NZ Trip - Day 9 - Glacier Region

Today is a fairly relaxed day, getting up late for a change, which means 6.15am as the sun is too bright! The kids finally found some time to enjoy the Top10 resort playground at the resort before starting for a 2.5 hour trip to Glacier Region. After hunting a bit for a cafe to have our morning coffee fix, we stopped at a nice cafe at Kumara Junction. We gorged on a nice assortment of breakfast options, including pancakes with cream and local honey that was very thin but had an exquisite taste. We also found some Pounamu souvenirs for a much reasonable price compared to Te Papa museum. Also realised that we may have stumbled upon zillions more on the beach yesterday, which we could have picked up for free! 

One of the things we noticed was the casual culture of small towns like these, where customers drop by to pick up a coffee but end up chit chatting for 30 mins with the staff. And they always part ways with a positive message or wish. What is even more heartwarming is that a lot of the toilets have positive messages framed on them for people to notice and imbibe. No wonder the people are so nice here. What a fascinating place! 

Anyway, off we went to the next stop - Glacier Region - where the plan was to take the helicopter ride to the top of the Glacier for some snowy fun. All along the way I had to temper my son's enthusiasm about seeing snow with vague answers as I did not want to disappoint him if the weather turns sour later on. It was a good 2 hour ride, but we did stop a few times along the way to take in some nice viewpoints and capture some pictures. Some stretches were so straight and empty that I couldn't help but speed along a jolly 120-130 kmph. On one such stretch, I was about to overtake a slower vehicle by crossing to the oncoming lane when I aborted it at the last minute by slamming the breaks as I was running out of road. Just then, we noticed a lone police man with a speed gun pointed right at me. I have seen a net total of 4 police men in the last 8 days here, and I sure hope my NZ souvenirs don't include a speeding ticket! 

Just when I thought the west coast drive hugging the Tasman Sea on one side and the southern alps on the other horizon was not as good as the eastern coast ride, I went through a series of hilly S-Curves for 12km and was once again hooked on the futility of underestimating NZ natural beauty. I was indeed distracted at times and was thankful for the lane crossing alarm in my vehicle. 

Once we reached Franz Joseph glacier region, we did a quick check in for our flight and soaked in the atmosphere of the small town, whose only business seemed to be organising scenic flights and tours for tourists. 

The glacier flight was an amazing experience and the fastest 40 mins or our lives, which felt like 10. Being the first time for all of us aboard a helicopter, it was a cool experience with a steep angle of attack. The pilot was giving us a lot of useful info about the landscape, glaciers themselves and some interesting tidbits like 600cm of annual rainfall in the glacier region requiring several bunds to keep the river from overflowing! 

We did a good 20 min flight covering all the major glaciers, including Tasman glacier, and sighting Lake Pukaki and Tasman Sea, before heading to a flat region on top of the Fox Glacier for the highlight of our trip - the snow landing!

I was as excited as the kids on seeing snow that I struggled with my duty as a father to keep clicking pictures and videos, while throwing snow balls and playing with snow myself! While it was more of icy crystals due to fresh snow not having fallen for a few days, it was great fun nevertheless for the 10 mins we were up there! The moment that the kida were craving for, didn't disappoint, and we were talking about it for a long time afterwards.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant nearby, and again we had a great spread of vegetarian options to choose from, and the quantity was so overwhelming that we had to take away some of it. The Panini loaded with spinach, melted cheese and cream was especially awesome. I have never had so much spinach in my life and felt so good about it!

Once we had our stomachs full, we started on a quick 30 min drive to Fox Glacier to reach our accommodation before the reception closes. We were shocked when it said outside temperature was 29 degrees in the glacier town! The Top10 resort here was a lot more compact than the other two, with limited facilities. We felt the warmest we had during this trip and quickly crashed onto our beds for some rest before dinner. As my brain was struggling to process why the glacier region is the hottest, the sunset couldn't come sooner here! There were some glowworms in the bushwalks around here too that are visible in the night time.

Today was an awesome first experience on-board a helicopter, on a glacier, with snow for the children that we will never forget!

NZ Trip - Day 8 - Arthur's Pass/ Greymouth

Today started off with an excited vibe as we were looking forward to a Dolphin encounter in their natural environment as well as what was supposedly the best drive in New Zealand through Arthur's Pass. 

