DAY 11- MELBOURNE ... AUSTRALIA HERE WE COME

outside melbourne library

NZ today , a national news channel was wrapping up the international news for the whole day and it primarily constituted of news reports from various parts of the southern island and people were expressing the fear of the aftershocks that might come and clips of destruction it had caused. we had finished our packing as we had to leave early in the morning at 4 am as we had a flight at 7 am. vathika was asleep in no time and i was immersed in the news. KFC big bash australian domestic t20 was going on and Chris gayle was in full swing as he smashed the bowlers to all parts of the ground. match was as electric as it could get and that meant my sleep getting delayed lil more. at 2318 hrs, i had an experience of my lifetime.. the tv went off , we were getting dragged to the edge of the bed, almost fell of it, the tremor was strong enough to take the living daylights off me!! all this happened in less than 5 seconds. but it felt like a hour and the stress beyond measure.. it took an hour more for me to fall asleep..waiting all the time with eyes wide open and ears very alert to sense even the slightest of quake..it was 330 am when vathika got up and felt me pushing her and she to her horror found out it infact was another tremor. we got up soon , freshened up and were at the foyer of the hotel by 355 am. we collected our breakfast packet which was waiting at the reception counter. our only prayer/wish/hope was to get to the airport as soon as possible and fly out .. the pick up vehicle came at sharp 4 am and was a young lady at the wheel. she collected the voucher, put our luggage in the drag cart and we hopped into the car. she was pretty fast as we reached the airport in 15 minutes which to us was told as a 30 minute drive. we finished our check in formalities and after some duty free shopping we waited for our turn to board the flight and soon enough the announcement said AIR NEW ZEALAND christchurch melbourne open for boarding... this flight was by far the best flight in this trip and was a mile ahead of rest of them in every department.. from the cabin crew to the seats to the on board entertainment, on board cuisine.. a flight to remember.it was a 4 hr flight and time passed real soon as i had an aussie sitting next to me. we discussed a lot of things from india to australia to cricket to the air hostess !!! he was a thorough gentlemen and at the end of it he turned out to be the australian cricketer Peter Siddle s uncle.


Melbourne ... looked like any other major indian city from 15000 ft in the sky and it felt great as our flight made its landing .. we were on aussie soil... oz oz oz hoi hoi hoi...we got our luggage and had our breakfast at the mcdonalds outlet in the airport lounge. we were to be joined by my brother vishal shenoy who was flying from hobart . his flight  was delayed by 2 hours and instead of him reaching first to welcome us, we were waiting in the airport. the airport was brimming with people from all ethnic backgrounds and looked l,ike a melting pot of different cultures. it was christmas eve and the world comes to australia to celebrate it here. the hobart flight finally arrived and we met bro . sunil kamath and supriya kamath were at the airport to pick us up. 30 minutes drive and we reached manmiths house. we had a wonderful lunch there with dalitove, potato upkari and piyava odi, typical konkani food thanks to manmiths mom. its a real great feeling to eat homely typical simple food after 10 days of burgers and pizzas and kebabs and spicy oily food. we spent some time there and then went to sunilannas house where we were supposed to stay for next 3 nights. we met dhiren shenoy and his family there. after a quick shower , we took the metro to the city as we planned to explore the CBD or central business district of melbourne. we went to Royal melbourne university campus where my bro had done his masters, the place where ned kelly was hanged till death, the melbourne state  public library- which was like a palace, built and maintained like one, it had 50 odd pcs with internet for free usage. a repertoire of books in all fields for reference and reading, a activity center where playstation, xbox etc were all free to use again. wish such wonderful libraries would be a reality in india too sometime!!

caricature artist at his best

we then clicked some photos at the melbourne exhibition centre and then walked down the road across the bridge over the yarra river from where we could see the MCG. we then crossed the street and walking towards the eureka skydeck88.Skydeck 88 is the only observation deck in the world that can thrill you with 'The Edge' - a glass cube which projects 3 metres out from the building - with you in it - suspended almost 300 metres above the ground!Eureka is perfectly positioned for 360 degree, floor-to-ceiling views encompassing Melbourne's CBD, sports precinct, Port Phillip Bay, Docklands and everything in between. Come by day for brilliant views extending to the Dandenong ranges, and by night to see the spectacular Melbourne skyline nightscape. we were told that indian cricket team was put up in some hotel nearby. india was touring australia and dec 26 the famous boxing day test at melbourne was to be played. i was walking with my eyes wide open to catch glimpse of any cricketer but none to find. as we were passing through a small time bar , i told my bro hey thats ricky there... he asked who ricky? .. i said ponting!!! ponting was all over the news in australia and many wanted him out of the team and the sword was hanging over his head. they could not believe that it indeed was ricky ponting!! we started peeping .. he was sitting there withn a beer in his hand and a old couple with him. he got conscious and asked us what we wanted and we very sheepishly said ... sir one photo.. he obliged and we clicked.. we were numb!!! he told us that couple were his parents and they were celebrating christmas.  we were on cloud nine!! and soon enough we were 88 floors up in the sky and definitely felt on the cloud. eureka 88 was a great experience and to see 360 degree view of the city .. excellent.. we then were going towards CROWN casino when we met Chang , the famous caricature artist who instantly captured in his net of words .. we were getting ourselves drawn.. mohinder amarnath and his wife passed by and complemented him and us too!!! he did a good job. \

