Memorable trip to New Zealand

Unforgettable vacation in New Zealand

(Authors: Aryan and Ashis)

This was a memorable vacation to New Zealand along with family members. We planned for a 12 days trip through an agent. Our purpose was to travel on the road of New Zealand and enjoy the most scenic beauty of the country. We had carefully planned to cover both islands (North and South). We flew from Singapore to Auckland (via Melbourne with Qantas) and while returning it was Christchurch to Singapore via Melbourne. There is a direct flight from Singapore to Auckland but the timing did not suit to us.

Sky Tower, Auckland City

Day 1: 

Landed in Auckland city and checked into COPTHORNE HOTEL. It was chilled outside but we got used to it in few minutes. During the evening we took a city tour by walking on the roads of harbour front. Queen street provided all kind of shopping destinations and eating places. Had a look of lighted sky tower and competed the evening with Turkish Kebab.

Day 2:

We drove two and half hrs to WAITOMO CAVES. It is known for its population of Arachnocampa luminosa, a glowworm species found exclusively in New Zealand.

Glowworm inside cave

The structure of the caves are dated back to 30 million years old, created by the incredible forces of nature and the earth's geological and volcanic activity. This cave is famous for Glow worms in it. Glow worms are larva of a particular beetle found in that area and the phenomenon is due to bioluminescent (certain proteins in larva) used to attract insects for living. We had a walk through the caves for about 20 mins and then a very short boat ride in which we were taken in a boat into a really really dark cave where above our head we could see thousands of glow worms. It was really beautiful than we could imagine.

From Waitomo caves we drove for an hour to HOBBITON MOVIE SET.

Peter Jackson, the New Zealand film director had used this family run farm to bring New Zealand into world map of tourism. He had selected this site because of the spectacular view the firm has. This farm was used by Peter Jackson and Alexander family as a movie set for Lord of the Rings. This is picturesque 1,250 acre sheep farm with spectacular views across the Kaimai Ranges became hot tourist place thereafter.

The tour starts with a short bus ride where the movie director and property owner welcome the tourist in a video clip; and provide background of the place and how it helped improving economy of the local community.It is stated that one in every 6 New Zealanders were involved in this project directly or indirectly.

Photo from a wallpaper in the studio

Photo from live camera…

Pictures of the farm house.

Tour guide provided fascinating details of how the Hobbiton Movie Set was created. Hobbit holes, The Green Dragon Inn, The Mill and other structures. We got an idea of  ‘how this beautiful piece of Waikato farmland was transformed into The Shire from Middle-earth’. At the tour end, specially brewed beverages were served at The Green Dragon Inn.

In the evening, we drove down to Rotorua city which is 71 kms from Hobbiton and approximately one hour drive. Checked into HOLIDAY INN ROTORUA.

Day 3:

Rotorua city is one of the best-known geothermal areas in the world. This is also called Sulphur city because of continuous geothermal activities in this area. 

Thermal Spring at Rotorua

Do not get biased with foul smell the city has (rotten egg). This is now a modern tourist attractions because of it’s Skyrocketing geysers, hot springs and boiling mud pools (part of Pacific Rim of Fire; not to scare you but the truth). This city sits on the Volcanic Plateau, has one of the world’s most lively fields of geothermal activity.

TE PUIA: Thermal Springs, Geysers

Rainbow Springs: Entry to Wildlife Park, free flight Bird Shows and The Big Splash.

Rainbow Springs Nature Park offers a nature walk through native and introduced species of wildlife

set amongst beautiful native trees, plants and ferns. The Agrodome is one of New Zealand's most loved attractions. Home to the 'world famous' Sheep Show, you will see sheep shearing, champion rams, cow milking, lamb feeding, dog demonstrations and interactive fun!

SKYLINE ROTORUA: Travel by Gondola to the summit of Mount Ngongotaha. Providing panoramic views of Rotorua City, Lake Rotorua and the surrounding area.

Rotorua is also the ancestral home of the Te Arawa people who settled here more than 600 years ago and their presence offers the visitor numerous cultural experiences. So you can not afford to miss the night cultural activity "TAMAKI HERITAGE EXPERIENCES"

We were part of 3 buses headed towards Tamaki Maori Village (Maori village), which is 20 minutes drive from the city. Imagination takes over as your guide instructed you on the protocol for visiting the marae. A chief was selected for each bus, a song was learnt and few key words before we receive a warm welcome from the proud warriors of the ancient Maori.