There was a bit of trepidation due to the inclement weather the night before, but the day dawned drizzly that quickly became bright and sunny, increasing our hopes. We reached the Dolphin Encounter checkin with plenty of time to spare and had a nice breakfast of coffee and the biggest crossaint I have ever seen! The staff told us the sea conditions were very rough, but still within limits to operate, so we idled our time getting a couple of souvenirs and watching the swimmers get dressed for their date with dolphins. My children were disappointed not being able to swim themselves, mainly because we were scared as parents and felt they were not ready for open ocean swimming. The briefing and short video about sea life around Kaikoura only heightened the excitement levels. 

We were soon loaded into a fully packed couple of buses for the short trip to the boat quay. Just when we caught sight of the shore, we were stunned with the news that the sea had turned worse and that the tour will be cancelled. As the locals say, nothing much we can do against Mother Nature aye? 

With the day starting off on the wrong foot, we started off on the long drive from east to West coast. The mood soon became much better thanks to the sheer awesomeness of the Pacific Coastal drive. We just couldn't enough of the majestic Pacific Ocean and had to stop along the way to admire it and touch the cold waters of the Pacific once again before embarking on our journey inland.  

The initial foray was largely through grasslands with mountains on the horizon, but after overwhelming our senses over the last week in NZ, the beauty could be ignored as we drove along in silence. But there were enough to keep us interested like the unique fencing based on cuboid shaped landscaping and quaint little post boxes lining up houses and farms, few and far between. 

As we entered the Southern Alps, the mood changed once again as we embarked on the most beautiful drive we have had ever! The stunning views of the winding mountain roads, the raw nature of hill slopes being eroded by ice as it thawed, the wide river bank that hinted at a huge flow of water during spring, the deep blue waters of the glacial lake, the trek of Castle Hill with Maori cultural significance, the vintage Alpine train station at Arthur's Pass, the Arthur's Pass National Park overlooking snow capped mountains even during summer, the list goes on and on.  The paucity of things that do not take your breath away here is mind-boggling! Given to the true Singaporean nature of complaining, I would say only the last part of the drive out of the mountains toward Kumara Junction and Greymouth was a bit underwhelming, possibly because of the sensory overload earlier on.

On arrival in Greymouth, which is a major train station on the west coast, we had a quick dinner takeaway from a nearby Indian restaurant. Indian restaurants are everywhere in NZ and are typically open until 9pm or so in all places we have been to so far, contrary to the initial scare about scarcity of food here after 3-4pm. No regrets packing a few instant food items including maggi though, which tastes like heaven in this cold weather!  

We were again put up at Top 10 resort at Greymouth, which was a great place to stay with family. We had booked a self contained unit that had everything we need. The facilities included a mini golf and playground with ziplines, trampoline and jumping pillow, with direct access to the Tasman Sea, where we caught a beautiful sunset. Our only regret was that we were staying here only one night and not doing justice to this place! 

What a day it was, with memories to last a lifetime! If wealth was measured in moments that take our breath away, I would be a millionaire! 

NZ Trip - Day 7 - Picton/ Kaikoura

Today is another travel day, but an exciting one, doing a Ferry inter-island crossing. Given the early morning departure, we said our good byes to my friend and came to the ferry terminal in good time. There are a couple of ferries crossing the islands but I booked Bluebridge as I could get a private cabin for my family to relax and shower while we crossed through the Cook Strait. It was a bit of a wait in the car, but we boarded the ferry to be awed by the amount of bug trailer trucks already locked snd loaded inside. It was way bigger than what i thought it would be. While the facilities were just adequate, the crossing itself was a lovely experience. 

We left the Pacific Coast and travelled through clear and calm waters for the first half of the journey. In the second half, the stunning beauty of Marlborough Sound captivated us all through.  Every hill in the mountain range had a different look and feel and various shades of colours. I almost hate my camera for not capturing the true beauty of the nature out here. The viewing deck became increasingly crowded as we made our way towards Picton in South Island, twisting and turning in the gaps between the mountain ranges. 

As a Google contributor, it had prompted me for some reviews based on my travel, which I had provided the day before. It was a pleasant surprise to see that all the review comments had got replies from the service providers, irrespective of whether it was a big or small firm and whether thr reviews were positive or negative feedback. This is again something that I feel differentiates NZ from the rest of the world, with excellent customer service standards!

Alighting at Picton, we found an Indian restaurant nearby where we had a nice lunch, seeing the rains lash out and cover the opposite mountains in fog. As the rain relented, we started on our drive to Kaikoura through beautiful vineyards. At Bleinheim, I was briefly lost and while I was figuring out through google maps,  I was almost T-boned by a lorry at a major roundabout. I was thinking SH1 had priority all the way through, but apparantly not!

