Dunedin To Te Anau

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"THE ROAD TRIP"

FJORDLAND & SOUTHERN PACIFIC EXPERIENCE

Scene Location :
* Dunedin i-Site
* Otago Penisula
* Mosgiel
* Waihola
* Milburn
* Milton
* Balclutha i-Site
* Kaka Point
* Nugget Point
* Balclutha
* Clinton
* Gore
* Mandiville
* Riversdale
* Balfour
* Lumsden
* Mossburn
* The Key
* Te Anau

Total Distance :
* 400km
* Fuel - NZD50

Setting :
* Day - Super cold and tricky
* Night - Super dark and scary

Character :
* Driver : Biqque
* Map Reader & Photographer : Shahrul

* Extra : Chawana, Kucing gemuk, Tukang halau kat stadium, Argentinians peramah yang benci kat Maradona

~Page Three~

Dunedin To Te Anau : When There's A Will, There's A Way

We woke up quite late due to exhaustion that we suffered, the night before. It’s been two days we didn’t pep up (a.k.a tak mandi la). “Ahh…lantak la, tak busuk pun…” Though this small red cute cabin that we upgraded last night wasn’t attached with any individual toilet, it did furnish with heater, queen-sized bed, side table, and cutleries.

While Chawana prepared their own breakfast, hubby and I just had a couple of toasted bread with jam. (Sedap betul tengok Chawana makan maggie!) Luckily, there were coffee and tea in the kitchen.

After we packed up, we took few crazy shots around the lodge. While waiting for Chawana to make a last minute booking for Mitre Peak Cruise, I saw one big furry cat. “Gile gemuk!”
We then drove to the city and headed to the Baldwin Street, the world’s steepest street! Yup, you read it right! Nak tau how steep is the road, jap! Right after we parked our car at the beginning of the road, two workers came and told us that they gonna close the road for maintenance. “Alaaaaaaa…kaco la…”
So both drivers, Chawan (Na’s hubby) and I, got into the cars. Chawan at first reversed his car, but then I hinted him not to do so.
(Pointing my finger towards the street, twice.)

(Chawan smiled.)

(I nodded, twice.)

He then drove towards the street while I followed closely.

Korang nak tau masa ni Na dengan laki aku kat mana? Terpinga-pinga kat bawah jalan. Hahaha! Yeah, we always swap couple sebab aku ngan Chawan memang lain, dari Na ngan laki aku. Ko sebut nama tempat juta kali kat kitorang, juta kali jugak la kitorang akan tanya balik. Kahkahkah!

Along the steepest street, I saw all houses at both sides were built almost 45degrees from the road. Eh, the road was constructed 45degrees from the house sebenarnya. Ha camtu la. We then made a u-turn and I drove down first, followed by Chawan. I managed to snap few pictures from inside of the ar but they weren’t good enough to portray the verticality. Dang!

With a smirk on my face, I parked the car on the next street, near the i-Site. “You amik tak gambar I drive kat atas tu tadi???” I eagerly asked my hubby, hopping that he got at least a picture to prove it. “Tak…I tak pasan…tengok-tengok you dah kat atas…”

Dunedin
“ARGHHHHHH!!!!” I walked into the i-site and bought two fridge magnets, and a certificate of achievement, that I HAVE DROVE ON BALDWIN STREET AND SURVIVED!
AND GUESS WHAT…he FORCED the girl to put his name onto the cert as well…pfftt!

We then off to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory, to get those tasty chocolate bars that Bdk2 has lured in his blog (tak tahan daulat, ko!). We understand that no photos while touring the factory, so we decided to opt only for the shop.Entering the lobby had already made our eyes popped out. “Banyak nyer coklatttttttttt!” I asked the guy at the counter, whether we are allowed to get into the shop, without taking any tour and he said “Well…you can ask me nicely…” sambil angkat-angkat kening. HOI! LAKI AKU KAT BLAKANG NI! HAHAHA!

He permitted us to shop around (gile ko tak kasi orang beli) and I asked for Chawana’s suggestion and recommendation on what should and should not I get, since she knows better.

Trust me…I thought I can hold myself from buying more than a bar. Guess what?! We bought more than 10 bars! (Whittakers? Nanti duluuuuuuu :D)

From Cadbury Choco Factory, we droved to the nearby area and parked at the roadside, before we took a walk to the Railway Station. The building was so amazing!
We then off to the town area and secara tak sedar, Chawana dah hilang! OMG! Camne nih?! Dah la takde phone! Assuming that they will go to the same i-Site that we have discussed earlier, we looked for a parking.

Who knows that the Dunedinians were having a rugby party right at the center heart of Octagon!!! We had to walk about 200 meters away before I finally saw Na came out from a souvenir shop! The moment I saw her, terus I jerit “Naaaaaaaaaa!” and ran towards her macam cite Tamil tu. Hahaha!
Beforehand, I managed to peep into the Haka Peep Show tube tower and snapped few pictures with Robbie Burns si “pakcik batu”, and the First Church.
“So? Stadium?”

“Jom!”

