The vast space in NZ has never failed to amaze me. Having to drive for hours between attractions is the norm, and our mileage from our Tasmania trip pales in comparison to the NZ tally. Driving for long hours may be a joyous pastime for some, but to me, driving is tolerable at the best of time, and nerve-wrecking otherwise. Luckily, with 5 of us taking the wheel in turn, this road trip is probably as easy as one can get. Driving the Holden Trailblazer behemoth in Tasmania is definitely an eye-opener, but size-wise, it's not a car that I'm anxious to return to. This time around, we had a Subaru Legacy; it retained the power of the Traillazer, the spacious interior and a generous boot-space, but none of the maneuvering challenges that made the Trailblazer a tad tedious. And the best part? We're doubly glad for Apex's 'zero excess coverage' - perfect for long hours of mountaineous driving. #notasponsoredpost
Christchurch airport has a direct route straight to Lake Tekapo, but the scenic view via State Highway No. 77 is only half an hour longer, and winds along NZ's gorgeous landscapes along the highway. Snow-tipped mountains loom in the distant horizon, and waves of grass rippled with the wind. The route was a foreshadowing of the beauty of Lake Tekapo. As we drove down the incline of the road into the town of Lake Tekapo, I finally saw what the hype was about: Lake Tekapo may be one of the most beautiful towns I'd been to. There were more of those snow-capped mountains in the horizon, lining the divide where the lake meets the sky, and blooming fields of lupines in shades of yellow, pink and violet lay before the shimmer of the lake in the evening sun.
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| R snapping a photo of J among the lupine |
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| Pic by R |
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| Pic by R |
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| Pic by R, taken with long exposure. |
The timing of the tour late in the night definitely gave me pause, but there's no denying it: the tour is amazing, and couldn't recommended it more. There are earlier tours to be enjoyed in the evening, though the setting sun may hinder your tour experience.
Check website for latest tour dates
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From Tekapo, we backtracked a wee bit for a breakfast stop at the town of Fairlie before heading on to Mount Cook. Fairlie Bakehouse is a popular breakfast location amongst the locals, and wow, on behalf of tourists, we're pretty darn impressed as well. The pies were faultless: from Venison with Cranberry to Bacon and Salmon, they were some of the best pies I've had. We ordered three fresh pies for breakfast, but we were so delighted with their range that we bagged up the rest of the flavours as takeaway. 
Fairlie Bakehouse
Since we're in the area, we also popped by Fat Albert Smokehouse. It's a local joint that hand-cures gourmet meats in a traditional Scottish method. We made a few quick purchases and carefully portioned the delicious cured meats (Salami and Smoked Chorizo) over the next subsequent days. We particularly enjoyed their Italian Salami, which was beautifully seasoned with a little spicy kick.
Website and Facebook
Mount Cook Salmon Alpine is a popular rest-stop for tour buses hawking salmon sashimi and smoked salmon derived from a nearby salmon hatchery. It's our initial lunch stop location, until we saw that it's just a takeaway counter selling cold food and Mt Cook memorabilia. Two or three communal tables are available out in the open air by the lake, but you'll have to wrestle for a spot with the other visitors. Sigh. With prime location like this, they could have done much brisker business if they expanded into a proper lunch place, selling not just cold finger food, but also hot food like fish and chips, clam chowder and grilled salmon, a la Devil's Corner in Tasmania.
Local cheeses by Ben Ohau can be found here at this shop too, but our cooler bag was packed with Over the Moon cheese and Fat Albert smokehouse salami, and so I grudgingly gave it a miss.
Mount Cook Salmon Alpine
Website
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| Pic by EJ |
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| Pic by EJ |
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| Pic by EJ |
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| Pic by EJ |
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| Pic by EJ |
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When we reached Wanaka, we were all craving caffeine, and we stopped at Coffee Shack to recharge for the rest of the day. Their strong brew soon convinced us to return every morning.
Near the Coffee Shack is a strip of trailers selling hot food, there's burritos, crepes and dim sim. Communal wooden tables are arranged in the middle of the trailer, and inquisitive sparrows kept us company for lunch, and one in particular darted in and out to beg for food.
