Back to the Mountains... at last

Ruapehu emerging from clouds

Established in 1887, Tongariro was the first national park in New Zealand and the fourth in the world. It is also a dual World Heritage area, a status which recognises the park's important Maori cultural and spiritual associations as well as its outstanding volcanic features.

The Park is only 2h away from where we are and now that we have learnt to drive longer distances, visiting this wonderful playground over a weekend is very do-able. The drive itself is very scenic, twisting and turning along SH4, often referred to as the "Para paras".

One of the big reasons for relocating to New Zealand is the wonderful hiking opportunities that exist here. Now that our house is more or less settled, what better way to start our hiking adventures than ticking off what has been described as one of “the best day walks in the world”

do not underestimate mountain weather

Many people underestimate the nature of mountains. Sometimes, due to the accesibility of this tramp, people may get into all sorts of trouble. We had made a booking for a shuttle bus run by Discovery Lodge. However, the day that we had wanted to make the Crossing, the shuttle was cancelled, due to bad weather. The owner-operator Callum Harland - an experienced mountain runner who appreciates the change-able nature of mountain weather and operates the bus only when it is safe. The Discovery Lodge runs the earliest shuttle (0545h) to the start, allowing hikers to enjoy the "wilderness experience" before the "hordes" arrive. (Most other operators arrive at the start between 0730h and 0830h) The pre-dawn start also gives plenty of time to take in the fantastic views and complete the crossing before the day gets too hot. They also have a wonderful pick-up schedule starting from 1230h and hourly thereafter till 1630h, which means that if one is fast, or the weather bad, you can complete the hike quickly, get down and back to warm hot showers or if the weather is good, take your time and snap endless photos, bag the peaks of Tongariro and Ngauruhoe and not worry about missing your pick-up.

When we arrived in National Park the day before, it had been raining badly the past few days and the mountains were completely covered in cloud. The weather report for the next day suggested a small break in the weather and we jumped at it. Waking up early to catch the 0540h shuttle reminded me of midnight alpine starts and I was happy to get back into this mode.

an early start

The track from Mangatepopo Car Park to Soda Springs is flat, well formed and easily covered in an hour. It was very pleasant stretching the legs on this section, stopping at Soda Springs for a toilet stop (no more toilets till Ketetahi hut!!) and a quick drink of water before making the ascent to the Crater rim.

I had visions of hard work on scree (memories of the infamous Caneleta on Aconcagua), but the new track which zig zags its way up was really easy underfoot, steps well formed and it kind of took the excitement out. Almost a walk in the park. We hurried along as the clouds were creeping up the mountain and unfortunately, we were beaten to the South Crater by the weather.

view down to Soda Springs, clouds moving in

With thick cloud and the possibility of rain, we decided against climbing to the summit of Ngauruhoe and after a snack, walked briskly across South Crater, trying to imagine the views!

South Crater in the mist

Reaching the far end of the South Crater, we climbed up to Red Crater, again, not too steep, but the rocks and clay were somewhat slick from the mist and care had to be taken.

Red Crater rim, rocks, slick from mist

Just as we topped Red Crater, rim, the highest point of the Crossing, the clouds parted briefly and we were treated to a magnificent view of the Emerald lakes.

Emerald Lakes emerging from mist

Descending to the Emerald Lakes needs a little care, as the path is on loose scree and the ridge is moderately exposed. In high winds and poor visibility, one could potentially be blown off. This probably is the only location with some objective danger on the crossing, assuming one does not attempt the summits of Ngauruhoe and Tongariro.

descent from Red Crater, note sulphur stains

At this juncture, we noted sulphurous smells and saw numerous steam vents on the side of the crater, many with sulphur deposits around them. It was a reminder that the area is still very much a geothermal area and volcanoes here are by no means extinct.

Once we had gotten down to the Lakes and were about to explore their shores, the wind picked up and clouds came in again, this time with rain and this rain followed us all the way down to Ketetahi Car Park.

