Day 4 (Part 2) : Cromwell - Queenstown

DAY 5: 18.09.2015 (Part 2 – Cromwell - Queenstown)

“Take vacation and go as many places you can. You can always make money, you can’t always make memories” – anonymous

You can read Day 4 (Part 1) here.

Plan asal kami nak picnic makan pre packed lunch yang I have prepared earlier tapi tiba-tiba terjumpa kedai Halal: Souvlaki and Kebab Grill (Taste of Middle East) lalu decided to buy our lunch there and our pre packed lunch akan dijadikan menu dinner kami. Sepatutnya plan asal kami akan singgah di Puzzling World, Wanaka tapi sebab masa tak mengizinkan dan jalan ke Wanaka kena masuk ke dalam lagi (about 163km / 1 hour 50 mins dari Lake Pukaki dan lencongan yang berlainan) serta bukan on the way yakni boleh singgah tepi jalan along the way ke Queenstown, maka kami bersetuju untuk skip that dan terus sahaja ke Cromwell dan Queenstown. Itinerary asal tak ada nak singgah Cromwell langsung tapi dah rezeki kami ke situ dan terjumpa kedai Halal.

Kami singgah for toilet break sekejap before cari parking area i-Site dan terus pergi bergambar kat area landmark Cromwell ni.

Kedai Halal: Souvlaki and Kebab Grill (Taste of Middle East) di Cromwell

Kami tapau je lunch i.e Kebab and pizza cheese dari Souvlaki and Kebab Grill (Taste of Middle East) and makan on the go dalam Motorhome (anyway this is prohibited tapi kami nak kejar masa ke Queenstown so terpaksalah buat juga dan makan sikit-sikit supaya tak lapar sangat nanti). 

This is how our Lil Darlings, Hafiya (left) and Khayra (right) duduk dalam Motorhome sepanjang perjalanan ketika kami bergerak / driving. Wajib berada atas car seat dan booster seat masing-masing and pakai seat belt. Both of them memang dilatih dari kecil tentang penggunaan car seat dalam kereta, so dah terbiasa. Alhamdulillah juga diorang okay kena strap untuk sepanjang jalan beribu-ribu kilometer di both North and South NZ.

Pemandangan setibanya kami di Queenstown.

Dari Cromwell to Queenstown mengambil masa selama 50 mins and we have to register at NZone Office for skydiving at 2pm. Wohoo. Ini adalah aktiviti yang paling kami looking forward so bila kami sampai di Queenstown at 1.50pm, I made a call yang bagitau kami on the way. Masa tu cuak juga sebab nak cari parking lagi dan nak locate office NZone etc. Fuhh. 

Masa nak locate NZone office, ternampak Gondola ni. As you can see, yang kecil-kecil warna putih tu. Tak sabar nak pergi sana. Wiwiwi. The kids dah excited masa ni even tengok dari jauhhh.

Bila dah sampai town area (agak sesak dan jalan sempit), kami cuba cari parking untuk Motorhome dan masa tengah mencari-cari tu dah ternampak NZone office seberang jalan tapi tak jumpa parking area tu so we have to drive further untuk cari parking and at that point of time tetibe ternampak Motorhome lain keluar dari satu lorong dan kami plan nak ke situ sebab ingatkan ada parking for Motorhome. Then kami tersedar bahawa we have reached at our 2^nd holiday park iaitu Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park.

Then terus masuk sebab plan parking jelah terus and I went to the Reception sebab nak bagitau kami kejar masa for skydiving and we will check in later. They gave us a ticket voucher to display kat dashboard Motorhome since kami belum officially check in. Dari situ kami berlari (d’uhh) pula ke NZone office yang located about 10 mins perjalanan (maybe shorter kalau berlari marathon sambil dukung anak. LOL). Siap ada turun bukit dan turun anak tangga semua lah to reach NZone office dari Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park. 

Alhamdulillah, kami berjaya check in dan register for our scheduled session at 2.30pm (last session of the day). Phewww. Macam Amazing Race pun ada tadi. Haha. Kami diberikan form untuk diisi dan must go for briefing dan dia terangkan cara nak landing etc. Teruja sangat dah masa tu. Oh, sebenarnya we have requested to be in different flights sebab kena bergilir jaga the kids, and they had arranged it very well for us.

