Travelogue: New Zealand (Day 9-17)

Continued from the previous post

On Day 9, we took a bus from Christchurch and headed towards Lake Tekapo. Tekapo is about midway from Christchurch to Queenstown...takes 4 hours by bus. The bus is quite luxurious and comfortable and is perfect to enjoy the beautiful scenery that the South Island has to offer.

Tekapo is outstanding and I am short of words to describe the beauty of this lake! The bright turquoise blue color of this lake is because of the rock flour left behind by the melting glaciers. We were lucky to have the bright sunlight and awesome weather after a week long of rainfall. There is a small town area close to the lake and everything there is exhorbitantly priced with no other option around. So be prepared to pay double the cost for accomodations and food/drinks..We had booked a cottage right beside the lake and enjoyed a beautiful view of the lake from our room...

The next morning we took the same bus from Lake Tekapo to Queenstown which was another 4.5 hrs of journey. We stayed at Hotel Copthorne which had a view of Lake Wakatipu and also the cable car viewpoint. It's a little on the expensive side but good ambience, walking distance from the town centre and very convenient. We walked around the town and lake wakatipu that evening and did some shopping.


On day 11 we had booked a overnight cruise at Milford Sounds with Real Journeys. We were picked up from the hotel and off we went to Milford Sounds...a long 7 hours journey!! Quite tiring as you have to take a round about route to reach there. But the bus had 85% glass with half the roof being glass as well. So the views were awesome! Reached Milford sounds at 3.30pm and started the cruise at 4pm. The weather was sunny, bright and beautiful. There was time for water sports once the cruise ship was docked to spend the night at a cove amidst the sounds. It rained heavily the whole night and the next morning was raining and the clouds were so low that we could reach them easily! It gave a mystical look to the place, very different from the previous sunny evening. It looked like we were in a Narnia land..very magical and out of this world! After cruising through the tasman sea, we headed back in the same bus to Queenstown with another 7hrs of tiring journey...

Day 12 was "ADVENTURE" day. You cannot leave the adventure capital of the world without trying some extreme sport! So we had booked a skydive with NZone..it was my first skydive and I was excited and nervous! Luckily the weather was clear and we could skydive as planned. The whole skydive experience calls for another blog post. So I will save it for that :)


Day 13 we headed towards Franz Joseph glacier. There are 2 famous glaciers in NZ - Fox glacier and Franz Joseph which are about half an hour's drive apart. It doesn't matter which one you choose to visit! The bus journey was another 8 hours again but we saw some beautiful lakes on the way and saw the west coast as the bus goes right next to the tasman sea on the west coast line....Reached Franz Joseph by 4pm and checked in to our Rainforest resort. The town of FJ is just 1 small road about 4kms long. You find just the basic necessities and some good variety of restaurants.

Day 14 was the glacier trek. They have variety of options and difficulty levels for the trek, so you can choose any depending on your interest, fitness level and duration of stay. The glacier is not too big, so even if you skip visiting this, you do not miss much!!

On Day 15 we took a bus from FJ to Greymouth (about 4hours) and then the most famous TransAlpine Scenic train to Christchurch which goes through Arthur's Pass. The journey of ~5 hours through the Southern Alps is very memorable and totally worth it! The train stops for a short while at Arthur's Pass so that you can get down and check out the majestic mountains...

We reached Christchurch in the evening and just had dinner and crashed in our hotel. It was our last night in NZ and I was feeling sad to leave that beautiful country!! The next morning we took a flight back to Singapore from Christchurch...moving back to reality!

It was the best vacation I have taken so far and I fell in love with the country and its people. I had a strong urge to go back and settle down there for a lifetime! I spent the next few days having severe vacation blues :) Even today when I think about the days I spent there, it brings a smile on my face and I truly feel happy. Someday I shall visit NZ again! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End of the Travelogue ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Travelogue: New Zealand (Day 5 - 8)

Continuing from my previous post

On day 5 we reached Picton late afternoon, by the InterIslander ferry from Wellington. The ferry ride which is about 4 hours was extremely beautiful but very rough while we were in the open sea..To top it, rain was still following us, all the way from Auckland! So though it was technically summer, the weather was freezing cold out there!

