Coming to an end... for this year

Without much fanfare, it's now 2 days before a new year begins. Yes, I know I had not updated much in this blog... Then again, I sometime struggle to write as I never did know what to write. If I am on my travels, I might be able to write out what I did and photos to show (except for my last 2 trips which photos were not that many, and did not have much time or energy to deal with it). Being a private person, it was already pretty amazing that this blog survives - very much like a dying patient drawing its last breathe, and yet still managed to take a few breath every now and then... :P

Sometime you wonder where did all the time disappeared to when it seems the time has passed by very quickly, and yet there are times were it's like a dragging race to see how long a day can drag out and making it a little painful in passing as you had no idea what to do.

Take this year for example, there were lots of activity at the start of the year... Then with the failing economy, suddenly all seems to go down to a grind, and the days were a little hard to pass, and then a flurry of activities which marks the end of the year. Reminded me of the sine curves where there is an up trend and down trend in a regular form, except that this time it was not very regular in form...

For the update - After leaving NZ, it was back at home for a few weeks and then a week in Penang which followed by a personal trip back to Penang again days after arriving back home. After that it was a trip to Hong Kong, this time for a longer period of 1 and half weeks. Once I am back from this trip, was on holiday for Christmas week. However, it was not a holiday for me as I was involved with church's Christmas eve musical production. More about that later...

Finally, it becomes the last week of the year. Office was pretty much a ghost town as most were clearing their leave for the last 2 weeks which also pretty much ensure I don't have that much of stuff on my plate to worry. Heck, I could even spend some time researching on a replacement for my UE5 IEM which broke during the delay flight back from HK.

The only thing which I have to worry about is my appraisal, have to get that done before 8 Jan, which leaves me this coming week to do as I will be flying again... Yes, my first trip for 2010 will be Japan for training... Finally I get to step into Japan and to verify the remark made by someone, who say "Even the bento in the vending machines of the rail stations is better than the restaurants in SG!"

So.. As we move into a new year and starting of a new decade, and despite all the uncertainties that still lies ahead for the new year... "May the Lord brings you forth in the path which He has laid for you, and may you have the strength, courage and faith to trust in Him".


Yes... The above statement is also a small reminder to self.

Checking In....

Am currently in NZ, back to this site again, and the stay is coming to an end... This time had chance to visit Rotorua and Lake Taupo. It's a total different view compared to South Island - no mountain (well, they do have some, but...) pretty different feel altogether, more of the Maori culture and also the thermal activities. Yes, going round to see what is all those fuss is about... But because was using Hamilton as the base, I miss out on the Geyser outburst which occurs at 10:15am sharp (how they get that, I have no idea)...

As for Hong Kong, I think I have tasted most of the sushi chains that has popped up since my last visit. Thank goodness for them as, well, the food was still the same from my past visit. So, I had sushi for dinner for most of my stay there. Lunch were with my HK colleagues, so had to deal with the food (wash down with lots of tea!!!), the worst lunch I had was at this pseudo-Thai corner shop (but on 2nd level) opposite the office block. If I ever go HK again, not going there... Yikes.

But the sushi store at Sun Plaza (which happens to be part of the Genki Sushi group) was the best I had, followed closely by the Itaemei sushi chain at MongKok. I think Sushi-One was the lowest on my list. I am certain there are still more places which I had not tasted, especially those in HK Island - I practically did not go over to HK Island, except for that 1 half day visit to the customer site.

And I think the prices there is slightly cheaper than Singapore for the quality. Had sushi and sashimi all the way... Avoided any cooked stuff and other cuisines. Had wanted to try Korean, but I have a feeling it would not be the same as what we would get in Korea and it would have some added MSG on it.

Yes, I tell my colleagues I am sensitive to MSG, and almost like being allergic to it. :D So, they instead suggested sushi places to go... Ahahahah

Right, flying back from NZ tmr... If today seem smooth, I am tempted to be out of this place by 4, latest before 5pm... Time to go shopping (for gloves, at request of mother!) - they only open till 7pm!!!!

Out of Town... HK 1 week

Yes, I am going out of town for work again in HK. Did not had a very good time with the food previously (and that was like back in 1995/6)... Wonder what will it be this time round...

Amazing isn't it? Everyone I know loves Hong Kong - if not for the shopping then it's the food. I seem to be the only one who did not enjoy the food there - what's there to enjoy if the abalone has the same "after taste" as the Maxim's egg tart or even an unknown wanton mee shop along Causeway Bay?!?! In fact, of all the meals I had, the only one that I had no such issue was actually a sushi place that is no different from the sushi chain we have in Singapore!

