January 28, 2012

What I did this summer-Part 1

Four weeks ago, we went on a trip to Milford Sound to usher the new year and celebrate our anniversary. We left home on 30th December and began our road trip to the south, away from shaky Christchurch. As usual, the journey through the Mackenzie country was nothing short of spectacular. We drove through a picture perfect highway with snow capped mountains in a distance and fields of sheep as far as the eye could see.



After a three hour drive, we finally stopped at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo. The little chapel, named after the Good Shepherd of the New Testament, was built by the European sheep farmers to commemorate the ‘good shepherds’ of pioneering days. Despite being my 4th visit to the chapel, I couldn’t resist taking lots and lots of photos. Let me just show you the decent ones plus the ones taken from the previous years.

Summer 2010

Winter 2011


Summer - December 2011





After half an hour of photo shoot, we continued our journey. We had planned to stay in a cabin next to Lake Tekapo but most of the motels were fully booked. The only ones left were the expensive suites. It didn’t really surprise me ‘cos summer is the most peak season in NZ and it was the school holiday. The fact that Peter Jackson was filming a movie at the site also made the area even more crowded. Have you heard of the  Hobbit? That’s the movie they were filming.

We had a quick toilet break at Lake Tekapo town area before heading straight to Omarama. It was getting pretty dark when we left and the kids were already getting restless. I looked at my watch and was surprised to see that it was already 9.15 pm. As the sun set deeper into the valley, we could see a ray of light piercing through the clouds. It was a magnificent sight. Hubby pulled over to take pictures of the glorious sunset and the kids were absolutely wowed by the view.



After a brief moment of 'wow' and 'wahhh', we drove  another 10 km before we finally reached Omarama, our pit stop for the day. It wasn't hard searching for our chosen accomodation, the Heritage Gateway Hotel. After checking-in and getting our luggage sorted, I quickly prepared dinner for everyone. The menu: instant food. Ready made lasagna for the kids and noodles with veggies and fish for the adults. After a satisfying dinner, everyone went to bed, exhausted. Well, everyone except me.


Sleepy Alden

I don't know what got into me but I just couldn't sleep. I was probably too excited about the trip to Milford Sound. After tossing and turning in bed for an hour, I decided  get up and watch 15 episodes of Pretty Little Liars. That's how I ended up sleeping on the couch.

source

There was more excitement the next day but I'll save that part for the next post :)

17 comments:

edythe said...

Hi Lizee, hw u been doing? Good to read ur post again :)
I love the views in ur pics. Make me really2 wanna go there. And I love long road journey.

Amanda Christine Wong said...

i see sheeps!

Lizeewong said...

Hi Edith! Thanks for asking. I've been really busy lately but I took some time off to blog cos I've missed it so much :) You must come one day, ada Airasia suda kan? You won't regret it :)

Manda- Ya..bertimbun sheep kalau sini :D

Lois said...

OMG. 15 episodes??

Lizeewong said...

Cha- Ya ba..I fast forwarded the initial part (songs & intro)..tu la cepat hehe :)

Caroline said...

Oh I love that sunset pic! Reminds of my first visit to Milford & I took a pic of the ray of sunlight? Unfortunately, it was during the film camera days and I had gotten 2 rolls of film for my Christmas present.. and they were spoilt.. so I never had a photo of that beautiful sunset. Thanks for sharing!

Lizeewong said...

Alamak! Punya sayang..wah, when was the first time you visited CC? That must be a looooong time ago eh? Btw Carol, did you get any sunset pic during your last trip?

Caroline said...

hehe.. iya bah.. my first trip was 1995 kah 1997..

sunset? mcm nda oh.. wanna dpt spectacular sunsets mesti balik KK baru dpt tu, I think. KK has the best sunsets, don't you think?

aemynadira said...

i love all the pictures! just like what i've seen in most movies..hehehe ^^

Jj said...

punya best!! can't wait for next part..hihi..hi lizee, long time no 'see' :p

StellaClaire-Richard said...

cantik nya the place. wish to be there someday :)

gbeejipp said...

Yayyy, finally your trip to Milford Sound! It's like the place of my dream in NZ. Now I can't wait to read your next post. :-)

Unknown said...

waaah, se pun mau pi cuti-cuti here lah, nice ni and ur pics I loike! :)

Lizeewong said...

Aemy- Glad you like it dear!

Hey JJ! Ya..long no see! Lama jg ko menghilang kan? Glad you're back :)

Stella- Hi Stel! Great to see you here. One day buli ba you and hubby datang sini cuti2 NZ :)

Jipp- You must visit Milford Sound Jipp! Really amazing :)

Vera- Kan moi? Metsi ko dtg nanti. It's lovely :)

CathJ said...

that rays are amazing.. I wish can see that.. hihi..

ah been to the chapel area.. but did not go nearer... can't believe you was there only few weeks before me.. kalau tidak sudah tour together..hihihi...

this make me miss NZ pula.. :)

Lois said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

the sceneries, OMG.. so mesmerizing...the greeneries, rasa mok berguling2 atas rumput tu.. hehehe