Hello everyone!

I’m back….HOME SWEET HOME! Really miss Singapore food. We were naming/counting the dishes we want to eat as soon as we are back home during the last few days of our travel – chicken rice, chomp chomp grill stingray, prawn noodles, fishball noodles, nasi lemak, cha kuay teow, etc…. Best thing about Singapore food is that they are widely available and cheap. There are definitely places where you can find hawker stalls still open at 10pm and have a plate of fried noodles at S$3.

Ok, my travel report. It’s a 18 days travel throughout the South Island. Stay: in BBH hostels always except at Dunedin, where we splurged on a really nice family-run inn. I’ll come to that later. Food: we cook some, takeaway / fast food some and eat at restaurants some.


Day 1: Arrive in CHC in the afternoon. Picked up our car from EZY Rentals (a white 1.6L Nissan Sunny) and checked into hostel near city centre. Walked to Cathedral Sq., Botanic Gardens and around city. Go to New World Supermarket for some food basics.

Day 2: CHC – Arthur’s Pass – F.J Glacier
The day’s quite pleasant, but very cloudy and we couldn’t see the castle hill rocks. We stopped at various points along the drive up Arthur’s Pass, including a track to the Devil’s Punchbowl Waterfalls.

Day 3: F.J. Glacier – Fox Glacier
Raining at FJ Glacier when we woke up, we drove to Fox and book ourselves on the 1.45pm half-day hike. Before the hike, we took the loop around Lake Matheson . (nice walk but couldn’t see the peak of Mt Cook as it was raining in the mountains and very cloudy / misty) and drove to Gillespies Beach. The hike IS strenuous. We were the only Singaporeans and I realized that we are the most unfit among the group. We had on us a pullover, a fleece and a windbreaker jacket, gloves (which we did not use) and hat (useful to keep the ears out of the wind), whereas some just wore a long sleeve shirt over a cotton T. I did not have a good fit for my right feet and I ended with a huge blister at the heel and a blue-black 2nd toe. It’s really exhausting but no muscle aches (someone did say she had muscle aches after the hike).

Day 4: F.J. Glacier – Haast – Wanaka
A scenic drive through Haast Pass with stops. Visited the Haast Salmon Farm, it’s really small and not much to see. Did purchase a cold smoked salmon for dinner.

Day 5: Wanaka – Arrowtown – Queenstown
Took the Crown Range route. Gorgeous view at the summit. In my opinion, Arrowtown is tourist town. If I’m not a Chinese myself, it would be interesting to see the Chinese miners cottages. But we have read and seen the living conditions of the Chinese immigrants to Singapore, so it’s not that surprising. Queenstown is an adventure stop. We did not like Queenstown as it’s really congested and messy (especially with the public works that’s going on in town). We booked ourselves on the Shotover jet & rafting combo. As we missed the last departure for the combo for the afternoon, we split the activities and had rafting that afternoon and the jetboating will be the next morning. The rafting requires transfer to the top of the river, into the Skipper’s Canyon. The road is extremely narrow and edge challenging gives us an awesome experience of the bus driver’s skills. The waters were moderate and trip’s very successful, with none of the rafts capsizing.

Day 6: Queenstown – Te Anau
Morning jetboat. Lucky we had rafting yesterday, ‘cos the morning is very cold and the sun is behind the clouds. After rafting, we initially wanted to drive up Glenorchy, but discarded this idea and decide to take a more leisure pace to see Kelvin Heights before driving to Te Anau. We spent quite some time feeding the animals, especially the goats and giant bufflo-like creatures. wonder what's they're called....? With extra time from not doing a return trip to Glenorchy, we had the opportunity to arrive at Kingston to see the Kingston Flyer pulling into the station. Later, we drove to Te Anau and walked along the lakefront.

Day 7: Te Anau – Milford Sound
The Milford Road was not as breathtaking as anticipated. Sort of a disappointment. We took the Red Boat cruise at 10.30am (which includes the observatory). Slow cruise and not much to see. Weather’s fair….no sun no rain. The only part interesting is when the captain steer the boat close under a waterfall and we can feel the power of the plunging waters and seals on the rocks near the waterfalls. Later, we took the 6.45pm departure to Te Anau Glowworm Caves. As we were in complete darkness other than the specks of blue lights from the glowworms and we were tilting our heads up to see them, we get dizzy very easily. The fact that we have to enter the caves in the evening when it’s dark makes it seems like an exciting adventure, although you can opt for an earlier departure so that you can admire Te Anau on the cruise to the glowworm caves. But frankly, after the Milford cruise, cruise is plain slow and boring.... and the lake just seem like a boundaryless pool of water. Sunset over the lakes may be beautiful but you can see them from the lakefront anyway. We were tired out by the long journey out to Milford and back that we practically slept on the cruies to and from the caves.

