NZ Trip - Day 16 - Sydney

Today is about travelling back home after a thoroughly enjoyable trip. We came early to the airport, with me having misjudged the time it would take for the family to get ready based on other days of this tour and make the 100m trip from the hotel to the airport! Looks like everyone was more than ready to go home.

We had a good 4 hour stopover over in Sydney, so it was good to hang around the airport and get a feel of things. The CHCH flight landed 10 mins early and we were greeted by the captain on arrival saying that the ground staff were not ready yet! After the formalities were done, we decided to have some F&B and relax while my wife wanted to do explore the airport and do window shopping (it helped that I had only one card with AUD in it!).

Maybe because it was Christmas, but the Sydney airport was overflowing with passengers, way more than during our onward trip. There was no space available in the rather spacious F&B area, so we had to make do on some available chairs with a take away. My children gave into the lure of home a bit too early and ordered a large bowl of Hokkien Mee, only to find that it was cold, tasted like cardboard and unedible as per my son. There were enough red flags that the stall was manned by Indian folks in Sydney airport, but sometimes you have got to waste money during travel to learn some valuable lessons like sticking to local restaurants and local cuisines. I did compensate my children with a taste of McD pancakes, which seems to have the same taste everywhere and is always a life saver as a reliable backup option in such situations! But NZ takes a cake in that too, with their salad burgers their best burger for vegetarians outside of India.

Maybe it was Christmas and people were busy celebrating at home, but every second or third person that we looked at was Indian or Chinese again! If we had hoped to get a bit of Aussie flavour during our stopover, "din get it mite" 😞

Anyway, we couldnt help but reminiscence the past fortnight, filled with an awesome roadtrip through wondorous terrain filled with a gamut of colours, scents anf flavours to completely overwhelm our senses. NZ has just stunned us beyond belief. Even as I finish this memoir a few days' later, all I have gotten in my dreams so far are beautiful sceneries from our sojourn into the southern wonderland that I long to visit again!

NZ Trip - Day 15 - Christchurch

Today was a rather light day with travel to Christchurch (Otautahi in Maori) and taking in the International Antartic Centre there, before calling it an early night as we gave a flight back very early tomorrow.

We had a relaxed breakfast at a nearby restaurant in Lake Tekapo. As the trip draws to a close, I cannot help but wonder that I have seen more Indians and Chinese faces on this trip rather than Kiwis! I shouldn't be surprised given they make up one in 4 people on this earth, and that countries like NZ are short of workers. However, to what extent that it dilute the feeling of travel? In NZ though, nature has a lot of distractions to not make one ponder too much on this topic. 

We have noticed a pattern that the kids always start fighting with each other after a good brekkie, and that continued today. We don't really have a concept of a brekkie in our household, which a lot of people have told us to commence, but as we realised, there are always pros and cons with such things! 

The drive to Christchurch was mostly dull, which is such a rarity in NZ. Maybe our eyes had got saturated, as seeing lush green fields and silky smooth roads would have been an awesome drive in most countries. We stopped over at Ashburton, the second most populous town in South Island, for a quick refuelling and car cleaning before heading over to return the rental car. However, I missed a highway exit thanks to the confusing Google maps display (I am more used to Waze), so i had to take a detour through CHCH city before reaching the hotel at the airport.

We had made a good decision to stay over at Novotel Christchurch (cutely abbreviated as CHCH by the locals) Airport, which was within the airport complex and a stone's throw away from the airport entrance. This not only helped with the early morning flight check-in,  but also saved us a day of car rental. It was novel seeing aircraft taxi down through your hotel window too! 

We refreshed and went to the International Antartic Centre (IAC), and was greeted by the sight of a LC-130 that is used by the US Airforce to ferry scientists to Antartica. The IAC had many novel attractions that kept us busy until close. There was a cold room with a 15 second exposure to an Antartic storm that left me worried about getting a frost bite, and an igloo that the kids sneaked into. There was a 4D show and a model of LC-130 cockpit with videos that made you feel you have journeyed to Antartica. 

There were live webcams from Antartica to take a look at and a lot of informative displays. There was a 1 min polar ice challenge that only my daughter completed with her hands still intact. 

There were a feeding session with rescued little blue penguins native to NZ. Reading about them, it made us feel they are no different to humans, each one having a distinct characteristic, including a penguin who feels more comfortable in the presence of humans than other penguins! There were some huskies that are no longer needed on the arduous trip to the south pole. 

