cordyline Australis)."
 
Corrugated Iron deco is another uniqness in Tirau. From the i-Site to the restaurant to shops, you can see a lot of these beautiful and special corrugated iron.. We walked and shops and had our lunch here... it's just so relaxing. Besides, we saw quite a lot of kids not wearing their shoes here...

波纹铁绵羊商店，够特别吧？？
Isn't it special? This is one of the shop that next to i-Site

这是旅游咨询中心。。。
Tirau's i-Site

其中一家餐厅，那猪仔很可爱下。。。
One of the restaurant... the swine pretty cute :P




很庆幸在回程时有机会绕过这小镇，虽然错失了其中几个，不过能看到这么一个特色小镇，也很满足了。。。
Felt so lucky that we've got a chance to stop by this small little beautiful town (tho we've missed out few others in our planned route), I can still feel the tranquility ...

批评和建议

昨天在星周洲副刊教育版上看到了一篇觉得非常贴切管用的文章 ，探讨为什么父母总是在批评，如何按耐不住迫不及待的把自己的人生经验传给孩子好让他们走少一些‘冤枉路’而忽略和剥削了孩子选着做事情的方式。

不是想把人心当狗肺，只是，当父母提议的同时，是不是也应该让孩子有选着的余地？可能孩子的方式更适合他们自己呢？个人觉得这道题不单是亲子关系该探讨，对朋友和身边的人也一样。且来看看其中两段文：

文 一：
“管”，很多时候就带着批评--你这样做不好，不对，不够聪明：带着不信任--我觉得你肯定做不好；带着不平等，按我的方法来做才是更好的。

文二：
你为什么不？
批评是批评，指责是批评，比较也是批评。 还有一种隐性的批评也值得警惕，就是 “你为什么不。。。？
你为什么不减肥啊？你为什么不去健身房啊？你为什么不结婚啊？你为什么不找一份薪水更高的工作？你为什么不让小孩练钢琴啊？最近还被朋友很有创意的问，你这么有才华，为什么不做一份更能发挥才干的工作？
貌似是一个关心的建议，而背后的潜台词是，你完全可以更好，但你竟然没有做到，说明你还不够努力，你还不够好。
（以上两端取自星洲副刊-快乐家庭）

我个人是不抗拒别人给于建议，但是，我也希望当建议不被接受时，建议者会试着了解为什么，试着聆听，而不是一句‘硬颈’ 、‘固执’ 就抛过来。因为这样不是建议，而是看似客观的隐形命令了。

同样的如果别人以不一样的方式完成一项动作，我们是不是也可以先按耐着自己，让别人去探讨自己的方式，然后才给于意见呢，甚至不给于意见而是给于肯定？

就如英国作家劳伦斯提出的教育三原则（也是取自报章）：
一，别管他
二，别管他
三，别管他

当然，对某些过于关爱孩子和身边的人来说，这举动要拿捏得当，比登天还难。我们，是不是也在不知觉中，犯了这毛病？

农宿 Big Bird B&B Farm Stay @ Otorohanga

我们在这里留宿两天，一来这里靠近游绳的地方，二来因为同行的朋友没有住过农宿，所以游绳后的第二天我们可以好好体验下这农场的生活。主人家很热情，地方超干净而且细心观察可以看到他们用了许多再循环布置，别出新裁。。。值得推荐！

We stayed here for 2 nights as it is nearby the abseiling+glowworms cave, and we can experience the farm stay on the next day. Our host Ann is very friendly & she kept the place clean & tidy that I felt so comfortable just like in my own house... I will definitely recommend this if you wish to have a good experience of farm stay.

Quite easy to spot from main road.

住宿的环境都可以看到经营者的用心。用破烂的鞋子种花，是我的小梦想之一！
Can see the time and efforts that Ann & Ross put in this farm house. Using an unwanted shoes to plant is one of my small little dream!  

房间很舒适，暖气又够，还有架小小电视机呢。
This is where we stayed. Got one extra single bed somemore...its cozy and tidy and warm!

农场游记开始！
Here comes our farm tour!

小型的马种，小朋友可以骑哦。还有许多小动物等着我们喂呢。。。
Miniature horse, the kids can ride of it oh. There are many more animals awaiting for us to feed them!

以前我是很抗拒触碰动物的（觉得有异味），不知何时突然明白到自己的手分分钟脏几万倍。。。
For once I was very resist to touch animals (felt that there are always some strange smell), then donno since when hor, I suddenly understand that my hand could have been even more dirty than any of them...