It was a different experience to be part of the Powhiri (Welcome Ceremony) before we entered the village (houses) with display of traditional Maori instruments and the daily activities of days gone by. In the wharenui (meeting house), a Rangiatea culture group offers a powerful display of haka song and dance. Then, as new friendships are forged, dine on a traditional hangi feast, where the food is cooked slowly beneath the ground in earth ovens.

https://www.tamakimaorivillage.co.nz

Day 4:

We headed towards Wellington which is 452 kms away; and driving time was approximately 5 hours 40 mins. The entire road stretch was scenic. But the most beautiful part was when we passed through  Tongariro National Park which hosts 3 active volcanoes: Tongariro, Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom in “The Lord of the Rings" films) and Ruapehu with its ski slopes. This is part of the Alpine mountain range and had fresh spell of snow in previous night. The snow cover made our trip more interesting.

Wellington city nestles compactly on the harbour edge, encircled by steeply rising hills. The nation's

capital is a flourishing centre of arts and culture, including a thriving film industry. We had only one night in Wellington, for the next day we had our ferry to the south island. We arrived at wellington at about 5 pm and checked into BAY PLAZA HOTEL.

With not much time left, we decided to roam around places near to our hotel. We went to harbour line, which is the most happening place in the city with many places to shop and eat. We found a nice place to do ice skating and had a look at few shops for souvenirs and some extra winter clothes. After a very long walk, we ate dinner at an amazing indian restaurant and called it a day.

Day 5: 

Ferry to the South Island and night halt in Christchurch

INTERISLANDER Wellington to Picton. This is a 3 and half hour ferry that departs from Wellington to Picton. It is labelled as “The Most Scenic Ferry Ride in the World”. The ferry had 10 decks, but only decks 2,6,7,8,9 and 10 were available for tourists. Deck 2 had a theater where you can watch a movie that last for the duration of the ferry. Deck 6 had a few eating options and seating areas. Deck 7 is where we enter from and has similar features to deck 6, except for the information deck present at the entrance. Deck 8 was also the same as deck 6. Deck 9 had the premium passenger cabins and deck 10 was a outdoor deck, perfect for viewing the route and taking pictures of the scenic route, but you badly need a jacket if you want to stay up there for long.

After the amazing but long ferry ride, we arrived in Picton. We immediately got off, picked up our luggage and headed out for Christchurch. We had one stop in a chinese takeaway on the outskirts of Picton and a coffee break at Petera. After a long and tiring ride to Christchurch, we ate dinner at a Thai restaurant and crashed into our rooms in Heartland hotel. We needed to rest up before we headed to the Franz Josef Glacier.

Day 6: Franz Josef Glacier.

After our night at the heartlands hotel, we headed out on yet another long journey to the Franz Josef Glacier. We left from Christchurch at about 10 AM. The route to Franz Josef Glacier was a very scenic one and passed through very few cities and farms. At 2 PM we arrived in a small town called Hokitika, where we stopped for lunch and soon after continued towards Franz Josef Glacier. We arrived at Franz Josef glacier at 4 PM. As soon as we arrived, we headed out for the 2 hour long trek to the current location of the glacier.

Over time, due to global warming and other natural reasons, the base of the glacier has retreated about 2 kilometers away. The trek to the base of the glacier was a really nice one. The path was mostly flat and had great views to offer. After visiting the base of the glacier and taking a few great pictures (like the one below), we checked into our hotel to change our clothes and then realx in a hot spring. We then ate at an indo chinese restaurant and called it a day.

Photo of Franz Josef Glacier

We did a night halt in SCENIC HOTEL FRANZ JOSEF GLACIER. GLACIER HOT POOLS is a must. Immerse yourself in a choice of 3 invitingly warm public pools nestled in a heavily wooded rainforest, beneath mature 30 metre tall trees, with temperatures ranging from 36 to 40 degrees.

Day 7: Queenstown

Driving distance from Franz Josef to Queenstown is 350 kms which is approximately 4 hours 45 mins.

Queenstown has captured hearts since the first Maori came in search of Pounamu (greenstone or

jade) and to hunt the giant Moa Bird and the same magic remains today. Queenstown is now an

established, year round resort town for New Zealanders and visitors from all parts of the world. This

town, deep in the heart of the South Island of New Zealand is pure escapism.

