Day 11: Mt Cook + Lake Pukaki + Lake Tekapo + A Surprise Yellow Field!

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I take all my vacations very seriously. For me, it’s like a military operation in a way. You need to do proper research, know your grounds & destinations – which I do by spending nights researching hundreds of pictures, videos, hotel reviews, etc. You need to have a good plan of “attack” – because how else you can cramp those 999 things you want to do and see in 1-2 weeks unless you plan an effective itinerary? And you need to train your body as well – because life on the road is not easy; especially if you’re backpacking with limited budget. So those extra miles at the gym is a must, so you’ll be fit enough.

Why? Because in a year you’re spending like 45+ weeks working behind a desk. And you ONLY get those precious 2-4 weeks of vacation in total. Not to mention the money you have to pay for a vacation. So for me, OF COURSE you have to plan it well. And I’ve prepared this trip well. So prepared that most of the spots felt like de ja vu – like I saw them before (from google pics, that is). I’ve soldiered up and trained my body well. And then reality hits…. On my 11^th day, my body starts to give up. I’m… exhausted. The combination of packed itinerary, lack of sleep and lack of protein starts to hit me.

Logically, I know Mt Cook is gorgeous. It’s a bit cloudy, but the snowcapped mountain look very near vs the other views that I saw. There are dots of wild mountain flowers all over the place. There are couple of swing bridges and the pale grey icy river from the melted glacier. Beautiful, I’m sure.

But yet I’m finding myself struggling to put my foot ahead one another. Hooker Valley walk is rated “easy” online, but somehow for me it’s not so easy. I am moving ahead. But just not as fast as I want. My “cheerleaders” are actually a group of Japanese grandmas who walked springy and passed me easily ha ha… And my ego got bruised as well when bunch of like 10 year olds did the path like nothing at all. And here I am, huffing and panting. Gosh, next time should I get a personal trainer to prepare? Ha ha…. Or should I just take protein in this trip? Perhaps that’ll pump things a bit.

For health sake, actually the plan is to take a proper meal at least once a day. The rest can be just some random bread or cup noodle. For today’s “proper meal” we chose a random restaurant near Lake Tekapo. The bay window is huge that it gives you the front seat of the lake. I opted for my vegetarian burger, but my mouth is watering seeing the grilled beef left and right ha ha… OMG, NZ beef… I promised myself I can get all of my redemption in Singapore! Just hang in there, hang in there ha ha…

But fueled, or not fueled – who’s not excited to see Lake Pukaki and Lake Tekapo? During my researches, I kept seeing pictures of Lake Pukaki and Lake Tekapo, and how turquoise they look like. I was assuming it’s photoshopped. Or using some kind of cool camera filter that I don’t know about. I mean – where in the world can you ACTUALLY see such lakes? (besides in Disney’s cartoon) Apparently the answer is: New Zealand…

I saw Lake Tekapo the day before at sunset (read here) but it was already dark and I can’t see the turquoise water. And now, I can see it in all it’s glory. Lake Pukaki is a bit paler vs Lake Tekapo; but both are gorgeous. I tried to take pictures of stack stones, as the examples that I saw in flickr. I think it’s supposed to represent zen & balance & tranquility or something. But I’m not too happy with the result. Ideally, it’s supposed to look like this: http://instagr.am/p/bRe4Y/ Not far from the lakes, we also saw these miles of Lupins, the wild summer flower on the road side. It’s just sooo pretty.

Being the one who crafted the itinerary, I actually knew that Mt Cook/Lake Tekapo was the turning point. This trip has been amazing. But I know, after this point, there’s not much of “wow” factor in store for the rest of the journey. I felt a bit slumpy that the vacation is kinda “over”. But just when you think everything is over – the unexpected happens.

I screamed when I saw a long strip of Yellow Mustard Flowers! I’ve always wanted to take picture in the sea of those flower fields… And it so happen that the fence was not locked (sorry dear owner!) It was so unexpected, so beautiful (despite of the white cloudy sky)… My happiness level hits another 12 out of 10, yayyyy! Another day, another blessing….

So that concludes the end of South Island journey. Coming next: North Island! Let’s see what will happen there.

To view more of my travel pictures – pls go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/ariyanti_p/sets/72157628705874019/

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