New Zealand - Pure, Magical and Wonderful

I had one feeling throughout my journey through NZ...mesmerized! 

I was totally hooked the moment I stepped out of Christchurch airport and I confess that I am still hooked!! Beauty was everywhere I turned, at every mile I travelled, and in everything I experienced.

The ultimate way to experience NZ: on you own, in a car; that's exactly what we did. We got into a rented car one morning and set out on a journey through the mountains of South New Zealand. It was a joy to drive on the roads there! There was very less traffic so we could figure out all the signs, speed limits and rules at leisure. The roads were real smooth and none of us felt any stress of driving that is such a given on Bangalore roads. It truly felt like a holiday drive, even in hilly areas and in rain, imagine that!! 

First Look

As every drive is to a destination with some breaks to rest and soak up the scenery, we laid out a route that takes us through Franz Josef Glacier to Quenstown and back to Christchurch via Lake Tekapo. New Zealand highways are designed keeping tourists in view as I observed lots of camping sites, view points and rest areas.

Makarra-Lake Hawea Road

We reached our cabin in Franz Josef by late afternoon. The cabin was well equipped and had all the facilities to cook a hot meal and trust me when I say it gets really important to have a hot meal on a chilly day! We set out to explore the town and discovered that we could walk up the whole town in less than an hour!! We discovered a place with hot spring pools and we took complete advantage of it. A hot pool near a glacier, how amazing is that!!! We soaked up to our heart's content (that's how leisurely our holiday was turning out to be!) and set out to frame the place in our memories with renewed vitality. Night drove us to seek out that hot meal we had promised ourselves and great sleep!

Rain forest

Next morning we went for a tour of the Franz Josef Glacier. We turned into kids looking at the glacier, fun and carefree! We never stopped paying attention to all that surrounded us! The icy glacier, the rocks at the bottom, the whitish stream of glacier water, everything was awesome! 

Walk to the Glacier

Franz Josef Glacier

Glacier stream

It was now time to head towards Queenstown and we made it just after nightfall. We could not resist stopping by the scenic spots on the way, even at the cost of our schedule! That was how mesmerized we were!

Mount Cook

We had one agenda in Queenstown - Adventure! We set out in the morning to accomplish all that we wanted to do here, we had anticipated this months and months in advance and it was finally D Day. We turned crazy and performed the Navis Swing and the Ledge Bungy in one single day!!! The experience was extremely exhilarating and super duper fun!!! Navis swing was outside town between the mountains and Bungy that we did was on a mountain inside the city where we took the skyline Gondola to reach the top! Mission accomplished, we went to explore the town and ended up at the lake. We always seemed to end up at a lake near the mountains, maybe it was an internal GPS or something installed in us! Here we sat on the sand for a while being amused by the bold ducks who were trailing after anybody who was ready to share a morsel with them! We explored a little further and went to the nearby Albert town. We had a nice stroll there and relaxed at a Cafe there before returning to our hotel.

Bird's eye view of Queenstown

Next day was our most challenging drive in NZ, the drive back to Christchurch at a single stretch! We again could not help stopping to soak up the scenery en route, especially at the tempting sight of Mount Cook!! Mesmerized is again the word that comes to mind!!

We reached Christchurch just in time to catch our flight and boy watta ride we had!!!

Reflections Lake 

Some tips for fellow travel planners:

We rented the car from Apex Rentals. They provide a pick-up and drop from the airport to the airpark. We had booked a GPS instrument along with the car. This proved to be most useful since even though we had a SIM card with data, there was very less network connectivity in most places.

We stayed at a cabin in Franz Josef-Top Ten Holiday Park and it was amazing! You could buy some food items in the town an whip up something at the amazing kitchenette at the cabin!

We stayed at Tanoa Aspen hotel in Queenstown. It was a good budget hotel and it had a wonderful spa pool that any guest could use!! we soaked up in the spa pool one night with stars for company. It was magical.

One road leads to another!

Melbourne - Australia's Sporting Capital

Melbourne pronounced as melben is the first thing I learnt about this city. The second, of course was the MCG-Melbourne Cricket Ground. I was here during the 2015 World Cup and everybody who knew anything about cricket was gung-ho about the MCG. 

I visited Melbourne after Sydney so I am going to describe the city in contrast the Sydney here! 

The most fascinating thing in Melbourne is it's Trams. The advantage being that the CBD is a tram free zone, which means that I could travel in trams for free inside the CBD. Another treat was that, there is a tram for tourists (City Circle) that takes us to all the tourist things-to-do places in Melbourne city for free! Purchase a Myki card at any train stations and recharge it to travel outside the CBD in Trams. 

