We flew to the North Island via Air NZ. The propeller plane flew low and we could see the mountains throughout. Some snow capped, some green.
If you ask me, I would prefer South Island over North Island. It could be due to the slightly warmer weather and perhaps people over at the North were a little gruffier.
Auckland was certainly no fun, traffic was a mad house and the hills and hidden roads made the nightmare worse. Perhaps things would have been better if I had a GPS but since we had no issues driving around with just a map and road signs in the South, I thought it would be similar in the North.
Alas, it was not that simple. Well, we still got ourselves from point A to point B, but the highways were definitely not as straight forward as the South and lots of reversing had to be done.
The main highlights of the North were the Maoris in Rotorua. The show they put up was worth every single cent we paid for and the host somehow reminded me of Obama. Amazingly even though the live performance they put up was really "fierce" and "noisy", JD was not an inch afraid, in fact she was intrigued throughout the show & even bugged us to show her the video when we got back to Singapore. Not once, not twice but even up to three times a day!
And of course DW had his kick of Zorbbing... totally drenched but totally exhilarated!
Auckland is like a typical city, just that I would rather be in Hong Kong anytime. But bo pian, it was the only way I could get my flight back to Singapore. Haha.
Check out my North Island pics right here!
Friday 28 May 2010
Lost Generation
A palindrome reads the same backwards as forward. This video reads the exact opposite backwards as forward.
Not only does it read the opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite too.
This is only a 1 minute 44 second long video, but it is brilliant. Make sure you read as well as listen...forward and backward.
This is a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20 year old. The contest was titled "u @ 50" by AARP. This video won second place. When they showed it, everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause. So simple and yet so brilliant.
Take a minute and click here to watch
Not only does it read the opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite too.
This is only a 1 minute 44 second long video, but it is brilliant. Make sure you read as well as listen...forward and backward.
This is a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20 year old. The contest was titled "u @ 50" by AARP. This video won second place. When they showed it, everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause. So simple and yet so brilliant.
Take a minute and click here to watch
Thursday 27 May 2010
I ran the City!
Not me.. JD.. but heard from DW that she "cheated" :P apparently she ran 20m & demanded to be carried for the remaining 780m.. still, I'm so proud of father & daughter! :)
Here with Kydric & Kydric's daddy
Here with Kydric & Kydric's daddy
New Zealand - Mount Cook
There's really nothing much to say about this place. Cos apart from the towering Mount Cook, there really isn't anything much to see. But Mount Cook itself totally justifies the long, seemingly never ending journey to this little isolated township.
It's beautiful and a night's stopover here was just about the right thing anyone could have done.
It was here, where all of us had our virgin helicopter ride. It was a really funny seeing JD's reaction at stepping on squishy snow for the 1st time. She was quite frightened initially but probably got the hang of it after a while.
We then took a drive back to Christchurch, passing Lake Tekapo. It's a lovely lake but it's almost a dead town with nothing else to see. So, I say,spend your money to stay at the Heritage at Mount Cook. There're omni shows to watch, star gazing activities at night & lovely restaurants to dine in.
Btw, I finally took over the wheel for a small part of this leg. Woohoo! 1st time driving in a foreign country! (Malaysia not counted hor..)
It's beautiful and a night's stopover here was just about the right thing anyone could have done.
It was here, where all of us had our virgin helicopter ride. It was a really funny seeing JD's reaction at stepping on squishy snow for the 1st time. She was quite frightened initially but probably got the hang of it after a while.
We then took a drive back to Christchurch, passing Lake Tekapo. It's a lovely lake but it's almost a dead town with nothing else to see. So, I say,spend your money to stay at the Heritage at Mount Cook. There're omni shows to watch, star gazing activities at night & lovely restaurants to dine in.
Btw, I finally took over the wheel for a small part of this leg. Woohoo! 1st time driving in a foreign country! (Malaysia not counted hor..)
Friday 14 May 2010
New Zealand - Queenstown & Cromwell
It was a long long road from Milford back to Queenstown, a whopping drive time of 5 hours! And I certainly wouldn't recommend speeding along this road. We crossed 3 hiding patrol cars. No wonder, it's been advised that if you can't stay a night in Te Anau , you're better off joining a day tour from Queenstown to Milford and back.
Again, back on Highway 95 & Highway 94 and it was only when we approached Queenstown at the Remarkables area that we finally saw sunshine & a rainbow. I call Queenstown the Rainbow town, because in my 3 days stay there, I saw a total of 5 rainbows!
