NZ D3 Te Anau - Kelper track and llamas

So we woke up to the perfect day. Had our hopes up for the road to open. We checked in with real journey..... We were so disappointed... Apparently the warm sun increases chances of avalanche so the road was to be closed for another day.

With the road closed, so many tourist attractions were full!  we struggled to book in a few local tour. So we visited the little bird sanctuary. Spotted a few keas but no sight of kiwis.

Then we headed off to kelper track along Lake manapouri. Part of the journey were hazardous due to recent heavy rain fall. We had to use a makeshift bridges a few times due to waterlogged path. It was just the perfect difficulty and the perfect day for tracking. Finished of with the breathtaking views.

Last stop of the day was at llama farm. We actually learned so much from the enthusiastic farm owner. Even though we were the only people on tour. We came home with llama beanie and a few yarns of llama wools :-)

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NZ D2 Queenstown -> Te Anau

I was hoping for a clear day. As soon as we opened our curtain, though it was still rainy, we could see snow capped mountain! The receptionist told us there were snow on the street earlier and all the snow was from last night!

Snow capped mountain

Jon wanted Furg burger again...and considering we are having buffet lunch, we settled on Furg bakery. Best pie we ever had!

Furg bakery and Furg burger

Lamb Shank Pie = Best Pie Ever

 After brekkie, we went up the gondola, and there more snow's waiting for us! Lucky we bought some rain jackets earlier.

hmm extreme fire danger

Me and my invisible snow man

 I originally planned to have lunch at the Sky line restaurant for their potentially great views. Though it seems to be another day with poor visibility. We could barely see the town 400m down.

skyline lounge

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All Of a Sudden as we were eating, the mountain showed itself between the clouds briefly! It was such an awesome view.

 Soon after, the thick blanket of clouds gradually covered up the amazing back drop.

Lake Watakipu - Steam ship TSS Earslaw's heading back to town

Lamb goggle

 The drive from Queenstown to Te Anau took us almost 3 hours. The weather finally cleared up a little bit towards Te Anau.

OMG sheep

With my dear Sunny

 As we headed in reception, we heard the bad news... the highway to Milford Sound's closed due to the snow overnight :( We had planned to drive there the next morning. We were informed the road condition will be updated the next day morning for accessibility. We explored this little town while hunting for some dinner.

the main street in Te Anau

result of 2 week's of rain

Lake Te Anau

blue cod for dinner :D

NZ D1 queens town

After a long working week, we departed Perth Friday night. With only a few snoozes on the plane, we arrived at Queenstown at 2pm local time... which is only 9am Perth time. The weather didn't help lift our enthusiasm either. Picked up car from Ace rental at the airport, we headed straight to hotel. Though it's meant to have great view of Lake Wakapitu, we couldn't see across the shore.

looking outside the window

Feeling the hunger setting in, we headed to town to hunt for lunch. We spotted Furg burger- the most try eatery in Queens town. Knowing we are having buffet dinner, we shared the big AL. It was indeed a great burger.

Furg burger- the big AL

 After a 30min nap, we set out again for dinner cruise on the historic TSS Earnshaw with Real Journey.

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dinner cruise on a steam ship

wedding photo in the rain!

a real steam powered ship

pollution :O

  The journey was pretty nice along the shoreline, can't imagine how it would be like on a clear day.
Food was decent as well. Though it wasn't quite buffet. Food collection is by table. Our table was the last to be called so we only had 40 mins to gulp everything down.

walter peak station- where our dinner awaits

seafood

and more seafood

 After dinner, also included in the cruise is the farm show. It wasn't my first time seeing shearing. It was fascinating to see how placid sheep is while on his back and how alert and agile they are as soon as they are on their feet! We had no trouble falling asleep when we got back to the hotel even though it was only 6pm Perth time.

helpless sheep on his back