So, if the food there is still the same as before, then sounds like I will have to survive on Japanese/Korean food... if not, I might get to lose some weight while I am there... :P

Let's see how it goes.. Bringing my cam (well, borrowed cam body as they finally found my cam body!!! Another story, another time...), but I doubt I will be taking much photos.. I think I am more interested in getting some BR/cam stuff instead... Hehehe

Oh, has it been that long?!??

No, not that I had disappear or something, just not being active anywhere, well, except at work most of the time. But then again, most of my entries are about my travels and I had not traveled anywhere since. What did I do with my time?!?!

Hmm... I am not sure where I had spent it on since my last entry, but in that (still pretty short) time, my BR collection ballooned to 31 titles (Oops, I think I spoke too soon); I have been using my very old pair of Oakley sunglasses, which was laying around doing nothing for the past 8 years, which was very nice for me. Still on path to recover to full sharp vision - start a habit of dropping eye drops into my eye to keep it moist. I can see large stuff, but just don't ask me to read fine prints on a car or something - It's still a little blur to me. So, I can drive, just need a large (and I do mean large) distance between my car and the car in front.

No photos as well, since my cam is still in "hospital", heck not even sure when it will be out of ICU. I will need it soon as there is another trip to NZ again for 2 (work) weeks. Might be able to swing in a trip to Rotorua during the weekend. I heard HK is in the works as well, but nothing is confirmed (work again).

Looking at getting a BR player as well, since the number of BR has grown, and it will look much better on a 42" plasma than a 24" LCD monitor!

Oops, I forgot about the pictures again. Darn it.

Oh well, got to go.. Time to get to office!

It has started.....

Having much (weekend) time on hand lately as mother has been away on holiday, it was a good time to wander around. Being me, wandering means spending time in shops like Gramophone, HMV and Laser Flair. Sadly for my wallet, due to this spare time at hand and surfing the forums, it was lighter by some (considerable) amount, as it was spent on buying a couple of blurays.

Since having a BR writer on my PC and also a 24" LCD monitor with HD capability, I have been trying to resist to flooding my shelf with the new format, but as it is, the numbers are growing - of course not as fast as TehPeng's collection - but still with the number of DVDs that is already on the shelf, I am certain mother will be grumbling about this soon...

Among those in the BR, was 3 titles that was already on the shelf which is now also joined by their BR siblings - Band of Brothers (I had the DVD), Tudor Season 1 (I had the DVD as well), and P&P (I had 2 of the DVDs - one the original version, then 10th Anniversary Edition as well as the VHS!). In fact this entry was because while watching the bonus features which they had talk about the popularity of the series; and they were right.

I am certain that it would be join by the other favourites when they are out in BR format - Star Wars and Dune (both movie and the mini-series and its sequel). Even the Bourne Trilogy (which has BR format out now) seems creeping into the list to get in BR format. While may not be "favourites", but Battlestar Galatica (new series), Indiana Jones Trilogy and Back to the Future Trilogy are somewhere down in the "List to get" as well. Heck, I even have a list of the prices of some titles in my PDA for reference, as a just in case! :P

One which I am not certain would be an addition - there was a "bollywood" movie version of P&P - Bride and Prejudice. Yes, some of my friends deem it very sterotyping, but it's still good fun, sounded like some of the musicals, where you have dialogue and then suddenly they started to burst into singing. Oh, the "No life with wife" was hilarious!

So, as I close this entry, the series playing on my 2nd monitor (oh how I love the LCD which is able to display HD very well), and firefox opened on the main monitor - I realised that the BR version had a better grasp in colours, especially the skin tones, although a little redder than I thot.

Now.. if only someone would be able to bring out the other Jane Austin's books in the manner which they had done for P&P - Yes, I have read almost all of them but I believe P&P will still remain my favourite of them all. Oh how conforming does that sound, but I cannot denial that fact that I really enjoyed this book very much.

P.S.: Wonder if Tehsis would be borrowing the BR to view. Then again, I don't recall her having BR player at home, maybe she can watch it in TehPeng's place instead... :P *grin*

Silly Me!!!!! Argh!!!!

Recently, I had issues with my motherboard and had sent to the service centre to get it resolved. As it issue was too random, and they could not resolve since they could not figure the issue (!!!), so they decided to change the motherboard for me. Well, after that, they restarted the system.. and my Vista went into some errors which required some chkdsk resolution to it, and cause the applications installed to be a little unstable. To ensure it's not the HDD giving way soon (as it's already in its 4th year), decided to grab a new 350GB HDD to replace it instead.

Great, had that installed, and reinstalled Vista and all the programs etc. Most of it installed fine, if not with some errors, but go them resolved. Then since I had Palm Centro, I had installed the Palm Desktop, as well as Documents to Go. Well, I did a hotsync, and darn it, the hotsync stalled at Documents to Go updating.