Blue Lake in the rain

So, looks like we'll have to go back, sometime soon to re-visit the area in good weather, bag the summits and take in the views (and snap a few pictures!!)

Christmas Holiday in Auckland

We flew out on Christmas day evening to spend some time in the City of Sails. As I had to work on Christmas Eve, so the only flight we could catch was 5.30pm on Christmas day!



Visiting Auckland over the Christmas holidays was quite enjoyable, to our surprise. Being the “ulu sampah” country folk living in Wanganui that we are - the hustle and bustle, crowds and traffic fumes of NZ’s biggest city are something we try to avoid. Fortunately for us, the evening of Christmas was very quiet - most places were closed and indeed, we were worried that we would not find a place to eat.



Fortunately for us, opposite our hotel (City Life Heritage Hotel) was a very busy Chinese coffee shop. Its customers are mostly chinese locals and backpackers, but the more savvy local Kiwis come there too. As you can see, it has chinese roast meats as well as a very decent menu of stir fries, noodles, porridge and every order of rice comes with a generous potion of delicious soup made from bones and meat scraps. The portions are huge, so an order of roast pork rice or in my case, beef stir fried with bitter gourd and fermented black soy beans was large enough for 2 of us to share.



We ate our fill and took a “digestive walk” down to the waterfront - see the first picture and watched the sun go down over sailing boats and the Auckland Sky Tower. A particularly good watering hole (which also has excellent food and service, is Soul, down by the wharf.

New Zealand (like Singapore and probably many other places) is notorious for having sales. Pre Christmas sales, Before school holiday sales... Queen’s birthday sales. So it was no surprise that many stores were open on Boxing day and offered very good discounts on all sorts of goods. We bought some quick dry trekking clothes from The North Face shop and a couple of CDs from Marbecks.

After an energetic morning of shopping we stopped by for dim sum lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. The food was very good, pretty genuine (judging by the number of chinese patrons) and the egg tarts light and fluffy.

Since we were on holiday.. after a dim sum lunch, we decided that the best thing to do was to have an afternoon nap, which we did.

This rest gave us plenty of energy for a long walk to church and Spanish Tapas at a delightful restaurant called Limon by the water front for dinner.

There was real Spanish guitar music and a waitress that spoke Spanish (OK, she was from Argentina) and melt in your mouth Jamon Serrrano. Ole!

Land of the Long White Cloud

Pilrgim has been in this other "down under" land for the past 2 months now... and is grateful to God for all His bountiful blessings during this transition period. Have made new friends and found a home as well... had chance to experience new culinary delights.. lots to share

Mangrove Kayaking in Langawi

Floating boatsheds

“The rock formations or karst landscape here is more than 500million years old…. Mangroves have a unique way of handling the salt in brackish water … they expel salt through pores in the leaves… Look! There’s a mangrove crab!” I had joined a mangrove Kayaking tour in Langkawi and we were on the Kilim river. This unique tour is run by Dev’s Adventure Tours and gives participants an in depth view of the amzing flora and fauna of the area. This river in the North East corner of the island is a lush nature reserve and a UNESCO world heritage site. Mandy, our guide was a small, wiry bundle of energy and enthusiasm and full of knowledge.

The karst landscape here owes its spectacular appearance to its limestone nature. Millions of years ago, Langkawi was part of Pangea and subsequently Gondwanaland. As the continents collided and seafloor was thrust skyward, the present hills were formed. Limestone is porous and acidic rain soon leaches in and caves form within the hills. When roofs collapse, one is left with dramatic towers standing alone. On close inspection of walls of some of these old caverns, one can see compacted layer upon layer of prehistoric sea-shells.

