Wedding is once in a lifetime. To me, so is a honeymoon (although lately some people go for pre-wedding honeymoon and post-wedding honeymoon)! For ours, hubby and I decided to head to New Zealand, the place for outdoor adventures! Using miles accumulated from our credit cards, we booked our tickets more than half a year ahead of the trip. As we were only planning for a 2-week trip, we decided to not be ambitious and only cover the South Island, so that we have more time to enjoy our trip slowly.
We took an evening flight via Singapore Airlines to Christchurch and reached there in the morning (10hrs 16mins in total). The flight was rather uneventful (thankfully) and we reached there well-rested.
We picked up our rented car, a Toyota Yaris, comfortable for 2 people, and headed to the city for our 1st accommodation to drop our luggages at an Airbnb which was not that far from the city. The female owner was home to welcome us and showed us around the home. To be honest, I was rather surprised when I realised the toilet was a shared one (there’s only 1 in the entire house) and it connected to both the corridor and the owner’s bedroom. So, it was important to remember to lock and unlock both doors to the bathroom!
Having deposited our luggage, we decided to explore the Christchurch city. It was a pity and sad sight to see the buildings collapsed and destroyed after the major earthquake earlier that year. Many of the historical sights were cordoned off for restoration.
We window shopped along the streets and headed to the Avon river for punting! We parked near the river and found the ticketing counter. Very soon, we were in the boat and enjoying the ride down the river. It was chilly but a super romantic start to our honeymoon!
That night, we decided that we needed an early night to rest before we set off for a long drive the next day! Oh, and did I mention, there was also no lock to our room door at the Airbnb! As it was our 1st time in NZ, we were rather concerned (or scared) to be honest. That night, although I was ready to fall asleep anytime, I made sure I kept our belongings near me and some on the bed with me even. We also pushed our luggage against the door so that we could hear the door opening (just in case!). But of course, as we travelled on and stayed in more Airbnbs, we realised it’s the norm for them to not install locks on their bedroom doors.
Perrine Travels 