april 28th - day two queenstown and milford sound
monday, 12th - we decided to hit glenorchy and go back to see arrowtown and kawarau gorge bungee jumping. glenorchy was supposedly a beautiful(what else?) place and also famous for an lotr filming location (isengard). initially we wanted to also do the gondola ride (i actually forgot about being able to go down with the luge part that day) and include some queenstown downtown walk-about/shopping.
the night before we decided to go to milford sound from queenstown instead of te anau, as after spending the night at te anau we need to travel down towards dunedin. we have yet to decide about stopping over at invercagill.
the drive to glenorchy was, again, a feast for the eyes. it rained a little bit, like the night before. it rained when we first arrived in queenstown and the funny thing was, the motel operator said this rain was the second rain they had since christmas. we brought the rain with us!
glenorchy seemed to be a quiet village. a quick stop at I and we learned that among the interesting things to do for the day includes driving to a spot called paradise where the lotr scenes were filmed. we headed into that direction. not soon after that we were off the proper road onto gravelly road. but the map said we were on the right track so we carried on.
and promptly encountered traffic jam, nz style! a herd of sheep blocking the road. its shepheard was a modern one, he was in a 4-wheel drive, revving the engine to get the sheep to move when he saw us. one sheep decided to be a rebel and plunked down beside the road, and only when the wheels were mere inches away did he ran off! it was a cool sight and masyoo got what she wanted to see: a sheep stampede.
the road to paradise was longggg and then before we entered some sort of a forest there was a sign: (the road) may result in car damage. minor hesitation but we were adventurers; onwards. (lady back at I said the drive was 20 minutes)
we crossed 2 streams in trepidation before coming to the third one and this one looked deep. when we went down to inspect the stream up close up came a campervan. the dude said he didn't trust this one. after poking into the water with a stick we all came to a mutual decision: we're not going to get through to paradise. jalan ke sorga sememangnya tidak mudah.
so we went back and headed to glenorchy town center - SO SMALL AND CUTE and visited lake wakatipu at this end (lake wakatipu is a long lake shaped like um, a chair or a person sitting. glenorchy is his head, queenstown is somewhere in the knee region).
before arrowtown we came upon the original bungy jumping site - at the kawarau suspension bridge. spent some time woohooing at jumpers - masyoo and i both agreed that we though the jump would be higher. it seemed that jumpers could only manage a whoooo before touching the water or being bounced back up. i at least expected a whoooooooohoooooo hooooooooooooooo. heh. neither of us jumped (i would be the one most likely to bungee of the group but my mom said NO and in truth maybe i didn't have the guts to). the river traversing through the gorge was gorgeous though.
arrowtown was a gold-mining town in the days of yore. so it was really like a cowboy town. the river next to it was where arwen faced the nazghul while carrying the load of frodo.
kakmai really didn't want to do the gondola so when we got back we just walked around the city center for souvenirs and... shopping. heeee. in japan i was all over uniqlo, in NZ it was glassons. it's like forever 21 and cheap too!
that night we cooked our salmon. in cromwell we bought this mustard, lime and garlic concoction so the salmon covered with that grilled? smack lips. the smoked salmon was perfection as well.
the drive to milford sound the next day was a 5hr one and our tickets for the cruise was at 1pm. wake up early time...
milford sound day on the 13th!
when i first told my family of the nz trip my mother was excited. she has always wanted to see the fjords, she said. i had no idea what fjords were. i totally suck at geography.
after mt cook i learned that glaciers are snow that were packed together so tightly they became ice and would take a long time to melt. fjords are the result of a landscape after a glacier went through it.
need i say the drive to milford sound was... spectacular?
it rained most of the way. we hoped that it would stop raining by the time we arrived, how would it be possible to go on a boat if it rains?
it rained, and it rained, and because it was so we were gifted with the sight of many, many, many waterfall down the cliff faces on the way to MS. Cantik and amazing nak mampos pretty soon we could find no more words to exclaim our admiration. went into the homer tunnel (before homer tunnel i think there was a petrified glacier by the road). we arrived before 12pm, perfect timing, and had lunch in the car (pasta cooked by aida - sedap gila). and it rained, hard. and i saw a lone kiwi! but it went under a car so tak sempat ambik gambar.
after lunch in the rain we ran towards the visitor center. so naturally the first thing we looked for was, ada jual raincoat tak??? for 4.50 a pop. a flimsy one, but rain protection nevertheless, and it's still raining, and we had to go on a boat and we want to look outside! so pakailah raincoat tu masa menunggu and nak naik boat.
upon boarding the boat we noted that there'd be free tea and coffee, and raced upstairs, all excited. it was still raining hard, outside is all misty and foggy but the view! oh already the view was stunning. i still only have minor ideas what a fjord really is.
so we went off, there was a speaker-guide as well to describe things but nz accent was so hard to understand. there was also a staff that stayed near us that we could ask questions to, but she was hard to understand too. hehe. plus the rain and the wind did make it hard to hear. and the rain... if you stand just a little outside where the boat structure cannot cover you, you'd be hit with ARROWS of rain. that was what it felt like.
loads of spectacular waterfalls, misty surroundings, the rain... it was straight out of an lotr movie.
the cruise took two hours and 15 minutes, and it goes first to one side and then turn back before reaching open sea, and went back to the other side. after we turned back the weather suddenly turned spectacular. the sun came up. it was actually like magic, but only when i think back about it. time tu tak perasan pun.
it has to be said that our raincoats were a menace! bising gila in the wind with the flapflapflapflap noises. so in the end i took it off sebab mek dah tak tahan. after that apparently we could have a chance to experience of "going" into a waterfall where the boat would nose into one. since i took off my raincoat i had to pass, but 3 of my friends wanted to brave through it. me and masyoo scurried inside to be behind the glass, we heard "you're gonna get very very wet very very soon" and then it was like a wave of water rose from nowhere and splatted on the glass hard. the whole thing lasted about two minutes but the aftermath: loads of laughter and my 3 friends drenched to their underwear. heee. and from the captain: well done guys! welcome to milford sound. (the captain has only one arm!). then later we went down to the lower level of the boat only to discover that the boat has sturdy raincoats equipped for passengers to use. TAK PAYAH BELI PUN SUPIK GLENYA HUJAN TUH! terkesima mak. the captain and the staff must be laughing at us just wearing the flimsy plastic and intending to experience the waterfall. sheesh!
also, it turned out that milford sound is the wettest place in NZ... so the rain was quite normal actually. so much for fretting "how boats rain outside oh noes!"
the truth was after that i didn't think i totally appreciated how beautiful the fjord was. but as time passed and i began to recall the scenery i saw before my very eyes (and the photographs), i was very, very lucky to be able to afford going there and to do that. God is great, his beautiful creation surpasses no other.
it was already dark when we arrived in te anau, so we couldn't see the view of the lake. our backpackers was right at the lake front, though. we met a chinese-malaysian pakcik who ran a souvenir shop (very very cheap! got most things there including the cute notepads i've been eyeing)(when it comes to noetpads teman mmg lemah lutut), who has been living there for 20years. te anau is a very, very small town mostly just a gateway to see the fjords (milford sound or doubtful sound), so i was a little, of all places, te anau?? but the next morning the charm was clear. beautiful scenery, a laidback life... what else is there wanting? (and lots of chinese in this area too, must be, because lots of chinese restaurant spotted).