Freak out in the adventure town…

So here’s my prescription for adding thrill to the mundane lives…head to Queenstown, Newzealand .

 Thrill for two reasons …..

1 . Any and every kind of adventure activity you’ve imagined or dreamt of is available for you to experience. You can bungy jump, ski /snowboard, para glide,white water raft,jet boat, skydive, jet ski, hang glide or drive quad bikes etc etc. Name it and you have it. 

2 . After you’re done with the trip, which leaves a big hole in your pocket, life automatically becomes a thrilling adventure for the months to follow especially if you’re an Indian and the value of rupee  embarrasses  you every other day in currency market J 

However, my thrilling experience didn’t start in Queenstown, it started as soon as I reached Singapore airport to board my connecting flight to Christchurch. Taxi left and before we could enter the airport, I realized that my bag was missing. The bag had everything important from my medicine to passport to money. All this because it was the first time we had left our son in Singapore with my sister. We were too senti  & busy rewinding the goodbye moments in our minds  to be careful about things like bag. The fate of our trip depended on the taxi driver now. 15-20 minutes of tension, a little blame game ….  and finally we traced him. The driver dutifully came back to the airport and handed over my bag.Smile came back to our faces and we looked forward to spending next few days as just the two of us .

The next morning reminded me of Switzerland, I could see snow mountains in the midst of clouds from my window seat as the plane was about to land in Queenstown. Then the white background changed colors into blue , into green  ….there was a huge lake below. Lake Wakatipu. I was smitten just by the first glimse of it.

Lake Wakatipu @ Queenstown

Snuggled in beside the lake Wakatipu,  Queenstown seemed like a paradise with snow clad mountains on top, shades of blue reflected by both the sky & the lake and awe inspiring alpine scenery. I thought , adventure in such a heavenly background is sure going to be a pure bliss.

We did try our hands at many activities including dart river safari, luge rides, segway, jetboat, horizontal bungee etc. For me there was an added adventure. It was extremely cold and I had  forgotten to check the weather report  before packing as I hardly had a day  in between my Bhutan and New Zealand trip . Newzealand, ofcourse wasn’t planned . It came as a surprise from my husband’s company for the strategy he had made for the company. Surprisingly , a good surprise from them J

Newzealand is strange…strange in a way that the country doesn’t have any snakes or dangerous wild animals. Infact when humans inhabited the island around 1300 years  ago, there were no mammals .The reason behind this is the origin and evolution of the two island the northern island and the southern island.

Infact when we went for a tour in beech wood forests, I was disappointed since national parks meant wild animals in my mind.

But ya, while on the country roads , you would find sea of domestic animals like sheeps,cows on either sides grazing on the never ending green grasslands. Animal farming !! For the sheer fun of driving on such roads, my husband kept wishing to settle in Newzealand along with cows and sheeps J

The highlight of our holiday has been the visit to Milford sound  (On the west coast of the south island) where ‘Lord of the rings’ movie besides many others was shot . Eighth wonder of the world as described by Rudyard Kipling ….Milford sound was carved by glaciers during ice ages.

We were awestruck by the journey itself .Te anue,

the mirror lake (I've not tried to add any reflection to the image,this is how it is ),

soaring mountain peaks and glaciers, water falls  and the sky in southern sphere !  ....








...absolutely God painted natural backdrop.You can't help but get bewitched by the way nature unfolds itself in these corners of the world to create such a magic that leaves one dumbfounded.

Icing on the cake was the two hour cruise at Milford. It takes you through the cliffs and peaks including the mitre peak that rises more than a kilometer straight out of the sea.
Cascading waterfalls (some as high as 1000 meters) and lush green rain forests clinging on to the rock faces create amazing visual cues around every corner.

Waterfalls at Milford sound

Besides,we did have dinner at skyline restaurant (a romantic experience) , at Spice room (to satisfy our Indian taste buds )and at an Italian restaurant (food wasn’t great !wine, sure was)

Got gifts every night, another surprise J that too good one.

 Four days and my husband had to return to India for work and I had to stay back at Singapore  to show the city to my son to compensate  before his holidays would end.

There is still lots to see in Newzealand. Ye dil maange more J  but may be , some other time and hopefully as a good surprise gift from God. For now, this trip has been long enough to come back lingering the memories of Newzealand  and short enough to not leave the company bankrupt ;-)

GRACIAS !!