But the unexpected surprise was reserved for the last, as we took the last trip of the day on the Hagglund, which was an all terrain amphibious vehicle developed by the Swedish army and used extensively in Antartica now. I thought it would be a kids ride, but was amazed by the short demo of its capabilities as we all took a ride in this amazing vehicle that could go through land, mud and water, over a stack of tyres and loose gravel, up and down 2m high ridges, all while giving its occupants the feel of being in a rickety wobbly carriage. We were shaken up by the trip, literally that I stumbled out when the doors opened. 

The kids were tired out by now and wanted to relax at the hotel. I had wanted to take them on the CHCH tram, but the tram service had already ended for the day, so we didn't venture out into the city and decided to hit the bed at 7pm, so that we can get back up at midnight for the flight back.

Today was a fun trip to the IAC that offered a lot more to see and do than I had thought!

NZ Trip - Day 14 - Mt Cook/ Lake Tekapo

The plan for today was quite simple - travel down to Mt Cook for a quick photo op and then proceed onto our accommodation in Lake Tekapo for midnight star gazing. I wasn't really excited about today due to the relatively short 4 hour trip and cloudy skies, although Lindis Valley.and Mt Cook Road were supposed to be one of the more beautiful drives. How wrong could I have been!

We had a relaxed getaway from Queenstown after a nice hearty breakfast, as there were no appointments to keep today. I did get a pre-departure warning from the kids about not stopping for photos shoots (which I argued would be impossible) and not to use their dreaded B-word (beautiful) and S-word (scenic), which they had got fed up by now.

The drive started off calm enough, with us tracing back the route we had taken from Queenstown to Wanaka. However, the landscape changed dramatically once we hit SH8, the Lindis Valley Highway. The drive was wonderful amongst the mountains of different colours and contours, with flowing S curves that added to its allure. I was going at a relaxed pace (within speed limit for a change) and could enjoy the drive, especially with dozing kids at the back, although whenever we stopped for a quick photo shoot, the kids used to scream in unison!

I did coax my son out of the car at the scenic lookout point in the Lindis Valley for a quick trek up the mound for an all round view, with clay mountains interlacing mountains in numerous other shades of green, yellow and brown. 

After almost 2 hours drive we reached Twizel, a quaint little town that is a good stop over for brunch, while stretching the legs and filling up some much needed gas, especially as there is none other all the way to Tekapo. 

I thought it was a beautiful drive until we took a turn to hit the Mount Cook Road, which quickly usurped it. We can safely avoid the B-word and S-word for this road. It was such an awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, poetic, effervescent,  glamorous, fabulous, magical, eye-pleasing, eye-opening, enigmatic road that I am sure other letters of the alphabet would get banished soon by our kids!

Camera doesn't do any justice at all to the Mt Cook that captures our attention 50km out and captivates us as the road makes the mountain twirl from side to side in our line of sight, or the long Lake Pukaki that is so serene, so crystal clear, so smooth with glass-like sheen that straddles the road almost all the way. It left me utterly stunned and confused as to which of the two was the star attraction there! 

The play of colours on the lake and the mountains almost made me cry a few times in joy! It has to be seen to believe. Words or pictures can't even start to describe the scenery that unfolds as you make your way towards Mt Cook. All i could let our were a mellow "wow" or "omg" or just gape my mouth! We did a few photo stops along the way as the mountain drew us in with its mystique, gravitas and charisma, while Lake Pukaki teased us by its ever-present charade alongside, distracting even the most faithful driver to err a few times with its vile glamour. 

Thankfully I was just alert enough to the two police cars patrolling this stretch that caught out other wrong doers. On one hand, I was surprised so many police cars were here, given I had seen a net total of 4 other police cars on my previous 13 days, but on the other hand I understand that the errant drivers would be a very easy catch here, being the poor fodder being lured by the web of magic weaved by the the surroundings. I almost got caught out myself, but was saved by a nearby scenic spot once and because of tailing a huge convoy limiting my speed the other time. 

We finally reached Mt Cook about 3 hours later than planned, for which I plead guilty. Maybe I should point the finger at the two real culprits! Anyway, the Mt Cook Village had a nice little museum of sorts dedicated to Edmund Hillary and a cafe looking onto Mt Cook, which made me enjoy my cuppa with one of the best views of my life! 

On the way back, we were debating on our best drives in NZ. While my wife voted for this route, my impression was that the Milford Road edged it slightly as the fog covered mountains and road was truly magical. But I was made to eat my words in a very short while by the environment I was in. The views and the multiple hues of blue and green, brown and grey that blended in the foreground in the evening sun was so stunning that I didn't know where to look. 