For sometime afterwards, it was a homogenous landscape, so it was a bit boring after a while. However, NZ doesn't disappoint for long. 

I fell in love with the Pacific Ocean at first sight, coming down the mountains, that I had to make a hard stop and take a picture! The drive along the Pacific Coast, with mountains draped on one side and the biggest ocean on the other, was mesmerising to say the least. At one point I stopped 3 times within 5 minutes to take pictures that annoyed my sleeping daughter no end! 

The third of those stops was to take a picture against a rocky shore backdrop, but I stumbled upon hundreds of seals resting and playing on or near the rocks, along with a colony of ever-present seagulls! I was so excited that I had to get my family to come down and enjoy the sight. A couple of km away, we stopped at a place where we could trek down some loose rocks to touch the Pacific Ocean. We realised the rocky shore was also home to a couple of seal carcasses as well, but nothing is going to stop our pleasure today as we touched the cold Pacific waters on a drizzly summer afternoon! 

Finally we reached Kaikoura and had a smooth checkin to the Top10 resort, where the motel unit were surprisingly clean and spacious, stocked with almost everything we need. We had a bit of bad news as the weather has turned stormy, so the dolphin tour planned for tomorrow is at risk. This made us want to soak in as much of Kaikoura as possible tonight, but we could hardly get out of the accommodation due to the heavy rain and winds. 

NZ Trip - Day 6 - Wellington

Today had no plan and was free and easy for us. It started early, as its super bright in Wellington even at 6am, and I caught up on a few more pages of the book on Tamils before everyone else woke up. My friend told me that he had felt a 30 second tremor but I couldnt feel it. We got into the relaxed vibes of a lazy Sunday in Wellington, chit chatting about various topics and gorging on a dosa breakfast, before heading out to the Te Papa Museum to learn more about NZ and its history.

Even before we could enter Te Papa, we got distracted by the farmers market in front of the museum at the Warerfront area. It had a mix of trucks selling farm produce, snacks and drinks, and ice cream. The farm produce was amazing to look at, with the biggest vegetables we have ever seen, with cabbages, potatoes and lemons all being very fresh and attractive. If only we didnt have to travel in NZ for another week, we would have packed a tonne of those for our return to Singapore. I understood from my friend that not all stuff is cheaper than in supermarkets, but it was irresistible. We bought some strawberries, bananas and mandarin oranges that were all delicious and sweet. 

We walked around the Waterfront to take in the harbour views, and a picture of the Wellington skyline. Wellington is a small and compact city built surrounding the harbour and slowly spreading out. The city itself had a very happazard congested feel, but the harbour view was great and I loved the novelty of crossing a narrow gauge railway track in the middle of a busy road, although it lasted less than a second. 

Te Papa museum has multiple levels. Level 1 was very similar to Singapore Science Centre that we frequent, with interactive displays and exhibits. No surprises that the main exhibits were around nature, birds, earthquakes and tsunamis, including a toolkit to earthquake-proof the house. The simulation video on Taupo eruption undoubtedly was the star attraction. The kids spent a lot of time engaged with building an earthquake proof house using lego blocks. The other themed exhibition was on NZ participation in the Gallipoli war in World War I against the Turks, which was very detailed, almost stepping us through what happened every month of the war. it included larger than life sized wax figures of the key personnel involved in the war made by the Waka studio who make movie animations. 

We went to two other levels that were operational, including one level dedicated for the Maori culture and artefacts. Their intricate carvings were captivating and their innate connection to nature was evident in all the exhibits, including the Pouanama, the local NZ jade (greenstone). Talking with my friend also enlightened me on the discrimination and oppression faced by the Maoris in the past and how they are struggling to regain their lost glory and pride. The story seemed sadly similar to what other indigenous populations had to go through under colonial rule and afterwards. 

The museum also had a nice cafe where we had lunch and spent time reminiscing the past, revisiting shared memories and talking about what we had planned for the future. For people like us used to the creature comforts of city life made even more convenient by the government, staying in NZ with its isolated location and DIY culture seems to be a big challenge in itself.

While my daughter was determined to stay until close at the museum,  the rest of us took a nice stroll across the waterfront and spent some time in the park, watching people to some dives and my friend explaining to us about the native flora, putting his horticulture classes to good use. We also enjoyed a bit of the local ice cream flavours, although i couldn't get my hands on BoysNBerry, which is an unique NZ flavour. 

