12 May 08 - Milford Sound

Milford Sound has always been touted as a must-see for visitors to NZ as it is known to be one of the world's most accessible fiords.

There were two options to get to Milford from Queenstown and back: take a tour or drive there on your own. The tour would appear the simpler choice as driving to and fro would take a good 10 hours! But the cost would set us back more than 200 NZD per person! So after some weighing of economies and because my bro's friend claimed it was quite an easy drive, we decided on the latter.

Our day started at 6 am, when it was still pitch black and the roads covered with a film of ice. Eacck scary road conditions to drive in. Expectedly, we got lost for about 15 minutes (we factored time in for this) before we approached someone at a petrol kiosk who set us on our way.

When we eventually hit the highway, we realized that the drive would be anything but easy. The roads made sharp turns around the mountains and were not lit at all. Had to rely on only the headlights of the car. Before long, we noticed that there were 3 cars tailgating us but the road didn't have an overtaking lane, just one lane for traffic in each direction. We felt very bad holding up the others so my bro increased his speed to the highest he could deal with but it was still too slow for them and they continued pressuring us (although they graciously didn't horn). Finally, my bro just drifted the car slightly to the left to allow them to pass and all three did, by cutting into the lane for oncoming traffic despite the yellow line drawn on the road.

3 seconds later, a siren erupted out of no where and a police car with its lights flashing chased after the three cars at breakneck speed. We were shell-shocked! I mean it was so sudden and at 6 plus in the morning, who'd expect this!

Little did we foresee that the policecar would be waiting for us a few km from where the incident happened. The burly policeman flagged us down and asked for our IDs and car rental papers. We didn't realize we had gotten into trouble until he started reprimanding us in a very curt and snide manner about our 'inconsiderate driving that caused others to do silly things that could've resulted in an accident'. Of course, we tried to explain that we didn't dare go fast cos of the road conditions and cos we were unfamiliar with the roads, which he then rebutted with '90% of these people have never been to Milford either but they weren't as inconsiderate'. Gosh, what a slap in the face man! He said he'd been observing us for awhile and noted that we didn't turn into any of the rest stops along the way so the others could pass but those rest stops weren't clearly demarcated, as in there wasn't any path leading into them and they looked like bushes at the edge of the cliffs so we didn't dare turn in lest we plunge down. Argh, and we got ourselves another fine, this time 150 NZD and a lot of distress. The day had barely started!

Even the policeman said that the drive to Milford is one of the most treacherous routes in NZ. But the one thing we learnt from him was that for one lane roads, to let others overtake, you should signal left and move as much as you can to the side but only on straight roads (so you can see oncoming traffic).

After that, my bro wanted to turn back cos he felt we'd be compromising on safety if we were to continue our 4h journey at such a high speed on these mountain roads. But in the end, we decided to just complete what we started. The stress eased considerably as the sun rose and provided us with more light and heat that thawed the ice on the roads.

Now for some of the gorgeous landscape that helped evaporate the morning's tension!


left: sunrise in the horizons
right: one of the many sheep-dotting-hill scenes we saw


left: a public toilet in the wilderness, which was basically a hole in the ground. It's not a pretty sight if you do catch a glimpse of what's below but interestingly, there wasn't any odour! Speaking of the toilets in NZ, they've got to be the best upkept ones I've seen probably due to low population density.
right: plants covered in a layer of frost cos the temperatures dipped quite drastically as we descended the South Island.


above: fields of plants coated in white and low-lying clouds encircling the mountains

above: one of the many abrupt turns along the way.

Other than that, we passed by countless creeks and rivers, a few rushed, others trickled and some were all but dried up. Yet each was given a name which was displayed on a small yellow sign beside it. Monkey Creek was a crystal clear creek with rounded pebbles on its sides and bed. No sign of monkeys anywhere near though =D.


left: Mitre Peak Cruises, the company we selected for the Milford Sound Cruise. A ticket with them costs 68 NZD per person for a 2h cruise. There're about 5 cruise companies at the terminal so take your pick!


left: this lake not far from the cruise centre was so still it was literally a mirror.
right: cruising through the Sound.



right: enjoying the tomato soup (with added ingredients haha!) on board

left: Gohs with grins
right: All drenched as the captain of the boat sailed it really close to one of the waterfalls hoho.


left: Jack and Rose? Haha

left: lovely rainbow formed from the waterfall's droplets.
right: The Homer Tunnel, a one way tunnel leading to and from Milford. If you're really down on your luck, you could be left waiting for 15 minutes for the lights to change in your favour.



right: the long journey took a toll on us, especially our stomachs, which we promptly fed with dabao-ed fish and chips and burgers from the town centre.

Undeniably, the fiords were a sight to behold but after awhile, the scenery seemed to repeat itself. According to the captain, rainy days would be the best time to visit the Sound cos there'd be many more streams of water rushing down holes in the cliffs. The day we went however, the sun was out in full force and we were at times blinded by the glare. I think we didn't even get to see Mitre Peak, the highlight of the tour because of that or because we couldn't decipher the captain's very thick accent. Haha.

Anyway I've gotta say kudos to the bro man, it must have been incredibly challenging and trying driving on those roads and maintaining a constant concentration level especially cos in Singapore journeys rarely exceed an hour.

