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Singapore and New Zealand 2018

December 2018 - January 2019
A 28-day adventure by Ruben Read more
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  • TravelerSingapore and New Zealand 2018
    Day 10

    Mount cook picture

    December 21, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Figure 1: the black stilts chick
    Figure 2: tasman glacier
    Figure 3: hanging glacier
    Figure 4: iceberg which had just flipped!
    Figure 5:tasman glacier wall face
    Figure 6: icebergs in tasman lake

  • TravelerSingapore and New Zealand 2018
    Day 10

    Mount cook

    December 21, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    What can I say, a very surreal day (rhymes). We started the day off with a boat ride along the tasman glacial lake where we got to touch some icebergs and drink/eat water that's over 400 years old as we just snapped some off. Over the last thirty years the glacier has retreated by 6km and the lake didn't exist which is pretty crazy. The glacial wall is roughly 30-40m high with another 250-300m below the surface and at its deepest point it's over 600m deep! After the boat ride we had lunch sitting on the grass looking at some hanging glaciers and heard a bit breaking off which sounded like a massive clap of thunder, we didn't see it unfortunately as I think it was in the other valley. I was thinking about the helicopter tour because we might only be here once and it looked good, I was umming and arrrghing for a while until dad said just go for it. There was a flight at 2:30pm and it was 1:50 when we decided so we rushed to the hotel to see if there was a spot available. The lady behind the desk rang up and said that the specific package I had enquire about wasnt available (ski plane and heli all I one) however there was a 45min heli-hike that was available and that they would lower it down by $100 to match the price of the other trip. So we drove like mad men to mount cook airport to book it. When we arrived and paid the lady behind the counter asked mum and dad if they wanted to go as there were two spots left still ( I was originally just going to go on my own) which they declined. The woman the asked again and said at no extra cost, which they declined again.... until they realised what she had said. FOR FREE!! To which they agreed immediately before realising what they had actually got themselves into. So we were all going! And had saved $1100!! The flight was incredible as we flew up along the tasman valley, alongside the lake and then landed at the top of the glacier!! The flight was equally incredible on the way back down and we saw the mist dangerous glacier of all which moves at roughly 6m per day! There were also some climbers that we saw and even the top of mount cook so we were very lucky. I think I'll need a few posts to share all of the pictures I took. OH AND to top it all off we saw a black stilts chick when leaving the airport which are critically endangered, only 100 alive including the ones in captivity. So we were very lucky the whole day.

    Figure 1: all three of us infront of the helicopter
    Figure 2: tasman lake
    Figure 3: the fast moving glacier
    Figure 4: plateau where we saw some climbers
    Figure 5: fast moving glacier again
    Figure 6: the heli and I    Read more

  • TravelerSingapore and New Zealand 2018
    Day 11

    Travelling to owaka

    December 22, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Today we left twizel and travelled to owaka to go to Ali and Jill's house. We stopped at a salmon farm to get some salmon for Christmas dinner, we also visited justin and Gillian as we were travelling right passed there house. A ATM in a supermarket ate mums card 😬, which she wasnt too pleased about.

    Figure 1: no explanation needed
    Figure 2: mum, dad and I
    Figure 3: car number plate "UFO"
    Figure 4: hills
    Figure 5: salmon farm
    Figure 6: justin, Gillian and mum, dad and I    Read more

  • TravelerSingapore and New Zealand 2018
    Day 12

    First day in owaka

    December 23, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Today dad and I went swimming in the community pool which is really cool and easy to use. We then sorted out the bikes, dad was put to work hedge trimming and then in the evening we went for a walk on new haven beach.

    Figure 1: view from my crib
    Figure 2: view from Ali and Jill's decking
    Figure 3: the beach, next stop in that direction in Antarctic
    Figure 4: sunset on the beach
    Figure 5: a shoe tree
    Figure 6: a spoonbill feeding    Read more

  • TravelerSingapore and New Zealand 2018
    Day 13

    Owaka day 2

    December 24, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Today we did pretty much the same as yesterday. Another swim in the pool, dad and Ali did a bit more hedge trimming. After dinner we went to nugget lighthouse and saw some fur seals with their pups, a seal lion and also a tui in the flaks at Ali and Jill's house. After the nuggets we went down to a penguin hide on the beach but we didnt see any.

    Figure 1: view from the hide
    Figure 2: the lighthouse
    Figure 3: the nuggets
    Figure 4: Ali, dad, mum and I infront of the nuggets
    Figure 5: fur seal pup view through binoculars
    Figure 6: sealion sunbathing    Read more

  • TravelerSingapore and New Zealand 2018
    Day 14

    Christmas day

    December 25, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Christmas day was a very relaxing day where we all relaxed and went for a swim. Christmas dinner that jill made was very nice and the Christmas cake decorations where inspired by mount cook national park.

