Blue Glow Glowworms | Trip to Queenstown - Day 2

Shortly, I posted about the first day of my trip to Queenstown. We are going to stay for a few days and go back to Christchurch. I am going to share you my story for day 2. 

Day 2 - Friday, 10 Jan

WANAKA

8:07 am

We left Wanaka at 8:07 am and headed straightaway to Te Anau. We thought to stop at Jones Family Fruit Stall in Cromwell.

CROMWELL

9:26 am

After driving for 1 hour and 18 minutes, we arrived in Cromwell. This fruit stall sells various fresh and delicious fruits to eat. They also had a tester to test the fruits. They were mostly dry fruits. I had tried the dry Apricots and Mangoes. I really liked the dry Apricots because of its wonderful taste. We had stayed for 19 minutes choosing fruits to eat. At 9:45 am, we left the fruit stall and headed over to our next stop.

FRANKTON, QUEENSTOWN

11:40 am

It took 2 hours and 11 minutes to arrive in the Five Mile Shopping Centre in Frankton, near Queenstown. I saw that there was a EB Games store nearby. I went there to check if I would buy any games. We stayed there for a few minutes and left the store. After taking a rest in Frankton, we went straight to our next place.

KINGSTON

12:26 pm

We arrived at the Devil's Staircase Lookout Point, where we could see a wonderful view of Lake Wakatipu and the mountains behind it. We didn't stayed there for a long time (10 minutes) because we had to get moving on.

GARSTON

1:14 pm

We stopped at the Honey shop in Garston named the Hunny Shop. It sells wonderful honey. We also had to taste different types of honey (Manuka Honey, Multi Floral, Wild Thyme, Premium Clover, and more honey products). We bought some honey to eat at home.

TE ANAU

2:56 pm

1 hour and 16 minutes later, we arrived to our motel, Parklands Motel. We had put our luggage and rested for a while because we are going to see the Glowworms from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. At 3:53 pm we set to the Real Journeys Visitor Centre, where the cruise is arriving. But we thought that it was too early, so we walked to order food in a restaurant. As we were walking to the restaurant, we went to a souvenir shop. We stayed there for a few minutes and left to go to the restaurant, which took 7 minutes.

After ordering the food, we went back to the Real Journeys Visitor Centre (4:37 pm) and waited for the cruise to arrive. This cruise will take to an island where we will see the glowworms. Sadly, we weren't allowed to take photos or videos inside the cave.

It was a 30 minute catamaran cruise across Lake Te Anau. The journey includes an exploration of a cave system only known by legends until rediscovery in 1948 by ---. This scenic experience was for 2 hours and 15 minutes (1 hour in the boat - return). There was an expert nature guide which lead us by path through the network of limestone passages within the 12,000-year-old cave system to meet the famous twinkling glowworms. It was an enlightening experience. The guide had warned us that in the entrance of the cave, we need to bend down because of low rocks.

After we went off the cruise, the guide tours us into groups of 10-12. I knew that there were lots of Sandflies, so I put on some Insect Repellent. After an introduction by the guide, we went inside the cave. He had told us that only have to bend down when we enter the cave. As we went inside the cave, there were low rocks. I had to bend down so much because I was so tall. Already, we could see lots of glowworms glow. The guide had told us from the start to be quite inside the cave. The guide told us that its tail makes the glowworms glow, which was interesting.

As we got moving on, we got to see more and more glowworms. There was water dripping from the top, which was cool. I could hear water falling from the waterfall which was awesome. It was also good that the path lead us to the top of the waterfall, it was high but the view was magnificent. We went on the guide stopped us, it was because we were waiting for the boat to arrive to see more glowworms.

After a few minutes, the boat had arrived, I sat at the front near the guide. The guide had turned off the lights, so we couldn't see anything except the shimmering glowworms which looked like stars. I went to another glowworm cave in Waitomo, near Hamilton, which was good, but this cave looked better than the one in Waitomo.

As the boat went slower and stopped, we could see glowworms everywhere, in front of us, behind us and on top of us. The boat slowly u-turned and went back to where we were. I observed that I didn't see any sandflies inside the cave.