Visiting the rugby stadium during the World Cup was one of the “must do” task that we had set. Chawana led the way since they have subscribed for GPS. It was quite far from the town…

…but…

…takde orang…takde bendera…

…near the scrap yard? Ye ke ni?
“HOI! NI CARISBROOK STADIUM! STADIUM LAMA NI!”

“HAHAHAHA! MANA TAUUUU...DAH GPS NI TUNJUK SINI...” Kena pulak stadium baru tu, betul-betul baru buat utk World Cup 2011 ni haaaa!

Anyhow, we managed to return back to town and locate the new stadium.

“Ni baru betullll…tapi tak leh masuk la plak!” We were chased out from the authorized area by two officers, and headed to the other side of the stadium. We stopped by the roadside and went out from the cars. Na and I quickly posed and did the Haka dance before we got chased out again. Hahaha! Cam haram!
Otago Peninsula
From the city, we headed to the Otago Peninsula to look for Lanarch Castle and Chawana again, tetiba hilang! Again, assuming they will find the way, we continued driving alongside the cliff and stopped at one place. Out of nowhere, there was a soldier statue on top of the hillview. Bleh?We parked the car by the roadside and walked up. Tak sampai separuh jalan, dah mengah! The trail was improper, covered only with pebbles and soil. From above, we once in a while looked down below, looking for Chawana’s car.Jodoh itu di tangan tuhan.

Bleh plak ternampak keta merah diorang! Hahaha! Hubby and I were jumping up and down from the hill top, hoping that Chawana could see us in between the bush. It was paid off, when they stopped their car behind ours, and we continued our journey to the castle.

Mana nak tau Lanarch Castle tu tak nampak dari jauh! Kena bayo plak tu! “Dah, dah…u-turn jer…balik, balik.” To the Nugget Point, we shall go, Hobbits!

Mosgiel - Waihola - Milburn - Milton - Balclutha i-Site
Cantiknyer sepanjang perjalanan, masyaAllah…Allah saje yang tau. The beach was super close to the road, aku takut tsunami melanda jer. We drove over Mosgiel, Waihola, Milburn, Milton, Balclutha, and stopped for a while at the i-Site, then stopped again at Kaka Point to take some shots. Sejuk masa ni jangan tanya, mencengkam kalebu!
Kaka Point - Nugget Point - BalcluthaNugget Point was actually a de-tour that we chose to do since not many people willing to drive that far. We then drove for another 10km before we got stunned by the “off road”.

“HUH? TAKDE TAR KE?”
SUMPAH AKU CAKAP, from Balclutha to Nugget Point, 26KM KO RASA MACAM 1000KM! The road was dusty and bumpy! And no one else except for our cars! Masa ni dah lewat petang. Menakutkan tak? Tu la, nak sangat gi tempat yang orang lain tak pegi :D

BUT THE HARD TIME WAS PAID OFF!

We had to walk another 1km from the parking, through the pathway, towards the light house, where the cliff was 100 meters high! We even joked around and took funny pose before we climbed the steps.
“CANTIKNYERRRRRRRRRRRR!!! HARUS NI TAK RAMAI YANG SAMPAI!!! AMIK GAMBAR! AMIK GAMBAR!” We laughed out loud.
The rocks, the cliffs, the sea, a.k.a the Catlins coastlines, were…eM to the A to the R, VELOUS! We were hopping to see some albatross or seal or maybe penguin, but it was too early for that.Since both of us gonna take a separate direction, we walked back to the car. We drove back to Balclutha and messed with the "off road" again. Another 26km dusty road! Chawana then head to Invercargill, while us, head to Te Anau. “Till we meet again…at Milford Sound.”

Clinton - Gore
We once, on the way out, stopped to take a picture with a sheep, before we stopped at the Presidential Highway, where Clinton and Gore took place. Gore was quite a lively big town, so we stopped at Countdown to get some refreshment and groceries to be cooked, once we reached Te Anau Lake View Holiday Park.

Mandiville - Riversdale - Balfour - Lumsden - Mossburn
The journey from Gore to Te Anau REALLY KILLED US! IT WAS SUPER DARK, SOUNDLESS, AND COLD! We had the longest period of driving, EVER, especially from Mandiville, Riversdale (a dead town that have probably one motel, one public toilet, and three stores), Balfour, before we reached Lumsden.

The Key - Te Anau
We passed by Mossburn and The Key (ya Allah…macam dalam cite seram tu yang gelap gile siap lalang tinggi-tinggi tu, aku risau je zombie kuar dari hutan ni tahan keta aku) before we FINALLY reached Te Anau.

We failed to upgrade the powered site to cabin sebab dah lewat. So, we settled down in the car, and woke up at 4.00AM sebab tak tahan sejuk sampai kebas kaki, and sneaked into the lounge area, and slept on the couch. Sempat jugak la masak maggie, sembang ngan The Pumas diehard fan (a group of Argentinians who came to support their national rugby team) yang tetiba offer nak share arak dengan daging panggang, sambil layan rugby kat TV. Thanks...but no thanks...

P/S: Read my travel companion's blog on the same entry, here.