Day 8: Te Anau – Curio Bay
Horrible horrible day. It’s raining since the night before through our sleep tonight, and will continue to rain for the next day. We took the southern route from Te Anau – Tuatapere - Invercargill and targeted to see Bluff, Slope Point and Porpoise Bay for penguins. As it was raining, we did not stop at Lake Manpouri, but we did manage to get to the International signpost and visit the Paua Shell House and even brave storm to get to Slope Point. We couldn’t see any wildlife as it’s really hell of a storm. The wind’s so strong that we can get lifted up. Expectedly, the pictures did not turn out well as the lenses are fogged and we can’t help our hands shaking as the strong gusts of wind sweep over us and we were really cold. We wore exactly what we wore up the glacier. Our windbreakers were not really waterproof but they have served us real well as we tracked in the rain and storms like this.

Day 9: Curio Bay – Dunedin
Still raining…..the night was freezing cold and we did not sleep well so we were out early to visit the Curio Bay for the fortified forest. A easy walk and it’s interesting when you take the time to inspect the details. Note that the fortified forest is only accessible during low tide. We had planned for the Cathedral Caves (which is also accessible only during low tides) and told that the gates will be open that morning, but as we arrive, the gates were closed. We suspect that they had denied access due to unsafe wind conditions although it was low tide. A disappointment but we continued to see some other waterfalls along the southern route. The waterfalls were not as beautiful as seen from postcards as the waters were now all muddy from the rain and soil erosion. We also took a track to Jack’s Blowhole, see NZ sea lions (real close) at Roaring Bay, see seals on the nuggets at Nugget Point.

Day 10: Dunedin – Otago Peninsular – Oamaru
Bright and sunny….At the Peninsular, we visited Larnach Castle. It’s a beautiful building but the admission fees are (we feel) a bit expensive for the visit. We went to Albatross Centre but did not take any tour. We went down beside the beach where we see fur seals real close. We noticed that there’s a rope off area where visitors can get to observe blue penguins at dusk. Presuming it’s free. The Peninsular’s a great place – it’s relaxing and the scenary’s beautiful. We drove back to Dunedin, took a look at the Railway Station, went to the Botanic Gardens for a picnic and walked up Baldwin Street. Overall, Dunedin is our favourite city. Continue driving towards Moeraki Boulders – it was high tide but the rocks are still visible and we see a lot of broken ones as well, and viewed blue penguins at Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony. We enjoyed the viewing and recommend this.

Day 11: Oamaru – Omarama
Today is a geography trip. Fiirst, we partake the self- guided Vanished World Trail (you can purchase the brochure $6 at the Vanished World Centre in Duntroon or from Otago Museum in Dunedin) from Duntroon to see Elephant Rocks, Anatini and the Earthquakes. These are fossil sites or landscapes of limestone rock. Along the way, we also saw Takiroa Cave and Maerewihenua for the Maori cave rock drawings. Passing by the lakes of Waitaki, Aviemore and Benmore and their dams, we reach Omarama and visited the Clay Cliffs for more rock formations.

Day 12: Omarama – Mt Cook – Lake Tekapo
We bid goodbye to the sunny weather we had yesterday and embarked on the Hooker Valley Track amidst the drizzle. It’s very cold up in Mt Cook so be prepared with gloves and hat and warm layers. It took us about 3.5 hours for the return trip from the Whitehorse Hill campground to Hooker Lake. We also took the 1 hr Blue Lakes and Tasman Glacier View Track. Driving towards Lake Tekapo, we turn towards the Salmon Farm and purchased another fillet of salmon (250g for $8). The produce of this farm is fresher than that at Haast and slightly cheaper.

Day 13: Lake Tekapo – Hanmer Springs
Started out bright and sunny at Lake Tekapo but the weather turns gloomy as we pass Christchurch and into the mountain range. It was raining in the Hanmer Springs area but we still went for our thermal springs soak in the evening. In our opinion, the admission fees are expensive. Not all pools are mineral pools, most (including the private pools) are just thermal (heated) still pools. There’s only 3 sulphur pooks which can accommodate about 10 people in each pool otherwise it will be too crowded for comfort. Definitely not a must-do, but it’s nice to soak an hour or two when it’s chilling (and raining).

