Guide to New Zealand travel

Dimple and I chose New Zealand for our Honeymoon. It took a lot of time to zero down the place. We started from Mauritius. But all it offers is beach, which is good but not great (my personal opinion). We thought about Europe but during summers it did not interest us much. Dimple wanted to go to a place where we have snow. We also did some research on Scotland, Canada and Italy. But Europe and North America are the places where one can get chances to visit due to business. So we decided to keep these destinations for some other time in life. Finally we decided to go to New Zealand. I anyway had a long time dream to visit the land of the Lord of the rings.

 After completing the documentation, we went to TT Services, Bangalore. The contact and other details are mentioned on the New Zealand high commission website. The lady, at the reception, checked all the docs and gave us a receipt. But she told that for a single Indian (we weren’t married that time), who hasn’t traveled to US, UK, Canada or Australia, getting a NZ visitor visa is tough. This was a big concern because we did not want to have a reject stamp on our passports. Moreover, we were already very late for visa applications due to my Spain trip. If the Visa was rejected, the time that we had was so less that it was impossible for us to apply for some other country Visa. So, we decided to send a mail to the NZ embassy at New Delhi and mentioned that we were getting married and planning our Honeymoon at the Land of the Lord of the rings. We mentioned to either grant visa to both of us or withdraw the applications. 

The Doubtful Sound. Serenity was everywhere.

To our surprise, this worked and we got our visa exactly in 5 calendar days. Generally, for any kind of issues, writing email directly to the Embassy is the best option. Also, we would recommend carrying out the application process on your own. I talked to an agent who was asking INR 5000/- which means INR 800/- per person as commission. This is not at all a good value for money. The documents you have to provide on your own in either cases. Once docs are ready, just go to TT services and submit them. It hardly takes 15 minutes. After that you just need to wait for 1 week.

Queenstown

I was searching all the sites 5 times a day to find the best deal. International sites like expedia were quoting high. Makemytrip.com and yatra.com were giving lowest prices. Finally, I was able to get return ticket from Thai Airways at INR 47,000/- per person. During that time, Thailand was recovering from some kind of political crisis. May be that was the reason that the Thai Airways offered lower prices from others. We had to change flights at Bangkok. While going, the transit time was 90 minutes. While returning, transit time was 10 hours. Also, while returning, we got a free upgrade to business class. It was nice to fly with Thai. They have quite good hospitality.

Thai Airways

Note: If you are Veg, do not forget to order meals in advance. Dimple had to satisfy her hunger just by rice, bread, nuts and juice.

Post that the drive was smooth and very comfortable.

Road to Milford Sound

We did shopping from freshchoice supermarket and got some discount on fuel. Keep an eye on such discounts.

Some portions were straight line for as long as 50 KMs. Perfect roads for cruise drive and enjoy the surrounding

For directions, I was using my Nokia E63 phone. It has got MgMaps(http://www.mgmaps.com/) installed on it. I already downloaded whole of the New Zealand maps in my phone. A separate Holux device was acting as GPS and communication to the phone via Bluetooth. The solution worked great for us. We were able to find few short cuts and also some inside roads which are very scenic. Car rental companies also provide GPS for few dollars per day.

The Break point on the road to Milford Sound

We are vegetarians. From supermarkets, we purchased lot of stuff like wheat bread, cheese, Jam, Fruits, etc. Corn or wheat flakes along with milk was good breakfast. For lunch, we used wheat bread along with jam or cheese, subway sandwiches, MacD sandwich, etc. For dinner, we cooked at most of the places. Processed noodles and rice were available at supermarkets, which just need two minutes under a microwave. At Rotorua and Queenstown, we found Indian Takeaway which offered a curry for 10-13 NZD along with rice. This was more than enough for two people. We ate just once in a restaurant which cost us NZD 52/-. However, that meal was actually for 4 people. In all, keeping food expenses at NZD 35 per person per day is reasonable estimate. This includes bottled water and 2-3 coffee per day.