On our way back, we stacked up on a few Indian groceries from Newlands before heading back to my friends house for a relaxed dinner and more chat before calling it an early night at 11pm. 

Today was as relaxed as it was possibly going to get on this tour, but thoroughly enjoyed it in the company of my childhood friend and his family. 

NZ Trip - Day 5 - Taupo

Today is more of a travel day, journeying down from Rotorua to Wellington, the southern tip of North Island, through Taupo. Taupo is a dormant super volcano that is bigger than Yellowstone in the US, last erupting 80k years' ago. Now, rain water collected in the caldera has turned it into the largest lake in NZ. There are apparently an earthquake once every 15 mins somewhere in NZ!

The original plan was to viit Taupo, have lunch there before proceeding to Wellington. However, the outlook for the day was complicated by the fact that NZ is hosting the Iron-man challenge for the first time, with 80k athletes descending on Taupo as the host city this weekend. Major roads leading into Taupo had been closed as a result for the cycling leg of the challenge. So we decided to take a detour as recommended by Google maps.

We travelled through the changing terrain that was as beautiful as the other days, with us largely content with just admiring the landscape as we drove. We didnt lose too much time on the detour, so we stopped as planned at Huka Falls to admire the force of nature, raising a loud scream as it plunged a few meters down. The rapids just prior to the falls were even more impressive. After the quick photo stop, we proceeded to Taupo. We realised that the original planned lunch stop has been cordoned off for the Iron-man event, so we opted to stop for some sandwiches and bakery items for lunch. "Baked" turned out to be a very good choice, with us being treated to some yummy Kumara burger, macaroons and falafel wraps. 

This is where I noticed a very interesting pattern, that all the public toilets (or private) had a lovely saying or two, reminding people to be friendly and nice. I would subsequently see this everywhere I go, maybe one of the reasons why the Kiwis are one of the most friendly people on earth.
 

After a filling lunch, I wanted to fill up petrol but there was no way to get to the petrol station,  hence we decided to proceed directly to Wellington. However, getting out of Taupo proved to be very challenging, with most of the roads being closed. Google maps didn't have time to refresh the new information I guess. This led to us circling Taupo for almost 30 mins trying to figure out the exit. There was a big sense of relief when we finally made it to the state highway!

A few kilometers later, we were treated to a fascinating wonderful view of Lake Taupo, a glory too much to cover in a camera. The blue waters stretching from horizon to horizon was the caldera of the super valcano, so I involuntarily shuddered a bit thinking how big the actual volcano was, and how shallow the magma below our feet was!

The drive from Lake Taupo to Wellington through the Desert Road was one of the best drives I have had in my life, with the landscape changing dramatically. Traversing multiple sharp S curves over the mountains, we got a picturesque view of the snow capped Mt Tongariro, which dominates the show for about 30 km. 

Then just as we pass on to the other side, it feels like we have gone onto the Australian outback, with the desert landscape making us gape in awe. It is a completely deserted stretch, with no gas pumps or any sign of human life. However,  it only adds to the allure of this barren landscape with shrubs and a mesmerising reddish-yellow hue that felt totally out of this world! This is also a very straight long road with hardly any traffic, probably the longest straight road in NZ, allowing me to zoom past at 140-150kmph without a worry. But I actually didn't want to speed as the view was too good and I wanted it to last as long as possible. I was begging my wife to take more pictures almost every km. Instead of getting frustrated, she was surprisingly obliging the request! I understood that everyone's heart melts at the sheer beauty of nature. A particular stretch that has up and down roads just left my mouth gaping. The pictures will always be etched in my mind. 

After the desert road stretch, we came to Foxton, a small town with some cafes and gas. We took a halt there and I wanted to check my tyre pressures as my car was drifting left but was told that some inebriated person cut off the air pressure tubes a couple of weeks' back and they were still waiting for the fix! While vandalism was somewhat surprising in the mild natured Kiwis, what was more surprising is being directly offered "coke" when I stopped for air pressure check at the next gas station. With my love of coke, I almost said ok before I realised what he meant!

After the slight worry with my car, we were again on our way, past beautiful and changing horizons. I am already running out of adjectives on this tour 😀. After Palmerston North, you could already feel you are entering the Capital Territory, as the roads become so smooth and cruising speed limits increase. Just when I thought this will become a smooth drive, the landscape changed again without warning,  from bright scorching sun to a thick fog rolling down the green hills obscuring the highway. It dawned on me that Wellington is right on the cost with the strong Pacific winds being funneled through mountains on either side making it very humid and windy place. Again it made for a beautiful drive into the city.

