NZ 2009 Day 16 - Farewell, New Zealand

Our NZ holiday is finally over.

We checked out early from the hotel, drove the car back to the rental company and then took the shuttle to the airport.

check out picture....

Ira roaming around the airport....

on-board our flight back to Singapore.

Ira kept on walking around from one seat to another.

Kelvin was serious watching a movie.

GREAT BARRIER REEF as seen from above. 

We were awaken by the announcement of the captain to look outside our windows for a glimpse of the reef.

We enjoyed the vacation so much but we still wanted more, esp from South Island where we missed a lot of good photo ops because of bad weather.

Total distance travelled = around 3060kms (driving distance only, excluding distance flown from South to North Island)

Day 1 - Christchurch

Day 2 - Christchurch to Franz Josef Glacier via Arthur's Pass (Alpine Traverse)

Day 3 - Glaciers

Day 4 - Glaciers to Queenstown via Crown Range (West Coast Touring Route - until Haast)

Day 5 - Queenstown

Day 6 - Queenstown to Te Anau, going to Glenorchy in the morning first

Day 7 - Te Anau to Milford Sound (part of Southern Scenic Hway)

Day 8 - Te Anau to Mt Cook, passing by Arrowtown (part of Southern Heritage Route )

Day 9 - Mt Cook to Lake Tekapo

Day 10 - Lake Tekapo to Christchurch via Inland Scenic Route (Hway 72)

Day 11 - fly from Christchurch to Auckland

Day 12 - Auckland to Rotorua, passing by Hot Beach, Coromandel (part of Pacific Coast Hway)

Day 13 to 14 - Rotorua

Day 15 - Rotorua to Auckland via Hway 1 (part of Thermal Explorer)

Day 16 - flight back to Singapore

Total expenses approximately $8,000 (excluding airfare and 6 nites hotel accommodation and some pre-planned activities), way below our budget so it was really good, we already have savings for the next trip!

Experiences I would treasure from our NZ trip:

- Hiking up to glaciers, all 3 of them (Franz Josef, Fox and Tasman)
- Playing with ice (hardened snow) along the road.
- Cruising along Milford Sound and getting wet with waterfall sprays.
- Seeing snow-capped mountains in summer.
- Of course, the unforgettable natural scenery.
- Geothermal villages in Rotorua.
- Freefall extreme and hagglund ride.
- Dipping in hot sand and water at Hot Beach, and also in the heated pool and geothermal spa.

Disappointments in NZ:

- Not able to see Mt Cook when we were already there in the village, at the foot of Mt Cook!
- No mirror lake views at Lake Matheson
- Very bad traffic in Auckland
- Ever changing weather
- Chickened out at zorbing

 We will definitely go back to NZ.

For now, I'm glad to be back home. But a bit bummed with the hot weather. How I wish it was cold again :)

More details about our vacation to the youngest country  New Zealand Trip planning