这四只家伙出场时还真的蛮有形的叻！我还是第一次看到Llama呢！
First time saw Llama (till then only I know there is such creature call Llama ==')! They marked their debut in a cool way...hahahahah 

林肯好俊哦！那一头卷发想必迷死不少粉丝。。。呵呵呵。。。喂食完毕还给了我们一个亲吻呢！
Look at Lincon's curly hair! Damn, he is so handsome! He gaves Ann and myself a kiss after we finished feeding him!

这农场真的好大，不容易经营啊！
The farm is really huge! And seriously its not easy to run and maintain it... Salute to Ann & Ross!

嘿，还有机会牧牛呢！
Participating and helping Ann to move the barrier so that the calfs have more grass to eat!

笨鸟地带，呵呵。。。走进一点阿，那笨鸟就开始扇动翅膀，示意你别太靠近它的女友哦！
Ostrich's territory. The big bird was flapping his wings to warn you not getting to near of his gf!

这几只小家伙是前一晚在外游荡没回家的。。。在马来西亚可能连‘渣’都没有的剩，别指望把它们找回来。。。
These 3 little one were loitering outside a night before, Ann get them back home the next day morning. In M'sia, probably already gone case...

帮忙邻居‘除草’。。。哈哈哈。。。真的是一举两得。。。
Helping the neighbour to 'manage' their grass :P

他们有好多豚鼠！而且笼子是自己盖的哦。。。可爱死了。。。
They've got so many guinea pigs! Oh my, and Ross made the cage himself! They are really cute!

很棒的经验，怀念那青葱的草原，无争的环境，清新的空气。。。
A very great experience, missing the grassland, the pure air, and the stress free environment...

罗托鲁阿跳楼记 'Jump Floor' Experience @ Agroventures, Rotorua

话说在罗托鲁阿的第二天天气还不错，所以参观了温泉谷后我们就往这Agroventures去刺激刺激神经了。至于为什么说跳楼，看看就知道。。。

Second day at Rotorua the weather was so much better, not too sunny even drizzling from time to time, but we still able to visit the thermal wonderland and proceed to this excited Agroventures games. Our very first 'jump floor' experience...

我们的配套呢，是5选3，还记得我们但是大小声的说：“我们不要笨猪跳啦，就选sweep, swoop 和 freefalls 好了。” 唉，谁知道那个swoop阿，和笨猪没什么两样哩 ==||
We can choose 3 out of 5 games here (Bungy, Sweep, Swoop, Freefalls & Agro Jet)
"No Bungy we don't want Bungy, ok lets do sweep swoop & freefals," We said.  Then it turned out that the Swoop is just so similar with Bungy lah aiyoo... ==||  

强颜欢笑。。。
Forcing a smile...

开始质问自己为什么要虐待自己的神经。。。
Starting to question ourselves why we wanna torture our nerves in such way...

这时候我们开始看那些绳索是不是安全有没有要‘断线’的痕迹（虽然有点太迟。。。），汗颜 ==||
At this point of time, we started to check if the wire and the ropes are all OK, another sweat ==||

和铁杆平行时，地面的工作人员给指示：“OK 老兄你可以把绳索放开了！”下一秒钟，除了惊叫。。。还是惊叫。。。啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊！！！！！！！！！！！
Until we were at the same height with the poles, the crew at the ground shouted 'Alright, you can release the rope now...', and the next secs what we all did were just scream scream and scream! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

哎哟。。。怕到，打死都没有下次 >_<||  难怪人家讲 ‘难得糊涂’，如果一开始我知道是这样的，根本就没有勇气玩啦，无端端去跳楼，真的是。。。
Walau, really freak me out! No next time no next time! Seriously, if I were to know it was like this ah, no way man, I definitely no courage to play! No wonder people said sometimes its 'good to be blur'... grrrr....

这个很酷哦（那强风恰恰可以镇静神经）。只要可以保持平衡和做对指示，工作人员就可以帮你完成所有特技动作哦！
Hehe, this one is cool (and cold, hehe just nice to calm ourself after the swoop) ! All you need to do is to keep the body balance & follow the instruction properly, then the crew will help you get all the stunt actions done!

成功！Done!