Right opposite to the Auckland Airport there was Countdown Supermarket. We purchased lot of things to eat

No problems for people who are Vegetarian since there are lots of options available. During flight, Veg meal needs to be pre-ordered otherwise have to starve. In NZ there is no such problem as there are a couple of Veggie options at Subway, Dominos, and Burger King. We stayed in motels, B&B which were equipped with microwave and stove, where we could cook things like Soup, Maggie, Pasta, Bread toast, tea and coffee.

Yummy!!! Breakfast at Waitomo

http://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowUserReviews-g255106-d256711-r72343101-Mercure_Hotel_Windsor_Auckland-Auckland_Central_North_Island.html

We stayed at The Mercure Windsor, Wuckland

http://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowUserReviews-g644415-d550416-r72344387-The_Chalet_Boutique_Motel-Lake_Tekapo_Canterbury_South_Island.html

The Hotel at Tekapo. It was right opposite to the Lake

Things we did:

http://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowUserReviews-g255111-d300535-r81467435-Hells_Gate_Wai_Ora_Spa-Rotorua_Rotorua_District_North_Island.html

The steam is coming out of the natural Geysers

http://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowUserReviews-g255111-d258117-r81466630-Waimangu_Volcanic_Valley-Rotorua_Rotorua_District_North_Island.html

The picture says it…

http://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowUserReviews-g255113-d1553885-r72673802-Taupo_Tandem_Skydiving-Taupo_North_Island.html

Just before falling from Sky

15, 000 feet above Lake Taupo

Damn…it looks amazing from top

Waitomo: Black water rafting at Waitomo Caves
 

Waitomo Black Water Rafting by The legendary Black Water Rafting company

All of us were excited after gearing up and ready to jump in the river

Practice sessions before jumping in the Caves

Fun session before the black water Rafting

6 feet jump on the freezing water

Queenstown: Shotover Jet boat ride
Read my review at tripadvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowUserReviews-g255122-d653947-r72369297-Shotover_Jet-Queenstown_South_Island.html

The Shotover …

The Shotover Jet

That was thrill

That was a 360 spin

They will take the boat towards the cliff and avoid it only at last moment to multiply the thrill

Queenstown: Skyline Gondola and luge.
Read my review at tripadvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowUserReviews-g255122-d301483-r72369550-Skyline_Gondola_and_Luge-Queenstown_South_Island.html

Luge at Queenstown

Lake Wakatipu in background with Luge on hill top

The Gondula at Queenstown

All these activities are must do (if your choice matches) and value for money.

I have MGMaps installed on my Nokia E63 mobile phone. Google maps were having all the details that I wanted. Car rental companies also rent GPS.

Evening Supper

During winters (July being peak winters in NZ) , the temperature is very low and it is advisable to carry extra warm clothes, pair of jeans, overcoats, jackets, gloves, warm caps, skivvies, thermo coat, mufflers, woolen socks and good high ankle shoes to keep yourselves warm. No need of carrying the food items since Auckland airport authorities won’t allow and you would need to go for an extra screening from Bio Metric division. Carry a good camera as NZ is very beautiful and scenic; can say photographers’ dream destination. Carrying a GPS device is really helpful, for the people planning to have a self drive. Good moisturizer is really required as cool breeze will make your skin dry.

Immigration process at Auckland was very straight forward but they have a bio security section also. There is a question form that we filled. Based on that, we had to wait in a long queue. The officers were very strict but friendly. We were wearing new hiking shoes. Even then I was asked to clean the sole in some kind of solution. The officer took away Dimple’s shoes and came back after five minutes after a green signal. We were carrying 1 KG of almonds and cashews, which was allowed.

July 6

Departure from Jaipur late night To Delhi via Mandor Express.

Delhi Airport

July 7

De-board at Delhi Cantt. railway station and reached airport via Auto.
Thai Airways flight to Bangkok and then to Auckland with transit time of 90 mins.

