Thursday, October 23, 2008

the end of Mai Journey to the East~~~

October 23, 2008
my last day in New Zealand, and this marks the end to my 4 months journey/vacation... time went by sooo fast...where did all the good time went????

This has been a wonderful experience for my soul, my heart, my lungs, my eyes, my taste bugs (too bad can't meet my goal on shedding all those pounds) and my feet (ahh I need a foot massage).

I feel so blessed by all the good spirits surrounding me; each soul I have encountered on this trip has been so wonderful to me, folks back in NYC has been so supportive on my impulsive decision for this trip; new friends, old friends and family, thank you so much...life is good life is good.
the wise man said:"an ending is a new beginning", alrighty then, it's time to plan my next adventure!! whoohoo

Friday, October 17, 2008

New Zealand, North Island

left Queenstown and the south island of New Zealand, arrived to my 2nd to last stop of my 4 months trip, Wellington......time went by soooo fast.....it's time to think about becoming a Kiwi or Aussi, seriously

staying in Wellington, and I am pretty Well here ^_^. it's like adjusting my mind heading back to city life..Wellington is a pretty compacted city, they called the cultural city of New Zealand, it feels like a shrunk NYC to me, except with beautiful ocean views and mountains. Since the weather is pretty cold, and I can't do the water activities I wanted to do in this cold weather, so I just went for long walks along the cost line and in the city, how cultural that is 8o)

Te Papa

Water sculpture Art installationPedestrian bridge in an art form
Wellington Harbor view
Houghton Bay
Rock pools in Houghton Bay
housing by the bay, what a great view he's getting

Left Wellington, the end of my trip is getting closer....Auckland

Mt Eden Crater

view of Auckland city from Mt Eden

Mission Beach
Took a 3 days trip up to the North, the far north of New Zealand, Bay of Islands....what a beautiful place this is....hole in the rock, cape reinga, 90 miles beach......it's just beautiful....

Hole in the Rock


Long Beach
le petite surferPaihia harbor
Cape Reinga
90 Miles Beach
the cow are taking over the beach
Sand dunes at the far north
sand surfers hiking up to the ridge
down they go, sand surfers

Saturday, October 11, 2008

New Zealand - South Island

New Zealand~~ home of the kiwis....and penguins.
flying over the snowy mountains feels sooo good, the sky clear blue, what a beautiful world


arrived first at Christchurch, a nice quite little town, it is the entrance to the south pole, so if you wanna go to the south pole, you will board the 8 hour enclosed army flight from the flight center in Christchurch, and be sure to dress for the weather... as for me, I am good with just visiting the Antarctica Center, can't deal with cold too well. There in the Antarctica center, I pay a visit to the little blue penguins, they area sooo cute.







Queenstown, wow what a beautiful town, surrounding by endless mountain ranges, facing a crystal clear lake, heaven feels so near now.....the views are amazingly stunning, the water are pristine. Pristine, a word I can really understand now.







bee at work



meeting with the local



Milford Sound...what's the difference between Sound, Fiord and Gorge? they all look similar, but Sound is made by the float of river, Fiord is carved by glacial activity from the last ice age and Gorge is form as a result of tectonic plate movement. you know what, I have been to Fiords in Norway, Gorges in China, and I am just finding out their differences now, in New Zealand, how ignorant I have been, and I am thankful for learning something new now. Milford Sound which should be Milford Fiord, but some how no one is bother to making the correction, any way it is beautiful as every where else in New Zealand





Mirror Lakes, en route to Milford Sounds
En route sceneries en route to Milford Sounds





Avalanche 5 days agoMilford Sounds
Milford Sound locals
en route back to Queenstown, some locals drop by



After Milford Sound, I was put on hole for a day for my horseback riding due to bad weather in Glenochy, so I went on the driving tour of Lord of The Ring...since the movie was filmed about 10 years ago, there aren't much of the set left on site, NZ goverment had done an amazing job protecting their natural landscape and wildlife habitats. I my self is not a big fan of the movie, so I am on this tour mainly for the landscape, which I have to say is amazing......we stop at a very small town name Glenochy, which has about 6 blocks between endless mountain and a beautiful lake, all are one story housings, so you can see the whole town standing at any point on the road......



after LOTR tour, my last day in Queenstown I finally get to my horseback riding and kayaking, it was also amazing,

this is my horse, Harry, he was in Lord of The Ring