atop eureka skydeck 88

we then went into crown casino , which was as grand as it can get. the rich and the famous were all thewre and winnong a lot of bucks and some losing a fortune as well. we tried our hands and burnt our fingers. 5 $ went down the drain in no time !! we decided to get out and waited for the fire show outside crown and it indeed is a must see.. beautiful to say the least , magnanimous to mean it.. truly breath taking. it was already past 10. we still had some way to get to flinders station to get our train to where we were staying. one hour later we reached home, had some wonderful pulao and hit the bed .... tired to the brim....

DAY 10-TRANZ ALPINE EXPRESS-CHRISTCHURCH

a view from the train

Last day of the wonderful trip in this amazing country called New Zealand and you only wish it had been longer. We were asked to be in the foyer of the hotel by 915 am which simply meant we did not have to get up really early. It was a nice cool morning in the glacier region and after a nice heavy breakfast and packing we were waiting at the foyer for the bus to arrive. We departed from the glacier region and travelled further north along the rugged west coast to greymouth. The journey took us through some spectacular countryside with the rough Tasman sea to the west and the stunning Southern Alps to the east. 

in conversation with bro about earthquake

The journey took us through the goldrush sites of new Zealand were at one point of time a lot of people travelled here and dug ground in pursuit of gold. We reached greymouth town at 1230 pm . we were at freedom to do some shopping or catch some snacks before alighting our train at 115pm, we just walked around the sleepy town of greymouth and found a Indian restaurant called Priya. We packed a couple of chicken biryani for lunch and came back to the place where the bus was parked and had our stomach fool sitting on public bench. The biryani was just yum . the bus started at 1 pm and made its way to the greymouth train station where we were to catch the Tranz Alpine Express to Christchurch. The train station looked like any other train station in india but the security and the system inside was similar to the airport standards in india. We had to check in our luggage an we could carry only handbag into the cabin while rest of the luggage goes into one cargo compartment and the whole thing works the way it does in an airport.

the wonderful train 

awesome view

food aboard the train

 The Tranz Alpine Express is described as THE GREAT NEW ZEALAND RAIL ADVENTURE and is rated as one of the top six scenic train journeys in the world. It ascends through lush beech forests past the beautiful Lake Brunner via the alpine village of Arthurs Pass situated 737 meters above sea level, before crossing the spectacular southern alps, the tranz alpine then winds its way over massive viaducts through spectacular river gorges and the \stunning Waimakiriri River valley . The train was a beauty by itself  reminiscent of the palace on wheels of India with plush luxury seats, wonderful upholstery, nice big glass windows to get a good view and a mouth watering menu on offer in the pantry.  The journey was indeed one of the most scenic journeys ever as we pass  through breath taking locations and mountains and really high bridges and green landscapes. The public adressal system on train makes sure that  the captain of train keeps us informed about the places and info that make sure that we don’t miss out on anything. We were midway through the journey when my brother Vishal shenoy called from Australia to find out if we were safe.. we had no clue what had happened until he told us that Christchurch where we were heading to had just had an earthquake of intensity 7.3 on richter scale. Christchurch earlier that year had a massive earthquake which had  virtually destroyed the whole city and had killed over 3000 people. This was the first aftershock of such high magnitude and the fear was that there will be a deadlier one soon. Everyone in the train in no time came to know about the shock. And everyone was out with their ipads and Iphones trying to get more info from the internet. The  most shocking info for us was the airport was closed after the quake. We had a flight to catch at 4 am the next morning and airport getting closed meant a lot of problems.the train captain then explained the situation to us that the quake was a major one and we did not feel it much as we were passing through a 10 km long tunnel which is carved out of a huge rocky mountain. The train was asked to travel atmuch slower speed which meant a delay of almost 90 minutes. The train then finally arrived at the Christchurch station. We collected our luggage and soon met the  chauffeur who had come to pick us up. We asked him if we were safe in Christchurch and he said I have been here all my life.. what do you think?. We had no answer , he said what you see in media is a extrapolated picture and the condition on ground zero is not that bad after all. He dropped us to the chataeu on the park hotel which was as awesome as any other hotel we had stayed during the entire journey. 

After checking in , we tried contacting the different hotels for food but most of them had been destroyed after the first earthquake. We then took a walk down the streets to find a restaurant called ELEPHANT which was a nepali restaurant . we had some indo nepali food and got back to the hotel . we had to catch a flight early in the morning next day and it only made sense tohit the  bed soon and catch some sleep……..

DAY 9- FRANK JOSEF GLACIER!!

