I was a bit apprehensive that all the luggage cal fit into the car boot. K and I did a quick visual sizing and decided that J’s suitcase must be in the innermost compartment at all times. Then slowly one by one we put in ours and everything fit nicely. K and I snapped a mental picture on how we fit everything in and for the remaining days, the luggage will always be fit into the boot this way. With all the luggage in, the car pick up speed is affected. We let other cars pass us. 100km/h is the speed limit for most parts, till you come to town, where it reduced to 70 and then 50. The radio station in NZ always play soothing country and hit pops in between, and not the loud metals or raps so that makes listening such a joy, in addition to the scenic ride. I was apprehensive as we driving near Lindis Pass cos I accidentally mistook the winding trail up the mountain as the road that we must pass before getting to Queenstown, it turned out that it is a trail for the farm owner, the main road drivers need not go through it. Guess the horrid experience of driving at the passes in the UK lake districts still haunting me.
Kawarau river, hydroelectric plant can be seen:
With just one toilet stop at a roadside fruit shop, we managed to reach Frankton at 12 noon, which we thought was Queenstown. Which is a good mistake cos we could pump petrol here at Frankton, and the Remarkable Mall which most Queenstown people come to shop is just nearby. And we are on the way to Te Anau, everything suits up. Had our lunch at a Thai restaurant near BP, the fed the car to full tank at BP (got 4 cents off) and head to the New World Supermarket in Remarkable Square. Bought stuff for dinner and brekkie tomorrow for fear that there isn’t any shopping place in Te Anau (unfounded fear cos there is a supermarket in Te Anau!). Met the Singapore adventurer and his family at BP as well as inside the supermarket. Noticed that kiwis like to walk inside the supermarket barefooted, maybe the weather is warm enuff for them.
The drive to Te Anau is felt super long, partly because of the glaring sun. And the windy road. A stopping point to take Lake Wakatipu and you can see the winding road we were on:
I resort to tell stories in order to break the boredom also to ensure M awake throughout the drive, it works. They love the story. Finally we reached Birchwood Cottage at 6pm. The lady owner advised us on the route to Milford Sound the next morning and all. M is again busy with her laundry. The family next door also came from Singapore and have kindly shared the clothes pegs with M. Their itinenary baffled us though, cos it will take some to and fro within the South Island, wonder if they really plan it that way, or we have heard the sequence wrongly.
Birchwood is not as good as Parkhead, pretty dated. I still like it cos this time round, I gotto sleep in single bed (yay!) and need not share a bed with J. Get down to baking pizza since they have stove and viola, dinner is ready. (we are much more efficient this time after the long wait for dinner at Lake Tekapo heehee). We bought a roast chicken, just nice. After the dinner, went to town for walk, most shops already closed. There are a few Chinese restaurants around though. We walked to the jetty and took some photos before heading back to the cottage to dry our laundry. J shared the nougats he bought from the fruit shop with us, tasted quite nice.
No comments:
Post a Comment