To sum it up, Milford Sound didn't quite live up to my expectations, which probably isn't fair cos I would have been more impressed if the guidebooks didn't make it out to be some sort of paradise on earth. Still, I thought it wasn't worth the travel time and a better idea would be to stay at one of the B&Bs near Milford for a night so there won't be a need to rush to avoid driving in the dark, especially when the days are short!

11 May 08 - Tekapo to Queenstown passing by Cromwell, Kawarau Bridge and Arrowtown

Bro and I awoke at about 6 to a beautiful sunrise that put a glowing blue backdrop behind the mountains. He was so mesmerized that he grabbed his camera and went out into the freezing cold in shorts and a long sleeved shirt. But before long, he dashed back into the house in looking more like he was in spasms than shivers. Quite a funny sight. Hahaha.

left: Bro is the (shivering) figure beside the bench.

The temperature was so low that morning that glaze formed on car windows. From our apartment, we watched other travellers trying various methods of gettting rid of it and concluded that shovelling off the ice with a slipper was really a lot less effective than pouring hot water down the windscreen. =p

Incidentally, it was Mother's Day that day and amazingly, it was Dad who reminded us. Haha usually dates like these conveniently slip his mind. So we tried to fashion an impromptu surprise for Mum - carving out the words 'Happy Mother's Day' on the windscreen of our car and preparing a very stuffed sandwich for her breakfast. Unfortunately, it took many less than subtle gestures for her to see the message as she initially thought we merely wanted show her the layer of ice. Haha.

left: a nice, hearty breakfast without distractions like the papers or the TV.
right: to Mother, with love.

After breakfast, we took a short walk to the Church of the Good Shepherd, housed in a small brick cottage of sorts and then departed on our 4h drive to Queenstown - NZ's adventure capital.


Lindis Pass and Crossing led us past fields of cows and sheep and emerald blue rivers and glacial lakes. Many a time, we couldn't resist stopping for photo opportunities. Lake Pukaki was especially spectacular due to its vastness. What made the experience all the more pleasant was that there was never a need to jostle with fellow tourists for viewing spots - there were none. Just Us and Mother Nature. :)






The next town we passed was Twizel, where we paused for to answer nature's call =D and where we bought a much-too-sweet fruit and cider cake and a pretty good boysenberry smoothie to sustain us till the much awaited lunch time.

At the midpoint of our drive was Cromwell, a.k.a. the town of fruits! Vineyards provided ample opportunities for winetasting (almost one every few hundred metres).

left: Bro gnawing on the pride and joy of Cromwell
right: rows and rows of fruit trees in countless orchards - bare at this time though. The summer months of Dec - Jan is a good time to visit.


above: one of the many fruit stores selling fruit at low prices.

Next up, Kawarau Bridge, site of the world's first commercial bungee jump! It's possible to enter and from a viewing deck, you can catch all the action up close. A tour group of backpacking youths lined the viewing platform, screaming encouragement to their friends who were getting ready to take the plunge. Being the scaredy cat that I am, even watching those daredevils putting on their harness at the edge of the bridge threatened to reduce my legs to jelly. For the less faint-hearted, a jump will cost slightly over 100 NZD.



above: the Roaring Meg hydroelectric power station.

Before hitting Queenstown proper, we decided to follow the advice of the guidebook and make a slight detour to Arrowtown, which it describes as one of the prettiest towns in NZ. It was hard to disagree, especially with the colours of autumn standing out against the azure sky.

We had lunch on the go as we explored the small town, which had much more activity than the previous ones we'd so far visited. Chinese tourists for one came in coachloads! The locals too, were out but the pace of life was still quite leisurely. Oh, take careful note where you park as we were slapped with a 40 NZD fine for parking in the lot meant for coaches. Haha. And it was only the second day!





Macetown, just a few km from Arrowtown, was another place I wanted to visit but after circling Arrowtown several times in vain, we gave up the search and continued on to Queenstown, where there were actually enough cars on the road to constitute traffic!

Our accomodation, Pounamu Apartments looked pretty classy from the outside but when we opened the door, our mouths literally dropped! From the narrow doorway, we saw full length glass windows that enframed Lake Wakatipu with their white metal edges. The view was gorgeous! In the hallway, we spotted a computer with internet access, a printer, a washing machine and a dryer! The bedrooms came with ensuite bathrooms and plasma TVs and there was another one in the living room and an electric fireplace beside it! Whoa, it totally took my breath away! There was a distinct designer feel to the whole apartment which was barely a year old. And to think it cost only 240 NZD per night considering that a minimalist bunk in a backpackers in Europe would already set you back 40 SGD. Here, I've a website to recommend for last minute accomodation options: www.wotif.com. It knocks off a substantial amount off the original price.

Presenting, the best place I've ever stayed in:





At night, we went to the city centre to do a bit of sightseeing but didn't find anything particularly interesting. Most of the shops catered to the booking of adventure sports and were already closed anyway.

Another point I wanna add: the city centres NZ have a very different parking system to ours. Theirs do not require drivers to pay for parking spots but each group of parking lots have a specified duration for which drivers are allowed to park (5 min, 10 min etc), which gave us quite a headache as all of the longer duration parking lots were already taken. We asked this local how the parking was regulated and he said that there was a sensor under the lot which the parking attendant can use, with a device to track the amount of time the car has been there.


Dinner was a home made meal of some NZ staples like potatoes, button mushrooms and my favourite beef (it's delicious) in the comfort of the nice apartment. I revere this life! Haha.