[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by desidino

Thanks drmohitg !

Unfortunately, we did not have the time to do the section from Queenstown back to Christchurch through Lake Tekapo. We will definitely cover that section if we ever go to New Zealand again someday.

I would have seriously considered moving to New Zealand too, but for the super strong UV rays.

Is it that scary? I feel the more scarier part is probably that they are right on top of a very active fault line and hence the repeated earthquakes and active volcanos.

You should have done Lake Tekapo also. It is really breathtaking although what isn't in that country. We did a 2 week self drive tour. And luckily when we visited Milford Cruise it was raining cats and dogs and the place just got more beautiful, as you have mentioned, with at-least a 100 temporary waterfalls forming up all over the place. It was just mind boggling.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by desidino

The bus stopped at the Homer tunnel as the incoming traffic was about to start. We had a few minutes to walk near the tunnel. Apparently, this place is beautiful when it rains as it gets filled with water falls.

Attaching the picture from my trip to Milford sound. It was raining cats and dogs there that day all all those temporary waterfalls were a very beautiful sight. And the whole drive right from the base to the top of Milford sound was studded with these temporary waterfalls.


And here are 2 pictures of Lake Tekapo and our rental Corolla. The blue car with the clear blue water of the lake in the background was just so mind blowing.

[desidino]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Is it that scary? I feel the more scarier part is probably that they are right on top of a very active fault line and hence the repeated earthquakes and active volcanos.

Although prolonged exposure to the sun in South Island can lead to skin cancer, I was referring to the burning sensation even after applying sun screen lotion.

[Sawyer]

Excellent travelogue; one of the best I have seen here and does full justice to the country.

Did you know that there are no poisonous reptiles/insects etc to be found on both islands? No predators either; I don't know why that is so.

The place looks incredibly clean...having more sheep than people must help!

[desidino]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Excellent travelogue; one of the best I have seen here and does full justice to the country.

Did you know that there are no poisonous reptiles/insects etc to be found on both islands? No predators either; I don't know why that is so.

The place looks incredibly clean...having more sheep than people must help!

Thanks Sawyer !

Yes, unlike neighboring Australia, New Zealand doesn't have any wildlife that can kill you. Probably due to its geographical isolation. Although, it did have super sized eagles called Haast's eagle that went extinct around 1400 when their primary prey - super sized flightless bird called Moa - was hunted to extinction by the Maori.

[Sawyer]

I can't think of a single other place that is like NZ in having no predators harmful to humans, so what is special about the NZ location that makes this so? Time to google...
Which yielded this!
http://gizmodo.com/new-zealand-is-ki...ors-1784249023

[desidino]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

I can't think of a single other place that is like NZ in having no predators harmful to humans, so what is special about the NZ location that makes this so? Time to google...
Which yielded this!
http://gizmodo.com/new-zealand-is-ki...ors-1784249023

Lol. What an amateurish article. New Zealand native wildlife consisted mostly of birds before arrival of humans. In fact there were no harmful predators for such a long time that entire species of birds (such as Kiwi and Moa) evolved into being flight-less. If we go back in time, probably only Haast's Eagle was dangerous to humans since it took to attacking human babies, as its primary food source - Moa - was hunted to extinction by Maoris. Even then it would have been dangerous to human babies only for a few decades since it too ultimately became extinct. It was just an accident of geographical history of planet Earth that New Zealand was isolated for millions of years and its animal life consisted mostly of birds with no harmful predators.

But the article is correct about New Zealand trying hard to eradicate predators introduced by humans. There was this particular stretch of road from Franz Josef to Queenstown where we saw possums lying dead on the road every few hundred meters or so after being hit by vehicles. One can only imagine how many of these predators must be in the forests driving native birds/wildlife to extinction. It is an infestation and I hope New Zealand succeeds in its efforts to eradicate all such non-native predators.

[KomS_CarLog]

Nice travelogue I just completed a cool 3 day trip in the Northland a few weeks back, covering a total of 1037.5 KMs. And all through the trip, one sentence just kept on repeating - "Wow! This is so beautiful".

Some day, I will go for a longer road trip, similar to what has been captured in this travelogue

[mentalmaxout]

What a superb detailes trip and love the pictures. Incidentally had gone to NZ for the honeymoon and it wasthe wifes first foreign trip & ever since thenwe have done another 15 trips, but even till date she wishes to go back one more time to NZ

Immediately forwarded this to the wife who promptly messaged back "We have to go again !!"

Full 5 stars well deserved

[14000rpm]

NZ looks like a place that needs a lot of time just to soak in the beauty of the landscapes. Perfect place for a Camper holiday. I'm sure that concept should be popular there. right?

I did a 2 week camper holiday in Norway past summer and it was the best ever.

[KomS_CarLog]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

NZ looks like a place that needs a lot of time just to soak in the beauty of the landscapes. Perfect place for a Camper holiday. I'm sure that concept should be popular there. right?

Absolutely! Camping is a big time get-away activity in NZ. You have camping grounds across the country, some just near the beaches. The other big time activity is recreational boating (kayaking, fishing, etc). Whenever there is a long weekend, the highways are dotted with cars towing boats of various sizes. Beautiful stuff

[coolmind]

Originally Posted by desidino

Attachment 1602722

We opted for the following activities:

1. Waitomo glow-worm caves
2. Skyline & luge Rotorua
3. Hobbiton movie set tour
4. Wellington half day Lord of the Rings tour
5. Wellington dinner
6. Kawarau Bridge Bungy
7. Queenstown Skyline gondola, luge ride, dinner
8. Queenstown Ziptrek - booked ourselves
9. Milford Sound coach-cruise-flyback
10. Glenorchy Dart River Wilderness Jet
11. Queenstown NZONE Skydiving
12. Queenstown helicopter flight with snow landing - booked ourselves (http://www.helicopter.co.nz/queenstown/)

The itinery looked very basic without the optionals sir.
One might be missing the essentials if opted out.
By the way I have a doubt while going through the travelogue sir.
Will the amount be refunded for a particular activity (ex. sky diving) if there is any hick up with respect to bad weather?
By the way, the travelogue is well written and supported with beautiful greenery and snow landscapes.

[desidino]

Originally Posted by coolmind

By the way I have a doubt while going through the travelogue sir.
Will the amount be refunded for a particular activity (ex. sky diving) if there is any hick up with respect to bad weather?
By the way, the travelogue is well written and supported with beautiful greenery and snow landscapes.

Thanks coolmind. Yes, the activities truly are highlight of New Zealand (apart from the awesome scenery of course).

I believe so that you should be eligible for refund or rescheduling to another day if the weather is not good. However, it would be best to check directly with the activity provider. Have fun !

[Miyata]

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing. As noted earlier, great leadership, effort and work on part of NZ authorities in maintaining and improving things.

Truly, even if one were to take random photos with a shut eye, they would come out every bit worthy of framing and adorning the walls.

The closest thing we could have to such beauty would be our seven sister states - just as beautiful; but need that leadership and maturity to keep improving and maintain them well. Additionally, we are really bad at marketing, highlighting, and bolstering our tourism industry.