Now I had faced this issue before and after much hard work in surfing the internet for solutions that I finally found it. It was working fine in the previous HDD. However, I had not remembered to make a note or save that page of information into my HDD - darn silly of me as I forogt that I might need to reinstall next time and well, I forgot how the solution was, I forgot where the heck I found that solution from, and I am having a lousy time surfing the net trying to find the same solution again!!!!

Sigh... Should have been wiser to keep a copy of the solution somewhere... Well... Now I have keep searching for it - don't even remember what I words or phrases I used to search that would yield the link to the actual solution. ARGH!!!!!

South Island, NZ 2009 - Day 14 and beyond

Day 14 - The last leg of traveling from a town/city to another. This time, it's from Oamaru to Christchurch. It was also the longest drive I had - 575.6 km according to the GPS datalogger! This was because I headed inland where the first stop was Elephant Rocks, near Duntroon. This place is mentioned in NZ's AA 101 Regional Must-Do list, and it was used as the location for Aslan Camp in Chronicles of Narnia.

The only place where the consecutive shots were able to be stitched into a panorama photo! :p

The "normal" view

Then moving a little further down the road, towards Omarama, you would come across a section of limestone area where it is caged. The reason was to protect the Maori art work that is left on those rocks. Some chucks of these art work are now in some museum(s) in the country. Perhaps due to the weather and all, it was not very visible, in term of the entire set, instead had to rely on the plaques there which show where the drawings were, and what it means.

Moving on, it was time to head to Omarama, where I had to ask for the local maps in order for me to get to the Clay Cliffs and lunch was again a mince pie. 10 km of private ($5 for cars, $20 for small bus and only gravel) road traveled at most, at speed of 30 km/h, was a long way to drive! It was so dusty that I had to wash the car the next day as the rear screen was literally covered with dust!

What I did not realised is that you could get a very far view of the cliff along Omarama Lindis Pass Road. But it was a good time (and $$$) spent, took quite a fair bit of photos - only for the camera to act up and I had to do some recovery when I got back to SG!!

Clay Cliffs. Except that it does not look as white as some other photos that I have seen from internet.

B&W shot of Clay Cliffs.

By the it was almost 2 pm in the afternoon. Time to speed up and head toward Mt Cook. The travel time was considered short, but given that I did not really do much other than visiting the information store kind of building... And took a shot of Mt Cook in the background, the only "fun" bit I had was to drive at around 140 km/h on those straight flat roads that leads to Mt Cook!

Since I could not do much there, time to head for Lake Tekapo instead. I had initially wanted to visit the Mt John Observatory (which till today I still do not have an idea where exactly is it!), but by the time I was heading that direction, it was not feasible, so I head for the Church of Good Shepard instead. I think that church is one of the most photographed church in NZ and it's a church that is holding service, although once every 3 weeks, rather than weekly service and is shared by 3 denominations!

Church of Good Shepherd in IR. The only way which I can offer a different view of the church, since almost everyone who visited South Island will have a photo of this place! Wait.. Did anyone took a shot of it from this angle?!?

Since the church is by the lake, we definitely will not miss a chance to take shots of the lake, right?!?!

Why is it that my shot does not show the lake's turquoise water colour!??! Hmmm....

Finally, being there, you would not have miss the dog statue that is less than 1 km from the church.

Yes, the statue looked small in the picture, but somehow I like this shot compared to the usual close up shots (which I did take)

By then, it was coming to 5pm, so it was time to head for Christchurch, and to Alexandra Court Motel.

What was not record above was the phone call I got while traveling (I believe it was from Mt Cook to Lake Tekapo) from the project manager from the site asking if I could extend my stay and head back to the site next week; as a heads-up, if he can't get resources. He would call again the next day to confirm and to see if I would want to...

Day 15 - Alarm rang at 4 am, and by 4.30 am, I was having my breakfast and called a number to hear that the flight is on. By 5 am, I was ready for my adventure - a hot air balloon flight over Canterbury region, which Christchurch is situated. It was a cold, cold, very cold morning - my fingers were not happy, as I had not thought it was that cold enough to warrant gloves for this trip!!!

We finally reached the place where the balloon was to be setup. As part of the experience, we had to help with the laying out of the envelope (the part which the hot air is held), as well a the wicker basket which we will be in... It's kind of interesting to watch and learn how they are able to create that amount of hot air to bring up the wicker basket and its passengers. They did it by using the burner to heat up the air, but along with it was this industrial standard huge fan, to blow enough air into the envelope for it to form that familiar shape!!! Finally, after an hour or so, in the super cold weather, it was ready, and we had to scramble into the wicker basket and up we go!

