Journey to the South Island of New Zealand (part 1)

Assalamualaikum and hello to everyone..

I would like to share my experience traveling around south island New Zealand during winter season. I have activated myself in south island NZ for 10 days during this winter season. This winter trip is more about sight seeing journey, not so many activities that we can do during winter time since it’s very cold down here. But hey, of course there are lots of winter game or winter activities that you can do here in Nz especially snowboarding, ski, skydiving, paragliding and many more.

Okay.. lets focus on my journey~I’ll make it short and simple, and of course with beautiful photos. hehe

THE FIRST DAY

My flight was in the early morning from Plamerston North to fly to Queenstown. Thanks to Fifi and Ayu for sending me to the airport. I really appreciated it. The New Zealand Airline is the only airline available to fly directly from Palmerston North to Queenstown (although some will have to transit in Christchurch). Other airlines (Jetstar, Pacific Blue, Qantas, etc) are only available in Wellington or Auckland in order to fly directly to Queenstown. tadaa.. here are the views from the flight, arriving Queenstown.. I was totally amazed.. it was soo beautiful.

Arrived in Queenstown, I took a bus from the airport and headed straightly to the i-sight. I met Callie and Beatrice overthere. We went to our backpacker to unpack things. Then, we went to Skyline complex by riding the Gondola (cabel car) high above the Queenstown and play luge up there together with Cheon and Alex.

We can see the breathtaking scenery of the Queenstown up from the hill. Well.. i bet the photos can describe more on how beautiful Queenstown is! Masya-Allah, again, I was totally amazed with the scenery up there.

The Luge track above is taken from the skyline website. I enjoyed riding luge for the 1st time in my life by following the beginner track at the 1st round and then go for the advance track for the 2nd and 3hd round. Best!!

2nd DAY~

It was a ski day! We took the student package and rented the gear. there are many shops that do the rental services for ski or snowboard or other winter games. There are a lot of ski areas in south island especially around Queenstown. We took a bus to the nearest ski area, 30 min from Queenstown and joined the beginner class  for ski. We enjoyed skiing throughout the day. I have become addicted to ski now. hahaa.. well im now thinking to go to Mt Ruapehu for the next ski trip..hahaa

3rd DAY~

Depart from Queenstown to Te Anau and then joined the Mildford Sound Cruise. There was a spectacular scenery along the journey. Green, blue, white, a lovely combination colour~ i just love the nature of NZ

We have a short tea break at Te Anau, and continue the journey to the Mildford Sound. We passed through beautiful Eglington Valley that have alpine beech forest, Mirror Lakes, wonderful waterfall and ranges of rock mountain with snow on the top. Just see the photos below (please click for larger view) and dont tell me you’re not fall in love with NZ! haha

At Milford Sound, we ride on a Milford Sound Boat cruise. The scenery along the cruise was sooooo amazing.  I can just smile and thanks to God for giving me opportunity to see this magnificent scenery of mildford sound. Overthere, we can see the Mitre Peak, glacier scarred rock walls and several waterfalls that tumble from hanging valleys. The cruise take about 2 hour through the fiord up to the Tasman Sea and then return back to the deck. We also have got a chance to see lion sea.

Presenting you.. Mildford sound~

Went back to Te Anau and have dinner overthere. Cheon and me were surprised by meeting Jonathan coincidentally overthere, our Kairanga college mate.. well.. im glad to have a chance meeting him before he goes back to USA for good. That night, we joined a cruise to the Te Anau Glowworm Cave. This is an unique sight seeing attraction in Te Anau. We can see the worm glow themselves to attract other insect as their food. the more hungry they are, they will glow brighter. You can see the detail of the journey through this realjourney website. The glow worm in the cave is such the firefly in the forest.

Day 4

We joined the Doubtful sound cruise. This is more on nature view, while the Mildford Sound is more on scenic cruise. We have to cruise along the Manaopuri lake and then take a bus through the forest/hill to go to the Doubtful Sound.

Oh, we were lucky as well to have a chance seeing a group of dolphin swimming and jumping out of the water near the cruise boat. So now.. i presenting you.. doubtful sound~

Day 5

We departed from Te Anau to Dunedin by bus and arrived around 12pm. We visited Otago University and went to the museum. The university’s buidings are so beautiful and classic. The library is so big and modern, not like ours, so small and nothing special. hehe. The Dunedin city is quite nice because all the shops and other facilities are  just walking distance to about everything. and the best  thing is, there are lots of Asian restaurant in the town. Well.. have a look of this beatiful otago university~

That night I watched Transformer 2 with Callie. It was awesome!!! I like it!!! hahaaaa

Day 6

Today, we went to the steepest street on earth; Baldwin street. I ran along the street and very exhausted. hehe well, once I got at the top, I got my breath back and enjoyed the stunning view of Dunedin. We went back to Queenstown by bus around 2pm.

There was snow in central Otago on the way back to Queenstown. We had have a chance to play snow when the bus stop for a rest for a while. Back in Queenstown, we had been given 2 suites with the backpacker price! haha..What a pleasant night. All of my friends went back to Palmy on the next morning and I started my journey alone. well.. see ya in part 2!

Guys.. please visit my flicker hussef to see more spectacular and glorious photos!

Thanks for reading 🙂

• Posted in: travel
• Tagged: "south island New zealand", baldwin street, doubtful sound, mildford sound, otago, queenstown, te anau