[socrates]

Got back recently from my 10 day trip to South island New Zealand. Much too short to see all of the South Island so able to only to really see the south of the south island as I called it.

Anyway I must thank the forum pals here for all their postings and especially gasband for his excellent and detailed advice. It certainly helped make my trip a smooth and successful one. Thanks Gasband !

Thought I would also share some pictures of my trip as well.

Landed in Christchurch and immediately was picked up by Teddy from Anzed rentals. His service is really good. Not only does he pick and send his customers to and from the airport but he also takes time to give good driving advice and route suggestions. He also had loan for free handphones, music CDs, hot water flask and even a rice cooker for those who miss their their. He used to live in Singapore before migrating to NZ and I would recommend him for those thinking of renting a car in South island.

Took the car and immediately set off for lake tekapo. Unfortunately it was a rainy day and quite gloomy which did not make the scenery as good as usual. Driving was easy in NZ, the further we get away from Christchurch the fewer the cars and the road conditions are good.

As we reached lake tekapo, we were greeted by very nice flowers called lupines by the road side.



lake tekapo reknowned for the fantastic colour of the lake surrounded by mountains and for its brilliant night sky. Unfortunately it was cloudy and very cold when we were there. The temperature outside was easily less than 10 degrees but still the sceneery was great.


the famous stone church of Tekapo


clouds falling over the moutains !


Beautiful houses and gardens in this small town

[Arcanell]

wow nice photos! is that all??? how much is the car rental and what car did you drove?

[gasband]

Haha I am glad u had a great time! I just sharing lah cos this is such a wonderful place. I dare to say, NZ is by far nicest place I have travelled to, not saying I have travelled all or many, but glad to see another person who is marvelled by the sights of NZ South Island. Show us photos!!! hehehe.....

[socrates]

Arcanell: There were 4 of us and I drove a Nissan bluebird which is good and comfortable. he has a website http://www.anzed.co.nz/rental%20cars.html which shows all his cars and costs available. I paid NZ$576 in total based on 9 days usage or NZ$64 a day. This includes all the extra costs of insurance and windscreen insurance. Good to take up the windscreen insurance, on my 3rd day there I had a crack in my windscreen which is somewhat common driving in NZ. Teddy the car rental guy was good and counted the total number of days as 9 when technically he could count it as 10. It is a great place to drive just look at the picture below...



On the road from Milford sound back to Te Anau on a beautiful blue day. Hardly any cars around..Never in Singapore will we get this.



But of course be prepared for rainy misty and cold days! this was near a place called Hercules which is near Fox glacier

Gasband: This picture is just for you...look below.(Would have gladly brought one it back to thank you for all your advice.)





Gasband in the future you may want to plan a driving trip to England. I did one in England in June and it was also very beautiful and quite a good place to drive as well.

This year went to 2 angmo countries which I always dreamt of going and took the chance with cheaper airfares and stronger S$.

[socrates]

From lake tekapo headed down south towards Te Anau where I stayed for 2 nights. Probably my fav town of the trip stayed in a motel which faced the lake and the view was incredible.



Early morning at the lake, what a reflection !



In the evening light breaks through the clouds.





they have very nice pathways for walkers or joggers around the lake and into the forest. Just love the trees and New Zealand forage. There are ducks in the lake and even managed to spot some wild rabbits in the bush

[slamdunk7]

awesome photos!

[gasband]

FERGBURGER!!!!! its nice right! Haha!!! Thanks man....i could devour that haha....

as for England, yes I am going!!! Coming July I am going for 16 days hehehe.... but itinerary nt out yet... but before that, I have my Cambodia, BKK, Vietnam and Shanghai hurhurhur

[socrates]

From Te Anau, drove early to Milford sound to catch the 9.00 am red boat cruise. (This 9.00 am also included breakfast on the boat.)




Milford sound leads out to The tasman sea. keep going and oyu will reach Australia.







Seals lazing around. they hunt in the night and sleep on the rocks in the day and pose for tourists.


Lots of waterfalls around and the cliffs which surround Milford sound reminds me of those I saw in Krabi Thailand but of course there were no seals, penguins and the temperature is 20 degrees celsius less than in Thailand !

[socrates]

Gsband: 5 countries to visit in 2010? thats incredible! Make sure to post pictures and report when you get back

[gasband]

Wow ur Milford Sound pictures are magnificient, totally different to mine which is rainy and moody, yours is nice and colorful! but Milford Sound is really a beauty in all seasons...

[socrates]

i was blessed that we had good weather, we were told that on average it rains at least 200 days a year in Milford sound. So the blue skies made the drive there and the sound more beautiful









Penguins spotted. the penguins were cute as when the boat came close instead of the penguins running away, more of them came running out of the bush. not enough zoom on my camera though.

[socrates]

After Milford sound, we took our time driving back to te anau and stopped many times to walk around and admire the scenery.



Long winding road through the mountains just before going into Homer's tunnel



nice drive, like the wild yellow flowers that line the road.



at the chasm we spotted the start of a rainbow !



Rushing waters coming down from the mountains



One of my fav scenes, river with lupines around. Blue skies and mountains in the backgorund



NZ bird I think it is called the kaka waiting for a bus

[gasband]

its called a KEA hehe, the alpine parrot only found in the South Island

[d_kalos]

Oh man... after seeing all the photos from gasband's thread and this one make us decided to go NZ South Island for our honeymoon.

Can I check how much budget should we set aside for 2ppl for a 15-17days trip?

[tortoise18]

d_kalos wrote:

Oh man... after seeing all the photos from gasband's thread and this one make us decided to go NZ South Island for our honeymoon.

Can I check how much budget should we set aside for 2ppl for a 15-17days trip?

im tinking of tis too!