New Zealand Day 9 - Arrowtown, Coronet Peak & Queenstown

12 Jun - Leaving Wanaka in the morning, we started our drive towards Arrowtown to catch some of its old historic buildings. Along the way, we stop by for some awesome photo shoots.

Ice on the ground (Photo Credits: YB)

Arriving at Arrowtown, an historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. After snapping photos, we stopped by for some hot chocolate before continuing our drive towards Coronet Peak, where we will be attempting to ski.

Arriving at Coronet Peak just before lunch. (Photo Credits: YB)

(Photo Credits: YB)

Ski time! (Photo Credits: YB)

(Photo Credits: YB)

We had fun falling and attempting to ski for a few hours before we get off our heavy gears and drive on to Queenstown.

Riding Skyline up to have a view of Queenstown. (Photo Credits: YB)

New Zealand Day 8 - Sky Dive & Puzzling World

11 Jun - We woke up to a bright and sunny morning, which means that our scheduled Sky Dive @ Wanaka is a go ahead! Woo! We arrived at the destination on time and is scheduled to be the first jumper for the day! Feeling excited as this will be my first sky dive in my whole life! The orange propeller plane below will be our companion for the next 20 mins to bring us up 12,000ft (3657m) into the sky! We have a great view of the mountains and lakes of Wanaka from the top.

And off I go!

Floating in the air!

Parachuting down safety after 45s of freefall

Have a last photo shot of Lake Wanaka before leaving the area

Wanaka Station Park

(Photo Credits: YB)

(Photo Credits: YB)

The Legendary Wanaka Tree (Photo Credits: YB)

Slight drizzle started coming in during the late evening. With outdoor activities ruled out due to rain, we decided to visit the Puzzling World

Entrance to the Puzzling World (Photo Credits: YB)

An exhibit where each faces seems to stare at you

A shaft extending to infinity

Lets try some gravity defying moves! =)

We certainly have a fun and exciting day today!

New Zealand Day 7 - Lake Wanaka

10 Jun - Today is not a good day. Morning weather forecast was still low clouds with rain till afternoon. With regret, our Franz Joseph Glacier Ice Explorer Tour has to be cancelled. With nothing much to do in town, we vote to start our drive to Lake Wanaka early.

Crossing a one lane bridge

People writing wishes on stones

Ship creek view point

Small fellow not afraid of human

 Great view along the road

Lake Wanaka scenic photo point 

Lake Wanaka

Shot with the moon

First try at taking the Milky Way

Feeling excited throughout the day as next morning, we are going on our first Sky Dive! Woo! Pray we have good weather!

New Zealand Day 6 - Pancake Rocks

09 Jun - Today will be another long drive to our eventual destination Franz Joseph Glacier. However, the sunny weather decides to take a break and we are left facing a rainy weather system. Luckily, the sky did clear up for a while for us to visit the Pancake Rocks. These rocks are actually limestone which are heavily eroded by the sea to reveal their "pancake layering"

Too bad that this rainy weather systems continues for the whole day and we had to skip visiting the Hokitika Gorge Scenic Reserve along the way.

Independence Day: Resurgence

Synopsis: We always knew they were coming back. After INDEPENDENCE DAY redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global catastrophe on an unimaginable scale. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens' advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction. [Source: Golden Village]

After 20 years of waiting, finally a sequel! It is hard to catch super disaster movie nowadays as the hype has fade. Nonetheless, it feels good to see humans battling aliens again with mankind facing extinction should we failed. Watching their aerial battles seems like playing a fighter video game! Overall, an average movie to catch for the day.

Rate: 6.5/10

New Zealand Day 5 - From North to South

08 Jun - Time for us to depart the North Island and continue our journey on the South Island! This time, we will be taking a short flight via a propeller plane =)

Arrival at Christchurch

Taking photos at a pit stop. Yes their cows and sheep far outnumber humans....

Arthur's Pass - 920m above sea level

The journey continues.....

New Zealand Day 4 Part 2 - Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

07 Jun - Wasting no time as the day is short during winter, we drove to our next destination (Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland) after we are done exploring Te Puia. Sculptured out of volcanic activity and thousands of years in the making, Wai-O-Tapu is considered to be New Zealand’s most colourful and diverse geothermal sightseeing attraction. The area features geysers, mud pools and multi-colored pools from the various minerals in the water.

Bubbling water sounds could be heard though there was no geyser. Guess the water table is low during winter

 Mirror Lake with geothermal activity

Oyster Pool 

Sulfur Cave (Obviously)

Below is a promotional clip from the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland:

An evening geyser show back at Te Puia for our evening dinner package.