When we got off the boat, we headed outside and went to see a presentation from the guides in the Cavern House and have some coffee, tea or water.

When I went to the Cavern House, I got some water and sat down to see the presentation. The presentation lasted for 5 minutes and then headed over to the cruise. As we were arriving on the cruise, the cruise had arrived at a fast speed.

After half an hour, we arrived at the shore. It was a really good trip seeing the glowworms. We arrived back at the Real Journeys Visitor Centre at 8:08 pm. We all were feeling hungry and we headed off to the restaurant. When we got the food, we straightaway went to the motel ate dinner.

We finished our food at 8:50 pm because we arrived at 8:30 pm. Half an hour later, we went to sleep because tomorrow we had a long day.

I hope you like my story of day 2 if you want to find out more for the next day, stay tuned to the next post.

Crystal Lakes | Trip to Queenstown - Day 1

Around a week ago, I went on a trip to Queenstown. We are going around New Zealand (not whole, but some). Recently, I had come from Queenstown, and I am going to tell you about my trip to Queenstown. Around two years ago (20 January 2017), I had posted my trip to Queenstown with my Dad's friend. It was really fun. So, this is day 1 of my trip.

Day 1 - Thusday, 9 Jan

CHRISTCHURCH

7:30 am

We woke up on an amazing trip to Queenstown. We got ready and left home at 8:10 am. After driving for 1 hour and 44 minutes, we stopped in Ashburton for Subway. We had some Avocado and Cheese & Garlic toasties. We stayed there for 8 minutes.

We had some small (fresh air) stops to refresh ourselves.

WANAKA

7:09 pm

We had reached Wanaka (final destination) after 9 hours and 8 minutes. Because we were feeling hungry, we ate in Bombay Palace, in-front of the shore. We stayed there more than an hour because it took some time to make the food. We thought after eating, we would go to the lakefront and see the lake, but sadly it was too windy and we couldn't go. It took us 9 minutes to reach our motel, Wanaka Kiwi Holiday Park & Motels. 

I hope you like my story of day 1 if you want to find out more for the next day, stay tuned to the next post.

A Drive to Wanaka - Day 1

Recently, I had come from Queenstown, and I am going to tell you about my trip to Queenstown. Exact two years ago (20 January 2017), I had posted my trip to Queenstown with my Dad's friend. It was really fun. So, this is day 1 of my trip.


Day 1


At 7:00 AM, I woke up for an exciting trip to Queenstown. Two years ago, we had gone to Queenstown with my Dad's friend, it was really fun. I really like going to Queenstown because of the amazing natural views. We are staying there for five days. We were ready by 7:30 AM.


We left our house at 8:00 AM. It estimated that we will reach Lake Tekapo at 11:00 AM. We had gone by SH1 (State Highway 1), we were going straight for 70km. We stopped at the BP petrol station in Rolleston for air.


At 9:07 AM


We arrived at Ashburton. We stopped at McDonald's. We were relieved to stop because I wanted to stop somewhere and eat something. We chose not to eat at McDonald's. Instead, we got some toasties, I ate one Cheesy Garlic toastie and one Avocado toastie. We continued on SH1 to Lake Tekapo.


Our next stop was at Geraldine, we had stopped there for a break. We only stayed there for 10 minutes and left to go on SH8.


At 11:47 AM


We arrive at Lake Tekapo. It was an outstanding view of the lake when we arrived at the town. The sky was light blue, and the lake was shimmering like it was the reflection of the sky. We parked at the Church parking, we took photos of us by the church and the lake. Last time we went to Lake Tekapo (which was two years ago), there weren't any fences by the lake, in my opinion, they added fences because people damage the church or another reason. It's good that they made a new route to go by the lake. We took some photos on the rock. After, we went closer by the lake. After touching the lake, we walked to a dog statue and then went to find somewhere to eat and look at the majestic view. We were happily eating our food. We went to Aotea Gifts to look around. We hadn't bought anything from there. We wanted to reach at Wanaka as fast as possible. It estimated that we would reach Wanaka at 5:00 PM. We decided to go to Puzzling World.