No, this is not the one I was in. Instead it was a smaller one, which is sometime used to chalk up flight hours for their certificate and to familiarise with the wind condition, etc. As it's smaller, it got up quicker than the one I was in. You could see a very small part of the one I was in at the top of the photo.

This was taken when that balloon was descending back to the ground.

When we landed (in someone's sheep farm), we had a glass of champagne to mark the flight, and someone read a balloon flight prayer (that's what I was told). It was only 9.30am when I was dropped off back at the motel. Rested for about an hour and had some more food as I was hungry by then.

It was time to head for Akaroa, which is famous for the French settlement by the harbour.

Wooden pier out to French Bay at Akaroa

Had m ylunch lunch there and by then, I was feeling tired and head back to Christchurch. However, I was to receive a call, which changes my itinerary. I was to head back to SG from Christchurch the next day, but with that call, I had to fly back to the North Island to the site for a week.

So, had to scramble for flights, and changing of my flights. Since I will still be around for the weekend, decided to get flight to Auckland, so that I could spend a day there, and change my return flight to SG from Christchurch to Auckland instead - cut down my NZ-SG transit time.

Day 16 - Had it not been that call, it would be flying home day, instead, I would be spending the day in Christchurch. Dropped the car off at the airport, and got on a bus service back to the hotel. Picked up the camera, and head to the centre. I thought it would be a nice day to get some shots of the Christchurch centre. Meantime, my clothes were having a wash in the washing machine.

Tower section of Christchurch Cathedral

It happened that this day was ANZAC day. So, they had a service that the Cathedral, and by the time I got to the place, the service had ended. There were stream of NZ uniformed personnel there, in different uniforms - Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, and even some other uniformed groups like the ambulance service, etc. The shops were all closed as well, till 1 pm because of this. So I just wandered around till lunch time. Had my lunch at a Japanese restaurant which turns out pretty well. I have also noticed that the variety of fish is not a wide range, but it's still very fresh.

By then, it was after 1 pm, and it was time to head to Kathmandu for their Easter sale. Yes, I do not often shop, but the weather reminds me that I should take the opportunity to stock up on such clothes especially since they are on sale!!! Bought 2 long johns for myself, and 1 cardigan and 1 long john for my mother!!! I could not find a pullover to replace the (thick, but not warm enough) sweater that I had. So, since I am already shopping, might as well head for the other (similar) shops to see if they do have any - None found.

Feet were complaining by then, and it was time to get back to the hotel to drop the bags of goodies and rest my feet. Back in hotel, open my emails, and found that the travel agent got the changes done, receipts obtained, and hotel in Auckland was booked. Time for dinner and then sleep!

Bad move that I did not download my photos, as I thought since it's only a few shots... I can wait... Bad move. Sigh. Camera acting up again...

Day 17 - It was packing time - I had earlier requested for a special breakfast of eggs on bread. With a filled stomach, head out to airport. I had to pay extra for the 2nd luggage as Air NZ now charges NZD15 per luggage when it's more than 1. So, they can allow you to have a large luggage with weight of 25kg, they cannot take 2 luggage bags that is lower than 25kg!!!

By the time I got to Auckland, it was slightly after 1 pm. Got my luggages, head out and got a little lost in terms of what to take to Sky Hotel. Should I take a shuttle or a cab. In the end, since I don't know which cab company or cab to get into, I got onto a shuttle instead.

When everything was done - got to hotel, checked in, found the way to the room, and then drop them off at the room, i headed downstairs for a light meal as it was 3 pm!!! Then took a walk down to the harbour front, but since it was Sunday, it as good as a dead town in terms of shops. There were people like me, walking around, but it like a stroll along buildings. Walked around to check out the Japanese restaurants in the area, and found most of them were closed, except 1. So, dinner was at that restaurant, then back to hotel to sleep!

Day 18 - Final day. It started off slow, I guess I was too tired/jaded by then, and there wasn't much for me, as I had time to kill before heading for airport to meet up with my colleagues who were flying that day.

Packed my stuff, and then I checked out. Saw the map and decided to head for Albert Park. What I did not know is that Auckland is pretty hilly. Sky hotel was on top of the hill, and in between Albert Park and Sky hotel, it was a walk down the slope and then back up again. Pretty tiring for someone who had not exercise for quite a while!

Fountain at Albert Park. The seagull is having some fun time, bathing using the waters in the fountain.

Headed to the harbour and saw that a cruise with lunch was only NZD38, so took it up and spend the next 2 hours in the boat.

Auckland Skyline

Beacon which the cruise passed by

So, that was the end of the activities as part of this holiday trip. 18 days... Can't remember if this beat the UK trip I had last year in terms of number of days I was in the country. Hmmm....