第三项，还以为是最容易的岂知它竟然是最考体力的！要拼命的踩三个圈这‘子弹形’单车才会自动行驶1-2圈叻！脚都软。。。
Third games of the day, thought it's the easiest one yet it turned out to be the most tiring one! Gotto cycling 3 laps only the 'capsules'  

这位仁兄自己跟自己比赛咯。。。呵呵。。。
Hehe, he gotto race with himself since there were only 3 of us :P

不是搞笑的哦，我可是创了女子记录叻！
Don't play play ah, I made the record of the lady oh! Muahahaha

下次有机会可以来试一试，我是觉得蛮不错的哦！
I would recommend this activities if you were to visit Rotorua and have got extra time :)

The Museum, Polynesian Spa & Hells Gate @ Rotorua

当我们从Tongariro National Park 启程到Rotorua时，一路上天气是阴暗的（如同天气预测一样），还下雨呢。抵达目的地的游客中心，拿了我们要的活动配套，还是下雨（结果下了一整天的雨），所以我们就往博物馆避雨顺道参观参观。。。呵呵。。。然后就泡了好几个小时的温泉。人生的第一次温泉啊！爽！
When we left Tongariro National Park in the morning for Rotorua, the weather was a bit gloomy. We reached Rotorua and it was raining. It almost rain the whole day! So what did we do? After we checked out the i-Site, grabbed the tickets of the activities, and started our itinerary that suits the rainy day – Museum & Spa!

下雨啊，大家都没拿相机出来，这是博物馆网页下载的。博物馆不大，最令人印象深刻的就是那小小电影院，讲述毛利人的祖先如何来到新西兰，火山爆发时椅子会跟着摇晃的叻！（我们觉得厉害因为那迷你电影院看起来有点陈旧，没想到有这等现场效果，呵呵呵）
We didn't take out the camera due to rain, so this photo taken from the museum's website :) Museum itself is not huge, and the mini cinema that shows how the Maori settle down in New Zealand impressed me the most. The chairs will move and shake in line with the movie's story (volcano explode...)

逛了博物馆后还是下着雨，可能老天也觉得我们该休息休息，暂且告别户外活动，所以我们也‘顺应天命’，泡温泉去了！我们选了Deluxe Lake Spa，有四个不同温度的池让顾客浸泡，虽然放眼望去并无什么特别的美景，不过还是很舒服的。此时天空下着雨，冷冷的雨水打在脸上，顿时让那被熏得昏昏的脑袋清醒过来。。。
一泡就是好几个小时，那硫磺的味道久久挥之不去。。。
It was still raining after we finished exploring the Museum, probably God want us to take some rest and no outdoor activities today. Hehe, so we went to Polynesian Spa to try out the hot pool spa! We took the Deluxe Lake Spa package whereby there are 4 different temperature's pool for you to immerse in it. Felt so good when the cold cold rain dropped on my face while body was warm... we were here for few hours, so long until we can still smell the sulphur few days after :P

第二天傍晚因为没什么事情做所以我们就跑去试一试这‘泥泉’以‘定惊’（至于惊什么嘛，下回分晓）。这里贵多了，而且地方比较小，又只有一间更衣室，如果是多人的话应该要排长龙等着梳洗。原来泥泉不是我们想象中那么浓稠的，呵呵，要从池底把泥捞起来再‘贴’在脸和身上。。。最厉害的是，浸完泥泉后得冲冷水把身体冲干净才能去普通的温泉，真的是冷到...
Well we did this on the 2nd night @ Rotorua after our extreme daily activities (to share in the next post). We went to Hells Gate for its mud pool spa. But it didnt turn out to be so nice as the Polynesian Spa and its pretty costly. Lucky it was low peak season, otherwise, I guess their relatively small size of pool and only 1 fitting room facilities might not be able to cater for large volumes of visitors. The mud pool was not like how we imagine it (full of thick sticky mud :P ) the mud was laying on the bottom of the pool that u need to 'grab' it to put it on your face etc etc  :P

因为时间和天气的关系，我们没能去乘筏子，留待下次咯！呵呵。。。这里的‘国际青年旅馆’(YHA) 棒极了，以后背包旅行都会考虑这旅馆，超有水准又不贵，非常值得推荐哦！

Due to weather & limited timing, we did not try the white water rafting here (good reason to re-visit huh? :P) Gotto mentioned a bit about the YHA Backpacker Hostel here, its really of great value, clean & nicely setup, I will definitely consider YHA if I ever backpacking again!

Never SenHeng Electric Again! Consider LH Emart!

Especially the Bandar Puteri Branch. Why? Because they staff can give you all sorts of excuse (including personal problem???!!) to delay your warranty claim, to FIND your replacement parts and best is never call you to follow up as PROMISED.

