Day 2 - 5th June : QUEENSTOWN, HERE WE COME

Journey: Lake Tekapo - Twizel – Omarama – Queenstown

As conservative accountants, we left Tekapo at 630am, even before the first light, so that we can reach Queens early. It was a mistake!! The first light was at around 8am (who say NZ day starts early!!! The day is damn short) and we miss the scenery of Lindis Pass. We only manage to catch the dark shadows of the mountains of Lindis Pass, abit sad..... keke.

BUT, nothing can make me unhappy for long when I am in a freaking cold place and with no work (HP switched off at all times).. wahaha

After kooning in the car for about an hour (most of us slept, except for the super drive of cos), it was feeding time!!! First pitstop for the chimneys' medications!!

By the road side of OMARAMA

As you can see, the sky is still quite dark. Vaguely, I can remember that this place is quite cold. So I guess it must be freaking cold for the rest... wahaha.

Introducing OLIVE!!!! The Koon-神 （SJ met her 对手 in kooning) and the other ma-ma shop attendant. Oh, she is also very good in map-reading. What a compatible couple, one drive and the other read maps....

After about 20 minutes break, we head off to Queens and reached Lake Hayes (just outside Queens) just before noon.

Another place with great scenery. Photo time!!!!

Trying to be artisitc (above). Postcards again (below)

The Group photo. The top 2 is Popeye and Olive (couple). In case VC and 水果妹 angry, i need to clarify that the bottom are just friends... er hmmm at the time of taking this shot... who knows...

Seldom see me smile and so happy right.... The right ingredients will make me happy - a dose of cold air, away from my laptop and great company!!

This is the same tree where the 2-couple picture was shot (above). But, he just looks more mature than the rest... wahahaha... AH LAO again!!!! Ware is your "stylish" sunglasses??? hehe. The most classic picture i must say is the one taken on the first day to Lake Tekapo (which was NOT posted cos he is one of the delinquent who has yet to pass SJ his pictures. Maybe I will post when I received the compiled DVD of pictures from SJ).

After an hour of stop-over at Lake Hayes, we head off to Queens. We went straight to the I-site to book our planned activities - Jetboat and white water rafting. We managed to book the Jetboat but not the white water rafting (reason shall notbe disclosed).

After making the booking for the noon ride, we head off to our hotel for check-in - RYDGES HOTEL. This is the only hotel which we stayed for our entire trip. Really good hotel and not very expensive. Nice scenery of Lake Wakatipu from the balcony.

Remember this shot and notice there are still browns and greens on the mountains. When we were back to this place on our 4th day, the mountain caps were filled with snow!! Will paste the picture for Day4.

Our Hotel (above)

After checking in, we make a super speed walk to the shotover jetboat station to take the shuttle to Arthur Point for our Jetboat!! This company's jetboat is highly recommended! The Jetboat was AWESOME! Although it is pricey at about NZD99 for about 25 minutes ride, I would give it a not to be missed rating.

A picture taken after our jetboat ride. We were waiting for the shuttle bus to take us back to Queens town centre for our lunch.

After lunch, we head off to Deer Park heights. Deer park Heights, just outside Queenstown, was used for the filming of Lord of the Rings - The Twin Tower, for a duration of 3 weeks. The deer park was used for quite a few scenes, including the path of the Rohan refugees, warg battles and where Aragorn disappears over the cliff.

I love this place too, although some of the roadtrippers dun quite like the place cos they dun like dried-up fields and animals. Entrance fee is by car (NZD20) and the whole route will lead us to the top of the mountaineous area. Along the way to the top, you will see animals (some which we cant name) roaming freely in the open.. oh ya they shit freely too.. keke.

Animals along the way (above)

VC, not so cool anymore. kaka. Let me guess, should be 3 layers (one very thick 2layered jacket, long sleeve t-shirt and long john) So it should be 4 layer.

Cool pictures right? It was really cold up here, HIGH HIGH HIGH!!!

As it was really cold(Popeye and Olive really scared of the cold... hehe), we left after spending half an hour at the top of the mountain.

On our way down, Popeye taking pictures with his KIND (meh meh 羊, keke). I did not bluff all, layering getting thicker....

This picture was taken after the 3rd attempt and Donkeys (not insdie the pic) are chasing after me!