Certain things irritate and disturb you most when you are trying to catch that extra 5 minutes of sleep when you are expected to get up relatively early. The alarm sounds like a enemy siren and you feel like using all your strength to destroy it. But in my case it just cant happen as the alarm is set on my lovely phone which I take care of very dearly. But yes, cursing is risk and tax free and  I make full use of it. Cursing not the alarm but self for not having made the effort to try and sleep early the previous night. But one really cant brood over spilt milk!! And you finally succumb to the fact that you have no other go but to get up and get off the bed!!and when you are on a vacation and have a bus to catch at 0740  hours there is enough and more reason to get to your senses.

As we had packed everything previous day itself it was just a matter of freshening up and having breakfast . bus journey was  proposed to be 7 hours long with one lunch stop and a couple of comfort stops for respecting the bladder. We travelled along the shores of lake Wanaka and hawaea to the Haast Pass which is the gateway to the World Heritage Westland National Park. And continuing past the spectacular mountain ranges, native forests and lakes of the glacier region of Fox and Frank Josef glacier.

We were dropped at the scenic hotel franz Josef glacier at around 1530 hours . after check in at the wonderfully located and beautifully decorated hotel, we went to the heli tour provider outlet as the last tour would go at 1700 hours. Heli tour means we are taken on a helicopter showing us the beautiful mountain range, the breath taking ice capped glacier and finally lands on one of the glaciers , where we can get off the helicopter move around on the ice capped mountain, capture some fabulous moments on camera, play with ice and after all the fun we are brought back to ground zero. The cost involved is a bomb of course but then having gone that far not going for a heli tour and land on top of the glacier would be termed as frank foolish. Deal was simple 200 dollars for 2 for  showing one glacier and landing . 300 dollars for 2 for showing 3 glaciers and landing one one. We took the first option due to economical reasons. But God had different ideas. As it was the last trip of the day they planned to combine 2 different groups into one heli tour. The other group had 3 people in their late 60s from UK on their post retirement tour. And they had the bucks too so had opted for the latter package. The heli tour guy told us you are lucky you will see all 3 glaciers at the cost of one  thanks to the other group.. and he also told us shut your mouths about this its between us, let the oldies not know how much u paid ;) we could not ask for more!!. 

We were then taken to the helipad and after all the security features were explained to us and putting on the heavy protective headphones, the helicopter took off. This was the first time I was sitting on a helicopter and it does feel scary unlike the aeroplane which feels much more safer and secure. But then that is one great experience everyone must have!! We  witnessed a sight beyond imagination, Nature could not be more beautiful and to be flying on top of  it  like a carefree bird with no boundaries, no limits …just priceless…totally out of the world!! The chopper then landed on top of the glacier and we were given 10 minutes to feel what heaven felt and looked like. If there is paradise on earth it is here, it is here , it is here!! Whoever said that about Kashmir had definitely not been here I am sure. The colour theme crystal white due to ice , sun shining in the sky influencing the temperature from becoming low, making it absolutely perfect to sit and absorb as much of the feeling that you could of being in a place beyond comparison. We did play in the ice, photos were captured and then finally unwillingly got back to the helicopter and after having a aerial tour of the other 2 glaciers finally landed back . the heli tour ended  but the EXPERIENCE  stayed!! And will stay on forever..

We then freshened up and wanted a good massage to liven us up . we got appointment at the Rainbow Forest resort and spa which was pretty nearby from our place. Emma gave both of us a good refreshing massage and also 2 $ per hour internet meant we could catch up on some developments back home via internet.  It was dinner time and we found ourselves in the Priya restaurant, the only Indian restaurant in that small town village. This little village has a population of less than 500 people and every thing has to come from a town not less than 200 miles away. We were talking to the Indian owner of the restaurant and he said even water comes from elsewhere and there is nothing which they can use from the locale. And that’s why the cost is generally higher compared to other cities. After a good heavy dinner we traced our way back to the room and let the sleep gods take control over us……

DAY 8- WANAKA EXPERIENCE

When you know that you are at leisure some day In A long vacation and you are not expected to get ready really early in the mornings its a beautiful feeling . One it gives U time to sleep for long next day and secondly  U can sleep late the previous night. We did get up relatively late this morning at 930 and rushed to lap up the breakfast which if little late would ve been missed. But luck was on our side and we did have our stomach full. We got back to the room and freshened up and got ready to explore wanaka. Wanaka is a small town about 60 odd kms from the bustling Queenstown. We had seen a few pamphlets about wanaka and things present there  attracted  us. We went to the tourist information centre and gathered more info about the same. Bus would leave at 1130 and last return bus was at 3 pm from there and we need to book the return tickets too. We had our lunch at McDonald's some burgers , French fries and coke. The journey from Queenstown to wanaka was one more scenic journey with breathtaking views of the mountains and the township below. It has to be experienced to be believed. No choice of words can express the awe of the natures beauty when at its best. It just needs one to be there look at it to feel it and etch it into the memory forever. The blue skies, humungous hills, numerous sheeps, valley with small creeks flowing crystal clear water, the pleasant cool weather , silence of the valley all put together truly makes it a sight to remember.  We reached wanaka at 1 pm. we took a taxi to go to the puzzling world.Stuart Landsborough’s Puzzling World is a world unique attraction specialising in puzzling eccentricity. For over 35 years this remarkable business has entertained and amazed visitors of all ages attracted to this beautiful part of the world. Puzzling World offers the world’s first "3-D" Great Maze, incredible Illusion Rooms, a Puzzle Centre/Café, large Gift Shop, eccentric architecture and the intriguing Psychic Challenge.When we arrived at Puzzling World we immediately noticed the crazy architecture. One building has four eccentric Tumbling Towers. Another one is called the Leaning Tower of Wanaka. This tower has been pulled out of the ground and is balanced on one corner at an unbelievable 53 degrees! The Leaning Tower of Pisa only leans six degrees.The Illusion Rooms of  Puzzling World have to be seen to be believed. 