What did I do? After travelling few times back to the shop and with N times sms to the staff. I gave up. Login to the Consumer Right Association Portal, type a complaint, click 'send'. That's it.

Will I get a reply? I will perhaps, but of course not too soon, but at least I take action.

Here is what happened:
30 April - Send my cordless phone for warranty claim, was charged another RM5 for the new phone warranty. Fine, I paid. Was promised can get a replacement phone after a week.
11 May - Travelling back to the shop, was told that, sorry, phone not arrive yet. Fine, I wait again since they said next week I can get it.
18 May - I went there again and wow, they told me the phone is 'ON THE WAY' to the shop, I can get it 'THE NEXT DAY'
19 May - I went to NZ, so my brother went there to take the phone. Result - Sorry don't have the phone, please wait again.
19-31 May - Brother went there again - Sorry, no replacement phone yet.
4 June - I finally get back my replacement phone BUT THEY LOST THE BASE! No base, can't charge battery, how to use???
4 June - 12 June - forgot how many sms I've send, how many promised I've been given, I still haven't get my base back.

WTF???!!! Enough is enough. Complaint. That's it. Some people just tend to take advantage when others are being nice.  Such an attitude in servicing line, man, they should have close down the shop so that less consumers suffer from their lousy services.

What I wanna say here is, go LH Emart (especially SS2 Branch) to check out their electric goods, the price are amazing, you dont even need to waste time to bargain! Senheng?? Never again!

Tongariro Alpine Crossing @ Tongariro National Park, NZ

其实整个旅途我都觉得我们很幸运，因为该看的都看到，该做的也做到了，住宿安排也如预期中满意，老天爷配合的很，感恩哪！这一天也不例外。听说我们出发的前五天天气很不好，蓝湖都看不清楚，天气预测，过了这天，接下来的五天天气也不好，我们却偏偏捞到这最漂亮的日子，幸运！

这是新西兰其中一个最壮观的步行道，全程大概19.4公里，出发点和终点不一样，所以一定要安排交通。7-9个小时就可以完成（视你走多快，停多久。。。），至于风景如何，来看看吧！
This was another lucky day of us. We were told that 5 days before our tramping, the weather were not so good and people couldn't even see the blue lake! Yet we had a super Sunny and Windy(blow away the glooming cloud) day! God Bless!

A little fact of the crossing. This is one of the most spectacular tracks in NZ. About 19.4km walk, starting from Mangatepopo Hut and ended at Ketatahi road, so you'll need a transport for the crossing as the starting & end point is different. It takes about 7-9hrs walk (depends on your pace), and how's the scenery? It's awesome awesome awesome! Take a look!

吃过令人精力充沛的早餐，带上旅店为我们准备的水、三文治、小吃和水果，准备出发！
After the energetic breakfast, we brought along the prepared pack lunch, ready to go!

这时Lorraine（旅店负责人）再次大喊“好啦好啦，不要拍太多照片，该开始了！记得三点钟一定要离开Ketatahi Hut!”。开始我们都觉得为什么她那么紧张。后来才知道原来她觉得我们亚洲人太爱拍照啦，常常因为这样而延误行程（前一天就有一班亚洲人因为拍照所以耽误了时间），而我们的国家又热，她觉得我们不会常常走路运动以保持身体温暖。。。哈哈哈。。。紧张也是一种关心吧？
At this point of time, Lorraine (the lady who send us here) kept shouting "not too many photos! Start walking, remember to leave the hut by 3pm (repeated N times before we depart)".
While on the way back only we understand why -- coz she think we Asian take too much of photos (a day before the group delayed their journey due to taking too many photos ==|| ), and we do not have the fitness (coz our country is hot woh, so she assumed we don't keep walking to keep the body warm. hahahaha), thats why she kept shooing us to start...hahahahahaha...

再次觉得自己在 Discovery Channel 里，说我大乡里也好，真的从来没有想过我也有机会走上这么一趟！激动的很哪！这背景，美的太不真实了，美得像布景一样！
Again I felt that I was in the Discovery Channel! Never never thought that I would have a chance to experience such a beautiful sceneric walk. Excited and felt so blessed...The snow mountain was too beautiful to be real, that always made us felt that it was just a wallpaper background... 

来到这里之前有一个‘止步！考虑回头’的告示牌。回头？想都没想过！
There is a 'Stop! Consider Turning Back' Signboard before we reach here... Turning back??! Nah... no way!