Let me try to explain the why this picture was taken. While we were driving down the mountain, there was this bunch of animal (duno wad they are called. inside the picture above) and some black big donkeys following our car. Then someone commented that here we are in Deer Park and none of us had taken a picture with the animals close up. So i suggested that we get off the car and take pictures with the animal. No one dare lor. Then I say I will get off the car to take the picture and Popeye will take the picture for me (oh, the driver was Ah Lao and Popeye was sitting at the passenger seat in front).

So, I got off the car and run to the bunch of animal and wait for Popeye to click my camera, but before he can click, the donkeys are approaching and i got to run back up into the car. Maybe at this juncture, you must be recalling from the narration of Day 1 that I mentioned my cut-hand picture was the last picture Popeye took for me? Yes, I m not wrong. Because the running in and out of the car happened twice and Popeye managed to take one picture BUT with half an animal.. haha. Sensing it is not going to get any better, VC volunteer to take the camera from Popeye and take the picture for me. And here is the final posted picture. Me feeling scared that the animal wil kiss me. hahahaah.

After Deer Park, we head back to Hotel for a rest before dinner. I think we had KFC. Nice and cheap. Next day, we will be going to Te Anau, where we had one of our best dinners.

Btw, the 3rd day blog would be posted some time next weekend, since i am going away for 3 days... till then... MX OUT!

Day 1 - 4th June Christchurch: HELLO COLD COLD NZ

We took the overnight flight to Christchurch on 3rd June and reached CC airport at 4th June around 930am local time. The 3 "cannot-make-it" chimneys rush out to outdoor first thing after clearing customs, of cos to create pollution lor.

I make a call to the car rental company and the boss came and pick us up within 3 minutes. Speed and efficiency which can be found in SIngaporean! The boss is a Singaporean. haha.

This picture was taken by Teddy (our friendly car rental boss) outside Christchurch Airport. We went on the car and head towards Teddy's office. He briefed us on the car rental matters, insurance stuff and the interesting demonstration of how to tie snow chains! We left his office around 1045am and started with our road trip. First Stop - Lake Tekapo.

Journey: Christchurch – Ashburton – Geraldine – Lake Tekapo

The whole journey to Tekapo took about 5 hours if I can remember correctly, including a stop over at Geraldine for Lunch. The scenery along the way was Awesome. This is where we had lunch. Usual sandwiches and pies. Coke light is so expensive in NZ!!!

Some nice pictures taken along the way to Tekapo from Geraldine.

On our way to Lake Tekapo, naturally we would need to have a stop for the chimneys. Usually, the super driver will find a scenic spot for stopover, so that the other 3 (me, Mic and SJ) will take pictures to occupy time. Of cos, the chimneys will join in after their 'medicine'. Check out the pictures:

The 6 road trippers. Check out who is AH LAO and who looks like Popeye!!!. If you still cannot guess right, something is wrong with you.

I shall give you the second picture, just to make it explicit for you.

Presenting to you, Ah LAO and Popeye the sailor man!!!!!!!

Introducing....... LAKE TEKAPO

We reach Lake Tekapo at around 330pm. This place is so amazing, with only an estimated population of 400 people (Yes, less than one HDB block). Superb beautiful scenery, however with not much food. We had SUPER LOUSY Fish and Chips that night. The superb scenery overcomes all the lousy food and Lake Tekapo is one of my favourite spots during the trip. Check out the amazing pictures from beside the lake with unique, turquoise coloured lake water.

The colour of the lake water is the result of ancient glacier ice crushing mountain rock on its journey from the slopes of the Southern Alps to the rivers of the massive valleys that deliver the melted ice to the lake. The crushed rock produces a fine 'flour-like' powder that remains suspended in the water and, when reflecting light, produces the pale blue colour for which Lake Tekapo is renowned. Lake Tekapo is fed by two major glacial run-offs and 6 rivers. The lake is 32 km long and 120 meters deep at its deepest part.

The AWESOME PICTURES of Lake Tekapo.......

The 6 happy road-trippers.

VC trying to act cool by only wearing one long sleeve t-shirt. You will see his Bak Zhang state when the days go by....

With no Spinach, the not-so-strong sailor man is feeling cold and started wearing his thick jacket and gloves. From the packness of his jacket, this should only be 2 layers of clothings.... The number of layers will also increase very soon...

Thats me, only with a sports jacket... wahaha. Feeling damn high from the cold crisp air of NZ!!!!