75 Brownston Street, Wanaka 9305, New Zealand
Opening hours: Tripadvisor
From Wanaka, Blue Pools Walk is an hours' drive away. Famed for the turquoise shade of water, the track to the pools takes about 20 minutes. The gravel or sandy parts can get a little slippery at times, but the view below makes the descend worth it. Be sure to pack insect repellents: sandflies (or namu in Maori) are out in droves wherever there is running water, and every bite is particularly painful and itchy with a chance of long-term skin discoloration and permanent scarring. Help.
Blue Pools Walk
New Zealand Website
Wanaka is a major well-established tourist town with several craft breweries operating in the region, but Speight Ale House (Wanaka) has stolen our hearts. The beers and ciders that they serve are some of the most best we’ve had, and I heartily wish they’ll export to Melbourne. Don’t miss the Happy Hour (4-6pm): each pint goes for $6!
We didn't try their Lunch Specials ($15) until we reached the outlet at Queensland, but I was impressed with their huge portions. I have decided that they're too nice to try and make a profit.
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| Photo by R |
93 Ardmore St, Wanaka 9305, New Zealand
Opening hours: 11-late daily
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The next day saw us up before the sun, trying to scale Roy's Peak to catch the sunrise at the summit. Unfortunately for us, the trail was closed for construction, and in a pinch, we turned to Rob Roy Glacier Track... which also didn't quite pan out. The last 30km of the road to the carpark was unpaved, which we stubbornly powered through before coming to a stop in front of an ominous sign. It detailed nine fords from the sign to our destination, which may flood and trap cars between the waters in wet weather. Also, the sign demarcated the area after which cell reception ceases, because of course. Zut! I didn't fancy getting stuck between fords during high waters, and was pretty glad to turn around for Diamond Lake Conservation Area instead. The Diamond Lake Lookout was at sea-level, and the lake's surface was smooth as a mirror in the light morning breeze. Watching the sun rise over the lake was a moment of tranquility that soothed over the morning's misadventure.
The 5km track can be challenging at times, and it took us the better part of two hours before we reached Lake Wanaka Lookout Point. The path can be challenging and steep at times (be careful especially on the way down, as the loose gravel can slip under your feet). We made our way up the mountain with heavy puffs of breaths. Save a jogger or two, it was early enough such that we were the only ones on the trail in the peace of the morning.
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| Such a tranquil view so why is my heart pounding at 200 beats per minute? |
Carpark: Diamond Lake Walk Car Park
Official Website
The town of Wanaka has two lakes: Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. Just across the road from Speight Ale House is Lake Wanaka, where the iconic Wanaka tree is located #thatwanakatree. Every evening, hordes of tourists descend upon that tree welding DSLRs. (Although I've heard the best time is sunrise, as the sun rays catch the side of the tree.)
Watersport options are available by the lake side, and our last evening in Wanaka was pleasantly spent kayaking around the lake. The lake water was still and clear; we could see right down to the bottom of the lake to where schools of fish dart in and out of the seaweed. Bonus points if you paddle across to the Wanaka Tree and photobomb hopeful photographers, or to chase ducks across the lake.
Extra extra bonus points? Build your own raft, like a enterprising group of jolly British tourists did. They lashed wooden planks placed atop plastic boxes filled with helium balloons, and even brought along a British flag to mount onto the contraception. Classic Brits. Give them a week and there'll be a Union Jack flapping on Speight's Ale House too. #toosoon?
Paddle Wanaka
Opening hours and rates
For tourists on a tight budget, the supermarkets in Wanaka have a good selection of fresh produces at affordable prices. We were never one to pass up on a bargain, and snapped up three kilos of mussels from New World Wanaka at $5/kg. Another notable place was The Mediterranean Market, an upscale grocery store with surprisingly good prices. Skip the $50-a-bottle maple syrup and the $30 cooking olive oil, and go for their sale of the week. Pork shoulders were $7/kg, and the Walnut Sourdough Bread ($6) was a treat to dip into the mussel stew.
