Road trip with Francis and Linda - Day 3 (23 Nov)

We had an early morning start on Day 3, and from the looks of it, it is going to be a glorious day! The sky was blue, and it was nice and warm. We started driving along the winding road towards Fox Glacier, after deciding to abandon visiting Franz Josef Glacier because it was too was still too foggy in the early morning. Along the way, we saw a couple of German tourist who were pulled over. We decided to fulfil our karma points for the trip, and stopped to help them. It turned out their timing belt broke, and to make things worse, there was no phone reception! Thus, Hannah took down their particulars and promised to call AA (NZ AAA) for help on their behalf. We drove about 6km before we got reception, and Hannah called AA representatives, and was told that it would take them 2 hrs to be there. Thus, we decided that we should head back to tell them about it just in case they were worried that we never do what we promised. You can imagine the thankful look on their face when they saw us coming back to them, telling them the news... well...good karma points for the route.

It was a nice beautiful day for a easy walk to see the Fox Glacier. Unfortunately, it was closed due to avalanche fears. It had been raining heavily for the last few days. It was quite disappointing to be that close to the glacier (800 m) and yet not able to see it! :( . However, the walk itself was still very stunning with high, steep mountains and fast flowing water carrying ice blocks from the glacier.

Fox Glacier

Hannah doing the "VanLaanen tradition" of disobeying the rules! :P

Blocks of ice along the river

After the Fox Glacier walk, we started driving on. We stopped briefly at Bruce Bay. It was an interesting beach with high energy waves - there was driftwood and rocks everywhere along the beach. We picked a few nice pieces of rocks and driftwood for souvenir.

Tourists adding to the piles of rocks at Bruce Bay

Lots of cairns along the beach

Look at that wave energy!

Later, we stopped and ate lunch at Knights Point. According to Hannah, there was a chance of spotting whales here because of the deep waters around the coast. Whales would come here to feed on planktons that were brought by the upwelling currents from the deep.

After a quick lunch, we turned inland for Haast Pass (563 m), which was supposed to be the second highest pass in New Zealand.

Along the way, we stopped for pictures at Thunder Creek Falls, Fantail Falls and the Blue Pools. It was interesting to see the same Campervans and cars stopping at the same tourist spot for pictures as well! So after a while, it seemed as if we were travelling as a group :)

Hannah pretending to be a hobbit :)

Hannah pretending to be a tree-hugger

On the way again... pretty!

Once through the Haasts Pass, we drove along Lake Wanaka and then Lake Hawea. We spent the night in Wanaka at Lakeside Holiday Park overlooking the magnificent view of a mountain. We were talking about the view while having a pre-dinner snack and beer, and decided that it looked like the mountain in the Ricola or Toblerone chocolate advertisement.

Very delicious spicy cheese!... yummy

Look at that view... don't go to bed every night with this type of view.

Road trip with Francis and Linda - Day 2 (22 Nov)

Woke up early in the morning and the rain is still falling. The rain is getting weaker, but the views were now blocked by thick fog/clouds. Francis made fruit and yoghurt for breakfast. We finished every bit of it, and we were ready to drive over Arthur's Pass.

Healthy, delicious breakfast 

There were numerous waterfalls in the pass. However, as we drove over the Otira Viaduct, we had to stop and took pictures of a waterfall roof! We were in awe not only at the view but also by the engineering! A lot of water was passing over the roof, and cars were driving below it!

Otira Viaduct

After Arthur's Pass, we stopped for Gala Day in a small town called Kumara. The town was celebrating their history with Chinese miners so there were performances, free food and craft stalls etc. We did not meant to stop here, but it was definitely a worthwhile distraction!

We made it to the West Coast and the Tasmen Sea shortly after. We then continued to drive south along the coast,until we stopped in a town called Hokitika for greenstone/jade shopping. Hannah never have any interest in the jade, but somehow she managed to find a yarn store! Needless to say, it is shopping time for her!

Francis at Kumara town

Chinese performance on gala day

We had a quick lunch on the shores of Lake Ianthe before heading to the Franz Josef Glacier. 

Lake Ianthe

Hannah decided to name the campervan - the Palace

After a couple hours of driving, we decided to spent the night at Rainforest Holiday Park in Franz Josef Glacier Villiage. It was a town build completely for tourists, so there wasn't anything exciting (at least not for us). Hannah said the town reminded her of Alishan in Taiwan. As it was cloudy today, we did not get to see the magnificent views of the mountains, but we are excited about tomorrow as the forecast was supposed to be glorious sunshine.

Franz Josef Glacier Village

Doing campervan dinner in style.