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           Each room is an illusion in its own right. On entering we passed through the Hologram Hall. Moving on into the Hall of Following Faces illusion room where 168 giant models of famous faces seem to turn and follow us around the room. there were millions of puzzles in solve on your own section and we spent quite sometime there. then there was a big man made maze with a lot of challenge attached to it. we tried solving it but then we were running short of time too. we then got a cab to drop us to the TOY AND TRANSPORT MUSEUM.The museum is the result of one man’s dream and 50 years of collecting and preserving pieces from the past. The transport collection boasts rare and unusual aircraft, cars, trucks, motorcycles, fire appliances, military vehicles and tractors.A nostalgic selection of toys has something to fascinate the child in everyone, such as clockwork and battery powered toys, porcelain dolls, teddy bears, pedal cars and money boxes.The Museum offers indoor and outdoor playing areas with pedal tractors and trucks for the kids. The Museum shop has thousands of models and gifts. Light refreshments are also available.the cab driver when he dropped us there had promised to take us back at 240 pm. we ran through the wonderful museum and came out by 240pm . but there were no signs of the cab !! the museum being in the outskirts no cab was around and even if we call for one it would not be there in time for us to catch the bus at 3 pm. we desparately ran on the roads and started waving randomly at every passing car for a lift. noone would stop of course. we felt like we were in big trouble and would haveto arrange for a cab to queenstown which would dent a huge hole in the wallet!!. minutes were passing by and every passin second made us feel more miserable and then suddenly from nowhere we saw our cab approaching and it came and stopped next to us!! driver very coolly asked if we got tensed.. i controlled myself from slapping him!! the cab reached the bus stop right in time and we hopped on to it na dtook us back the same route to queenstown. 

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after reaching queenstown we did some local shopping atthe chinese market and local new zealand shop. and then had great tasting food at a indian restaurant called tandoori palace. we had dinner early today so instead of cab decided to walk back to the hotel.we had to the packing as we head to next town in our journey....

DAY 7-MILFORD SOUND CRUISE

on way to milford sound

Eye lashes protested from separating , they did not want to be traumatized by the light of the dawn this morning, so did the muscles of the body which wanted to lay down undisturbed for some more time. The weather , the calm, the peace, the serenity of the place sent such positive energy through the spine that one would feel like being in the same state of trance for as long as possible. But every fantasy has its  villain and so did this one. The alarm. It was set at 0545 hrs and very religiously it rang breaking our unfinished symphony. We had to get up early because we were expected to be in the foyer of our hotel by 0700 hrs to get into the bus. We performed our morning rituals and had a heavy breakfast and were all set to go when the bus picked us up and we were the first ones to get into the bus . 

we managed to get good seats by default as we were the only people in the bus then. The seating would be important in this journey because this was supposed to be one scenic rendezvous with exhilarating natural beauty. The first 2 seats in the left half of the bus had the privilege of us sitting. The bus then made its way to different hotels and picked all others who were traveling to the same destination.  The co passengers were from diverse backgrounds.. from india, france, Japanese, Korean and a few from UK. Japanese and Koreans were given headphones which could be connected to the port on every seat. And translator would speak in those languages  whereas the majority of us who understand English the driver cum guide would speak. The journey would last 6 hours with one comfort break which in simple words means toilet  stop. The journey was as beautiful as it was promised with landscapes so beautiful and breathtaking with cameras clicking continuously to capture as much as one could. We followed the southern arm of lake wakatipu to lumsden and onward to lake Te Anau. The scenery changed dramatically from tussock covered grasslands to glacier hewn  valleys as we entered the Eglington valley and travelled through the breathtaking man made Homer Tunnel to reach Milford Sound.

