DAY 4 MILFORD SOUND @ QUEENSTOWN

Itinerary for Milford Sound from Great Sights.

Take an unforgettable journey into the heart of Milford Sound. You'll experience the world famous fiord - rich in dense rainforest, glacier carved valleys and beautiful waterfalls.


Journey across the Southern Alps and travel deep into the Homer Tunnel, a 1.2km tunnel drilled through solid rock. Uncover Eglinton Valley, a place of ancient alpine forest and gushing waterfalls, take photos of the stunning Mirror Lakes, then walk across The Chasm.


At the deep waters of Milford Sound, board your 1 3/4 hour Southern Discoveries Scenic Cruise. See the wonders of Mitre Peak, glacier-scarred rock walls and waterfalls that tumble through valleys and crash into the sea far below.


After your cruise return to Queenstown by coach. Alternatively book a scenic flight option (optional extra).

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I met David the driver outside the supermarket in the morning when i wanted to buy some more sandwiches as i ate one yesterday night. He bus was parked outside the supermarket. He came down and we chatted for a while. Then i hurriedly bought what i want and went back to the bus stop where the bus just drive up.

Today we are going to see the great Milford Sound. The driver is from Maori descent. I cannot hear what he said his name was. The bus have a glass top where you can see the view above. He will be bringing us to some other locations besides going to Milford Sound. We will stop at Te Anau. He pronounced Te Anau funny and I didn't get what he was talking most of the time.

• Te Anau

We stop here for a short break and eat breakfast, we ordered one leek and veg soup and shared. Mom said she cannot finished one bowl herself. So we always shared the soup. We also eat the tuna sandwiches mom make last night and tried the sushi i bought yesterday night in the supermarket and kept the sandwiches we bought in the supermarket this morning to eat in the boat. Actually we bought a few sandwiches, we had ham and salmon sandwiches.

• Eglinton Valley - ancient alpine beech forest, stunning waterfalls
• Mirror Lakes - we went down for a quick photo taking.
• Homer Tunnel - We went thru this tunnel but did not stop
• Fiordland National Park -
• Knobs Flat - We dropped by for a quick toilet stop and took some pictures. There is lots of flies flying around. We quickly went up the bus.
• Christie Falls -
• The Chasm (subject to road and weather conditions) - We have 15 mins to explore here but we did not walk all the way inside as mom is worried we might take too long.
• Southern Discoveries Scenic Cruise - At 2.30pm we reach the Discoveries center to take the cruise. The driver will wait for us at the center.

We boarded the ship and went up to check out the deck. There are 3 levels. The top deck is very cold and windy. We have to zipped up our jackets.

The 2nd level have a outside deck and the inside is heated. The below they have buffet for those who ordered their lunch there. We eat our packed lunch. As i know the buffet is expensive so i asked mom to prepared tuna sandwiches before going out the night before.

We saw many waterfalls in the Milford Sound running down the rocky mountains. I saw on the movie there how they built the Hommer tunnel which is very difficult. On the background there is the mountain called Mitre Peak which is very steep like knife and a challenge for mountaineers to try climbing.

I went to the captain corner and he told me to go outside the deck where something is going to happen. I called mom and we went outside where we reached and see the largest waterfall flowing down. When mom come down the stairs we quickly took some pictures and asked one girl to take one for us. We were getting wet. The waterfalls falls on our back. Mom jacket is wet. Mine is not so much as i ran faster to shelter. I helped her clean the wet jacket.

Then we went back inside for some warm air and go to the toilet. After that the boat went back to the cruise centre and the driver is there. We went express back to Queenstown. Mom is not feeling well after all the turning here and there of the road.

I cooked the chicken wings and ate with maggi mee and i saved some for her after i eat finished at the kitchen. She said she is ok after bathing and resting for a while. I said i will go out myself and do some grocery shopping since she is not well. I bought some bread, pizza bread, veg and one box of eggs. Then i went back to bath and go online with the free wifi.





        

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DAY 3 CHRISTCHURCH - MT COOK - QUEENSTOWN

Wake up early to take bus from Christchurch to Mt Cook to Queenstown. We will be staying two nights at the Absoloot Value Accomodations. We only brought one suitcase as we left two inside Bealey Motor Lodge for two nights until we get back here on the 1st June.

Today the tour bus driver is David. He is a nice fellow. We are the only passengers in the bus today with the driver and one lady who seems to be his colleague. I heard the driver said that when we reach Mt Cook more passengers will be joining us.

Leaving Christchurch in the morning we travel through diverse farmland to Lake Tekapo, on the way we pass by Ashburton and stopped at Geraldine for breakfast, there we had soup and beef pie then on to Fairlie and Lake Tekapo, we went down the bus to take some pictures beside the lake where we can see the solitary Church of the Good Shepherd and take in the sights of the spectacular Southern Alps mountain range. David helped us take some pictures at the church and Lake Tekapo.