Bangkok Airport

July 8

Reached Auckland around noon, hired car and drove to Rotorua.
We reached Rotorua around 7 in the evening. The city roads were almost having nobody. We stopped at Dominos. The lady over there is an Indian and had a veg pizza to offer us along with the punjabi touch. Dimple was happy to eat that. We got the directions to the hotel from another person at Dominos. The room was good enough to give us a comfortable sleep after long flight and drive.

Auckland Airport. They call it The City of Sails

July 9

Rotorua. Next morning(july 9), we got up quite late and it was already noon by the time stepped out of hotel. After having a walk around the lake side and enjoying the beautiful view of a sunny winter day, we walked towards the city center. Most of the world class brands were there. Not sure how these stores generate profits out of this low population. We purchased a prepaid SIM from vodafone and charged it for NZD 50/-, which was much more that we needed for 13 days. Most of the local calls were toll free. NZD 20/- was enough for us.

5 in the morning from Ibis Rotorua

Post lunch we drove to the Waimangu Volcanic valley. The drive was amazing. The winter trees were giving contrasting colors under the sunlight and the blue sky. We reached Waimangu by 4 in the evening which was late for us to do anything on that day. This was a disappointment for us but we recovered this by multiple stops at multiple scenic points along roadside. The road off from the main highway is very scenic. It was the time of sunset also which gave us perfect time for photo shots.

En route to Waimangu Volcanic Valley

The farm was patrolled by Wolfs, all I could do is to take a pic and move on

Drove to HellsGate and had Mud Bath and Sulphur SPA. This is a must do if someone is around Rotorua.

Hells Gate Thermal Bath and Sulphur SPA.

July 10

Because of the last day’s disappointment, we reached Waimangu Volcanic  sharp at 9:30 AM without taking any chances. 

The drive itself was amazing but the first look of the valley was signaling that there is definitely lots of excitement present on the way. We took a walk tour of the valley. There were multiple craters and geysers. Steam was coming out of the surface which was due to the water contact with the hot volcanic surface. It gave a feeling of as if we were in a volcanic land and anytime anything can happen. 

Waimangu Volcanic valley

Waimanu Volcanic valley

 At one place there was signboard mentioning that few tourists got killed due to sudden geyser eruption. Without waiting even one more second, we proceeded further. The special attraction was the inferno crater which looks like a blue colored pond. 

The inferno crater. They say that the water is acidic enough to melt your bones if you dare to touch the water

The blue color is due to the low pH of 2. The look was breathtaking and created a paradox as if we are on this world or not. 

Care to read it?

 The last part of the Valley visit is the boat ride on Lake Rotomahana. This lake is right in the middle of the active volcanic zone. The nature was at its best along with a hidden sign of power also. The sulphur fumes  rising from banks, the multi colored rocks (due to metal ores) were something that we had never seen in our lives. The Captain of the boat was himself, a very knowledgeable person and was briefing us all the time to make the ride more interesting. He took the boat to a water filled crater which witnessed a volcanic eruption sometime in 1930s and the heat generated was so much the whole lake got dried up in few seconds. After a circle of the lake, the boat came back and the bust took us to the start point of the Valley.

Sulphur fumes from the active volcano

The boat tour on Lake Rotomahana

The Tourists

The crater at Lake Rotomahana. In 1960, this crater became active generating heat enough to dry up the whole lake

Lake Rotomahana

The surface got multicolored due to metal ores

We had coffee and turned the wheels of Red Ford Fiesta towards Lake Taupo.

Lake Okaro: It was just another but most beautiful lake on the road side. We halted for a break.

We took an inside route to reach Express Highway 5 via State Highway 5. On route we passed Lake Okaro, which was probably the best location of the New Zealand. The Lake had perfect colors which I had only seen movies. We had never seen such colors of nature before. There was no one around till miles, which anyway is the constant observation all round New Zealand. 

Lake Okaro

We spend memorable time and drove to Lake Taupo Airport.

