Visit to NZ, Fiji and Australia, April 2015

Part 2

            

          Back to Auckland by bus and after a refreshing night’s sleep, we were ready for the next leg of our adventure.   We reached the airport early and let our guide assist us in the strict rules of baggage check in.   We did have a few anxious moments when we found that our group leader Lakshmi had inadvertently booked her flight for a wrong date.   Luckily a few seats were available for the short hop to our destination and after some anxious wait time, it was all done to our satisfaction.

Dunedin, Baldwin Street, steepest in the world

It was a short flight to Dunedin and just half an hour to drive into town.  It is a town with a Scottish background and the third largest city in New Zealand. For all that it was  low key and quiet.    As at other airports, we found that the tourist buses here are not that big at all.   In fact there is always a trailer for the luggage and the driver has to be really smart in fitting in all the luggage.   Some smaller  pieces had to be stored inside the bus.    The driver, Mark was the total opposite of our North island driver and was very quiet.   But he stayed with us the entire the trip and we went everywhere by bus – proved to be a very helpful and accommodative gentleman.   Some of us enjoyed the peace and quiet while others were having withdrawal symptoms after hearing the other driver talk non-stop!   We found Dunedin to be a student town too.

 

Our first stop was the steepest road in the world, we were told, the Baldwin street.   Standing at the base, we could view the entire road going up at a very steep angle.   The adventurous one did the climb (thankfully there were steps and partial railings on the side, otherwise we would have surely tumbled!)   The view from the top was just great, we also got a free stress test for our hearts and could feel proud that we did it.   After that we settled in for our long drive to Queensland with  a stop along the way to see a produce shed and to enjoy the lovely rose garden behind it.    The south island scenery was already different, but we were to experience its ruggedness the next day.   We enjoyed an Indian dinner again, the items were similar but tasty and proceeded for our night at the hotel.   Hotels in NZ were quite good, although the free Wi Fi they promised often did not work or we had to be in the lobby to avail of it.  Sometimes it was best to pay and get better service.

Rugged Scenery of South New Zealand and Milford Sound

We proceeded to Milford Sound the next morning.   It was a four hour ride and with plans to return the same day, we were a bit apprehensive.   But the rugged and beautiful scenery along the way as well as the jokes and laughter and music melted away the hours.   It is so important to go with good company, otherwise it could be drudgery to travel long distances by road.   The lakes along the way stretched literally for miles, the mountains had a dry but stark beauty.   We stopped for a group picture in a totally desolate area with mountains in the background.  We also stopped for a little trek to view a “mirror lake”. Very little of the alpine meadows of the north island were visible in this area.   There were sheep grazing on cultivated grass with elaborate watering systems and on our return we stopped to take pictures of the grazing sheep that were found by the hundreds in the enclosed meadows.  We made another stop to view the famous Lake Te Anau and wandered into the town for a bit.

 

Milford Sound itself was worth the visit, we reached around 1 p.m. and just made it to the departing ship.   It was large with several viewing levels and made its way slowly amidst the towering cliffs.  For a change we had non-Indian food on board.   We enjoyed some waterfalls and some seals dozing in the sun on huge rocks.  The weather was cloud and sun, but pleasant, although bright sunshine would have been nicer, but with Fiordland National Park being one of the wettest places in the world, we were lucky we were not in a deluge!  The bus ride back was full of marvel, great cloud formations against the backdrop of the towering sharp peaks.

Bungee Jumping and Bob’s Peak

The next day was a relatively light schedule.   After breakfast we headed for a nearby bridge from which bungee jumping seemed to be a popular event.   Just one or two of our group had the inclination to try the daredevil sport, but they too had to defer due to lack of time.  The fear inducing jump and the zipline  was fun to watch, though, from the safety of solid earth!  From there we took a fairly short bus ride to go up to Bob’s Peak up a mountain of great height about 1,500 ft. in a ski lift gondola.    The view from the top was what New Zealand was all about.   Majestic peaks all around and down below, the blue crystal clear water of the Lake Wakatipu, spreading for 77 kms, a total of a staggering 290 square miles stretching endlessly,  broken here and there by an emerald green island.   It was a captivating sight, but we were forced to look away when we were told to enjoy the buffet lunch.   Wow, was that a sight too!   Right from the mouth-watering corn soup (it was very hard to move to the next course!) to the salads and pastas that seemed endless, it was just great after all the Indian food we had been served day in and day out.   The deserts did not disappoint either!   There was a total  overload of cakes, pies, puddings and fresh Crème Broule for which there was a high demand.

