A day at The Remarkables to ski and to check out the lookout point!

It’s a perfect day today to go up to the mountain to ski. It’s crystal clear morning with not-too-cold temperature. It feels like as though spring has arrived. Even some of the trees on the streets start to blossom already…no more bare deciduous looking. There isn’t too many people up at The Remarkables today too compared to yesterday when I was working there. Me and my friend also do not need to wait too long for a public bus with available seats to bring us up to the mountain today.

I think it has been almost three weeks since I last went for skiing. It’s certainly time to get back on this sport and to brush up my skill before the ski season ends mid of October. I was a bit nervous today though because the ski area was actually very crowded. Whenever I made turns or slide down, there would be a number of people on my way…and to be honest, I’m still not good at avoiding people and keeping a safe distance from the others. Well, at least I didn’t fall badly today (did fell two to three times today but not as bad or as painful as previous falls few weeks back).

We didn’t head up there just to ski today. After having lunch in the restaurant (bumped into many of my colleagues…haha), we took a chairlift to the designated sightseeing area near the summit of the mountain (Treble Cone). Then, we took a hike on the snow up to the lookout point. It was a short hike but quite a challenging one due to the steep slope and the snowy/icy walking surface (it’s all snow!). Luckily, I did brought my ski poles to assist me on this hike. My first time hiking on full snow!

The view up there overlooking Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu and the Southern Alps are breathtaking! It was quite windy up there too. My legs were a bit trembling due to the height of the place and the constant slippery and steep slope! After some photo-taking, then we head back down to the base building and then immediately took the public bus to return home to avoid crowd queueing for the buses later on.

Where else can you get views like this from so high up?! It’s simply incredible. For tomorrow, I’ll just stay at home and continue on our research on our upcoming road trip in New Zealand. By the way, it’s Malaysia’s 65th Independence Day celebration tomorrow! Happy Independence Day to Malaysia!

One day trip to Wanaka today; climbed the Roy’s Peak track and saw the famous Wanaka tree.

What a day! I reached home at about 3.30pm after a tiring day trip at Wanaka today. Why do I call it a one-day trip when I’m already home by 3.30pm? That’s because I left my home for the trip at 3.00am midnight. That’s more than 12 hours out there. Two of my friends were on board and hence there’s three of us in this trip.

We drove for a little over an hour to reach Wanaka from Queenstown. Our first stop was the famous Roy’s Peak track. It is one of the most popular one-day hikes in New Zealand. We started climbing at around 4.40am. We wanted to be able to catch the sunrise view at the lookout point and hence we started our trip that early. As it was still midnight, we were in awe of all the stars (and the moon of course!) and saw a bit of the Milky Way too.

In general, the track requires 6 hours to complete including the return trip (hence approximately, 3 1/2 hours to reach to the top and another 2 1/2 hours to get back to the base of the track). But for us we spent about 7 1/2 hours in total (that’s 1 1/2 hour more than the general time required due to us being very keen to take a lot of photos and videos).

The track is a challenging one despite its mostly well-graded track surface and wide path. Most of the track is quite steep and some of the areas are slippery due to muddy surface. Certain parts of the track at the top are also covered with thick snow/ice too (expected as it is winter now). There is a lot of cow dung too along the track. It is a 16km long journey too (close to 1300m ascent to the lookout point or 1578m all the way to the summit)! I think this is by far the most difficult and time-consuming hill track that I have ever attempted. It does require a lot of stamina and a lot of breath! Haha…

We were not able to reach the lookout point by the time sun rises (around 7.30am). Hence, we stopped at a slightly lower elevation to rest for a while and to check out the sunrise from there instead. It was still a spectacular view! After that, we continued the climb for another hour to reach the lookout point; the ultimate spot for breathtaking pictures and videos! The panoramic view over Lake Wanaka and the surrounding peaks is incredible…Usually, there would be a lot of people queueing to take photos at this lookout point. However, when we were up there today, it was only three of us most of the time and hence we got the area all to ourselves! Yay…

There is still another 30 minutes climb required to reach to the very summit of the Roy’s Peak but we do not have any more energy or determination for it. View from the summit is also very similar with the view from the lookout point. Hence, we were all satisfied to end the track at the lookout point (which many people do) and proceed to head back down.

After completing the track, we went for a quick lunch in Wanaka town and then went to check out the famous ‘That Wanaka Tree’; a lonely tree that seemingly grows directly out of the pristine waters of Lake Wanaka.

It is most likely New Zealand’s most photographed tree. It is a must-do when you are in Wanaka. After that, we just do have any more energy to check out other attractions in the town and decided to call it a day. That’s okay. We would still come back to Wanaka during our road trip later this year to check out the rest of the stuff this beautiful town has.

Gave up waiting for bus to ski today and ended up going to Bob’s Cove.

Me and my friend have originally decided to go up to the Remarkables mountain to ski this morning. That’s our usual once-in-a-week routine. However, we waited for almost 2 hours (Yes…that is a freaking 2 hours!) at the bus stop today and all the public ski buses that passed through were all full. My patience ran out and I felt so frustrated. Hence, we headed back home with no longer any mood for skiing. What a disappointment! The bus transportation is really bad.