It was with good foresight that I decided to splurge on my stay in Queenstown. Our apartment at Mantra Marina was HUGE and came with a great view of Lake Wakatipu. The ducks on the lake will come up right to our doorstep, obviously a sign that previous guests have been spoiling them with food. We did have some bread and JD was extremely excited with their surprise appearance and so we left her to entertain the ducks (or perhaps it's the other way round) whilst we lazed around.
The night we arrived, the weatherman had forecast flooding along the main tourist strips of Queenstown. When I learnt that this is rare occurence from the dude at the check in counter, (the last one was in 1999), I was like.. wow, we sure "are" lucky aren't we.
Fortunately enough, it was sunshine the next morning and off we went on the TSS Earnslaw to the Walter Peak farm. I've never been a fan of farms. I hate walking on animals' poo and most of the time, the stench at farms is unbearable. Fortunately, Walter Peak was clean, the Colonial house where we had tea in was beautiful and the air was cool & crisp. The only poo I had to skip about was the sheep's tiny droppings. Not exactly my cup of tea but still acceptable.
On on our way out of Queenstown, we went by Kawarau Gorge where I stood and stare the AJ Hackett's Bungy site for a long time. Eventually my fear got the better of me so I decided to give this heart dropping adventure a miss.
Further up was Cromwell and whoever comes by this road must stop by Jones Fruit Orchard. They have a huge range of fresh fruits for sale, tourist edible souvenirs like honey, chocolate & jams at good prices and best of all they have FRESH ice-cream, blended with fruits of your choice right in front of your eyes. I had the cookies & cream with raspberries, strawberries & blueberries.
1 word - HEAVENLY!
Again, back on Highway 95 & Highway 94 and it was only when we approached Queenstown at the Remarkables area that we finally saw sunshine & a rainbow. I call Queenstown the Rainbow town, because in my 3 days stay there, I saw a total of 5 rainbows!
It was with good foresight that I decided to splurge on my stay in Queenstown. Our apartment at Mantra Marina was HUGE and came with a great view of Lake Wakatipu. The ducks on the lake will come up right to our doorstep, obviously a sign that previous guests have been spoiling them with food. We did have some bread and JD was extremely excited with their surprise appearance and so we left her to entertain the ducks (or perhaps it's the other way round) whilst we lazed around.
The night we arrived, the weatherman had forecast flooding along the main tourist strips of Queenstown. When I learnt that this is rare occurence from the dude at the check in counter, (the last one was in 1999), I was like.. wow, we sure "are" lucky aren't we.
Fortunately enough, it was sunshine the next morning and off we went on the TSS Earnslaw to the Walter Peak farm. I've never been a fan of farms. I hate walking on animals' poo and most of the time, the stench at farms is unbearable. Fortunately, Walter Peak was clean, the Colonial house where we had tea in was beautiful and the air was cool & crisp. The only poo I had to skip about was the sheep's tiny droppings. Not exactly my cup of tea but still acceptable.
On on our way out of Queenstown, we went by Kawarau Gorge where I stood and stare the AJ Hackett's Bungy site for a long time. Eventually my fear got the better of me so I decided to give this heart dropping adventure a miss.
Further up was Cromwell and whoever comes by this road must stop by Jones Fruit Orchard. They have a huge range of fresh fruits for sale, tourist edible souvenirs like honey, chocolate & jams at good prices and best of all they have FRESH ice-cream, blended with fruits of your choice right in front of your eyes. I had the cookies & cream with raspberries, strawberries & blueberries.
1 word - HEAVENLY!
Tuesday 4 May 2010
New Zealand - Te Anau & Milford Sound
The drive from Wanaka to Te Anau via Crown Range road was pretty quick. Some tricky sharp turns to maneuver but otherwise it was a journey filled with magnificent views. This route goes past a ski resort, and I can just imagine driving past the snow-capped mountains and being constantly distracted by the beauty of this place.
We had been warned at the i-site at Wanaka that the drive to Te Anau would take longer than expected due to detours from the flooding. So yes, instead of highway 94 all the way, we had to split to highway 95, go through the town of XXX to reach Te Anau. And it didn't help that highway 94 & 95 were pretty boring as we had to go though acres and acres of farmland.
Te Anau is a very small town. Turn right, turn left and you're back to where you started. From here, we booked our Milford Sound Cruise for the next day.
We started out really early to head to Milford Sound. From our web research, it was informed that it would take at least 2.5 hours to get to Milford, our host told us 2. We were kiasu and as we have heard how dangerous the road to Milford is, (despite Ken-li assuring us that's totally untrue!) we decided to play safe and start out at 7.30am to be in time for the check in 20 mins before our 11am cruise.