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Arrowtown is en-route from Wanaka to Queenstown. An old mining town, it's been converted into a tourist destination and good for a half-day visit. By a stroke of luck, we arrived on the day of their monthly farmer's market. It's a small affair, with perhaps half a dozen stalls located by the side of the road near the city square, but don't turn your nose up at it just yet. This was where we were introduced to Whitestone Cheese Company. I didn't much enjoy blue cheese until I tried theirs'. The blue cheese flavor was still unmistakable, but it's milder than every other I tried, and quite pleasant. Our view appeared to be the general concensus: it was the 2016 Windsor Blue NZSCA Gold Award winner, swept the 2016 World Championship Cheese Contest and the 2017 Outstanding NZ Food Producer award.
Karawau Gorge Suspension Bridge is also a nearby LOTR attraction, where The Fellowship of the Ring showed the the boat scene of the Pillars of the Kings. (Spoiler alert: the statues of the kings were photoshopped.) But don't let that tidbit of information detract you from coming; the turquoise fast-moving river is still worth a visit, and the site earned itself a well-deserved Category I spot by the New Zealand Historic Places.
For the adventure-minded, the suspension bridge is also home to the world's first commercial bungy-jumping company, the founders who literally wrote the definitive book on bungy-jumping safety world-wide.
Queenstown is one of the biggest city this half of NZ. We reached around lunchtime, and hung out with the waitress at Erik's Fish and Chips while waiting for the kitchen to open. She's from overseas, like us, and is on a backpacker visa slowly making her way through New Zealand. We had piping hot Kumara wedges, fries and a deep-fried kiwi fruit, but of course, we enjoyed their deep-fried fishes coated in fresh batter the most.
Erik's Fish and Chips restaurant
13 Earl St, Queenstown 9300, New Zealand
The tourist scene is bustling in Queenstown; paragliders sail over our heads every so often, and busloads of tourists crowd the pavements outside storefronts. You know it's a major tourist attraction when Louis Vuitton and Starbucks wink at you across the street. Speights Ale House made a reappearance here, and yes, the ales and ciders were as good as I remembered.
Ferg is the darling of Queenstown, and its burger place Fergburger is the most celebrated restaurant in the entire city. From lunch to supper, throngs of tourists spill out onto the sidewalks from the restaurant, waiting for a table. The only good time to eat, it seems, is in the morning before 10am, when the queue hasn't quite developed yet. Mrs Ferg Gelateria is their foray into the ice cream scene, and I had my fill of great gelato there. Fergbaker, their bakery, has a talented team churning out loaves of fresh bread, and the Garlic and Parmesan Focaccia made a great addition to our dining table for breakfast over the next few days. We also adored the Baguette, with its crisp edges that shatter as you pinch the corners. The burger place, gelateria and bakery are side by side, although if all you're after is a gelato, they have a branch about 200m down the road which is always less packed than at the trio.
We were delighted to find Whitestone Cheese Company, which first pinged our collective radar at the Arrowtown Farmer Market. Located about 20 minutes from the city centre, they share a locale with Wet Jacket Winery. This isn't a farm where their cheeses were made, but a tastefully decorated tasting room where cheeses are sold. It isn't overtly fancy on the outside, with simple tin walls keeping the wind out, but the moment of truth: we loved every cheese there. R and I are already big fans of their Vintage Windsor Blue Cheese, and a browse through their catalogue showed that every cheese that they carry - save one - had won recognition for their quality.
Whitestone Cheese Company has been in the news recently, though not all of it flattering – some of its cheeses, it seems, were purchased from other brands, which they then matured and rebranded with their logo. Call us contrarians, but I didn’t mind so much; I thought it's brilliant that a cheese connoisseur had scoured NZ's cheeses and curate a collection for me. R was in agreement; it's a testament to their skills to take a piece of cheese and create a superior product from it.
You wouldn't be disappointed dropping by here.
Whitestone Cheese Company (Tasting Room within Wet Jacket Winery) 1 Bendemeer Lane, 903 State Highway 6, Lake Hayes, New Zealand
11 - 6pm daily
If you're looking for snacks, The Empanada Kitchen is a great place to stop by for a bite. Situated unfortunately between two public restrooms made us eye the food a little nervously, but our doubts dissolved with our first bite. The skin was crispy and chewy, and the filling was generous and well-seasoned. They have a rotating option of four flavours, and every empanada we had hit the spot. We particularly liked the Bacon and Prune Empanada.
