Puzzling World

After the Rob Roy trek, I reached back my hostel in early afternoon. Since it was still early, decided to go check out this place called Puzzling World. It was highly recommended by one of the hostel people. It was a rather interesting place with a lot of models, pictures etc. There are also a lot of puzzles in the front with a café where you can play the games for free. I ended up spending a relaxing afternoon looking around there and quite enjoyed myself actually. Anyways here are some pictures of the things there.

We were told by the staff that the toilet is a must go in this place. Haha you can all see why.

PS: one of the people there are real

The following 2 pictures have multiple imagery in them

How many animals are there?

How many legs do you see?

That night, I met this Israeli girl called Gal who is staying that night in my bunk. After talking for a while, we decided to travel up to the glaciers together the next day. So, off we went. Oh and 1 more pictures to post. This was taken on the way there. Seriously, the scenery all over NZ is really damn fantastic!

Canyoning in Wanaka and Rob Roy Glaciers

I have been to almost every part of nz already so far, and Wanaka is still my favourite place here. Its situated beside a lake, and surrounded by super scenic snow capped-mountains all around it. Its not that small a town that makes it too quiet, but then also not so big that it becomes overcrowded. There are also lots of things to be doing in the area man. After going through Wanaka, I kinda regretted spending so much time in Te Anau. Should have spent more time here instead. But well, Te Anau was also a great place.

Woke up all excited for the upcoming canyoning trip. Unfortunately, it wasn't what I expected at all. It was basically just going through the canyon, and mainly rapelling down, a few slides and a couple of jumps. Oh and there was a flying fox at the end. It was still a good experience though. And the scenery was great!

As we were in the water most of the time, we were all wearing a 5mm thick wetsuit, with neo prene shoes and a hat too. After gearing up, really feel like a ba zhang. haha so hard to move around. But once in the water, it got better. And I'm really thankful for the wetsuit man. The water was super cold even though its in the summer.

Group photo

interesting rappel, cos you are supposed to rappel off the line

Short clip of a slide

Us having lunch

The unique lunch table

The hostel I stayed at (cannot remember the name) is damn nice. It comes with a mini-cinema in it and every night, they will play some movie on a large projecter screen. Very cosy place also. Talked with some other travellers who went to the Rob Roy glaciers that day, and decided to go for it after they told me how good it was.

So, I drove up the 30km to the starting point of the trek the next day. OMG it was the worst 30 km of driving man. Not only was it on gravel road, it was also super duper bumpy. I had to drive at like 20km/hr most of the time la. And even then, my car was jerking about so much I feel worried for it man. After 2/3 of the way through, I reached this massive ford. And it was half flooded with water. Biangz...I was about to turn back already man. You know if is dry not so bad, but with water, I think the car will just stall after a while man.

Just as I was about to turn back, this other car came by. His car is much bigger than mine so I think is ok to cross. Haha so what I did was to practice my Race 5 skills of hitchhiking! Lol so I just parked my car somewhere else and took his car in. Total driving time for the 30km was 1.5 hours.

Oh well, anyways the guy I hitchhiked with and me did the walk together. We had a very nice conversation together. He's a Swiss, working as a biologist, and also an avid mountaineer. Cool right. Haha he was telling me about his trips climbing the various mountains in the Swiss alps, and the difference between glaciers and ice etc. Really learnt a lot about mountaineering from him.

Anyways it was about 1.5hours walk to the viewing point. I didn't want to slow him down too much, so was walking at a pretty fast pace throughout. At the end, he still looked super fresh la. Haha I think it was just a stroll in the park for him loh. The viewing point is actually still quite a distance from the actual glacier itself, but the view is still very nice. Haha at least the car drive was worth it. And because we were early, there was barely anyone there at all. It was really very peaceful and quiet there, with all the majestic mountains and glaciers all around. Plus the weather was perfect too with a bright sun and blue skies.

After about half an hour, more and more people started coming to spoil the serenity of the place and we decided to go back. The car park when we came in was almost empty, but when we got there, it was almost full with 30-40 vehicles la! with 2 people on average in each car, the place had anywhere between 60-80 people in it. That's nz in the summer.

Touristy Queenstown

The next stop was Queenstown - the adventure city of the world! However, I wasn't impressed. Haha I mean its a nice city and all, but just too touristy for my taste. The entire place were filled with all the adventure rides and trips which were too expensive for my taste, and lots of bars and cafes. This was also the town where I first encountered an unfriendly kiwi at the I-site. I dunno, but the vibe I got from the lady felt kinda snobbish and she did not seem to be keen on helping me cos I don't look like the kind of tourist which Queenstown is looking for, meaning rich tourists to spend hundreds on the rides and entertainment.