Road trip with Francis and Linda - Day 1 (21 Nov)

My good friends, Linda and Francis  (I do not have many of these! :P) came to visit us from Singapore, and we planned a 7-day-South Island road trip. They were very nice and paid for a 4-ppl campervan and our air tickets to Christchurch! Each of us have a small role to play on the trip - Hannah (the planner), Francis (the cook), Linda (the caretaker) and me (the driver)....

We took an early flight from Auckland to Christchurch airport. Linda had never really fly domestic airlines before (there is no flying in between Singapore!), and she was pleasantly surprised that she does not need to show her passport, nor does she need to take off her shoes during security check....

Hannah waiting for the flight with her usual " Do not take pics of me" look :)

Arriving in Christchurch airport, picked up the campervan, which took a long time. We had to wait for nearly 40mins (which I still have no idea why!). And off we go to Countdown to do some shopping and stock up the grocery we need for the trip. Again, Francis and Linda said she would be paying for the grocery. I was grateful because there was a lot of food! Both Francis and Linda are vegetarian but Francis was very happy to cook non-vegetarian food for Hannah and I. However, we wanted to keep things simple, and would love the opportunity to take a vegetarian break for the week.

Look at the amount of shopping!

Linda is here to inspect the campervan

Washing the utensils before any meals!

Stop by the road side for a quick snack and off we go to the West coast through Arthur's Pass. It is the highest pass in New Zealand (920 m), and we were worried that it may get too windy and driving in a tall campervan would prove to be challenging. 

Snack by the road side/ highway

Francis made bruschetta !

Hannah a better look this time... at least she is smiling

It was a long day and by the time we reached Arthur's Pass Village, it was already late, and it was raining quite heavily. Thus, we camped at the Department of Conservation (DOC) site. It was a nice camping site, although we got to sleep in the nice comfort of the campervan! There are two queen size beds and it was comfortable! The camp site has a nice view of waterfalls coming down from the mountain, and a railway through it. However, the rain was too heavy to take any beautiful photos. Dinner for the night was curry!... Although it was challenging to cook in a small place, Francis live up to expectations and we had a delicious dinner. It was so good that it makes me wonder how are we going to top this evening's dinner on the trip, but Francis has more surprises!

Arthur's Pass Village DOC campsite

Curry for dinner!

The chef, Francis at work!

Capture your 365 : 11/08 - 11/17

11/08 Interesting light - My wife hates to have her photo taken. Thus, the best subject for portraits in the household are the dogs. We were having coffee on the deck this warm morning, and the lights were just perfect.

11/09 Perspective - I have always been an ocean guy .. my dad was a fishmonger, and I grew up associating my dad with that fishy smell. There are always at least one fish tank in the house. There is always fish at dinner. So, from my perspective, the best days always end with a slow sailing back home at sunset.

11/10 New adventures - My wife and I have been diving for many years, and we have been very active in technical diving as well. However, recently, I started to try my hands on underwater photography - new adventures. As you can see, I am far from being familiar with the camera and underwater housing. My wife would shake her head at me when I said I need a few more *not cheap items such as strobes, wide angle lens etc for the photographs to turn out nice! 

11/11 Interesting displays - My wife has her ear-rings and necklaces displayed on a "dead branch" mounted on a wooden base. This is the first time I tried using the flash from the camera. Don't really know whether I like or dislike the effect from the flash.

11/12 A hand to hold - My wife and I... image is a bit small and resolution is not very good because I used a camera phone (not the new iphone!.. still living in the older smart phone era!), but it was a nice representation of today's theme.

11/13 The memories - My wife had put up pictures along the stairs - her concept was that these photos make the house a home. My argument was why do we need so many photo frames? Couldn't we do with just one of those digital photo frames that changes pictures? Either way, I think it is a way of us holding on to the memories.

11/14 Quiet times - I am not a religious person, but a revered monk (my teacher) gave me this Buddha statue years ago when I was venturing out on my own. Now it serves as a reminder that everyone needs some quiet time for our mind and heart.

11/15 The beauty in nature - The sky looks like it is on fire this evening! No matter how much I try it seems that I could not capture the real beauty in mother nature through the lens.

11/16 Home cookin' - Home cooking starts from digging for cockles on the mud flat during low tide! It is fun, dirty and always end up with way too much cockles than we can eat. The end product - delicious spicy chilly cockles.

11/17 Comfort - I love rainy days - love the sound of rain spattering on the glass windows and tin roofs. What I love most is the refreshing air after the rain. The air is still, the surrounding is quiet, and the surroundings are clean. And it is amazing to see the changes from the comfort of home.