The Empanada Kitchen
60 Beach St, Queenstown 9300, New Zealand
Opening hours 10 - 6pm daily
Tripadvisor
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The last day at Queenstown, we had breakfast the next morning at Habebes, a casual Middle Eastern cafe in the city centre. They are open from 8 to 6pm daily, though their meat options wouldn't be ready until 10am. I had a decidedly healthy meal of a large Vegetable Falafels Wrap. The vegetables were as fresh as any I'd had (and it would be great paired with meat. Just sayin'.) We love the hummus here, which they brought out at 10.30. It's good to know that it's made fresh daily! R's takeaway of Lamb Pie (above, $7.50) was delicious even two hours after we left the place, with a crisp skin and a generous amount of filling within.
Habebes
Plaza Arcade at 30 Shotover Street, Queenstown 9300, New Zealand
Opening hours: 8 - 6pm daily
From Queenstown, it's a really, really long ride to Te Anau. It's a secluded town in the corner of NZ (well, nearly...), and considering how tucked away Te Anau is, we weren't expecting much quality to their cuisine here. If it's anything like Coles Bay in Tasmania, we expected really expensive dining options, and dodgy grocery stores selling expired meats at premium prices. But astonishingly, I'd had the best meal of my trip here, and from a food truck nonetheless. The fare was so impressive, we went back-to-back on consecutive days. In fact, looking back, if I have to name the top five best dishes I'd ordered from New Zealand, I think all five dishes would be from this place.
Habit Foods is the name, and their Asian-Western fusion of Chinese bao is inspired. (If you want to fit in with the locals, call it bay-yo!) The quality of the dishes were seriously impressive, the buns were soft and undercut the richness of the meat perfectly. Have your choice of meats too - there's the usual chicken, fish, pork (belly) and beef (cheeks), and also soft shell crab, wild venison and confit hare's leg. We tried them all (really!), and every bite was flawless. It's hard to pick one from a host of winnere, though the Bambi (Venison bao) was exquisite: cooked tender to medium-rare and topped with crunchy cashew bits.
As majestic as the bao are, we also couldn't stop eating their Loaded Fries ($9). I had the Poutine - fries served with gravy and cottage cheese, and my only regret was that we were too stuffed to order their Vietnamese Loaded Fries - fresh fries over roasted peanut, pickled mong beans and okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes). Honestly, that reads like the most confused flavour profile ever, but I had no doubt that coming from their kitchen, it'll still be delicious.
If Michelin can award a star to a hawker stall, they can award one to a food truck too. And they should. Do not leave Te Anau without coming here.
7 the lane (across Fresh Choice Supermarket)
Opening hours: 9 to 9 daily
We stopped by Fresh Choice Supermarket right next to Habit Foods, because I'm a nosy 50-year-old uncle at heart who likes to go grocery-shopping. Again, like everything else in Te Anau, it showed how they do the rural life better than Tasmania. The groceries are fresh, and the prices for some cuts of meats are even cheaper than what Melbourne’s Coles are going for.
A great find was Lewis Road Creamery Ice Cream - my favourite brand of ice cream here. At 750ml, it’s heavier than some of the 1L ice creams out there. Inside, the ice cream was as dense as the weight promised (a sign of the ice cream having less overrun aka 'air' being churned into the ice cream mixture), and the chocolate profile was rich and flavorful.
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| Photos by EJ |
Kepler Track is also in the area. The full 4 days hike looks amazing, but if you're only going on a light 2 hour trail (the forest walk portion), there isn't much photogenic scenery, but loads of sandflies. Skip the Kepler Track, and, it might be more productive to spend more time at Lake Manapouri, or to go for a day trip to Milford Sound and visit Lake Gunn, Mirrors Lake or the Chasm Walk on the way over. (While some people had managed to capture gorgeous pictures at Mirrors Lake, we unfortunately had strong gusts of wind that rippled the lake's surface. It can be a little of a hit-or-miss excursion, but you might have better luck than us!)