 

Once here we completed security check and booked our lunch on board and waited for our cruise liner . the view of milford sound is better seen than read. Rudyard Kipling    had previously  called it the eighth Wonder of the World. Milford Sound is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity with water in valley. The weather was just fine luckily for us with the sun just out not too warm not too cold.  The cruise started its journey and we got into the top open deck of the liner. It was so windy that we almost struggled to hang on in there but definitely clicked some nice pics . we then went into the covered portion of the cruise and had our buffet lunch. An awesome array of buffet options laid in  front of us ranging from prawns to mussels to chicken to beef to ham. We ate all that we could and wanted and went to the front deck of the liner. Luck was on our side again as we saw lots of dolphins and seals  . we spent almost 2 hours and on the way back we were taken close to the cole falls . once the liner docked at the miniport we felt we still needed to spend more time on board but it was not possible as we had to get into the bus.

milford sound

We did just that and the bus took us back to queenstown another 6 hour journey . but the time was well spent with  driver entertaining us firstly with a dvd on making of homer tunnel which was interesting and then a movie on life of a whalechaser which was a good watch.we reached our hotel at 730 pm in the evening . we freshened up and went to the city centre to a restaurant called india:once upon a time. Some good Indian food after a long journey was all that was needed to recharge our senses. We crawled back to our hotel and after some washing clothes session retired to the bed satisfied with the day that just passed by……

DAY 6- QUEENSTOWN CALLING

The dawn of Monday the 19 dec was as lackadaisical as a lazy hippopotamus ling down in a slushy pond. Too lazy to even stretch our legs , breathing is involuntary or else probably we would complain of that too. We were leaving rotorua today and proceeding to the south island of new Zealand to the adventurous town of quenstown. The thought of queenstown was exciting for it offers arguably the worlds best adventure sports and breathtaking nature .  Phone rang breaking the pleasant silence which was hovering in the room, it was indeed the wake up call but we were kind of already up just waiting for the call to actually get off the bed. Human psychology is so amazing that even if we wake up 5 minutes before the alarm we will still wait for the alarm to ring and try to catch up 5 minute sleep as if it is going to make any difference. Some amount of packing was left which we did after freshening up and proceeded to the restaurant for the buffet breakfast . there was a huge confusion between the pork and chicken sausages and we ended up eating pork ones assuming it to be chicken. Human psychology again here.. when we ate the sausages we relished it like we had not eaten for years but when we did come to know it was pork and not chicken it felt like we were having reverse peristalsis and were about to puke out the whole thing out!!! Nonetheless it was yummy and we didn’t care much. The shuttle to the airport would arrive at 0730 hrs and we were in the foyer  by 0725hrs with our luggage . the airport was was a 20 minute drive to he suburban part of the town . 

 If u go to any small town in india by bus the bus stand u would see will resemble the rotorua international airport. It was a one storey building not more than 30 metre in width with a board displaying the name of the airport. We looked at each other in utter shock and surprise as we could not digest the fact that it indeed was the airport. Nevertheless we bid bye to the shuttle guy and dragged ourselves and luggage  into the lounge . the ticket counter resembled a village cinema theatre  like set up with two ordinarily dressed middle aged women asking u for ur check in formalities. She would also sell you tickets in case u needed one. 


After checking in  the luggage we proceeded to the lounge which ended before it started. It was a tiny lounge which could accommodate not more than 75 people at its maximum. And the café made sure that space was lessened but then it was a must there. We would get our boarding pass from the counter after paying a 5 $ airport development fee!!!  Indeed they needed more of it looking at the state of the airport there. We made ourselves comfortable in the lounge couch and then  bought some potato chips to munch. We had never come across a chicken flavored chicken chips and we bought it and had it . we loved it and had one more;) . our flight did arrive soon and we embarked it . the flight was a small 60 seater ATR operated by a low cost operator called mt.cook airlines. 


The on board air hostess greeted us with a smile which outlined the wrinkles she had on her face , a minimum of 20. Her age must have been not less than 55 by our wildest guess. And to see her serve us water and biscuits did not feel great but we had no option. The flight was a scenic journey ever since we entered the territory of the south island of new Zealand. Now for all those who are confused let me explain. New Zealand comprises of two big islands. South island and north island and each island has different cities. We had complete all the cities in north island except wellington where we did not opt to go and were now proceeding to the south island.  The flight was a 4hr journey and we decided to spend time by playing NPATC( Name, place, animal, thing, cinema) a game which we played last when we re probably 10 year old. But we had great fun doing that. Queenstown is a beautiful city with lot of mountainous and hilly terrain with large rivers bisecting it and the birds eye view from the aircraft is truly exhilarating and out of the world! 
We were just soaking in all of it when the flight started its descent and it was like a Indiana jones movie with the aircraft cruising between hills at considerable speed. It’s a sight which one must see to believe !!  the flight then finally landed and we disembarked. It was windy and chilly although it was sunny and the airport just beautiful like the city itself. We collected all the pamphlets and brochures available for activity there and collected our luggage and proceeded to the pick up . the shuttle took us to the city giving us a nice panaromic view of the city and finally dropped us to our hotel which was scenic suites queenstown . the hotel was beautiful and classy and had only suites on offer . we freshened and then went walking to the city centre and found this amazing restaurant called Bombay palace which promised tasty authentic Indian food. 