The cloud line is the end of free fall

We chose Lake Taupo Tamdem sky diving company for Sky diving, which was no doubt the correct decision. Dimple was afraid to dive from sky. Even I had doubts in my mind but did not express it on my face. But just within 5 minutes of entering the premises, all doubt very converted to confidence. The lady at the reception explained us various options. She convinced us to opt for 15000 feet instead of 12000 feet. The former one has more free fall time. Also, we hired a fellow diver who would make a video as well as take some high quality photographs. We put on the Jump suits and the plane was ready to take us to the sky of Lake Taupo. The view was amazing and we were sure that choosing Lake Taupo for sky diving was indeed the right choice. The guide explained us few basics and then just jumped out of the plane. I would say no more above the dive. The video has everything into it. This was one of the unique experiences of life.

After the huge achievement of diving from the sky, we headed towards the banks Lake Taupo for Lunch. It was another spectacular place to hang out. 

Lake Taupo: After diving from sky and eating lunch

After having lunch, we headed towards Waitomo. It was already 5 when we started. Soon it was dark. The highway was right from the middle of dense jungle and there was no one around. It was a scary drive. We waited for 5 minutes at a place in between. Couldn’t notice even a single streak of light till horizon. Only Stars in the clear dark sky. Without taking any chances further, we started and drive straight to Waitomo.

July 11

Right before entering the earth. The entry to the cave is very small and it is hard to believe that we made it

Next morning we went to Black Water Rafting. This is the one of its kind experience. At Waitomo, there are caves which have been made by the underground rivers millions of years ago. People have found the entry and exit points and they take you to rafting through that river. The company name is Legendary Black Water Rafting Company. We reached there in our Car. Our Guides briefed us on all the basics and then asked us to choose diving suit of our own sizes. The diving suit which was wet on a cold winter morning.  It was thrilling. But I was actually waiting for what I had seen in videos and pics. We got inside their van and they took us to the river point. There we were gives tubes of proper sizes and also multiple jumps in the freezing river water. This was fun, but more of a prep for the rafting. 

Black Water rafting: Right inside the caves

Further, we did a walk for 15 minutes to the start point of the river. It was like a hole in the earth and there was no way that we could have entered that. We switched on the head lamps and slipped inside. Naturally, it was dark inside to see anything. When I moved my head to throw light around, it looked like a primitive place with stalactite and stalagmite around us. We got on top of our tubes and used our hands as raft. We had to be very careful to not to hit hands our head with rocks. Multiple times the river was falling down. We had no way but to jump with that. It took a lot of courage to jump in dark in water. But the guides were apt their jobs. There were glow worms at many places. These are worms which lives in dark and needs humidity to grow. They emit light and gave a feeling of night with millions of stars. Overall, It was a terrific experience.  

The Waitomo Caves

Inside the caves

After around 2 hours, we came to point where we were able to see natural light. We walked out of cave and took the van to get back to the office. After taking a shower with hot water and changing, we were offered hot tomato soup which was very much needed.

The Auckland Sky Tower

That night we spent many hours on Auckland streets. It was a Sunday night. That means less traffic on roads.  Took multiple pictures of the Sky tower and the surroundings.

Auckland downtown on Sunday night. The teens at the middle of the road were playing a game. The traffic stops for 20 seconds after each cycle. They were supposed to build something on the middle of the road.

July 12

It was an early morning flight from Auckland to Christchurch. We drove to Airport, left the car at the Rental’s car parking and walked to the domestic terminal. It was just a 15 minutes walk. I forgot to lock the car before dropping the keys. I was worried because the Your Way car rental had blocked high amount on my credit card. But no extra amount was ever charged to me. That means the car went to right hands.

From Queenstown to Christchurch, around 5 in the evening

The flight was very scenic. Though, we had less sleep but the view was enough to keep me awake. I was able to see both ends of the New Zealand. On one side there is Pacific Ocean and on other end, there is Tasman Sea. The flight crossed snow capped mountains, beautiful forests, the sun rising sky, the sea between the north and the south island to reach the freezing morning of Christchurch.