If you think this is all about Lake Tekapo, you are so WRONG!!! Our motel owner told us that there is place where we can see the whole of Lake Tekapo from a high spot - Mount John Observatory. This place is not to be missed and due to the short day time in NZ during winter, the motel owner told us to quickly go to the observatory as it closes at sunset. We rush off to Mount John.

Mt John was chosen as the best observatory site in New Zealand because of its high number of clear nights throughout the year. the stability and transparency of the atmosphere and the uniquely dark skies in the Mackenzie Basin, devoid of city light pollution. It is internationally recognised as one of the best-situated observatories for viewing the southern night skies.

To reach the top of Mount John, we have to go through real steep crooked roads. If you think the 秋明山 in Initial D is "there", the route to Mount John is so much WORSE!!! The road is one-lane but for 2-lane traffic and with no iron railings on the side. One wrong move, we will be doing Bunjee jumping, the motorvehicle style... But hee, we are back in one piece, all thanks to Popeye (of cos!).

All is so worth it! We are rewarded with breathtaking images before our eyes when we reach the top of Mount John.

It was so cold up at the top of Mount John. Can you see how happy I was.

In the process of absorbing the 日月精华。。。

Oh, this picture was taken by Popeye ( my hand being cut off). Olive warned me after he took my picture about his photo-taking skills. Of course, this was the last picture he took for me la... wahaha... no offence bro, you still my buddy! keke.

Introducing our 水果妹 cum ma-ma shop attendant

The sky was getting darker and we rush off down in case it becomes too dark to drive.

A photo taken when driving down the steep slope.

This photo was taken from the bottom of Mount John to show how high we drove up... quite blur though.

After absorbing enough 日月精华 (at least for me), we head back to motel. Motel was not bad, with 3 of us in a chalet like apartmenr. We had an early night after the lousy dinner as we need to wake up at about 530am the following day to Queenstown.

MX is back!

Yes, I am back blogging and this time on my wonderful NZ trip. So glad that i did not join the Tibet gang since I am sure I will not enjoy cock-up tour agents (after the "CB" incident) and all-vegetables meal (wahaha). On the contrary, there was no cock-up agents (since we self drive) and I was so pleasantly surprised that the food in New Zealand is really NICE. Super enjoy the trip.

While waiting for JW to finish her blogging on Tibet (which I think will be damn funny due to the various tortures the Tibet gang encountered), I shall attempt to record down my first ever Road Trip - 10-day holiday to Middle Earth New Zealand (South Island). Since it is a 10 day trip, I think it will take quite a long time for me to blog the whole 10 days, wahaha. Will try lah.

Let me back tracked abit and write in brief what preparation work we did (or at least most of us did. keke, VC, i not talking about u.. haha) before embarking on our journey.

1) We did up a detailed itinerary on where, when and how to go to each place in the South of NZ. Special thanks to Jenny (my dear JC fren who is now a Mummy!) for sharing her itinerary.

2) Itinerary includes places to visits, distance and time to get from point to point, accommodation for each stopover and many other details which surprised so many people on the amount fo effort made for one holiday. wahaha. Come on, when 1 mgr, 3 supervisors, 1 AM and 1 FM are at worked, what do you all expect. keke.

3) One Planning meeting and lots of google maps.

Now introducing the Road trippers.....

1) MX, thats me of course. AKA: "KX" and Entertainer of the group, but i just dun see why i am so funnie, cute and humorous.

2) NBH - AKA : Ah Lao. (Hint: look at the pictures, i am sure you can easily identify which one is him).

3) LWT - AKA : Vehicle commander (VC)

4) SJ - AKA : 水果妹 and "ma-ma shop" attendant.

5) SY - AKA : Driver and Popeye (Also identifiable from pictures, wahaha. Hint: look at the face).

6) Mic - AKA : Olive (wife of Popeye) and the other "ma-ma shop" attendant and sleeping beauty (she slept once the car starts, except of cos when she is enjoying the snacks and ice cream).

Oh ya, i forgot to tell all that after the trip, we have deliverables too (bobian, 职业病 haha):

a) SRM (Still waiting for VC. VC, we nvr complain, really, take your time).

b) Compiled photos ( Delinquents, please submit to SJ).

c) Payments to be made to those who signed for the expenses.

d) Of cos the montage which i promised. This will take some time, please wait wait abit.

Ok, write so much and realised still not at Day 1. wahaha. got to go out for dnr with my JC gang. will be back for Day1. Stay tuned...............