Anyway, That's the record of my NZ 2009 trip. Next target... was supposed to be Greece, but since mother wants to go Alaska. Looks like next year will be Alaska! Time to save up!!!

South Island, NZ 2009 - Day 10 to 13

Day 10 - Sunday, a day of rest and relaxation. For the first time from the start of the trip, I was not out of the door, traveling to places and taking it all in with my eyes, as well as taking photos of. Instead, it was a time to experience new things, like a different church service. Meeting new people whom having been asking about you (after they know that you are going to be there visiting), and you don't know anyone of them. It also takes you out of the shell, to be talking to people. A total change from the start of the trip, where other than interaction with people due to necessity - like checking into motel/B&B, getting food, setting up activities, etc - rather than just simply getting to know each other.

Lunch was with Philip's parents, and we had Roast Pork Loin with apple sauce. I still think fondly of the cracklings (I supposed it's called that because of the crackling sound you hear when you crunch on it). It's akin to eat the skin on the best "Siew Yoke" we get in Singapore. Between Grandpa (or was it Grandad... Hmm... can't quite remember what the children uses) Laurie and me, I think we finished almost 90% of the cracklings. Not only that, we even had pineapple crumble (or was it pudding), nicely decorated with icing sugar on the side, for dessert. (See, the pounds are piling up at the waist!!! :P)

It was a pretty quiet day, till we visited Lamont family at their farm. I had told Philip that I would like to get a feel of how the farms were like. I had also talked about wanting to see how cows were milked. So, the afternoon, it was time to have a good chance to see a sheep farm. It was also here where I got a chance to ride the bike which they now use daily (which is different from the old days, where horses were used). This is the place where I get to know a bit more about sheep farm, and took a closer look at the land, where they were kept.

We took a ride out to where the sheep were enclosed. This sheep happened to be the closest to us, and it was moving across the field when it turned its head. Looked rather comical with this shot.

The rest of the gang joined in and were looking at us, like they were expecting something. I was told that they were hoping to see us opening the gate, so that they could go over to the other field to graze.

Day 11 - Today we carried on with the Southern Scenic Route, along the Catlins Coast. The first location was the Waipapa Point.

The sea was pretty rough that day. Perhaps, that's why no sea lions/seals were found. However, the waves were pounding into the rock, thus allowing this shot.

It was then to Curio Bay to view the petrified forest, It was high tide at that point, most of it was buried under water. So, we moved on to McLean Falls.

McLean Falls

McLean Falls in IR, which I felt it looked nicer, maybe because of the amount of water!

Moving on, we reach Tautuku Beach. I thought might be the site used for Chronicles of Narnia but I was wrong - they had used Purakaunui Bay instead (which we did not visit)

Tautuku Beach from Florence Hill Lookout

Tautuku Beach in IR from Florence Hill Lookout

Next stop was short walk to the Purakaunui Falls.

Purakaunui Falls

I cannot remember where we stopped for lunch, but I distinctively remember that we stopped somewhere to have sandwiches and it was like a shelter built from tall plants with pretty thick leaves. Anyway, it was a long drive before we reached Cannibal Bay. This time, we were fortunate that there were something to see, other than just the beach.

The most active sea lion on the beach. The rest, other than one other sea lions, were too busy having their naps to bother with us.

Seagull (I think) on the shores of Cannibal Bay.

Footprints on the sand of Cannibal Bay.

Final stop for the day was at Nugget Point. I also walked down to Roaring Bay in search of Yellow Eyed Penguin. According to here, April is not a good time to view as they are moulting, so they will not head for sea - They could be right, I only managed to see 2 of them in the evening from afar (had to borrow someone's binoculars) as the actual lookout was under repair!

Shoreline of Nugget Point

The rocks that is jutting out from the location where the lighthouse was situated. Chances are it got its name because of these rocks.

Day 12 was spent in Edendale, making a trip to Invercargill to collect the rental car. I had also managed to see how the cows were milked. Kind of interesting as it's a 2 person operation. The cows were queued up and moved individually into a carousal. When they got on, 1 person will put on the tubes, and then the carousal will move to the other end. When it reaches the other end, 1 person will take the tubes out, and the cow is free to move out of the carousal, ready for the next cow to enter. One thing you have to get use to is the smell of cow dung! The cow will dump the dung everywhere, whenever it wants to. So, the cow could be on the carousal, and down it goes, or even when it starts to move out of the carousal. The people working on the carousal will have to immediately, using high speed water hose to flush it off the place, into the drain. If your nose is very sensitive, avoid this place!