From Christchurch to Queenstown. This is the Toyota Corolla that we hired at Christchurch Airport

It was time to start for the much awaited drive of 500 KMs to Queenstown. Traffic was less on the roads and I was able to maintain a constant speed of 100KMPH at most of the places. At one point, there was a jam due to road accident. So we parked the car at a break point and enjoyed the surroundings. 

The sky was clear and blue, the grass was dried during the winters and there was no one around but the sheeps

As we were moving south, the lands were getting replaced by hills, farms were replaced by forests and people were replaced by sheep. Driving in South Island is a dream for every car loving person in the world. There are no people around. It truly gives a feeling as if I am driving on the world which I own. There are segments on roads without a bend for 50 KMs. At every turn there is breath taking views and one can drive and look around simultaneously. However, it is better to keep an eye on sigh board because at mountain pass there was ice and grit on roads which may be risky. 

From Christchurch to Queenstown

Around 300 KMs from Christchurch: There was now till horizons followed by snow capped mountains

I had heard a lot about Lake Tekapo. I must admit that all that was no way even close to the beauty of the lake. We did not stop here because we had planned a full day here. Next to Lake Tekapo, it was time for us to please our eyes with Lake Pukaki which again was a pure beauty. We stopped here for 15 minutes.

Lake Pukaki

We booked for Hot Air balloon. But it got cancelled due to bad weather. No issues. We spent extra hours on bed followed by 6 hours in SPA bath. This was needed after two days of less sleep and a day of drive. After that we went out for a walk around the town.  Queenstown has enough to keep someone occupied and busy for years. We looked around the city, did some shopping, went for a lake side walk, enjoyed the view and took a deep breath. It was a relaxing day.

Queenstown

Queenstown

Queenstown

The night at Queenstown

We took the Shotover Jet, not the dart River

Waiting at Tourist center for the Jet boating

We stepped out of hotel to do something adventurous that day. Amongst multiple Jet boat rides options, The Shotover Jet looked most exciting. Near Queenstown, the Shotover River flows in the middle of canyons. The company has very powerful boats to fill up people and give them the ride of their life, which on one can forget in this life time. They had a shuttle to pick and drop to the city.

Thats Dimple

We came back and again spent out evening in the downtown. Believe me, Queenstown is a place where one can just go and sit doing nothing and still feel so relaxed.

The downtown

July 15
Again, the hot air balloon and paragliding got cancelled due to bad weather. So we went to the Skyline Gondola and luge on the top of the hill. Hill top provides a good view of the Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. The restaurant there can be a perfect place for dinner. We did not eat there because it was little bit expensive and full of non-veg items. In short, it was not a good value for money.

The Queenstown

Dusk at Queenstown

Queenstown from the hill top

Bungy at Queenstown

God saves this guy

🙂

The real jump was too scary. This is all I could manage

July 16
This was the day for us to visit the famous Milford Sound. 

The other side of Lake Wakatipu. The Drive around the lake was fabulous but tiring. This was our stress buster point

We left the hotel around 6 in the morning. I was told that the drive takes 5 hours. Our cruise was at 2 PM. But then we did not want to rush. Again, the drive was very scenic. However, this section was not as comfortable as the section between Christchurch and Queenstown. The road has lots of sharp turns. After crossing Te Anau, there is dense forest on both sides and road was wet. The section around the — Tunnel was fun but needed special attention and speed control.

Lake Te Anau

First look of Te Anau. We were entering from height. The whole region was covered by clouds

As we reached Te Anau, the surroundings were completely covered by mist. The town itself is very peaceful. If I have to choose one place in New Zealand, Te Anau would be my choice. We took a short break at the town and then multiple breaks on the road sides.

Lake Te Anau

En Route to Milford Sound

Around 1, we reached the parking at Milford Sound. I stepped out of the car and it took me some time to digest what I was seeing. There were high mountains all around standing straight and whatever space is left in between is filled with water. Only when my neck started aching, I look down and left the rest of the view for the cruise itself.

