Drove out in the morning rain and headed for Arrow Town and we were greeted by a sunny morning!
Passed by Cardrona Alley wanting to use the toilet but we were too early for public toilets to be available. Wanted breakfast but also failed
Also passed by Lake County which Ah Zong apparently studied on before. This wasn't the highlight though; best part was the super windy road that led us downhill. We even had to slow to a crawl just to negotiate the bends safely. Pretty epic
Breakfast after walking around the small lovely town was decent but sumptuous.
Parked near the woods
The sun and the water!
And more greens haha
Then finally into Arrowtown and this Hollywood suburb scene greeted us. Areas without the sun is quite chilly, hence shaded area = no humans haha
Breakfast! Portion is regrettable but not too bad taste wise. And we had to sit indoors cos the sun wasn't constant enough to warm us at the al fresco.
And finally, history lesson before we leave...
And then we headed into Queenstown, which turned out to be sort of a nightmare: we can't find any parking lot! Did found out new parking rules though, so that's cool (numbers in minutes written indicates period of free parking allowed) haha. Gave up after almost an hour of going round the city centre, then decided to just head to the local TOP 10 holiday park, which we were members of, to try to get wifi and seek help. And turns out, it was a blessing in disguise that we can't find a parking lot. We discovered that the TOP 10 at Te Anau (where we were intending to head to and settle for two nights) didn't have the 2-for-1 promotions! We also discovered that wifi has been banned throughout Queenstown city centre since last week (whuuuut); even the receptionist didn't know, someone else said that. That explains our failed attempt to connect to our car's wifi in the city centre. Also, we realise they knew about the lack of parking space as well, so they actually provide shuttle service into town for customers who park their campervan with them. And they also can help us book our tour to Milford sound the next day! And it's with an offer slightly better than the one we intended to opt for. All these adds up to make our lives easier; we made the easy decision to stay here for two nights (which was our initial plan).
Cozy fireplace in the lounge~
Settled down in the rain and then it stopped as we were heading into town! That's really nice of the weather haha.
Awesome autumn
Went over to Fergburg under the strong recommendation of every New Zealanders we met in Queenstown and it didn't disappoint; we're probably gonna go back for more the next few days.
So good it becomes a cult/religion
And woooooohooooo, doubtlessly devout myself to this sect
Walked around, had some mulled wine on a docked cruise, went to find the light show in the Botanic Gardens but it was almost pitch dark by the time we left, night view across of the city centre was still impressive thought, and most importantly, got our groceries.
Awesome autumn part 2. The background trees is where the Botanic Gardens is
Ms Lee got all excited about the mulled wine but wasn't as excited anymore when we realise the restaurant is on a stationary boat lol
I quite like the night scene too!
Rewarded myself with more Ferg (pies this time round) after walking a full kilometre to the cheaper supermarket (instead of the more expensive on in town)
Headed back, wash up, watched half of Benjamin Buttons and we gave up...
Next morning was an early one (but Zongrui still found time to run whuuuut) as we needed to catch our coach to Milford sound! Luxury bus was alright, only novel aspect is the glass roof; driver gave a commentary on the landscape along the way and I tried to pay attention but the early morning rise sucked the energy out of me. After a break the driver started talking about the live stocks here, how they were introduced by the European settlers; how black-faced black-feet sheeps are for the mills and black-faced white-feet ones are for reproduction and their meat; how stoat, ferret and Australian possums were introduced to curb rabbits but ended up harming the native flightless bird species, just as what you would expect foreign invasive species to do (love how I was studying these exactly one year ago).
Difference between a normal Lux and an Eco-Lux? The glass-roof. Not too shabby
Endless field of nature along the way
Instagram worth and Instagram I did
The rows of "fluffy" straw tall-grass are super cute from far, but they are coarse and prickly when touched. Also, the rain clouds doesn't relent
Into the forest!
Not long later, we reached the ferry terminal, switched for a cruise, and then went on our mini adventure on the Milford Sound. It's an adventure because of the choppy sea along with the super strong wind; the rain and most meant there wasn't much of a view at the start. Lunch from Pita Pit was alright, should cater from Fergberg! Haha. Decided to be adventurous and stay on the outside deck and was rewarded with amazing sceneries (and photos and videos) but also came along with a drenched coat from the rain and wind. But for the stunning waterfall views, worth it. So someone we've met once said that Milford sound is amazing no matter the weather; sunny and you'll get a good view, rain and you'll have waterfalls churning out large volume of water to create a great scene, and we got the latter. Not bad at all, even though I'm not much of a waterfall person. Stirling fall was my favourite and it was so fun when the captain turned the tail of the boat towards the fall and all the water came rushing in, a result of the gusting wind.
Look at this magnificent shit that got me all drenched (captain turned the boat to position the tail end facing this for us to take a photo but that also meant it came full force towards us)
And these small streams of waterfall covering the whole width of the rock face are rather picturesque too
And we manage to drag the seasick Ms Lee up for a group photo!
Return after the cruise made a loop, hopped back on to our Eco-Lux coach. Documentaries were played but Z-Monster won again. Reached our rest point beside the alpaca farm but they refuse to come closer; just as we gave up and headed back to the shop, we found the alpaca snack to attract them! So we bought two packets and went back to them and respond they did! So we happily played and fed the shy alpaca who shun us whenever we try to get closer to them. In the end, the only part that came into contact with them was their tongue/lips and my palm. But totally cool for a first encounter haha. Credit to sharp-eyed Ms Blur! Hehe
Alpaca alpaca!
Journey back was rather smooth but even then it's almost 8pm when we reach our holiday park. Girls' turn to cook and dinner was a sumptuous vegetable potato hash, Korean ramen, and beef steak cooked to almost perfection. Rather pleased with our efforts but we had just a wee bit too much. By the time we clean and wash up, it's already past 1am...
Rugby and chill cos it's girls' turn to cook! Can't help but to constantly go back and kaypoh in case my food turns out inedible but Ms Lee didn't allow me to irritate them so yea.. Dinner turned out not too bad though! I underestimated them hahaha
Next morning we woke up before dawn at 720, girls were late so Zong and I went ahead for an 8-minute jog down and back up the slope in front of our campsite; the feeling of frozen lungs in Stockholm came back and it wasn't nice at all. But it could well be due to the heavy smoking and lack of exercise in the past one month that caused it lol. Anyways, girls woke up and we did some sprints, little more jogging and then it's time for jumping pillow! Super fun cos I was the heaviest and could almost literally throw my weight around while the others just kept tumbling down lol.
Free advertisement for them some more
Wash up after, settled some admin, and while we were topping up our van, we realise the water tank leaked! But turns out to be a false alarm, cos it just discharges excess water HAHA. Left for town to buy Fergburg round two; this time we found a half-an-hour parking just beside the shop so we split up to post postcards and buy burger while Zongrui stayed in the parking lot in case of emergency. Found a riverside to have our breakfast by a historic bridge (where we peed nearby).