I had promised my kids not to stop on the way back to Tekapo, which I had to unfortunately break a couple of times as I had to give into my wife's wishes for photoshoots, which is rarer! I did acknowledge that this was the most beautiful drive of our trip, especially as the scenery was as captivating on the drive back as it was the way forward. Although to be honest, we drove back in pouring rain through Milford Road, so it's not really a like for like comparison. I veered off course quite a bit as I had to glance onto the attraction all around, which I would probably never see again in my life. I reluctantly drove back as slowly as I dared to, without rousing the suspicion of my road-weary kids, to make those moments last as long as it can! 

As we finally reached Tekapo, 6 hours later than what I had planned for, full of regret at what has passed, I consoled myself that good things almost always never last! I was a bit skeptical on the accommodation as its more of a back packers hostel, and while it was pretty bare bones with rickety beds and shared facilities, it was ok for a night when we will be out for most of it. 

We went out for a stroll through the town center (which is essentially a 100m stretch of shops catering mainly to the visitors) and the lake front, lined with a simple garden and a bridge to hop across a stream. I just managed to catch the sunset at the lake, which was magnificent with the reddish yellow glow of the mountains and the dying sunlight reflecting off the clouds. 

We had some instant noodles and hit the bed early before our only planned activity for today - star gazing at what is arguably one of the best sites in the world with almost no light pollution. I almost didn't want to jinx it by looking out at the night sky prior to that. 

At the checkin time, we layered up and ventured out and was amazed at the wonderful night sky like I have never seen before, full of stars and the band of milky way that I havent seen since my childhood! I couldn't resist a big wide smile into the dark abyss and thank heavens, literally!

The guide gave us the good news that the sky was 90% clear, with only some low hanging clouds that should not obstruct our view, the first good trip she expects after bad weather the last few days. We were boarded on a bus for a shirt trip up the mountain to the observatory,  with even the bus switching off the lights at the end and being guided through red lights as no white lights were permitted up there. 

The guide did not assume any experienced star gazers and patiently explained some of the key facets of the night sky and focused on prominent objects. We were guided through the famous constellations Orion, Southern Cross, some of the zodiac ones like Taurus, Gemini and Leo, Orion nebula, Open clusters of the southern cross and Orion, Jupiter and its moons, as well as the Large and Small Megallan clouds. I was shooting my camera at the dark sky, in the dark, hoping to catch a glimpse of those. But the naked eye view was simply breathtaking! We even managed to catch a few Geminid meteors whizzing by! 

We also took turns to look at some of those features through the 3 telescopes they had, admiring the celestial beauties first hand. My wife even coaxed them to record a couple of those on handphone video, which I would treasure forever! I have always looked upto the sky and been awed by the universe, so the sheer pleasure of seeing the stars-filled night sky was the highlight of the day, not withstanding what I had seen earlier! 

Today was a early New Year's gift for us, and the best things have happened towards the end of our trip, which was really great!

NZ Trip - Day 13 - Queenstown

Today was supposed to be the peak of adrenaline rush with skydiving and paragliding on the agenda. However the rainy weather continued in Queenstown,  which meant that we were bracing for more bad news. As expected just as we finished breakfast, we got the message that sky diving is cancelled. With rains forecast to return in the afternoon, we decided to reschedule paragliding to the morning. 

We took a short walk to the gondola to go up to the top of the hill around 1000 ft above to kick off the paragliding. Being a first experience for all of us, it was a bit of a nervous thrill. After the preps and checks, it was time to jump off a cliff! The paragliding was a lot more relaxed and smooth than we had anticipated. It was truly as the name suggests - just gliding through the wind. The paragliders did make it a bit more fun by inducing more sharp turns, but otherwise it was just a nautical view of the city and surround mountains as we glided to the ground.

We again made it to the hill top for our luge rides that the kids wanted to do. The crowd was a lot more than we had expected (maybe because today being Sunday before Christmas) which meant that we spent about 4 hours on the 5 luge rides. But it was fun for the kids and we were racing hard against each other by the end of it.

The kiwi park was nearby but the kids were too tired and hungry, so after lunch, we headed back to the hotel to relax and get some sleep. The weather was cool as usual, and the temperature drops quickly after sunset, which meant we were huddled in our rooms for most of the evening, venturing out only to buy dinner. The Indian dinner continued to disappoint in terms of quality and overwhelm in terms of quantity,  so not a great combination!

Today was the first day that felt a bit underwhelming,  mainly because of the cancelled sky dive. 

NZ Trip - Day 12 - Milford Sound

Today dawned nice and early, too early infact as we got up at 3.30am to prep for our long drive starting at 6am. Such is the life on travel days with kids. It is supposed to be a 6 hour drive and there are roadworks in the Milford Road, which is expected to delay things further. We have a 1pm cruise appointment so it's going to be rather tight. I received a gentle warning from my daughter not to delay things by stopping along the way for photos! 