Dah habis briefing and we were about to get ready untuk ke dropzone, ada orang maklumkan yang cuaca petang tu tak OK for skydive and it was cancelled T____T

They have a council to decide samada selamat atau tidak untuk skydive pada hari tersebut. Safety first - their motto. We were given options either to get our refund money or we can be re-scheduled for the next day session. We opted to try our luck for the next day session and got our booking at 8.30am. We need to call them first at 8.00am to check on the weather and we can go straight to the dropzone by taxi from our holiday park since kami dah pergi briefing. We have to go to the dropzone by taxi sebab their shuttle didn’t provide for car seats sebab kami nak bawa anak-anak sekali untuk jadi spectators kami. The dropzone is about 20 mins from NZone office. 

Lepas kecewa sikit sebab dah semangat nak skydive dan dah siap tukar tudung sebab tudung yang ada awning susah nak pakai full suit, so kena tukar to shawl (memula aku tanak join tapi my dearest husband pujuk dari Malaysia lagi suruh join sama so OKlah nak join nak join nak join *excited pulak*) kami pergi memujuk hati dengan shopping souvenirs kat DF Souvenirs. Hampir semua blog orang Malaysia aku baca wajib singgah sini dan kami jumpa 1 keluarga Malaysian juga kat sini.

Masa dah sampai The Mall, Queenstown tu dan nak ambil gambar depan signboard, baru perasan yang phone aku tak ada. Panik kejap. Last tempat was NZone office maka kami kembali semula ke sana (it was just 3 blocks away) dan jumpa semula tak terusik pun handphone tu dalam briefing room. Memang ternyata kat NZ ni kadar jenayah kurang dan aku rasa kalau kat tempat lain, toleh muka je pun dah hilang hp tu. Tsk.

DF souvenirs, Queenstown

Balik semula ke DF souvenirs and we spent about 1 ½ hour there sebelum ke i-Site untuk tanya pasal jalan ke Coronet Peak or The Remarkables untuk esok. Alang-alang kat sana, boleh beli sekali open tickets for Gondola and Luge rides dan dinasihatkan beli kat i-Site sebab kat atas sana usually akan kena beratur panjang. We’ve got our tickets combo of Gondola and 2 rounds of Luge rides for NZD114 (adult: NZD45, child: NZD20 for Gondola and Future Luge Rider NZD4 for 2 rounds).

Next we went to check in our holiday park, parked at our metered site and solat before heading to Skyline Queenstown. It was just a walking distance from Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park to Skyline Queenstown. Sampai sana kami perlu redeem open tickets yang dah dibeli dari i-Site and terus ke Gondola. Gondola opens until 9.00pm and Luge until 6.00pm. Kami kena rushed up juga sebab masa tu dah pukul 5.35pm. Haha. Another mini marathon for us untuk ke Luge rides. Pheww. 

It was an amazing view from the Gondola, MasyaAllah Subhanallah. Boleh nampak hampir seluruh bandar Queenstown. 

Gondola rides in Queenstown

The kids suka sangat with the Luge rides. We have to choose helmet ikut size kepala (they came in S, M, L, and XL sizes) sebelum naik Luge and for the toddler punya helmet, kena request kat registration counter. 

Next, bila dah tiba kat atas area Gondola stop station, kami kena cari entrance to Luge Rides pula. The best part adalah bila naik chair lift to the Luge rides :D Amazing sangat seluruh pemandangan sekeliling, Subhanallah. Gayat juga memula tu tapi seronoknya tengok view yang indah. Open air gitew. 

The chair lifts to the Luge rides with an amazing view, Subhanallah - Hubby took this picture of Hafiya and me :D

I managed to snap this picture when Mr. Husband tengah get ready untuk turun dari chair lift dengan Khayra. Kalau bawa anak, kena assist / dukung anak untuk keluar dari chair lift bila sampai kat station sebab it won’t stop, so kena pepandai budget to get ready nak keluar (or jump? You choose. Haha) dari chair lift tersebut. 