Day 13 - It was with some sadness that I left Edendale, as it's time to carry on with my journey (I do need to get home, although I don't mind staying in NZ for a while). So I said goodbye to the Lauries, and with the same amount of luggage (and weight), I headed toward Oamaru, where I will be spending a night.

Now, I have been driving across the South Island and I noticed a lot this "grass" that sometimes lined the road that I drove in. I have been trying to find a good bunch of them as well as the right skyline to take a photo of them I finally did on this day, although the amount of "grass" is still pretty sparse.

Grass with sky as background somewhere along Waipahi Highway

First actual stop was Larnch Castle & Gardens, where I had my lunch (yes, pretty expensive one too!). It was a small nice garden to walk around, with pretty interesting flowers, the building itself, perhaps due to the timing which I was there, as well as the number people there (there was this group of students having an outing there), makes it hard to photograph. As I was low on cash, the price to see the inside was a little too high to pay in cash. Perhaps the interior maybe of an interest, well, could always make a trip there again, next time.

Then it was further up in the Otago Peninsula toward Harington Pt where the Royal Albatross Centre were located. Joined in the tour and got to see actual young albatross from a distance as they were very much protected. You get to learn more about the albatross from the guide.

While my cousin had spent some time in Dunedin town, I actually skipped it as it was getting late, I had to carry onwards to Oamaru - wanted to catch the blue penguins colony and I was told that I should be there by 6.30pm.

The last stop before Oamaru was to see the Moeraki Boulders. Had a snack here as I was hungry by then, and yet they don't see filling stuff at the cafe - in fact I think it was about to close! Happened that when I was there, 2 bus load of tourists - from their accent - from China/HK descended into the beach. I had to wait a bit just to get some shots, as they were practically monopolizing the area for their own photos. It was only after they found something else and got out of the way, that I could take the shots I want.

Look very much like marbles buried in sand... :p

Time to move onto Oamaru and since it was late, decided to head to the blue penguin colony immediately, instead of the motel. Spent 2 hours there as I was early, or perhaps the penguins were late!!! There was one penguin that arrived early that day and then it took almost another hour before the next 10 - 15 penguins to arrive. Perhaps it's not the right time to see them, for I was expecting a rush, like what I saw in Philip Island, Australia. It was not to be, most of the people there gave up by then - especially since they were mostly from tour companies. They were running late! As I drove out of that place, I saw a few penguins outside that area!!! If I had known, could have save the $$$ and just wait there... The penguins were pretty close to those few who waited there.

Finally, found my way to the Alexandra Motel, check-in and headed towards the Ramadan Hotel for dinner (as recommended by the person at the Motel). Oh, it turns out this motel was run by a Singaporean-turned-NZ-PR couple (Not too sure if they had changed their citizenship).

South Island, NZ 2009 - Day 6 to 9

Day 6 - I have say upfront - I am not a LOTR fan. In fact, I have only scan through LOTR - FOTR while on a flight to somewhere which I cannot remember. The other 2 movies, which make it a trilogy, I have not even watch it. So, I don't know the movie well, I don't know the places well. BUT, I was told that I could drive to Deer Park Heights to view the location. Since I was not on the heli-hike, I thought, why not spend that amount on something else, and I was game to be on an outing which show the Wakatipu basin (it was a toss between this or Glenorchy, but Glenorchy was fully booked). So, early in the morning at 8 am, I was waiting outside, on the driveway for Nomad Safaris for Safari of the Scenes 4WD tour (Wakatipu basin).

One of the places we went was Kawarau Gorge, where filming took place for the Argonath, or Pillars of the Kings. On the location, where the Pillars were computer-generated into, you could see the Kawarau Bridge, which is becomes famous for being the world's first permanent commercial bungee site.

Kawarau Bridge; You can barely see the bungy jump platform on the bridge.

While we were there, there were a couple of people doing the buggy jumping, so we do get a couple of shots of that. Then it was off to Arrowtown, where filming of Gladden Fields took place.

Wilcox Green which becomes Gladden Fields (filmed in Winter)

This is where the fun begins, we were taken off the road into the only way to get from Arrowtown to Macetown. The 4WD cross gravel roads and streams to a location where it was used to filmed as Ford of Bruinen.

Infrared shot of the location used as Ford of Bruinen in LOTR trilogy.

It was also here where we had morning tea, and tried our hand on gold panning. No, did not find any gold, although there were one or two speck (small tiny speck of no consequence) of it, according to the guide. Skipper Canyon was next.

Rock formation along the Skipper Road which surprising looked like the side view of.... yes, a gorilla and somewhat like King Kong! No!??!?!

We drove further into the place, till we come to a place which is the site of the first hotel along this stretch of road. I was told there were around 51 hotels along this road when this area were in its hay-days. This is what we found...

