Been a month of traveling for me. Firstly to NZ and Sydney for my honeymoon and lastly, to Bangkok for a business trip. This will be the first full working week for me since Hari Raya Aidilfitri. 
NZ’s trip of 12 days was fantastic (albeit the whole flying trip to CHC via SIN and SYD). Flight got delayed at both SIN and SYD for 1 hour each. Other than that, everything was pretty smooth. Let’s see.. We took MH to SIN, QF to SYD, and JX to CHC. JetStar is the budget airline of Qantas, similar to AirAsia. Looking for the transit counter at SYD was a bit of a hassle and checking in is VERY long.
First half day, spent in Christchurch involves roaming round the city and gardens. Other than that, there is nothing much to do. Shopping is expensive since everything Ringgit is so much weaker. He he. Anyway, we left that part to the end.
Second day, we got our rental car (Mazda Capella) from Ace Car Rentals and off we go heading south west to a place call Lake Tekapo. Small quiet little town by a beautiful BLUE lake, amidst the mountain ranges. There is nothing much to do here except to sit back and enjoy the view / clean air. It’s a tourist spots and there are several restaurants here that serves good tasty food.
Third day saw us leaving Lake Tekapo for Mount Cook. A short journey of about 2 hours brought us up to the foot of Mount Cook and Mount Cook Village. We stayed at YHA Mount Cook for a night and the hostel is lovely. From the reviews, this hostel is usually full and requires much advance booking (since it being an affordable accommodation and it does provide full amenities). The unfortunate thing was the rain that falls throughout out stay there. So, I only managed to take photos of the snow capped mountains thru the hostels’ windows.
For the fourth and fifth day, we spent in Queenstown. Here’s a mid size town with loads of people and tourists. You can find loads of things / activities to do and Lonely Planet even has a four-days activity guide for it. We went for the Skyline Gondola ride (missing the Luge since it was after 5pm), Deer Park Heights (the place for scenic shots and LOTR shooting locations), TSS Earnslaw Steamboat ride and dinner, and AJ Hackett Kawarau Bridge bungy jump (we saw a guy jump naked). We missed the Kawarau Jetboat ride and Paragliding.
The sixth day saw us heading to Te Anau. Small town with a population of 3K. Other than walking the town, we didn’t do much here. We did drove over to Manapouri (about 17KM) away to look at the jetty to Doubtful Sound.
Seventh day saw us driving over to Milford for the cruise of Milford Sound. Long driving trip of about 2 hours one way and we had to start at 7.30AM to catch the 10AM cruise. Less buses on the road and less queue at the jetty. On the way there, the power window on the driver side failed and I had to drive we the window partially open. The wind was cold.
Milford Sound cruise on the MV Friendship was pretty nice (by Real Journeys) and the Bento lunch set was delicious. We managed to see crested penguins, a sea lion (very rare to find them there) and seals. Dolphins was the only thing missing that morning. At the end of the cruise, we depart of the boat to have a look at the Underwater Observatory. The main focus here was to have a look at the Black Corals (is actually white when it’s alive) that grew on the platform. Usually, these corals can only be found in depth of 70 meters and we were viewing them at 17 meters.
At the end, drove back to Te Anau, stopping by at some waterfalls and the Mirror Lakes. Got the power window sealed up by AA in Te Anau and had the car changed at Queenstown the following day.
Day eight, head over to Queenstown and then Wanaka. Lake Wanaka is lovely and the town is very peaceful. YHA Wanaka had a small cottage with 2 ensuite rooms. Since we were the only people there, we sort of had the whole cottage to ourselves. He he.
On the morning of the ninth day we woke up early and head over the ever famous Puzzling World. You can see 3D pictures, portraits that keeps their eyes on you, the room with two different heights corner for height effects, senget room (where I almost puke my guts out due to sea sickness) and of course, the out door maze (we gave up have way since it took too long). We couldn’t find the Warbird Museum and Transport / Toy Museum though.
After spending some time at Puzzling World, we continued on to Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier. Be prepared to walk 1 hour and 1.5 hours for return journeys at both glaciers (respectively). Walking in is freezing cold but on the way out, you’ll tend to start stripping off your jackets and overalls. Amazing sight at both glaciers. Not to be missed.
Stayed a night at YHA Franz Josef and on the last day depart back to Christchurch. On the way, we passed by Hokitika and Shantytown Gold Mining town. Nothing much in Hokitika except jade, jade, and jade. Shantytown has a steam train ride, old cowboy town and gold panning in store for you.
Day 11th saw us walking in Christchurch city again and spending most of the time souvenir and gift hunting. We did had a chance to go punting down the Avon river. Feels like in a gondola in Venice. Amazingly the river there is clear and you can see the rocks below (unlike our teh-coloured river in KL).
Day 12th morning was our flight to SYD. Four days in SYD and then we were back in KL.
For scenic photos, click here.