So it’s time for a change of plan for the day. We made a quick research and chanced upon a short walking track at Bob’s Cove with quite a spectacular view. Bob’s Cove is located merely less than 20 minutes drive from Queenstown (along the Glenorchy-Queenstown Road; the same road we took to Glenorchy last week). So why not? After a quick lunch at KFC in the town, we then headed to the Bob’s Cove Track in the early afternoon. The weather was also pretty nice today (mostly sunny as opposed to cloudy condition reported in the weather forecast).

This track is pretty short and simple (3km including the loop to the lookout point and only takes 1.5 hour return). However, the last stretch of the track to the lookout point is very steep (it was quite scary for me when walking down that section…my legs were literally trembling that time). The view at the lookout point is spectacular. Besides that, the crystal clear bluish-green coloured water at the cove is so mesmerizing. Definitely time for a lot of photos again.

The scenery is just so striking and spectacular, isn’t it? We then finished the day with weekly grocery shopping at Frankton and had an awesome dinner (though pricey) with housemates at an Indian restaurant close to our home. If weather is good and I’m not lazy, then we may head up to the mountain tomorrow instead for skiing. We’ll see how it goes.

Off-days activities this week: Ski at The Remarkables, Queenstown Hill walk and a quick visit to Glenorchy.

Tuesday and Wednesday are my weekly off days from work at The Remarkables ski restaurant and hence these two days have become my ‘weekends’ now. It was very good and clear weather on those two days this week and hence I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to head out for some fun!

On yesterday, me and my friend head out back to The Remarkables not to work, but to ski. I fell down much less often this time and managed to complete one entire beginner’s (green) route without any fall at all. That was an improvement that I’m quite happy for and it looks like my skiing skill is progressing. The snow was pretty good and it was clear and sunny all day long yesterday, making it a perfect day for skiing.

The schedule was a bit more busier today. In the morning, we went for a walk up to the Queenstown Hill, The track up to the summit of the hill took about one and a half hour. Some parts of the track are quite steep and also slippery due to several icy and wet surface (this hazard is expected when you are hiking up a hill during winter). It was quite an exhausting hike but the view at the summit made up for it! The panoramic view over Queenstown, The Remarkables, Lake Wakatipu and all the mountains at the background are truly spectacular! There was also an interesting sculpture called ‘Basket of Dreams’ near the summit where you must not leave without taking a picture with it. Then, it took us about 45 minutes to head back down from the hill.

In the afternoon, we went to Glenorchy, a small town about 45km away from Queenstown (about 45 minutes drive from Queenstown) for a quick trip just to snap some cool pictures. The most photographed landmark in that small town is none other than the small Glenorchy Wharf Shed in red colour. There is also a jetty just behind the shed that offers visitors another spot for some photo taking as well with snow capped mountains and the lake as the backdrop.

Since we were already in Glenorchy, we travelled a bit further up to a rural place called ‘Paradise’ which has been used as settings in films and television. I have no idea why the place is called ‘Paradise’ but at least now I can say I have been to the ‘paradise’ on Earth! The surrounding area here is pretty much empty and is used for sheep and cattle farming. Finally, we head back to Queenstown in late afternoon for an early dinner at a Thai restaurant before going back home. It was a tiring but a very satisfying day with fascinating visits to Queenstown Hill and Glenorchy (took so many photos today…) before ending the day with an awesome dinner!

Impromptu half day visit to Arrowtown.

I’m down with a light flu these two days but that doesn’t hamper me from going on an unplanned half day trip to Arrowtown just now in the afternoon. A friend of mine suggested going to this particular town which is only about 20 to 30 minutes away drive from Queenstown earlier today. Since I have not been to the town before and it’s quite a nice weather (sunny and not too cold with temperature reaching to 12 degree celsius) today, I’m in. Arrowtown is a former gold mining town and is now one of the most picturesque settlements in New Zealand.

Before turning into tourists and exploring around Arrowtown, we actually had a task; walking someone else’s dogs as their owners were not at home (they are staying in Arrowtown as well). The two female dogs were so adorable and well behaved. We took them for a short walk in their neighbourhood for about an hour before bringing them back to their home. We realized a lot of homes around there do have dogs as their pets. On the other hand, hardly any cats around.

We then moved on to the most popular street in Arrowtown, the Buckingham Street. This is where most of the restaurants, cafes and retail shops are located with a great heritage vibe. There is also a museum (Lakes District Museum), post office and a pharmacy here. We go for the gold panning at the Arrow River just behind the street (have to hire a gold pan for NZD 5 dollar from the museum). As expected, we didn’t get any gold in the end but it was an interesting activity though.

Before leaving Arrowtown in late afternoon, we also managed to check out the Chinese Settlements (area showing tiny little restored/preserved huts of early Chinese settlements in the Arrowtown back in 19th century), historic police camp cabin and St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. There goes the end of our quick 5 hours visit to Arrowtown. It is quite a small town and we have already managed to visit most of the attractions over there today. Will perhaps visit the town once more next time.

There goes the end of my 2-days break as well. Gotta be back to work tomorrow.