It was raining heavily, vision was not very good and we drove safe, well within the speed limits. And it was to our shock that we reached Milford at 9am, only 1.5 hours. We could attribute it to light traffic because firstly, we set off early and secondly, it was raining. Perhaps, summer would be a totally different story.
The scenery to Milford was stunning with gushing waterfalls fueled with more angst due to the pouring rain. The cruise itself was good, though I would think it's comparable to the River Li in Guilin. It was pity that because of the incoming storm we had to turn back before reaching the narrow gateway that connects Milford Sound to the open sea.
Photos are here for you to enjoy!
We had been warned at the i-site at Wanaka that the drive to Te Anau would take longer than expected due to detours from the flooding. So yes, instead of highway 94 all the way, we had to split to highway 95, go through the town of XXX to reach Te Anau. And it didn't help that highway 94 & 95 were pretty boring as we had to go though acres and acres of farmland.
Te Anau is a very small town. Turn right, turn left and you're back to where you started. From here, we booked our Milford Sound Cruise for the next day.
We started out really early to head to Milford Sound. From our web research, it was informed that it would take at least 2.5 hours to get to Milford, our host told us 2. We were kiasu and as we have heard how dangerous the road to Milford is, (despite Ken-li assuring us that's totally untrue!) we decided to play safe and start out at 7.30am to be in time for the check in 20 mins before our 11am cruise.
It was raining heavily, vision was not very good and we drove safe, well within the speed limits. And it was to our shock that we reached Milford at 9am, only 1.5 hours. We could attribute it to light traffic because firstly, we set off early and secondly, it was raining. Perhaps, summer would be a totally different story.
The scenery to Milford was stunning with gushing waterfalls fueled with more angst due to the pouring rain. The cruise itself was good, though I would think it's comparable to the River Li in Guilin. It was pity that because of the incoming storm we had to turn back before reaching the narrow gateway that connects Milford Sound to the open sea.
Photos are here for you to enjoy!
New Zealand - Wanaka
From Fox Glacier, we took about a 3.5 hour drive via Haast Pass to Wanaka. Scenery was the usual mountains & lakes.
Our first stop at Wanaka was Stuart Landsborough Puzzling World. This was the 1st highlight of our trip, and with the slanted room and all, it was really quite fun.
And the next best part was the lovely hotel that we were going to put up for the night. The view from our room overlooking Lake Wanaka was amazing and JD had a great time running around in the garden, picking up the golden maple leaves that were falling this autumn.
And to think that I had almost wanted to give this place a miss to head straight to Queenstown! It was definitely the right decision to rest here for the night :)
Our first stop at Wanaka was Stuart Landsborough Puzzling World. This was the 1st highlight of our trip, and with the slanted room and all, it was really quite fun.
And the next best part was the lovely hotel that we were going to put up for the night. The view from our room overlooking Lake Wanaka was amazing and JD had a great time running around in the garden, picking up the golden maple leaves that were falling this autumn.
And to think that I had almost wanted to give this place a miss to head straight to Queenstown! It was definitely the right decision to rest here for the night :)
Monday 3 May 2010
New Zealand - Glacier county via Arthur's Pass
Our journey to the west began on the 3rd day. We started off at 8am in the morning, stopping by Hokitika via Arthur's Pass for white bait sandwich at Millie's Cafe.
Arthur's Pass was, in my opinion, the most beautiful one amongst all the rest. The scenery was amazing and even the rain couldn't dampen its beauty.
It was a great pity that the little drizzle soon turned into a downpour. When we finally reached Fox Glacier after 5 hours, we were told that the helicopters have not been operating for 2 days due to bad weather. Even the road to the glacier was closed. Disappointed I was but there was nothing much I could do except to hope for good weather at Mount Cook for the next opportunity. We tried trekking to Lake Matheson, but a quarter through, JD insisted on walking on her own on the gravel path and we knew that if we continued at her pace, we would never make it back before dark, and so we turned back. Pretty much an uneventful day in a pretty dead town, not to mention, really expensive food too!
Arthur's Pass was, in my opinion, the most beautiful one amongst all the rest. The scenery was amazing and even the rain couldn't dampen its beauty.
It was a great pity that the little drizzle soon turned into a downpour. When we finally reached Fox Glacier after 5 hours, we were told that the helicopters have not been operating for 2 days due to bad weather. Even the road to the glacier was closed. Disappointed I was but there was nothing much I could do except to hope for good weather at Mount Cook for the next opportunity. We tried trekking to Lake Matheson, but a quarter through, JD insisted on walking on her own on the gravel path and we knew that if we continued at her pace, we would never make it back before dark, and so we turned back. Pretty much an uneventful day in a pretty dead town, not to mention, really expensive food too!
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