Self Drive South New Zealand : Day 3 - Queenstown

13 August 2011

Mount Cook to Queenstown 280 km 3hrs 40mins

Saying goodbye to Mount Cook and heading Queenstown not so early in the morning. Still, bitterly cold and everything is frosted over. My type of weather :)

Twizel is small town of 1000 people, founded in 1968 to service a hydro scheme. When the project completed, the town refused to die and transformed into a tourist centre

 

 

I’m beginning to get tired of snowy mountains, actually. But kita layan je.

Say Hello to me :)

Coffee stop

 

Arrived Cromwell, we spot a fruit shop and stop for a while. Then we check in at Shotover Lodge before making our way to Skyline for Gondola ride.

 

 

 

I was contemplating on bungy jumping. But when i saw the platform from inside the gondola, i chicken out. Hahaha. Terus cancelled. My heart not brave enough.

I think Langkawi cable car was scarier than this.

Getting ready for Luge Ride

 

 

@ the finish line. oh boy i was too careful :D

Done with gondola, we walk around. They say Queenstown is the capital of adventure sport. I won't argue. The streets are full of choice for adventure, for a fee of course.

 

Had dinner at seafood restaurant. Serving was huge, even two of us can't finished it. Make our way back to our lodge for a well earned rest.

Self Drive South New Zealand : Day 2 - Lake Tekapo & Mount Cook

12 August 2011

Christchurch to Lake Tekapo 240 km 3.3 hours

 

 

 

I let the photos do the talking :) Weather is great, sun shines but it's still freezing cold. This lake is at 700m above sea level. Fed by glaciers, it has a unique turquoise colour. The small building at its bank is Church of Good Shepherd, built in 1935.  I'm getting the overwhelming feeling due to the overloaded scenery :) Now heading Mount Cook.


Lake Tekapo to Mt Cook, 110km 1.30 hour

 

 

 

Mt Cook is NZ's highest mountain and longest glacier at 3,744m. The road is lonely with very little traffic. Mt Cook dominates the whole 60km of the route. I found myself exceeded the speed limit so many times..errr i don't think there are speed cameras along the mountain. We need to be fast. Need to check in at Aoraki Mt Cook Alpine Lodge at soonest. We have trekking to do before dark.

The owner upgraded our room - foc :) The room has superb mountain views.

Based on the signage, Kea Point Walk should takes 2 hours return from The Hermitage Hotel. The Hermitage is 10 minutes walk from our lodge. We are set and ready to go. Serious ni.

Finally... sigh. After MORE than one hour we arrived at the finished point at the Kia Point viewing deck with views of the Southern Alps and the Mueller Glacier lake. Rasa mcm nak pengsan pun ada heh.

We stayed for a while trying to catch our breath and return on the same track.

I think we spent too much time taking photo plus our foot steps is not as fast as theirs. It was cold, slippery and a bit confusing as there were only few signages. The path has been coverd with snow and we tried to follow the foot steps. Our nose, lips and ear was almost numb. But was all worthwhile. It was almost dark when we reached our room and we are extremely hungry. Makan time.