The Glacier hot spring gave us the remedy for the chill we have been feeling since we first arrived in south island. Energised we left for Queenstown. The route to queenstown that we picked took us via the southern alps. It was the most scenic route we have ever been in. we stopped in regular intervals capture the breathtaking surroundings we were in, some of them are shown below. Finally we reached queenstown at 5 PM. We at dinner at a nice mexican shack and went to sleep at our hotel.

Day 8 - Local shopping, food, Thrill Zone for kids

After a lazy start, we headed for the gondola near our hotel. Just a 5 minute walk from central Queenstown, the Skyline Gondola rides to the top of the Skyline complex. The best views in the region are found here spread out in a spectacular 220 degree panorama, with breathtaking views of Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and across Lake Wakatipu. After enjoying the breathtaking views at the top of the skyline complex, we decided to come back down for lunch and do some local shopping, we also booked our skiing session for tomorrow while we were at it. We ate at a really nice seafood restaurant and found a few great shops to buy souvenirs. Then the kids went to a place called thrill zone, where they enjoyed 12D rides, drift karting and laser tag.

Day 9 - Ski on Coronate Peak…

We spent the entire day today at coronet peak, where we learnt how to ski. We left for coronet peak at 8 AM. We arrived there at 9 AM and put-up all of our rental skiing gear.  The summit of Coronet peak was enormous, big enough to allocate 15 - 20 respectably sized ski tracks and a large beginners area to teach people that are new to skiing on how to ski and snowboard. We took two 2 hour long sessions to learn how to ski. It was an arduous task and ended up being much harder than any of our expectations. It was a good experience and a fun skill to learn. After returning our equipment, we returned to our hotel at 4:30 PM.

Day 10 - Returning to Christ Church

The driving distance from Christchurch to Queenstown is approximately 483 km took approximately 7 hours for us to cover. It was a good driving day, on which the weather was brilliantly sunny, there was no snow or ice on the road, there are no roadworks going on, and there is no heavy traffic on the route as well. We went through some of the breathtaking mountainous (Lindis Pass) and lake areas (Lake Tekapo).

Checked into Heartland Hotel in the evening and went out for food hunting. Not to mention the best Indian food we got in Christ Church when we tried a restaurant called "Little India". Little India Merivale has been operating over 20 years now and as one of our customer commented ” Little India Merivale is not just a restaurant, it an Institution”.

What they claim is; every one of Little India’s head chefs has been trained in Chandigarh, India and the recipes have come from the kitchen of owner's Grandmother herself.

Among the dishes Barra Kebab (lamb chops dipped in a spicy marinade, skewered and cooked in the tandoor), Kadai Chicken, Tarka Dal were the best.

Day 11 - International Antarctica Station

To make it less hectic we choose to visit International Antarctic Center in the last day of our vacation. The Centre is home to the New Zealand, United States and Italian Antarctic Programmes and comprises administration offices, warehousing, an American/New Zealand clothing store, a post office and travel agency, the Antarctic Passenger Terminal and the Visitor Centre, now called 'The Antarctic Attraction'.

The International Antarctic Centre is interactive fun-filling, and provides an exciting experience of Antarctica for visitors of all ages. It includes simulated cruise to Antarctica with spectacularly stunning scenery and realistic animal close ups, together with the excitement of the special 4D effects that enhanced our experience by many folds. One of the major attraction was Hagglund ride, where we went for fun filled ride on the amazing all terrain amphibious Antarctic vehicle - the Hagglund!. The ride was exciting and simulated the conditions scientists experience riding in a Hagglund across the ice and over mounds, up and down hills, across crevasses and through water!

Next destination was visiting couple of outlet malls and searching for food.

Day 12 - time to go home

We had a noon flight to catch from Christchurch to Melbourne on the last day. It was a lazy day, nothing to do much other than come to airport and get ready for 13 hrs of fly from Christchurch to all the way back to Singapore.

At the end; it was a great break to be away from busy city life and spend time with family and the beauty of nature earth. 

Below is the road map for places we visited in 12 days. The entire stretch was close to 2500 KM and travel time was 35 hrs. That was quite a lot...

Can you believe it?

Roads are so nice and we all enjoyed driving on roads with adequate rest in between. cheers!

Leave your comments below. Thanks for reading.