NZ Part 13 : The Land of Glaciers

Our last planned stops in NZ is the glaciers which is up north on the west cost. Which means we traveled on the opposite side of the mountains and Mount Cook, by the sea.

We drove through Wanaka; also a rather popular tourist destination.

This is one of the attractions in Wanaka. The Puzzling World. Namun kami tidak masuk; only a quick stop for pictures. We are after all on a scenic tour..

We stopped at the lavender farm in Wanaka. Sebenarnya saya terjumpa website ini di internet; but forgot to explore further. Lagi pun saya ingat kami tak punyai masa. Namun, we saw its signage and decided to stop. I am happy that we did. Because although it was a rather short visit, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was beautiful and quite unforgetful. There was a lavender farm (of course), a beautiful rose garden, friendly sheep that you can feed. An awesome scenery. And a quaint and beautifully smelled shop that has lots of lavender products. Yang sebenarnye, even the restroom was cantik dan sangat wangi dengan lavender.

We had chocolate and lavender flavored ice cream (which Kaia tak suka..) I like it because it is different and we are a lavender farm after all. Saya tanya ingredients ice cream and the helpful guy behind the counter kata all natural products dengan cuma cream (from the farm down the road) dan telur dan tiada preservatives (doesnt that sound like music to you..?)

But unfortunately, almost all the lavenders are harvested, except some in the garden. We will return in spring when the fields are full of lavenders. InsyaaAllah.

And I asked hubs, do you think lavenders will grow in Msia? And also, can we move here you think..?

We continued our journey to the glaciers through beautiful lakes.

And mountains and farms. More sheep and cows, of course. And some beach. But throughout the journey we mostly passed by forests unlike the rainforest here at home. Mungkin pokok saja yang berbeza. But dense green forests. Dan bermacam2 jenis water falls, high ones and tiny ones. Dan berbagai sungai. And one way bridges (which is actually quite common in NZ in fact).

And the road was seriously isolated. Very few vehicles that we pass by. Tapi ada beberapa cyclists along the way (I call them adrenaline junkies -- chewwah, dah pandai).

We got to Fox Glacier quite late in the afternoon. There was a light shower so everything was misty and cloudy. And cold.

The road to Fox Glacier. Mountains and rivers and waterfalls.



It takes about 45 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the glacier. For me that walk took longer. We pass by streams and hills. But it was an alright walk actually. Naik dan turun bukit. Not too bad.

And I dont think I have seen so many rainbows except here. Merata2 nampak rainbow.

And this is how the glacier is like from a distance. The high hills / mountains rather block the glacier from far. Bila dah dekat glacier nampak besar (namun tak besar macam Franz Josef Glacier).

And this is the closest that you can get to the glacier. You can only go closer if you have a guide with you.

We spent the night at a nice camping ground with full facilities.

And that is Mount Cook from the other side of the Southern Alps.

We got to Franz Josef Glacier the next morning. The glacier is much bigger then Fox. Dan lebih ramai orang. We were thinking that we should do one glacier only tapi lepas tu fikir balik, dah sampai kan. Ada ke nak datang sekali lagi ke sini?

Jadi digagahkan jugak memanjat.

That's how big the glacier is. Sangat ramai orang yang visit. We walked along river beds, and hills and waterfalls. The river was where the glacier used to be but has receded over the years. Nanti lama2 takde langsung dah glacier pun agaknye.

Di sini, lebih jauh kena berjalan. Maybe like an hour and a half or so (one way, fyi). Budak2 of course tinggalkan kami di belakang.

Nampak tak tinggi sebab dah digagah juga panjat habis bukit-gunung untuk sampai ke Franz Josef.

I asked the boys if they want to get on the chopper to the glacier. Tapi semua kata tak mau. Tapi bila balik lagi nak bagitau saya, mama kita boleh turun helikopter and berjalan di atas glacier tu rupanya. Saya tarik muka 14 haha.. sebab memang Lil dah bercerita begitu (she has done it in fact. Kata Lil, siap dapat certificate sebab berjalan di atas glacier tu). And I have told them over and over. Letih. Never mind, we will do that the next time (haha). InsyaaAllah.

Turun dari glacier kami semua lunyai. Terus masak maggi dalam camper dan makan! Never maggi tasted so good.

Namun. Amat berbaloi to walk to both glaciers. My motivation has always been : dah sampai, kalau tak buat bila lagi nak sampai pulak? Mungkin Allah dah tak mudahkan dah di lain kali. Dan Alhamdulillah dengan berbagai rezeki yang dikurniakan Allah.

After Franz Josef we traveled back to Christchurch via Arthur's Pass, a small town on the Southern Alps. The last leg of the journey. Next.



~ xoxo