Fiords, narrow inlets of the ocean surrounded by high cliffs, is a feature of the region. Milford Sound, or Piopiotahi in the native Maori tongue, is 2 hours from Te Anau at our leisurely pace. We couldn't have picked a better day to go. The weather was balmy, and the sunrays remained tempered throughout the day. Clouds sit low in the sky, weaving through the crop of mountaintops and accentuating their height.
Like places in NZ with fast-moving waters, sandflies are in numbers here.The larvae keep to fast-moving waters in the first two weeks of life, awaiting the current to sweep nutrients into their mouths, until their wings develop, and then they are out for blood. Goddamn freeloaders. They are most active in the day, so apply insect repellent liberally, or suffer persistent itch and pain with post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Which, three months on, we learnt that the bites still itch.
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| Pic by EJ |
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| Pic by R |
We couldn't stay and tame the wekas, try as much as R wanted to - I chivvied everybody back into the car as expediently as I could, so we can return to Habit Foods in town and satisfy my food cravings. There are few things in life worth cutting short a road trip to Milford Sound, and the baos from Habit Foods is near the top of my list.
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On our last day in NZ the next day, we saw a lot more wekas at Te Anau Bird Sanctuary. Run by the Department of Conservation, they rehabilitate and shelter wounded birds in the area, as well as to provide a predator-free zone for new hatchlings before releasing them into the wild. Their population includes the lively käkä (native parrots) and the shy, critically-endangered Takahë (once thought to be extinct!) We were fortuitous enough to join the twice-daily tour just as they started, and the rangers' enthusiasm were infectious. Small nuggets of information on animal conservation, such as not feeding birds, are worth reiterating during the tour: feeding wild animals take away their fear of human beings and encourages the birds to hang around roads and pit-stops, where the birds invariably get rolled over by cars. Not feeding wild animals is the best way to ensure their survival. It's free to enter, though donations to keep the sanctuary operating are always appreciated.
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| A flock of bellbirds trashtalking the Takahë plushie right to her face |
Te Anau Bird Sanctuary
181/209 Manapouri-Te Anau Hwy, Te Anau 9679, New Zealand
We returned to Queenstown for lunch at the splendid Speight's Ale House, and before our evening flight back to Melbourne, spent the afternoon at Glenorchy's High Country Horses, the filming location for Isengard. I'd not ridden on a horse prior to this, and on the 2-hour ride, I was a little preoccupied tackling my horse Smuggler to reach for my camera, so you'll only have my word for it: the horseback tour delivers on its promise of gorgeous scenery. We cantered past fields of lupines, while Smuggler and I lagged slowly behind the group as a direct consequence of Smuggler's unhealthy obsession with eating every lupine he came across. Together with his friend Mojo, they were featured in the upcoming 2018 Mission Impossible 6 movie, which may explain their diva-ness. Still, the view was incomparable, and I found the horse-riding nature quite entertaining ... right until the time Smuggler decided to spontaneously keel over to take a sandbath, and dump my surprised ass right out of the saddle. It must've been its temperament, because J and R had never seen a horse do something like that before in all their years of horseriding. Douche horses (and lackluster inexperienced riders) aside, it was a pretty fun way to spend an afternoon, and worth a trip if you're in the area with plenty of time on your hands.
High Country Horses
Tripadvisor
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A whirlwind tour of both North and South Island of NZ seemed both shockingly short and long. The long windy drive did fray the edges of our nerves and tire us out, and as we spent most of the time traveling in our car, each day seemed strangely sparse of activities. Although, looking at all the pictures we took and all the places that we'd been to, it's a little surprising that we managed to fit them all in just eleven days... Still, we couldn't do everything we wanted to in just one trip. Wanaka is a up-and-coming microbrewery town, but try as we might, we couldn't pay each and every one a visit. So I guess we just have to come back! Airbnb made it possible to live like a local, with a full kitchen at your disposal to work all the gorgeous local produces of cheeses, breads, fruits and farm produces into affordable, cheap meals. Perhaps that's the beauty of road trips, and reminded me that it's something that I should do more of when we are young and healthy and able to. Traveling has never been easier, and now more than ever before.
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