Adelaide - the state of celebrations!

And finally the day arrived. Ind vs Pak cricket match, that too, for the World Cup 2015 happening here in Australia and New Zealand.  What anticipation did we all have for this match, since we got the tickets, which was on 14 Feb 2014. The match was on 15th Feb, the following year!

So without wasting too much time, we took the flight from Sydney to Adelaide on the 13th of February, planning to see a bit of Adelaide before the actual fight! :)

Well, I plan to make this blog quite boring with less story, and more of facts, since this was really a short trip, and is meant to only give guidance for future trips, more than anything else. So here goes.

We reached Adelaide about 10:30. Having no checked in bags with us, we made our way to the rental cars desk of Thrifty, and promptly got ourselves a Toyota hatchback for the journey.  One note, Ace Rentals is now everywhere in Australia, and I am pretty sure they have the best prices. Making a mental note to my mind, we started on our journey.  First stop was the hotel.  I have made a booking for a service apartment at The Grand Apartments, on Melbourne Street, which is supposedly a happening place. It seemed to play it's part quite well, with a number of pubs and eateries out there which kept our attention going.

Anyways, we checked in to the hotel, having paid the amount of 600 AUD for 3 days upfront.  The apartment had full kitchen facilities, so I decided we should be cooking when possible. Saying that, we went out for lunch on the first day. We had burger at a Greek outlet, and the burger was out of the world!! Having satisfied our craving, we headed off to the 1st destination of our journey. We were finding out about all possible close by destinations, and one of the ones which was pretty high on recommendations was a German village by the name of Hahndroff. It was about 80 kms away from Adelaide city center, where we were staying, and the journey was quite nice as well.  But the actual destination was every bit worth the good things we heard about it.  It was a quite a small village with only one main road to walk up and down. It had german brewery which was quite nice, and presented us with a refreshing visit away from the hustle of the Sydney roads that we see everyday.  We had an icecream which was really good, at a local dairy shop.  Following that, we decided we had to try the german beer. So off we went searching for a good spot to calm our desires, and found the Hahndroff brewery to stand out, amongst the others.  We were greeted by the sight of a platter of 4 beers, which they were selling at a promotion for 20$. We opted for the same, and had the whole array of offerings at our disposal.  Admittedly, the wheat beer still proved to be the best. With that done, we came back to Adelaide, as we were quite tired, and wanted to sleep off early to compensate.  On the way back, we went to the supermarket, got some stuff for dinner, and came back. to our hotel.  That proved to be the logical end of the day.

Start of next day, after a quick breakfast, we moved on with our set itinerary.  Starting the day off was the highlight of our plans, a trip to Barossa Valley, with expansive wineries to carve our attention.  After roaming around the city center, and finding out a bit of information about which wineries to visit. We were informed of one who were making pizzas that day. Off we went to that, and had delicious pizzas for 10 bucks, and wine tasting done. The wine tasting was 5 bucks, unless you buy as well. We had a couple of glasses with lunch, and even bought one for bringing home.  We had lovely desert wine.

Following that, we went for Gleneng and Henleys beach. Since it was unbearingly hot, we could not spend much time in the heat tho. Apart from that, the beaches were absolutely stunning! White sands were the best thing about all of them.That done, we went back to our hotel, for a lovely dinner, and a wholesome rest.

Next day was cricket. I would not say much, but let the pics do the talking. Best part, India won!! That too, hands down! Forgot the last time I shouted so much, actually. India India....still can hear and feel the adrenaline rush when I think about it.

Last day of our trip came up. Without feeling to leave one item behind from my list, we drove to Victor Harbour. It was a lovely place, but sadly, we were short of time. With the return flight time looming, we hardly had about 15 minutes to spend photographing ourselves at this beautiful place.

With that done, started our return leg of the journey, which saw us drive uneventfully to Adelaide airport, and back to Sydney.

Overall, it was a pleasant and very much a refreshing trip. Adelaide was a beautiful place, which gave us the relief we needed from the life we have in a fast moving city like Sydney.

Trip to New Zealand - a complete monologue...

I have already outlined the New Zealand trip plan that I had in mind in here:.
NZ Trip Plan

Now that I have completed the same, it would only be a good idea to put everything in sort of a catalogue here so that it can be referred back times and again to plan further future trips.

To state it truly, the beginning of the journey was not very pleasant. Our flight was a Jetstar flight ascheduled to depart at 6:40 p.m.  Just as we were getting ready to leave the house, I got a msg stating the fight has been delayed for 2 hours(no explanation given at all!), and that the enw departure time was 8:40 p.m. which would take us to Auckland at about 1:30 a.m.  It was damn lucky that I had arranged for the car to be picked up at the airport itself. Well, that part covered, we were truly on our way!!

