Jes Travelogue

Day 8. 1 Jan (Fri)

Started 2010 with a nice chilling 45mins jog along Lake Te Anau (417m deep & 64km long) which is NZ's second largest lake. 20km south of Te Anau lies the waterfront of Manapouri, often described as NZ's loveliest lake. It is NZ's second deepest lake at 444m & the access point to Doubtful South.

On our way there, we even spotted a rainbow! What a nice start to the new year. :)

Instead of heading straight to Queenstown, we drove along the Southern Scenic route from Te Anau and heading south to Tuatapere, from where it wraps itself around the coast to Riverton and Invercargill.

It was really beautiful! Plenty of sheep littered the grassland.

Stopby for more photo taking and welcome by a ultra friendly dog. Could feel that he is genuinely interested in us as playmates when I tried to give him 3 cookies but he didn't eat them.

Fiordland National Park is NZ's biggest, at 1.2 million hectares, and is known as the Walking Capital of the World.

We had lunch at Invercargill. All the shops were closed on new year's day except for a Turkish Kebabs cafe.

Finally reached the adventure capital of the world, Queenstown! The internationally famous resort town rests beside Lake Wakatipu at the foot of the Remarkables mountain range.

Lake Wakatipu is NZ's longest lake (84km) and third largest (291 sq km). It's 378m deep, putting the lake floor below sea level. Lake Wakatipu rises and falls up to 12cm every 5minutes.

Legend of the Lake
Lake Wakatipu, a contraction of waka-tipua-wai-maori is literally "the freshwater trough where the giant demon lies" or commonly, "the hollow of the sleeping giant". Herein lies a legend according to Maori myth the wicked giant demon, Matua, captured Manata, the beautiful daughter of a Maori chief and fled with her to the mountains. On the way he went to sleep. Enter the hero, Matakauri, a young warrior who needed to prove he was worthy of a chief's daughter. While the giant slept, Matakauri rescued Manata and then set fire to Matua. As the giant burned, he melted, and after a while all that was left of him was his beating heart. The hollow where he lay filled with water, and became Lake Wakatipu - his head at Glenorchy, and his feet at Kingston. Presumably Manata & Matakauri lived happily ever after, but the story doesn't stop there. The legend tells us that the heart still beats beneath the water causing the constant rise & fall of the lake. There is another explaination for this phenomenon called a seiche; scientists say it's caused by variations in atmospheric pressure.

Upon reaching Queenstown, we check-in to Aspen Queenstown on Fernhill before heading off to try the LUGE!

A ticket onboard the Skyline Gondola to the top of Bob's Peak provided magical views of Queenstown. Luckily we bought tickets for gondola with 2 luge rides! Hop into a three-wheeled cart & we have to try the easier scenic route before we are allowed on the advanced track with banked corners & tunnel. At $35/pax, it was real fun!

Took a coffee, ice-cream & donut break at the cafe overlooking luge before heading down to the town area for shopping & dinner.

Plenty of sports shops selling everything from trekking & camping gears to biking stuffs. So happy I got a Pearl Izumi biking shorts & a NZ cycling jersey, both at discounted prices.

We had seafood chowder, duck salad & pan fried fish for our 3rd wedding anniversary dinner at Chicos.

Car Rental day 6 Distance Covered: 350km

Day 7. 31 Dec (Thur)

Regarded by many as one of the scenic wonders of the world, Milford Sound is NZ's most visited natural attraction, and the only fiord which can be accessed by road. The 16km long fiord is dominated by the mile-high Mitre Peak (1695m), which rises almost vertically upwards from the glassy waters below. Fiords are created by glacial action, producing U-shaped valleys with steep cliffs.

It's a 2 hour drive from Te Anau. Along the way, the driver cum guide gave a good overview of the sights along the route.

Stopby Mackay Creek with great views over Eglinton Valley with sheer mountains on either side. The boardwalk at Mirror Lake and the Chasm walk were great for photo-taking too.

Sumptuous buffet lunch on board the cruise!

Giantic casading waterfall and seals resting on the rock surface.

Trees look like brocolli from afar..

Back in Te Anau, we found out from the tourists information counter that as part of new year eve countdown, there would be a live band & bonfire at Lion Park followed by fireworks along the Lake Te Anau. Yay!

We were snack shopping at Fresh Choice supermarket and thought why don't we have a pinic at Lion Park while checking out the event. We were well equpped with Apple Cider, roast chicken, crisp & garlic dip, bread, juice, chips & yogurt for a yummy new year eve dinner. I was freezing though & can't wait for the bonfire to start!