Mangrove roots exposed at low tide

After meeting at the jetty that was teeming with day trippers, we took a short 5 min ferry ride to pick up our kayaks at a floating boat shed. Led by Mandy, our motley group of four paddled our way upstream fighting the outgoing tide. (consoled by the fact that on the return leg the tide will be with us). It was more peaceful in the smaller tributaries, as the motor boats with tour groups were unable to enter. The canopy covered us and the sun-dappled scene was delightful. The breathing stilt roots (rhizophora) of the mangroves were slowly exposed by the outgoing tide and we strained our eyes to spot mangrove crabs, the odd kingfisher and curious mudskippers.

Kingfisher amongst mangroves

Did you know that mudskippers managed to stay out of water by using their own version of an “aqualung”? They gulp up large cheekfuls of water at the shore and recycle it in the gills as they move about the surface of the mud. Once the water is used up, these land loving fish return to the water’s edge to re-charge, as it were. We were not too disappointed by the fact that we did not see any mangrove vipers resting in the branches, given the fact that some of us kept crashing their kayak into the trees, which would have dislodged any sleeping snake!

Kayaking in smaller tributaries

Next stop was to view eagles. The name Langkawi derives from “helang” meaning Eagle, and “kawi” – which refers to a red colored rock found locally. We paddled out to another tributary and spied a few circling in the sky. Soon we heard the roar of motors and several tour boats sped by leaving us bobbing in their wake. Many tour operators feed eagles. A practice encouraged by the local tourism board but frowned upon by naturalists and environmentalists as it creates dependence on man for food and may change the feeding behaviour of the eagles. To make things worse, tour operators toss out chicken guts and skin (obtained free from local markets) – this is not their natural food and does not contain calcium. The concern here is that with insufficient calcium, the shells of their eggs may be soft and this may lead to reduced survival of the species. However, in the battle between the tourist dollar and be eco-friendly, $$ always wins. Dev’s Adventure Tours does not feed eagles and neither does Casa de Mar, the wonderful hotel that I stayed in (twice this year!). Hearing the sound of the motors, the eagles appeared out of the forest canopy and swooped down to feed. There are 2 types of eagles, the Brahmini kite (or Langkawi eagle with red-brown feathers and white head ) and the larger White Bellied Sea Eagle.

White bellied sea eagle

After watching the eagles feed, it was time to feed out own rumbling bellies. With heavy arms, we paddled back (against a stiff head wind) to a restaurant in a floating fish farm called Hole in the Wall Fish Farm (named for its proximity to the “gates” or small opening in the karst formation through which the Kilim River exits to the sea.

Satisfied after a delicious lunch of seafood fried rice and spicy tom yum soup, we visted 2 caves further upstream. (this time by motorboat). These caves (amongst many) are open for public viewing and house numerous bats. We waited till a huge noisy group exited the area and waited a little while more. Bats are disturbed by visitors talking loudly, shining bright torches and taking flash photography. (how would you like your sleep at night to be disturbed in this manner?) We learnt that there are 3 main types of bats here; fruit eating, insectivorous and honey bats. Led by Mandy, we walked quietly through the first cavern, awed by the stalactites and stalagmites. In some places, we had to stoop low as the roof came within a meter of the floor. In the second cavern, Mandy used a dimmed torch to point out sleeping bats. She also allowed one (1) single flash photo if we really really wanted to take one.

As we motored back to the jetty, Mandy pointed out some short (about 1m high) mangroves near the shore. These are new trees that were planted after the shore was wiped out by high waves associated with the 2005 tsunami. Mangroves grow really slowly and function as a green lung. However, as catastrophic as that event was, the impact on forests is not as great as pollution and indiscriminate logging by man. If we are to continue living on this blue planet of ours, we must be more “green”!

What a day! Just as we got into our transport bringing us back to the hotel, the heavens opened with torrential rain. It was thoroughly enjoyable and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Langkawi.

New Zealand - First trip here

Wow! I am finally going to New Zealand. Always wanted to visit this country and here I am!