We ordered for chicken biryani,butter chicken and chicken tikka. The host was friendly coming from a town near delhi and told us a few things about the city. The restaurant was nice and peaceful till a group of gujarati elderly people entered. A group of 4 couples made enough noise to destroy the peaceful ambience of the restaurant and all they ordered were 3 rice and 2 paneer butter masala. They then asked for complimentary onions ,papads,  pickles and complained that curry had less spice and rice was half cooked  and then asked for little extra gravy and then told the hotel guys not to charge etc. We were having fun looking at their behavior but they got a lot of stares of disgust from some of the non Indians in the restaurant. We were filled upto our throat and went walking back to the restaurant to digest a little whatever we had overeaten. We then slept after a morning full of travel and food etc. the next thing we know was it was 7 pm and we were disoriented .. it took a good 10 minutes to get oriented and after a quick shower we went to the city center area.. 

we had heard about a concept pub run by ABSOLUT called Below Zero and went hunting for that and we found it. Below Zero has been hand sculpted by two of the worlds top ice carvers from North America. The Walls , bar, furniture, sculptures, and even the glasses they serve our vodka cocktails in - all created from Ice. Below Zero is the first bar in the world to feature a real gas fireplace and a life size gondola. With the bar being a controlled temperature of minus 5 degrees they fit us with super warm jackets, gloves and boots so that we can enjoy this incredible experience while still being cosy and warm.they charge a 30$ entry with one drink free . for subsequent drinks we need to pay additional 8 -10$ each. 

We clicked a few pictures and had our drinks and just spent some wonderful time there.  We then went to a nearby restaurant for dinner called Freiyas  bistro. The dinner was excellent as we had ordered some grilled prawns and steamed rice with chicken kolhapuri. It was late and time to retire and we soon got a cab which dropped us to the restaurant. We did all clothes washing and stuff and hit the bed tired but not exhausted and looking for more…..

DAY 5- ROTORUA EXPLORATION

pohutu geyser in the background

It was a very cloudy morning as we woke up and chilly too and this combination usually makes a person too lazy to get up from the bed and that’s what exactly happened to us. After half an hour or so of snoozing we finally managed to pull our bones together and started freshening up. The breakfast was ready in the restaurant down and we would have only 10 minutes to gulp the wonderful spread down as the shuttle would arrive at 0750 according to the itinerary. A grand continental breakfast and a few Indian tourists in the restaurant was quite warm reception. There was a family of sardars and a family from Bangalore along with us and we would all travel in the same shuttle for the sightseeing.

kiwi replica @ rainbow springs

The shuttle was on time as usual and we got into it .it was much smaller than the coaches we had travelled till now but nonetheless was as luxurious and comfortable as the other mercs. The first destination was just a 10 minute drive to the TE PUIA GEOTHERMAL RESERVE. The drive was beautiful as we crossed a few golf clubs and geysers and mud pools on the way. It started raining heavily as we got off the coach and the wind made it worse and we were shivering like nuts!! We ran into the memoirs shop and bought some utility disposable plastic raincoats .  the te puia reserve is a protected area which has a lot of maori historical objects, photographs and cultural things  alongwith  boiling mudpools and cascading Pohutu geyser, one of the biggest natural geysers in New Zealand. The guide explained us a lot about the maori culture, how they came there, difficulties they faced , culture they follow and also showed us some rare pictures of their ancestors who were famous for their existence. Then we took a walk around the reserve and saw the natural boiling mudpool. A half an hour session of sitting in that pool supposedly detoxifies the skin and protects it for many years.  The rain was getting harder and the wind faster but the enthusiasm to see the geyser kept us going as we reached Pohutu. It’s a natural geyser which shoots up around 25 feet in the air and the sight is just breathtaking to say the least. Maori arts and crafts institute  a part of the reserve itself  showcased some amazing sculptural  architectures and wooden carvings and there were people live at work. Some sight that was the speed and precision the men had would make even  a plastic surgeon jealous. We were given 10 minutes to shop some of the goodies they had.

@agrodome 

maori arts and crafts institute

lunch @ skyline restaurant

Our next destination was the agrodome which was a 20 minute drive to the outer part of the town. Here we had an entertaining show featuring sheep dog demonstrations, cow milking and an introduction to the stars of the sheep industry. Different breeds of sheep and their wool etc were on display and here again we could shop for any memorabilia to take back home. Next stop was 10 minute drive to the Rainbow springs which is a protected are for conservation of wildlife and fishes and birds. A huge nature park with all resident birds including the soon to be  extinct kiwi birds and some rare insects and animals was definitely worth seeing. After clicking photos with some of the wildlife we decided to see off the coach and hung around to go to skyline restaurant which was based on a hill and a gondola aka cable car would take us up the hill giving us a eye popping view of the city !! and the light drizzle just made the setting out of the world. Once atop the mountain we were amazed to see the things to do there. We first watched a 4d movie in a theatre ..the movie was the count Dracula. And then we went for LUGE which is a must do for anyone who will visit rotorua. Its basically a lastic platform to sit on with wheels under it and a handle to maneouvre. There is no engine whatsoever. And the journey is downhill. Gravity is your accelerator, if u pull the handle up the luge moves and if u push it down it stops because of ur weight. We had an amazing time doing it and once downhill we are brought up the mountain via a open cable car. Absolutely adrenaline racing activity it was. Once up ,we went to the skyline restaurant and bought tickets for the awesome buffet that was spread there. There were 80 different things to eat in that and had everything from egg to fish to mussels to chicken to lamb to ham to beef and of course some veg as well. One and half hours and 10 plates down I felt a little heavier as I went to get the desserts . 20 odd desserts one better than the other meant another 5 kg increase in weight. Who cares!! I ate till I could only breathe , any mention of food from there on would mean puke out of my mouth. We dragged ourselves to the gondola to go down the mountain now. And once down we asked for a cab which arrived in no time and we got back to the hotel to take some much needed rest. After a good 3 hours sleep we got up in the evening and took the hotel shuttle to the city center and then walked around to explore the city and look around a few shops and restaurants and some pubs. We were accompanied by the bangalorean family as well and we chatted the whole time till we found the restaurant we were planning to go to. It was  called the Indian star  and bangalorean family wanted to try thai so they went elsewhere. We had a wonderful kabab platter  with some steamed rice and butter chicken with some coke. We then returned to the city center and waited for the hotel coach to arrive.  The coach did arrive finally after a 10 minute wait and we got back to the hotel and slept to glory …..

