Milford Track, Fiordland National Park

There's something magical about this "Land Of The Long White Cloud" or "Aotearoa" in Maori. More than a quarter of a century ago, we honeymooned on a whirlwind bus tour of New Zealand & since then, we keep going back for more magic & romance ! 14 years ago, we revisited with 2 boys in the backseat & loved it. This time, we decided to return & celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary over the new year. Sweet memories.

It was Theresa's idea to do it the kiwi-way.

"Let's go tramping (hiking) on the Milford Track," she said. Better yet, we signed up for the Classic - Milford plus the Routeburn Track, back-to-back.

Nearly 100 km over 8 days.

Now that we've done it, I can truthfully say that it was a couple's retreat with a happy ending. We survived & came away fitter in mind & body. With amazing pictures, taken with my new Panasonic GH1, to show for posterity.

Routeburn Track, Mt Aspiring National Park

What a strange place, this land of huge waterfalls, deep valleys & soaring peaks. We were totally unprepared for Routeburn in really wet weather ! The first day saw us fording gushing waterfalls & hiking inundated trails in steady rain. Thankfully, at the end of every day, we could look forward to hot showers, cooked meals & drying rooms !

Sometimes we city folk need to explore the great outdoors in all its different moods. It recaptures that sense of adventure that's so hard to find in Singapore. Learning to read the weather & terrain, relying on one's 5 senses, this is truly communing with Nature. Feeling spiritual & alive. At one with the universe !

Tongariro National Park, North Island NZ

The North Island has its own charm & grandeur. Instead of doing the usual tourist attractions of geothermal sulphur pots & hotsprings in Rotorua, we took our time exploring the Tongariro Nat Park by basing ourselves 80 km south of Rotorua by Lake Taupo & also spending 3 nights at the historic (Bayview) Chateau Tongariro.

Compared to the Volcanoes Nat Park of Hawaii, the sacred trio of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe & Ruapehu are volcanoes with violent eruptions in recent history, inspiring a deep sense of respect & awe. In fact, Ruapehu's last major eruption occurred in September 1995. As the weather was fickle, we opted to do half day tramps around the Chateau instead of the full day Tongariro Crossing. We also made the car-ride up to the upper slopes of Mt Ruapehu to see Mead's Wall, made famous in the movie trilogy, Lord Of The Rings.

Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park

While in this part of South Island, we decided to indulge ourselves by staying at the iconic Hermitage Hotel. We upgraded to a high-floor room with a lovely picture-postcard window looking out onto "The Cloud Piercer" or Aoraki Mt Cook. Morning & night, we dined at the Panaroma Restaurant with the same mountain view. It was truly inspiring.

As a prelude to the 8-day Classic Walk in Fiordland & Mt Aspiring National Parks, we did easy 1 to 2-hour hikes in the Hooker Valley & up to the Tasman Glacier overlook. Because the weather was cloudy with sunny breaks & rain in the afternoons, we always started our hikes early in the morning after a hearty buffet breakfast & ended the day with a cosy romantic dinner.

New Zealand 2009 / 2010 Lake Tekapo & Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu

We started off our 3-week dream vacation in the South Island, landing in Christchurch after a comfortable direct flight from Changi Airport. Though it was summertime in the southern hemisphere, the air was cool & crisp as we loaded our baggage into a Ford rental car that sunny morning.

After an easy afternoon drive through the Canterbury Plains, Lake Tekapo was exactly as we had remembered from past visits with its startlingly turquoise & tranquil waters. The beautiful alpine flowering lupins made for a perfect foreground & we made hay while the sun shone as can be seen in all our pictures !

A week later, we were in Queenstown, by Lake Wakatipu. Although this was a much more "touristy" place, we found it as pretty as when we last visited. Whenever the sun came out, the lakeshore was crowded with locals & tourists alike but it was just as picturesque as in the postcards.

Since our guided hikes' itinerary with Ultimate Hikes New Zealand started in Queenstown, it was just the place to get pre-hike essentials like fleece thermals & insect repellent.

A Coming Of Age

Last month was a good excuse to gather the village together on Calvin's 21st birthday. The pictures over the years tell us that Life is all about Change & Life Events. Our big boy is now a grown man !

Daryl has also grown up ... literally.

Grandmas will fondly remember their growing up years as they took turns to help us babysit the boys. Grandpas also had their fun being the family chauffeur to & from school & music lessons. Kindly uncles were recruited from time to time & now there are 2 young nephews & a niece for us to dote on. That's why an old African proverb says that it takes a village to raise a child.