Day 10-15: Auckland and surrounding

We finally leaving Southern Island. I think that the seven days travel in Southern Island has made me tired haha. I wasn't that excited anymore to see the city. Though I haven't been to many big cities in this world, but somehow I had a feeling that most of the city in this world have similarities. It's just depend on us whether we want to adapt living on it or not. On this few days, I've seen how very laid back people are in Auckland. I heard that some of western cities are also like this, 5 p.m. the office over, then most of the shops are closed by 7. It's really different from Jakarta or some big Asian cities where shops closed at 9-10 p.m.

Here are some pictures of the places we went

Auckland War Memorial Museum

Mission Bay - Fave place on summer

Muriwai Beach - who goes to the beach on winter anyway?

Up: King Albert Park. Below: Britomart Transport Centre

One Tree Hill and Mt. Eden. You can see Auckland skyline from there

Soljans Winery and Cafe

And finally, after this long fifteen days of journey wandering in this wonderful island, we went home on the 16th day. Now when I think about it again, it was a really long holiday in a stranger's land. hahaha. I had a great time but honestly I just couldn't wait to get back home cause ain't no place like home :)

E noho ra NZ. Thanks for the mind opening journey for the past fifteen days!

NZ Day 9: Arrowtown + Queenstown

This is our last night at the Southern Island. We went to a nearby town called Arrowtown. This town was previously a gold mining city. You still can see the history of it on the museum. At first we found this church near the town center named St. Patrick Catholic Church.

What a peaceful place

Nearby toilet: Girl's nightmare

After that we go directly to see the Arrowtown Town Centre, the area looks like an old town theme arena in Universal Studio. 

The most crowded place in here was a candy store called "The Remarkable Sweet Shop" which sells local and imported sweets (later I found out that they also have a branch in Queenstown town center). 

Can only afford to buy one small bag *sob*  

Our next destination is AJ Hackett Bungee in Queenstown. AJ Hackett Bungee is the world pioneer of commercial Bungy Jumping. 

Which smile you prefer? That girl or us?

None of us had that much courage (and money) to jump from that bridge. But lucky us, we had a chance to see someone doing a bungee jumping there. 

Maybe he jumped to find a new definition of life

Then off we go to our last destination for the night, Queenstown town center. A lot of shops and restaurants here, also some souvenir shops. In the end, this is our last pit stop on the Southern Island. On the next day we're going back to Auckland. Back into the big city life. I'll miss Queenstown. Maybe we'll have a chance to come again sometimes. *fingers crossed*

The Peaceful Queenstown

We heart Queenstown

NZ Day 8: Milford Sound

Okay, I have to admit that I’ve been too lazy to finish the NZ posts series. Right now I’m in Beijing already, I left my notes of NZ at my house, so basically I’m gonna finish the NZ posts based on my memory only. Well, I think I’m just gonna post some pictures hahaha. For the record, I didn’t take all the pictures by myself (have I mentioned it before?), credits of the pictures goes to Fey and Jae. 

We started early from Queenstown to Milford Sound. It took about 3 hours drive to reach Milford Sound. Since we didn’t plan to stay overnight in Milford Sound, we took off early in the morning.

On the way to our destination, you can see beautiful scenery around you. For me personally, the road to Milford Sound offers many beautiful scenery, which are more beautiful than Milford Sound itself haha. The three hours ride offers you scenery from sheep, snow, mountain, and forest. 

 The view is like playing scenery screensaver on your computer

 

On the middle of our trip, we found this beautiful lake named Mirror Lake. Just like its name, the water is so clear; you can see the reflection of the snowed mountain on the water. Breathtakingly beautiful.

 Mirror mirror on the lake, who’s the fairest of them all?

Finally we reached Milford Sound. There, we need to take a cruise ship to see the view of Milford Sound. The trip was around forty five minutes or so (forgive my bad memory). There are many cruise line there, but we chose the Jucy Cruise, because they offers us ‘buy one get one’ ticket if we rent their vehicles. That time, the ticket price was NZD75 per person. We showed our Jucy car key, and we paid NZD150 for 4 tickets – of course one is not used, only three of us anyway.

Milford Sound was acclaimed as NZ’s most famous tourist destination. You can see some rocks and waterfalls from the boat. You can even spot some seals having a nap (what a life they have!) .It was beautiful there, but I like Mount Cook more than Milford Sound :p

Can you spot the seal?

Around 3 p.m.-ish the cruise is over, it’s time for us to go back to Queenstown, the three (almost four) hours’ drive back is very tiring. Oh ya, there’s only one small coffee shop/ restaurant near the cruise port, which means you don’t have many choice of food, so better if you keep your belly full before coming here (or bring your own lunch and dinner).

For me, it’s the road back to Queenstown is quite scary because it’s getting dark, as in very dark on the road, there’s nothing you can see outside your window since there’s no light outside. Luckily we reached Queenstown safely at night (phew..)

NZ Day 7: Fox Glacier and Queenstown

In the morning we went to see the Fox Glacier. What is glacier? Well, according to this website,

Glaciers are made up of fallen snow that, over many years, compresses into large, thickened ice masses. Glaciers form when snow remains in one location long enough to transform into ice.

Okay? So you got the idea? We're gonna see some ice. hahaha. It's a free entrance to see Fox Glacier, but at certain point, you will need a guidance from the expert because the area is getting rocky and slippery. I just went until the certain point that they say is safe. It's an half hour walk to see the ice, but if you want to explore some more, you will have to walk further than that.

Fox Glacier entrance

and here it is! The safe unguided spot ends here.

Some people are doing ice climbing with tour guide

Saying goodbye to Fox Glacier!