Picton is a small town and nothing much to do there. There is only one street which is like a main street in the town with restaurants and shops. By 5pm the street looked deserted as if there was a curfew! We took a walk around in that super cold weather and had a nice dinner at one of the Italian cafe bar before heading back to our backpackers lodge. We stayed 1 night at Sequoia Backpackers hostel and it was very cheap and worth the money.

Next day morning we left for our full day wine tour in the Marlborough region. Our guide Kerry, from Bubbly Grapes picked us up from the hostel and took us into the vineyards of the Marlborough and for wine tasting in 7 wineries! It was a lot of fun tasting wines but got a little too much by the end of the day.. :) so we had to call it quits after 7 wine tasting sessions!


We headed to Blenheim directly from the vineyards and stayed at Copthorne Hotel there which was one of the best hotels there and quite expensive as well. Blenheim is close to the Marlborough region than Picton, so we chose to stay there as we had planned for another half day of wine tour the next day! :) Blenheim is a much bigger town than Picton and I could see more people on the streets here making it look like a real town!

The next half day was spent again in the vineyards and we visited another 4 to 5 wineries before we headed to the train station to catch the Kiwi rail to Kaikoura. This route is one among the most scenic train routes in the south island as it passes right next to the sea all along (for about 2 hours). We reached Kaikoura late afternoon and checked into a backpackers hostel yet again - "The Dolphin Lodge"! The weather was still freezing and Kaikoura is extremely windy as its just by the sea side. So that made it even worse! To top it all the hostel had a room heater which would switch off every half an hour (going green, you see!) to save electricity. So whole night was spent in switching on the heater than sleeping! We learnt our lesson to check this before booking a hostel again! (The pic below is the town of Kaikoura)


Kaikoura is a very small town and the only tourist attraction there is the Whale Watching. It's one among the very few whale watching places in the world. So we went on a whale watching tour early morning on the next day. Boy! it was truly a memorable experience! Watching those huge sperm whales at a few metres away from you is quite thrilling! We were lucky and spotted 4 whales, a few dolphins and the albatross that day. However, the sea was again very rough and we had to pop in a few pills to avoid the sea sickness! So it's always a good idea to carry some along...

(The pic below shows the sperm whale making a dive back into the sea)

After the whale watching we had lunch in the Kaikoura town (in a crappy thai restaurant) and headed to the train station again to board the Kiwi rail to Christchurch (the capital of south island). This also falls on the same scenic route by the coastal side and was a beautiful 3.5hrs journey! We got to watch some seals too.. I would highly recommend travelling by trains and coaches there than driving around as it reduces the trouble of driving and you also get to see these beautiful sceneries which otherwise is not accesible by the roads...



We reached Christchurch by 6.30pm and still the sun was not being generous on us. It was as freezing as Kaikoura 'coz it had just rained and was very windy that day. Damn my luck! I was hoping to enjoy the beautiful summer but ended up being dressed like I'am in a snowland!


We were so tired by the time we reached Christchurch. We had travelled every single day so far and there was more to come! So we checked in to a motel - The Bella Vista. It is a chain of motels and it was really neat and clean and nice! I would highly recommend this anywhere in NZ. After checking in, we walked down to an Indian restaurant nearby (yeah, you can find an Indian restaurant in even the remote corners of NZ!) and called it a day.


The next morning we were off to Lake Tekapo by bus! We still had Tekapo - queenstown- milford sounds- franz joseph glacier - greymouth to travel before coming back to christchurch and ending our trip!


To be continued in the next post....

