#travellords

[intravelrie-blog]

New Zealand

DAY 4

28th May 2014 -Christ church Cathedral (Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Nelson) -Nelson Farmers Market -Pororari River Track Carpark

  First stop of the day is the Christ church Cathedral.

The Cathedral is located at Trafalgar street on Church Hill. The windows are adorned with beautiful stained glass. There's a huge pipe organ, would have loved to hear it play. A very peaceful morning at the Cathedral.

Next up, was to fill our tummies at the Nelson Farmers Market. The farmers market is located at Fashion Island Morrison Square. Open every Wednesday 11am - 4pm. Good thing we purposefully rearranged our itinerary and even made a detour just to be in Nelson on a Wednesday. Will let the photos do the talking.

Bagel from Don Rodrigo Artisan Baker.

Credit: Pandora Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98604372@N08/

Cheese stick from Don Rodrigo Artisan Baker. It was Really good.

  Credit: Pandora Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98604372@N08/

Salmon Wrap from The Wrap Shack. The salmon is sooo yums!

Credit: Pandora Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98604372@N08/

Tortilla chips with guacamole from Las Brisa's Food Ltd. This was Da Bomb. We finished it and nearly licked it clean. Lol.

And definitely not forgetting to get a cuppa...

So with my tummies full and satisfied, we drove 3.5hrs to Punakaiki where we stayed the night at Pororari River Track Carpark (DOC campsite).

[intravelrie-blog]

New Zealand

Day 3

27th May 2014 -Pohara Beach Top 10 National Park -Abel Tasman National Park Spent the night before at Pohara Beach Top 10 Holiday Park so that we could position us nearer to the Harwoods Hole. There's a beach right behind the Holiday Park.

The Harwoods Hole is at the end of a 45mins walking track. Saw it on my lonely planet guide book and researched on it.. Pictures with the walking track with limestone formation and lookouts with absolutely stunning views.

We drove through the hilly landscape of Abel Tasman National Park.It had snowed lightly the past few days and the ground was lightly littered feathery white.

To get to there, we have to follow an unsealed side road to the Canaan Carpark. Halfway down the road the we saw a car parked along side the road. We stopped and they told us that the roads were frozen and icy from the snow and their car has started to skid.... After hearing what they said, thought we should turn back.. But as we tried to move... We realised... WE ARE STUCK. We cant go forward and we are round a bend.

The best thing that we could do is to put on the snow chains. So we took them out and we realised that the instructions on the box were so worn out we can even make out the picture not to mention the words. THANK GOODNESS for YouTube and Mobile Wifi. FH managed to YouTube a "Fitting snow chains in Under 2 mins" video, which was absolutely a life saver.

The Kiwis from the other car was digging out soil and pouring over the icy ground to provide better friction. Then... Another lorry came. We thought oh no... Another one? But the nice old man took charge of the situation. He told us not to attempt to move forward but to reverse on gear one all the way down. And so Dino hopped in the drivers seat and maneuvered the campervan to safety.

PHEW. Life and death situation over there.. To think if the first car wasn't there we might not even have know of the danger at all.

Credit: Pandora Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98604372@N08/

That's us. Doing our victory jump. Safe and Sound.

[intravelrie-blog]

New Zealand

DAY 2

26th May 2014

-Ohau Point Lookout -Whalewatch Kaikoura -Ohau Waterfall  -Blenheim

Woke up before the sun rose to go for a short walk at the Ohau Waterfall. Made a pit stop at the Ohau Point Lookout.

From the lookout you could see the Kaikoura coastline. Adult and pup fur seals made this their breeding and hauling ground. You could see them playing the water, busking in the sun, lazing around... Look at those puppy eyes! 

After we decided to the leave the Lookout point for the waterfall, this distracted us. I mean.. How can you not stop for this??!! So once again we parked our car. I'd love to wake up to this every single day.....

When we finally left we realised that it was too late to make a trip to the waterfall, as we booked a trip out with Whalewatch Kaikoura. Little did we know all the morning trips were cancelled due to choppy waters! So we went to have a cuppa at the Flukes café.

This.. Was definitely the BEST mocha of the trip. The texture of the foam was definitely smooth and velvety. The coffee was creamy with a great balance of chocolate and coffee. Great barista. So good Panda can't wait to pounce on my cup.

So with time to spare we headed down to the Ohau Waterfall.

A stepped into the area and there were seal pups playing in the stream. There must have been at least hundreds of them at the waterfall and around the area. Some of the curious ones would even come up close to check you out. We could have just spent a whole day sitting here just watching the seal pups.

Next destination. Blenheim. The wineries in Marlborough are a definite must visit. Being the largest wine producing region you can imagine the number of wineries in the area. We visited the cellar door of both Highfield Estate and Hanz Herzog for some wine tasting. Needless to say we left with a couple of bottle each.. And some for along the way.  

[pursuing-serendipity-blog]

NEW ZEALAND Travel Log

South Island 24th May - 9th June 2014

DAY 1

Flight out SIN-SYD

And so it begins, Travel lords' 17day adventure. After more then 9 months of planning, meet ups, late nights.

Credit: Dino

  DAY 2

SYD - CHC

First thing we thought about. COFFEEEEE MOCHAAAA (Or in my case CHAI)

We've got about  a 3hr stopover in SYD. Its 6am, yet its still never too early/late for food. To think we had a pre-flight snack/meal, dinner on the plane, snacks and then this...

On arrival in Christchurch, we got ourselves a pre-paid number (which proved the utmost useful in our times of distress) and a mobile wifi. Collected our MAUI campervan and we were off..... to grocery shop. By the time we were done its already night fall and I drove us up north to Kaikoura where we we'd be spending the night.

I am very confident with my driving skills but, driving in the night + rain + huge campervan + minimal signs... I did get us lost for "a while" but all's well! We managed to find the Okiwi Bay camping ground that we were suppose to spend our night.