The end of the road to Milford Sound

The Milford Sound

The Milford Sound

The Waterfall at Milford Sound

They take the cruise on the Milford Sound right under the Water fall

Milford Sound

The return of the Cruise to Milford Sound

After enjoying the Milford sound, we drove back to Te Anau and stayed there over night at Birchwood Cottages.

July 17

Lake Manapouri: The town and the water were full of piece

This was the day for Doubtful sound. Early in the morning, we drove to Manapouri Lake.

Fraser Beach at Lake Manapouri

The day was booked via Real Journeys. They handed over lunch packets to us and the cruise started on the Lake Manapouri. This cruise was followed by the bus ride of around 45 minutes from the dense Rain forest. The driver-cum-guide of the bus kept us busy with his humorous briefing all the time. On the way there were many beautiful spots. The best of them was the view of the doubtful sound from the hill top. It looked like a small canal in the big jungle. Only after reaching to the banks, I realized how huge it is. There we boarded another cruise which took us around in the doubtful sound.

Lake Manapouri

Lake Manpouri

Lake Manapouri

Wild Life at Fiordland National Park

First look at Doubtful Sound

The Real Journey tour bus. It takes from the end of the Lake Manapouri to Doubtful sound. The whole region is full of Evergreen Rain Forest. The Driver-cum-guide of the bus is a very interesting person and kept us busy with his jokes-filled-commentary.

Welcome to the Cruise on Doubtful Sound

The Doubtful Sound. The water was so calm….

The Hotel at at the doubtful sound. Fishes are caught here and using an Airplane they are sent to the cities. Next time may be I will stay at this hotel.

The Cruise on Doubtful Sound

One of the many Water Falls on the route to Doubtful sound.

This is how to recognize Tourists

Fiordland National Park: Feels like breathing clouds

A Cup full of Coffee on the Cruise to Doubtful Sound

While coming back we halted at the — Power station. This itself is a wonder in itself. Around 100 years back they made tunnels through the mountains to make the water flow from Lake Manapouri to Doubtful sound. The height gradient between two water bodies makes the water fall and rotate the turbines. The turbines and the whole power plant is underground.

The external view of the Underground Hydro power plant

The Underground Hydro Power plant

The under ground hydro power plant

Inside view of under ground hydro power plant

We returned to Birchwood cottages and enjoyed food.

Cruise on Lake Manapouri, on the way to Doubtful Sound

July 18
This again was a day for a long scenic drive from Te Anau to Lake Tekapo. Near Tekapo, the visibility was very low due to fog. We were driving at 10 KMPH. The down was very silent. 

July 19
Our Hotel was right in front of Lake Tekapo. We stepped out and noticed that it was a clear day. The breath taking view of the blue colored water of the Lake was a perfect sight.  We walked around the Dog statue and the famous Church. After eating lunch, we drove to Mount John. They have a space observatory at the hill top and a café. The view from the hill top was enough for a drive to the hill top. I spotted few more lakes from the top and decided to go there also. After reaching back to Tekapo, realized that I had forgot my tripod at Mount John. So we drove up back again.

Hotel at Lake Tekapo

The best of Winters at Tekapo

The morning at Tekapo

Tekapo Church

WoW!!!

Lake Tekapo

Lake Tekapo

Mount John

Space Observatory at Mount John

Lake Tekapo

Lake Alexendrina

Lake Alexendrina

It was fun to be at Tekapo

We were not the only one…at Tekapo

Around 3, we started back towards Christchurch. The stay was planned at Novotel Christchurch, which is right next to the Church. We roamed around a little and did some shopping before going to bed.

July 20

We left the hotel early, around  in the morning. Reached Airport, parked the car and took the flight back to Auckland. Then the Thai Airlines flight from Auckland to Bangkok. The transit time was 9 hours. However, there was so much to look on the airport that it did not feel like 9 hours. Then the flight from Bangkok to New Delhi from Thai Airways. We were upgraded free to semi-business class this time.

The Christchurch

July 21
Volvo from Bikaner house to Jaipur.

Just country side across the inter city roads

On way from Te Anau To Lake Tekapo