好大的一片云海！我人生中的第一片云海。。。
（以前一直想去林明山看，不过就是没机会）
The very first 'Cloud Sea' in my life...
that I always wanted to see it in 'lin ming shan' here in M'sia but no chance...

阳光普照却凉凉的，四周环境又有沙洲的荒凉感，感觉真的很奇妙和特别 (再次大乡里 ^_^)
雪迹在和我们打招呼
The Sun was so strong yet it was windy and cozy, a desert-like plateau, the snows were waving to us...

沿着雪山行走，一路向上，人类在大自然中变得越来越渺小。。。
Walking along the mountain, all the way up! Human become so little in front of the mother nature...

觉得这里和Mt KK的顶峰有点像哦！不过KK高的多了！
Looks very similar with Mt KK's peak huh? But KK was way higher!

鞋子进沙了耶，哎哟。。。好一个画面！拍照的，加分！哈哈哈。。。
Some little sand(stones??) went into my shoes... hmn, such a photo huh? Plus point to the photo shooter. Hahaha



令人心神为之一振的蓝湖，高雅的，宁静的呈现在眼前。。。
The mind lifting blue lake shows up, presenting itself in a calm, serene and elegant way....

翡翠湖一点也不逊色，让人徘徊。。。
A beautiful Emerald Lake, mineral leached from surrounding rocks contribute the emerald...

书包做三角架，手套顶着不让强风吹走我的相机，就为了这难得的合照！
Backpack as my tripod, gloves to prevent the strong wind blow away my camera, just for this special moment!

我要把挡风外套脱掉拍照！哈哈。。。现在不做些白痴的事情等几时啊？和冷风打着架拍照呢！
Wind Breaker Off! Yeah baby, if we don't do something stupid now, when shall we do it?? Here we go, fighting with the wind and made post and say 'cheese'!

这张为自己留念，不知何时再有机会‘discovery' 嘛
A memory for myself, as not sure when will have the next chance to be in 'discovery channel'...

我们在这里用餐，呆了。。。有半个小时吧？那么漂亮的景，不急着离开啊，反正我们走在预算时间前。。。
Had our sandwich here, stayed about...30mins? Such a beautiful scenery, why rushing to continue while we were way ahead our schedule?

回望一景，慑人。那斜斜的松石路很考‘定’力。。。
Looking back, kind of a breathtaking...the descending path are all lose stones, pretty testing on your balancing and momentum... 

过了蓝湖，这就是下半段路的主要景色，高山植物保护区。。。Lorraine说，这里的高山植物两百年才长那么好几吋，所以一路都有告示牌提醒行者不要乱踩，要沿着山路走。。。
After the blue lakes, these will be main scenery... the alpine sensitive area. Lorraine said the trees in the alpine area only grow a bit for 200 yrs, thats why they put up all the 'alpine sensitive area' to alert trekkers stick to the path and do not simply step on the alpine trees...

到达Ketatahi Hut，休息，吃苹果，劳烦德国的朋友为我们拍照！时间多得是嘛，谁说我们体能差来着？:P
Arrived Ketatahi Hut, rest, enjoyed our apple, and the Germans were kind enough to help us take some group photos :)
Eh, we were still plenty of time ahead, who said Asian do not have the fitness eh? :P

要做这个举动很久了！很白痴不过就是要试！跳得不错嘛（这是老外应该在暗暗摇头。。。哈哈哈。。）
Wanna do this long ago! Yes, looks very idiot but man I wanna try it! Not bad mah right? ( I think the westerns were controlling not to shake their head now...)

嘿，这样的路，有好三个小时多叻！都别说不让人压抑。。。
Hmnm, walking on this kind of route for 3hrs plus, what say you eh? Kind of depress leh...hehehe...

最后一段路进入了和热带雨林很相近的森林，有如回到马来西亚一样，不过因为是秋尾，很快就天黑。三点多感觉傍晚就要来临一样。。。加快脚步的走着。。。
Last part of the walk very much similar with the tropical wood, just like those in M'sia, but Autumn here the sky get dark very early, 3pm something we already felt like evening is approaching...

完成了！呵呵，还有证书和T-Shirt 呢，晚餐那苹果派让我无法忘怀。。。
Ta da! Done! And we've got a cert and a t-shirt, and a wonderful dinner!

小小资料分享，路线图
Crossing trek info

途程的高低一览无遗
Gives you the idea of the altitude across the track

来过，走过，人生无憾

　Been there, Done it, No Regrets.