At 5:00 PM, we arrived at Puzzling World. It was about to close after half an hour (5:30 PM). When we entered, we entered the Illusion Room (where we go every time because it's cool, and fun). The first room was the Hologram Room. There were 3D pictures on the wall. There was also a ball where if you touch it the electrics show where your touching (if you don't understand, look at this image on the right). It was a small room, the second room was the Tilted Room. We were the only one in the room because it was about to close. When I first walked in the room. It was quite easy to go through. The third room was the Hall of Following Faces, where there are 168 famous faces. When you move around the room, it looks like that the faces are moving. I could recognize famous people like Albert Einstein, and Nelson Mandala. We moved on to the next room, the Ames Room, which is an illusion room. On one side it looks like that you are taller and larger than the person on the other side of the room. After some minutes in the Ames Room, we went to the Sculptillusion Gallery. There were incredible illusions in the room. There was a table where on one side it looked liked two tables joined together, and one side where it looks like a cube. There were many illusions in the room. After a few minutes looking at the Sculptillusion Gallery, we went to the Puzzle Centre/Cafe. I had Ice-Cream because it was hot. After eating, we went to the Roman Toilets. It's a place to get photos with our family. Next, we went to the Leaning Tower of Wanaka. It's a really great space to take pictures.


After 20 minutes, we left Puzzling World to our holiday park. The holiday park was 10 minutes away from Puzzling World. We passed Lake Wanaka on the way to the holiday park. The holiday park was quite ahead of the town centre. We had arrived at 'Wanaka Kiwi Holiday Park & Motels' and checked in. We parked beside our house. There was a big park behind our house. We had two entries to our house, one from the front, and one from behind. We all unloaded our luggage and went into the house. It was a two bedroom house. After a long time in the car, we all sat on the sofas and rested. We had to stay in Wanaka for one night and leave in the morning to Te Anau. At 8:00 PM, we ate dinner, it was a good time. I saw outside, and the sun hadn't set yet (it was a but I watched India vs Australia on Sky Sports 2. I stayed up until 10:00 PM. I was watching while I was in bed. After some time, I went to sleep. It was a long day in the car going to Wanaka. As you know, that I am going to Te Anau the next day, I am going to stay there for a night too.

I hope you like my post about the first day of the trip to Queenstown. Comment down below if you've been to Wanaka? Have a cool day!! Bye!!

Trip to Queenstown

After 216 km or 2h and 40 min we reached Lake Tekapo. It was really windy at Lake Tekapo. We went by the lake and took some photos at the rocks by the lake.

We stop at Wanaka for Puzzling World. The GPS lost us and we were thinking that we came early but the GPS told us the slowest way and said the fastest way.

Exhibitions in the Puzzling World

1. Hologram Hall
2. Tilted House
3. Hall of Faces
4. Ames Room
5. Sculpture Illusion
6. Tumbling Tower
7. The Leaning Tower of Wanaka

We straight away went to our hotel.

At 4:05 we reached to Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown. It looked like a 5 star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ hotel. This evening we are going to Minus 5° Ice Bar at the City Center at Queenstown. It's going to be cool/chilly 🆒 and awesome!! We turned on the TV to look at New Zealand vs Bangladesh Test Match at Basin Reserve in Wellington. My Dad booked the Minus 5° ICE BAR at 8:00 🕗 but we had to eat dinner at Bombay Palace. So my Dad called Minus 5° ICE BAR and asked if there is a space for 7:00 🕖. The Minus 5° ICE BAR said there is space to go.


At 6:50 we reached at Minus 5° ICE BAR. We came earlier because we can do the checking and wearing the dress. It was -7.9 °C in the Ice Bar. We took heaps of photos at the Ice Bar of us and my Dad's friend. The limited time at the Ice Bar is about 30 minutes. Everyone was allowed to smash the Ice Glasses in the Ice Bin when it's the end. The counter lady gave me a Ice Glass for a smash at the start. It was so coool 😎 to smash the glasses. After I've smashed the Ice Glass the counter lady gave me an another big Ice Glass to smash. I really like to smash the Ice Glasses. When it was time to go my tip of my middle finger 👉 froze for a few minutes.