Day 14: Hanmer Springs – Lewis Pass – Murchison
Long drive. We did not feel like walking the tracks in Lewis Pass for the following reasons: 1) we have done quite a bit of walking to date, 2) it was raining, 3) the scenary wasn’t spectacular – we have seen it before somewhere or similar. But, we did take the 10mins return track to see a waterfall ‘cos it’s a very short walk and it’s very worthwhile. The waterfall is the most beautiful waterfall we have seen in NZ. The falls in the Southern Coastal Route may be bigger and prettier but as we saw them, they were muddy. This one has clean clear waters and was complemented by green algae on the rocks besides the falls and the sun was smiling on it with a clear blue sky. The flow of the waterfall is also very elegant. Highly recommended! Punakaiki Rocks are interesting but the holes ain’t blowing ‘cos the wind god is sleeping eventhough the tide is high. We made for the Cape Foulwind and see more seals at the Seal Colony near the Taranga Bay carpark.

Day 15: Murchison – Puponga – Motueka
Long driving day. At this point of travel, our minds start to wander back to our local food and we start to count down to the day when we will fly home. Visited the Farewell Spit Visitor Centre, didn’t see much of the spit as it was 1pm and high tide and the spit looks small in the distance. If you want to join the tour for the Farewell Spit, enquire for time and book ahead as they depart before the low tide and for that day of our visit, they have had departed at 6.30am from Collingwood. At the Cape Farewell lookout, we attempted to walk over the hills to see the Wharariki Beach but we only managed to set our footprints on top of the Cape Farewell. It was afterall not a short walk. We would probably have needed another 30 mins to cross over some more hills to see the beach and we had already walked for about 20mins. We were lazy to walk further so we turned back. Pupu Springs in Takaka is a serene springs lake which my hubby thoroughly enjoyed. His regret (or disappointment) throughout the journey is that he couldn’t see any fish in the lakes or rivers. Ngarua Caves looks appealing but we had missed out on the tour times which departed by the hour from 10am to 4pm.

Day 16: Motueka – Nelson - Blenheim
It’s a Saturday, so Nelson is having the market. It’s an enjoyable hour in the marketplace before we visit the cathedral and Jens Hansen Jeweller. We saw a couple custom making theirs for wedding. $140 is for a silver ring. They have it in gold and platinum as well. Can’t tell you the prices as we did not pay attention. We took the Queen Charlotte Drive from Havelock to Picton and further to Blenheim. No activity in town on Saturday afternoon.

Day 17: Blenheim – Kaikoura
Morning, we went to the Farmers’ Market near the edge of the town. It’s very much smaller than Nelson’s Saturday market and it’s soley devoted to farmer’s produces and sales whereas at Nelson, the market’s got clothing, arts and crafts, farm produces, food and ice-cream stalls and even a game stall not unlike a funfair. We visited Le Brun Cellier, Cloudy Bay and Mud House wineries for tasting and purchases. We also purchased the Prenzel butterscotch and mocha topping. It’s a drive down to Kaikoura where we purchased 2 crayfishes for $25 each on the highway just before hitting the town for our dinner. We took a walk around South Bay and the Seal Colony. As the tide’s low, we see these rock beach continental shelf. Very interesting!

Day 18: Kaikoura – Akaroa – Chrictchurch
This is our last day in NZ as we will depart the next morning. We had booked ourselves on the whalewatch and are we lucky! The morning’s conditions were suitable although some strong winds may be expected. We are not the sea sick type, but we soon realize that the waves are very rocky and it does help if you close your eyes, rub your pulse point on your right / left hand, or pinch the tip of your index finger (as these are acupuncture points) when you do feel dizzy. For the trip, we saw 3 whales. It could jolly well be 2 because the last whale might be the first one we saw. The captain also stop for us to see dusky dolphins. Highly recommended!
We later drove down to Lyttelton Harbour and round to the Governors’ Bay and Diamond Harbour before taking the Port Levy Road down to Little River which joins up to Akaroa. My god! The Port Levy Road was a challenge! It’s very winding and narrow and all gravel, so we took about an hour to traverse the 25km. You can get some good views but if you are hard up for time, forget about this route and hit for the highway ASAP. Akaroa is quiet and not as French as I had anticipated. We did not linger as there’s nothing much to do.