The Luge rides was indeed so so so fun! 2 rounds pun tak cukup tapi sebab kami pun dah lewat haritu maka OKlah for us that day. Betul tagline mereka that “Once Is Never Enough”. Hehe. 

Di Luge rides ada 2 lorong either you are a first timer atau dah pernah naik Luge before. Bagi yang first timer (like us, haha!), kita akan diajar dulu macam mana nak control Luge tu. Sebelum mula, I cepat-cepat minta mamat pengajar ni tolong ambil gambar kami dulu nak buat kenangan. Haha. Asal boleh. 

Tengok, dia pun siap wefie dengan kami. Dia ajar kejap je dalam less than 10 mins dan tak susah mana nak control Luge ni. Ada 2 points standby camera along the route tapi bila kami nak tengok gambar kami, they claimed that their camera ada problem petang tu, so no pictures at all. Alaaa, sedih je. Nasib baik dah suruh mamat tu ambil gambar dulu. Haha. 

Ini masa nak naik Luge for second round. Tukar pula sebab masa first round I naik dengan Hafiya, so second round tukar naik dengan Khayra pula. Ni masa naik chair lift untuk ke area Luge dan menggigil masa ni nak ambil gambar sebab sejukkk, dah nak gelap ditambah pula dengan berangin serta we were up on hill in an open air chair lift.

Ukur tinggi. For kids yang lebih 110cm, boleh naik Luge sendiri atau nak naik dengan parents just bayar NZD2 for one round under Future Luge Rider. Awesome!

Dah habis 2 rounds of Luge rides, kami pergi bergambar sekejap area dari atas dengan pemandangan seluruh bandar Queenstown. Those photos didn't do a justice sebab ambil guna phone yang berwap (haha!) as cuaca sejuk petang tu and pemandangan sangat indah sebenarnya.

Then kami stopped by to buy some fridge magnets and souvenirs at Souvenir Shop before turun dengan Gondola. From this view, boleh nampak Restaurant area Gondola stop station. They had a dinner function that day so kami tak sempat nak checked out the restaurant tapi they stated ada serve Halal food (meat and salmon) in their website.

At the entrance of Skyline Queenstown which consists of Gondola and Luge Rides.

Photo was taken before we went to Skyline - At the main entrance of our Holiday Park: Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park

Malam tu dinner kami adalah lauk pre packed lunch. Alhamdulillah. 

Toilet di holiday park ini ada password untuk masuk sebab situated di tengah-tengah town so security ketat sikit. We also did our first laundry here and cost us NZD4 for washer and NZD4 for dryer and kena tukar tokens at Reception to operate both washer and dryer in the laundry room. The laundry room was closed at 11.00pm tapi masa I pergi nak buat dryer dah almost pukul 11.00pm and sempat masukkan dalam dryer and left them sebelum ambil balik esok pagi (they will open back at 6.00am). FYI, aku dah bawa sabun laundry (small size) dari Malaysia sebab aku kan suka nak bawa the whole house bila pack and travel. LOL :P

Stay tuned for more entries.

Day 4 (Part 1) : Lake Tekapo – Lake Pukaki / Mount Cook - Cromwell

DAY 4: 17.09.2015 (Part 1 – Lake Tekapo – Lake Pukaki / Mt Cook – Cromwell)

Woke up early to prepare breakfast – tuna sandwiches and packed our lunch (sotong sambal tumis, nuggets and fish fillet). Lepas tu siap-siap dan tetibe I broke down sebab kesian kat husband, dia kena keluar sejuk-sejuk to refill water, to on the gas, buat dumping black and grey water etc. Seriously rasa down sangat. Masa tu both of our kids belum bangun tidur. Tak tahulah kenapa rasa sedih sangat bila tengok suami kita kena bersusah payah sedangkan the purpose of traveling adalah untuk rileks dan enjoy. Tiba-tiba it turned out macam susah je dengan Motorhome ni sebab banyak kerja nak buat dan tak lah relax mana. Tsk T______T

But it was not fair sebab I judge terlalu awal pasal Motorhome. Baru sehari kot.