Catching up with my friend Madhu and his family after about 15 years was very exciting and heartwarming. We reached his house around 9pm and caught up on various topics while having a nice dinner, and I almost didn't want to sleep. He also gave me an amazing book on ancient Tamils that had me immersed late into the night. 

Today was an unforgettable drive through North Island that I would strongly recommend everyone to do. I would have missed it as my initial plan was to fly from Rotorua to Christchurch, but for my friend being in Wellington. 

NZ Trip - Day 4 - Rotorua Redwoods

After a fiery start, now onto the woods. My family wanted this to be a more relaxed day, so I cut out Tauranga from the itinerary so that we can relax in Rotorua instead. This involved a couple of trips to Redwoods,  a 10 min drive from our hotel, an adventure trip in the morning and a relaxed walk at night. 

After a day of rain, bright sunshine greeted us today, and we thought it was 9 when we woke up at 6am. We went off to Redwoods on time to be greeted by friendly staff (an almost superfluous and understated adjective to describe anyone in NZ). We were all hooked up to the safety harness before a nice stroll/ hike through the Redwood forest. Interesting tidbit was that the Redwoods for imported from California, but grows 10x faster due to the fertile volcanic soil. However the flip side is that their barks are more brittle given the rapid speed of growth, leaving it more prone to being destroyed by human touch (oils in our hands). It's both an irony and a pronounced sarcasm of the effect of human beings on nature that the tallest trees in the world just can't stand a human touch! 

Our Redwoods Altitude adventure began with a quick demonstration of how to navigate the ropes with our gear and cross bridges and ziplines. It was fairly simple to understand but still made a couple of mistakes along the way! Crossing the different types of briedges they had specifically built was fun, with 20+ bridges of varying complexity for us to cross. The ziplines were fantastic, feeling the cool wind while we zap across the Redwoods trees, earning the mock ire if we touch some of its leaves. I always ended up turning on my back for some reason, but thoroughly enjoyed it. The real highlight was the last drop off, literally, from 20+ meters high, with a 1 second free fall and 7 seconds in all. Doesn't sound like much but I started with a scream of pain as I held the harness a bit too tightly, but enjoyed my way down. My kids had no such issues and was overjoyed by the experience, probably the most adventurous activity of their short lives so far. 2 hours felt like 2 mins here! For my wife and daughter, this was also a bit of a prelude to their planned skydive later on in Queenstown!

Having dropped off the kids at the hotel, my wife and myself went to the city center to buy some shoes for me (which got torn during my morning adventure). Having got a recommendation, we went to the Torpedo7 store at The Warehouse to get some hiking shoes (which were pretty expensive compared to SG by the way) before we had a mix of sandwiches, Indian and Chinese lunch take aways. While the price was high, the quantity and quality more than made up for it, leaving us with a bursting stomach! 

Afternoon was spent gorging on ice cream from the Lady Jones Ice cream shop across the road with 50+ wonderful flavours to try out. It seemed quite popular from the everpresent crowd and we now know why! We also caught up on some sleep and using the geothermal spa at the hotel, soaking in the sulfur rich hot water at various temperatures. 

Dinner was Italian pasta, from the food lane across the hotel. Needless to say, all food stalls, cafeteria and restaurants were mostly manned by Indians and Chinese staff.. Kinda needs some getting used to, especially given some preconceived notions of interacting with a lot more Kiwis on the tour! 

At sunset at 8.30pm, it was off again to Redwoods for the famed TreeWalk at night. Once the lights came on, we were one of the first to go in with the highly recommended Fast Pass, as the queue was quite long otherwise. It was like stepping into a magical place, with lights illuminating the trees and creating structures like Maori lanterns and native birds. It was a 40 min relaxed stroll through a series of bridges across the Redwood trees, with plenty of photo ops. However, photos can only be limited to either people or the background, not both due to the high contrast in brightness between the two. That's probably the only grief about this experience. The isite information center was smelling of coffee the minute we entered and we tasted a wonderful brew there, alongside grabbing a couple of souvenirs.

We came out to a clear night sky full of stars, and even took a small detour on the way back to immerse in the celestial view by the Rotorua Lake before calling it a day.

Day 4 was indeed a lazy day before our long drive to Wellington through the supervolcano town of Taupo tomorrow. I am also increasingly excited to catch up with my childhood pal after many years, and talk a lot more about NZ!