Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Some NZ photos

The lake that flows through the Botonica Garden in Christchurch


The railway station @ Christchurch


Abundance of sheeps in NZ!


Reached Slope Point- the most southern point of NZ while we were driving along Catlins


Can you tell this is a seal sunbasking in a lazy afternoon?


Franz Josef Glacier! The glacier that I took a full day guided walk on my birthday!


Puzzling World @ Wanaka - the Illusion room created the most chaos in there! Amazing!


We left our footprints - this is our own stone stack that we did on this a beach on a windy evening. There are many other stacks of stones in all shapes and sizes.


The highest peak reached when we did our Quad biking in Queenstown


Sun is bright and snow is thick... nice weather that day


Lake Gunn - along the way to Milford Sound


An old weighing scale found inside a room in ShantyTown


The morning temperature is so cold that a layer of ice is formed on our car...

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

My NZ time...

All good things eventually came to an end and it is back to reality. Two weeks of holidaying in the south of NZ flashed by, and before we all knew it we were on a return flight back. If only time can come to a standstill… However, it was really such fun and fulfilling experience that each and every one of us enjoyed ourselves fully.

The weather there was cold with an average of 8 to 14 degree celsius, and it was totally erratic for it could be raining this moment and the sun was out brightly the next minute. But we were blessed with pretty good weather on most days we had planned activities, so lucky us. The pace of life in NZ is pretty laid back obviously that I seriously question if the Kiwis do work at all or not… Can you sense my sour grapes?

Beautiful landscape was everywhere as we self drove to explore from one town to another, and we often found ourselves exclaim in awe from the captivating scenery we saw. Nature forces are amazing, and they have been at work for millions and billions years to crave such exquisite masterpieces. I must say that the car journey from Te Anau towards Milford Sound was one of the best stretches for some fantastic photos. We also had some little amazing discoveries at some turns and corners, leaving us pleasantly surprised.

I got to realize that the kiwi population is only 4 millions in such a huge piece of land… No wonder every town seems to house that few people. Singapore is so tiny weeny but the latest population figure stands at 5 millions - where is my personal space huh? Sheep is definitely in abundance though. Guess how many are there? This Kiwi told me that there are 60 millions sheep in NZ- WOW! And I think sheep in NZ are the luckiest bunch for they have endless of green to chew on and ample space to roam around. I think a Singaporean’s dog life is nowhere compared to a NZ sheep!

Oh yes, we did heaps of activities there, especially in Queenstown. Quad biking, skiing, jet boating, white water rafting etc. The only regret was that we did not get to do the hand gliding due to unsuitable wind condition in two consecutive days. Expensive activities indeed, but we did have heaps of fun. I spent my birthday doing the full day Franz Josef Glacier walk… My legs and kneecaps were to give way by the time we were done, not to say that my thigh muscles were aching badly the next day that I could not walk down a flight of stairs properly! But I would love to think I was better off than my brother and his girlfriend whom fell into a slumber for 12 hours the moment they were back at the motel after food! No more glacier walk next time, they complained. Haa.

I am in the midst of trying to sort out all the photos that I had taken in NZ… hopefully I will clean up most of them soon… We have taken thousand of photos all together, okee!

Oh yes, before I end this entry, I must share this quote that I read in a shop at Hammer Spring – “Even if you do win in a rat race, you are still a RAT!”

Friday, October 02, 2009

Flying in another few hours!

Final count down... Will be at the airport in about another 3 hours time. After so many months of aniticipation and preparation, my NZ trip is finally so close on the heels!

My body did give me a stretch at last min - I was sneezing and having serious running nose for the whole day yesterday that I came home immediately after work to sleep. My eyes were all sore and red from the sneezing and I was feeling really tired... Took a flu tablet to sleep thereafter too that made me really groggy when I woke up this morning.

Luckily, it seems like I am all fine today already. Phew! A sick cat will miss out all the fun.

All ready... everything is in place... Bless me with good weather please!

New Zealand, here I come! Whew..!