We take advantage of our time here to enjoy the majestic scenery and take more pictures. Finally we took time to enjoy a lunch of satay pork with rice at the famous Hermitage Hotel in Aoraki /Mt Cook Village set within a National Park.  Following our lunch stop the tour continues south through the tawny tussock of the Mackenzie Country. We left Mt Cook behind and go towards Queenstown thru the village of Omarama,  and visit to the Jones Family Orchard near Cromwell. Our tour concludes this evening in world famous Queenstown.

When we reach the hotel we cook maggi mee at the kitchen downstairs. When mom see that there is internet there she asked me to go online and contact my sister and the family to let them know that we have arrived safely. It costs $2.00 for half an hour. After half an hour which i cannot do much i remembered that the motel have free wifi so i went and asked the receptionist for free wifi password. After that we went out for grocery shopping at the nearby supermarket.

We bought some sandwiches and one packet of marinated chicken drumsticks for tomorrow dinner. The sandwiches is supposed to be our breakfast or lunch on the boat. But i am feeling hungry so i ate mine. Then i go facebook and also use skype to called them. After that i fell asleep.


Highlights of today journey :-

Canterbury Plains
Geraldine
Lake Tekapo - a stunning glacial-fed lake
Church of the Good Shepherd
Lake Pukaki
Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park
Mackenzie Country scenery









At Geraldine, Kiwi country cafe (according to the timetable) at 9.30am, we eat breakfast at the cafe. We ordered tomato soup to shared and one beef pie each.





The Hermitage Hotel at Mt Cook, satay pork with rice for lunch, $15.00 shared. The extra rice cost $5.00 we decided not to get extra rice. There is a lot of pork so we are full after finishing all the meat. We stayed there until 2.25pm.

For dinner we bought brocolli at the shop at Cromwell and cooked maggi mee. We saw many backpackers cooking in the small kitchen too. They cooked chicken which looks delicious. We decided to buy some chicken to cook too.

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DAY 2 CHRISTCHURCH FOR THE NIGHT

The plane touch down in New Zealand Airport at 9.30am and we check out and find a bus to shuttle us to the Domestic Airport and to board the connecting plane to Christchurch. The plane is lifting off at 1.20pm so we hurry and grab a bite at Macdonalds. I bought big mac for mom and i choose fish fillet.

When we reached Christchurch we have to take the Intercity bus from the Airport to Christchurch Bealey Avenue. We waited for a while at the bus stop outside the Airport. As it is the first time we are taking this bus we were worried that we missed the bus as we have no idea which one is it.

I checked my ticket and it says it is by Newsman couch. After asking around we finally saw the bus coming about 5 mins late at 4.05pm. We will take this again from Queenstown to Christchurch on the 1st june.

When we reach Christchurch it is around 4.30pm. We checked in to the Bealey Ave Motel after dragging our luggage from the bus stop. The owner is Andy. He also let us pay when we come back from Queenstown. We cooked our maggi mee for dinner as we did not have time to find any cafe along this road. The i decided to asked the owner to let us keep our bags there until the 1st june as we are coming back here again. The lady at the reception says her boss says it is ok. I told her we have to leave at 6am tomorrow. She says she will come and open the office for us.

We packed what we needed for two days at Queenstown using Mom's bag as mine is either too big or too small. We will leave my two bags here. Then i was reading up some tours booklets and mom says we have to sleep early. She says it is going to 12am soon. Soon she went to sleep. Then when i look at my phone and it says 5 but did not check it is am or pm. Then I hurry up and bath and thinking i only have one hour to sleep i set the alarm to one hour and fell asleep. After dreaming about something i wake up suddenly and look at the phone clock it is 6.

I wake mom up and we hurry to the office to put our bags there and told the owner we checking out. He was sleeping. We walked to the bus stop with one bag. We took some pictures on the way and suddenly i saw on my camera that is is 11pm. I looked up the sky and it was dark and have a moon. I told mom and i went to peeped at the shop where there is a clock. The hand is at 11. Then i asked my mom how? She says we go back lah. How can we wait for 7 hours outside. Hahaha.

Then we walked back and ring the office again. Andy came down and asked me "What is going on , I need to sleep". After telling him that our time is wrong we get back the key and went to the room to sleep. Andy says please leave the key on the table as he don't want to wake up so early.

After sleeping for few hours we woke up again and went to the bus stop again.

DAY 1 SINGAPORE TO NEW ZEALAND

Getting ready to go New Zealand

"Leaving on a jetplane, don't know when i be back again. All my bags are packed n i am ready to go" old song i used to hear on the radio. :)))))) 

I have pack all my clothes, for winter and for 15 degrees and below. Bringing maggi mee, canned tuna two cans, potatoes chips and packet powder drinks there too. Printed jetstar tickets and some tour tickets but did not print the Intercity one as I thought it is not necessary. All using electronic tickets. Only the Jetstar needs to show them.

Lai Lin is sending us to the airport. David is driving. Jireh and Esther said they are coming but as they were very late i told them no need to come when we need to go in soon.


GOING TO AUCKLAND NOW