Tram!!

Most exciting: I saw a baby seal penguin at the St Kilda's beach one evening. The evenings here are windy and cold! the wind at St Kilda's was all set to lift me off my feet! 

St Kilda's beach

Melbourne appears most beautiful by its rivers, Yarra is the best known. 

By the Yarra river

Just hang around the CBD and you will never get bored! You can alight from the tram at Flinders street and check out the happening Federation Square, walk by the Yarra river towards the MCG and take a tour of the grand stadium. Walking by the Yarra river will also take you past some interesting Cafes and Bridges. 

Flinders Street

Melbourne loves its coffee! You can find most of the crowd in front of Cafes in the morning. Coffee is a must to most of Melbourne or that's what it seemed like to me! There are street performers here who can completely enthral and entertain you. There are so many restaurants that exploring them in you evenings will be a treat! Not only your days but spend also your evenings in the CBD to see two different shades on Melbourne. You can never get enough of Melbourne! 

To have a bird's eye view of Melbourne catch the tram and head towards the Melbourne Star which looks like a huge Ferris wheel. 

You can take breaks from hanging out in the CBD by going on short drives around Melbourne. The drives I went were to Healesville sanctuary where I met lots of kangaroos and some really friendly birds, Mount Dandenong where the high mountains make for a lovely drive and amazing views. The Great Ocean Road however is the ultimate drive! We stopped at the 12 apostles which are limestone shacks and Loch Ard George which had the most amazing waters! 

Loch Ard George

Lastly I did some healthy amount of shopping at Swanston street at CBD and the HighPoint Mall.

Twelve Apostles

Discovering Sydney

A bustling city is what first comes to mind when describing it in a word. I am writing this while sitting in the heart of the city on an evening. The morning held a hint of rain and it poured the entire afternoon. Now the clouds seem to take a break and here I sit under the Opera house. The city seems alive as if the rain did not impact it at all. The breeze still speaks of the rain that was and that is to come, and the sea gulls are back between the people unafraid, begging for a morsel.

We did the touristy things here with a twist. The twist being that we entirely relayed on our own resources and not that of a tourist agent! We arrived one afternoon, headed to the Circular Quay which seemed like the heart of the city, collected all the information, guide books and maps at the tourist information centre there and set about scheduling our Sydney itinerary. We changed this several times during the entire stay in order to suit the weather and our mood, the joy of being out in a city on your own. 

Opera House

Places we visited and how!

Sydney Tower - take the train and alight at the Townhall station and walk to the Tower.

View from Sydney Tower

Purchase a Hop on Hop off day pass at Circular Quay and jump into the ferry to tour the Islands. Take the attraction combo pass to visit the Tarango Zoo. You can spend the whole day at the Zoo if you wish as the other islands hold little appeal. The Zoo has lots of shows to take in and some cool animals like Meerkats.

Climb the Harbour Bridge- We booked this activity online a month before. The Harbour Bridge is again near to the Circular Quay. We climbed the bridge in the rain and the view was spectacular!

Opera House- Take a tour of the Opera House to learn a bit on how it goes on! The tour tickets are available at the venue.

St Mary's Cathedral

None of the above will be operational after 5pm except the Tower, a lesson we learnt!

The last day we went on a drive to a special place named Kiama, a classic seaside town in New South Wales. the Kiama Blowhole has a history that is unique and fantastic! We packed at a pizza at the nearby Dominoes and sat by the harbour and ate at this beautiful location, an absolute delight!

Storm Bay at Kiama

We stayed at a service apartment which was about 20 mins from Circular Quay. It was close to the Train and bus stations. We booked the accommodation through Airbnb website.

Best part of Sydney-the people!!! So friendly and i am not saying this statement in any of my other travel posts! There were countless times that we lost our way,even with Google Maps we had a tough time to figure out which bus to take on which side of the road! Whom ever we approached for help with the directions went out of their way to help us out!

Good to know:

​For train tickets, there are ​

​ticket kiosks at every station. Ask at the information centre about the station name and purchase your tickets.

Purchase a SIM card at the Sydney Airport which has a good data plan so that you can use Maps to find your way.

Down the App: Trip View, to plan your routes.​

For the bus you can purchase the tickets at any convenience store.

Nothing is too far in Sydney CBD (that's what the locals say!) so keep your most comfortable walking shoes on!

Anzac Memorial at Hyde Park