New Zealand is one of the most beautiful country I've ever visited with such beautiful and natural scenery as though I was looking at a postcard! The colorful landscape and peaceful tranquility reminded me of God's creativity in designing this earth and I am grateful to be able to see it with my own eyes. Among all the different parts of New Zealand, I would say Queenstown is the best! I stayed at the
Sofitel Queenstown Hotel and Spa (http://www.sofitel.com/gb/hotel-5688-sofitel-queenstown-hotel-and-spa/index.shtml) which is a lavish and award winning hotel. Our hotel suite was spacious and the King bed was soft and comfortable. Service was extremely attentive and excellent!
We visited
Mount Cook for their famous and unique
Ice Glacier Explorer Tour visit their website (http://www.glacierexplorers.co.nz/) which is highly recommended! The Tasman Glacier is the largest floating ice glacier in the whole of New Zealand and is accessible by small boats. It costs NZD145 an adult but the experience was worth the cost! I managed to carry a real ice glacier and it is amazing how the ice glaciers remain on the still lakes despite the summer heat at 30 degrees celsius. The guide told us to place our fingers into the lake and mine went numb. The waters were icy cold at around 4 degrees celsius and he warned us not to fall off the boat unless we wanted to freeze to death. The tour lasted about 2.5 hours and a lot of time was spent walking from the main road to the secluded corner of the mountain where the ice glacier was located. Mount Cook is 3.5 hours drive from Queenstown. We rented a car and drove there by ourselves :) Comfortable shoes and warm clothings are a must as it gets chilly on the ice glacier lake.
On our way driving to Mount Cook, we spotted an eye-catching red cat plane and decided to do a scenic flight across Mount Cook. The strange thing is that instead of the pilot sitting in front, we ended up sitting in front of the pilot. It was a rather frightening experience as the plane was open top with no ceiling or glass over our heads. We felt vulnerable and scared initially but after a while, the fear was gone and we enjoyed the breath-taking scenic views around Mount Cook. More info at http://www.redcat.co.nz/Biplane_Flights_Twizel.html
♥ Lora Christelle Lim ♥