    Figure 1: all of us having Christmas dinner
    Figure 2: Christmas dinner
    Figure 3: cake explained
    Figure 4: the cake    Read more

  • TravelerSingapore and New Zealand 2018
    Day 15

    Curio bay

    December 26, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Instead of going straight to bluff to get the ferry to Stewart island we went to curio bay and stopped at the mclean falls on the way. Curio bay was amazing, we saw trees that were 170 million years old, swam with hector dolphins in the wild and saw a yellow eyed penguin. The tide was really far out which meant we had a good view of the trees. The hector dolphin's were very curious and we could see them surfing down the waves. As soon as dad and I got in they decided to head down to the other side of the beach but they did come back up and swam about a metre away from dad and i, it was pretty cool. To warm up we went for a walk at another lighthouse and saw a couple of sea lions on the beach. As we didnt see the penguins near the nuggets we decided to go back to where the trees are to try and see the yellow eyed penguins. They had already come up the rocks but one decide to catch the last rays of sun. It was quite comical and trudged down the rocks to get a drink and then trudged back up hopping up any obstacles.

    Figure 1: McLean falls
    Figure 2: fossilised tree stump
    Figure 3: lighthouse
    Figure 4: sealion
    Figure 5: yellow eyed penguin
    Figure 6: waves crashing against the rocks    Read more

  • TravelerSingapore and New Zealand 2018
    Day 16

    Travelling to oban

    December 27, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    We travelled to Stewart island today. We drove to bluff to catch the ferry that lucky there was a space on because we couldn't book it due to it being Christmas. The crossing was good fun and on a few waves you could feel the boat fall down the other side as your stomach lifted up. We saw a few mollyhawks which are a type of albatross. When we arrived in oban we had the good idea to stop for lunch less than 10min after getting off the ferry. The hostel was very nice and in the afternoon dad and I did some exploring and went to bathing beach. Dad went for a swim that was apparently pretty chilly. On the way back from the beach we saw a wood pigeon really close up. After dinner ali, dad, mum and I went to look for kiwis but we had no luck.

    Figure 1: me at the back of the boat
    Figure 2: dad, mum and Ali trekking up a hill
    Figure 3: bathing beach
    Figure 4:dad swimming
    Figure 5: wood pigeon
    Figure 6: kiwi sign    Read more

  • TravelerSingapore and New Zealand 2018
    Day 17

    2nd day in oban

    December 28, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    For our full day in Stewart island we hired some electric bikes to get around faster. We first cycled to rakiura track and did the first 20min or so and managed to walk to little river which was a nice beach. We cycled then to ackers point and saw a molly hawk there as well on the rocks. Over the couple of days we 2ere we saw loads of different birds including, kakas, parakeets, tuis and wood pigeons. It had been very hot during the day so we decided to head over to golden bay for a quick dip which was very nice but a bit chilly, the water was incredibly clear. By this point it was almost time to give the bikes back so we headed back to the shes to hand them in. Although we didnt see any kiwis the previous night we decided to go out again and it had been raining which we were told is better for the kiwis so we would be more likely to see them, so we headed out. We headed to the same place as before and almost as soon as we got there we heard an enormous racket as two kiwis thundered through the Bush. I'll be honest I thought it was a dog that was going to burst out and bite me. They sprinted across the path it was quite hard to see them so we justed waited on the track very still. We could hear them eating and scratching around in the Bush. Then they started to come closer to the path and we could see them. We stood very still and quite and they came up onto the path walking slowly and pecked at our shoes for a little while and then they would chase each other off into the Bush and then come back up to us. This happened a few times until they wondered off and we headed back to the hostel pretty spaces out.

    Figure 1: panorama of little river beach
    Figure 2: me infront if the sea
    Figure 3: the kiwi (turn up the brightness)
    Figure 4: horseshoe bay
    Figure 5: golden bay
    Figure 6: oban    Read more

  • TravelerSingapore and New Zealand 2018
    Day 18

    Invercargill, New Zealand

    December 29, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Today we travelled back from oban to bluff to head back to owaka. We made a few stops before arriving back in owaka. First we stopped at the start/end of route one which is the 1236km state highway 1.

    Our next stop was the invercagill transport world which very interesting and one of the highlights was the themed bathrooms. A lorry there had over 6million km on the clock and there were almost all of the first Ford models ever made. We made another stop at the botanic gardens to have a look at the tuatara where we saw Henry who is over 100years old. We made a couple more stops at a supermarket and a home depot type store and then a final stop at balclutha to have a look at Ali's school. The school looked very nice and had large grounds for football and other sports to be played on. We headed back to owaka after this.

    Figure 1: route 1 sign
    Figure 2: Christmas tree made from hub caps
    Figure 3: dad and I driving a lorry
    Figure 4: bus driver Ruben and the naughty kids in the back
    Figure 5: a cool truck    Read more

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