Adventure on the Trail going down

When our appetites were satisfied to the utmost, we finally wandered outside to take in more of the view and explore the Ben Lomond Reserve.  The gondola ride had been pretty steep, but now there was talk in our group about taking a trek down the trails to our bus.   The adventurous ones minimized the effort involved and set off right away.   Few of us got tempted a bit later when we went to inspect the trail, it seemed well laid out and oh so scenic!   Why not?   So we set out.  It was basically fine with smooth downhill paths and spectacular views around every bend.  We just had to avoid  the speed bikers whose path crossed ours every now and then.   But the downside was that instructions on the trail were bad whenever we came to a branch and both parties ended up getting lost for about 30-45 minutes.   With no cell phones to communicate, we did have some anxious moments, but it all ended well and we were all re-united soon.  The walk was well worth it, young people go to New Zealand just to trek the countryside, while we just eat and sit in a bus!   Oh well, we could boast that something  is better than nothing!

Puzzling World

We did a little bit of shopping that evening and our group leader, Lakshmi finally said enough is enough with the mattar paneer and she was able to change the menu to poori-alu and khichdi at the Tandoor.   We sure enjoyed that meal!  The next day we were back on the bus, fully packed as we were heading for Twizel.  On our itinerary, Puzzling World had been listed and we were wondering if this might be too childish.  But it was simple fun.   We were in rooms where the sloping floors did tricks on our balance, felt like Alice in Wonderland with the low ceilings and tiny windows and lots of laser images that entertained us.   After a nice cup of coffee we proceeded outside where we had fun taking pictures with a tower that seemed ready to fall off its base.

  The rest of the day’s drive included a viewing of a glacier at Mt. Cook which was landlocked, not near any ocean and wine tasting. And while our bus filled up with gas, we were dropped off near a small age old Church of the Good Shepherd with its sheep dog monument.   It was very serene with a lake nearby and we walked around peeping in through its windows as it was closed.  Our Twizel hotel was old but the hospitality was good and they went out of the way to serve us good home cooked meals.   We even made time to visit a local supermarket and buy chocolate, chips  and other goodies.  However, the night adventure of trying to view the “Southern Lights” or Australia Borealis was a fizzle out and there were a couple of wise ones who skipped this outing and got caught up on their sleep!

Christchurch and on to Fiji

On to Christchurch, the last major city in the southern island.  This is the city that was hit by a major earthquake and some churches are still in the broken condition, just as a reminder of the catastrophe and a cardboard church was temporarily housing the devout.   In contrast, we had a very pleasant ride of punting on the Avon River.   It was  very British and the meticulously maintained botanical gardens around the river afforded us a soothing respite from all the bus travel.   The last leg of the journey was our flight back to Auckland and overnight stay near the airport and the next morning early flight brought us to sunny Fiji!

Our morning flight landed uneventfully in Nadi, pronounced by the locals as Naandi, which is supposed to mean low tide.   Among the locals settled here, many are of Indian origin and still speak Hindi in the homes.   The British brought them over centuries ago when they found the local island  people to be of a lethargic nature.   Now many have advanced to own their business.  Fiji is comprised of 333 islands.  Initially we were told cannibalism was practiced but with advent of missionaries, this was put to an end.  Now Fiji people are rated as among the happiest in the world.  Communal living is common with a chief controlling a village and he was allowed many wives to preserve his dynasty.  We were taken to view a model community and it was very neat and well kept and the government also provides a lot of support.

Fruit Orchards and Hindu Temple

From the start Fiji was appealing as it was not overbuilt like, say, Bali is.  Everywhere there are fruit orchards and the hospitality of the people is amazing.  We had the exclusive privilege of viewing a private fruit orchard at the top of a hill and this belonged to Rosey, the wife of a prominent personality.  The weather is ideal for easy cultivation of fruits like papaya, bread fruit, watermelon and pineapple.  Besides that, sugar, gold and black pearls are the specialty of the region.   Talking of famous, Raymond Burr of American TV fame, had owned and cultivated an exotic orchid garden and later gifted it to the locals.   It is at the foot of the mountain described as the Sleeping Giant whose huge reclining  shape can be easily identified as we travelled back and forth.   We saw a local vegetable market, tasted tender coconut and fruits.  We also had the opportunity to visit the full fledged Subramania temple and got dressed in salwar kameez for the occasion!

Tivua Island and Kayaking

The three days in Fiji recharged our batteries.  Though the beach near our resort was not ideal with sharp rocks and full of shells,  the rooms were large old world style  with sit -out verandas.  We got to visit Tivua (Treasure Island) on a cruise boat and spend  the entire day there on lounging chairs on the soft white sands and turquoise blue waters.  No surprise the men fell into sound sleep right on the sands!   We had a chance to try kayaking too near the shore.   The island was so small we could walk around it in about 15 mins along the beach, leading us to conjecture how those marooned on small islands must feel.  We were also taken to see the coral and exotic fish in a glass bottom boat.   All  our meals were at the resort and they did their best to provide us with tasty vegetarian fare like exotic papaya salads, soups and root vegetables, some Indian dishes and  delectable vanilla ice cream!   They sent us on our way to Australia with a touching farewell show and song specially composed for us.   Very warm people indeed.