Landed at the Auckland airport as planned, and got the car keys from i-Site without much ado.  Drove to auckland city at night, and stayed over at the Jucy hotel.  The hotel itself was nothing to write home about, but the location was quite good. It was very near to the waterfront, and had quite a few shops around.  Only problem was the next day was Good Friday, and so, everything was closed. So we decided to skip breakfast, and head directly to Rotorua.  The road getting out of Auckland was packed with cars, making the traffic pace worse than a snail.  We inched minute by minute towards Rotorua, and after wasting 6 hours on a 3 and a half hours trip, reached Rotorua.

The smell of sulphur and the fumes rising out of vents welcomed us even before we entered the city.  The frst sight itself was a surprising one, never coming so close to a volcanic activity filled region from what I can remember.  There was fumes going out of several vents all around whatever we can see.  We reached the i-Site and asked around for direction to Te Puia, and was supplied with a map by the very helpful attendant. With the map in hand, and the GPS guiding us, we reached Te Puia, the government controlled part of Whakarewarewa(the living Maori village), which hosts the famous Pohutu geyser.

It was a sight, I have to say. Watching that immense force with which the water is thrown up is bound to make anyone realise that we are all quite helpless at the mercy of Mother Nature.  Only because it allows us, can we stay and enjoy the gift of life!  Even the very fact that there was an active volcano beneath our feet was enough to shake us up a bit.  Granted, it never burst out for quiet some time now, but to see all that volcanic activity going on right where we are is sure to give you a different perspective on life.  We got a guide which comes with the ticket prices anyways, who gave us a trip of the palce, and a bit of background.  Whakarewarewa is actually the name of the Maori district/village, having it's own meaning, which I quite forget now, but it seems that this is only part of the word.  The total word is some 69 letters long, and is every bit as damned difficult to pronounce as this one is. 

This was the Mud pool at this place. It was beautiful, as well as frightening. The guide mentioned the temperature at this place is around 90 degrees Celcius. So in case any of this mud gets on our body, it will burn us, and will not even get off sue to the sticky nature of the mud.  But it seems this mud, when cooled, is really good for the skin, due to the enriched chemicals within it. There were soaps made frm this mud sold at the shops in this place.

After spending a few hours there, rain came and brought our trip to an early end. We came back to Rotorua and went to the Base Rotorua, our abode for the night.  Late, we had a short trip to the Rotorua city centre for dinner, and found the eateries are mostly situated on a street rightly called Eat Street.  

Next morning, I had quite a few things planned, so we left around 8:30 in the morning from Rotorua towards Wai-o-Tapu to see the Lady Knox geyser.  This is smaller than the Pohutu, but we were sure to see it erupt as every day due to the popular tourist demand, they actually mix a bit of chemicals to the geyser to make it erupt at a fixed time.  It was about 30 kms from Rotorua, and we made good time to reach the Knox geyser by 9.  After buying tickets we drove on to the geyser . There were actually seating arrangements like galleries built around the geyser to make the viewing more pleasant.  And no disappointment at all!  Just about 3 minutes after the volunteer poured the chemical in there, did it start erupting.  Man, was that a sight! It was absolutely amazing as to how far it went up, taking us all by surprises.  Next came the photo sessions, of course.  

Then we went around the place a bit more in details. The next few pictures represent the beauty of volcanic activity around the place.  With the smell of sulphur in our nose, we kept on...

The sulphur cave, as is very apparent form the yellowish tinge in the cave.

The oyster pool. Please note, there are no live oysters around, if that is what you are thinking!  It is only the shape of the pool which is being referred to in the name.

Next, we went on our way to Wellington. The landscape kept getting better with every km that we went on... The drive was long and incessant, but we hardly felt the effort, just taking in the beauty of the sight around us.  We even managed to take a few photo breaks in between.

With about 5 hours of driving, we reached Wellington, the capital city of NZ.  The moment we got down from the car, we were welcomed by the much reputed Wellington wind!! Not having too much time on our hands to get used to the surroundings, we started off on our tour plan with a small break and rest.  Next on our itinerary was the historic cable car ride.  We had put up in the Trinity Hotel which is right at the centre of the city and so, the cable car ride was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. So we decided to walk to there, just stretching our legs a bit.  We took the return ticket from the station itself, as we had planned to come right back to our hotel after the ride.

The cable car took us to the farthest end of the rail tracl, which is about 10 minutes away. :)  Although the route sounds very small, the elevation was something to look out for. It seemed as if the cable car was going from the ground floor to something like the 10th floor just over that short span.  Anyways, once at the final destination(Oops!), the view was amazing!  We could practically look at the complete city from that point, which also hosted a cable car museum and a botanical garden. We had a brief look at the museum, but decided to give the botanical garden a miss.

That, my dear ones, is how the cable car looks. The car and the background setting, doesn't it look fabulous??

Next, we came back to the hotel, and decided to complete the last itinerary item on the list, which was Victoria lookout point. It was an interesting route to the point, as it was high up in the mountain, and at each turn going up to that road, it looked as if we will be falling off the road in our car!  But we did manage to reach the point quite safely, and my oh my, was it a sight or what!

With that bit done, we spent the night taking a well deserved rest at the hotel.  Our trip at the north islands had come to an end. We still had a bigger part of our journey to look forward to, but already our minds were filled with amazing memories. 