The only sole surviving structure of Welcome Home Hotel

Final spot along the same road before heading back to Queenstown.

Somewhere along Skipper Road, overlooking Long Gully and Green Gate Saddle, if my GPS record is correct!

Back in Queenstown, not knowing what to do for the afternoon, it was back to browsing for activity to do, and while I could have gone for that horse ride - Ride of the Rings, decided it was too expensive, considering I had spend half of the money on the morning activity, so, finally decided on clay target shooting. Don't ask me why I did that. Till today, I have no idea why I did that, but the results from the shoot makes me more confused.

You see, I had a chance to do clay target shooting before in 1995, in Scotland. At that time, I had no problems with targets heading the sky, but had problems with targets running along the ground. In fact my score was 10/20 - 7 in sky, 3 on ground. I think this time I was using a shotgun, and that shotgun was pretty heavy. Because my results were the same, except that... Yup, 7 on ground, 3 in sky! The view while shooting was pretty good, no you don't get to see mountains and valleys, but the dramatic sky makes it nice.

Nice view to shoot targets isn't it?

Did I mention that this place was actually either in, or just next to a deer farm, and we had to drive pass the different enclosure to get to the place.

BAMBI!!! Hehehehe

Day 7 - An early morning as I had to get to the bus stop by 6.50 am for my ride from Queenstown to Te Anau. Boy, was it hard to get up so early, being not a morning person, and with 3 luggage to bring - 1 large luggage where all my clothes were in, 1 small luggage where it was filled with gifts and stuff for the Lauries, and 1 small (ok, not that small) backpack where all my camera stuff were in! Despite the fact that the place was only around 300m away (down a slope), I had to get a taxi to bring me and my luggage to the bus stop.

Finally, after 2 hours of ride, which first hour was spent sleeping (all of us in the bus!), the other hour was spent talking to whoever is left in the bus as some got off to be transferred to another bus as they were heading towards Invercargill. There was a Swedish gal who had been in NZ for more than 2 month, and is traveling for almost 1 year! There was a German guy who has been traveling for 4 months, and only will be back home in Nov!! Gee, how the heck do they do it? Don't even have leave to hit 1 month, let alone 1 year!!! As we chat, time flies and next thing we know - we had arrived in Te Anau! Said our goodbyes, and each of us went on with our travels.

I waited for around 30 minutes for the Lauries as they had to travel up from Edendale at the i-site building. It was great to meet up with them again, as well as, to get to know their 2 kids. We then went on to their friend's place, facing the lake, and where we were to stay there for the next 2 days. Coming from Singapore, I have to say, that was a magnificent place, and if this house were in Singapore, with that kind of location - it would have cost a bomb!

Imagine a living area that is as large as the entire 5-rm flat, and has a fireplace (although it's not actual wood burning one) as well as a pool table! The dinning area is at least 2 rooms length, and the kitchen would have occupied a decent living area. Not to mention the rooms on the ground floor as well as rooms on the 2nd floor and there is a garage joined to the house!!! *Drool*

Anyway, once we settled down, it was time for lunch and then onwards toward Milford Sound. As we were driving along Te Anau Milford Highway, we saw tour buses stopping along the stretch of area, and loads of tourist got down and started to take some snapshots, well, it turns out to be Eglinton Valley, and it was indeed a good place for photography (yes, we stopped too!).

This is an IR shot of Eglinton Valley with Chloe running on the grass

Then we moved on and the next stop was Mirror Lake. Maybe I was not the correct spot for it, but I was pretty disappointed with the size of the lake - It was small!!! However, it still does the mirroring job very well!

This is an IR shot of Mirror Lake

Moving forward, we were heading toward the Milford tunnel when we saw a sign that says lookout, so Philip drove into the lookout, and it was a good stop. One issue with that was, I forgot to take note of the lookout. I thought it was facing Key Summit, near the Divide, but I think I am wrong. I know where I took the photo, but the Google Maps are not detailed as the trekking ones. I need to check those Routeburn Track trekking maps to get the right place. On hindsight, I should have bought the map when I was Auckland.

I know where I took this shot and the direction I am facing but I have no idea where it is exactly on the map as Google Map is not detailed enough!!!

Finally we reach Milford Sound, but the last exploring cruise has left the harbour. So, it was to be an afternoon tea, and then head back to Te Anau. On the way, back, we stopped at Christie Falls for a photo. Marissa and kids were in the car (kids were sleeping), while me and Philip grabbed our cameras and started to take some shots.