8 Oct - Flew on Singapore Airlines that departed from Terminal 3. Flight from Singapore to Auckland took about 9 hours. Was surprised to see pork and beef being served on the airline... and it was surprisingly tasty. Arrived in Auckland around 11.00pm. Where is the shuttle that is suppose to bring me to Centra? Stayed at Centra, the airport hotel, because my flight to Wellington was leaving tomorrow afternoon. Didn't want to travel all the way to Auckland city just for one night.

When I arrived at Centra, the wind and rain picked up intensity. Phew, arrived at the hotel just in time. Centra is a simple, no-frills airport hotel. Clean and basic. It is fine for a night's rest.

Rows and rows of Gewurztraminer grape vines

9 Oct - Oh dear, flight is in the afternoon and I do not have to be in the airport until 2.00pm. What to do? Oh, why not visit a vineyard? I have tried Villa Maria wines in Singapore. Would be interesting to visit the vineyard that produces such good wines. The Villa Maria Estate is 5 minutes' drive from the hotel. The porter said it would cost about NZD5 by taxi but when I arrived at the estate, the taxi driver charged NZD17 (as expensive as the bottle of Gewurztraminer I bought)! Did he just con me? Well, he had no qualms about giving me a receipt. Maybe surcharge for advanced booking?

White wine fermenting in steel tank kept cold by liquid nitrogen

Villa Maria conducts daily tours that show the wine making process for NZD5/person. Some of the places are cold. So, do wear a jacket to keep warm.

Red wine stored in oak barrels from France

Our tour guide told us the size of this family-owned estate is about 10 hectares and the grape variety planted here is Gewurztraminer. George Fistonich, the owner of Villa Maria, owns other vineyards around New Zealand but this one in Auckland is the headquarters.

Info about this estate

What does one do after understanding the wine process? Taste the wine! Visitors have several wine tasting option. I opted for the premium wine tasting that cost NZD20 for 6 tastings of different collections.

Tasting 6 different types of wine

Pinot Noir Reserve, Syrah/Voignier Cellar Collection, Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon Private Bin

My notes (an amateur wine enthusiast):
Pinot Noir Reserve: Earthy - early morning smell of the forest, woody
Syrah/Voignier Cellar Collection: Mild spiciness balanced with earthy tone
Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon: Medium bodied with a hint of raspberries

Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, Pinot Gris Private Bin, Gewurztraminer Cellar Collection

Sauvignon Blanc Reserve: Very ripe strawberries on the nose, fruity on the palate - strawberries, peach
Pinot Gris Private Bin: Balance, a good mixture of fruity (ripe red apples) and earthy tones
Gewurztraminer Cellar Collection: Floral - elderflower

After tasting some wine and buying a bottle of Cellar Collection Gewurztraminer, I took a slow stroll back to the hotel, which took less than 1/2 hour.

Langkawi...Part 3

Good things come in 3's. So, here is the 3rd and final part on our Langkawi trip.

Great way to use rain water - wash your sandy feet before entering your room

Our last day in Langkawi was spent in CDM again. After packing, we lazed by the pool again until it was time to check out at 12.00pm. Flight was at 8.00pm, so we left our luggage by the front desk. What impressed us was the fact that we could still use the hotel's facilities despite of having checked out already. So, we could still make ourselves espresso from the Nespresso machine and use the bathroom in the gym to shower.

CDM club sandwich for lunch by the pool...yummy!

We spent the whole day by the pool and hotel staff still served us free flow of iced cool water, cut fruits and ice towel to cool ourselves. Yes, all hotel guests are served these throughout the day.

Ice water, cold watermelon and cold towel by the pool...

Were we impressed with our stay in Casa Del Mar? Yes, definitely. Will we recommend it to our friends? Yes, definitely. Will we go back there again? Yes, definitely.

Langkawi...part 2

Haven't been able to start with part 2 of the Langkawi trip until today. Anyway, here it is...