We started off at 6.30am, and had a nice smooth getaway from Queenstown. It's a U-shaped journey to and fro, and the minute we were out of Queenstown, we hardly had to deal with traffic, so we zipped along at a nice rate. The roads were mostly long and straight until we reached Te Anau about 2 hours later and stopped at the first cafe in sight for breakfast. Looks like pretty much everyone en route to Milford Sound stops there, including tour buses. We got some nice sandwiches and pastries for our breakfast, to load us up for the long journey through Milford Road. We also packed in some snacks to have on-board the cruise.

A few kilometers into Milford Road, I had a new favorite drive in NZ! Almost every turn led to a dramatic change in landscape that was worth a picture of two, with changes in flora making the jaw drop at times.Through wooded rainforests to grasslands to red cossacks to foggy mountains dotted the landscape. The steady drizzle made the fog ever present and it appeared we were driving through a magical place. At times it appeared as if we could reach out and touch the fog! 

There were numerous places to stop over and explore along the way. Mirror lakes perfectly reflected the mountains in the crystal clear waters,  except for the odd wave caused by a Kea swimming lazily across. Falls creek offered us a beautiful view of a falls. There were sweet smelling lavenders of varied colours by the roadside. There was an astounding view of a lake. 

But the most magical was when we were waiting to cross a 1.2km tunnel, where the whole place was shrouded in thick mist that we could hardly see the vehicle ahead. At that place, we were treated to snow capped mountain tops and numerous small water falls that was truly a sight to behold!

I thought i had quite a bit of time jn hand, but towards the end we were rushing for time. We reached the car park only 5 nins before scheduled check in time for ghe cruise, only to find it full! It was a mad scramble to find a parking spot and rush to the cruise. In all, it took us 6.5 hours to get to Milford Sound.

Having reached the cruise just in time, we debated on the best place to be won the cruise. As usual, my ladies won the debate and we chose a cosy seat inside the cabin and bought some stuff to eat. In hindsight, it was a very wise choice, as it was freezing out in the open on the deck during the journey!

As the cruise gathered momentum,  we took turns to venture out in the deck and admire the natural beauty of the fjords. The two permanent waterfalls and foggy mountains provided a picturesque backdrop for numerous clicks.

The captain provided very insightful commentary throughout the trip. It was a bit of an anticlimax to hear that Milford Sound is not really a "Sound" but a "Fjord"  and like with 13 other sounds nearby, it has been wrongly named! It was amazing that so many trees managed to grow out of sheer cliffs with no soil,  and that all their roots are interconnected, clinging on to rock crevices, taking moisture from the abundant 7-10m rain each year. It left me in awe that life always finds a way to survive even in such tough conditions. With no soil to hold the rain water, it freely falls off the mountain side and forms a layer of fresh water on top of the salty water rushing inland from the Tasman Sea, gathering pace as it reaches the narrow opening among the fjords. 

The place where it opens up to the Tasman Sea is so rough that the cruise started to bob violently with water splashing onto our faces! The captain had to quickly turn the boat around at that point, but the Tasman Sea indeed made its point as one of the choppiest waters on the planet. We could just about get a glimpse of the Antartic Ocean to the south at that point. The return leg was more relaxed and slowly cruised through various key facets of the fjords, including places where recent tree avalanches had occurred. The captain casually mentioned that the underwater observatory was destroyed by the incessant rain last winter and yet to be rebuilt! The majestic Bowen Falls was breathtaking as well. 

The fjords left a lasting memory indeed. As usual we clicked a few pictures knowing fully well that it cannot possibly capture the beauty of this place that can only be experienced first hand. 

Our return journey was much more prosaic as we made a dash back home amidst heavy rain with just a single stop at Te Anau to take a quick break and grab a bite. I tried to honest my wet weather skills with a few overtakes at pretty high speeds that was nerve wracking at times with oncoming traffic all but a blur in the water spray. 

However it was not without surprise as while waiting for the tunnel signal, we caught sight of a Kea, which is a large parrot that is endemic to South Island and highly intelligent. It perched on a pole nearby and posed for all our pictures. It even perched atop the bonnet of the car in front of us to scan the passengers and casually walked towards our car to bid us goodbye when the lights turned green!

After 14 hours on the road, we made it back to the hotel in one piece, which is a great achievement in itself. Today was a great chapter in the magic of nature in NZ! Tomorrow is a different story with another rainy day in the offing so fingers crossed hoping the weather doesn't spoil our skydiving and paragliding plans.