The southernmost city - Invercargill and Bluff

30 September 2011

Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. Once I reached here, the first thing I did was to make an appointment with the garage to replace my car's water pump. We ended up spending another 350 dollars for the car repair.

The Water Tower is 42.5m high built with red brick. It was completed in 1889 to the design of Willian Sharp, a former civil engineer for the Public Works Department.

Controversy over the sitting of this Troopers' memorial to fallen soldiers in the Boer War. The classical monument with its Aberdeen granite columns, clock and lone trooper in Italian marble standing aloft commands attention. It was designed by Newton Vane who won the design competition.

The Civic Theater at Tay Street was a winning design from Invercargill architect E.R. Wilson. It contains 1,050 seat theater, a smaller concert hall and council offices.

The first Presbyterian Church in polychrome brick at Tay Street was built in 1915. J.T. Mair designed the church in the Italian Romanesque style. The church features an unusual square tower, arched openings and intricate polychrome brick friezes and motifs.

St Mary's Basilica at Tyne Street was completed in 1905. It was designed by F.W. Petre in the tradition of his other great Catholic churches built between Dunedin and Wellington.

Queens Park is located just next to the i-Site. It is a 200 acres public garden for with alpine, rock and herb gardens, specimen and shelter belt trees and rose gardens. There are also large children playground and padding pool, bird aviaries, animals including deer and alpaca.

The Feldwick Gates at Queen's Park creates an elegant entrance to Queen's Park. It was constructed by the city of Invercargil in 1924 in memory of John Feldwick, a prominent citizen and benefactor who contributed a considerable sum of money to develop the park.

Bluff is situated 18km south of Invercargill. It is the southernmost town in the south Island. It is well known for its oyster and the last southernmost signpost in the south island of New Zealand.

pic: The Marine Museum

Doubtful Sound

29 September 2011

A fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or clifts, created in a valley carved by glacial activity. It is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Doubtful Sound is a very large and naturally imposing fjord in Fiordland, in the far south west of New Zealand.

We took the overnight cruise package from Real Journeys which was doing winter special offer. We booked the ticket through one of the BBH in Queenstown which further gave me another 40 dollars off. It was total less than 250 dollars per person.

The package included a 45-minute individual kayaking or tendercraft/small boat, meals and accommodation. For more information, please visit here.

The day began with a short cruise across island-studded Lake Manapouri and a coach trip over Wilmot Pass. We then descended to Doubtful Sound to meet the crew of the Fiorldland Navigator in Deep Cove. It was a rainy day unfortunately but I prayed for a better day the next morning.

pic: Deep Cove

We were then served with evening tea and dessert including fruits and muffins after we checked into our room.

pic: A short briefing on the schedule and room assignment

Everyone stayed in the boat since it was a rainy day. Some of us played chess, while some of us read. Not long after, we were served food again. We had soup and bread before we went out for the kayaking.

It was chilling to kayak in a rainy day. Our body got all wet and the hands were so cold that they became numb. Some of them even jumped into the sea to challenge the freezing water temperature.

We took a hot shower and went back to the hall for a 3-course buffet dinner. It was such a sumptuous dinner with beef, lamb, salad, salmon and many other tempting food.

The next morning, we felt so glad to see the sunshine. We finally had a chance to take good pictures on the same way back to Manapouri.

Glenorchy - The Gateway to 'Paradise'

26 September 2011

Glenorchy is a small settlement nestled in spectacular scenery at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu. It is around 45 km from Queenstown.

pic: Lake Wakatipu, seen on the way from Queenstown to Glenorchy

Glenorchy is closed to many tramping tracks such as Routeburn track. It is also the gateway to the 'Paradise', where Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian were film.

Paradise is a rural locality where there is no cafe and no shop. Sheep and cattle farming is carried out here.

We had seen spectacular scenery in Queenstown. But we prefer the scenery in this peaceful and quiet rural locality 'Paradise' which showed us its unique beauty.

The Noble Queesntown

25-27 September 2011

We spent our first morning in Queenstown at Kiwi birdlife Park. It is a unique visitor attraction for everyone to see nature, wildlife, native forest and birdlife. The park is a hidden sanctuary of trees, bush and native trails in the middle of the busy resort town of Queenstown.

We rushed for the first round of kiwi feedings at 10am. At around the size of a chicken, kiwi lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any other species of bird in the world. It is a national symbol of New Zealand. 

For more info: http://www.kiwibird.co.nz/

Next to the bird park, it is the entrance for the Queenstown Skyline Gondola. There are a few packages you can choose from or you can just have the gondola for NZD25. Alternatively, you can walk up to the peak for free. For the retail price, please visit http://www.skyline.co.nz/queenstown/prices11-12/ .

I chose the the package with gondola and buffet lunch at the restaurant which offers a tempting six course buffet of legendary proportions and spectaular panoramic views. 

There are a few food that you must try in Queesntown. One of them is the Ferg Burger. It offers a variety of burgers with different patties and flavors. It attracts many tourists. 

pic: The burgers are big. You need to stretch your mouth widely to fit the burgers.

Except for the Ferg Burgers, Hell's Pizza was equally good too, though there were not many customers. I specially love the 'Underwater' flavor which was served with smoked mussels.

Queenstown was crowded with tourists. If you are driving, please pay extra attention when you are driving across the pedestrian zebra lines. The scenery you can see here is most of the time spectacular. Unlike in Glenorchy, it offers a quiet and natural scenery view.

The Pleasant Arrowtown

23-24 September 2011

Driving from Wanaka to Arrowtown via Cadrona was an interesting journey. I remember I was driving at dusk. I was enjoying the sunset along the journey and without my notice, we came to a highland where we saw snow on both sides of the road. It is true that we can easily see stunning scenery everywhere in New Zealand. This is in fact the highest paved road in New Zealand. 

Soon, we came to this Arrow Junction where we saw a town not far from here. We guessed it was Arrowtown. We can't wait to continue our journey and drive to the destination.

Unlike other towns, Arrowtown is full of trees. The council even introduced a special zone called the Residential Arrowtown Historic Management Zone, which restricts any maintenance of removal of trees in that area. The light purple areas in the picture below indicates the historic zone.

We stayed in a motel called Shades of Arrowtown. 5 of us stayed in an apartment with two rooms and one simple kitchen for light cooking.

 

Arrowtown offers an ambience with its shops, restaurants, cafe, offices and galleries located within a tight precinct. 

While we were walking around, we found this young Asian lady making some waffles for the ice cream. They looked so tempting and I can't help buying a 2-scope ice cream at the end. The ice cream did not let me down. Despite the price, it tasted really good. The waffle was crispy and the ice cream was smooth. 

Arrowtown is a former gold-mining town built on the banks for the Arrow River. The Chinese settlement was the place where the Chinese miners stayed. The huts here are not tall. You may not be able to stand straight in the huts.