Christie Fall

Day 8 - Another early morning as I got up by 7 am (without my alarm ringing!!!), and decided to head towards the Lake and take some dawn photos of the lake. The problem with that was, the IR shots did not turn out well as the light was not sufficient enough to have a decent shot without much noise. It was quite misty - I was told it was mist - as well. However, that also gives certain character to the sky, which translate very well to photos. It was a nice way to start the day, and surprisingly there were some people jogging along the lake at that time!

Lake Te Anau at dawn

Back in the house, had my very first NZ porridge breakfast. Apparently, it's a staple in NZ, as I am told, and that was my breakfast for the time when I was with the Lauries. No, it's not made of rice, like those porridge we know of in Singapore. Instead, it's actually cooked rolled oats. I had it with Dark Muscovado Sugar, and it tasted pretty good (it was also the start of overstuffing myself with food, due to generosity of the Lauries - they kept feeding me, even the breakfast were like split into 3 course - porridge, followed by toast with butter and/or jam, and finally a drink - usually tea, since I don't drink coffee!).

It was then a short journey to Manapouri, where I would join the day tour to Doubtful Sound. The cruise was split into 3 parts. First was a cruise in Lake Manapouri to West Arm.

Lake Manapouri, somewhere near the harbour

An infrared shot of Lake Manapouri

Another photo of Lake Manapouri, which I just realised that it was the same shot in the IR one!

Then it was a bus journey, passing through Wilmot Pass, where we get a view of Doubtful Sound. When we first reached the lookout, it was not like what you see in the photo. In fact, it was covered with the mist, that we could hardly see the outline. 5 minutes, later, the place was suddenly cleared and what a view!

Overview of Doubtful Sound

Finally, we reached Deep Cove for the start of a 3 hours cruise (which I think is still short!!)

Doubtful Sound, near Deep Cove

Another shot

Doubtful Sound (Infrared)

One of the many waterfalls we see

As you can see in the photos, the Sounds seems to be rather misty and cloudy. Not sure if it's because it's nearer to winter, so it's more cloudy and misty than normal, or this is the usual weather in the Sounds.

The cruise came to a point, and they shut down the engine, to allow you to listen and hear how the Sound will sound like, without any man-made sound.

This shot was taken somewhere near the place where they stop the engine entirely so that you can listen to the quietness of the Sound and nothing else (actually, it was quiet, but yet, it was noisy because of all the waterfalls! You could literally heard all the sound of the waters hitting the ground at high speed).

On the way back to Manapouri, we were given some time to spend viewing the Manapouri Power Station which is the largest hydro plant in NZ and was be built at West Arm. However, most of the power is used by an aluminum smelting plant located somewhere near Bluff (160 km away)!

Day 9 - It was time to say goodbye to the house we were staying and head to Edendale, via the Southern Scenic Route. The first stop we did was at Clifden Suspension Bridge, built in 1989, opened 1899 to replace the punt used by early sheep stations.

Clifden Suspension Bridge from the side


Lower Waiau River in IR

Then onwards to McCracken Rest, where according to some information, we are supposedly able to see Hector's dolphins. However, I think it was a rest day for them, as we saw only ocean waves pounding on the rocks.

McCracken Rest, they have a signpost to show the distance from this place to some areas like Stewart Island, etc

We headed to Riverton, and had our lunch there, in an area which is near the beach (Taramera Bay). It has a playground which Chloe and Ben were having some fun with the swing, see-saw, etc. Ben has fun time running after a number of seagulls all over the playground - he saw the seagull, run towards it, the seagull flew to a short distance away, and then he saw another seagull nearby and run after that seagull, and on, and on, and on. Never gave up, despite the fact that the seagulls once realised that he is on to them, they would flew a distance away immediately. So, he could not even get near one of them! It was fun seeing how he runs after them. Took a video of it using the video mode in the Canon P&S.

Then it was a video session at the Cultural Heritage Museum (Te Hikoi) in Riverton center, followed by a short stop at a place to shop for Paua and Jade souvenirs for mother, aunt and all. Time to head for Bluff.

I believe this is the most photographed signpost in Bluff, and for NZ.

After photos at the signpost, headed into the cafe for some afternoon tea, and, of course, oysters. Bluff oysters apparently are very famous and popular in NZ. I have heard so much about it, so it has to be tasted, as part of the "must-do" in Bluff. Frankly, I have to say, while it's very fresh, it tasted the same as the other oysters. Ok, I am not an oyster buff, so as long as it's fresh, and does not leave any after-taste, I am fine with it.

P.S. - Despite not being an LOTR fan, I bought a book which describe all the locations which LOTR was filmed in, along with photographs to accompany it - it even has GPS locations given and it's autographed by the author! (You can only get the autographed copy from the Nomad Safaris or their shop in Queenstown centre. The price for the book is rather standard, NZD40 even if you purchased at bookstores, but not autographed.)