Next day, we set off to catch the Interislander ferry, which would take us to the South Islands, more specifically, to Picton, where from we would resume our road trip.  Well, the term "ferry" was quite misplaced, as it turned out to be am 8-storey ship, which would take us to our destination!  I had thankfully booked a VIP reservation in there, which included unlimited food and drinks, and a comfortable sofa to give us a bit of rest.  A point to note for all future travellers. In case you book the same, please make it a point to reach quite early as all seats seem to be taken up by other passengers.  Anyways, we requested a few passengers and they adjusted accordingly.  Well, once on our way, and with refreshments(which included breakfast and morning tea), and unlimited soft drinks, tea and coffee, we started the photo sessions. 

Yup, the following pics is of the VIP lounge.

Having reached Picton in 3 hours time(09:00-12:00), we collected our checked in luggages, and went off to get the rental car.

On our way we go ...

Next on our list was the Fox Glaciers, as everyone suggested that Franz Josef glacier had all but disappeared. But the drive from Picton to Fox would have been a tad bit too long, so I decided to take a break for the night at Hokitika.  It was a beautiful spot as well, in it's own rights.  Perfect for a break journey.

Started next morning on our way again. We reached Fox glaciers after about 3 hours of driving. It was a bit disappointing, to tell you honestly, as the snow part of the glacier was both less and distant.  After walkig about 30 minutes, we could only see the glacier at a good amount of distance. Anyways, having at least covering that milestone was reward enough for me.

Next, was what we were waiting for. And the reason why it was kept till the very end. It was supposed to be the best destination in the southern hemisphere! As close to heaven and swtizerland as was possible, no other than Queenstown!  I was so so looking forward to reaching there, that I forgot to have lunch! Anyways, the route to there was as beautiful as it could have been(I think I keep mentioning this in every single stanza, but I still feel as if I am not saying it enough.)

                                     

And we entered the area of Queenstown...:)

                                     

I would stop talking now, and let the pictures do all the talking... !

Next day, we went to Arrowtown, a small tourist attraction about 20 minutes of drive from Queenstown.

Chinese garden in Arrowtown.

We could see this right from our hotel room, or pretty much anywhere in Queenstown.  If this is not heaven, what is??

Next, we went for the luge and the cable car ride at QTN as well. Who wouldn't??

Next on my itinerary was Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound.  It was far from Queenstown, and so we drove to Te Anau to cover these two spots. The drive was scary, as we started driving at about 4 pm, and reached around 11 pm. It was all mountains, with very sharp curves, and it was quite lucky we had a lot of driving experience in NZ before embarking on this journey.

Having reached there, next day early morning, we started off for Milford Sound.

It is a ferry trip of about 4 hours. All 4 hours, we practically spent open mouthed at the views all around us!

We came back to our hotel, and next was a visit to the Glow-worm caves.

Next day, it was the turn of Doubtful Sound.  This trip started off like the earlier one, with a ferry ride from Manapouri for about 1 hour.

Next, we were taken on a bus trip to Manapouri Power station, and over Wilmot Pass. There were so many waterfalls on the way, that we almost lost count of them. But made it a point to stop and click for photos on most of them. 

Next, came the actual ferry ride to the fiordland. It was another 4-5 hours of ferry trip which showed us all around Doubtful sound, and took us to the start of the VERY VERY TURBULENT TASMAN SEA as well! Mann, was the ferry rocking or what, literally! :)

Once done with those two spots, we drove back to Queenstown. Rest of the itinerary simply stated taking it easy and resting and enjoying ourselves to the fullest. Sure, we knew how to do that! :)

This is actually a steamship. They take you on a tour on it for about an hour or so. We missed the trip, but not the photo!

From the local tourist office, we got 1 more plan, which turned out to be well worth the money! The place is called Glenorchy.  What I did not know is that the road to Glenorchy from QTN is touted as being one of the 10 best routes in the world!  And the record is completely justified! The route and the destination, both were completely utterly breathtaking.  We even saw a few skydivers diving on the way, which made it even more enjoyable.

That got us to the very end of our trip.  The return flight was not a direct one, but had a 5 hour stopover in Christchurch.  Not meaning to waste any time if we can help it, we made a short trip to the Chrsitchurch city taking public transport. The city, sad to say, is still trying to revive from the earthquake.  most of the buildings in the main city is still damaged, or shows signs of the damage. Hope it will make it to where it was soon. 

It was one of the best trips of my life till date!  The natural beauty was amazing, needless to say.  But the best part was that we had driven around 3400 kms on a period of 10 days, but hardly felt the tiredness that normally comes along with driving.  The roads, and the atmosphere was all so very pleasant that it multiplied the enjoyment that, and would certainly stay with us as a go to memory for our next lifetime.

Note: We took exactly 1267 still photos and about 30 videos for our whole trip which lasted the 10 days, but I still feel as if I could have probably taken a few more just to do justice to our experience.