Oh well...anyways I didn't stay the night at this town. The highlight for me for this town is the gondola + luge, and a buffet lunch. Gondola was cos it was highly recommended to me by Aik Soon. It was pretty good, with great views of the entire town and the surrounding from up there.

View down from the top of the gondola

hmm...I think this is from the look out point at the top

The buffet lunch I was going to go for is at the top of the gondola. Its pretty cheap with 6 courses including 2 meats, 2 seafood and 2 sides. But....when I got there and went to the restaurant, they were closed! Bloody hell, and the reason was because, not enough people made bookings, so they didn't open. Wah first time I heard of such a restaurant la! Meaning they only open if got enough bookings, otherwise they close. Weird business man.

Oh well, that was compensated for the luge! I originally intended to try it out once only, but ended up going on it twice cos it was too good! Haha the course is much longer than I expected, and incredibly fast! First time was on a slower course, but the second time I could go for the advance course, much like karting I suppose. Haha beats the Sentosa one hands down.

Part of the luge course

Great view while coming down the luge

Anyways, moved on to Wanaka after that, and went to sign up for a canyoning trip for the next day. Will post more on that again the next time ba.

Milford Track

On the first day when I arrived at Te Anau, I went to check if there were any cancellations for the Milford Track. And luckily for me, there was one cancellation! It was kinda pricey though because it was very commercialised and the the route is fixed. But...this is the most popular track in NZ, and to confirm a place, you would normally have to make a booking 5 or 6 months in advanced one. And I thought making bookings for Kinabalu was difficult. So...I decided to just go for it!

Started off with a ferry ride to the start of the trip. First day was a very very short 1 hour walk only. No choice...its compulsory to stay at that hut there on the first day. Seriously....I see it as a means to squeeze more money out of us tourists.

Start of the track

One main difference I felt between this track and when I did the Routeburn track was that the people here are a lot more friendly. Also, the birds here are super tame! Some of them would even venture up to 20cm away from my feet before flying off.

Anyways, I made it to the highest point on the 3rd day. And the view there was spectacular man! This weather for this trip was totally different from the Routeburn. The west coast of the South Island sees about 180+ days of rain a year, which means you get rain in one out of 2 days. But for all 4 days of the trip, it was perfect weather for us man. So much so all the rangers were saying we are missing out, because the real beauty of the fiords are when it rains. Haha well they may think so, but I still prefer a good sunny day for trekking.

The last picture is actually a toilet. The ranger was telling us that this the best toilet on the track which everyone MUST use. In fact, the view at that spot is so good that they even built a window on the door for whoever is using it to look out. Haha talk about privacy man.

All of us gathering at night playing this Israel game called Yenni

guess what insect was rampant here?

After the track, a few of the people I got to know on the track and me met up for dinner and drinks at a bar. Overall, I didn't really find it as impressive as what I read it to be. I mean it was a fantastic walk, I took about 200 pictures just on this track alone. But, given the hassle and cost required to book the track, I would say might not be worth it. The South Island is a really beautiful place, and many other places have views that are just as good in my opinion. Oh and it rained just as we were boarding the ferry back to town. Haha...as a result, got a picture of this nice rainbow on the way back.

Milford Sounds

Blah never post for very long le. I think I will try to make a post once a day from now on to catch up with all the lost time. Will also try to rush through my trip before the school term started to catch up.

Anyways, after I came back from the Routeburn, I discovered that my car was broken into!! Well I think I repeated the story enough times le and I don't really want to repeat again. Spent the day making police reports and all.

For every unfortunate incident, there has to be a good thing I suppose. And it was found that night at the hostel, where I met this Malaysian girl who is working at the Milford Sounds Cruise. She managed to get me a free ticket for a cruise on the Milford Sound! So...I went on down to the Milford Sound the next day for the cruise.

Fur seals lazing on a rock

Fresh sweet water to drink from the waterfall

Overall, the cruise was very nice and relaxing. The scenery was also very good. Only thing is that after 1 hour, it looks kinda the same and boring le. Nevertheless, it is still definitely worth the trip. During the commentary on the boat, we learned that the Milford Sound is not actually a Sound, but a fiord. Apparently it was named wrongly because the early European settlers only know of Sounds since there are no Fiords where they come from. Hence, while it is called Milford Sound, the region is called the Fiordlands to compensate for this mistake.

After the cruise, they stopped at an underwater observatory, which I can also go for free! Haha discovered that Milford Sound is actually a very good place for diving because you do not have to go very deep to actually see a lot of deep sea marine life. Reason is because of tanin from the soil which is mixed with the water making the water very dark. Hence no light penetrates the water surface, making the bottom very dark. Oh well unfortunately I do not have my open water yet.

Some unknown fish with the black corals (though its white in colour)

Went back to Te Anau after that to prepare for my Milford Track the next day. haha this is the most trek intensive part of my trip le. 4 days of trekking, 1 day break, and then another 4 more days of trekking.