Lepas tu my husband ajak pergi tengok sunrise kat Lake Tekapo (just in front of our parking site) dan ambil gambar dengan pemandangan cantik, Subhanallah. Masa tu dah rasa OK sikit tetibe dah jadi romantic pula bila berdua tengok pemandangan indah. Hewhewhew. 

Indahnya, Subhanallah Subhanallah Subhanallah. Memang tak henti berzikir.

Inilah rupa camp site di Lake Tekapo Motels and Holiday Park

My husband in his defence, dia explain yang dia tak kisah buat semua tu sebab nak rasa pengalaman yang lain dari pengalaman kami travel sebelum ini sebab kalau sewa kereta, tempat lain pun boleh buat tapi NZ ni ada speciality on Motorhome, so why not kita cuba. Biasalah for first timer semua akan ada susah senang. So I rasa OK sikitlah lepas tu (walaupun dalam hati rasa, Ya Allah kesiannya kat suami tersayang). 

Then kami kejutkan Khayra dan Hafiya, mandikan dan siap-siap serta breakfast and went to Lake Tekapo again to enjoy the scenery dan did some photoshoot there. Sejukkk brrrr sebab berangin tepi tasik. The kids pergi feeding the ducks and main-main kat luar tu dengan pemandangan yang cukup indah. Allahuakbar.

Khayra – after feeding the ducks.

Sejuk. Beku. Gigil. Brrrr.

My unconditional love.
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller” – Ibn Battuta

At the entrance of Lake Tekapo Motels and Holiday Park

Next, we continued our journey to Lake Pukaki / Mount Cook and the journey was about 62km (33 mins) from Lake Tekapo. Pagi tu sebelum check out, kami kena pergi Reception to pass the holiday park Voucher sebab malam tadi kami sampai lewat. Along the way to Lake Pukaki, pemandangan sangat indah Subhanallah, memang cantik dan menakjubkan tak terkata. Hebatnya ciptaan Allah. 

Macam painting, kan? Subhanallah. Allahuakbar.

Purposely ambil gambar posing kat tengah jalan sebab nak tunjukkan betapa lenggang jalanraya di NZ.

On the way to Lake Pukaki – disajikan mata dengan pemandangan ciptaan Allah sehebat ini.

“I want to make memories all over the world … with you” – anonymous

Masa ni anak-anak tidur, jadi kami bergambar zass zass je sikit sikit. Semua gambar di sini adalah non edited. I just letak watermark sahaja. Warna berbeza sebab banyak sumber gambar dari handphone, DSLR, Tab dan GoPro.

We reached at Lake Pukaki at 9.30am and berpeluang ke Mt Cook Alpine Salmon Shop dan Visitor Centre. Anak-anak baru bangun dan recharged energy waktu ni, so photo shoot pun semua ada mood. Haha.

At Lake Pukaki – my husband and my daughters with our Motorhome
(I am sorry, I judge you too early)

Lake Pukaki – warna turquoise yang sungguh indah. The biggest lake in South Island.

My beloveds

Photo shoots | Kanak-kanak riang gembira | Pemandangan indah = WIN!

Bayangkan dari bangun pagi tadi and broke down tapi sepanjang perjalanan ini Allah bagi rezeki tengok pemandangan indah, both kids sangat well behave, dapat rasa pengalaman baru, memang rasa kerdil je diri ini. Cepatnya mengalah pada situasi. Jadi bila berpeluang menikmati pemandangan indah sebegini, terus hilang rasa gundah gulana tu. 

After about 45 minutes stay, kami teruskan perjalanan ke Cromwell melalui Omarama Town dan refill Diesel di Omarama Town (NZD44.15).

Sepanjang perjalanan ke Cromwell

Lake Dunstan, Cromwell

Dari Lake Pukaki ke Cromwell mengambil masa selama 1 hour 40 mins dan kami tiba pada pukul 12.30 tengah hari for toilet break and plan nak picnic lunch kat situ. 

Will continue in my next entry. Stay tuned for Part 2.