NZ 2023 Day 3: Mount Cook to Queenstown
DAY 3: 26 NOV 2023
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| Tasman Glacier Viewpoint |
Having read about the lovely sunrise with icebergs at Tasman lake, we woke up before 4.30am to catch the sunrise.
The drive to Tasman glacier carpark was rather scary.
As it was really cold, our car's windscreen fogged up which made it difficult to see the road ahead.
With the heater turned on, it was impossible to defog as the interior of the car is warmer now.
So to defog, we winded down our windows which lowered the temperature of the car's interior.
We were also driving in total darkness with our car's high beam as the only light source.
We almost had a roadkill as a wild rabbit decided to hop across the road right where we were.
After close to 15 minutes of driving, we finally arrived at the carpark.
There were many trails and we took the one to Tasman river as mentioned in the article.
The walk about 20 minutes and at the last part, we encountered a fork which we turned right.
Shortly after that, we were brought to the top of a hill.
However, to get to the waters, we had to do a steep climb down multiple rocks.
Now that I checked, we were actually supposed to climb down those rocks, lol.
But it's alright, because it was kind of dangerous.
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| Sunrise at the boat jetty |
So, we retraced our steps to the fork and turned left instead.
The views with the reflections were pretty here too.
It will be nicer during winter with floating icebergs!
After hanging around for 30 minutes, we decided to explore the other trails available.
The other trail leads to the Tasman glacier viewpoint.
There were a hell lot of steps to get to the viewpoint.
I had to stop for a breather before continuing.
But the climb was super worth it.
Look at this gorgeous reflection.
Oh my goodness.
Totally worth all the effort to get up here.
We hung around for some time, just admiring the scenery in front of us.
Then we decided that it was time to head back for a quick rest before we start a long drive to Queenstown.
On our drive out of Mount Cook village, we decided to stop along the road for more photos.
We had to take one with our beloved rental car!
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| Lovely view of Mount Cook from a scenic lookout |
We stopped by Twizel for brunch and petrol.
Our brunch was at The Musterers Hut Cafe, a quaint little cafe in Twizel.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of our food.
We ordered the big breakfast and pancakes to share and they were equally good.
After brunch, we drove to the nearby McKeown CardFuel self-serve station.
To refuel, you will need to use a credit card with a 4 digit PIN.
I used my YouTrip card for all petrol payments and it was fuss free!
I could view all transactions from the app and the charge in SGD immediately.
However, do note that the stations do charge a preliminary deposit for each payment which can amount to extra 5 NZD or even 200 NZD.
These deposits can be seen on my YouTrip app but they were not deducted from my wallet.
After refueling, we drove to High Country salmon shop for some fish feeding!
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| High Country Salmon Shop |
The shop serves a wider variety of food options as compared to Mt Cook alpine salmon shop.
The 100g sashimi pack was 1 NZD cheaper too!
The shop also has a salmon farm and patrons can feed the salmon using the food provided.
There was an integrity payment box for the salmon food which we did pay using our coins.
It was really fun feeding the salmons!
The salmons were kind of aggressive and created splashes when we threw more food at each attempt.
After some fun feeding the salmons, we drove towards our next destination.
Omarama clay cliffs have recently been trending and it was on the way to Queenstown.
However, the road leading to the clay cliffs is not smooth.
You have to drive on gravel and sand for at least 5km before arriving at the carpark.
There is also a entrance fee of 5 NZD per vehicle.
It is based on integrity and we paid.
From the carpark, we took a 5 to 10 minutes walk before reaching the entrance of the clay cliffs.
It was as though I was transported back to Cappadocia in Turkey.
The clay cliffs stood tall and surrounded us.
To get deeper, we had to climb on steep slopes.
This was indeed a challenge for me because I was crazy enough to wear a maxi skirt and sneakers.
So Zhi Sheng led the way and I followed his footsteps carefully to prevent myself from slipping.
There were many lupins blooming near the clay cliffs.
We even spotted a lupins field when driving towards the carpark.
After our visit to the clay cliffs, we continued our journey towards Queenstown.
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| Lindis Pass Viewpoint |
We stopped at Lindis Pass viewpoint which offered a scenic view of the valleys.
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| Roaring Meg lookout |
As we continued our drive, we spotted another signboard for scenic lookout.
Definitely follow the signboards as the view of the river rapids was so worthful.
Hours after departing from Mount Cook, we finally arrived in Queenstown.
Before checking into our accommodation, we made a quick stop at Pak n Save.
Pak n Save is generally cheaper than the other supermarkets.
So we stocked up on bottled water for the next few days of our trip.
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| View from our apartment |
Our accommodation for the night is Earnslaw Lodge.
I booked the room with lake view and it costs S$191.
Look at that amazing view!
No regrets booking this.
The room was very spacious and fitted with a couch, dining table and chairs.
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| Lodge owner's dachshund |
The lodge owner's dog greeted us when we were leaving to explore the town!
I wanted to say goodbye the next day but unfortunately the dog didn't make any appearance.
The walk to town was about 15 minutes.
It was dinner time and we decided to have dinner at Fergburger.
This is the most famous burger place in Queenstown and it is a must to have it when you are there!
As expected, the queue at Ferburger is long.
We queued about 30 minutes before ordering at the counter.
I got The Fergburger with brie cheese for 16.90 NZD while Zhi Sheng got the Ferg Deluxe for 18.90 NZD.
Just after ordering, we managed to get a table indoors!
Thank goodness for that because we might have had to eat our burgers at the pier instead.
It took about 20 minutes before our numbers were called.
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| Our burgers |
The burgers were massive!
The patty was juicy and the bun was soft.
However, we felt that the burgers were nothing special and just served its purpose of "been there, done that".
I could recall a funny encounter we had with a Chinese auntie.
She came up to us and requested to take photos of our half-eaten burgers.
Both of us just quietly moved our burgers towards her camera without hesitation, haha.
Later on, we spotted her at the order counter.
I guess she wanted to see what the burger was like before she makes her order.
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| Sunset at the pier |
After dinner, most retail shops were closed.
We took a stroll along the pier before heading back to our apartment to watch the sunset from our balcony.
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| Sunset from our balcony |
And that marks the end of day 3!
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