In 1769 British explorer Captain James Cook discovered Australia and New Zealand. In 2007 Captain Kar started his voyage from US for the same destination to verify Captain Cook's discovery. No worries!! We still invent and sell computer technologies.
Traveling for job has become part of life now a days. But this particular one was special to me as this was the first time I was in southern hemisphere. Coming straight to my findings in Australia and New Zealand, I will mostly elaborate south island in New Zealand, Cairns in Australia and briefly Sydney, Auckland and Rotarua.
The first major challenge I had after reaching New Zealand is the left hand driving. After quite some effort and instance based learning I found the indicators and wipers in the right place. Several times I sprinkled the cleaning liquid instead of left or right indicator and vice versa. On undivided highway corrected the wrong side seeing the traffic coming from opposite side. Adjusted to 'give way' instead of 'yield'. Keeping left to the 'white' median instead of keeping right to 'yellow' median. This median was quite confusing as I used to understand white line to be only a lane divider.
It is almost eight hours drive from Christchurch to Te Anau, a small town in the south west part of the south island. Almost any drive in New Zealand is very beautiful. Absolute green every where. Lambs rambling on the green looks like flowers from the roads. The other thing I should mention is the relentless rain in the south island. It does not come down in bucket but a nice drizzle is always there.
I have not seen any sheep-dog in life before a huge sheep herd was crossing our road towards Mount Cook. We were taking a detour on the way to Te Anau. These sheep-dogs are very smart and was driving large number of sheeps very efficiently.
Aoraki/Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand, a peak in the Southern Alps range, which runs the length of the West Coast of the South Island. A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourite challenge for mountain climbers. The Tasman Glacier and Hooker Glacier flow down its slopes.
We stayed at a place Cromwell on the way to Te Anau as we got late because of the Mount Cook detour. Cromwell is a small town. Tourism is the bread and butter for these small towns. I have to say hotels are luxury in New Zealand. You can get a great suit for 200 NZD. We also stopped at a place on the way to Te Anau to buy ice cream made of fresh fruit. And I must mention lamb pie. It was awesome. Lamb with mint jelly is a specialty in New Zealand and no one should miss. It tastes like ice cream. Believe me or not, the meat melts inside mouth. However Madhu told me that how we can think about eating lamb after seeing them grazing on the fields. Hmm....
South west part of the south island is known as Fiordland National Park. Fiords (origin Norwegian Fjord) are very long inlets from the sea with high steeply sloped walled sides. A fjord (or fiord) is a landform created during a period of glaciations. But in New Zealand the early explorers thought that these fiords were sounds and named them as sound - Milford sound and Doubtful sound namely. In geography a sound is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay.
The road to Milford Sound is considered to be one of the world’s best alpine drives. If you aren't up for that, there are plenty of tour operators providing travel to Milford. Most visitors to Milford Sound opt for a cruise because it is the best way to see all of the sound. You get to admire the mountain peaks and the waterfalls that
are flowing all year round. On our cruise, there were dolphins swimming alongside and we also saw seals laying on rocks along the fiord.
Doubtful Sound is the second longest in Fiordland at 40 km long. On a cruise down Doubtful Sound you will experience more shades of lush green than you knew existed, while you drift over 400 meter deep water. In both Milford and Doubtful Sounds, you will experience a host of wildlife; seals and crested penguins (remember Lovelin in Happy Feet?) gather on the shores, and sometimes bottlenosed dolphins can be sighted playfully swimming along side the boat.
Individuals have their own favourites but there can be no doubting of Lake Manapouri’s supreme and unique beauty, a beauty that only begins to be fully revealed and appreciated by taking a trip on the lake itself. Brooding, tranquil, tempestuous, serene, glowering - these are all true of Lake Manapouri in one or more of its compelling moods. To drift quietly along in the North Arm, on a clear Fiordland day, is to experience sights and sounds of exquisite beauty. A feature of the lake is the number of coves, bays and islands, set in astonishingly pure water. Thirty five wooded islands dot the lake, and the shoreline extends for 150 km, with dense bush and interspaced with lovely beaches.
It would not complete Te Anau if I miss the glow worm cave. They take you in small boats inside the cave, inside which seemed to be a perfect black body and the glow worms are beautiful at an intimate end of the cave. We started moving towards the north along the west cost. The drive on the highway 6 through Wanaka and Haast is extremely beautiful. Winding roads, shades of green, frequent roadside falls and fountains are associated with narrow road, single lane wooden bridge. It is difficult for the driver. You have plenty to see but need to concentrate absolutely on the pavement. We stopped at several falls. Went close to the river, touched the water. Water in the river is absolutely transparent and cool.
Wanaka has the world's famous puzzle house. Leaving Wanaka, we continued towards Haast, the heart of west coast and Westland National Park. Due to bad weathers we had to stop at Makarora. We stayed at a wilderness resort. This was an 'A-frame', you can say a better version of tent. Absolutely amidst wilderness where no light outside and you will keep on hearing a humming noise of insects. A wild hare stopped in front of our car.
Ancient forest, bush clad lakes, glistening glaciers, and impetuous rivers make Westland an area of imposing beauty. Nextmorning we travelled up the wild and wet West Coast on avenues framed by the green lushness of rainforest. In the afternoon we visited the famous Franz Josef and Fox Glacier regions, with excellent views of Mt. Cook.
