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.