day 4 JOURNEY TO ROTORUA

driver cum guide john

As the lashes of my eyes were separating in ultra slow motion ,the mind was in a state of confusion ... it was trying hard to make itself familiar with the objects that were falling in the limits of visual perception…it was dark and cozy and most importantly cold.. and this combination is ideal to snooze and snooze more… after a lot of deliberation and compromise in the grey matter of the brain I got up and came back to reality it was 6 am. i slid the screen and  found out that it was bright outside already! Less than an hour to brush, bathe, dress up, pack, eat breakfast and so much more. We did manage to do most of it in 40 minutes and then rushed to have breakfast at one of the highest restaurants in Auckland. The view from the restaurant was breath taking and the breakfast spread was amazing to say the least!! I am not gonna list it here or else every reader will drool till they get dehydrated! With 5 mins left for departure of the coach we were rushing towards the lobby blaming each other for the delay(ego defense mechanism I must say). We reached the lobby one min before the scheduled time. we promised to each other we wont mismanage time again on this trip…

 

The coach looked majestic with its gigantic frame and the huge Mercedes benz logo on the bus  was an absolute jaw dropper. We excitedly got our luggage placed safely inside the luggage stow and got inside and occupied the first seats so that we could get the best view during the journey ..the coach had 30 odd people in it with 24 of them being indians.. home away from home… we were driving towards the volcanic city of rotorua via Hamilton. The coach driver cum guide was a man in his early sixties who kept giving us info about new Zealand and Auckland and every other possible things on sides of the road. The roads in new Zealand are some of the best in the world  and the traffic density probably the least , which means if given the liberty I would drive at 160-180km/hr uninterrupted but the tragedy was the speed limits and speed cameras installed made sure that 100km/hr was the maximum speed allowed. Such a pity!! Why are such roads not in india!!!  In a few hours we reached Waitomo where we would sojourn to see the wonderful glowworm caves . . we were taken on a guided tour of the caves by one fellow chris.. ppl were dividedin groups of 20 and each group would have one guide. The caves were extremely cold inside as the whole cave was formed from limestone over the years and after showing us different formations of the limestone we were taken on a small boat trip inside the cave  to show us the wonderful glowworms.. photos were a s strict no no as flash would dim the glowworms.. the site inside was out of the world with millions of brilliant glowworms shining like stars in the sky.. I would rename the place as glowworm galaxy if given the liberty. I would rank this as one of the must see things in life if u are a nature enthusiast. We came back to the reception counter of caves and we were instructed to have lunch before we proceed further. We had some fabulous butter chicken and steamed rice .

view from the room with hot geysers behind

Rotorua was 2 hours drive from here and we made use of it with a refreshing nap. different guests were staying in different hotels and once driver made sure he knew where all he had to go he gave us the order in which he would drop us. As we entered the thermal city of rotorua we could smell something really bad on the bus. We had no clue where it was coming from and the driver put an end to our speculations by informing us that it is nothing but from the air of rotorua. We were also told then that rotorua is standing on top of a huge volcano which can erupt anytime destroying the whole place but it has been dormant for a few years now. The presence of the geothermal mud and the natural hot water spring rich in sulphur  gave the rotten egg smell to air  of rotorua.. it was stinking and we had no clue how we  were gonna bear it for 3 days..