When we went out we went to Bombay Palace. It took a long time to get the food because the restaurant was full. We eat the food at my room. It was a full dinner. Tomorrow we are going to Skyline Gondola and the Luge ride at the top of the Skyline Gondola.

The Next Day...

Skyline Luge Tracks

First we reached at Skyline Gondola and it was full of people! First we went outside to have a look at the view. Then we went to a shop for a look around. I found a slap-band of the Luge and the Gondola. I wanted to buy the Luge slap-band. I asked my Mum to buy the slap-band. My Mum said that we can buy after the Luge rides. We went outside for the Luge. I wanted to ride by myself. We are allowed to go 2 times. It was my first time to drive by myself. Next we went on the Ski Lift to go on the Luge. When we reached on the top of the hill we went on the Luge. I was not much scared 😱 because I like Luge Rides. When I sat on the Luge the instructor told me how to ride. When the instructor told me to drive forward slowly I drove fast. I tried again and I went slowly then the instructor said to turn left and right slowly. I went slowly then we went on. I drove slowly because I thought that if I drive fast I will crash to someone. When I finished the Blue Track I wanted to drive everyday because it was sooooo cool 😎 and awesome!!! Then I decided to go on the Red Track (Adventure and Super Speedy Track). When I told my Mum that I'm going to the Red Track she said to be careful because everyone drives super fast. So I changed my mind and went on the Blue Track. As I told you we are allowed to drive twice. After the 2 cool 😎 rides my Dad gave me his pass to go once. I was lucky to go three times!! I really like to drive at Skyline Luge more than real car driving. I decided to go fast on the Blue Track. At the start I zoomed really fast and when the turning came on the starting of the track I had to slow and pull the steering. I over attacked someone, someone got stuck at the turning. Nearly at the end I saw a woman crashed off track by crashing the edge of the track and I saw a empty luge on the corner. It was a great time at the luge rides!! When I got out I met my Dad waiting for me. My Dad took some photos and selfies together. I found my Mum and my Sister at the store.

That Time...

When we were going to the Gondola my Mum thought that we needed the ticket passes to go on the Gondola. We only had two and my Mum had lost the family pass to go on the Gondola. We were all worried. My Dad asked one of the Skyline Gondola lady that "Do we need a pass to go on the Gondola?" The Skyline Gondola lady said "You don't need a pass to go on the Gondola." When we reached out it was drizzling.

We went to Fergburger it was the biggest and the fattest burger in Queenstown or in New Zealand? It took more than 30 minutes to make the burger because the store was super full and popular!! At our room and opened the bag it was a huge burger! After the burger we watched a movie named Martian - Bring him Home. I really like the movie it was really interesting.

The next morning it was the last day at this hotel 🏩. When we were driving home 🏡 we came to Kawarau Bridge for to look at the Bungy. My Dad said to go on the Zipride but I was scared to go on it. After 5 minutes I decided to have a try. First I done forwards. I used the Go-Pro with me. It was so coool 😎 and fun doing the Zipline!! I wanted to do the Zipline every time!! My Dad said to do the Superman and it was super fast as flying the real Superman. I didn't want to do it but I accepted. I used the Go-Pro because I can get videos. After one try of the Superman I wanted to do again. The last and final go I chose Superman instead of Backwards. I loved it!! After the final go at the Zipline we went inside the AJ Hackett Kawarau store for a look at the photos and the videos.

We stopped at Lake Wanaka for some photos and splashes in the water. The tide was high, the water came up near my knee!! We took heaps of photos together.

While coming to Timaru for a stop, we saw a Dam named Benmore Dam. We took some photos not out but in the car because we need to go back to Christchurch early. After some km we saw an another Dam named Aviemore Dam. It was overflowing!! We took photos as well in the car.

When we reached at Timaru my Dad decided to have dinner at Little India. We had a good and a full dinner. Then we straight went to Christchurch.