That’s the gist. For accommodation, these are where we stayed:

Christchurch: Vagabond Backpackers (BBH double $45)
FJ Glacier: Glowworm Cottages (BBH double $52)
Wanaka: Wanaka Bakpackers (BBH double ensuite $52)
Queenstown: Alpine Lodge (BBH double $52)
Te Anau: Barnyard Backpackers (BBH double ensuite $52)
Curio Bay: Curio Bay Backpackers (BBH dorm bed $20/pax) – double room was fully booked so we had to settle for dorm beds.
Dunedin: Albatross Inn (ensuite room with queen bed and 2 single beds sleeps 4 @ $140 comes with breakfast)
Oamaru: Empire Hotel Backpackers (BBH double $40)
Omarama: Buscot Station (BBH double $45)
Lake Tekapo: Tailor Made Backpackers (BBH double ensuite $54)
Hanmer Springs: Hanmer Backpackers (BBH double $40)
Murchison: The Lazy Cow (BBH double $52)
Motueka: The Laughing Kiwi (BBH double $48)
Renwick: Watson’s Way Backpackers (BBH double ensuite $48)

For restaurants, I took some of the forum's recommendations and these are my comments.
The Moose: Te Anau – big hearty meal, steak is more tasty than chicken
The Smokehouse: Mapua – highly acclaimed but over rated, mainly smoked fish dishes, moderately expensive and small serving
Mussel Boys: Havelock – fresh mussel meals, nice big serving of chowder

It's good to hear from you. Thanks for the report... what a shame you had so much rain, but to be expected, from what I understand. It makes me realize how very lucky we were. We had exceptional weather and had beautiful sunny days for our whole trip.

NO matter how wonderful a trip is, it's always good to get back home , isn't it?

Did you buy anything?

Welcome back Chenoa. I had to laugh at your comments about missing the food in Singapore. I just returned from Singapore last night. Personally, I can't deal with the local food there! I'm always amazed (and sometimes frightened) by the bizarre food on offer.

On the other hand, I'm looking forward to a stop at the Mapua Smokehouse (for their smoked tomato soup) and I'm practically drooling at the thought of a nice meal at Little India in Christchurch and Queenstown.

It's interesting how our cultural differences affect our travels and our expectations...

Enjoyed reading your report - rain is inevitable in NZ (and Singapore) but sounds like you had a decent time just the same.

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Yes, it's a shame we did not have nice weather when we were travelling the Catlins. It would have made a beautiful picture. We did have warm and sunny days in the upper West coast, Golden Bay and Marlborough regions that were the last few days of our travels. That were the only days we wore like in Singapore.

We bought white wines - Le Brun's Blanc and Brut, Cloudy Bay's Sauv. Blanc, Montanna Chardonnay, Mudhouse's Chardonnay and Merlot. The Merlot is a surprise 'cos we did not intent to purchase any red wines. Esp. since Marlborough is better known for its white varieties and pinot noir (which we did not take a liking to). We drink merlot more freq. and thought the Mudhouse merlot is really youthful, smooth and in her words - "the potential to develop over the next 3 years".

We bought Coupland's muffins, choc chips and gingernut cookies which we finished along the journey.

At Ashburton, we purchased a Havarti and a Maasdam from Talbot Forest, and two bottles of Black Doris Plum jam from Barker's - a pleasant sour-sweet flavour that's not available in our supermarkets.

For souvenirs, we bought some kiwi miniatures, two small Happy Hens for myself and my sis-in-law (she's born in the year of the chicken), a few stuff toys made of wool and possum fur, and some paua shell accessories. We picked out some shells and small rocks by the beaches for our keepsake too.

Melnq, I'm not sure what food you saw that fightens you so. My guess is frog's legs, turtle soup, pig's intestines, pig's liver, chicken and duck gizzards? These cannot be as gross as baalut. (Urgh!)
Food for thought, check out weird foods over the world at http://www.weird-food.com.

Cheona -

What's baalut? - or maybe I don't want to know.

Kelp, fish balls, octopus balls, dried seaweed, gizzards galore, intestines, organs, hoves, snouts, ears, YIKES, not for this girl.

I did have a very nice gelato though!

Did you try the Rigid Richard at Prenzel's?

Fish balls? Those innocent things? It's just fish meat paste made into balls or if they are flatter and longer, they are called fish cakes. Fish balls and fish cakes are not unique to S'pore, they can be found in most Asian countries. You can eat them boiled or fried. Nothing wrong with them.

As for the seaweed and kelp, this is not S'pore culture but Japan's and Korea's although Chinese cuisine do make use of them too.

It would be more politically correct to say that the plants and creatures (whole or part of) that we consume are based on respective cultures of racial groups rather than of Singapore 'cos we are multi-racial and have also adopted some other foreign cultures via our exposure through travels and imports. You can find almost the same hawker food in Singapore and Malaysia. But of course, the styles of cooking distinguishes Singapore food.

The next time you visit, I truly wish that you'll try the fish balls.