Rotorua welcomed us with heavy rains and temperature was 5 degree Celsius . the bus halted in front of the lobby of the Hilton holiday inn where our stay was arranged. A quiet place situated next to a hot spring which was visible from the room in which we were put up. It was 3 pm and we were dying of hunger. There were no restaurants closeby and the one in the hotel had closed. All that was available were a few pizzas and fries. Hoping we would get to eat yummy pizzas like in Auckland we ordered a veg pizza(as they had only options of veg) and fries. Pizza came in flat 15 minutes .. looked amazing 8 piece huge thing… one bite and next thing we wanted do was to puke it out. The pizza stinked of horrible flavors and tasted of canola oil which is the primary oil used in nz. Fries were smelling of the same oil and all the food found its place in the bin in no time. 20 dollars down the drain…

The information booklets we picked up from the hotel info centre came in handy and we  found means to kill time and experience rotorua. We found info about Polynesian spa, one of the worlds top 10 spas  and we picked up the phone got a booking made for a slot for thermal massage . we took the hotel shuttle to the city tourism centre and once here we exchanged a few dollars and recharged the phone . it was raining hard and eventhough spa was hardly 100 metres across the road we had non option but to hire a taxi. The cab driver was harry from india.. must be harbinder or hardeep in reality but for nzers he was harry. Polynesian spa ambience was very inviting  and people gentle. We paid for the massage (a bomb of an amount) after which we were introduced to our masseurs. They gave us our kit with  slippers, towels, robes, soaps etc. we changed and went to the massage rooms which was filled with the aroma of oils and scent of flowers. The massage was best ever and done by a nepali who had done his bachelors in physiotherapy from Bangalore! After this we were free to get into the natural geyser hot sulphur water pools and sit for as long as we wish. The sulphur and other minerals are supposed to add a lot of medicinal value to the skin. It was a great experience to sit in the pool built with rocks alongside a river and what made it better was that the weather was rainy and cold but the hot pool just felt awesome and especially because the person u love the most is in your arms. If there is paradise on earth ,its here ,its here, its here!!

 After an hour or so we took shower and came to the lobby . we had heard a lot about new zealands best ice cream hokie pokie ( amix of carmel,chocolate and vanilla) and had vanilla coke zero. That was all we had in our stomach and it was dinner time too.. we called harry who then dropped us to KFC for dinner. Wow! KFC in NZ had to be good ! hungry we(as always) rushed in for a good meal.ordered a pretty huge meal. Our teeth were all set to sink into the chicken. Our first bite and we yelled..phew .. bad food was following us but we had great expectations at least from KFC.  This was the worst KFC we ve ever had in our lives!!! The flavors were horrible , the ketchup also tasted different. It was time for food to go to the bin again.. don’t like doing that but we were optionless.

After having gone through such traumatic experiences with food we just wanted to get back to the hotel, which we did and thought sleep would be the best medicine and did just that……

DAY 3 - AUCKLAND WELCOMES US....

Travelling on a long distance flight for about 14 hours is an awesome experience in itself if you have a lot of patience or have the gift to fall asleep even in sitting position or you have a great company with you... and luckily i had all the three with me.. i and vathika spent some time watching movies on board and playing a few online onboard games, slept, ate, slept,ate till finally strong sunlight woke us up...and soon we were informed by our pilot that we were about to land in auckland in 25 miunutes ...

ramp near kelly tarltons

from top of sky tower

     Auckland city looked beautiful from 10000 ft high  .. not dense at all more like a hill station than a major city. we landed at 10 past 1 in the noon, the airport was beautiful to say the least and the weather outside chilling thanks to the rains that welcomed us in new zealand. the immigration officer was fascinated to know that we were on our honeymoon and was more so wen i said i was an otolaryngorhinologist.. in new zealand ent surgeons are the third highest paid professionals..new zealand has strict rules for things which u can carry into it  as it is isolated from rest of the world.. they dont let you carry any  food articles of any sort, if ur shoes
are muddy u are made to clean it and wash it dry before u are let out of the airport.. a 7 ft 150 kg customs officer was interrogating a 5 ft hardly 50kgs chinese student who had packed 10 odd kgs of ready to eat noodles in a bag!!! after getting out of the immigration and various scans and frisking we  collected our luggage and reached the lounge looking for our chauffeur.. we did not find him anywhere  and when we were still searchin g for him we bought a vodafone prepaid sim card , exchanged few dollars for nz dollars and also collected some auckland information booklets.. and thenm i found a chauffeur with my dad name printed on it and realised it was for us ... he was dressed in a 3 piece suit and with a ford falcon he looked more like an executive from a top level corporate office and we looked out of place in tracks and some silly looking dress..nevermind we got into the car and a well behaved gentleman he was... gave us all details about auckland and a few aspects about new zealand.. it was raining very heavily and it was summer there..so much for the weather in nz..

we reached the sky city hotel in auckland and checked into the amazing room .. a 5 star hotel with a 24 hour casino , 5 restaurants , world famous sky tower and an awesome discotheque... we needed a shower after the long joureney and in no time we were on the road looking for a taxi to take us to kelly tarltons  underwater world.. the drive showed us the whole of auckland and it indeed looked heavenly. the underwater world had and artificial setup for the penguins and a lot of fishes and underwater life.... we spent a couple of hours and then got back to the hotel and  bought tickets to get on top of sky tower to get panaromic view of the whole city.. the panaromic view of the whole city was fantabulous.. and a couple of mocktails later we were back in the room . we ordered for a pizza from dominos and garlic bread was the best ever i have had.. we then got dressed for the casino and tried our luck at a few .. lost the bucks and then entered the disco and let music take control of us.... it was 0000 hours .....