Travelogue: New Zealand (North Island, Day 1 - 4)

Time for another long travelogue series! Took a nice long vacation (17 days!) to New Zealand this month. NZ had always been on my 'must see' list and finally I did get a chance to visit. Living in Singapore gives us the advantage of reaching NZ faster than compared to travelling from India. It still was a 10 hour flight to Auckland...

Our itinerary was quite optimal. SGP - Auckland - Wellington - Picton - Blenheim- Kaikoura- Christchurch - Tekapo - Queenstown - Milford Sounds - Franz Joseph - Greymouth - Christhcurch - SGP ! :-) And added a few day trips and short visits to other places like Rotorua, Wanaka, Te Anau, Hamilton, Arthur Pass during the journey. We stayed in 9 different cities on 9 consecutive nights! Yeah, That was a packed vacation! Hectic but full of fun... We chose to travel by trains and coaches unlike the preferred way of renting a car or a campervan and driving around.All trains are scenic and you get the opportunity to see and appreciate the beauty of the nature around, without getting tired of driving or looking at the route maps! I would highly recommend trains/coaches!

We covered both North and South Islands even though people had told me that there is nothing worth seeing in the North. Now that I have seen, I completely disagree with that! North has a different landscape & scenery and Rotorua especially is something you cannot miss!



We flew SGP-Auckland and it was midnight by the time we landed in Auckland. Unfortunately it was raining when we landed and the rains followed us for the next 1 week. It poured & poured everywhere till we reached Blenheim in South. Though it was summer, due to the rains the weather was super chilly! We had just 1 day to see Auckland and as it was raining, we could not get a good view from the top of Auckland tower. There is nothing much to see in the city other than this tower! The photo below captures the tower in the background.

The 2nd day was a full day trip to Rotorua and back. Rotorua is about 3.5hrs drive from Auckland and is known for its geo-thermal springs and Geysers and the Maori village. Maoris are the native tribes of NZ and they have a village in Rotorua which is worth a visit! Don't ask me to pronounce the name of the village...its in the pic below, you can try it yourself! ;)
The "Wh" syllable is pronounced as "Fa" in Maori language. They did teach us how to say the name just so that in case we get lost inside we know what to ask for :) Most of the places & lakes all over NZ have Maori names and if you end up in a coach with a Maori driver in it, he will give you the entire history of the name and place...whether you want it or not!



This one below is the pic of a geyser which had just erupted. The whole village is full of hot springs and they actually cook their food in those springs. So we had a healthy lunch in their cafe with the food cooked in those springs!



We also attended a cultural show where they do the traditional Maori war dance and other forms of songs and dances. It was something new and entertaining!



Saw the zorbing zone and Kiwi birds on the way back to Auckland and reached back by late evening. Must warn that everything in Auckland shuts down by 5.30pm! (Infact all over NZ). The Kiwis have a very easy going lifestyle and dont work beyond 10 to 5.30. So there was not a single bookstore open that evening to pick up a book for the next day's train journey.. The streets look deserted all through the day..people hardly venture out!

The next day we took the Tranzscenic train from Auckland To Wellington, which was 12hrs! It was toooo long a journey but the scenery was beautiful and we also stopped briefly at the National Park midway.. The train also travels just by the side of the Tasman sea and the view is worth the time spent!

Below is a view of the capital city, Wellington taken from the train...It was pouring heavily and extremely windy! Nights were freezing cold. We didnt spend much time at Wellington as we left next day to Picton. Though we did go into the city and checked out the central business district and the main streets...

Next day, Took the InterIslander Ferry from Wellington to Picton (in South Island). That's the only way to get there. (The other option is to fly from Auckland to Christchurch and travel back to Picton). The ferry ride is about 4 hrs and it was a bumpy ride as the waves were high due to winds in the Pacific Ocean...You travel through the Charlotte Sounds before reaching Picton and its the most beautiful part of the journey!


To be continued from Picton...in the next post!