Baalut(Philippines) This is a Filipino delicacy--a duck egg containing a half-formed duckling, soft-boiled and eaten out of shell with a spoon.

Now, that's disgusting....can you imagine the feathers and all? I've seen that on TV.

I did try Rigid Richard. Just purchase the butterscotch cos I'll be using Baileys or Kahlua as substitutes for the cream. You must try the mocha choca toppings for pancakes and icecreams. Absolutely delicious! Of course, I bought that as well.

oh...for those of you craving for Arnott's Tim Tams, you can purchase them in Singapore too. It's exactly the same product (packaging no exception).

I tried the L&P too. I didn't get carried away by it - it's just sparkling lemonade.

Okay, point taken about the cultural differences in Asian food - I don't eat seafood of any kind, therefore, it's highly unlikely that I'll be trying those fish balls! Nor will I try the whitebait, a NZ dish described by a NZer as "tiny clear fish put into a blender and eaten". NO thank you. Perhaps a Kiwi can shed some light on the proper whitebait eating technique.

Believe it or not, we get Tim Tams here in Indonesia too. By way of Singapore no doubt, and probably a bit worse for wear...

You guys are making me crazy!! We can't get Tim Tam's here in Canada. Believe me, I've been looking!

Kodi -

Funny how you always want what you can't have eh? We got Tim Tams in Kuwait too, but other than to take some to my mother in the US, I never bought them. What I would like is a steady supply of Diet Pepsi and Raisin Bran! Maybe we can arrange a trade!

I didn't really have time to read this whole post before going to work this morning. So, I just really read it all now. The food you are describing is GROSS!!!! Especially the baalut. Oh my gawd... I'm sorry I read it!!!
I agree with Melnq8, I'm not a seafood eater and I'm a very conservative eater.

BUT, in Christchurch, we went to the Asian food court downtown..and I didn't know what I was going to do. I finally settled on a Cambodian dinner and I LOVED it. I was very proud of myself for trying it. MInd you, it wasn't anything gross!!

Chenoa, I can tell were your heart is... The FOOD and WINE! I'm glad you enjoyed so much of it.
I didn't bring home too much food...just lots of Tim Tams. and 1 bottle of wine ( all we are allowed to bring to Canada).

Melnq8, you've got yourself a deal!!!
I'd gladly trade you Diet Pepsi and Raisin Bran for Tim Tams!!
( I , myself , prefer Diet Coke!) Ha, but then I'd have to hike everyday to wear them off.

So I'm watching the show "Survivor" (actually it's on now still) and their eating challenge was baalut. What a coincidence! (And yes, it does look gross!)

Wow, what a coincidence! But now I know why I don't watch Survivor. There's way too many gross things for me!
I bet you wish you hadn't just read what Baalut was!!

Hi kodi,
FYI, we are allowed only a bottle of wine and a bottle of spirits per pax, but customs here do not usually check your luggage, unless you declare and then pay the tax. In fact, we purchased another two bottles of Aussie Merlot at the airport DF. That makes 8 bottles of wines. Now, don't you go report me to the authorities! LOL

Is there anything I can trade with you? [joke]

Chenoa, Never would I dream of reporting you!! NOw, how many packages of Tim Tams will that cost you????

I would never try to bring that much wine home, but only because I'm not a wine drinker, really.
I'm glad you were able to take that much home.

Now if I was limited in the amount of chocolate I could bring to Canada.... well, I just would have been forced to smuggle.

Hmmmm a trade!!! Let's see.... I could offer you Canadian maple syrup!!!!

As far as missing food while I was away, we have a chain of Coffee Shops here called Tim Horton's and I was dying for a Tim's coffee ( Tim Horton's that is.) It has become SUCH a Canadian tradition and we all love it.

well, I won't have much use for the maple syrup cos I seldom make/eat pancakes. Price of Tim Tams here is comparable to what it costs in NZ, I think about SGD $3.

Melnq8

You asked about whitebait and the best way to eat them.

Cook then hole in a fritter (Thick eggy pancake mix without the sugar). Best had either between two slices of warm white bread or with a little tartare sauce. Delicious.

Now if you want bizzare food here I could tell you about Possum stew, Huhu Grubs, Kina, Mountain Oysters, the list goes on.

Cheers

Steve

Steve -

I'll take your word for it that the whitebait are delicious.

Are Kina Mountain Oysters anything like our Rocky Mountain Oysters? If so, I think I'll take pass.

Guess I'll stick with pumpkin soup, which seems to be a NZ staple.

Well, you have to do something with those possums.... ;-)

Lee Ann