Discover Down Under [ Part 5 : Milford Sound, Dunedin & Moeraki Boulders ]
Milford Sound,
is a fraction of what Paradise should look like. Yet, the amazing scenery never failed anyone. Milford Sound is located about 73 miles or 1 hour 45 minutes from Te Anau. The highway we took was SH94 and is dubbed as New Zealand's most scenic highway by The Telegraph UK.
They weren't lying. It was the best drive of all our lives ever experienced. The highway has a combination of highs and lows, passing through deep tunnels, across the mountains and tall, lanky forests. One could only imagine so much until one has experienced it.
Milford Sound is great place to enjoy and digest spectacular nature that has been formed over the years. In order to do so, multiple companies offered their best packages to cruise along the fiord. The one we took was from Southern Discoveries. It costs fromNZD 20.
Tips :
- Food catered on board the cruise are halal thanks to multiplying numbers of Muslim travellers each year.
- They offer eat-all-you can lunch buffet inclusive in the payment.
We met a Malaysian girl working in one of the cruise ship under New Zealand's Working Holiday Visa. It was her 3rd time renewing the visa she said.
Cruise trips took about 2-3 hours up until 1 night stay depending on which package you opt for. The cruise ship will sail until the open sea where Tasmanian Islands could be seen on brighter days.
We had the chance to witness a pack of seals resting over a rock nearby the open sea. On those lucky days, our captain did mention we might be able to witness dolphins swimming side by side the cruise ships.
Our trip took only about a half day in Milford Sound and we set for Dunedin on the same day itself.
On our way, we get to see the changes of geography and scenery. Towards west of New Zealand, the roads were hilly and a lot of mountains can be seen. But heading further south, the geography was less hilly, a little bit flat but it was still beautiful nonetheless. We had a one night stay in Dunedin on the very same day.
The next day, due to time shortage, we decided to just stay in town and enjoy the oldest train station built in New Zealand. Nearby the station, there was a Cadbury Studio as well. We were planning to go down further south as the man at our reception told there was a place to see penguins. But we forgot it was a Sunday and for some reason, that particular Sunday serves as a national public holiday. Everything was closed.
Instead, we decided to hop on our caravan and set for early journey to Christchurch, where we would have a very early flight the next morning.
All of us felt bittersweet as we didn't have much time to enjoy more in New Zealand. So along the way, we decided to make one last stop at New Zealand's tourist attraction which is known as Moeraki Boulders.
Moeraki Boulders are unusually large and spherical boulders lying along a stretch of Koekohe Beach on the wave-cut Otago coast of New Zealand between Moeraki and Hampden. We are lucky we had the chance to witness such weird formation. It was only a brief stop for photos and toilet, we continued our journey next.
As we reach Christchurch, we knew that this was the end of our Down Under Trip.
One more stop to go, which was Sydney before we head back to Malaysia.
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