Have a glass of classic Martini before dinner at the pool bar

After the storm passed, dinner time arrived. We decided to have dinner in CDM's restaurant because it has a reputation of serving good food. For starters, we ordered fried calamari. The flesh was tender and the batter was crispy. For mains, we ordered a medium done beef fillet and medium done lamp rump. Both were cooked wonderfully, tender and juicy, not overpowered by the marinade. We had a bottle of Stonehaven Cabernet Sauvignon to accompany our dinner.

Fried calamari - crispy and fresh!

2005 Stonehaven Cabernet Savignon - fruity, full-bodied wine.

Lamp rump on risotto - juicy meat and nicely done risotto.

Beef fillet - juicy and tasty!

The next day, we decided to stay in Casa Del Mar and enjoy the resort. After breakfast, we found ourselves 2 comfortable reclining benches that were by the pool but facing the beautiful sea.

Breakfast includes unlimited local fruits - beautiful colors!

Pantai Cenang

Deck chairs by the pool, facing the sea and surrounded by coconut trees.
A tropical paradise!

To be continued...

Langkawi...part 1

Went to Langkawi over the last weekend in July with a fellow foodie. It is low season now in Langkawi but not where we stayed at Casa Del Mar. We flew directly to Langkawi from Singapore via Silkair on Friday evening. It was after 8.30pm when we arrived in Langkawi airport. After immigration, we bought a taxi coupon from the taxi counter at the entrance of the airport for MYR18. The journey to CDM took about 15 minutes. When we reached CDM, we were served peppermint scented cold towels and refreshing fizzy drinks made with ginger and lime by Rajesh. Jason, the general manager, came out to greet us before we were shown our room.

Casa Del Mar at night

After keeping our belongings in the room, we decided to go out for dinner and asked Rajesh for suggestions. She suggested the hotel restaurant but also informed us of other options a few minutes' walk from the hotel. We decided to eat out since we planned to have dinner in the hotel the next day. So we walked down the main road and passed Restoran Orkid Ria, a halal chinese seafood restaurant. We decided to try it since it was the busiest outlet along that street. In addition, we love fresh seafood!

Fresh seafood on display at Orkid Ria Restaurant

Fresh fish steamed Teochew style - my favourite

The next day, we decided to rent a car and visit some tourist attractions such as Gunung Machingchang. We drove to the Oriental Village only to find the cable cars to Gunung Machingchang not working due to cloudy weather.

Clouds shielding Gunung Machingchang

So we decided to drive to the black sand beach. It was small and dirty. Having seen the black sand beach in Bali, I felt it was not worth the drive. Then again, we wouldn't have known, right?

Black sand beach

We decided to drive to the Mardi Agro Technology Park since we love local fruits but when we reached there, the weather changed and it started to storm. Well, that was the end of our adventure as we decided to drive back to CDM. It continued to storm until dinner time. Sigh...

(To be continued.....)

Camino memories

Browsing through my iPhoto the other day, I came across photos that brought back memories of a fantastic walk along the Camino de Santiago with a bunch of wonderful Canadians. It was organised by Nancy & Jose of On Foot in Spain. At the Final Dinner, we sang them this song which summarises much of the trip. (Apologies to Ralph Rainger & Leo Robin and Mickey Mouse!)






Thanks! for the Memories
From Canada and Singapore, we came to explore -
Galicia, Leon, Lugo -
And experienced even more;
Oh, Thank you, so much....

Thanks! for the Memories
Nancy and Jose, our guides,
Always by our sides.
The scallop and the arrow -
On these we all relied,
Oh, Thank you, so much....


Thanks! for the Memories
Queso and chorizos,
Tortillas and potatoes,
Ensaladas, empanadas
Jamon and aceitunas -
Oh, Thank you, so much...

Thanks! for the Memories,
The Rain, the Pain -
The Pain, the Rain!
We walked the El Camino -
And loved our time in Spain,
Oh, Thank you, SO MUCH!!

And now, it's time to say Goodbye to our Spanish Family:
M-a-r-i-n-a*, Nancy and Jose!!


*Nancy & Jose's youngest (at the time)