Now we're continue our journey to Queenstown. It's a five hours drive. Super long journey! I feel asleep during the ride hehe.. then I woke up when we made a stop at Haast city. We had lunch at Frontier Cafe & Bar and the burger I ordered taste super yummy!!! I can say that it was the best food I've tasted in NZ.

I will never forget the day we met 

Thanks for the great meal!

We continue driving to Queenstown. Reach there around 5 p.m. and started to look for a place to stay at night. We called few hostels, all said that they're all fully booked (it was saturday night), and finally we decided to stop at each vacant hostel. It was freezing in Queenstown that night, I think the weather almost reach zero degree. It's not fun to come and knock asking if there were any vacant room available for the past two hours . Desperate enough, I suggested we took a room more expensive than our budget. As long as I'm not freezing in the car like this. hahaha. That moment was the most miserable night of the whole journey. 

In the middle of my desperation, Ms. F randomly called a hotel, and they say they still have an available room within our budget. I could cry in tears of joy if I wasn't that hungry. A clean bed, a warm room. What could I needed more back then? 

Sherwood Manor Hotel view in the morning

After we checked in, we went to the city to have dinner (but somehow I lost my appetite) and went back to the hotel. The next day we're gonna continue the journey in the early morning to Milford Sound - another story awaits hohoho

NZ Day 6: Wanaka and Knight's Point

 Day 5 started in Wanaka. A small city (but bigger than Lake Tekapo) that also offers the beauty of it's lake. We stayed at Wanakabakpaka the night before and in the morning we took a stroll on the area around the city and the lake. 

Cute car in front of Wanakabakpaka + View of Wanaka

The other place we visited in Wanaka is Puzzling World. Inside, you can see and play with many types of puzzle. You can also play in the maze or buy tickets to get inside the exhibitions. That time we were rushed to reach our next destination, so we only took some picture and here it is:

 Trying to create an illusion from certain angle 

Then we were rushing to get to Fox Glacier. It's a four hours drive from Wanaka to Fox Glacier but on our way we made a stop at a place called Knight's Point. It's a coastal area so the you can feel the warmth of the  sun for a while.

Must do at Knight's Point: taking pictures! :p

Then we reach Fox Glacier, we checked in at Fox Glacier Holiday Park. The Fox Glacier area was very quite, not much tourist coming when we were there. Because it's getting dark and I don't know what to do in the evening, I just watch Junior Masterchef on TV that night hahaha. But the most memorable thing was how clear the sky were. You can see the stars shines clearly. It was breathtaking seeing your skyline has no border. 

NZ Day 5: Mt. John, Mt. Cook, and Wanaka

On the fifth day, we first took a stop at Mount John. It's around 20 minutes car ride from Lake Tekapo to reach the top of the mountain. From there you can see the lake view below and the snowy mountains around them. This is so my first time touching a real snow. What an epic moment for me :p

Snooow! Real snow! *excuse me*

After finish taking pictures, we're heading to Mount Cook. Mount Cook is the highest mountain in NZ and it has eternal snow. So any time of the year when you feel like touching the snow, you can come here to feel the freezing ice and do those mount climbing thing. Yeah, clearly I don't understand what kind of sports you can do here. But one thing for sure, you can take some pre-wedding pictures here! I saw the brochure in the information center :P

On our way to Mt. Cook, at the intersection between Mt. Cook and Twinzel (the next city) we met a fellow backpacker. She (yes, a girl and she was alone) was standing in the intersection waving on our car for a ride to Mt. Cook. At first we were hesitate to give her a ride, but finally we decided to give her a ride. Her name is Xiao Ming and she come from China for a year working holiday in NZ. She's about about to go back for good to China in a few weeks, so this is her last chance to travel around NZ. Waw. That's very brave of her doing this kind of trip alone. 

Hello Stranger!

So here's the view Mt. Cook offers you... I didn't do a lot of editing here, first cause I feel like it will waste a lot of my time editing things that are already beautiful just the way it is. Secon, cause I'm just laaazy. hahahaha

Last but not least: lunch time.. and of course 'poto dulu sblum makan' moment

After we're done admiring the magnificent Mt. Cook, we continue our journey to Lake Wanaka. After three hours drive and facing a very scary sudden weather change on our way, we finally arrived safely in the evening. So you know what I'm about to write on the sixth day post: Lake Wanaka! I'll be writing about it soon :)

NZ Day 4: Lake Tekapo

On day 4 trip we're finally out of big city- with a little help from our friend: GPS. On way to Lake Tekapo, the view on the left and right started to change: from houses to sheep. At first we were still amazed seeing a crowd of sheep on our left and right. We even made a stop to take some pictures. Later I found out on the road, sheep is easier to find compare to human beings. Maybe those sheep were trained to help us to fix the car in case anything bad happen. hehehe.

Too excited seeing sheep: The First look of Mr.J 

When we reached Lake Tekapo, we checked in at Lake Tekapo Scenic Resort. It has a free wi-fi facility (super important for budget travelers). It reminds me of Puncak and Cipanas resorts haha. I know I shouldn't compared those two things, but somehow when I was there, seing the resorts and shops around its surrounding, I couldn't help but think of Cipanas. Cipanas in New Zealand version hahaha.

A very peaceful resort. Like this!

Lake Tekapo itself is a lake surrounded by mountains and resorts. When we were there, the sky is a bit cloudy, so the pictures taken were not so good. The colour of the mountains didn't show up on the pictures taken. But if you see it with your own eyes, the view is just amazing. Usually people do skydiving in here.

It's such a gloomy weather back then

Besides the beautiful view, you can see a historic church in front of Lake Tekapo. They say this is the world's smallest church :)

Church of The Good Shepherd

Forgive me for my lack of words on my blog post. It's only day 4 but I'm getting to lazy to finish the whole story. I mustn't give up this fast. Twelve more post to go! See you on day 5 post. This time we're gonna visit more places :)